Spark in the Night

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milo
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Spark in the Night

Post by milo »

spark-in-the-night.jpg
spark-in-the-night.jpg (103.17 KiB) Viewed 1432 times
Here is my latest collaboration, a deliberately optimistic piece.

https://sanderson.band/2021/04/10/spark-in-the-night/

I upgraded my studio computer with an SSD during the production, so I decided to try out AVL-MXE and Ardour 6.5 while I was at it. I was not disappointed by either! And the SSD is screaming fast!

I also included a new section at the end of the accompanying blog post, to list some of the raw production stats. This recording has a total of 39 tracks and 52 plugins, all of which are listed. A big thanks to all of the developers, particularly those on this forum, for making this possible.

Enjoy the tune!
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Re: Spark in the Night

Post by Basslint »

Always on the spot @milo! This one is from the best American tradition of pop music :D
The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common. [Acts 4:32]

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Jam on openSUSE + GeekosDAW!
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Re: Spark in the Night

Post by Rainmak3r »

While it's not my genre, I always like how your songs are so beautifully arranged. 39 tracks seem a lot, but they were put to good use!
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Re: Spark in the Night

Post by milo »

Thanks for the listen and the comments!

My favorite album for a few years when I was a teenger was Wish, by The Cure. I'm not much of a fan of them anymore, but their sound influenced me a lot. They recorded that album on a 48-track analog machine, and used every track on almost every song. Such deep layering of sound gives their music a really full, satisfying sound. I can also appreciate minimalist arrangements, but I am still drawn to those multi-layered sound textures.
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Re: Spark in the Night

Post by jeanette_c »

You have a flair for brass and the oldschool live sound that is envious! I know the brass doesn't do as much here, but it sits so well and just feels real and iconic!
This is not slagging the song. It's great playing and mixing all round!
The only thing that sticks out a little is the drum sound. It sounds more modern then the rest. Or maybe just so pinpointed, overly restrained and clean. As such well tamed, but the rest of the song is so hot and almost dirty. More compliments to the overall mix. :)
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distro: ArchLinux, DAW: Nama, MIDI sequencer: Midish
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Re: Spark in the Night

Post by milo »

Thanks, @jeanette_c.

The drums were played by Tom on the Roland FA06. He does have a really clean sound in his drumming. I'm not sure what I could do on the mixing end to make them sound "dirty."

This song is a mix of genres and eras, and that may be part of the problem. Sort of like when old American folk music players do a concert with modern drum sounds. It sounds good, but not quite authentic.
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Re: Spark in the Night

Post by Michael Willis »

"Chuck the whole thing in the bin." :lol:

I think I know the exact emotion that inspired that line.

I'm glad you were able to use six instances of the Dragonfly plugins without any trouble. A while back there were some literal show-stopper bugs related to using more than one at a time. I didn't chuck the whole thing in the bin, even if sometimes I really felt like doing that. With some help from the community, along with some hope, appreciation, and hard work, there was a brighter day in sight and now those plugins are finally stabilized. :mrgreen:
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Re: Spark in the Night

Post by Rainmak3r »

Michael Willis wrote: Mon Apr 12, 2021 3:53 pm I'm glad you were able to use six instances of the Dragonfly plugins without any trouble. A while back there were some literal show-stopper bugs related to using more than one at a time.
I regularly use a couple of instances in all projects, usually (e.g., because the outro needs somethign more hall-y) and I never noticed issues.
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Re: Spark in the Night

Post by milo »

Michael Willis wrote: Mon Apr 12, 2021 3:53 pm I'm glad you were able to use six instances of the Dragonfly plugins without any trouble. A while back there were some literal show-stopper bugs related to using more than one at a time. I didn't chuck the whole thing in the bin, even if sometimes I really felt like doing that. With some help from the community, along with some hope, appreciation, and hard work, there was a brighter day in sight and now those plugins are finally stabilized. :mrgreen:
That must have been before I started using it, because I've never had any problems using multiple instances. I'm glad you perservered, because Dragonfly Reverb is great!
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Re: Spark in the Night

Post by Michael Willis »

milo wrote: Mon Apr 12, 2021 6:17 pm I'm glad you perservered, because Dragonfly Reverb is great!
It's what this song is about, right? Right.
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Re: Spark in the Night

Post by milo »

:lol:
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Re: Spark in the Night

Post by Michael Willis »

I mean the song is about perseverance. It's not about the reverb.

Hmm, maybe I should write a song called "It's not about the reverb".
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Re: Spark in the Night

Post by milo »

Michael Willis wrote: Mon Apr 12, 2021 7:33 pm Hmm, maybe I should write a song called "It's not about the reverb".
Oh, but it IS! :lol: Let's collaborate on that song.
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Re: Spark in the Night

Post by Michael Willis »

milo wrote: Mon Apr 12, 2021 7:56 pm Oh, but it IS! :lol: Let's collaborate on that song.
It should have one vocal track that is completely dry, and another vocal track completely drenched in reverb. They should spend the whole song arguing as to whether it's about the reverb.
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Re: Spark in the Night

Post by alexson »

Lovely music. It's outstanding
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