(80's vibe Synthpop)

[jappe]

Hi all,

Synthpop with a slice of 80's vibe and EBM.

Feedback appreciated!
I'd love to hear your suggestions of what music this reminds you of.




* All sounds from Bitley Fairlight CMI, Synclavier and other soundlibraries for Reason (bitley.laconicsounds.net)
* Jiggery Pokery's Steerpike Delay and Chenille Chorus to make anything shine
* Synapse GQ-7 EQ to cut and boost.
* Seligs Leveler for fixing vocal dynamics.
* Selig de-esser for controlling vocal sibilance.
* Onyx Tube Limiter to tame the peaks.
* Adobe Audition for manual tinkering,
* Mastered through emastered.com

[raymondh]

Nice one Jappe! More fantastic synthpop! Really good stuff!

[jappe]

Nice one Jappe! More fantastic synthpop! Really good stuff!

Thanks for the encouraging words

[Jagwah]

Great 80's vibe, feels like it's straight out of a movie.

Good mix and arrangement and cool vocals and vibe too, really well done dude keep at it!

[jappe]

Great 80's vibe, feels like it's straight out of a movie.

Good mix and arrangement and cool vocals and vibe too, really well done dude keep at it!

Thank's a lot for the feedback!
At some point I'll travel out from the 80s, perhaps reversing to the wonderful music of the 70s though

[Carly(Poohbear)]

Great Vibe..

The lead stabs reminded me of something that Howard Jones would do.

Your voice (or tracks) always makes me want to go and listen to some Andy McCluskey or Philip Oakey.

In the middle bit I thought that Rick Wakeman or Keith Emerson just popped in for a quick riff....

Love the energy towards the end, great track (again)...

Sidenote I came across this the other day, really enjoyed watching it, though you might like it..

[Troublemecca]

A slice brother? Is this the theme for the new He-Man reboot? Lol very 80s! I like your melodies, and your vocals are sweet. I think you went too heavy on the 80s. Never go full 80s. It's the synths I think; overwhelming... omnipresent is the word.

[Pete B]

What does it remind me of? Almost exactly as you wrote: 80s synthpop with a bit of more contemporary, harder electronic stuff. My favourite parts are when the more powerful stabbing bass synth sound is there at about 2 and 4 minutes, which makes me think the higher floaty synth notes might also suit being shorter -- maybe half their current length -- because sometimes it sounds as if the different genres are fighting each other rather than blending. Of course, that might be your intention. Anyway, it's good that you're branching out and not limiting yourself to the straitjacket of a single genre.

[sumusik]

Sounds great Jappe! Despite that there's a lot going on in some parts, the production still sounds really clean. Def a huge 80s vibe going on. I don't really hear any EBM elements to be honest, but it's probably not even needed. It's definitley synthpop, which is a good thing! Good work.

[jappe]

Great Vibe..

The lead stabs reminded me of something that Howard Jones would do.

Your voice (or tracks) always makes me want to go and listen to some Andy McCluskey or Philip Oakey.

In the middle bit I thought that Rick Wakeman or Keith Emerson just popped in for a quick riff....

Love the energy towards the end, great track (again)...

Sidenote I came across this the other day, really enjoyed watching it, though you might like it..

Thank you for feedback & references! That OMD documentary will entertain me on the train trip to Sweden today

[jappe]

A slice brother? Is this the theme for the new He-Man reboot? Lol very 80s! I like your melodies, and your vocals are sweet. I think you went too heavy on the 80s. Never go full 80s. It's the synths I think; overwhelming... omnipresent is the word.

Thanks for sharing your impressions
I'm like that when cooking too, never cook from a recipe, so I don't know the result until it's done.

[jappe]

What does it remind me of? Almost exactly as you wrote: 80s synthpop with a bit of more contemporary, harder electronic stuff. My favourite parts are when the more powerful stabbing bass synth sound is there at about 2 and 4 minutes, which makes me think the higher floaty synth notes might also suit being shorter -- maybe half their current length -- because sometimes it sounds as if the different genres are fighting each other rather than blending. Of course, that might be your intention. Anyway, it's good that you're branching out and not limiting yourself to the straitjacket of a single genre.

Thanks for feedback/suggestion!
It's quite busy in the parts you mention so those higher pad hits could be candidates to make shorter, will try that.

[jappe]

Sounds great Jappe! Despite that there's a lot going on in some parts, the production still sounds really clean. Def a huge 80s vibe going on. I don't really hear any EBM elements to be honest, but it's probably not even needed. It's definitley synthpop, which is a good thing! Good work.

Thanks!
Categorising music is a challenge for me, I need a Genre Detection RE
It's good to hear that it's sufficiently 80s.

[Bloma]

Wow jappe, your stuff keeps getting better and better. So clean! Would love to hear this live actually.

[Some Desperate Glory]

Very 80s vibe on this one... reminds me also of the songwriting done in those days.... the sound of one hand clapping. The lyrics are excellent on this one.

[Trefor]

Definitely harks back to the 80's shades of Human League.

[jappe]

Wow jappe, your stuff keeps getting better and better. So clean! Would love to hear this live actually.

Thank you!
Alas, my live performance skills are very limited.
Comp Edit mode and recording instruments in reduced tempo helps.

[jappe]

Very 80s vibe on this one... reminds me also of the songwriting done in those days.... the sound of one hand clapping. The lyrics are excellent on this one.

Happy to hear I managed to make it sound 80s... sometimes I'm in doubt but there's just so much Human League and the likes in my long time music memory so I trust it'll colour my music.
Using Bitley refills helps a great lot as well.

[jappe]

Definitely harks back to the 80's shades of Human League.

Thanks!

[bitley]

Great & amazing harmonies. How do you compose a track like this? Cool style!

[bitley]

Similar? Hm I'm thinking about NASA from Stockholm Their older tracks such as "Paula":

[eusti]

Quite cool. Thanks for sharing. Bit nervous in regards to competing frequencies for my taste (BD, SD, toms, bass are a bit too voluminous), but I like the whole vibe and idea a lot.

D.

[jappe]

Great & amazing harmonies. How do you compose a track like this? Cool style!

Thanks!

I often start with the beat, making 8-16 bars

Experiment with chord progressions

Loop a small section and improvise the chord hit rhythm over and over until I like it.

Ditto for the bass. I often slow down the tempo while recording the bass, slow enough to listen for the empty spots (no bass drum) where a bass note could hit. (I'm this song I skipped this at least partly)

Repeat the above until I have full length minus intro and outro.

Sing verses and chorus using comp Edit, mid,left,and right tracks.

Record the lead segments looped. I often slow the tempo down considerably, so that I can keep up with the chord changes. Sometimes I record lead looped chord by chord.

I'm general in all phases above, I throw away a lot I made the day before, because it sounds incredibly silly or worse after a good night's sleep

Some other day, typically when my brain is on near-standby and can't be used for much else, I proceed with the tedious procedure of selecting the best vocal takes, export them, and do some cleanup manually in Adobe Audition, import them to mid/left/right tracks in Reason and fix pitch errors.

Finally, intro, outro, automation, iteratively searching for weakest spot to modify.

I master it through emastered.com.

Most often I stick to this process because it allows me to do the creative part quickly while my creative window is open.
I seldom start making/selecting sounds while in creative mode because it breaks it.

[jappe]

Similar? Hm I'm thinking about NASA from Stockholm Their older tracks such as "Paula":

Ah, Good old NASA...I have ones of their records I played a lot long ago, so they are certainty in the inspiration pool. (Remembering the future)
I like their scifi/mystery lyrics... other similar bands I like are Drab Majesty and Mind In A Box

[jappe]

Wow jappe, your stuff keeps getting better and better. So clean! Would love to hear this live actually.

Thanks!
I'd love to be able to play any of it live

EDIT: Hah! I thanked you twice with this double post. Confused and on mobile phone