The first one, called “Penultimate Decade”, is vaguely reminiscent of early 90s trance or techno. The second one, which I call the “Sky Song”, seems to have more of a video game vibe, but I had no particular genre in mind. Almost all instruments used were VSTi plugins!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w0JXaOzJOx_jqd54HMHWZmizCjYhCa4g/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IYS_djPaTqd_r8_uCZRHJ6PGAhFaCIN-/view?usp=sharing
I liked the sky song it was like a little sweet dream.Did not like the With a better CPU,it felt too long and nothing interesting to keep me going
There are many dance tracks from the 90s that are several minutes or more, but I see what you are saying.
It is always a good and brave thing to ask for feedback. So with the best of intentions here is my feedback.
These are good efforts, though I feel there is room for improvement.
Length isn’t an issue if you keep things fresh and interesting.In that sense i think you have some ways to go still. Sure, Penultimate Decade has plenty of change happening. But I feel it is lacking direction. To my ears it meanders about around the same idea. I don’t think we’ve traveled very far in those 7 minutes.
If you think of music as storytelling ask yourself things like this: What story do I want to tell through music? What is the journey we’re going on? How do I keep it interesting for the audience? What will grab my listener’s attention and keep them glued to the speakers and want to hear the story again?
In Sky Song I experience something similar as to what I experience in Penultimate Decade. I do quite like the ending. That does something different. I like that change.
I did notice a lack of velocities, on your drums especially. Around 1:40 in Sky Song you get a a quieter, empty part. But the Snare and kick remain loud. Which feels a bit strange to me there. But that could be your artistic choice, of course. But as you have a lot space there all of a sudden, ,Maybe add a massive reverb on that snare? Or a delay? Something to give it a little bit of interest to those drum hits.
I hope this is of some use to you. Thanks for sharing!
I am well aware that velocity is something I need to work on. Perhaps I can use volume automation and/or a phaser/flanger effect to make it more dynamic. I tend to focus on timbres so much that I do not give volume and panning as much attention.
Edit: I would like to clarify that I do own interesting effect plugins like Objec Delay and Eventide’s H910.
The volume column is probably more convenient than drawing automation. But whatever works for you to get it done.
Go for it, use the effects. even it it just subltly in the background via send bus. Filling out the sound a little.
First of all, I prefer “With A Better CPU”.
I think I get the idea behind “With A Better CPU”. It has a nice calm and dull beat and a nice synth in the background, but unfortunately the lead starting at 3:17 ruins it. It’s a little bit too loud compared to the other instruments, there are a lot of crooked notes and the “spooky style” doesn’t fit to the rest of the song, which is calm. Especially around 6:35 it really gets pretty wild. I would drop that lead completely, improve the notes and shorten the song. It even takes almost 2 minutes until the song is about to get started and it takes around 1 minute for one single instrument to be added. Try to add at least 2 instruments at the same time, that keeps the song more interesting and less empty. Maybe also use more than 8 tracks and add some more background stuff.
“Sky Song” is very pleasant to hear until 0:45. That’s the point where the next spooky lead comes in. And again I don’t think it matches well with the other instruments. But it matches well with the next lead at 1:14, which somehow reminds me of some songs of Zelda and other JRPG OSTs. So I don’t know what you want to achieve with this song. Do you want it to be a kind of VG OST or do you want it to be a mellow breakbeat song? Or is there a specific atmosphere you wanted to create?
First one isn`t bad, except from the hihats and drums, which sound basically the same. Bass too loud. Mid tuning too high.
Sky Song I think is more of a mellow breakbeat song. I am thinking about replacing the lead with something more organic and less “spooky”. I also am considering making the percussion less repetitive and use dynamic effects for variety.