Shades of Indigo - Mark Styles

Shades of Indigo.. 

I came across the term 'Indigo Children', They are artistic, special and different..  This lead to my exploration called Shades of Indigo..  

Better sit down - it's 10 minutes long..  It's more of an exploration of different motifs..  I use a pallet of sample libraries, Tyros 5, Kontak Libraries, 

and sever virtual other worldly instruments.  A lot of instruments but not so dense as other things I've done.. (yeahhhhh)...

Howdy Markstyles!

I'm sitting down, listening to the whole thing, then I'll listen again and leave notes. So far I'm enjoying the style - super chill and smooth.

Second listen, here we go!

• Nifty use of sounds, they work really well together. What's even better is that functionally, you're using the parts to support and guide the listener's ears
• I'm losing track of the melody a little bit, perhaps because it's changing instruments so often? Don't be afraid to let a good thing happen until it's well done and entirely finished. I have the same problem - I'm always nervous that I've "gone on too long" and that I'm boring the listener. Right now, I'm in a really relaxed, large picture listening mode because that's what you've created for us. Let your melodic line reflect that shape & size, maybe?
• Sweet use of electronic sounds in the foreground/midground during the 3:00-4:00 range! Tasty variety while still meshing
• 4:45 - now I'm starting to notice the recurring thematic and supporting content, perhaps I was just missing it earlier!
• The real strength in this piece is the HUUUUGE variety of the kinds of sounds we're hearing, and how well you get them to work together while keeping your instrumentation appropriately sparse so the sound stays open and uncluttered
• 7:00 ish, building energy is nice, very good control. You have a good sense of how to transition into and out of sections, try to apply that same skill to build up each section once you've actually arrived and before you're leaving. A different way of saying it might be this ... don't be in a hurry to arrive and to leave, let yourself and your listeners relax in each musical "place" that you bring us to!

I love what you're doing here, this is truly skillful work and I hope I didn't overstep my bounds with my comments! Keep up the good work :)

Gustav Johnson

Wow... I don't care it takes 10 minutes, because it's not boring. It's like a torrent of sounds combined in multiple ways. I have nothing to add to what Gustav Johnson posted.

Only the I like thau you write the scores and upload them, it's the best way to learn (seeing how you write something we hear).

This is like a short treatise of modern orchestration.

Thank you Luis and Gustav.. Gustav and anyone that wants to voice their opinion and thoughts,  I'm perfectly open to your thoughts. You didn't and couldn't overstep your bounds.. ..   I think we get 'into our own heads' too much.. At least I do..  My inner fear sometimes, is that the melody or motif can't carry the weight, so I move onto another instrument or just keep adding parts..  then it's a big well, you know , 'hot mess'..  .. Just recently I've gotten the nerve to really take the 'hatchet' out and mercilessly thin.. It's then I begin to see where the strong stuff, and where the weak stuff is..  A song is kind of like a sculpture hidden in a big chunk of wood or granite, we have to carve the excess away..  Kind of like when you have a child, he grows up to be, who he wants to be, not who you think he should be (at least in some families(..I do a lot more experimenting these days (and deleting a lot of it)..  But I feel, that sometimes pieces are an entity to themselves, and will come out, if you the composer don't try to be constantly exerting your will on it.. Lately I will add some parts, then put Logic on LOOP and play the song all night.. When I get up in the morning, I have a list of things, to fix, delete, replace an instrument, etc.   (I did a lot of music on demand when I was younger, for the client or the 'moneybag man' as I called him..  Now I just write for my own pleasure, and occasionally with people that I like..    

Gustav I appreciate the last comment..  to build up a section, hold, and then let it settle down, before moving on..  Yeah, I need to work on that..  Yeah, more peaks/valleys in the energy level.. Let the mountain, level down to a valley and then approach another mountain that's a different color.  

Once I get the chords together.. I improvise along with it,  Do a few passes, then cut, paste, slide..  I came from old school of 70's analog recording multi track..  Fill the tape up with everything you can.. Let the musicians go home, and then sort thru it,,  Then on mix down make use of those 'mute  buttons'.  Now of course with a DAW (Logic Pro) it's an infinity of what ifs.. (that's a detriment too sometimes) ..  I will sometimes solo a part, and see if it just makes 'sense' by itself, or is it just noodling?.   Try to massage it into something a real musician would play, not just notes, that fit.. Eventually as the song comes together, I pull out the support chord instrument.. So it's not so evident what chords are being used.. That lets' the listener get involved in the song more.. He/she can contribute a part, or interpret the harmonic structure.. 

Indeed as I individually add parts, and go for some of those notes.  I realize I am altering the chords, making implied chords.. etc. 

I've been using Logic's Score function for about 7 years now..  It's a tremendous help to get an overview on what the piece is doing.. It's a great teaching tool. Sometimes I find or buy well made midi files, and put into Logic's score, and then learn something knew. .. An orchestral score makes it easier for the composer to 'see' the weak spots. where it needs re-inforcement, where it's too dense, etc.  For a while, I tried to get my hands on all the orchestral scores I could..cause I was stuck in the 5 piece band mode.   it made it easier to understand how the piece was built and shaped..  I generally just display what ever the MIDI file is. Occasionally I'll make a fake midi file for the score to clean up... but, I'm not going for perfect scores.. (That's another skill to learn totally in itself)..  

I was a synthesizer player, when they first came out.. and on those first instruments, it was pretty raw sawtooth and square waves, not much subtlety.. But the samplers came along.. and the sound palette got better. Unfortunately for me (shame), I was never into classical music too much..  Rock and Pop..  But here in NYC,  I can get to see orchestras for free. or cheap.. And I go more to watch and listen to how the composer, arranger, uses the orchestra with all it's instruments to synthesize the sound, emotion or effect.. The different combinations.. I notice more so now then ever, (and thanks to sample libraries with scripting, modifying midi keys) composers can make  use of the exotic, and non musical sounds particular instruments can make. 

I'm beginning to use virtual synth instruments with other colors, and beginning to understand how the harmonic series in a certain instrument sound, and the resonance, is very important..  almost as important, sometimes more so, than the actual notes they play..  So I'm going for a palette of tradition sounds, and artificial (but organic) in themselves. 

Thanx..  Mark Styles