instrumental V.D. - Haunted

I'm not very good at introductions.., so straight into the topic's purpose:
This is my latest composition, completely made through music software, took some time to make (months of occasional effort actually), all suggestions and comments are welcomed, it's supposed to be a final version SO what fixes would have made it better? Sorry if the genre isn't like most of what's around here, I hope it's good enough to be appreciated though.
Multiple instruments used, most notable are guitars, drums and a piano, and some other adjusted-to-sound-atmospheric instruments. Weird mix huh?

Apologies if this should have been posted in the Electronic section, I don't really know whether it means software-instruments music or electronic genre.

27 minutes ago, ilv said:

The Electronic category is for music in the Electronic genre. Yes, this is electronic music, I think. Great work. Keep it up.

 

Well I'm still at a loss around here, but I'll get used to what goes where eventually. Nevertheless, thanks for your opinion!

I think it belongs here. It uses synthesized guitars and drums, sure, but my orchestral pieces use synthesized violins, etc. Most of the pieces on the site use synthesized instruments in one way or another, and this definitely seems to be a rock/metal song to me. 

Anyway, I liked it! The title describes it very well: dark and mysterious. I listened to a lot of bands like Atreyu, The Fall of Troy and Thrice when I was younger. It brought me back to those days.

It would be great if you could record it with real instruments! 

1 hour ago, Noah Brode said:

I think it belongs here. It uses synthesized guitars and drums, sure, but my orchestral pieces use synthesized violins, etc. Most of the pieces on the site use synthesized instruments in one way or another, and this definitely seems to be a rock/metal song to me. 

Anyway, I liked it! The title describes it very well: dark and mysterious. I listened to a lot of bands like Atreyu, The Fall of Troy and Thrice when I was younger. It brought me back to those days.

It would be great if you could record it with real instruments! 

 

Fan of Thrice here, great to see it get mentioned in relation to my music!
I'm so glad you liked it, I'd love to record it with real instruments, but that wouldn't be easy for me regarding the lack of many requirements as recording place/instruments/etc..

Not exactly my cup of tea, but I can appreciate any type of music which has some thought and effort put into it.  And you did a very decent job.

To my ears, it might be a bit guitar heavy, some of them..  The kick is fairly bright. and the bass guitar muffled. 

You have most of the instruments in the mid-range. so it gets a bit congested..  a consideration might be some subtle EQ'ing and wider panning to get

more of an aural panorama.  I don't know how you recorded this, live instruments, mostly midi etc..  I find that as I work on a piece, and it starts taking 

shape..  I sometimes will have to substitute some instrument patches, or even move the notes of some parts, so everyone is not hanging out in the same frequency range. 

Again I KNOW little about this kind of music..  so all of this might not apply..  When tackling a certain style of music..  You Tube is a GREAT tool..  I go and listen to similar pieces of what I am attempting to do.

I analyze what they have done.  and I try to incorporate some of that, to 'capture' the feel.  Sometimes I take a song off Youtube, and put it on two tracks of my piece in my DAW.. 

I solo individual tracks with the YouTube sound track..  Ignore the clashing tempos, keys, etc Just listen to the sounds of the particular instrument with a piece that you think is really well done..  Does your kick fit in? or does it have too much click, too muddy etc.  your bass sound, does it have matching qualities..  hi-hats etc. 

This is a reference test, and exercise. Doing this will help you tune into the sound of the instruments you are going to use.  Try it as an exercise, whether you use your results or not, is not that relevant. But it helps to improve your talent..  

Who ever thought Prince could get away with no bass in 'When Doves Cry'..  First 30 seconds of that song hooked me for life to it..  Then I realized there was no bass.   I laid it up into my DAW.. I played some bass parts, and really realized.. the song didn't need a bass.  The quality and emotion of the song, carried it.  The note sparseness let the emotional quality really ring thru. If anything a bass, dragged it down (or at least my bass playing did).. 

MANY years ago I worked in a multi track tape studio in the 70's in Boston. I was always writing, and recording my own compositions..  I used David Bowie's 'Young Americans' as a song to match my individual drums, keyboard, guitar, etc parts. cause I think sonically it is really well executed..  You find some pieces in your genre and use them as a sonic template. It got me into the "sound" ball park a lot quicker.. 

Musically I think what you have done is very good, unique. It certainly is dark and moody - A+ for that.   I might have liked a stronger ending.. 

Keep up the good work..    I like what you're doing.. and I'm glad you're here.  This particular forum has been gaining steam lately..  There are many really great classical people here.  but there's room for us, who are into something different..  The first year, I never ventured out of this forum, (where my music fits).. But lately I've been listening to music that is definitely outside of my comfort zone.  and I read some really insightful critiques and comments.  And I can figure out ways of how to incorporate some of that into what I do..  There are some very talented people here. and we can learn from them even if their music is different from ours.. It takes some work to translate knowledge gained from their genre and put it into yours. 

13 minutes ago, markstyles said:

Not exactly my cup of tea, but I can appreciate any type of music which has some thought and effort put into it.  And you did a very decent job.

To my ears, it might be a bit guitar heavy, some of them..  The kick is fairly bright. and the bass guitar muffled. 

You have most of the instruments in the mid-range. so it gets a bit congested..  a consideration might be some subtle EQ'ing and wider panning to get

more of an aural panorama.  I don't know how you recorded this, live instruments, mostly midi etc..  I find that as I work on a piece, and it starts taking 

shape..  I sometimes will have to substitute some instrument patches, or even move the notes of some parts, so everyone is not hanging out in the same frequency range. 

 

Again I KNOW little about this kind of music..  so all of this might not apply..  When tackling a certain style of music..  You Tube is a GREAT tool..  I go and listen to similar pieces of what I am attempting to do.

I analyze what they have done.  and I try to incorporate some of that, to 'capture' the feel.  Sometimes I take a song off Youtube, and put it on two tracks of my piece in my DAW.. 

I solo individual tracks with the YouTube sound track..  Ignore the clashing tempos, keys, etc Just listen to the sounds of the particular instrument with a piece that you think is really well done..  Does your kick fit in? or does it have too much click, too muddy etc.  your bass sound, does it have matching qualities..  hi-hats etc. 

This is a reference test, and exercise. Doing this will help you tune into the sound of the instruments you are going to use.  Try it as an exercise, whether you use your results or not, is not that relevant. But it helps to improve your talent..  

Who ever thought Prince could get away with no bass in 'When Doves Cry'..  First 30 seconds of that song hooked me for life to it..  Then I realized there was no bass.   I laid it up into my DAW.. I played some bass parts, and really realized.. the song didn't need a bass.  The quality and emotion of the song, carried it.  The note sparseness let the emotional quality really ring thru. If anything a bass, dragged it down (or at least my bass playing did).. 

 

MANY years ago I worked in a multi track tape studio in the 70's in Boston. I was always writing, and recording my own compositions..  I used David Bowie's 'Young Americans' as a song to match my individual drums, keyboard, guitar, etc parts. cause I think sonically it is really well executed..  You find some pieces in your genre and use them as a sonic template. It got me into the "sound" ball park a lot quicker.. 

Musically I think what you have done is very good, unique. It certainly is dark and moody - A+ for that.   I might have liked a stronger ending.. 

Keep up the good work..    I like what you're doing.. and I'm glad you're here.  This particular forum has been gaining steam lately..  There are many really great classical people here.  but there's room for us, who are into something different..  The first year, I never ventured out of this forum, (where my music fits).. But lately I've been listening to music that is definitely outside of my comfort zone.  and I read some really insightful critiques and comments.  And I can figure out ways of how to incorporate some of that into what I do..  There are some very talented people here. and we can learn from them even if their music is different from ours.. It takes some work to translate knowledge gained from their genre and put it into yours.

You're very accurate, it is a heavily guitar-dependent track, and the congestion in the middle part is probably due to my lack of flexibility when it comes to music creation, still learning. However I think for those who actually enjoy listening to heavy stuff like this, the first few listens will not be precise, but then one's ears start to figure out the background music step by step. When I listen to actual metal or rock songs, by time I find myself able to solo-out the guitar or the drums.

I'm very thankful for the detailed analysis, and I'm surely going to implement your suggested methods to improve my tracks. What I think of genres is that, they're just different languages of music, with many different accents, but they all have the same base and they all can be translated once fully comprehended.