LO3: Developing Track 2

The Demo for Track 2 only consisted of a short intro and chorus idea – I needed to create some ideas for verses. In the song ‘Fantasy’ by Mystery Skulls, the verses can be distinguished from the choruses as the higher frequencies are reduced on everything other than the vocals. I wanted to create a similar effect. However, I wanted to achieve this via a change in instrumentation rather than by lowering the higher frequencies with an EQ effect. As a result, I wrote some drum and bass parts.

With fewer instruments playing in the verse, the reverb on the drums was a lot more. It also prevented the parts from flowing into each other. I tried altering the ‘wet’ level, EQ and room size but the reverb effect just couldn’t stand out far enough without ruining the rest of the mix. To get around this, I decided to take some inspiration from the ‘Chariots of Fire‘ theme song and use a delay effect instead.

The intro in the demo needed improving as well. Although I want the song to begin with a sense of minimalism, the lone synth seemed too bland. As an improvement, I added a synth in the background. It was the same as the synth used in the chorus, however, its MIDI chords were shortened and the reverb was turn far up, resulting in a pad-like sound, adding harmony and atmosphere. Similar harmonies were also added to the verse section

The track so far can be heard HERE.

References

‘Chariots of Fire‘ theme song.

‘Fantasy‘ by Mystery Skulls.