your oldest fears are the worst ones of all (spooky season week four)

By neon liminal on October 27, 2024 9:47 pm

Big thank you to my dear friend Alan who generously contributed his vocals recording some Jenny Holzer truisms this week. I have turned him into a dystopian-city loudspeaker voice rapidly running out of power and it's a little terrifying.

I ran out of time this week - in part because on Friday I discovered I really don't understand mid-tempo arrangement and sorta started from scratch, but whatever gains I made there in the first half of the song rapidly descend into mostly techno nonsense in the latter half because I was literally finishing this song last-minute and mastering on my MacBook with AirPods while I fed the dogs.

As a consequence it might be a loud master? I couldn't get an accurate LUFS, though I know it's between -12 and -14.

I'm pleased with how it sounds, and apart from loudness issues the master sounds really good, and Alan's voice is fantastic. The arrangement I'm less keen though I did learn a couple things.

(On other notes the M8 is back to full strength with a new battery, much easier than I expected to replace though because Canada sucks, very difficult to get the actual battery).

One more week of spooky season mid-tempo then who knows? If the sleeping gods show me favour this week, I might have a new pink friend soon to give some industrial drums to the mix.

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Tags: dirtywavem8, dystopian, midtempo, spooky season, techno, week 43 2024, View by:neon liminal

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October 28, 2024 2:21 pm

Tone Matrix

I am a suuuuucker for that gritty synth the sec it hits. Something is following me on the street. I can't see it but damn it's getting closer! Alan's vocals are mixed perfect. Love the clap build too. Excellent industrial vibes ala Front Line Assembly. Also that's some bad ass mastering and multitasking I'm intrigued and curious about this pink industrial friend you speak of

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October 30, 2024 5:47 am

littlebigmosaic

Awesome spooky season upload. Love the contrast between the gritty synth and more subtle ghostly vox and synths. And yes, love that classic claps build. Tracks like this that make me visualize things are always the best

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October 31, 2024 3:13 am

jwh

i am loving this series SO MUCH. you have transported me yet again.
i'm at the Midnight Sun, 1996. tussin bottles on the floor of the car. everything speeds up and slows down at the same time. i'm actually dancing. catching glares from the corner cuz i'm having too much fun, but i don't care because this feels IMPORTANT and i finally feel at home within myself

god, 2:43 just has such a deep groove. i'm doing embarrassing dance moves over here.

the loudness seems good to my crusty old ears

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October 31, 2024 9:35 am

rplktr

Sound design is excellent, the arrangement is great, the mood achieved is on point. High quality work.

Nitpick: everything earlier builds up to this break at 2:08 and I feel like the solo bass line at that moment is a little too complicated to pay off on its own. If I were you, I'd rework that bit to add more rhythmic cues (possibly just by tweaking the bass line itself), then it would just slay.

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October 31, 2024 8:40 pm

miraclemiles

Rawrrr! Yes.. love the gritty bass and the gnarly hard drums. Go spooky season. Spooky but I'm also kind of moving around in a slow dance the latter half. cool voice. Love the change around 2:45. Reminding me again to look up Jenny Holzer. Thanks!

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November 1, 2024 2:15 am

SQF

So good. As rplktr said, the sound design and arrangement are on point. Mastering sounds perfect. I'd love to see your m8 files to see behind the curtain of how you created this. Favoriting! I need to get better at m8 instrument creation/sound design evidently!

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November 2, 2024 11:41 am

nedsferatu

The sounds are so good! The bass and kick are perfectly matched, brain massage. I like the latter part too, still industrial imo. Nice one!

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November 2, 2024 9:49 pm

neon liminal

Tone Matrix wrote:

I am a suuuuucker for that gritty synth the sec it hits. Something is following me on the street. I can't see it but damn it's getting closer! Alan's vocals are mixed perfect. Love the clap build too. Excellent industrial vibes ala Front Line Assembly. Also that's some bad ass mastering and multitasking I'm intrigued and curious about this pink industrial friend you speak of

Thank you! I'm really a sucker for the side chained clap build now I think that might just become a signature lol. Pink friend is ordered and arrives Wednesday or sooner! See if we can get it onto next week's track ... or at least a supplementary video.

littlebigmosaic wrote:

Awesome spooky season upload. Love the contrast between the gritty synth and more subtle ghostly vox and synths. And yes, love that classic claps build. Tracks like this that make me visualize things are always the best

Thank you! I'm always trying to tell a story, glad it had a visual for you

jwh wrote:

i am loving this series SO MUCH. you have transported me yet again.
i'm at the Midnight Sun, 1996. tussin bottles on the floor of the car. everything speeds up and slows down at the same time. i'm actually dancing. catching glares from the corner cuz i'm having too much fun, but i don't care because this feels IMPORTANT and i finally feel at home within myself
god, 2:43 just has such a deep groove. i'm doing embarrassing dance moves over here.
the loudness seems good to my crusty old ears

Embarrassing dance moves are the best dance moves

This genre definitely seems to be about moments and interruption - my main struggle with it is wanting to exist in those moments a little too long. But we're learning, and we're also adapting the genre to what I like too lol.

rplktr wrote:

Sound design is excellent, the arrangement is great, the mood achieved is on point. High quality work.
Nitpick: everything earlier builds up to this break at 2:08 and I feel like the solo bass line at that moment is a little too complicated to pay off on its own. If I were you, I'd rework that bit to add more rhythmic cues (possibly just by tweaking the bass line itself), then it would just slay.

Thanks! I don't disagree. I was up against the deadline and critical-listening was out the window in favour of finishing. If there's an album version, this track will get an overhaul.

miraclemiles wrote:

Rawrrr! Yes.. love the gritty bass and the gnarly hard drums. Go spooky season. Spooky but I'm also kind of moving around in a slow dance the latter half. cool voice. Love the change around 2:45. Reminding me again to look up Jenny Holzer. Thanks!

Thank you! Jenny is great!

SQF wrote:

So good. As rplktr said, the sound design and arrangement are on point. Mastering sounds perfect. I'd love to see your m8 files to see behind the curtain of how you created this. Favoriting! I need to get better at m8 instrument creation/sound design evidently!

Thank you! I saw your message on Discord as well, feel free to msg me there or here and I can send you the M8 Bundle and you can peek behind the curtain to your hearts content.

nedsferatu wrote:

The sounds are so good! The bass and kick are perfectly matched, brain massage. I like the latter part too, still industrial imo. Nice one!

We might get more industrial next week!

[quote=Tone Matrix]I am a suuuuucker for that gritty synth the sec it hits. Something is following me on the street. I can't see it but damn it's getting closer! :o Alan's vocals are mixed perfect. Love the clap build too. Excellent industrial vibes ala Front Line Assembly. Also that's some bad ass mastering and multitasking :) I'm intrigued and curious about this pink industrial friend you speak of :o [/quote] Thank you! I'm really a sucker for the side chained clap build now I think that might just become a signature lol. Pink friend is ordered and arrives Wednesday or sooner! See if we can get it onto next week's track ... or at least a supplementary video. [quote=littlebigmosaic]Awesome spooky season upload. Love the contrast between the gritty synth and more subtle ghostly vox and synths. And yes, love that classic claps build. Tracks like this that make me visualize things are always the best[/quote] Thank you! I'm always trying to tell a story, glad it had a visual for you :) [quote=jwh]i am loving this series SO MUCH. you have transported me yet again. i'm at the Midnight Sun, 1996. tussin bottles on the floor of the car. everything speeds up and slows down at the same time. i'm actually dancing. catching glares from the corner cuz i'm having too much fun, but i don't care because this feels IMPORTANT and i finally feel at home within myself god, 2:43 just has such a deep groove. i'm doing embarrassing dance moves over here. the loudness seems good to my crusty old ears <3[/quote] Embarrassing dance moves are the best dance moves <3 This genre definitely seems to be about moments and interruption - my main struggle with it is wanting to exist in those moments a little too long. But we're learning, and we're also adapting the genre to what I like too lol. [quote=rplktr]Sound design is excellent, the arrangement is great, the mood achieved is on point. High quality work. Nitpick: everything earlier builds up to this break at 2:08 and I feel like the solo bass line at that moment is a little too complicated to pay off on its own. If I were you, I'd rework that bit to add more rhythmic cues (possibly just by tweaking the bass line itself), then it would just slay.[/quote] Thanks! I don't disagree. I was up against the deadline and critical-listening was out the window in favour of finishing. If there's an album version, this track will get an overhaul. [quote=miraclemiles]Rawrrr! Yes.. love the gritty bass and the gnarly hard drums. Go spooky season. Spooky but I'm also kind of moving around in a slow dance the latter half. cool voice. Love the change around 2:45. Reminding me again to look up Jenny Holzer. Thanks![/quote] Thank you! Jenny is great! [quote=SQF]So good. As rplktr said, the sound design and arrangement are on point. Mastering sounds perfect. I'd love to see your m8 files to see behind the curtain of how you created this. Favoriting! I need to get better at m8 instrument creation/sound design evidently! [/quote] Thank you! I saw your message on Discord as well, feel free to msg me there or here and I can send you the M8 Bundle and you can peek behind the curtain to your hearts content. [quote=nedsferatu]The sounds are so good! The bass and kick are perfectly matched, brain massage. I like the latter part too, still industrial imo. Nice one![/quote] We might get more industrial next week!

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November 3, 2024 11:06 pm

Paisleyfrog

Oh man, the grit combined with the spaciousness of this track is AMAZING. There’s the immediate comparison to NIN with that beat, but to me this track hits like my favorite Skinny Puppy album (Mind: TPI). Grit and texture aplenty, but so much room to breathe. Fantastic composition.

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