Minimalism

Bulls Hit

Well-known member
I've always like the concept of minimalism, stripping everything back until there's no fat left. When you can't take any more away then there's room for other stuff. This track could use some other stuff.
I'm interested in any suggestions that you might have that could flesh out this tune.

 
Anticipation - I was filling spaces in my skull & then you'd fill 'em moments after.
I very 30s radio effect vocal singing rising and falling through the mix.
Drowning
Take my hand I'm
Drowning
no don't let go
no no no no
Falling
Take my hand I'm
Falling
no don't let go
no no no no
& so on
 
This is one of those off kilter situations where I would say 'don't change anything'! At least keep the oddity of the raw combined with the synth would be my suggestion.

I find it quite interesting and strangely compelling. :)
 
not sure how to describe what i'd do... the basic approach is to contrast pitch, so in the intro i would consider something much higher pitched, like a synth melody. then, the next section i'd throw some far panned, heavy riffs to counter what's there. third section, which is similar to the first, i hear some type of vocal, even if it's one of those taken-from-tv spoken parts.

like i said, hard to describe in words. but yeah, ideas certainly popped in for each section. but i layer a lot, so, im usually looking out for counters/balance to the core.
 
I'm just dying to know what your signal chain is when you're tracking this stuff, it sounds freakin amazing. Is that the limiter you got a while back? (Distressor maybe?)
 
Jesus. That sounds fucking killer as is. Seriously. My son was here and perked right up when it came on. He loved it. He and I both felt it would make awesome background music to a violent video game. While you may not find that flattering, that is high praise from a 14 yr. old boy.

I would kill for that drum sound.

If you were to add stuff, I really am hearing almost exactly what andru described above. I think each of those suggestions would compliment this well. ray's lyrical ideas worked for me too.

Great to hear another track from you. Hope you'll share if you pimp it out some...
 
Cheezy Petes! That is a huge synth! Minimalism, eh?

I guess when the big synth is going, there is some room on the high end to add stuff. Maybe when it comes back in after the guitar part you could add a simpler synth (just a sine or triangle wave or something) following the melody an octave up? (Or maybe even an octave and a third up)

There's some room on the low end during the guitar part. Maybe a bass line following the rhythm guitar - or doing something else entirely.
 
I have to disagree with others here. The sythn is much too loud and boomy. I'd lower it in volume significantly and also make some serious eq cuts.

This to me is a typical modern mix where everything wants to be the loudest instrument and therefor nothing is, and the entire thing suffocates under the loudness of everything.
 
I agree with what Andrush said at the beginning of his post. I'd like to hear something high and somewhat discordant, melodically. It's crying out for something John Barry-ish. The riff reminds me of some mutated Peter Gunn or B52s Planet Claire vibe. No mix comments, I reckon you're the kind of guy who knows exactly how he wants his stuff to sound. Love it.
 
This just needs a really distorted vocal - Trent Reznor style and some weird guitar parts, not doing a great deal, just a couple of notes with a phaser and a delay so it gets just to the point where its feeding back and starting to self perpetuate.

Basically, I'm hearing something very Nine Inch Nails style here.
 
Hey guys wow thanks for all the great suggestions. I should have mentioned if anyone feels inspired enough to add to the tune please feel free. I can put up stems if you like.

rayc - I'm no vocalist ray but I like your lyrics. I can see potential there. If a melody strikes me I'll definitely use them, and credit yourself obviously. Unless you fancy a crack at them yourself?

jimmys69 - Strange And compelling? Well that's good, thanks for the spin

andrushkiwt - Yep good suggestions. I think the main thing will be a vocal. If I could sort that out, I could call the rest almost done

easlern - Yes, good memory! I'm still using that Altec limiter for pretty much everything. The guitar amp goes through there, the synth straight into it, and the drums go out and back in for some parallel compression. I put a Moog filter plugin on the synth to give it that swirly effect, and a chorus plug on the rhythm guitar as I didn't like the sound of it.

VHS - yeah there's no bass guitar at all on this, so certainly room for that. Thanks for the feedback

heatmiser - Your son has Excellent taste! :guitar: Yep some counterpoint stuff could go well with it. There's a tiled ensuite off the music room and I usually close the door when recording. This time I left it open and hung a mic over the sink when recording the drums and it certainly gave them an additional boom. Thanks for the listen heat

Nola - Yes there are quite a lot of harmonic overtones in the synth. Trouble is if I back it off then the drums are too loud. So I'd have to pull them back, then the synth is too loud... pretty soon there's no sound at all. Which could well be be the best outcome!. Thank for the listen

Bubby po - Yes I agree too. Planet Claire, that's interesting. Havn't heard that tune in along while but yes I can see that. Cheers man

JDOD - Yep I like Trent. Maybe if I take rayc's lyric and try something in a NIN vein with that. Could be onto something. Thanks for checking in
 
heatmiser - Your son has Excellent taste! :guitar: Yep some counterpoint stuff could go well with it. There's a tiled ensuite off the music room and I usually close the door when recording. This time I left it open and hung a mic over the sink when recording the drums and it certainly gave them an additional boom. Thanks for the listen heat

You know, actually he usually has shit taste, but in this case he was spot on!

Seriously about the sink mic though? Like a distant, mono room mic? Cool.
 
Seriously about the sink mic though? Like a distant, mono room mic? Cool.

Yeah not actually in the sink, just used it to drape the lead over. The mic was about a foot off the floor. I always park a room mic somewhere around the place and this was by far the best 'room' sound I've got
 
Killer. Just, killer. Love the thought of old-timey microphone vocal (lots of saturation and no bottom) doing something really minimalistic in there. Ray's lyric idea is actually quite brilliant.
 
Wow. This sounds pretty bad ass. Definitely has an industrial vibe.. pretty warm fat tone from the synth. Which Korg is it?
 
I like it as is...but some crazy samples, like whacked out old sci fi...distorted telephone vox maybe...An arp higher up the register through some guitar pedals could add more interest in parts

Theres a few directions this could take, I always like what you're going for
 
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