The Land Of Ill Gotten Gains - Evisma

13th Jul 2016 04:15 - 10 years ago
Description : A deep, crystalline excursion, drenched in moments of delay and shameful pride. Electric, acoustic and bass guitars played by myself. An intro full of stretchery, with no loops being harmed or used in the making of this track. Three midi drum kits I ninety-percent programmed. (Used a few midi patterns and altered them.) Piano and a music box make an appearance, as well as a low, sustained synth played on my controller using keys and mod-wheel together. More emotive than heavy. Comments, critiques and general conversation are most welcome, as well as righteous indignation.

Comments (16)

If you have time take a listen and give Evisma some feedback.

BlueSkyLook
BlueSkyLook 14th Nov 2016 21:08 - 9 years ago
Beautiful cohesion of all elements. Pleasant structure and mood. Good integration of all sounds. Congratulations! :)
Ben
mackit
mackit 7th Aug 2016 03:14 - 10 years ago
Pure sound. Every thing is working together. Overall sound is great. love the guitar work. Good mix also. Got to come back for more. PEACE. THE MACK MAN OUT.
TROUTMOUF
TROUTMOUF 6th Aug 2016 00:54 - 10 years ago
What a cool track. I will listen to this in the future. Keep creating!
topvega
topvega 5th Aug 2016 19:57 - 10 years ago
I found myself rocking out more than Chilling to this wonderful track. I enjoyed the whole enchilada.
Good stuff for sure Brosef. Thanks for sharing.

tv
Evisma
Evisma replied 14th Nov 2016 - 9 years ago
Enchiladas been a long time. Glad you dig this track. I dig fajitas!

Evan
crucethus
crucethus 5th Aug 2016 04:12 - 10 years ago
Lovely dark intro. typical guitar mode from you. you need to explore some other modes (scales), but I am happy that you split them up with different instruments. It´s a better version sonic-like of what you have done in the past. but it sounds familiar. though much more sophisticated. if that makes sense to you!
all the best
crutemplative
Evisma
Evisma replied 14th Nov 2016 - 9 years ago
Greetings.

I've been working on some different stuff lately, but really it still sounds like me, so I'm probably not exploring enough still. Working with more acoustic for chord progression. Something I've never really had. I appreciate your constant nudging me forward, expecting growth. My life knows few like you.

There has been a palpable jealousy of Canada at my house this week. Can you guess why?

Take care.

Evan
BradoSanz
BradoSanz 4th Aug 2016 04:30 - 10 years ago
Howdy Evisma. I appreciate the kind comments, I do try my best to be an alright fella though I fail sometimes :)

Most people that have complained about EZ and Superior that I've come across really don't know how to use it after they've created their grooves. For instance, my newest song, "One and Only" is using Superior Drummer 2.0, as well as my other song as "Angel in Disguise." With proper (and minimal) compression and stereo widening, the drum kits sound quite realistic and natural - to the point that a professional drummer and close family friend that has been playing drums for various large venues across the U.S. was having a very difficult time deciding whether they were actual drums or simple MIDI grooves (they were the latter, though I've managed to get him to play using Superior Drummer as the VST for his electronic kit on my next album that I just started working on).

I hate to sound like an ad but I haven't come across better drum sampling than these the Superior line, particularly for the price. You're getting recordings from multi-million dollar studios across the world and having them delivered to you in a sub 1000$ package - which is already a steal in my books. Keep in mind that you may want at least 8GB RAM (16GB recommended imo) to be able to run your DAW smoothly as it consumes quite a lot of resources, should you decide to get it.

TLDR - Superior Drummer 2.0 is amazing if you know how to treat it. It's worth the money, despite some of the negative reviews you may have seen. I have tested it thoroughly and was quite, quite happy with the results.

All the best,

Brado
Evisma
Evisma replied 14th Nov 2016 - 9 years ago
Ah, yes. The drums will get upgraded soon. I appreciate your opinion and will probably go that route.

Thanks again.

Evan
BillionaireExclusive
BillionaireExclusive 4th Aug 2016 03:53 - 10 years ago
I'm not all that into this genre, so all I can say is great production.

- Billion
Evisma
Evisma replied 4th Aug 2016 - 10 years ago
Greetings.

I, too, am not into this genre, but this track is a bit too calm for Rock, and not diverse enough to be Fusion, so Chill it is!

I appreciate the listen and feedback. Have a great day.

Evan
BradoSanz
BradoSanz 2nd Aug 2016 19:46 - 10 years ago
This comment is hidden.
StaticNomad
StaticNomad 19th Jul 2016 01:03 - 10 years ago
Consider yourself alliteratively regreeted.

"fairly far flung foreign fellow" is good and accurate.

I like your rant about the land of ill gotten gains. Depressing but not necessarily untrue.

"a 40 year old nerd playing Pokemon Go, walking while staring at a smartphone."

In the week since you wrote that, I've heard a lot more about this bs. I wasn't really sure what you were talking about before but I met a nice lady out the other night who was into it and she explained it a little to me. I've also seen lots of news reports on people having fights over this stuff and big crowds gathering "looking for a Pokemon", which is pretty damn weird.

Phone starers also annoy the hell out of me, for various reasons. One is just practical: as a cyclist they're always walking blindly across the road and into my path whilst busily tapping away or scrolling. To be fair, some people do the same without the excuse of phone distraction. I don't even have a smartphone.

"Programing is not enjoyable for me. I rush. Seems to be your strong suit"

Yes and no. I cheat a lot because I take great advantage of the many quality MIDI files that come with each Superior/EZ additional drum kit (played by real drummers). I never start off by programming up a pattern. I always audition a load of MIDI files in Superior in real time. It's great as you don't have to waste your time importing separate MIDI files to the timeline and then getting them to play. No, you have your chosen kit selected and then click on any MIDI file and it will play and you can control things in more detail from there (eg loop playback at double or half tempo). So, I like to audition drum parts that might not obviously work to see if things get more interesting. And they often do. After that, it's an ongoing process of layering those parts and sculpting all my fills and individual hits to make sure that the groove is almost always strong and nothing interferes with anything else. And that the drum fills aren't too repetitive.

Don't worry about my "decent yet unspectacular" conclusion. I'd say the same about quite a few of my tracks. It seems that some people here disagree with me so there you go. Maybe I know your stuff too well so am harder to impress. You do still need better drum samples.

Nomad, feigning all the trials and the tribulations
Evisma
Evisma replied 1st Aug 2016 - 10 years ago
Wuzzup, waterlogged wingtips wearing, one-eyed weasel-wrangler.

"you have your chosen kit selected and then click on any MIDI file and it will play and you can control things in more detail from there (eg loop playback at double or half tempo)."

I do the same thing. DAW's file browser has an audio player/looper right on the main screen, built-in.

I think it would be cool for you to record your cello doing a C note, plucked or bowed, mix that down, pull that sample into Kontakt and let it spread and transpose that note across the piano-roll keyboard. Then you could play your cello through your keyboard controller for a brief yet awesome moment in a track. I believe I will incorporate some bass in the new track like that.

Evan, who lies and smiles to get whats his.
Orlando51
Orlando51 16th Jul 2016 13:47 - 10 years ago
Always musical excellence....rich and full sound seems to be your trademark now! Great playing of instruments also stands out. Faved !

Compliments_____Orlando
Evisma
Evisma replied 1st Aug 2016 - 10 years ago
Thank you, Mr. Orlando.

Rich and full is a good thing, but I hope I am contrasting it enough to not be hard to listen to for extended periods.

Thanks again.

Evan
BentonMcKenzie
BentonMcKenzie 15th Jul 2016 22:48 - 10 years ago
This is my kind of music. It sounds like a story. Very good guitars and I loved the bass slides.
Evisma
Evisma replied 1st Aug 2016 - 10 years ago
I appreciate the kind words. I;ve got a lot of stuff on here if you liked this.

Evan
Darknives
Darknives 15th Jul 2016 19:32 - 10 years ago
Awesome track man, will definitely be paying attention to your releases.
Evisma
Evisma replied 1st Aug 2016 - 10 years ago
Glad to hear it. Thanks for stopping by and listening!

Evan
Tumbleweed
Tumbleweed 14th Jul 2016 02:50 - 10 years ago
Great intro...and then into a kind of lilting quality...I like the way the crystal melody lines fly above that big rich paddy background...very tasty guitar bits really work a treat Evan...There is something of a Celtic vibe to my ears...from the melody lines I think...that picked up change around 3:30 is great..it changes the whole vibe of the track yet maintains the theme...The mix is perfect...This is just a really well done piece of music...and I enjoyed it....big fav....Ed
Evisma
Evisma replied 14th Jul 2016 - 10 years ago
Greetings, Mr. Ed.

Glad you liked the track. bought a small lamp for the music room to use instead of the bright overhead fixture. The lamp gives the room a softer, more intimate feel, and brought out the guitar lines. Strange, I know, but it was a big change to my feelings while writing. Not sure if that makes sense, but yeah. Softly lit studio brought on a softer song. What would a strobe, blacklight and discoball do?!

I hope all is well with you.

Evan
StaticNomad
StaticNomad 13th Jul 2016 23:34 - 10 years ago
Yo.

You have gotten yourself another review. I will try to make it an ill one.

Great title. I wonder where this land you speak of is. Perhaps located between Canada and Mexico?

Stretchy 25 sec intro is good, hymn-like, slightly church organesque stuff. I very much recognise the Paul sound there.

You signature palm muting appears and the ambience swells into the bass+drums arrival. Then loads more clean, straight note slave lead g work. It's pleasant but I'd like to hear some vibrato, pitch bends etc - just more vibe and emphasis on certain notes.

Snare is not a great one and may perhaps always be at the same velocity.

1:50 lead g work is nicer now, with some delay and panning and stuff. This has some sadness and emotion to it. Kind of chill out music. Also quite cinematic.

2:39 lead bass g takes over. Some nice drum work here eg 2:59 and the same, repeated idea various times later.

3:27 very nice, warm bass g tone. Slightly like it's being rubbed. I think this section to the end should occur much earlier eg after the ambient intro. It's stronger than all of 0:39-3:27.

Steady bass drum drives that bass g along in a good, minimalist way and the music box is good too. Sort of bell-like.

3:59 hats make this a bit like chillout dance music. Palm muted guitar is better here and then we get a decent, slightly distorted lead. Some useful cymbal fills eg on the bell of the cymbal.
Fadeout intro is good, aided by that low, sustained synth note.

Overall: decent yet unspectacular. Does sound quite a bit like various bits of your other tracks but that's no bad thing.

Nomad, up to his neck soon to drown
Evisma
Evisma replied 14th Jul 2016 - 10 years ago
Greetings, fairly far flung foreign fellow!

"Perhaps located between Canada and Mexico?"

There is little of interest between those two places. Just a vast herd of slack-jawed morons, indignant zealots, phone-starers, meth-cooks, pill-poppers, high-speed internet, fried chicken and automatic weapons. A few mountains, a big ditch and a highly active volcanic region. Most photos of nature's beauty usually contain at least three cell phone towers peppered throughout the distance, and now, a 40 year old nerd playing Pokemon Go, walking while staring at a smartphone. No,... there is nothing good to see here anymore. The people ruin it. I don't even need to go into the history that brought on the name. It says enough.

Ahh, the snare. Indeed. I scoured my files for a fitting snare and really, this one fit the best. However, I do believe the velocity did not get any humanizing or tweaking done. Will easily be fixed.

I don't feel that I need EZ or Superior Drummer's programming suites, just better sounding samples, because my sampler is very functional, I just need better samples and to spend a bit more time with automation and velocity. My focus is usually the guitars. Programing is not enjoyable for me. I rush. Seems to be your strong suit. I don't have the patience. I'm lucky stuff comes out sounding as good as it does.

"decent yet unspectacular"

Not the first time I've heard that. We'll see what comes next.

Evan, who's treasures and flesh are usually very few.
theHumps
theHumps 13th Jul 2016 16:11 - 10 years ago
Not much to complain about here, mix sounds great and all the playing works together. I liked the slowed down break around 3:30 and the build up that followed.

Must say, I like the title and the intro. The title sounds poetic and sarcastic all at the same time, clever man. The pad you chose is great, sets the tone of the song right from the beginning. Slip sliding bassorama!! Bring it on!!

The music box works well with the feel of the track and adds a bit of mystery and suspense.

It's a solid track, nice job Evan!

Wayne
Evisma
Evisma replied 14th Jul 2016 - 10 years ago
Greetings, Master Wayne, you picture changin, avatar switcher, you. Neat image.

"The pad you chose..."

That is a time-stretched section of guitar that comes in a while later. The synth comes in for the end section, though I do hear why you heard that.

Glad you liked the music box. I really dig those and thumb pianos, but they sometimes give an eerie, demented child feel to a track and I have to use something else. It's mostly here to reinforce the piano, but I brought it back for it's own section at the end.

I do hope all is well with you.

Evan
HunterFoxzAC
HunterFoxzAC 13th Jul 2016 05:59 - 10 years ago
Man, I really enjoyed listening to this track, I am into Chill Out and Ambient Track's myself, but This is by far
one of the best Chill Out tracks that I have listened too. What makes it more of a gem is that you played most of the instruments yourself..
Hats off to you Sir..

HunterFoxzAC..
Evisma
Evisma replied 14th Jul 2016 - 10 years ago
Greetings, Mr. FoxzAC.

I appreciate the kind words. I believe this is the first track that I have ever labeled Chill Out. Usually I attempt heavier stuff. Sometimes it works, plenty of times it has not.

"you played most of the instruments yourself"

Yes, though I did a lot of cleaning up afterward, adding bits and fixing bits when it comes to the piano and music box. About half of the drums were patterns that I altered and the other half were built on the piano-roll.

Definitely appreciate the listen and feedback.

Take care.

Evan

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