http://illformed.org/dump/music/dblue-2009…hed-ambient.mp3
Next is an ambient track that I started in 2007 but recently found an urge to continue with. It’s still just a loose collection of ideas at the moment, until I figure out which bits I like most. I threw together some basic pattern progressions, but there’s no real structure to it yet.
Hopefully someone finds these entertaining in some way
Disclaimer: I don’t have proper studio monitors at the moment, so this is all done on some Sony MDR-V6 headphones. There’s probably a bit of fine-tuning to do with certain frequencies, especially in the bass region.
first tune is nice and punchy. maybe you could spice up the bassline a little bit or make it sonically more interesting. i think it gets a bit tedious on the long run and needs some alteration, maybe with another bassy instrument forming a solid groove in union with it… maybe in the manner of a question - answer principle?
but nicely solid base you got there.
second tune has a broad stage. maybe a bit irritating that the stereo width is also present in the low frequency range (<150hz), but that’s just my liking.
the mood created by those swelling pads is magnificent. i can already hear some octaved strings accompanying them. definately sounds more “complete” than the 1st track - nice stuff
glad you’re musically productive again - keep it up and don’t hesitate to update this thread with updates!
Have to agree with Klaus here. The bassline in the first track needs some more alterations like some filter sweeps and maybe another bassline complementing it. I think in the second part it could even work with a short sawtooth sound playing the same note every two pattern lines to make it a bit more hunting. I’d also lower the clap a bit or adjust the attack phase of it, it seems very sharp. Another idea for the hats could be the automation of the decay using note cut commands. When i think of those typically drum box grooves it was a very common technic to add interest. Even doubling a short hat part and offsetting it a bit could work near pattern ends.
So far i’m really loving that second song and this would be something i’d also add to my personal music library. Maybe you don’t have to strictly keep it ambientish, but rather go a bit dirty and industrial sounding near the second half, which also needs a bit more work i think. Maybe a small breakdown and some additional synth elements to spice it up. I’m thinking of some influences from “Access To Arasaka” for example.
Sometimes it can really difficult to get these kind of sounds from a VST synth, unless it supports loading of custom waveforms and the ability to progress through a wavetable of different oscillator types. Usually I find it much easier to take some weird unexpected sound that I have, and then sculpt that into something quite different.
Both sound nice and SOLID. The 2nd one has some great cripsy crunchy stuff going on. Could do with a lead line in the 2nd half maybe, some warbled tingly bell-like sounds perhaps?
I’m trying to learn how to make basslines and leads like that at the moment (akin to something you’d hear in trance maybe?), but I’m having a really hard time not having it so monotonous, like what you do with the lfo’s and stuff like that. Playing with filters and such. I just don’t know exactly what to do. I’ve started paying attention to that in music a lot recently, but it’s just hard because I’m fairly new to electronic music. I kind of like have an idea of the kind of sound I’d want and I can get quite near but the filters and things feel like hitting a dead end. I guess/hope my babysteps will eventually get me there at some point.
So yeah, that was just a kind of longer thanks, because I find it a lot more helpful seeing an isolated part of a song play on its own. It’s a lot of easier to see what you do with whatever effect and such. It’d be more than great if more people would be willing to share things like that.
