Dreams of Seagulls - Like Snow [epic synth pop]

[oscillator]

Oscillator Studios proudly presents

Dreams of Seagulls - Like Snow

Music: Staffan Melin/Oscillator
Vocals: Kajsa Olsson

Cover art: Kajsa Olsson

Made with only free/open source software: MusE, Dragonfly reverb, Calf plugins, Surge 1.7, drumkv1, sfizz/VPO

Bandcamp: https://dreamsofseagulls.bandcamp.com/track/like-snow
YouTube: https://youtu.be/of_F0Zpwg9w

dreams_of_seagulls_like_snow_1k.jpg (190 KiB) Viewed 1903 times

[Basslint]

Wow, finally a DoS track! I like the neoclassical arrangement a lot, sounds great! And Kajsa aced that bridge, really professional (in a good way!)

[Impostor]

Oscillator Studios proudly presents

Dreams of Seagulls - Like Snow

Music: Staffan Melin/Oscillator
Vocals: Kajsa Olsson

Lovely track, but I just don't like the sound of the snare and the hats all that much. I do like the vocals and the rest though!

[oscillator]

And Kajsa aced that bridge, really professional (in a good way!)

Thanks a lot for listening and commenting, @Basslint!

We tried several different takes with the bridge, and finally settled on this version, a bit frail, but more honest.

I will make sure to tell Kajsa about your comment!

[oscillator]

Lovely track, but I just don't like the sound of the snare and the hats all that much. I do like the vocals and the rest though!

That is an interesting comment, because I really struggled with finding the sounds for the drums, and after much trying out, settled on these (although not feeling that happy about the sounds). How do you want them?

Kajsa's vocals are great! Layering 3 parts in the chorus was the key!

Thanks for listening and commenting @Impostor!

[Impostor]

Lovely track, but I just don't like the sound of the snare and the hats all that much. I do like the vocals and the rest though!

That is an interesting comment, because I really struggled with finding the sounds for the drums, and after much trying out, settled on these (although not feeling that happy about the sounds). How do you want them?

I find them sounding rather lackluster, like 8bit samples from an ancient drum machine? A bit more spark would serve the track better imo.

Kajsa's vocals are great! Layering 3 parts in the chorus was the key! :)

That worked well indeed!

[Rainmak3r]

I find them sounding rather lackluster, like 8bit samples from an ancient drum machine? A bit more spark would serve the track better imo.

A drum machine is what I'd expect in this genre, though. When I needed something like this, I used a Hydrogen drumkit that put together sounds from the TR-808 and the TR-909, and that did the trick for me, even though they do need quite some reverb to pop up more.

[Impostor]

I find them sounding rather lackluster, like 8bit samples from an ancient drum machine? A bit more spark would serve the track better imo.

A drum machine is what I'd expect in this genre, though. When I needed something like this, I used a Hydrogen drumkit that put together sounds from the TR-808 and the TR-909, and that did the trick for me, even though they do need quite some reverb to pop up more.

Don't get me wrong: I didn't mean to downtalk the use of drum machines. I just don't always like the sound of them.

[Tenaba]

Great composition and vocals as usual. I really like the sound and arrangement of the strings as well. I noticed the credits on the Bandcamp page. I didn't know Kajsa did art as well!

[jeanette_c]

Wow @oscillator , this has a killer bass!
I do love the grand intro and the feeling throughout the song.
What have you done with the snare and the hats? They sound rather weak in this powerful mix. The snare is rather quiet and maybe a little too devoid of upper mids. I wouldn't know if this is a feature of the sound itself or the processing. The hats just feel rather sterile and static. It is a problem my electronic music has suffered from - might suffer again from - many times.
Kajsa's vocals are just wonderful! Very soulful and deeper than usual. This range range shows another quality of her voice. The vocals are also well mixed into one homogenous layer.
A great song! Thanks for sharing!

[jdfight]

Great song! Kajsa also did a wonderful job on the cover art.

[oscillator]

I find them sounding rather lackluster, like 8bit samples from an ancient drum machine? A bit more spark would serve the track better imo.

Not that far from the truth! 808 and 909 samples run on drumkv1. I did bring them back time after time, feeling that the synth sounds carried the rhythm anyway.

I often mix at least the kick too high (because I love the kick), so maybe I went to far in the opposite direction this time.

I really appreicate your comments @Impostor !

[oscillator]

Great composition and vocals as usual. I really like the sound and arrangement of the strings as well. I noticed the credits on the Bandcamp page. I didn't know Kajsa did art as well!

Thanks a lot @Tenaba! Kajsa is great in so many ways (I have proposed )!

[oscillator]

Wow @oscillator , this has a killer bass!

I know you like those deep basses @jeanette_c !

Thanks for all you comments and detailed critique! I will put more work into the drum sounds in the future! I promise!

[oscillator]

Great song! Kajsa also did a wonderful job on the cover art.

Yeah, she is doing some really wonderul watercolour stuff, and I though that we should use her art more for the covers. They convey a lot of mood!

Thanks for listening and for your feedback @jdfight !