StaticNomad

Good, intelligent stuff and damn effective soundtrack music.

Melody on 0:33 is a nice sad one I like. Those strings sound great.

On the off beat (eg on 1:05) there's a cool sound which is a bit like a breathy voice. What is that?

Good chord on 1:52 to segue into next section.

In the section starting 1:56 maybe the snare is too loud. Otherwise, the drums are very effective.

Brass section starting 2:08 makes me think a bit of James Bond music (which is a very good thing).

2:24 and you bring in a top, floating, legato line that John Barry certainly would not have. It works very well as you can also comfortably hear the brass underneath.

Apart from that slight-too-loud snare, I'm struggling to fault this as it's really very good and a decent length.

This is really good stuff, though not exactly my kind of thing.

I first must say that I see no problem with Windycity's comments. They're not just abuse and/or condescending or mindless rubbish and he's written them out perfectly intelligently. They're just minor suggestions, though I don't necessarily agree as I think the mix is pretty good.

But we can all disagree over any mix all day as it's such a subjective. indefinable thing.

Actually, my main problem was with the bass drum hits at various points as they are too loud/too high a velocity. I can give lots of specific time references, if need be (eg 2:35, 3:19). I would go back in and lower lots of them (something I do a lot in my own music) as I'm convinced it will help. Otherwise, the drums are good.

Sax solo is cool.

Interesting musical coincidence: guitar intro to excellent song Elephants by the band Warpaint (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOFxb0F2F2A) can be heard quite strongly in the part starting on 0:35 of this track. No problem, just thought I'd mention it.

This is such a varied and odd mix, I'm not quite sure what to make of it. But I shall try now. It sounds like you've been composing for picture and actually tracking the change in scenes, which appear to be very different.

I really like you string section starting on 1:16 and it progresses skilfully and creatively until about 3 mins with good variation in dynamics. Good string sounds too. Which software is that.

Then, starting on 1:16, those high pitched sounds are quite unsettling to my ears but they may very effectively complement a particular scene.

4:2 and we get sparse and tribal - also good, emotive soundtrack music (for the right scene).

Could you put a link up to any pictures (Youtube video?) so I/we might see how/if the music works in the game?

Yo. I commented on your previous attempt. I think this one's better and it's a decent, crazy lead part. However, I think the solo goes on for too long. From 0:56 to 1:13 I think it's just a bit too much and a bit too intense and also overshadows the bass and drums.

If you could come up with a less intense 20 or so seconds, I think it might help. Maybe some sort of soaring, heavily delayed, simpler part or just tasteful, delayed chords that ring out. That would also allow the bass to be heard again.

Also, the track is too short and doesn't feel like a full track.

The Toolesque stuff starting on 1:13 is cool (drums too) so lots more could be made of that.

Yes, you are indeed trying out a good few styles. Modern production tools, eh? They're pretty versatile, aren't they?

I think this is probably the best I've heard from you and it has a good foundation.

Lead part coming on 0:57 is cool and there's good space in the track with the way that bass moves.

1:26 and a good new synth joins in - an even better part.

This already sounds quite sophisticated, actually, but with an easy sort of simplicity.

Effective removal of drums on 2:29, this is moving along nicely. Of course they have to come back in (and do).

On 2:50 I'm not keen on that lead synth sound - just a bit too cheesy (though nothing terrible) and could do with a bit more reverb.

Try switching that sound for a better one.

The penultimate section (3:10-3:40)is probably a little too short so try lengthening it, bringing back a synth sound or two, maybe adding another.

But it's overall it's good work, as my above words should clearly indicate!

I was led to this, your one upload, because I saw you'd played my track Tiny Little Pieces. I agree with the other comments. You have a very good tone to your voice - a warm, inviting sound.

And it's a well-constructed, easy, slow groove, shaking bit of smooth jazz with good playing and a very suitable solo to round (and finish) things off.

You could do lots more like this so hope you have someone to regularly work with.

This is pretty good. My favourite part was the initial intro. You should bring that back and find ways to twist it up and make more of it.

Mix is good - everything sits nicely. Much better hip hop drums than most tracks on here - just for the simple reason that they're not repetitive loops but you move from hi hat changes to bell ride.

Good quality drum sounds too. Where are they from? I use Superior Drummer but these drum sounds are also good.

I'd say a lot's missing from this as it's so short.

Vocals are the obvious addition but instrumental could work just fine too. As long as you have the instrumental skills to further it!

Try taking the MIDI notes of your piano parts and then copying them to other synths and then editing them, changing key, reversing them and so on.

Much more can be made out of this track and I could suggest things all day but I'm not sure what you do ie if you play any other instruments.

It I was working on it, I'd try adding some different guitar and bass ideas and then see if they encouraged other synth playing around/in between those parts.

Good luck.

Yes, I think I have heard that saying but I'm not quite sure what it means. And I'm not sure what you mean by using it here. I just think you need to make the guitar playing sparser so maybe just have shorter intensely busy bursts.

Some longer, sustained and/or delayed notes could sound great as they'd let the bass notes shine through.

It's good lead playing but I think it might be just a little too busy.

It's the sort of playing that bass and guitar would really enjoy doing live in front of an audience, at times facing each other and really rocking out. But on record I just think there's a bit too much going on between the two instruments.

I like the final (held) note of the guitar around 1:14 as we move into a riff very reminiscent of the main one on the track Lost Keys from Tool's 10,000 Days album. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucJNpalnFzc

Yes, this is good and the "Millions of stars" is a nice little line. But my first problem was the gap between the first line and the second, which is just too long.

Also, that first line cuts off too awkwardly so you perhaps need to try something like fading down the volume more smoothly.

I generally don't like very dry vocals (I'm a bit obsessed with far out sounds ie delay and reverb) but this one sounds really good. Also, it makes those bits of reverb and delay you add very effective and noticeable.

The drop back down on 0:48 to the dry vocal of "alone" works really well.

I suppose maybe there is a little bit of Blondie in this - something to do with the drums and bass.

I think this works well as a sparse track - bass, drums, a bit of other synth, vocals plus vocal FX is probably enough.

I tend to say to people whose tracks are good but only a couple of minutes that they should extend it. But I think this one is about the right length.

You might consider a more definitive ending though the fade on this isn't bad. Maybe some interesting blend of different vocals and vocal FX reaching some sort of peak and then fading away with the delay ringing out.

I would spend ages trying out all sorts of permutations for the ending as I think these vocals would be fun to play with.

Good work but don't stop yet!

Cool. The bass reminds a little of Roots Manuva's Witness The Fitness. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDWgtB_MD24

I like the heavy ride cymbal on this.

Some vocals, some changes and some other elements and this could be great.

A good start...

To adjust velocity of your drum parts, should be just that you open up the MIDI part on your sequencer's timeline. Under all the notes, you'll find parameter data and 'velocity' is probably the default one you're shown (though you can choose to see others too eg pitch). You should be able to select a bunch of notes and increase them all by a certain number of points (the range is 0-127) or do things such as specify maximum and minimum levels, which can be useful when you want to keep their relative levels to each other intact. I hope that makes sense, though I guess if it doesn't you'll probably just discover it for yourself anyway.


One way to view the addition of a second kit is that it's just a bit like saying 'add more physical drums to your one, single kit' a bit like someone such as Neil Peart of Rush does (his kit has loads and loads of toms and cymbals). Having two snares can be cool, for the obvious technique of using one for one section, one for another (eg verse/chorus).

I use multiple kits on pretty much all my tracks. For a hard rocking track that might suit you, check out Debt Black Hole as it has 4 kits on it and a lot of complex, layered drumming in styles ranging from jazz to extreme metal.

Good luck with vocals. I would also love to find vocalists but would much prefer to work with some in person rather than do online collaboration. If I'm going to collaborate, I don't want it to be via sending emails back and forth, needs to be together in the same room.

"Only around 2:33 seems a bit off, might be wrong though"

Yes, as regards this comment, I sort of agree. The vocal's a little discordant around there. Not sure if that's a bit of pitch shifting or if it's there in the original. I'd prefer it to be more in tune but it's no big deal leaving it as it is.

If I were working on this, I'd play around with retuning it/taking off whatever effect is on it (if there is one) just to see if an improvement can be made.

But it's overall a pretty cool sparse, little haunting piece .

Oh yes, definitely take the live band sound comment as a compliment. That means it's got lots of energy and dynamics and doesn't sound lifeless and planned out on a sequencer grid (even if some of it is).

Yes, I'm also a guitarist first but have got a lot better at production over the years and made massive improvements in the last 2.

The two big advances have been getting much better drum software and also the automated use of EQ. You can spend ages getting a decent guitar sound but it still just doesn't sound right at some points in the track. And you can use EQ creatively. It's not hard, you just have to listen carefully and try boosting it a bit and then coming back to it the next day to see if your change has helped or if it jumps out at you as being undesirable.

If you've got too much noise on a guitar part, there are a few, more specific, tools you can use to remove but I tend to just remove the high frequencies. I find most of my guitar parts are really boosted/excited by increasing the middle frequencies a bit.

I hate reading guides to how to produce and engieer so I just spend lots of time doing and learning from my mistakes and being humble about how good something is and always thinking hard about how it can better. And then I eventually do make it better.

Stick at it and you'll get better and do your guitar playing the justic it deserves.

The basic elements of this are cool and sit nicely. My main problem is the high top end synths, which are just too bright. So, things sound much better around 40 seconds when they've faded out.

Then when they return (eg around 1:30) it's all too bright again.

The structure is just fine for this genre and I think it would be a much better track of you removed/toned down (eg with filtering) those harsh elements.

Keep working on it and it'll get better.

Good to see you're using Addictive Drums - something you said you would a couple of months ago. I was thinking about this just the other day.

Instantly I would recommend lowering the velocity of that kick. Maybe turn it down but I think the problem is more that it's playing at pretty much the top velocity. Ask if you're not sure what I mean.

Your drums could do a bit more as they're a bit simplistic and you might think about having a second kit for variety ( I do it a lot).

The rest of the playing is good (and my kind of thing)though maybe you should go with just the one guitar at certain points as maybe it's a bit too intense doubling the pair up. You do do this (drop one of them) but I think it might help to do it more often in this track.

Are you looking for a vocal for this?

If so and you get a good and distinctive one, it could be a really classic track.

I too have a problem with terrible old sound quality though one of my favourite groups is a 30s/40s gospel group called The Golden Gate Quartet.

Anyway, this is very cool though the quality of the brass starting on 1:14 is a problem.

Drums are great, so's the sax and guitar and violin. Sounds like lots of fun to make.

This could be even better with some improvements in the sounds.

Please check out a live harmonica looper called Son Of Dave as he makes cool modern versions of old music - a bit like what you've done here, except all he uses is his voice and harmonica. He has a few good albums.

I instantly like the guitar and drums. However, the guitar intro is so very quiet that the vocal seems really loud as it comes in. Maybe just make the intro louder?

I don't like such a loud vocal but I know that's quite a common thing in lots of pop music. I'd rather hear more of that guitar and those strings when they come in.

I think the fade out ending is also well done - feels natural.

I agree with all the previous comments and it is indeed very soothing. I can't fault the composition and I really like that subtle vocal that fades in around 0:52 and then returns at the end.

My only problem is with the lead synth being a little too bright and buzzy. It's a bright and uplifting piece but if some of the top end could be filtered/EQd out I think that might help.

Only a minor quibble but it might make a small difference though maybe just to my ears (I only listened on not very good quality headphones).

Oh, and that end cuts off too abruptly, as can be seen on the waveform.

It's a pretty cool beat and DeepThought9's rapping is good.

My main criticism is that the track is too quiet, as you can probably see from the small waveform. You don't want it to be too loud like a lot of stuff on the site (including some of my own stuff, unfortunately, not got round to fixing it yet).

Maybe the track is a bit short and doesn't really develop a lot but what you have is good work that moves really well.

I can definitely hear a vocal in this as you've left a good amount of space for it.

I really like the drums, actually. Good ride cymbal you have there and snare is good too. And they're playing an interesting pattern.

Everything sits nicely so not a lot I can criticise or suggest you improve.

Good work and I was surprised when the beat came in.

Yes, certainly ambient and cinematic. Nice, gentle movement and a deep collection of sounds - all gentle on the ear yet powerful.

There's a good dynamic range on this, as can be seen from the waveform so not just all staying at the same level.

Interesting drums for this sort of music - don't really know what the genre is when they're playing. Vaguely like trip-hop but not really.

Definitely effective soundtrack music.

I'm a huge stoner rock fan though haven't really liked any Queens stuff since the brilliant Songs For The Deaf.

But this is cool - fairly relentless rocking, really. Loads of good lead work, though I think some of it's probably too loud.

This would be really classic in a live situation - the kind of stuff people love to move to.

It also pretty much sounds like a live band rather than one guy doing each part separately in a studio.

Excellent playing but you could make the mix better.

Your usual all-out guitar assault, that needs something along the lines of what was written below: "a complete song with guitar double tracks, bass and proper progressing drumwork".

When you can add some greater variety from other instrumentation (plus maybe even some vocals) to your music, your guitar work will sound even better.

Also, I love the title!

Listening to the first few minutes of this makes me think of a book written in such a way that you can turn to any page and pick up the story. Not sure if that makes any sense but I'm trying to describe the way the track sits and sort of doesn't really move anywhere but there's still lots of stuff going on.

I love that guitar and it seems to always be playing the same thing but doing different things at the same time. This is truly hypnotic music that feels like it could just be played on a loop forever.

I prefer things to change a lot more (and perhaps change things too often in my own music) but this works in its own, special hypnotic way.

Separately, you've got lots of interesting and in-depth comments on this so I guess it's inspired people to write more than just "Hey, nice track" or similar.