First new track from me on here in a while. I was slowed down, but not deterred, by some computer troubles. Still working in Cubase 11 Pro with this song. All of the guitars (acoustic steel and nylon, and electric) and bass (fretless) were played live through the Helix Native plug in, and the remainder of what you’ll hear is Halion, Padshop, and Prologue softsynths. This was written on acoustic guitar. I was once thinking about recording this solely on acoustic guitar , or guitars, but it’s obviously grown from that idea.
It does seem that this forum has slowed down a bit in the last year or so. Therefore, hoping that this gets a few listens and/or responses and feedback (remember that bandcamp is set to allow 5 listens prior to any DL fee). Thanks for whatever attention this might now get.
I’ve also been slowed down by computer troubles - had to laptop it for a bit, but new PC’s all built, just installing everything now . (I’m more a sample chopper and digital sound designer and, on occasion, destroyer, though. So my songs are quite… …different!)
But nice song!
(I appreciate allmost forms of music - from Nina Simone to The Who to DJ Hype to Public Enemy, they all get blasted in my car, equally)
Thanks for the comment and liking the song. I see you’d listened a couple of hours ago now as I’m writing this. Letting you know, and making the general comment, that I wasn’t happy with a few things about what I’d done after hearing the song several more times. That led me to spend the afternoon today re-doing some parts, and re-mixing the track.
It’s still the same song, but the version I first upped here will still be live and unchanged over at soundcloud. I’ll replace that that at some point, but anyone caring to hear the differences could check that original version over there, and make the comparison to what’s now likely to be my final version over here.
Strange piece of music, 'not sure I get it, sounds kind of like a medieval dance performance in the forest, ladies with long dresses with hand drums and such.
I couldn’t spend much time comparing the two versions but the second one is louder, maybe clearer.
Thanks very much for responding with your impressions of this. I take “strange piece of music” as a compliment, so thanks for that too. That implies to me that I basically did something original. As for the medieval dance idea, hey, I could go for that. Someone else mentioned something about a medieval flavor to me too so that must be there, but I kind of see it from more from a folk, and almost “country” perspective, although I’m no kind of fan of country music. I do still have the first version of this active on soundcloud, and I agree that it’s louder. That was one reason I revised it. I felt that the bass in particular with that mix, made it a bit to boomy and not clear enough to get some of the details from the guitars or percussion.
I definitely appreciate you taking the time to write, and for liking my work.
John
Hi John, sorry I somehow missed this post. I’ve been checking in at least weekly, looking for things from regulars like you, but didn’t see this.
I was immediately struck by how much clearer and tighter this recording is than some of your old remixes. Really good sound, and good stereo mix. The second mix is better than the first I would say. Also the muddiness I mentioned in your other tune is not present here.
And knowing your tastes, I thought it was a pretty good tune. Call it strange, as Mauri did, but strange in a good way reflecting all your influences.
If I could make a suggestion, it would be to somehow vary the rhythmic element. It mainly just hits something like a kick on 1, 2, 3, 4 without variation through the whole piece. You could make it a lot more interesting if you worked on the percussive elements.
Thanks, Leon. Happy you seem to have liked the mix. As for strange in a good way, very happy with that. I will look into what you suggested regarding the rhythm. The unvaried kick is generally intentional.
Not sure if you read my blurb about the song on bandcamp, but I did definitely want the music to reflect the title and idea of a walk through woods, with the different sections suggesting different vistas along that walk. I wanted that feel of a steady paced walk. Syncopating the beat more might turn that into a stutter step or skip! Kidding about that, but I will take a look at your suggestion. I also have a sort of marimba thing happening with the soft synths, so that’s something along the lines of melodic percussion happening all along. I do get what you’re suggesting, though, and will look into that.
Oneway suggested something along those lines too, so you guys are on to something. I definitely have also gotten feedback about too much happening all at once before, and I think that ties into what Leon’s referring to with my influences (Todd Rundgren, Gentle Giant, fusion). Thanks to both of you for listening and commenting.
John
(Started writing this a while back, so I may as well finish it)
I thought that about the bass too, but I didn’t want t seem critical, but If I were to put on my critical mixing hat, I’d say the bass makes it all a bit… muddled. If it were me, I’d separate the different elements in the frequency spectrum and stereo field to make it all feel “wider”; to give each element its own place and space. The bass would be the rock in the middle, anchoring all the other elements, but not overpowering them (I get the impression you LOVE your bass). Sidechain the kick into a multiband compressor on the bass if you can, to allow it to cut through. Some chorus-style effects and reverb can help broaden the space of the other elements. You can make the reverb short and springy if you don’t want it to feel “spacey”. Just some thoughts of how I’d mould it for myself. It may be that it’s fine as-is for you. It’s all subjective. Some people like the “live” feel with overpowering bass (In my mind, you should always be able to EQ the final product a bit, and it will still sound ok, but you can’t with yours, the bass would probably distort). The second version is definitely an improvement, though.
have not been active on the forum for a long time so this is the first tune i am listening.
It has an interesting athmosphere to it, i can imaging walking the woods in a fairytale .
But there is a timing issue, could be a latency issue recording i don’t know but is sounds a if some sounds are not in sync. The bass sounds great but seems to ‘lag’ a little. Maybe you want that and it is a matter of musical style , but you could have a look at that to tighten the groove a little more.
The mix sounds fine to me on the speakers.
Hi,
Thanks for listening and giving me your impressions. Happy to hear you liked the bass sound and mix. I’d never really paid as close attention to the sync issues as I have since reading this comment. It’s really amazing sometimes how many possible points of focus there can be relative to the perspectives from multiple listeners, and that’s why commenting here can be so valuable to us.
As I did pay more attention to possible timing and sync issues, I did start to hear for the first time where that might come into play. I don’t think it was purely in the bass part because that seemed to sit well will the bass drum and simpler “beat” parts. I think it might come from some of the more “tinkly” percussion sounds I used. I can’t recall what they were exactly at this point, but I did try to use things like marimbas and “wood based” percussion, which wound up being melodic as well as percussive.
That’s all pretty constant through this track, and I’m now getting the sense that any latency or sync issues might reside there. Of course, it might be me playing a bit ahead or behind the beat on bass. I will listen again to my recording of this, and see what I can deduce.
Thanks again,
John
. (I’m more a sample chopper and digital sound designer and, on occasion, destroyer, though. So my songs are quite… 
…different!)