[exper./melodic/calm] Signal Chain - Wake up in empty city

psishock · August 11, 2009, 19:00:19

Experimenting with stuff further on, i wanted to tell an enchanting story with melodies and sounds. A man wakes up in empty city, there are no other people, family, birds, animals, he is quite disturbed, tries to find his way to live, walks on the streets and speculates. Suddenly, he wakes up "again", with a big "phew", it all was a dream.

http://psi.lp1.nl/music/Signal_Chain_-_Wake_up_in_empty_city.mp3

uncloned · August 11, 2009, 21:53:58

this one does not appeal to me as much as the other two.

in this case its just too much reverb imho

the basic idea seems nice but its too buried.

KrazyKatz · August 11, 2009, 23:14:33

As usual your unique approach in composition is astounding. I would really appreciate a day just to watch you compose. I imagine there would be a lot to learn.

Sam_Zen · August 12, 2009, 01:32:49

Nice "phew"..

Second half was getting a bit bombastic, but still within the subject.

Maybe Clones has a point about too many sounds drowning in the reverb.

I'm quite happy, that, after 6 months of headphones in the hospital, I can fully enjoy these kind of things again with the four speakers in my studio..

Harbinger · August 15, 2009, 21:00:46

Notes as i'm listening

The reverb helps to give space to the aloneness of the melody, so i don't have a problem with that. But the melodic progression didn't have any "hooks" so it was hard to keep up with. (As we all know though, psishock is from a part of the world where melodies can get intricate and complicated in their traditional musics.)
I would complain about how the music meanders and all the progressions (chord, melody, and rhythmic) get lost, but that actually lends to the vision of the music. After a while i could envision myself, wandering, looking for something i could relate to, wondering if there was an end to the lost loneliness.

psishock · August 16, 2009, 03:05:00

about the reverb, i'm not sure it's the effect what is cause the problem, i wanted it to be "dreamy" and it serves the purpose, i think is's rather the "sharpness" of the lead sounds. They are maybe a bit too dim, but then again, i wanted to drive the piece with the created harmony, the mixed output should give the impression, rather than speaking with clear melodies. But i can indeed try to brighten the leads out and see, maybe it will really give an overall better feel.

Harbinger:

QuoteBut the melodic progression didn't have any "hooks" so it was hard to keep up with. (As we all know though, psishock is from a part of the world where melodies can get intricate and complicated in their traditional musics.)

Well, i am working hard as you can see, to now have any "hooks" at all, on any of my pieces. The purpose of this is preventing you to rely or search for the "catchy 10 sec stuff" and repeat them over and over while listening (many of my friends listens music this way, checking the refrain or good vocal stuff and fast forwarding to the next song), rather try to enjoy it whole the time. On my music, the variations and the constant swarm of new stuff should keep you entertained till the end. I would like to "force" people to listen to musics as a fully "worthy" production from the beginning. Some parts (or many of them) may feel confusing or overwhelming at the first listen, because it could get hard to register all these variations, but every of my pieces are designed to be listened many times, so after a few tries, you will pick up the structure that is not following any "standards", and the variations would get really enjoyable, rather than the short refrains, that are getting usually boring (for me) after some listening.
Burying yourself in the music, hooking most of your attention and fantasy to it till it plays, sometime is a good thing, rather just simply "listening" to it.

KrazyKatz: thanks for nice comments ^^, it's rare to c you here, but i understand that you're very busy, nevertheless i'm still glad that you squeeze time to listen and comment. Believe me, i am learning dozen of new stuff every time i experiment with sounds and song structures, so it would be an active learning process for both of us.

Harbinger · August 16, 2009, 03:32:43

Well, might i suggest that you retain those things that keep the music interesting and memorable. "Hooks" like repeating motifs and simple melodies keep the listener interested, so i wouldn't want you to abandon them completely. The kind of meandering progressions in this song is nice for an occasional art piece, but i wouldn't want to listen to an album full of this (myself). I mean it's bad enough you're abandoning your signature trance!

But i predicted many months ago, sadly i should say, that you would eventually get to a point where you would want to experiment with your style and with sound for artistic merit, as most artists do. Then hopefully one day, you'll run that gamut, and decide to go back to what pleased you when you first started out, and we can dance again!

psishock · August 16, 2009, 05:18:59

QuoteI mean it's bad enough you're abandoning your signature trance!

Like i would

, only spreading myself to different fields

QuoteBut i predicted many months ago, sadly i should say, that you would eventually get to a point where you would want to experiment with your style and with sound for artistic merit, as most artists do. Then hopefully one day, you'll run that gamut, and decide to go back to what pleased you when you first started out, and we can dance again!

more friends of mine told the same to me, they are unable to "understand" these type of musics, feeling them uninspiring and boring, most likely searching for the "standards", but they forget a fact, that some people researched and "invented" these standards in past.

This is a process of evolution that i must and want to take, i haven't planned to abandon the dance signatures so i will continue to make trancy musics too (uhh... am doing it even now

, but as i've said, experimenting with different fields are leading to new and inspiring stuff.

Harbinger · August 16, 2009, 05:43:07

Quote from: "psishock"
This is a process of evolution that i must and want to take, i haven't planned to abandon the dance signatures so i will continue to make trancy musics too (uhh... am doing it even now , but as i've said, experimenting with different fields are leading to new and inspiring stuff.

Well then, if what i went thru is any guide, when you come out the other side, your trance will sound better, as will your more "artistic" work. :wink:

Myself, my classical music was incorporated with my love of rock and techno. I dabbled in Trance and other EDM as i was teaching Yjana, and found myself applying it to my techno-rock style.