Chained

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Rainmak3r
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Chained

Post by Rainmak3r »

Hi all,

I just posted another "industrial" track a bit in the vein of Maelstrom:

https://soundcloud.com/lminiero/chained

I had the idea for the main riff about 5 years ago, including the weird "voice" you hear in the beginning, that I crafted using Calf Vocoder. Ideally it had to sound a bit like the synthetic voice in Perfect Mask by Paradise Lost, but it came out quite different instead: definitely what I wanted or what I had in mind, but it was fun to create nevertheless, especially considering it was the first time I tinkered more seriously with a Vocoder! The song itself was built arounf a couple of heavier riffs, with a ton of synths as the last piece. The solo, this time, is much more obviously inspired by Dream Theater (especially the melodic part).

Hope you'll enjoy this!
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Re: Chained

Post by Basslint »

I liked the proggier parts, the arrangement and the guitar parts in general. The vocoder also fits well with the sound. :D
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Re: Chained

Post by Rainmak3r »

Basslint wrote: Mon Jul 12, 2021 9:25 am I liked the proggier parts, the arrangement and the guitar parts in general. The vocoder also fits well with the sound. :D
Thanks! I'll have to use the vocoder for something more clever than yelling "eeheeh" while I move my mouth :lol:
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Re: Chained

Post by milo »

I don't think I've heard a vocoder used in that way. It's a very interesting sound. It's more like a wah-wah than a computer voice, which is how I have heard it used in electronic music.

I am also using a vocoder for the first time in a current project, and I appreciate now that it is harder than it sounds.
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Re: Chained

Post by Rainmak3r »

milo wrote: Mon Jul 12, 2021 7:55 pm I don't think I've heard a vocoder used in that way. It's a very interesting sound. It's more like a wah-wah than a computer voice, which is how I have heard it used in electronic music.
That's because it was indeed me saying "wayo-weeyo" or things like that, so sounding a bit like a wah-wah :mrgreen: Actually, following the advice I saw in a video tutorial, I was mostly strongly "whispering" it, rather than vocalising it, as apparently otherwise the tone of the voice can pollute the end result too much. There's definitely cooler things that can be done with a vocoder, but this was a fun start.
milo wrote: Mon Jul 12, 2021 7:55 pm I am also using a vocoder for the first time in a current project, and I appreciate now that it is harder than it sounds.
Curious to hear what you'll get out of it! It was actually quite easy to setup Calf Vocoder in Ardour (I did everything with two tracks and a sidechain), but I agree that mastering it and doing something more complex than my silly sample is definitely not going to be easy.
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Re: Chained

Post by jeanette_c »

This is a great track! I love the solo. I enjoyed the octaved performance right towards the end.
In this track, again, I sadly notice the absence of main vocals, and yes I know how difficult those can be to come by. :(
What was that bubbling synth? A filter modulated version of the main pad or some effect?
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Re: Chained

Post by Rainmak3r »

jeanette_c wrote: Wed Jul 14, 2021 5:54 am This is a great track! I love the solo. I enjoyed the octaved performance right towards the end.
Thanks! I did wonder if that more melodic part felt out of place in the song, but when composing it that's how I thought of it so I kept it there.
jeanette_c wrote: Wed Jul 14, 2021 5:54 am In this track, again, I sadly notice the absence of main vocals, and yes I know how difficult those can be to come by. :(
I actually did conceive this as an instrumental, just as Maelstrom: I wouldn't know what style of vocals could fit it anyway... but I'm actually working on adding vocals to some other tracks I've shared in the past, as I'm remixing some of them (plus a still unreleased track) for an album I'd like to release soon. So you may get to hear my ugly voice again sooner or later :lol:
jeanette_c wrote: Wed Jul 14, 2021 5:54 am What was that bubbling synth? A filter modulated version of the main pad or some effect?
That's actually a bit of a trick/hack: not sure if that's how it's usually done, but it seemed to work. Basically it's a MIDI track that plays the same note in sequence at different octaves, where I used two different percussive patterns in particular:

xxxxXxxXxXxxXxxX xxxxXxxXxXxxXxXX (second to last note is a octave higher in the second pattern)

where x=F# in this context (the root for the verse). Then I fed this to two different Yoshimi arpeggio presets, namely Arpeggio2 and Arpeggio6. Since those effects have an "embedded" swelling effect, thanks to the octaves bouncing up and down in a rhythm that's consistent with the drums or how the verse is flowing, it gives that bubbling effect. Again, not sure if it's actually a weird way of doing something that could be done in a much simpler way, but it seemed to do the trick for me and I really liked the end result!
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Re: Chained

Post by Toejam76 »

Very cool track! You got a real nice solo and the use of the vocoder makes me think there's maybe even more there to explore.
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Re: Chained

Post by Rainmak3r »

Toejam76 wrote: Wed Jul 14, 2021 11:14 am Very cool track! You got a real nice solo and the use of the vocoder makes me think there's maybe even more there to explore.
Thanks, glad you liked it! I'll definitely play with the vocoder plugin more in the future.
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Re: Chained

Post by folderol »

I didn't like this as much as the previous one... that is until the guitar kicked in about 2/3 through. That was rather tasty :)
The Yoshimi guy {apparently now an 'elderly'}
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Re: Chained

Post by Rainmak3r »

folderol wrote: Fri Jul 16, 2021 9:16 pm I didn't like this as much as the previous one... that is until the guitar kicked in about 2/3 through. That was rather tasty :)
You win some, you lose some... Glad you liked that part! :mrgreen:
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Re: Chained

Post by oscillator »

That's a really great riff, and I would like it louder in the mix! :) The solo comes through very clear.

The drum programming is good on this track too, inspiring.

Maybe some more synths screaming in the higher registers would be a cool thing to try?

MusE DAW running on Debian 11 Testing/XFCE4.
https://oscillator.se/musik

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Re: Chained

Post by Rainmak3r »

oscillator wrote: Sun Jul 18, 2021 12:27 pm That's a really great riff, and I would like it louder in the mix! :) The solo comes through very clear.

The drum programming is good on this track too, inspiring.
Thanks, glad you liked it!
oscillator wrote: Sun Jul 18, 2021 12:27 pm Maybe some more synths screaming in the higher registers would be a cool thing to try?
Any part in particular where you feel more synths might help? I thought I had used way too many already!
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Re: Chained

Post by oscillator »

Rainmak3r wrote: Sun Jul 18, 2021 6:00 pm
oscillator wrote: Sun Jul 18, 2021 12:27 pm Maybe some more synths screaming in the higher registers would be a cool thing to try?
Any part in particular where you feel more synths might help? I thought I had used way too many already!
Can you use too many? :D

I was thinking along the lines of this:

https://oscillator.oscillator.se/index. ... zwyHq8cnHg

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Re: Chained

Post by Rainmak3r »

oscillator wrote: Mon Jul 19, 2021 12:44 pm Can you use too many? :D
Fair point :mrgreen:
oscillator wrote: Mon Jul 19, 2021 12:44 pm I was thinking along the lines of this:

https://oscillator.oscillator.se/index. ... zwyHq8cnHg
Ah got it now! For that part I wanted something more "airy", hence the choir/organ kind of effect. Your sample sounds cool though! I wouldn't know how to implement it, though, as it seems to have bending jumps up and down of several tones, while AFAIK you can't go beyond one tone up and one tone down (so a two tones range): how did you get that octave jump instead?
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