Overview of the whole Ableton track.
This is from last night,
just a random little dancey song. This one is using that 80's synth instrument pack I have, which I really like it. They all fit together really nicely generally, I don't have to worry about clashing tones much. I've also been focusing in filling in the whole track a little more, low, mid and high end.
Listen to CLEAR COLOR here.
Let's start with the 1st
instrument I began with, Instrument 2 in the overview, which is the bass. We basically just have 2 parts: the verse and chorus; We're in D minor, and the Verse basically just drones on a D, while other melodies begin to fill in more and more of the space every 4 bars. In the Chorus, the progression is simple, the bass notes drop from D to Bb, then C, then D, F, Bb, and C, and back to the verse. The second Chorus is the same progression but twice as long. Basically, the low notes continue following the same rhythm as in the first 4 bars, but we add a 3rd and a 5th above it in various rhythms, which sort of bounce off the other instruments doing the same thing.
The Bass line as described above.
Next up is Instrument 3,
which is the arpeggiated synth. In the Verse, it fills in the rests that the bass line takes, and also begins to add more and more notes in D minor like the bass, but a different melody. This contributes to the bouncing sort of feel between all the melodies. In the Chorus, a second saw synth with an arpeggiator comes in, playing a simple harmony of Bb, G, D, F, Bb, and C. It only happens in the Chorus, but the 2nd verse also gets an additional instrument which I'll describe below.
Listen to CLEAR COLOR here.
Over the second verse,
the beeping delay synth begins a melody every other measure, and then adds some filler notes in measures 2/4 the second time around, until it is fully filled in by the 4th time around. I really like this tone, it really makes this sound a lot more digital and interesting.
Instrument 5, over the Chorus, as described above.
The Beeping Delay tone also described above.
We have 2 other instruments
that are just used to transition between sections, pictured in the overview under instrument 6 and 7. Instrument 6 is a simple arpeggiated Dminor chord that slow builds in volume up to the Chorus. Instument 7 is used to move back into the Verse and the 2nd Chorus, and it's just a dissonant atonal little thing, just used to sort of increase the volume and swell into the next segment.
Listen to CLEAR COLOR here.
The last Instrument that isn't
just a filler or transitionary tone is the guitar sound, pictured in PURPLE and RED (Instruments 8 and 9) in the overview. It comes in during the last set of Choruses, and continues into the fade out. It just begins with an ascending D minor scale, 2 times through, and then a second guitar comes in over it, playing a 16th note little trill riff thing, playing A, Bb, C, and C#.