# "FS" (Embertone Walker 1955 Steinway, S+A Auras, Zynaptic Intensity, etc.)



## ka00 (Jul 2, 2018)

Any and all feedback welcome.

Thanks!


----------



## Morning Coffee (Jul 2, 2018)

What microphone or microphone combinations were used in this? Very nice.


----------



## ka00 (Jul 2, 2018)

Morning Coffee said:


> What microphone or microphone combinations were used in this? Very nice.



Thanks! I combined the Close, Room and Binaural mics to varying degrees.


----------



## ka00 (Jul 3, 2018)

Just updated the track. Tamed a few overly high piano velocities and added a bit of sound design. Critical feedback is certainly welcome and appreciated. Thanks!


----------



## Morning Coffee (Jul 3, 2018)

Is there a limiter on it? It seems louder, especially the bottom end of the piano. I remember this piece sounding softer, less busy, which was more to my taste, but that is just a personal thing or perhaps my frame of mind at the time of the original listen. Still, I ended up buying the Embertone piano as your composition reminds me of something Trent Reznor might write. I was after that moody, emotional piano sound.


----------



## ka00 (Jul 3, 2018)

Morning Coffee said:


> Is there a limiter on it? It seems louder, especially the bottom end of the piano. I remember this piece sounding softer, less busy, which was more to my taste, but that is just a personal thing or perhaps my frame of mind at the time of the original listen. Still, I ended up buying the Embertone piano as your composition reminds me of something Trent Reznor might write. I was after that moody, emotional piano sound.



Thanks for the feedback @Morning Coffee! I did tinker with the sound (maybe a bit too much) exactly as you described. I added a limiter and bumped up the Zynaptiq Intensity, and killed the built-in compressor effect in the Embertone interface.

When I played the song back on a crappy pair of Bluetooth headphones the piano sounded too quiet compared to when I mixed it, so I went back and tried to make things louder.

It’s probably too bright now or maybe specifically when notes have higher velocities they sound too limited/compressed. I’ll have to try to dial it down a bit more.

And glad it reminded you of something TR might have written. Am a big fan myself.


----------



## Morning Coffee (Jul 3, 2018)

What is the very first sound or effect I hear at the start of this music, almost like a kettle boiling haha? It seems to go all the way through the music. I really like that, sets up the atmosphere nicely. And thanks for posting this piece as I now have a new piano library!


----------



## ka00 (Jul 3, 2018)

Morning Coffee said:


> What is the very first sound or effect I hear at the start of this music, almost like a kettle boiling haha? It seems to go all the way through the music. I really like that, sets up the atmosphere nicely. And thanks for posting this piece as I now have a new piano library!



That kettle boiling sound you heard is a patch from S+A Auras. Great library, even without an MPE controller.

Ok, I darkened the piano a bit again by losing some of the top dynamic layers. And I eased off on the Intensity plugin. I hope it recaptures that original vibe a bit better. Thanks for pointing it out.

The Embertone library has a lot of options, which is good, but it apparently takes some skill to tweak it just right, especially when combining different mics.


----------



## Morning Coffee (Jul 3, 2018)

P.S Good point about listening to a mix back on headphones. Trying to get that perfect balance right between wanting it to translate well between all these different listening mediums, such as expensive monitor speakers, cheap headphones, or a car stereo system etc, is not easy.


----------



## CGR (Jul 3, 2018)

ka00 said:


> Any and all feedback welcome.
> 
> Thanks!



Very atmospheric & brooding. Shades of Radiohead for me, which is a good thing!


----------



## ka00 (Jul 3, 2018)

CGR said:


> Very atmospheric & brooding. Shades of Radiohead for me, which is a good thing!



Thanks, @CGR! You guys are naming my favourite musicians, which makes me smile.


----------



## CGR (Jul 3, 2018)

OK - it just hit me. Reminds me a little also of the ending of this 2004 track by The Dissociatives (Australia's Daniel Johns from Silverchair & Electronic Musician Paul Mac):


----------



## ka00 (Jul 3, 2018)

CGR said:


> OK - it just hit me. Reminds me a little also of the ending of this 2004 track by The Dissociatives (Australia's Daniel Johns from Silverchair & Electronic Musician Paul Mac):




Wow, cool. Never heard of them, but I'm really digging this. Will check out their music. Thanks!


----------



## slateandash (Jul 5, 2018)

ka00 said:


> Any and all feedback welcome.
> 
> Thanks!





Nice track! Good use of my voice


----------



## ka00 (Aug 25, 2018)

I revisited this track, redoing the middle part.

I think it’s better, and it sounds good on various headphones and my monitors.

However, when I played it in my car, the high notes of the piano (near the middle of the song) seemed uncomfortably loud, even though the waveform and spectrum view shows no volume spikes.

Don’t know if it’s just some kind of weird resonance happening in my car at certain frequencies. Sometimes bright piano resonances hurt my ears and I’m not sure if it’s just a problem with my hearing or something everyone experiences.


----------



## ReelToLogic (Aug 26, 2018)

ka00 said:


> I revisited this track, redoing the middle part.
> 
> I think it’s better, and it sounds good on various headphones and my monitors.
> 
> ...



Nice piece. I think that car audio systems do have resonances that amplify certain frequencies. I listen to my mixes on several different systems and often experience what you did when listening in one of our cars but not the other. That said, professional tracks don't usually experience this much, so it still pays to use that info to try to tame those annoying frequencies.


----------



## nordicguy (Aug 26, 2018)

That is a pretty nice track ka00!

I don’t know if Intensity is still involving within your mix bus but, It seems to be a wild beast to tame.
It does a lot which is happening in the background.
I personnaly think its mandatory to use a plug in like MeterPlugs Perception to help hearing what’s actually going on.

Again, good work!


----------



## ka00 (Aug 26, 2018)

Thanks, @nordicguy! I will read up on Perception; thanks for the tip and for listening!


----------



## LamaRose (Aug 27, 2018)

Excellent composition. Original and unexpected. Has a bit of that Zero 7 vibe that I love so much.


----------



## ka00 (Aug 27, 2018)

LamaRose said:


> Excellent composition. Original and unexpected. Has a bit of that Zero 7 vibe that I love so much.



Thanks so much @LamaRose. I love Zero 7, so that’s great to hear.


----------

