Song of the Day, Series 2, Prologue

Just dropping in for an announcement here. With our addition of Marim as a blog author and her particular focus on music we thought it fitting to re-introduce Song of the Day. I know this won't be the same as what Reogan did with The Three Realms. He has his own spectacular style and it really made McVaffe's music come to life. Marim will probably be taking more of an analytical approach, and she better, because it's going to be 5 days of music I wrote myself using Nanostudio, a program for iOS (so yes, all of the posted tracks were composed on my iPod Touch). With this in mind I would definitely appreciate critical comments as long as they're within my knowledge and the program's potential (for instance, don't tell me to sidechain dance music because that's not available on Nanostudio, however, if I ever did need to sidechain on something like FL studio, I'd watch this video). We'll be posting the tracks I made in order of when I made them, so here's the track list with a brief description of each track.

Retrospective - My first attempt with Nanostudio at making electronic music. This was composed over the summer and features all preset synths that came with the program. The major issues that plague it are a simple beat, an irritating snare, and lack of atmosphere. It's strong point would probably be the breakdown at 1:28.

Urban Science - This one was completed after Striking Chill, but the majority of it was finished by the time I decided to experiment with DnB. The drum computer is all samples recorded with the iPod mic and because of this the percussion lacks bass, but it is made up for by three very bassy synths. The main issues are lack of more than one melody structure, and too easy of a feel. The strong points would probably be the percussive rhythms with their sounds, the basslines, and the initial melody introduced at 1:36.

Striking Chill - After composing one electronic, almost dance piece and one electronic chill piece (Urban Science was actually inspired by the Pyrite Town theme from Pokemon Colosseum) I decided to tackle DnB. This sounds surprisingly fast despite the fact that it runs at only 150 bpm. I would attribute that to the hi-hat and the rapid repetitive melodies that modulate. The primary issues with this track would be lack of atmosphere (something all my tracks suffer form in my opinion), lack of elements (there are only 3 synths used), and repetitiveness. The strong points would probably be the funky snare hits (some people hate them, but zircon inspired me to try and do something "new school"), the modulation, and the initial sequence at 1:10.

Progress - I liked the results with my first DnB track so much that I decided to take another crack at it this time with more elements. While I still don't capture the atmosphere I'm always seeking, I did find that music writes itself more often then not and the best part (in my opinion) ended up being the most un-DnB part. Cons are repetitiveness, semi-uninteresting synth sounds, drum loops, and the atmosphere (or lack thereof). Pros are mostly found in the calm section starting at 2:39. Overall I would argue this has the best production quality despite the fact that there isn't any real good element about it that stands out.

Shift (Interlude) - I put this together in around an hour because I had "Paint it Black" by the Rolling Stones stuck in my head. It's repetitive and plays the same harmony over and over through different key changes, but it accomplishes its goal of being an interlude. The "lead" for all intensive purposes is a very basic triangle pulse wave that uses the LFO to ascend to the note. If you want cons then I guess they would be weak synth lead and notes and a prolonged ending. Pros would probably be harmony and the "shifting" between keys. Overall there isn't really much that can be said about this track.

So that's all I've completed so far. I can tell you right now that I've been working on a Progressive Trance/House mix that will probably be done by the end of the year. I'm trying to use all samples and synths that aren't built into Nanostudio. The other track that is still at its very beginning is a sort of synth rock. It's much harder to compose because I'm not sure how to nail the style, electronic is so much easier. Nanostudio is the first music synthesis program I've ever worked with, so give me a break and help me out. There are people much more talented then I who work with Nanostudio. Checking their stuff out is definitely recommended so you can tell me how pathetic my beginnings are :) All comments are much appreciated.