RIDDIM

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RIDDIM

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Author Comments

"RIDDIM" has taken its place as my new most ambitious track, being written after "DEVIATION" I took everything I learnt from the sound design and writing in it and threw it up a peg or two.

The track starts with an orchestral intro, something I rarely use, as I'm poor and good quality orchestral samplers are an expensive thing to come by, I spent time layering and layering to get the instruments sounding as nice, full and big as I could.

The intro also carries a lot of inspiration from my recent "Dreamstate/Ethereality" EPs, lots of distorted, broken sounds, screaming and over-driven brass sounds, which are actually not brass sounds at all, I found I could get a sound I preferred my making brass like synths instead. Lots of atmosphere and things happening in the background, making something that could've potentially been clean and beautiful into something evil and dark.

The workload in this track was intense, I spent full days just sat at my laptop chipping away bit by bit thinking I would never get to a finishing point. My laptop got to the point of insta-crashing whenever I asked it to do anything above minimal CPU use, so the finishing touches and mix-down were really tough to do and took a lot of patience.

I really like the groove in this track, the way the basses flow in and out of the beat and occasionally latch onto strong points in the pulse and sometimes veering off to set up anticipation for the next strong note. The whole groove and soundscape feels really primal and animalistic, something I was striving for from when this project was a few gritty bass ideas in an 8-bar loop.

The bass sounds in this are really unique for me, there's around twenty six different basses that I tried to tie together neatly to sound almost like one bass patch. The basses sound really gritty and scratchy in a way I've not come across before so I was really happy I could pull that sound together.

I'm proud of the risers and background effects too, as I spent ages making each layer from scratch and again pulling it all together to make it sound like one as best I could.

I worked so hard on this track and I really hope you enjoy

Listen to the EP on bandcamp and enjoy a free/pay what you like download if you fancy it, here:

https://brendanpeace.bandcamp.com/album/limbo-ep

If you like my music and wanna keep up to date and get a nosey look at project files then you can like/follow my Facebook here:

https://www.facebook.com/BrendanPeaceMusic/

Any votes/feedback is massively appreciated as I always love to hear what people like and how you think I can improve - <3

Update: Thank you so much to whoever got this frontpaged, it really means a lot!

- Brendan

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dirtporidge

2021-01-09 14:39:57

Pretty good stuff, brother. I really like it.

ActualElf responds:

Thank you Poridge, cheers for listening ^^

Saltbearer

2019-01-28 10:09:03

Intro: Conceptually, a solid fit. The instruments themselves sound nice, you did a good job with layering, mixing, etc. It all feels just a little rigid and pointy. Softening/humanizing the choir attacks and note timings/velocities more would particularly help IMO.

Drop buildups: Probably the weakest point. The first one especially needs a couple more layers of instrumentation and/or automation. Feels like it goes on a bit long with thin, static-sounding repetitions. The detune for the last bar of each build does feel appropriate, at least.

The meat: SOLID. That bass is *fun* to listen to, its movements have a very satisfying degree of swish and timbral rhythmicity to them, and there's enough going on all around it to keep the eardrums excited. Nothing feels like it's out of place or in direct conflict with another element. Could toss some random variations into the beat, but it's *always totally okay* to just let other elements hog the spotlight.

Ending: Abrupt… the timing feels odd, like it comes halfway through a build and then flatly fizzles out. Can we blame it on your laptop struggling toward the end of the project? Because I know that feeling. :[ Thankfully you fought through. All it really needs is something like a couple of long filter sweeps, and maybe a high end element to emphasize the bookends of the section and suggest a peak in energy. Maybe even offset it all by one beat at 4:08.

Overall, this sizable helping of dancecakes with foreboding syrup drizzled over them will continue to impress/satisfy a large body of listeners, and you should stick a marshmallow in your cocoa.

ActualElf responds:

Whilst I have replied to you privately, I wanted to publicly say what a lovely and well thought out review this was, you picked up on a large majority of the issues that are in this track that I myself see, issues that I accept when I listen in order to enjoy it how it is and how my production ability at the time allowed it to be, even though I knew then and know now it could've been so much more.

I always try and find a balance between accepting my music as it turns out and also seeing what it could be if I tried harder. The extreme ends of that spectrum being releasing half-baked music due to accepting too much and allowing myself too much leeway or being so harsh on my own music that I don't release anything because it could always be better.

I allowed myself a good amount of leeway at the time this was written because of my frustration with my set up and also my own poor production decisions which could have been bettered with more time and dedication.

Reviews like yours allow me and probably others to strive to better what they create but also enjoy their music for what it is and their songs as "Steps along the way".

- <3

Spogboard

2018-06-09 09:13:26

Oh, that was pretty interesting.

ActualElf responds:

Ahaha I can only hope that interesting is a good thing!

Thanks for taking the time out to listen and review <3

NekoMika

2018-05-18 14:44:55

Quite a lengthy buildup for this song.

The main tune has a "fight and destroy" sound to it, subtle wobbles and great beat, late congrats on this one reaching the front page. :)

ActualElf responds:

Thanks bud!

Sorry for the super late response, I didn't get a notification for some reason, cheers for taking the time to listen and to tell me your thoughts <3

Lot7even

2018-04-30 18:35:27

This is so amazing that I have now listened to it 7 times in a row... I am completely speechless.
The orchestral beginning creates a perfect sense. The risers are extremely intense. The drop isn't really what you would call riddim, but is perfect nonetheless. The choir sounds like a horror movie track. The mixing is spot on.

You're a pro. I have learned a lot from this track already.

ActualElf responds:

Thank you so much, you're so kind!

Aha I've had this mentioned to me a couple times, the track's called "RIDDIM" for reasons other than the genre, although Riddim is a genre I really enjoy and hope to make at some point in the future ^^

You're words mean so much and I'm really glad you enjoyed, it's crazy to me that you said you've learned things from my stuff! if there's anything in particular that you wanna know how I did so you can use it for your own music don't hesitate to drop me a message <3