Right now I’m toying with the idea of playing the flute bit at the end one more time, then dropping the lead synth and fading out. But I kind of want to bring back one of the sample phrases from earlier in the track. I’m not sure how to do that. My attempts so far haven’t flowed very well.
Any comments would greatly be appreciated. This track is almost finished, and I want to release it already!
what if… you subtly place the exact sampled phrase from 1:55 till 2:01 and loop it … sloping in, coming from the background at precisely 4:53 with the volume sliding up slowely but still keeping it in the background. Maybe even pan it 30% just so it doesnt get in the way of the flute and the synthchords.
so at 4:43 till 5:01 you have a climax ending the song was missing:
the flute lead upfront (the main theme)
the synth chords (atmosphere theme from before)
the sample (brings back the theme from the mid-section)
Mixing: important to keep the main flute theme upfront, the synths airy and the sampled phrase way back but clearly audible.
and of course the beat stays unchanged.
great sound, the crispy sound on that flute is very effective, cool drumbeats, darn catchy melodies.
I like the playfull feel of the track very much… sounds like the composer had lots of fun composing this song.
But be carefull not to end up with too many themes and ideas crammed in 1 track. Although it’s fun to compose it makes it a little confusing for the listener (me). Instead of 1 track it becomes something like a short dance megamix marathon.
I think I know what you mean. I fear I fall into the trap of a composer growing bored with his/her own music - listening to the same thing over and over gets a little tedious, so I make it fun for myself, as you said.
I really like this, especially those bassy drums, nice! My thoughts on the composition so far…
I’ll say it again, great drums, especially that base. Did you track these by hand or are those loops?
Good strong lead, although I think it could really benefit from more panning. I’m listening to this on 5.1 and it’s barely moving even between my front two speakers.
Great cohesive lead in to the bridge, again though not much panning happening. The use of fx to liven up the samples is good.
Nice move out back into the main melody, you can tell you put a lot of thought into making that work well (nothing worse than a track which goes “here’s the bridge, and oh look here’s the melody again, no need to introduce you two” which thankfully yours doesn’t do!).
I love the movement into the second bridge, and that bridge gives the whole piece some space, nice melodic flow, good chords, good upkeep of the bass. And again a good return to the melody, keeping it ambient but a bit funky.
To be honest to finish this all I would do is put the melody over that nice ambient bridge at the end and fade that out to silence over say 40 seconds? Your track is already hitting 5 minutes so you don’t -need- to add anything else to it unless you really want to.
I agree that this track contains quite a number of themes but I didn’t feel like it was disjointed at all, in fact it kept me listening and, more importantly, interested right until the very end - not something a lot of tracks can pull off with their listeners so I think you’ve done a fantastic job here. Hope that helps
Thanks for your input Hsteel. I totally agree with your observation that the track as a whole lacks a good stereo image. I’m working on a new track right now that’s really well spread out, and when I played this one it sounded almost mono in comparison. I definitely have to work on that.
To answer your question, the percussion is mostly tracked out, but there is an underlying and barely noticable loop that’s got a vinyl-dirty grit to it to spicen the track up a bit.
As for your comments on the arrangement (main melody leading into the bridge, etc.), I’m glad you felt it was cohesive. I really struggle with making a final arrangement that flows well. I’m glad you feel I did alright here.
“I agree that this track contains quite a number of themes but I didn’t feel like it was disjointed at all, in fact it kept me listening and, more importantly, interested right until the very end - not something a lot of tracks can pull off with their listeners so I think you’ve done a fantastic job here. Hope that helps”
I’m really happy to hear that!
Once again, thanks! I’ll definitely take yours and Kcirr3d’s suggestions into consideration.
i don’t really have the mind to critique this right now as i am trying to relax and work on my own music but i would just like to say this is some badass shit. really cool funky horn stuff. i will definitely download the finished version of this
