Thanks, Ella. Took a lot of work, but I'm reasonably pleased with the resulting track.

Went out in my car today for errands and played your "Immortal" track. Sounded really good in the car. I was, again, very impressed with your production. :)

Hi, Steve1

thanks for the comment. Yes, we are both fine. Got our booster shots a couple of days ago. Still, keeping our heads down, so to speak. I agree, COVID is not done with us yet.

thanks for the info on the YT channel. I will check it out. Sounds interesting!

Eric

Thanks, Maj. I'm glad you were able to hear the original. It's a great track. There are things going on in it that I simply couldn't figure out how to do. But, it definitely was worth trying.

I think now I will get back to working on something original. :)

Eric

Hi, Hughey. Well, the original is a lot better, but I definitely learned a lot trying to replicate what The Six did.

I've got all the tools I need to make a really great track, but it's the skill set that needs a lot more development. That said, I'm not unhappy with the result. It was a LOT of work. Nothing was meshing properly.

I don't know if The Six used some esoteric quantization factor, but I had to fine tune every note of the bass tracks by hand and I had to do it time and time again to get it working right.

And then, when I got the vocal part from Anastasia, nothing seemed to lock in properly so I had to re-do all sorts of individual tracks all over again. I think I made some fundamental errors someplace because it shouldn't have been so difficult to get a decent sounding track.

I almost gave up on it. Let it just sit for a couple of weeks, then went back and dug in. Now I'm working through a tutorial on how to make trance, which is my favourite EDM genre.

There's a lot of discipline required to practice law. And, a lot of discipline required to develop the chops necessary to produce good EDM tracks. And, creativity, of course, in both fields. I was never talented enough to make it as a professional musician, so law was a wise decision. But, I never abandoned my connection with music.

My major regret, at this stage of my life, is having sold my 1965 Gretsch Country Gentleman guitar and my Ampeg amp when I started law school I definitely miss them now. :(

Eric

Eric

Thanks, Terry. I actually like pop. Not afraid to admit it! And EDM as well.

Creating a really good track is a challenge, regardless of the genre, I think.

I've been reflecting on the significance of the people here on Looperman and the music they create. It's all over the map in terms of genres and production methods, but the great thing is that everybody is creating something and expressing themselves artistically. That's pretty wonderful when you think about it.

I don't connect with everything I hear on Looperman, but I respect every member who's made the effort and has posted something they have created.

Eric

Hi, Bruce. Chester is a fine name for a cat. Our's is called "Bailey". :)

No. I am not on Soundcloud or Amazing Radio. I decided some years ago to just keep my tracks here on Looperman, where there is more of a community and I can get constructive advice.

I have no aspirations of becoming a "real" producer. At my age (74) this is very much a hobby for me. But, I definitely am trying to produce decent stuff and to continuously improve. Never stop learning. :)

Eric

Thanks for the kind comment, Chester.

I see that you are from the UK. Were you familiar with the Massive Attack original or the cover done by The Six? As time goes by I realize how much good music I've somehow totally missed hearing.

Should have spent more time listening and less time trying to be a lawyer, I guess. :)

Thanks for the encouragment, Xstokes. I was unfamiliar with the original as well. It really is a great example of really well crafted dance track. I think a great deal of thought and skill went into making it.

The original original, by Massive Attack is pretty unique.

There's another cover version by a group called "Hooverphonic" which I think is amazing. Even more symphonic.

Eric

Hi, Matthias. I generally don't use many loops. The drums parts on my various projects are partly midi sequences that I have altered as well as added percussion tracks that I programmed (e.g., claps, snaps, etc). I use my midi keyboard to play in all the various instrument tracks.

Yes, this project has 127 individual tracks, including all the vocals, instruments, and two tracks for FX. There were actually about a dozen more, but I decided that they didn't add anything to the track and, in some cases, muddied up the sound. So, I deleted them. There are about 4 different bass instruments, each one EQ'd differently so that the instrument contributes only part of the overall bass sound. Same with synths.

I have different sets of tracks for lead vocals, background vocals, and the break vocals. There are usually about 5 vocal tracks in each set. Each vocal track is panned differently (1 to the centre, two to the left and two to the right). Two of the panned tracks are slightly delayed by a few milliseconds, and the other two are slightly advanced by a few milliseconds. That adds depth to the vocals. There are some differences in the EQ applied to the various vocal tracks, but compression, reverb, other processing etc. are generally applied to the AUX track I set up for that group of vocals.

In his comments, BringerofDOOM suggested that I could reduce the number of tracks by"printing" a few of them to an audio file. It's a good suggestion. I know that "committing" tracks in the project to a new audio file is considered to be good practice by professionals. I've never been confident enough in my work to take that step, but it's something I should definitely do. It's easy in Logic, to just select the tracks and bounce them to an audio file. Then, delete the source tracks, or just "bounce in place" which automatically replaces them with the resulting audio file. Works for both audio and midi tracks.

Another reason why I have so many tracks is because I generally don't use automation for effects such as reverbs, delays, etc. If I want part of a vocal to have a large reverb, I will create a separate track for just that portion of the vocal and apply the reverb to it. Gives me more control, but is not efficient. I know how to program automation for the various settings on effects, I'm just too lazy to do it . Again, not good mixing practice. :(

Eric

Thanks for the feedback. Your suggestion about committing groups of tracks to an audio file is very sound. I know I should be doing that, even with projects that have much fewer tracks. I've always avoided that because I was afraid that I would later decide that I needed to adjust the midi or effects on a track and wouldn't be able to do that. But, thinking about your comment I realized that was stupid on my part. I can just make a copy of the project and then print the tracks, as you suggested. Or, in Logic, I can just make a new "alternative" of the project, so if I do need to make a change, I can just go back to one of the earlier alternatives where the tracks were in their original form. I resolve to follow your suggestion in the future. Plus, I really need to build a good mixing template and stick with it. This project taught me that my "housekeeping" practices really need improvement. :)

Eric

Thanks, Maj. My wife and I are doing well here in Ottawa, although covid cases are increasing rapidly and we're under a stay at home order for all of Ontario. I read today that the UK is opening up. I trust that you are keeping safe.

Glad you liked the track. It was a nightmare to produce, for some reason. It has 127 individual tracks, not counting the AUX tracks that I created to simplify mix down. Had a devil of time getting all the parts to fit in the pocket. Strict quantization was not an option.

The track by The Six is a great example of an excellent EDM track. Sounds simple, but is quite complex, many layers, carefully chosen patches for the instruments, a very clear overall sound, but also quite rich. It was an excellent choice I think as a learning exercise. Made me realize how much I have to learn. :)

Eric