Liberation - Progressive Trance? EQ?

[DKDiveDude]

A bit about me. I was born in Denmark 1964. Lived there for about 30.5 years, 4.5 years in Key Largo FL where I was as a DiveMaster and Scuba Instructor, and since then (about 18.5 years) in North Carolina. My parents listened to a lot of music, anything from Beatles, Rolling Stones, Redbone, Neil Diamond, to Abba and Classical. By chance I listened to Jean-Michel Jarre's Oxygene album back in 1981 when I was 17, and I was captivated by electronic music. I since abosrbed everything Jean-Michel Jarre, Tangerine Dream (plus all the member's solo works), Vangelis, Kitaro, Kraftwerk, Giorgio Moroder, Space, Tomita, Alan Parson Project, and similar. I never learned to play an instrument, but back in my late teens I frequently visited music shops where I was fascinated by synthesizers such as Roland Juno and Korg Delta. A musician once told me I have a musical ear. In spring of 2015 I bought a few used synthesizers, and even though I could not, and still can't play the keyboard or any other instrument, I started composing on the computer (DAW Reaper) by ear using piano roll inserting notes one at a time. I have since composed and posted on YouTube, over 120 original tunes, including albums. Currently I own 25 synthesizers, see below video description for which.

Over the past three days I composed and mixed the composition in question - Liberation. I did not use a music keyboard a single time, but inserted all notes by ear, intuition, in piano roll. I was aiming for a style similar to Progressive Trance.

I would very much like any constructive input that can help me take this composition to the next level(s).

Especially I am interested in knowing;

What would you call this style?
How does the mix (individual instruments, overall frequencies and level) sound?

9/13/18: Revision 8 - Dynamic Remix - https://youtu.be/6TKCpyoZKO8

[uksnowy]

It is quite groovy. I would say it has a more synth-wave vibe to it more than modern Trance. Not surprising given your pedigree and your love for the classic synths.

[DKDiveDude]

Originally Posted by uksnowy

It is quite groovy. I would say it has a more synth-wave vibe to it more than modern Trance. Not surprising given your pedigree and your love for the classic synths.

Thank you very much for taking the time to comment, much appreciated!

Overall frequency (mix) sounded ok to you?

[lolilol1975]

I think the biggest problem here is there is way too much stuff going on, you layer idea upon idea so we quickly lose focus.

Sometimes, less is more. I think a good exercise would be to try to remove as many layers as possible while keeping some direction. You should aim for clarity, and save ideas for later or even for another song. It's better to have evolving matter than to throw everythng together hoping it will sound good. Clarity is your goal, not quantity.
This will also make the mixing task much easier.

[DKDiveDude]

Much improvement in this revision;

1) Tweaked Bass Drum sound with compressor and EQ'ing
2) Put pumper and stereo expander effect on all but bass drum and bass instrument track. This for a fraction of a second, on every badd drum beat, lowers the volume on all other instruments a bit.
3) Cut off very low, bass range frequencies, on virtually all but bass instruments
4) Equalized virtually all instruments separately, and no more on master mix.
5) Add two new arpeggiated pad tracks for variety.
6) Added a pad melody variety.
7) Added a new lead melody for variety.
8) Attempted better break-down and build-up of breaks.
9) Added one break (sort of).
10) Added reverb on Lead 1 through 3 instruments
11) Added bass drum variety segments
12) Added some sort of modulation effect on several non-bass instruments
13) Many other small tweaks and adjustments

https://youtu.be/AGHbACCzYhs

[fred garvin]

Well it's not repetitive enough to be trance lol. Dunno what to call it in terms of genre... FDM? Fun EDM? I think it's charming, full of good ideas and fun little moments. Maybe put a little more attention into the bassline and bass sounds and take some of your ideas and let them develop and build and peak... Also I liked the intro, would have liked to heard that reprised or developed. Cool though, you do have a good ear to do something like that with no musical education by piano roll.

[DKDiveDude]

Originally Posted by fred garvin

Well it's not repetitive enough to be trance lol. Dunno what to call it in terms of genre... FDM? Fun EDM? I think it's charming, full of good ideas and fun little moments. Maybe put a little more attention into the bassline and bass sounds and take some of your ideas and let them develop and build and peak... Also I liked the intro, would have liked to heard that reprised or developed. Cool though, you do have a good ear to do something like that with no musical education by piano roll.

Thank you very much for your comment. Will you please elaborate on "...put a little more attention into the bassline and bass sounds"?

[fred garvin]

^^^ Oh, I'm just a bass head when it comes to dance music, I really love the bass lines and bass and kick sounds, and where I hear the effort you put into the upper ranges and hear little things that grab me I don't get that in the bass and I think you could. Not to be negative, I do like it, just my taste in dance music.

[DKDiveDude]

Originally Posted by fred garvin

^^^ Oh, I'm just a bass head when it comes to dance music, I really love the bass lines and bass and kick sounds, and where I hear the effort you put into the upper ranges and hear little things that grab me I don't get that in the bass and I think you could. Not to be negative, I do like it, just my taste in dance music.

Thank you VERY much for your comments. I just uploaded revision 3 with big changes, including an attempt to address the bass line you mentioned.

[DKDiveDude]

Big changes in this revision;

1) Changed bass drum sound.
2) Edited bass lines on all four bass tracks.
3) Changed FX 1 sound to something totally different, more rhythmic.
4) Changed Blip sound to something totally different
5) Added FX 6 sound as a riser before full mix
6) EQ'ed Hihats, Rides, FX, Percussion, and Pads in attempt to avoid peaks in 1K and 10K frequencies.
7) Lowered reverb effect on three lead tracks
8) Tweaked sound and frequencies of pad tracks
9) Many other small tweaks, adjustments, and rearrangements.

Enjoy - And constructive comments are always welcome!

https://youtu.be/SaRQl0c5xrY

[fred garvin]

Lolz! Dude that's so awesome, you totally reworked that track in 12 hours?!? You are a beast! You should get work in advertising, where I'm told the only money is left in music anyway... 24 hour turnarounds? No problem!

Well I really like the changes, like how the bassline growls a bit and the whole bass section has to me more of a feeling of driving the track. But the work in the upper registers is maybe even better, it's starting to get some focus and feel to me and it now definitely does build to that 3rd section where I was happy to hear that OTT synth madness return. And it's definitely closer to "progressive trance" if that's your goal, but hey why be labeled... oh yah I remember to make it easier to sell... but sometimes originality sells best of all. Good stuff man.

[DKDiveDude]

Originally Posted by fred garvin

Lolz! Dude that's so awesome, you totally reworked that track in 12 hours?!? You are a beast! You should get work in advertising, where I'm told the only money is left in music anyway... 24 hour turnarounds? No problem!

Well I really like the changes, like how the bassline growls a bit and the whole bass section has to me more of a feeling of driving the track. But the work in the upper registers is maybe even better, it's starting to get some focus and feel to me and it now definitely does build to that 3rd section where I was happy to hear that OTT synth madness return. And it's definitely closer to "progressive trance" if that's your goal, but hey why be labeled... oh yah I remember to make it easier to sell... but sometimes originality sells best of all. Good stuff man.

Thank you very much for your kind comments. Off course after I uploaded, I immediately started on further "improvements", like automation (individual stereo panning of hihat, ride, clap, Arp MidHigh, and Arp Mid Low), filter cutoff frequency automation of Arp MidHigh, and a few more tweaks. It is pretty much done, and will be uploaded later today.

[Judders]

You've got some interesting harmony stuff going on there. Quite often I find dance music can suffer from "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing" and people learn the basics of music theory but never stray outside of strict major/minor mindset. I think in this instance your lack of theory has allowed your ears to do some more interesting things.

That's not to say that learning some theory would ruin what you're doing, but I tend to think that if you have a good ear then theory is best applied after you've written something, not dictating what you write.

I've only heard the latest revision, but I think it is still a little busy in places with the upper-register stuff. All good writers know:

Originally Posted by Stephen King

kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings.

Decide which elements you want to shine. Use automation to move the "spotlight" on whichever elements you wish to dominate any given section.

All this is being picky though, it sounds good!

[DKDiveDude]

Revision 4 includes the following subtle changes, in an attempt to make whole song more organic;

1) HiHat track 9 - Automated stereo pan every 1/4 beat
2) Ride track 10 - Reduced decay ride sound to sound more like a hihat variation. Automated stereo pan every 1/16 beat, phased opposite hihat on track 9.
3) Blip track 11 - Automated stereo pan every bar. At 3:09 using pattern from track 16
4) Arp Back MidLow track 12 - Automated stereo pan every 1/2 bar. Automated resonance adjustment peaking every 4 bars.
5) Arp Back MidHigh track 13 - Automated stereo pan every bar. Automated resonance adjustment peaking every 4 bars, phased opposite resonance adjustment on track 12.
6) Several minor rearrangements and tweaks.

Constructive comments welcome.

https://youtu.be/FDvxWDFN44o

[DKDiveDude]

Revision 5 includes the following changes;

1) Changed Bass Drum sound.
2) Edited most bass drum parts to include a variation at end of every second bar.
3) Separated bass lines into it's own pumper group, which now ducks a bit in volume every 1/8 beat to make room for bass drum kick. Removed saturator and stereo expander on bass lines.
4) Edited bass line 3.
5) Tweaked sound of high-hats and ride.
6) Tweaked frequencies on all pads.
7) Several minor rearrangements and tweaks.

https://youtu.be/vUOahzBdzGQ

[fred garvin]

Yah hmm wow. You make these things faster than I can listen to them lol. New kick is strong, verging on too strong so probably just right lol. I think all the sounds are stronger than last I heard (v3) buuut there's something I like about v3 better somehow... Are you familiar with Oblique Strategies? A creative tool designed by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt; a card deck of cryptic statements and suggestions to contemplate when seeking inspiration. There's of course an online version:
http://stoney.sb.org/eno/oblique.html

Of course select your own, if you like it at all, but I selected the following for you:
Emphasize differences
Work at a different speed (lol)
Be dirty

Good luck, have fun!

[DKDiveDude]

Revision 6 includes the following changes;

1) Tweaked Bass Drum sound (Frequency and Decay) plus increased overall presence by adjusting side chaining (ducking) of bass lines and remaining instrument. This last adjustment now produces a slight gated effect on some instruments, especially evident at the two lead solo sections.
2) Tweaked Ride sound (Shorter decay).
3) On Blip (track 12) I reduced stereo bounce effect.
4) On Arp Back MidLow (track 13) I added variety by increasing segment from 2 to 8 bars. Tweaked frequency range in an attempt to separate instrument. Reduced stereo bounce effect.
5) On Arp Back MidHigh (track 14) I added variety by increasing segment from 2 to 8 bars. Tweaked frequency range in an attempt to separate instrument. Reduced stereo bounce effect.
6) On Blip MidHigh (track 17) I reduced notes and tweaked sound.
7) On Blip MidLow (track 21) I reduced notes and tweaked sound.
8) Around 4:36 I replaced a repeated section with something new.
9) Tweaked ending.
10) Cut out a lot of instrument parts in attempt to focus overall song.
11) Lots of small tweaks and adjustments.

https://youtu.be/2gh281MJWBU

[DKDiveDude]

I just spent a considerable amount of time the past few days, making a mega overhaul, and made the final (master) version.

1) Biggest change is that most tracks, have their note/melody segments edited, and expanded to 8 bars, to align notes with pads chords. This includes bass drum, the four bass lines, FX 1 to 3, Blip, Arp Back MidLow, Arp Back MidHigh, Blip MidHigh, Snare, Blip MidLow, and Clap!
2) Re-Equalized almost all tracks, in an attempt to better fit instruments in overall mix.
3) I moved high-hat, ride, crash, and percussion tracks, but not snare and clap, out of bass ducked (side-chained) and saturator/stereo expander group. Firstly because these instruments were occupying completely different frequencies, I saw no need to duck them on main kicks, and secondly to "tighten" these instruments.
4) For better fit and a bit of variety, I edited bass drum patterns, ride pattern, snare drum pattern.
5) Much different sound on bass line 4.
6) Edited FX 1 (track 12) pattern a bit.
7) Totally different sound as FX 2 (track 13)
8) Totally different sound for Arp Back MidLow (track 15).
9) Brought up FX 3 (track 17) as by aligning notes with pad chords, it became a lot more melodic.
10) Totally new sound for FX 5 (track 20).
11) Totally new sound for Lead 1 (Now track 31)
12) Moved the three lead tracks out of the bass ducked (side-chained) and saturator/stereo expander group. I then re-added separately individual saturator and stereo expansion.
13) Middle of second act, break part, now has it's own unique bass pattern
14) In act 3 (last part) there are several big changes. Firstly I cut off 14.5 seconds off a quite repetitive 8 bar pattern, secondly I replaced a somewhat repetitive pattern with something "new", well actually I am just separating out a bit the Blip MidLow, Arp Back MidLow, and Blip MidHigh patterns, and thirdly added some interesting sound to another segment.
15) Finally I again cut away several segments (patterns), and did a lot of volume adjustments, and other small tweaks in an attempt to clarify areas and overall mix.

https://youtu.be/pb6wqjBfzG4

[DKDiveDude]

Been busy since last revision (7) was posted last week, but revisited my tune yesterday and today and made l several quite noticeable changes. This remix was made in an attempt to make the composition a bit more dynamic and alive!

Mainly I have done much less master compression, and replaced old compressor with two different cascaded compressors. Next big thing is I have done a lot of track pattern (section) volume remixing. Then I tweaked the sound of a few instruments and finally did a new lead in final (3rd) act - Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/6TKCpyoZKO8