Deva
DEVA forms the title track for the album of a new recording project, Somió.
I’m in the process of pulling compositions together for this and have begun work on a separate website. The reason for divorcing this work from other tracks is that I’m looking for a consistent theme for Somió. I’ve a tendency to “go with the flow” when writing, but I want at least some of my work to develop along a particular line.
DEVA (more about the origins of the project and album at somio.net) was sketched some time ago as six random notes (or 12 if you count the slight change in each alternating bar). I did make an earlier attempt at arranging it back in March, but I’m much happier with this version.
The bass sequence remains rock solid throughout the track, barring two very short pauses as the main theme is introduced. The percussive sounds and frequency changes are intended to punctuate what is essentially the exploration of a very basic melody.
The arrangement of this track is complete but I will be back to check levels before mastering.
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Just gave this another listen this morning on the Mission speakers and feel that it does need levels adjusting. I’ve been using my Beyerdynamics and Ultimate Ears earbuds along with computer speakers (aaagh) so far and on those the balance seems OK. On the regular hi fi it’s a bit heavy bottom end with a mushy mid-range and the drums are too quiet.
If anybody has anything to add after hearing on decent monitor speakers, I’d be very grateful for your comments.
Just soloing one of the sounds used on this track which started life as a woodblock. Isn’t it fantastic what you can do with the ADSR envelope, a little delay, frequency shifts, modulation and gate sequencing?
You reach a point when the original source file has little relevance to the final composition. Which in itself, is quite an interesting concept.
Woodblock
Update: Mastered version uploaded.
OK, it was mastered – and @pure_tone did an excellent job, but it wasn’t sitting at all comfortably alongside San Feliz. Granted it’s a much heavier piece anyway, but I just felt there was much more space in the latter so I revisited this last night and spent a couple of hours remixing tonight.
I’ve still only heard it using earbuds and my Beyerdynamic DT100s, but I’m much happier with the balance and feel. Let’s see tomorrow if I think it’s ready for mastering (again).
Mastered and uploaded including ID3 tag. Download from Last.fm