Joy: First track of Inside Glow

Hey all,
Well… i took a break to reflect on my new album.
First track is out: Joy is about the true fullness of joy.
Everybody has been for sure trough one of these special moments. It might happen when you are a child, or later. We never know.

Stream Joy by Stephco | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

Really good this new piece. It seems to me that there are a lot of new sounds in your sound palette. There are sounds there that I have not heard before. The rhythm is great, the atmosphere and the overall groove is mesmerizing at times, especially from 2:53 to 5:22 with the ostinato notes F-Db-C and accompanied by a kind of melodic improvisation. I really like this passage. For the finale, the new ostinato Bb-C-C-Eb-C keeps us well anchored in this pleasant feeling.

Hypnosis could have been an appropriate title for this piece, but Joy is also an excellent choice, this piece is very rhythmic, surprising and cool.

Hi Stephane,
Good to hear something new from you. I too have taken a bit of a break, and haven’t been on here much lately.
I liked the new track, but I do have a couple of minor suggestions. The first is that there are a lot of intersecting rhythms, and at least one of them is kind of a bass figure. You’re using a pretty mellow sound in the keys, kind of like a Fender Rhodes, and that too is in a low register. I think that this all makes the first 4 minutes a bit murky and muddy. I’d suggest perhaps brightening that Rhodes sound, and also making the bass figure either a little more distinct from, or more complementary to the drum rhythms. There’s also a drum figure that comes in at about 3:30 in which is brief, but it sounds like the quantizing might be off a little. As Rene mentioned, the groove aspect of this is a very important part of this piece, but I personally would like a little more melodic or harmonic presence earlier in the piece, before that gets going more towards the end.
Overall, I’m happy with this, and continue to like your work. I’m just offering my impressions as the way another mind and set of ears took this in. Be true, most of all, to your own vision for the piece.
John

Thank you, Rene.
Regarding the hypnotic aspect, and the pleasant felling of the finale, which is exactly in line with the piece, i used a phasing structure for the melody (just as Steve Reich) in conjunction with some Euclidian rhythms.
True also that I’ve tried to integrate new sound like Acid sounds in that one, while keeping my “color”.

Thanks for your time, Take care.

Hey Leon,
Thanks for your comment. You know what: I do agree 100% with you. Will do my best to review.
I don’ know why, but on this one, with my Rhodes VSTis arsenal, i wasn’t able to get the sound i hear and probably the same you would like too. Do you have a good Rhodes VSTi to recommend?
Take care.

Sooooooooooooorry, John!!!

Leon here. Great sounds on this! Glad to hear that you are done with your pause after the release of you fantastic album. I’m in the pause place myself right now and have to figure out where to go next. I like the sounds and the rhythms and the colors. They generate a lot of excitement starting out. I wish it went somewhere, though. It basically stays on the same root and same intensity for almost seven minutes. I start to get distracted after a couple of minutes.

Now, since you’ve mentioned Steve Reich (I’ve listened to a lot of his music, and even love one of his albums, Tehillim), maybe that’s exactly what you’re after! A certain atmosphere for a dance club? I am evidently old school. Changes in melodies, chord sequences, and dynamics catch my attention, and they lead to a sort of comfort when earlier material is recapitulated.

I think I’ve heard of Euclidean rhythm before, and I admit I didn’t understand it then or now! To me it’s just quarter notes, with occasional triplets! I need to educate myself. Maybe I need to listen to this one several more times to understand it.

Great to hear a new one from you!

Good to hear from you. Yes, i know Tehillim since many years. Simply Great.
Take care!

Hi John, based on your input, i did review the track. I didn’t touch the drum thing, because it was “by design”, but i’ve tried to fix the muddy part.
In fact, i’m probably doing something wrong with the mastering part. The mix seems better to me. And when in mp3, it’s worse. i need to really dig into those mastering aspects.