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I have been wanting to try my hand at something like this for a while. Usually I pay little or no attention to trends. I just create music as it appears in my head, for the fun of it, with no apologies or pretense. In some cases I do covers, like my cover of Tangerine Dream's Choronzon, which came out well.

But this time I went for something trendy, but allowed myself some indulgences while doing it. This one is "almost done." I froze VI tracks as they were completed and didn't mix them together as I have done in the past, that way I can go back and make changes. There are some sections/interludes that I am on the fence about, and also am curious about any production advice, etc.

Commentary, critical or otherwise, is welcome and appreciated.

https://soundcloud.com/asensory/movemen ... le/s-WtYGd

Exquisitely recorded, lovely sounds in a lush soundscape. Wish I'd recorded it myself!

Like in the last post I do like the choices of timber/sounds that you chose for this I want to encourage you to keep developing I am a fellow songwriter myself and a DP user it's been a long while since I posted anything my focus these days has been on mixing but I need to get back to writing myself keep up the good work my friend.

Nice layered sounds. There's a cool effect where the harmony has subtle layering (a different bass note underneath to suggest an alternative chord progression). But then, it's not really about the chord progression in this song. The tones, drop-outs etc are interesting. I don't know what the snot-nosed kidz would say about it, but I like it. Well crafted.

My perpetually-adolescent brain says, "Um.. probably don't call it movements". I can't hear "movements" without my brain putting "bowel" before it. But that's me. Perhaps call it... "Bowel Movements." Ooops! S#!+ sorry. See?!

Seriously though, nice work.

Most modern EDM has a little bit more "edge" to it than you have incorporated in this mix, with more filter sweeps and transitions (risers, falls, swells and fades), and a somewhat brighter mix, typically, keeping it exciting. Of course, the sub-bass elements, also! This is an excellent start that will be easy to push in that direction!

Thanks for sharing your creative process with us. I look forward to hearing where this takes you!

Terry

Thanks for the comments, compliments, etc. Re the name "Movements," That was one issue I had, I SUCK at naming tunes. I won't be sticking with "Movements," it will remain untitled until something jumps in my head that is obviously the right moniker.

Chord progression-wise ... from what I understand about the genre (trance), you do need some kind of pretty, lush chords to sooth the listener's ear and trigger off all those MDMA-soaked pleasure centers. I talk ••••, but I love electronic music along with jazz, classical hard rock, all of it! Anyway, the lush chords and pads eventually build into layered rhythms, usually 4-on-the-floor beatz, etc. In the I (not E) DM world, you see more syncopated, glitched-out complexities than you do in trance. But this is trance, with a bit of trap tossed in to give the kids something to dance to.

Anyway ... appreciate the commentary.

terrybritton wrote:... Of course, the sub-bass elements, also! ...

I also noticed that my subwoofer was not really engaged. If you're not able to monitor those frequencies, a decent subwoofer (or calibration of what you already have) is a good idea.

WavesFactory has a free plugin that may help the process. I would check out the SK10, a free plugin that emulates a sub-bass mic. There's a link to it here:
viewtopic.php?f=26&t=11847&start=615
Here's the direct link:
https://www.wavesfactory.com/

It's a bit convoluted to set up a user account but it only takes a few minutes. They also have a few free VIs, some require Kontakt, a couple do not.

Terry,

Yeah, I realized as I was going that the track above was more trance than EDM, for the reasons you stated. Especially in the area of builds, risers, etc. They are designed to move the energy up and down, trance is more ... well, trancy. Part of why I'm doing this is to see if I can. Learn the rules, then break them. Mostly I've been breaking them and indulging my world/IDM/experimental-noise tnedencies, so this is good practice. I will learn something for sure, about creating music and DP.

Mike,

Good advice on the sub-bass levels. I have an old Velodyne, but its thudding now, and they won't fix it .. it quite old but sounds good. Anyway, its on my regular listening system, not the monitoring system .. which is not a system at all but a pair of Grado headphones and el-cheapo computer monitors. The monitors are what I use for mixing, etc. because the headphones LIE. I intentionally rolled off the lower bass on the kick, bass synth, etc. to keep things from getting muddy and over saturating the levels, but probably over-did it. I'll look into your links and perhaps use that plugin to get a better bass level. Thanks.

AsensoryMusic wrote:Terry,

Yeah, I realized as I was going that the track above was more trance than EDM, for the reasons you stated. Especially in the area of builds, risers, etc. They are designed to move the energy up and down, trance is more ... well, trancy. Part of why I'm doing this is to see if I can. Learn the rules, then break them. Mostly I've been breaking them and indulging my world/IDM/experimental-noise tnedencies, so this is good practice. I will learn something for sure, about creating music and DP.

I listen to a ton of Trance and Psy-Trance when writing (it is soooo soothing!) via subscriptions to DI.fm and Philosomatika.fm (worth every penny, too!), and perhaps the improvement of the bass and sub-bass will bring out the contrast with the more treble material. But I blame the Grados - which are inherently very bright - and think you likely pulled down the brightness due to those. [EDIT - what I may be after could be more in the "crunch" octave, though, between 4K and 8K...)

This is just a comparison with what I listen to most days I'm writing, though -- you take this wherever your muse takes you!!!

Terry

AsensoryMusic wrote:I listen to a ton of Trance and Psy-Trance when writing (it is soooo soothing!) via subscriptions to DI.fm and Philosomatika.fm (worth every penny, too!), and perhaps the improvement of the bass and sub-bass will bring out the contrast with the more treble material. But I blame the Grados - which are inherently very bright - and think you likely pulled down the brightness due to those. [EDIT - what I may be after could be more in the "crunch" octave, though, between 4K and 8K...)

I've not found the Grados to be that bright. Maybe the cheaper ones, mine in the mid-level (SR325). They are open, spacious, and less bass-muddy without being lacking in low end. But you can't mix or master on them. Effects, balance, everything, various levels, will all be off. So I use my little computer monitors. They are bright AND muddy! Kind of of like Apple ear-buds, boomy and bright-ish. they have enough bass to get the idea. But, being highly flawed, some elements come out better resulting from over-compensation, and some worse.

Truth be told, I try not to make my mixes that bright. Most systems are hashy, bright and mid-sucked-out, so I try to keep that in mind. Maybe not very successfully. I used Ozone 7 on this, which I am trying to learn. I added it in after everything else was done. It added brightness and clarity, but perhaps I can tweak for more low end, along with experimenting with the aforementioned plugin.

Happy to see that you have done good job.