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-- [Ambient] "Trials" - Mia Valo

[Ambient] "Trials" - Mia Valo

Here's a WIP that I've been working on with Mia. Here's a little history/context. The track was written by Mia and, after we recorded an acoustic version of it a few weeks ago, we decided to give it an ambient treatment. You can hear the acoustic version at Mia's myspace page (song #3):

http://www.myspace.com/missmiavalo

That version was recorded straight through with no overdubs - just Mia playing guitar and singing. I just loved the organic nature of it, so we tried to maintain that with our ambient electronic version. So, in this version, the vocals were recorded straight through in one take with no pitch-correction and only one small edit (she ran out of breath at the beginning of on one chorus, so I replaced it with a copy of the same line from another). Some of the other instruments (fretless bass, synth pads, etc.) were also recorded live (i.e., rather than sequenced/quantized) to give it a more live/organic feel. Hopefully we captured that - I'd love to hear your opinions on that.

Still working on some of the transitions, but thought I'd get some feedback to help me finish it off.

edit: uploaded a new and final version:

Trials by cryophonik

This is exactly the sort of stuff I love hearing from you(s).

Wow, this is great and I know it will appeal to a lot of people. If this is still juvenile, then I'll be really interested to hear the eventual product.

She has a super voice that works brilliantly in this style of musique.

I really, really like this. I'd agree with Owen that this is what I look forward to hearing from you the most.

I absolutely love the fretless bass, and if anything it could be brought forward a bit more.

The organic and loose element works really well too.

On a technical level i'd be tempted to alter the predelay on the vocal reverb as it's a little obvious at the moment. It follows the vocal transients in a way that's very aparent and says 'reverb's here!'

I'm not feeling the drums yet either, they feel a little awkward, but as you say it's an early version.

I'm hearing all sorts of orchestral parts and maybe one of those Irish violins so beloved of the film scorers.

Very good stuff. I can't wait to hear the finished version

Oh yeah, and great voice!

This is absolutely brilliant.

My first impression is that the mix is a fine balance of smeared and defined elements - that as much as each part is distinct, they all seem like contiguous parts of a whole. That said, I had problems hearing the fretless bass-line which I thought should be a little more present in the mix. I love what you did with the fretless and the groove is ultra cool. I just thought it was under-mixed.

You might also run the fretless through an octaver, one octave below, to give that bass-line a little more low end and to keep it more level with the synth-bass sound, I thought I heard.

The synth-bass accents, once the track gets its rhythm section going in full swing, seemed to be stepping on your work with the fretless a couple of times. Don't get rid of them. That whole interplay just needs a little cleaning up.

There is this ultra cool thing which is happening with the kick and the bass-line, starting at the beginning of every two measures, where the kick is most prominent, and then progressing to the second measure, where the notes of the bass-line begin supplanting the kick notes. Not knowing if that was what was intended, or not, it sounds awesome and you should keep it, if not enhance it.

All-in-all, this is a beautiful tune, Dave. I think I listened to it five or six times. Make it seven times.

I would like to put this in my CSI "Looking for evidence music" folder lol

But what can I say that hasn't been said already? I've listened to it a few times, and it's great so far

I really like this dude! Little too centered tho

yeah have to agree with the rest of the posse very good tune

Wow - thanks for all the comments and I'm really glad to see how well this song has been received! I posted a new and final(-ish) version that addresses many of the comments here and has better transitions. I'm calling this one done for now and moving on to the half dozen other songs waiting for my attention.

Regarding the fretless, I brought it up a "touch", but I really don't want it to be the center of attention, rather just sorta subtly grinding away ever-present in the background, fading behind the scenes when drums/synth bass are present, then carrying or supporting the tempo during the verses, but very much in the background.

Also, I really don't want to add any more instruments or parts to this - it was intentionally kept sparse/minimal to maintain focus on Mia's incredible voice and to let each and every part be heard.

A very relaxing track, great work m8. Diggin' the vocals as well.

quote:

Originally posted by cryophonik Regarding the fretless, I brought it up a "touch", but I really don't want it to be the center of attention, rather just sorta subtly grinding away ever-present in the background, fading behind the scenes when drums/synth bass are present, then carrying or supporting the tempo during the verses, but very much in the background.

I think the bass is at the perfect level now, and I was thinking more about the note changes that could be a bit more forward as it's a very characterful and expressive sound. TC character or Waves R Bass is useful for emphasizng a particular part of a particular sound. Nothing wrong with it the way it is though!

As it is, it's my favourite track from you by far. The second favourite was 'I Could Be' so get that ambient thumb out Daveh

Cool - thanks Geoff!

quote:

Originally posted by tehlord The second favourite was 'I Could Be'...

Whoa - I had no idea people listened that far down my playlist!

quote:

Originally posted by cryophonik Cool - thanks Geoff! Whoa - I had no idea people listened that far down my playlist!

Put it this way. Last time I listened to it was probably a year ago (apart from today!), and I still hum it from time to time.

Very well done. She has a great voice and the instrumentation fits excellently. Some nice pad sounds in here.

Wish more people posted ambient and downtempo stuff in this forum. The intervals between new tracks in those genres seem so long!

Thanks Mr JBJ! I had a feeling you'd like it. Did you get my PM?

quote:

Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles Wish more people posted ambient and downtempo stuff in this forum. The intervals between new tracks in those genres seem so long!

Agreed, definitely agreed.

quote:

Originally posted by tehlord ... and I still hum it from time to time.

OK, I admit it, so do I. But, not because I'm egomaniacal or anything (even though I am) - Jessi (the singer) wrote that melody, not me! It's very catchy.

I gotta say cryo, your music has a high replay value.

quote:

Originally posted by Viber I gotta say cryo, your music has a high replay value.

Wow - that's quite a compliment! I really appreciate that!

BTW, if anyone is interested, I've asked a couple of industrial guys that I've known from other forums for years to remix this and one of them spent 10 straight hours on it as soon as he got the remix pack! You can check it out at:

http://www.idmforums.com/showthread.php?t=58506

His artist name is :10: and he's quite the industrial producer (not to mention incredible graphics designer).

Yeah, I was on this track few times since last week and couldn't get my comment together (was overwhelm a bit by quality and maturity of this track) but I think it is a time to give it a shut - AMAZING, STUNNING, BRILLIANT, BEAUTIFUL, BLOODY IMPRESSIVE - how you blend this "slice of heaven" vocal with you basic melody, simple unbelievable.

Fantastic work Dave - my congrats to you and Mia.

Cheers.

sounds nice cryo, i think a lot of people outside the edm world would really like this. nice voice, and nice chords.

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