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"The Bossa Nova Rhythm" a new chill Bossa Nova track by me...

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3 comments, last by nsmadsen 9 years ago

Hey, YoungProdigy here. Here's "The Bossa Nova Rhythm", a new Latin-inspired track I wrote.

You can listen to it and download it here:

https://soundcloud.com/youngprodigymusic/young-prodigy-the-bossa-nova-rhythm

As always; critique is welcome.

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Overall, pretty nice! A few quick points:

The mix lacks definition and part of it (at least) lies with the synth keys and synth bass. They're awfully close in octave and timbre. So it's muddying up the waters some. The transition note in the piano at 1:34 really clashes with the other harmonies at that point. I think a tonal change can be better prepped and executed. Also the song didn't really live in a space or room for me. There was some reverb on the drums but some of the other instruments felt awfully dry. I didn't get a sense of one unified space where this song was "performed." I put that in quotations because I fully realize that these pieces are virtual but it's our job, as composers (especially electronic ones) to help provide that illusion that this piece is organic.

There's more I could discuss but I'll leave it to the rest of the forum. Appreciate you sharing your track!

I hope that helps!

Nate

Nathan Madsen
Nate (AT) MadsenStudios (DOT) Com
Composer-Sound Designer
Madsen Studios
Austin, TX

Sorry just one other thing - consider Bossa Nova as much more than just a rhythm or a chord progression. It's a vibe. It's chill and cool. Sleek. Try to capture that mood in your song!

I'm sure you've done a lot of listen but it never hurts to do more! Here's over an hour of Bossa Nova classics:

Nathan Madsen
Nate (AT) MadsenStudios (DOT) Com
Composer-Sound Designer
Madsen Studios
Austin, TX

Overall, pretty nice! A few quick points:

The mix lacks definition and part of it (at least) lies with the synth keys and synth bass. They're awfully close in octave and timbre. So it's muddying up the waters some. The transition note in the piano at 1:34 really clashes with the other harmonies at that point. I think a tonal change can be better prepped and executed. Also the song didn't really live in a space or room for me. There was some reverb on the drums but some of the other instruments felt awfully dry. I didn't get a sense of one unified space where this song was "performed." I put that in quotations because I fully realize that these pieces are virtual but it's our job, as composers (especially electronic ones) to help provide that illusion that this piece is organic.

There's more I could discuss but I'll leave it to the rest of the forum. Appreciate you sharing your track!

I hope that helps!

Nate

Thanks for the critique. The transition note clashing actually seems to be an issue with FL Studio. It doesn't happen when I render the song to wav. I agree that the song lacks reverb; so I'll definitely add some more.


The transition note clashing actually seems to be an issue with FL Studio. It doesn't happen when I render the song to wav.

Odd. Well, if that's the case then why not export as a WAV then use another program to convert that into an MP3. Should solve your issue.

Nathan Madsen
Nate (AT) MadsenStudios (DOT) Com
Composer-Sound Designer
Madsen Studios
Austin, TX

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