'Nova Revel' - New Original Music/A Lesson in Why You Shouldn't Mix a Song w/ Laptop Speakers (lol)! Electronic/Instrumental + Walkthrough!

grapthar (74)in #music • 5 years ago

So I started this last night

and it came together pretty quick, I basically just laid out the basic harmonies (in 2 parts), and kept building on top of that. However, I was doing all of this on a laptop with some pretty tinny (and tiny I suppose) speakers, and upon listening to it with a full sound system, I realized the error of my ways (haha). Some stuff is surprisingly clear that I thought would be a bit drowned out, and other things oddly quiet, so I'll definitely be "remixing" this and doing an update in the future.

Listen to Nova Revel here.

Track 1 is where we begin

the tune, in our key of Bminor. This instrument stays on a B for most of the song, occasionally moving to an E on the 8th measure of each 8 bar section. The Light Blue section is where things change, moving up to a D, then down to C#. Track 2 adds some little diads, to help define our chord progression: [In the Purple section] B5 (for 2 bars), Gmaj, Emaj (the G# here adds a bit of interest that a diatonic progression wouldn't have). In the 2nd set of 4 bars, we move from B5, to Dmaj, Emin, and finally an Amaj, before repeating. The Light Blue section changes, beginning on an Dmaj, to Gmaj, Emin, and Amaj. Then, Gmaj for 2 bars, Emin, and Amaj.

Track 2, Purple section, 8 bars.

Listen to Nova Revel here.

Track 12, full 8 bars.

Track 3 adds a little beepy melody

which accents the 3rd and 5ths of our chords. Track 4 is a synth, but sounds like drums basically, so it augments the beat in Tracks 5 and 6 (Track 6 is our snare, which I think wound up sounding pretty nice). Track 7 is our bass part, but is sidechained to Track 1 with a compressor, so it comes in and out as opposite of Track 1's swells. Track 8 uses some audio clips for transitional sounds.

Listen to Nova Revel here.

Track 12 is pictured above

and adds another little harmony part over the Light Blue sections. Track 13 adds a melody over those sections, while Track 14 comes in over the Dark Blue part that follows. They then play together over the final 2 Light Blue parts as the song fades out. Track 14 was supposed to be significantly quieter, but wound up being WAY out in front, so that'll be edited, hehe.