[J-Fusion] 【気まぐれな】Whimsical Autosuggestion Tactics

[Quarmat]

Hi, it's been a while.

In the last six months I have been overwhelmed by events (my second daughter was born) and by a sense of inability and creative frustration (I imagine due in no small way to the sleep deprivation that a new baby in the house entails).

in short: I had 3 or 4 songs almost finished and I was totally blocked from moving forward.

This is one of them, I hope to finish the others too.

Yet another song that I'm not sure what to think about.

But the important thing is to keep the stuff flowing.

so this one is out in the wild, i'll let her go and may she do what she can.

If you feel like listening to it and writing me something about it, as always, I will be sincerely grateful.

Have a nice day and thank you!

[Quarmat]

I updated the mix: too much low end for the genre, I think. Even if I am not sure about what genre the track is, really.

Have a nice day and happy R13!

[Jagwah]

I updated the mix: too much low end for the genre, I think. Even if I am not sure about what genre the track is, really.

Have a nice day and happy R13!

Hi Quartmat! Congratulations on your second daughter!

I love your crazy music, it feels like a mix between an anime movie, shopping mall music in South Korea, and an Super Nintendo video game. I love it, so crazy! Try finish these ones and I hope you get your creative flow again soon!! : D

[BANANA TRASH]

This is an absolute gem. The spoken word reminds me of Changing Seasons in the Persona 3 soundtrack, but the general vibes are more early 2000s/Dreamcast-era SEGA. In any case, a total bop.

[Quarmat]

Hi Quartmat! Congratulations on your second daughter!

I love your crazy music, it feels like a mix between an anime movie, shopping mall music in South Korea, and an Super Nintendo video game. I love it, so crazy! Try finish these ones and I hope you get your creative flow again soon!! : D

Hey Jagwah, thank you! Thank you also for listening to my track ^_^ Yeah I hope to finish at least another track in the next weeks, even tho free time is a missing resource this days -_-'

This is an absolute gem. The spoken word reminds me of Changing Seasons in the Persona 3 soundtrack, but the general vibes are more early 2000s/Dreamcast-era SEGA. In any case, a total bop.

Woah thank you for your kind words! I've played videogames non stop since i was a kiddo so VGM is def one of my inspo fields. Never played P3 (or any megumi tensei title) nor owned a dreamcast (even if i wished sooo much at the times because of Nights), but I am glad i gave you these vibes.

Have a nice day and keep up the good job with your music!

[mcatalao]

Man, coun't me in for some Jap Jazz Fu(n)sion!!!! Do you want an EWI solo on top of that?

Everything on this sounds a bit around Jazz Fusion, Masayoshi Takanaka, Casiopeia, T-Square, etc... And by a bit, i mean a lot!

I'm hearing at the studio! I'm more into an open(er) mix, there's something removing a bit ot the expected energy of the song, maybe some fiddling between the mids and the bass? You might have taken out a bit too much.
You can do something like the PEQ bass trick in the Pultec devices pulling the bass up and attenuating it a bit (if you don't have a puigtech, you can add some db's on the bass region from 60 to 100 Hz and remove some bass right on top of of the second harmonic of the bass (if add at 60 remove around 120, if you add ad 80, remove 160). And i'd clean the mids a bit, they feel a bit muddy, a bit fighting at each other.

If you can, listen to the Rainbow Goblins, its a super well produced concept album from Masayoshi Takanaka, you cand dig where they place the bass (you'll also find they use a wider mix to have more space for everything, almost an LCR type of mix).

But man... I loved this! Congratulations!

PS.: Oh and congratulations on the second daughter too! Sleep is underrated!

[RTFX]

This is something fun and interesting!
You had my attention the whole track through.
But, what is she telling us??

[TritoneAddiction]

Congrats on your daugther.

Great song. Song writing, sound selection, arrangement. I like it all.
I do feel there are a few minor things that could be worth considering. I don't know if I've metioned this before in another song, perhaps it was on another RT users song. But the very start of the song is cut off, so it feels like I'm thrown right in the middle of the song. The first beat is cut off. It could be Soundcloud thing. The simple solution is to leave half a second of silence in Reason before the first note kicks in.
The other thing is that I feel the mix/master is very loud, to the point of feeling squashed. It sounds like the limiter is working really hard It's especially noticable when there's a lot of instruments playing at the same time. With a light uplifting sounding song like this I think a slightly lighter/less squashed master could enhance the feel of the track even more. I know people say loud is better, but I'd like to think it's better to make a mix/master that suits the music.
Having said that, regarding the music itself, I wouldn't change a thing. Great track.

[mcatalao]

(...)
The other thing is that I feel the mix/master is very loud, to the point of feeling squashed. It sounds like the limiter is working really hard It's especially noticable when there's a lot of instruments playing at the same time. With a light uplifting sounding song like this I think a slightly lighter/less squashed master could enhance the feel of the track even more. I know people say loud is better, but I'd like to think it's better to make a mix/master that suits the music.
Having said that, regarding the music itself, I wouldn't change a thing. Great track.
(...)

Dito! The track is super loud, and part of the fighting i commented in my post is also due to that. The reference album I commented is way lower than this. The song is still great though!!!

[Quarmat]

This is something fun and interesting!
You had my attention the whole track through.
But, what is she telling us??

Thank you for taking the time to listen to my song. The "lyrics" say (rough translation):

Ahodere (silly carefree girl):
Lets go!

Kuudere (solemn, assertive girl):
Looking at the sky, shining a light, looking at the sky, strong winds, drawing dreams, walking along the river, pulling, floating freely

Ahodere and then echoed by Kuudere:
Sorry for the wait, but the morning of the party has come.

Kuudere (solemn, assertive girl):
You will be able to see the sky, if you get caught in a trap during a trip, you will be able to float freely. Full of courage, passion, and a desire to take flight, true freedom.

Both girls:
True Freedom!

Ahodere (silly carefree girl):
Lets gooooo!

Radio operator:
And join your heart with the wipers. The whales in the sky are big, but they mean no harm. That is reality, and it is possible to fly.

[Quarmat]

Man, coun't me in for some Jap Jazz Fu(n)sion!!!! Do you want an EWI solo on top of that?

Everything on this sounds a bit around Jazz Fusion, Masayoshi Takanaka, Casiopeia, T-Square, etc... And by a bit, i mean a lot!

I'm hearing at the studio! I'm more into an open(er) mix, there's something removing a bit ot the expected energy of the song, maybe some fiddling between the mids and the bass? You might have taken out a bit too much.
You can do something like the PEQ bass trick in the Pultec devices pulling the bass up and attenuating it a bit (if you don't have a puigtech, you can add some db's on the bass region from 60 to 100 Hz and remove some bass right on top of of the second harmonic of the bass (if add at 60 remove around 120, if you add ad 80, remove 160). And i'd clean the mids a bit, they feel a bit muddy, a bit fighting at each other.

If you can, listen to the Rainbow Goblins, its a super well produced concept album from Masayoshi Takanaka, you cand dig where they place the bass (you'll also find they use a wider mix to have more space for everything, almost an LCR type of mix).

But man... I loved this! Congratulations!

PS.: Oh and congratulations on the second daughter too! Sleep is underrated!

Thank you so much for tuning in. You have just listed a number of musicians and groups that have influenced me greatly. I love so much the harmonic structures and choice of sounds of late 70s and early 80s Japanese Fusion. You make me realize that I am quite explicit in my inspirations -- oops!

As for mix and limiter definitely you are right, it is a mix that I decided to leave as it was after a lot of iterations because I needed to finish this track to get out of the 6 months of inability to close a project. As soon as the newborn + toddler combo leaves me a little more time I'll get back to it following your advice, thanks!

Congrats on your daugther.

Great song. Song writing, sound selection, arrangement. I like it all.
I do feel there are a few minor things that could be worth considering. I don't know if I've metioned this before in another song, perhaps it was on another RT users song. But the very start of the song is cut off, so it feels like I'm thrown right in the middle of the song. The first beat is cut off. It could be Soundcloud thing. The simple solution is to leave half a second of silence in Reason before the first note kicks in.
The other thing is that I feel the mix/master is very loud, to the point of feeling squashed. It sounds like the limiter is working really hard It's especially noticable when there's a lot of instruments playing at the same time. With a light uplifting sounding song like this I think a slightly lighter/less squashed master could enhance the feel of the track even more. I know people say loud is better, but I'd like to think it's better to make a mix/master that suits the music.
Having said that, regarding the music itself, I wouldn't change a thing. Great track.

Thank you very much TritoneAddiction, again you are absolutely right: SoundCloud always cuts off a fraction of the beginning of tracks and I forgot to leave some space at the beginning of mine.

As said to MCatalao I agree with your judgments on mix and mastering. Probably having listened to future funk all the last few months has offset my ear a bit as to how "this way is compressed enough." I will get back to the mix and mastering as soon as I have some time and a clear mind.

Thanks again for your words and for listening to my music!

[RTFX]

This is something fun and interesting!
You had my attention the whole track through.
But, what is she telling us??

Thank you for taking the time to listen to my song. The "lyrics" say (rough translation):

Ahodere (silly carefree girl):
Lets go!

Kuudere (solemn, assertive girl):
Looking at the sky, shining a light, looking at the sky, strong winds, drawing dreams, walking along the river, pulling, floating freely

Ahodere and then echoed by Kuudere:
Sorry for the wait, but the morning of the party has come.

Kuudere (solemn, assertive girl):
You will be able to see the sky, if you get caught in a trap during a trip, you will be able to float freely. Full of courage, passion, and a desire to take flight, true freedom.

Both girls:
True Freedom!

Ahodere (silly carefree girl):
Lets gooooo!

Radio operator:
And join your heart with the wipers. The whales in the sky are big, but they mean no harm. That is reality, and it is possible to fly.

Im glad i asked and thanks for the translation!
Man, there is something I love so much about the choice of words and the expression and culture of Japan.
Always inspiring.
Visiting Tokyo is still on my bucketlist.