NOTE: Skip all of this if you don't care about discussion about process.

In general I'd say this sort of slow, heavily syncopated chromaticism is probably the closest I have to a signature style.

So, this track is a combination of lots and lots of spare parts dating back to about 2010. That "melody" is inspired by the lead to Tim Follin's level 1 theme from Bionic Commando C64, along with bits and pieces borrowed from DKC games and tracks like Ducktales NES African Mines.

The drum beat came from some experimentation I did in the really fun but slightly unusual Pixitracker with its sequencer style track construction. Pixitracker was made by the same guy who made SunVox (Nightradio).

I actually spent slightly more time massaging the EQ settings and volume levels compared to the last few weeks, but it's definitely a long way off from where I want it to be.

I also feel like I had something of a breakthrough in terms of bass programming, even if the instrument itself is a bit out of whack EQ wise. The bassline skeleton (which is there right at the beginning) was in my session for the last few months but I was having a hard time getting it to sound more interesting until I watched a handful of those "How to make your basslines more interesting" videos. I think I succeeded for the most part.

I also felt like I did a decent job with the song form in keeping it interesting, which is A-B-C-A'. I'm also getting a lot closer to writing actual real melodies instead of repeating figures that pretend they're the melody. I did some experimentation with some odd chord / key changes, such as the somewhat prepared modulation from C minor to C# minor at the very end.

For instrumentation, I used (all in Logic Pro X):
Percussion: Ultrabeat - Analog Techno Kit
Bass: EFM1 run through a bass modeling amp (Logic's built in FM synth)
Melody 1 (A section) and counter melody (B section): EFM1 - Bell Swarm (as a base) until I got something interesting
Melody 2: RetroSynth - Cheerful Melody (as a base)
Pad: Alchemy - Liquid Morph (as a base)

I hope you enjoy it!

Tags: cdm, dance music, groove, signature, synth, week 3 2018, View by:Snyderman