~SW~ Synaptic Surge

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~SW~ Synaptic Surge

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Author Comments

G'day gentlies and ladymen, and particularly the NGADM judges.

After my nice soft track auditioning for the contest, I thought it would be nice to come into things with some real flair. Behold, the power of NEW DRUM SAMPLES.

In all seriousness, I... meant to take this song in a completely different direction and it ended up here after I was given a sample pack by one of the best people I know (not because he gave me the sample pack, but that sure didn't hurt. I mean damn). I'm super stoked with how it turned out though. Always tried to make stuff more in this style and it never turned out well. Makes it even more surprising that I pulled this out after being at camp for four days and then sick for another couple. Total time spent on this was about a week, way less than most tracks I make.

If you're reading this before listening, look forward to some drums going absolutely banananuts, a bit of tasty crunchy bass modulation, and a few fragments of melody mixed into my typical dense atmosphere.

Thanks for listening, and remember...

Enjoy~

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Russo234

2022-02-26 11:01:55

gut

TaintedLogic

2019-08-26 17:37:43

I like the spacey vibe at the beginning and the smooth string pads. The little synth riff at :25 is cute, and the overall tone of the piece has a great sense of wonder about it. I like the percussion and the subtle crescendo into 1:08, too. The drums are really creative at 1:11, and the meandering melodies are really interesting. The texture really comes together well at 1:50, even if the snare samples sound a bit thin. Very creative rhythmic content here, and I like the prominent, gritty bass at 2:22. The section at the 3-minute mark offers a nice secondary melody to the content at the emotional height at 1:50. It’s hard to make the one-climax model work, but you’ve done a good job at creating a sense of dynamism in the composition even within a pretty parabolic structure. Strong work, Skye! I love how you juxtapose conflicting moods in this piece - tranquility and anger, introspection and impulsion. Keep it up. ^_^

P.S.: Is there anywhere I can download this?

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
9.5/10

SkyeWint responds:

Hey there, TL!

First things first, I made it available for download. Still not 100% happy with this, though I think it's nailed things a bit more than I have before... so up for normal download it goes!

The synth riff becoming audible around 0:25 is a consistent pattern playing throughout almost the entire piece, actually! If you listen in the background, you should be able to hear it. ^^

I find it really interesting you feel the snares are thinner at 1:50 - they're actually a lot sharper at the high end and have just as much in the mids as the snare in the prior section.

The gritty bass around 2:22 is one of the parts I'm proudest of. Did you notice the pad in the background expanding a bit with each of the bits of extra distortion and modulation of the bass to accent it?

Gonna try to keep on pushing out music a bit faster than before now. Take care!

ChronoNomad

2019-08-17 14:37:30

There's a really nice, super slow build straight out of the gate here, and you introduce a lot of your elements gently over that first minute. I'm loving the pinched square lead that comes in after the drop, and all of those lovely grace notes really add spice to the mix. Excellent use of pitch bends throughout.

I can definitely hear the neuro influence at the heart of it all. Your percussion adds drive to the music very nicely, is often totally frenetic, and it just plain fits. There really isn't anything that I find the least bit detracting in your mix, so I don't have any qualms about dropping a hearty 5 on you for this baby. Beautifully done!