I tried to start from a bass line but was in a rut and played around with Tape Orchestra, a new group of instruments in Spitfire Audio LABS, where I came up with the chord structure of the song and the mix of crinkled tape strings + woods. This set the mood for this piece.
I added the drums (also LABS) and recorded the bass guitar. Then came the synth arpeggio (Arturia Microfreak). Finally, I wrote the lyrics in a single sitting and fought the whole week-end with the vocals (woohoo, finally got to use the vocoder feature from the Microfreak).
The song misses movement, changes and tension but ends up being much better than I expected entering the week-end with just a few bits and little hope I would have a complete song.
Lossless on Soundclound: https://soundcloud.com/user-493253580/night-travel
@Arcana Thanks!
Yes the vocals/vocoder layering doesn't work so good the way I used it. I added it in the last sprint for the sake of using the Microfreak's feature and because I thought it would fit the atmosphere in this track but the result is underwhelming.
The bass cuts through quite evenly on every gear I've listened to the track on and there's no particular mixing event at 2:21. Let's add it to the list of unsolved mysteries :)
I have thought of an ad lib synth solo after the last chorus but was running out of time an energy. I guess I'll revisit this one.
A few notes. The movement isn’t actually too bad. There’s vocals, there’s a chord change, and parts where drums and synths. add/remove elements. Yes, you could add more, but I think that the parts where you want to add them are pretty straightforward. You have a nice pop song structure here overall.
I really like the synth design. They’re lush and thick and give that kind of synthwave feeling.
The doubled synth + voice at around 2:00 was a little confusing - they conflicted with each other and it wasn’t clear what I should be listening to.
The 2:21 bass addition was really nice. I’m listening on my iPad so I can’t hear bass that well but that punched through and I wonder if they were missing before. The long extended measure at 2:50ish was a great touch. I’d consider some kind of synth solo after that point to keep interest up.
You have a pretty good song here. Sounds like Ike you have a sense of what can be improved but it sounds like you did pretty well to me. I think you could work on this one and polish and publish it at some point.
@Kedbreak136 Thanks for the feedback. I love that bass guitar (Sire Marcus Miller V7). In this case, what you hear is passive mode, all settings flat, fingered (bridge pickup) direct from audio interface with light compression (sidechain on kickdrum) in Ableton. It has that nice growl I like.
I started using a DAW with this challenge, so my experience is limited to just a few plugins and I don't have Kontakt. LABS offers many "exotic" and other unusual, prepared, crinkly instruments which I find inspiring. I've heard about Kontakt and it sounds great but I don't want to delve into new directions. Timing is already very tight for me to put out a song every week and I won't be able to keep on going if I start looking into new things :)
Good track. I really like the bass tone you are getting in your tracks!
How has your experience been with Spitfire Audio Labs? And how do these libraries compare to what you'd get for instance in Kontakt?
I'm closing 2021 with a Lyra-8 jam I recorded in several takes and attempted to quickly glue together into a track.
High quality on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-493253580/starless-night
52 weeks! Thanks to everyone who submitted, listened and commented and thanks to @onezero for hosting the streak. I'm headed for a different project in 2022 and wish you all an amazing year.
I keep on unraveling this Lyra-8-based thematic streak. The process was different this week, though: I recorded and assembled parts in Ableton as I went. The result is more varied and polished but lacks the coherence and spontaneity I find the live takes I used as a base for the previous tracks had.
High quality on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-493253580/meet-the-neighbours
Kind of a followup to last week's piece. After several experimentation sessions on the Lyra-8 over the last two days, I recorded this one live take using what I had found. No guitar or drums samples this time, just the Lyra and Valhalla Supermassive reverb.
High quality on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-493253580/down-the-hole
A noisy and messy, out of sync piece. I jammed on the Lyra-8 and added rythm guitar and percussions afterwards. A chaotic mess with some huge Lyra growls and screams. With more time and work, this kind of exercice could be turned into something interesting.
Soundcloud for a better sound quality: https://soundcloud.com/user-493253580/wrong-hatch
Another track based on a Lyra-8 background, with bass, guitar and Wavparty samples for the drums. It could have used more variation and could have been a little longer but I ran out of time.
High quality on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-493253580/aperture
After a few hours of experimenting on the Lyra-8 today, I compiled some patterns and techniques I stumbled upon while practicing into a one-take live track. The percussions are generated by the LFO as a mod source on the internal delay effect. A meditative experience.
No editing, just some sound shaping, reverb and mastering in Ableton.
High quality on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-493253580/deep-inwards
An unfinished attempt. Two bass takes, LABS drums and a minilogue xd synth to fill the void.
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-493253580/hear-me-out
Running low on time, energy and motivation. This week is another minilogue xd track I complimented with Wavparty drums samples.
I have some catching up to do with last week's submissions. Cheers to all still going strong!
High quality on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-493253580/different-landscapes
Another piece put together on a sunday evening with the minilogue xd as source for the synth sounds and LABS for the drums. Not much inspiration for a track, let alone a title.
High quality on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-493253580/week-44
I moved this week and the minilogue xd was the first instrument I got my hands on while rummaging through stuff to come up with a track today. This week's piece consists of three parts on the minilogue, using the synth's internal effects and shaping the sound / effects live as I recorded. It kind of grew on me.
Soundcloud for high quality: https://soundcloud.com/user-493253580/lingering
Only had a couple of hours this week and experimented with Ableton's arpeggiator on the minilogue xd. A bit of Wider, Valhalla Supermassive and voilà.
Another bass / drums / Lyra-8 combo (with a little help from the Microcosm pedal) for this extremely busy week.
High quality on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-493253580/infinite-gaze
One more week with just a few hours over the weekend to put a track together.
I enjoyed playing the bass groove running with many variations over the piece against a somewhat generic Ableton drum rack. I tried to keep my drums evolving with the track and recorded the unmistakable Lyra-8 drones and short melodic spurts to add some depth and action.
I entered the weekend quite uninspired but had a good time with this one.
High quality on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-493253580/the-first-journey
EDIT: i had forgotten to master the track ! Now done and updated, here and on Soundcloud.
This track is nothing like I had planned. I was in a rush and designed a drum sound set on the Digitone (which you can hear in this track), planning to add some bass licks to make it a groove sketch and call it a day. After recording the bass, I ended up adding some layers of weird choirs and fluttering strings. The result is pretty weird and I think the intro sounds a lot like a track I made earlier this year.
High quality on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-493253580/dive
Buying a minilogue xd about 2 years ago was the reason I came back to playing music but I'd never used it in a track until this week. I gave it go today and this week's piece turned out just like what I imagined I'd play if I got a synth back then: some sort of arpeggiated saw synthwave-ish tune. All synth sounds are from the minilogue xd, drums samples are from Wavparty. It was tedious but I had a good time putting this together.
High quality on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-493253580/in-extremis
Still not enough time to write and sing lyrics. Maybe I'll revisit this one because I think it could be a song. I started yesterday with the bass line from the intro and went from there over the course of the week end.
Hard to stay motivated in challenging times but I'm taking one week at a time to put more music composing / playing under my belt for the whole year and use the momentum to work on full-fledged songs in 2022.
High quality on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-493253580/struggling
I sampled some Lyra-8, guitar and bass sounds to make this beat on the Digitakt. Recorded, added some effects and mixed in Ableton Live. Lacked time, motivation and energy this week. Good point was I worked mainly without a computer and had my hands on more instruments.
This week, I went for the Digitakt, which I hadn't used in a while. Oh, the sheer joy of making a beat on this box! This song is for my friend Toffge's birthday, hence the name and vocoder part. While the Microfreak was plugged in, I threw in a supersaw solo to lead the track out.
All sounds and patterns made on the Digitone. Played live and recorded in Ableton where I tweaked some parts a bit and added effects.
Soundcloud for better audio: https://soundcloud.com/user-493253580/ascent
I've had loads of fun designing the sounds for this track (FM scratch-like beat, anyone?) and worked a bit differently this week. I've tried to plan ahead how the soundset and patterns would be played live so every sound is played on one of the four Digitone tracks (one track has all the drums as step locks).
I captured the live playing (almost live, had to redo a bit) in Ableton and added some effects before mixing. It's still minimal pattern change / knob twisting but I had a good kick out of playing it.
Soundcloud for better quality: https://soundcloud.com/user-493253580/back-home
weekly from
@Ranranzeau Yeah, I feel you - we always have some grand ideas an hour before the end of the day and it's challenging to work on something when you have a week.
I'd be interested if you evolve this one, maybe even for a later weekly submission! GL with it. As I said, you have a really good start here and the ideas are in a good direction.