Softly - minimalist synth music - a work in progress

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sharke
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2017/03/24 06:22:07 (permalink)

Softly - minimalist synth music - a work in progress

Who knows I might even just leave it as it is. I tend towards minimalist arrangements and have fun with sound design & melody. Mix needs some work, obviously....and I don't know what it is that Soundcloud does to your tracks but it's frustrating....anyway here's some more dirge. That glitch at the start is Sonar's fault 
 
https://soundcloud.com/sharke-1/softly
 
 
 

James
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    synkrotron
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    Re: Softly - minimalist synth music - a work in progress 2017/03/24 07:59:55 (permalink)
    This is the first time I have listened to anything from you James.
     
    I like the funky rhythm that comes and goes throughout this piece.
     
    Sound design is interesting and I liked what you chose for each of the lead parts.
     
    For a thirteen minute track I happily let this carry me along. Certainly not your "normal" rock/pop arrangement but I like this sort of stuff.
     
    Like the jazz vibe too. I thought that the melding of synth sounds with "traditional" instruments works very well.
     
    Minimal it may be, but it is obvious that a reasonable amount of work gone into Softly. You could probably fill an A4 page reviewing all the sections/parts.
     
    Nice clean and clear mix as far as I'm concerned, and I don't think SoundCloud has messed things up too much. Unfortunately they process your upload to 128kbps, which usually plays havoc with some of the high frequency stuff. I always upload my 24bit 44.1 kHz WAV file and let it convert that.
     
    Could this be Minimal Prog Jazz Funk, perhaps
     
     
    cheers
     
    andy

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    #2
    sharke
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    Re: Softly - minimalist synth music - a work in progress 2017/03/24 13:13:54 (permalink)
    Thanks for the comments Andy, glad you like it. I've heard some people say that throwing a LPF across the whole mix at around 18kHz helps when downgrading audio on SoundCloud so maybe I'll try that.

    James
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    jamesg1213
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    Re: Softly - minimalist synth music - a work in progress 2017/03/24 13:26:09 (permalink)
    Some tasty chords, and I like the funky sections. good use of delays too. I think it's worth expanding on, I could imagine all sorts of stuff layered in there.

     
    Jyemz
     
     
     



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    daryl1968
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    Re: Softly - minimalist synth music - a work in progress 2017/03/24 14:26:40 (permalink)
    Good stuff James - I really like the sounds you have used and the theme running through it
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    Jesse Screed
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    Re: Softly - minimalist synth music - a work in progress 2017/03/24 22:05:00 (permalink)
    Mr. Sharke, I have wanted to hear some of your creations for a long time.
     
    Lots of stuff going on here.  It's almost like five pieces in one, but tied together with different sounds as the piece progresses,
     
    Very cool around 7:15, especially the bass.
     
    There is an interesting "halting" flavour that I can't put my finger on.
     
    The muted horns at 9+ are very neat, and when the drums come in it rocks good.
     
    Very insightful for me as to what you do.  I like it.  You kept it real all the way through.  Some very interesting sculpting.
     
    Jesse Q. Screed
     
     
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    sharke
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    Re: Softly - minimalist synth music - a work in progress 2017/03/25 00:56:36 (permalink)
    jamesg1213
    Some tasty chords, and I like the funky sections. good use of delays too. I think it's worth expanding on, I could imagine all sorts of stuff layered in there.




    Thanks, I can imagine all sorts of other stuff layered in there as well - the danger with me is that going down that road quickly leads to mix hell. Maybe I'll add some guitar or something in parts. 

    James
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    sharke
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    Re: Softly - minimalist synth music - a work in progress 2017/03/25 00:57:06 (permalink)
    daryl1968
    Good stuff James - I really like the sounds you have used and the theme running through it




    Cheers Daryl, as you might have guessed I really like sus7 chords!

    James
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    sharke
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    Re: Softly - minimalist synth music - a work in progress 2017/03/25 00:58:13 (permalink)
    Jesse Screed
    Mr. Sharke, I have wanted to hear some of your creations for a long time.
     
    Lots of stuff going on here.  It's almost like five pieces in one, but tied together with different sounds as the piece progresses,
     
    Very cool around 7:15, especially the bass.
     
    There is an interesting "halting" flavour that I can't put my finger on.
     
    The muted horns at 9+ are very neat, and when the drums come in it rocks good.
     
    Very insightful for me as to what you do.  I like it.  You kept it real all the way through.  Some very interesting sculpting.
     
    Jesse Q. Screed
     
     




    Thanks Jesse, I know exactly what you mean by the "halting" flavor. It's the rhythm of the kick, and what I started with. It drove the rest of the track. It's all got a fair bit of swing to it, and I'm a sucker for swing!

    James
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    Beagle
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    Re: Softly - minimalist synth music - a work in progress 2017/03/25 14:20:25 (permalink)
    This one I like a lot better!  I agree with what some others have said that I could definitely hear some more layers to it if you were to decide to expand on it, I think it would improve it even more.  but it is a good work!

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    sharke
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    Re: Softly - minimalist synth music - a work in progress 2017/03/25 21:12:39 (permalink)
    Beagle
    This one I like a lot better!  I agree with what some others have said that I could definitely hear some more layers to it if you were to decide to expand on it, I think it would improve it even more.  but it is a good work!




    Thanks Beagle. I threw it through Landr on the medium settings and uploaded it to YouTube, so it sounds a little tighter now. 
     


    James
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    stevec
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    Re: Softly - minimalist synth music - a work in progress 2017/03/27 19:48:28 (permalink)
    Psychedelically groovy, but with some nice hard edges on those soft synths.   And the delays work really well to fill out the space you've left in the arrangement.
     
    What was that starting at 6:58?  
     

    SteveC
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    biodiode
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    Re: Softly - minimalist synth music - a work in progress 2017/03/27 20:10:56 (permalink)
    Minimal it may be but it strangely hangs together on its own. Yes additional layers are there but I would see it as way to tease the listener. The mix sounds nice and clear my end.

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    sharke
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    Re: Softly - minimalist synth music - a work in progress 2017/03/27 22:58:05 (permalink)
    stevec
    Psychedelically groovy, but with some nice hard edges on those soft synths.   And the delays work really well to fill out the space you've left in the arrangement.
     
    What was that starting at 6:58?  
     


    Thanks Steve. The instrument at 6:58, which comes "into the light" with a brighter sound a little bit later, is believe it or not the "Resochord" effect which comes with Reaktor. It's hard to get into but once you figure it out you can get some really nice sounds out of it. That sound is a percussion track put through Resochord - it vibrates its 6 virtual "strings" the notes of which I played with a MIDI keyboard. Lots and lots of tweaking and additional effects to get it to sound like that though. I'm a huge tinkerer!

    James
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    sharke
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    Re: Softly - minimalist synth music - a work in progress 2017/03/27 22:59:25 (permalink)
    biodiode
    Minimal it may be but it strangely hangs together on its own. Yes additional layers are there but I would see it as way to tease the listener. The mix sounds nice and clear my end.


    Thanks, I'm never happy with my own mixes but "nice and clear" is definitely more than I could ask!

    James
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    eph221
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    Re: Softly - minimalist synth music - a work in progress 2017/03/31 17:07:50 (permalink)
    It could use a cut of about 1 db at 7khz other than that you're good to go!
    post edited by eph221 - 2017/03/31 22:11:06

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    Wookiee
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    Re: Softly - minimalist synth music - a work in progress 2017/03/31 17:59:24 (permalink)
    Interesting funky/jazzy tune James quite an enjoyable ride.

    Thanks for sharing.

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