Living in Fear- Dark ambient song, now with vocals.

Bubba po

Tiny Stonehenge Moment
Hi, everybody. Like most of my stuff these days, this started as an extemporised drum performance by my son Frank. The drums are my new (old) drum set with some posh Zildjian and Dream cymbals. I fucked up the kick drum tracking, so that has been beefed up with a kick sub sample.

I'm developing this just as a piece of music at the moment. I'm not sure how I want it to turn out but I'm pleased with how it's developing so far. I think I will want vocals on it eventually, but for now this as far as I've got.

All my usual influences are here, I think - Portishead, Magazine, Radiohead and my obligatory ambient choice of atmosphere.

Comments, ideas, anyone?

 
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Cool chorus guitar sound. Nice creepy progression.

Kick is a tad clicky, but not too bad. Snare sounds 80's at times, but not too bad either. The snare might be a little hot, sticks out a little too much at times I think. Is there chorus on the bass as well?

Lead tone is nice, maybe take a little 5-6k off so it's a little warmer, that's kind of a taste thing though, it sounds pretty good as is.

Is this getting vocals? That would be interesting.

All of my nits will be better assessed when the vocal is there (if it's getting any).
 
I do hear the Magazine influence--chord progression, bass, guitar solo. Sounds good. I'd like to reserve judgement until I hear the vocals. There's a lot of ambiance on those drums though. Is that a gated reverb on the snare?
 
Drums sound nice, although maybe audition some more kick samples. I like where you're going with this. Atmospherics are very good, interesting sonic palette. Mix sounds great on phones
 
I love the drum sound. Very tight kick. Great crack on the snare.

I don't even mind all the reverb - it works well on this.

My only real complaint is the bass sounded a bit sterile. Needs a little warmth.

What were you using for reverb? What plug in, etc.?
 
I love the drum sound. Very tight kick. Great crack on the snare.

I don't even mind all the reverb - it works well on this.

My only real complaint is the bass sounded a bit sterile. Needs a little warmth.

What were you using for reverb? What plug in, etc.?

Thanks, Trip. The reverb is the free Magnus Ambience plugin. Preset is the "Papen Bright and Long" but edited for a bit shorter length and heavily damped in the frequencies above about 5k and below about 100 Hz.
 
This is close to being finished now. I will probably add some saxophone to it in the near future, but essentially it's done.



Sleep
Sleep is my lifeline
Walls come in
Killing my down time
It's no down time at all

I wear away the night
Working away to the daylight
Fear comes in
Filling my daytime
I fear.

I wear away the night
Working away to the daylight
The fear comes in
I fear
I fear
 
Could you duck the rhythm guitar and piano reverb a little during the vocal? Seems that the vocal vs instrument reverb kind of work against each other. Reminds of a Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, but without the mud their early stuff had.
 
Could you duck the rhythm guitar and piano reverb a little during the vocal? Seems that the vocal vs instrument reverb kind of work against each other. Reminds of a Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, but without the mud their early stuff had.

Do you think the vocal is unclear? It sounds crystal to me. All the instruments share the same global reverb apart from occasional rimshot and tom hits that have an automated send set up (for dub echo and canyon reverb effects).
 
Vocal is very clear and commands the center of the mix. Vocal level is perfect. Nice distorted guitar solo on the left after the first verse. It could come down a dB or two. Something that jumps out at me is the drum ambiance in the quiet parts, the intro, transition to verse 2, and the start of your verses. I'm hearing almost like an echo on that sidestick, or wood block, or whatever it is. To me it confuses the rhythm. I'm would want a more solid indication of where the beat falls. Once the snare comes in, that issue goes away.
 
Vocal is very clear and commands the center of the mix. Vocal level is perfect. Nice distorted guitar solo on the left after the first verse. It could come down a dB or two. Something that jumps out at me is the drum ambiance in the quiet parts, the intro, transition to verse 2, and the start of your verses. I'm hearing almost like an echo on that sidestick, or wood block, or whatever it is. To me it confuses the rhythm. I'm would want a more solid indication of where the beat falls. Once the snare comes in, that issue goes away.

That's a good call, Robus. It's been bugging me a little that the sidestick hits are too reverb heavy in the intro and the quiet bit after the solo. I think laziness stopped me from sorting it out. Anyway, I set up another automation envelope on the snare track last night just for the main reverb and it really does work great. There are now three automations on the snare-, canyon reverb, dub echo and global ambience. Now I've pulled down the global reverb in the quiet bits you can hear the special FX better, which has meant I can pull those down a little too. It makes for a much more subtle and spacious effect.

Regarding the slight echo you thought you were hearing, I think it's actually a flam rimshot on some hits.
 
Fantastic job of tracking and mixing this IMO. Nice contrast between the guitar and the piano at the start. Works very well. Excellent lead guitar tone and bass tone as well. Reverbs sound very good inn this too....very transparant with no artifact or coloration I here with a lot of home recordings.

It's a very pro sounding recording to my ears.

nice work man.
 
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