New Trance piece by me!

[MitchT]

I've just uploaded a new trance track (which I may yet work on a bit more) to my MySpace and Facebook pages.

Have a listen to "Aerospace" at...

MySpace: www.mitchspace.com - then play "Aerospace" in the music player.
Facebook: www.mitchbook.com - then click the "Boxes" tab and select "Aerospace" in the music player.

Please become a fan of my Facebook page if you like what you hear - I need all the support I can get!!!

Edited by MitchT on Friday 22 January 23:46

[TheEnd]

Reminds me of an ancient track by Tall Paul from years ago. Very PVD!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGkMRcKPYKI
(under the name Fred and Ginger)

Edited by TheEnd on Saturday 23 January 00:03

[ShadownINja]

There's nothing wrong with it... it's pretty good... but, like your previous track, it lacks something. I can't work out what it is. At 4:45 how many voices are playing?

ETA: Could you try a different bass drum? The TR909 one sounds quite weak. I think this may be the problem.

Edited by ShadownINja on Saturday 23 January 01:14

[MitchT]

ShadownINja said:

At 4:45 how many voices are playing?

I've cranked up the cut-off frequency on the bass line at 4:45. It starts rising at 4:38, peaks at 4:45 and the drops off to its normal level at 5:13. This gives the illusion that another sound has joined in, but it hasn't.

ShadownINja said:

ETA: Could you try a different bass drum? The TR909 one sounds quite weak. I think this may be the problem.

Yes, the trouble at the moment is that, living in an apartment, I have to do all of my work at low volume or through headphones. When I get a chance to do a proper mixdown in a suitable environment I'll be able to transform the sound of all of my tracks quick considerably.

[ShadownINja]

The reason I ask how many voices is that I wonder if it was missing a voice. Maybe it needs more reverb? I mean, the track is perfect but too perfect. It's like a demo track on a synthesizer if you see what I mean. Have a listen to trance tunes by other artists that you like and see what you think. I am finding it difficult to put in words what I mean. (Tell me to shut up if you think I'm being unnecessarily critical.)

[TheEnd]

ShadownINja said:

The reason I ask how many voices is that I wonder if it was missing a voice. Maybe it needs more reverb? I mean, the track is perfect but too perfect. It's like a demo track on a synthesizer if you see what I mean. Have a listen to trance tunes by other artists that you like and see what you think. I am finding it difficult to put in words what I mean. (Tell me to shut up if you think I'm being unnecessarily critical.)

I'd agree with that feeling, it's hard to say what exactly, but it does sound like a whole bunch of seperate audio tracks, which it is, really, a sequencer running through different lines, kicks, synth etc.
It needs to be blurred together somehow, and i think a light collection of effects would do.
Stuff like reverb might be the answer.
Depending on what software you use to sequence that lot, there should be options for effects, i know fruity loops had a bunch of presets, like stadium reverb which would change it from a sterile studio feel to a massive club

[A911DOM]

I can see what the chaps above are saying.

Its a little clinical - could do with some crowd roar or depth to the sound somehow...

Maybe double tracking some of parts you really want to ramp up (using a slightly different sound for the doubled track) - (kind of how you would get a nice fat dirty guitar sound on a rock recording).

Not bad though fella - good that you're having a go!

[MitchT]

Thanks guys, I know what you mean. I've been listening to remixes and tracks by Above & Beyond most of today and trying to work out how they've got that perfect Trance sound that I'm trying to get. It's a case of making it more cohesive and less clinical without blurring everything together so much that it loses clarity and transparency. I imagine it takes quite a level of skill which I haven't mastered yet... but I'm working on it!

For the record I'm using Logic Pro 8 which has an amazing array of effects, and I also have a load of software synths. I'm throwing the whole lot together on my laptop, which is handy because it means I can work on my tracks during my lunch breaks at work, or when I'm away from home, but I do need to get it pumping out though some monitors at a decent volume before I can declare anything "finished", although I've released a bit of my stuff so far and had a lot of good feedback.

[Funk]

It's not bad, but for some reason it sounds a little 'dated' if that makes sense?

I can hear where you're trying to go with it, and it's easy to sit here and spout off about it when I couldn't even get close to creating something like it myself! I guess it really shows how good some of the guys are that create quality euphoric trance. I'm a massive A&B fan too, and fair play to you for having a go at putting your own stuff together.

ETA: Spooky, I was about to say it has a very 'Vangelis-like' sound, and then listed amongst your 'Friends' is 'Vangelis Papathanassiou' who may or may not be the real Vangelis.

Edited by Funk on Saturday 23 January 16:46

[ShadownINja]

One big advantage the OPer has over me is that he actually manages to finish tracks. I have loads of 70% finished tunes somewhere on a HDD.

[MitchT]

TheEnd said:

Reminds me of an ancient track by Tall Paul from years ago. Very PVD!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGkMRcKPYKI

Yeah, the lead rif is a device which crops up in trance quite a lot. I've heard recent tracks by Super8 & Tab and Adam Nickey using the same pattern.

Funk said:

It's not bad, but for some reason it sounds a little 'dated' if that makes sense?

I'm not sure about "dated" but certainly it uses devices which have been cropping up in Trance for many years and which are still being used. I take a lot of inspiration from various podcasts of stuff that's being played now, so while it certainly isn't groundbreaking or revolutionary I do feel that it's appropriate for the current market.

Funk said:

ETA: Spooky, I was about to say it has a very 'Vangelis-like' sound, and then listed amongst your 'Friends' is 'Vangelis Papathanassiou' who may or may not be the real Vangelis.

Yeah, I listen to a lot of Vangelis and Jean Michel Jarre and try to recreate the drama of their work in mine, albeit in a Trance context.

ShadownINja said:

One big advantage the OPer has over me is that he actually manages to finish tracks. I have loads of 70% finished tunes somewhere on a HDD.

Ha ha, I have about 50 unfinished sequences languishing on floppy disks, waiting to be transfered from Cubase (Atari) to Logic (Mac)!!!

I think, listening again to my track and a whole load of other stuff, that my rhythm part is too fussy for a Trance piece - I wasn't happy with it from the outset. Making rhythm parts isn't my strong point so I'm going to work harder in this respect, though Trance beats do seem to be very minimal and simple, so I might be able to nail it with relative ease. The other thing is that I think the overall sound will be sorted at the mastering stage - listening to my track and things like A&B, Adam Nickey, Super8 & Tab, etc., I think it's actually the sparkling sheen that mastering adds that my work is lacking, more than anything else.

Edited by MitchT on Sunday 24th January 11:03

[MitchT]

Okay, I've fiddled like mad with this and still aren't sure about it, but anyway... The latest version "Aerospace" (remix) is now in my music player under the "Boxes" tab at www.mitchbook.com

[ShadownINja]

Just had a listen... twice. I think the bass needs to be more pronounced. Or the "lead" synth needs to be lowered a bit.

Check out the second half of this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-1AVakGFwY Similar style, ignore the voice section, of course.

Edited by ShadownINja on Wednesday 17th February 01:12

[qube_TA]

Quite like these, Aquaplane & Lucy in the Sky are my preferred two.
I think they'd benefit from a vocal or lead melody to raise them up.

Good work though.

[MitchT]

ShadownINja said:

Check out the second half of this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-1AVakGFwY Similar style, ignore the voice section, of course.

Like it!

ShadownINja said:

Just had a listen... twice. I think the bass needs to be more pronounced. Or the "lead" synth needs to be lowered a bit.

I agree. I think I'm going to have to give this one a rest and come back to it later. The original comments suggested that it was too sparse, but now I've added more to it it sounds too crowded. Furthermore, the tracks that people are suggesting as examples of what I am trying to achieve are less busy sounding, more like my original mix, so I seem to be bouncing from one extreme to the other trying to hit the spot but repeatedly missing!

[MitchT]

qube_TA said:

I think they'd benefit from a vocal or lead melody to raise them up.

Yeah, I'd love to get some vocals on my tracks. Finding a singer is a nightmare though. Me and a mate once advertised for one and we ended up having an experience akin to an early episode of X-Factor! Never again!! The few who actually could sing wanted silly money for doing so, even though they were in need of a break as much as we were!

[ShadownINja]

MitchT said:

I agree. I think I'm going to have to give this one a rest and come back to it later. The original comments suggested that it was too sparse, but now I've added more to it it sounds too crowded. Furthermore, the tracks that people are suggesting as examples of what I am trying to achieve are less busy sounding, more like my original mix, so I seem to be bouncing from one extreme to the other trying to hit the spot but repeatedly missing!

I am not sure. I think it isn't that it needs more or less tracks but the sound isn't quite right. It still feels... mechanical. It's a shame I don't have the software to fiddle with it (well, I do but I have no idea where I've put the CDs). I'm better at remixing stuff than starting stuff from scratch. Talentless or lazy, you decide.

Listen to the youtube track I linked to, from 4:00 to before the vocals kick in. It sounds like there's a rhythm, bass and lead synth but if you listen carefully, there's also a "spatial" synth accompaniment in the background.

Edited by ShadownINja on Wednesday 17th February 11:18

[Greg964]

Hi, just listened to all the tracks on your fb page. Not bad at all.
What struck me as needing work is your drum samples and drum programming. It sounds (to me) like you're using a straight quantize with 'old sample cd' drum samples. You're lacking that groove/excitement in the beat. Perhaps play with Logic's swing options a bit. Also, perhaps try some new drum samples, or do something to the ones you have - perhaps eq them and maybe compress/tube saturate them as a group.

Just my $0.02

[CHIEF]

I was expecting a load of the same old tosh but that is brilliant - i'm seriously impressed.

Nice one!

Edited by CHIEF on Wednesday 17th February 13:22

[qube_TA]

Very clean sound though, I also use Logic but am never able to get the production to sound as clean.