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-- Can someone break this track down for me

Can someone break this track down for me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pypsBhodS3E

If i could make tracks like this i'd be home and dry man so lush.

Anyone shed some light on whats making this so good!

Would be especially interested in hearing from someone that can break the chords down for me?

I want to learn how to make those acid basslines.

What bit did you want breaking down?

Musically it's fairly straightforward but it's very well mixed/produced/EQd


The three chords at the start sound like :-

Bb-D-F

Bb-C-E

Bb-C-D resolving to Bd-D

what are u really wondering about? its typical generic trance we heard since 2004 isnt it? it has everything i loath in trance btw.

Yeah was the chords really and just its so well produced

another thing id love to know is the arrangement it just happens all at just the right time.

Funny it should be in Bb its my fav scale i love it when i find out a lot of my fav tunes are in Bb.

quote:

Originally posted by Sonic_c another thing id love to know is the arrangement it just happens all at just the right time.

What's so hard about just listening to it and writing down what happens?

some has musicality, some doesnt. i know people who arent even able to clap in time with a tracks 4X4 beat. is that even possible? im having a hard time trying to miss, even if i want to.

quote:

Originally posted by Beatflux What's so hard about just listening to it and writing down what happens?

Done it , was really just trying to get a conversation about arrangement going maybe a few high level tips of some people and things.

Not a great track, but here's my take:

From the top
Basically, highpass the kick, keep percs on 16ths almost, its quite a crowded percussion line with shakers on the 8ths and quite a bit of other miscellaneous percussion. Kick drops in and bassline starts coming up in volume.

Its layered up with a fairly highpassed mid bass using a PWM or similar oscillator and a sub bass way down around 100 hz. Listen around 0.44 for the mid bass, don't confuse it with the pluck, which you hear in isolation later. You get a good listen to the sub bass at the end of the track as its fading out. This is the main melodic driver of the track IMO.

Theres a soft pad going on throughout all of this but its not that important in terms of sound design. Quite a lot of effects and stuff going on, definatley sounds like he was using some virus presets there, or was at least inspired by them.

first breakdown 2:35
basic pad, boring stuff. Flange/phase, reverb, lots of release, lots of unison. Pluck sounds like a physical modelling thing, but you can get the same results out of a subtractive synth - can't remember how, try using a formant saw oscillator. No unison on that. Theres only two synths playing here, pad and pluck. Pluck plays in three parts though.

Overall
The important thing he does is introuce a lot of effects in the high end of the track. I don't like this at all about modern trance, but I think its what gives this track its flow. basically just highpass a rythmic pad sound and run the lowpass filter up slowly. You hear this a lot throughout the track.

Pretty simple IMO.

I've chatted with Akesson on the anjuna forum and he claims he used no sidechaining in his awesome recent track 'flavour park'.
Few produce a sonIC pallette as well as he IMO.

quote:

Originally posted by Richard Butler I've chatted with Akesson on the anjuna forum and he claims he used no sidechaining in his awesome recent track 'flavour park'. Few produce a sonIC pallette as well as he IMO.

You could automate volume for the exact same effect though

quote:

Originally posted by Richard Butler I've chatted with Akesson on the anjuna forum and he claims he used no sidechaining in his awesome recent track 'flavour park'. Few produce a sonIC pallette as well as he IMO.

I would think you'd be joking right now, but as I recall, you've been talking about that track in the past as if you were married to it, so I'm not really sure if you're serious.

I would be surprised if he hadn't sidechained(/volume automated to the same effect) a single element in that song.

quote:

Originally posted by Morvan I would be surprised if he hadn't sidechained(/volume automated to the same effect) a single element in that song.

Why's that?

im wondering too, its like u guys thinks that wow i didnt know it was possible to make tracks without the use of sidechain, how the fuck do we do that? one trick is have lower midivolume on the baseline where the kick hits. works even better imo.

And also Eq to help clear things up with the kick and bass...

Just listen to some platipus stuff a few years ago. No sidechain there. just good mix.

quote:

Originally posted by Mr.Mystery Why's that?

Because I listened to the track in context
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2kHahQdyq8

I was obviously slightly exaggerating, but he's really sidechaining(compressor or volume envelope) the hell out of almost all elements including the subbass, midbass, pads, arp and some percussion elements. The second breakdown gives me a headache.

quote:

Originally posted by palm one trick is have lower midivolume on the baseline where the kick hits. works even better imo.

Yes, that works, but you have to keep a few things in mind: (1) you're not going to get the same effect - ducking gives you a softer/slower attack, whereas using MIDI notes usually gives you a quicker/more percussive attack, and (2) be careful that you don't screw up the sound of your bass in doing so, particularly if you are using velocity-triggered envelopes (e.g., to open/close your filter). In other words, if you are going to lower the MIDI velocities, it's usually a good idea to adjust the velocity parameters in your bass patch to compensate (unless, of course, you want a different bass sound on the beats).

quote:

Originally posted by Morvan I would think you'd be joking right now, but as I recall, you've been talking about that track in the past as if you were married to it, so I'm not really sure if you're serious.

Huh, why would I be joking?
I love that track and think it's way beyond 97.5% of pro's to be able to get a polished unique sound like that. Yes, yes I also like other tracks with better dynamics, but then and again getting great dynamics is perfectly achievable for even a novice rock band using a 4 track, but getting that lush other worldy sound that akesson gets is well beyond most of us, myself very much included of course.

I've never really bought into the 'more dynamics are always better' idea. Certain genres of music work better loud and flat.

They do to me anyway

quote:

Originally posted by tehlord I've never really bought into the 'more dynamics are always better' idea. Certain genres of music work better loud and flat. They do to me anyway

No wonder we're all gonna be deaf in a few years.

quote:

Originally posted by kitphillips Not a great track, but here's my take: From the top Basically, highpass the kick, keep percs on 16ths almost, its quite a crowded percussion line with shakers on the 8ths and quite a bit of other miscellaneous percussion. Kick drops in and bassline starts coming up in volume. Its layered up with a fairly highpassed mid bass using a PWM or similar oscillator and a sub bass way down around 100 hz. Listen around 0.44 for the mid bass, don't confuse it with the pluck, which you hear in isolation later. You get a good listen to the sub bass at the end of the track as its fading out. This is the main melodic driver of the track IMO. Theres a soft pad going on throughout all of this but its not that important in terms of sound design. Quite a lot of effects and stuff going on, definatley sounds like he was using some virus presets there, or was at least inspired by them. first breakdown 2:35 basic pad, boring stuff. Flange/phase, reverb, lots of release, lots of unison. Pluck sounds like a physical modelling thing, but you can get the same results out of a subtractive synth - can't remember how, try using a formant saw oscillator. No unison on that. Theres only two synths playing here, pad and pluck. Pluck plays in three parts though. Overall The important thing he does is introuce a lot of effects in the high end of the track. I don't like this at all about modern trance, but I think its what gives this track its flow. basically just highpass a rythmic pad sound and run the lowpass filter up slowly. You hear this a lot throughout the track. Pretty simple IMO.

Thanks mate, you know you mentioned him effecting the high end and filling it all out up there could you go into some detail on that? How do you fill a high end with fx?

quote:

Originally posted by tehlord I've never really bought into the 'more dynamics are always better' idea. Certain genres of music work better loud and flat. They do to me anyway

Apparently people gravitate towards listening to songs with higher microdynamics(sorry, no link). In a club or event everything is LOUD LOUD LOUD, but if you are listening at home or on your iPod it's nice to have those peaks.

The TT Dynamic Range Meter used to be free, but now your have to donate now. They had different recommendations for different genres. For dance they recommended a rating of 8 which measures the difference between the peaks and the top 20 percent of rms loudness.

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