In 52 Tracks, Ambient, Music on
September 18, 2008 with no comments
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Title: Apollo Lee – Kestrel
Date: September 18, 2008
Software: Logic Pro 8
Genre: Ambient
Timing: 8:18 @ 40 bpm
What I Like About It
- The harmony is really strange — a foundation of a c°7 (C diminished 7) chord, with major seventh chords on each. Thus: CM7, EbM7, GbM7, AM7 (BbbM7, technically). This lends itself to some haunting dissonances and open consonances.
- Bouncing this track to MP3 at 192 kbps VBR (high quality) seems to eliminate a few issues with phase distortion and other artifacts of low resolution MP3 compression.
- There’s a good diversity between highs and lows, which gives the piece depth.
- I managed to equalize out most of the buzz and add a touch of reverb and flange.
What I Don’t Like About It
- I’ve probably used this patch too much.
- In a few places, the highs are just a notch too piercing.
- We’re still using one instrument and no form.
Note: These are rough drafts. Constructive criticism is welcomed, of course.
In 52 Tracks, Ambient, Music on
August 13, 2008 with no comments
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Title: Apollo Lee – Jasper
Date: August 13, 2008
Software: Logic Pro 8
Genre: Ambient
Timing: 9:18 @ 40 bpm
What I Like About It
- The instrument takes some acclimatization, but I like it after a few listens.
- Transitions are, for the most part, smooth and not distracting.
- The harmony (Am7, Gm7, Fm7, Em7) is strange, but leads to some good dissonances and spaced out consonances.
- The mix down sounds pretty good, with no glaring distortion or buzz .
What I Don’t Like About It
- While there are some bottomless bass notes in the sixteen selected notes, I didn’t use them as much as I could have.
- Some of the chords are a little thick and some of the transitions feel muddy.
Note: These are rough drafts. Constructive criticism is welcomed, of course.
In 52 Tracks, Ambient, Music on
July 29, 2008 with no comments
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Title: Apollo Lee – Ionosphere
Date: July 29, 2008
Software: Logic Pro 8
Genre: Ambient
Timing: 8:18 @ 40 bpm
What I Like About It
- The harmony (Em7, Dm7, Cm7, Bm7) is unusual and lends to some interesting note combinations and dissonances.
- The instrument has a pad and an organ in it with interesting harmonics that make it sound otherworldly.
What I Don’t Like About It
- The mix is really loud.
- The note diversity is fairly low. I seem to always have almost all of my notes in the bass clef.
- There’s still a little phase distortion that slipped through the mix.
Note: These are rough drafts. Constructive criticism is welcomed, of course.
In 52 Tracks, Ambient, Music on
July 24, 2008 with no comments
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Title: Apollo Lee – Hamilton
Date: July 24, 2008
Software: Logic Pro 8
Genre: Ambient
Timing: 8:48 @ 40 bpm
What I Like About It
- The instrument takes a while to float to the note. The way it builds up is gorgeous. It’s also a quiet instrument with overtones that move.
- The base harmony is C# minor Rhythm changes. The piece seems to float for a while around flavors of G# and then A, but soars around the tensions gracefully.
- The bass notes are big and deep, but don’t wash out the highs of the rest of the notes.
- At first, I set the treble harmonies in the octave just below middle C. Just before I recorded this, I tried positioning the non-bass notes an octave higher. That stretched out the piece and helps it to glide.
What I Don’t Like About It
- I had to compress the piece to get the volume up without distorting it. I think it may be a bit too quiet, even still.
- The transition of the final cadence throws the ear a little bit. I was aiming for a perfect authentic cadence (G#7 -< C#m7). I came close, but maybe it should just have been C#m with a C# on top (instead of B, which is the b7).
- There’s almost enough dissonance/consonance contrast, but not quite.
Note: These are rough drafts. Constructive criticism is welcomed, of course.
In 52 Tracks, Ambient, Music on
July 17, 2008 with no comments
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Title: Apollo Lee – Garnet
Date: July 17, 2008
Software: Logic Pro 8
Genre: Ambient
Timing: 7:42 @ 40 bpm
What I Like About It
- The instrument is beautiful. I’ve used it before and I’ll probably use it again.
- The harmony is D minor Rhythm Changes. It lets me get creative with dissonance and consonance. Since all the notes are in one scale (except the C# in A7), it’s easy to resolve chords in expected and unexpected ways.
- I managed to process most of the distortion out..
What I Don’t Like About It
- We keep gravitating toward Bb, for some reason. Everywhere I turned, I was on a Bb chord.
- The final chord fades well, but there’s a cut off that’s noticeable.
- I’d really like to have a greater note diversity in the future — this one is entirely in the bass clef, hovering around middle C and lower.
Note: These are rough drafts. Constructive criticism is welcomed, of course.
In 52 Tracks, Ambient, Music on
July 10, 2008 with no comments
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Title: Apollo Lee – Fundament
Date: July 10, 2008
Software: Logic Pro 8
Genre: Ambient
Timing: 9:24 @ 40 bpm
What I Like About It
- The instrument is an interesting blend of an organ and bells. I’ve used it before. I really like it.
- The harmonic structure is something new, ascending major seventh chords up the circle of fifths (CM7, GM7, DM7, AM7).
- I equalized almost all the distortion out of this piece.
What I Don’t Like About It
- The harmony doesn’t lend to very many moments of real tension. It just seems to float continuously on a major seventh chord.
- Despite having profound low notes, they are nearly inaudible. I really need to emphasize note diversity more next time.
- The mix is too loud, so watch your head.
Note: These are rough drafts. Constructive criticism is welcomed, of course.
In 52 Tracks, Ambient, Music on
July 8, 2008 with no comments
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Title: Apollo Lee – Erebus
Date: July 08, 2008
Software: Logic Pro 8
Genre: Ambient
Timing: 8:18 @ 40 bpm
What I Like About It
- My harmony was rhythm changes in A major, a harmonic structure that lends to interesting note transitions.
- This instrument with its phaser effects and rich overtone series is luscious. I love it.
- I compressed this piece well and it sounds good even on low-quality headphones.
- The low notes in the cellar give an vast depth to the music.
What I Don’t Like About It
- The modulator effect was clunky and sounded like an error (so I deleted the controller mod effect).
- I could have used more color tones for a more dissonant and interesting harmony.
- I’ve already done about a million of these in major rhythm changes.
Note: These are rough drafts. Constructive criticism is welcomed, of course.
In 52 Tracks, Ambient, Music on
June 30, 2008 with no comments
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Title: Apollo Lee – Defiance
Date: June 30, 2008
Software: Logic Pro 8
Genre: Ambient
Timing: 9:24 @ 40 bpm
What I Like About It
- My chord progression was Gm7, Eb6/9, Fm7, C7. It contributed interesting consonance and beautiful dissonances.
- I limited my use of too much processing.
- Note diversity is good, with plenty of lows balanced by some highs and the overtones.
- I love the drifting aftertouch effect of this instrument.
- The distortion is gone without the piece being too quiet.
What I Don’t Like About It
- Some of the transitions at the beginning are not smooth enough.
- I should have used the modulation effect. The overtone series it creates would have complemented this piece well.
Note: These are rough drafts. Constructive criticism is welcomed, of course.
In 52 Tracks, Ambient, Music on
June 20, 2008 with no comments
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Title: Apollo Lee – Callisto
Date: June 20, 2008
Software: Logic Pro 8
Genre: Ambient
Timing: 8:36 @ 40 bpm
What I Like About It
- I used a I vi ii V Rhythm changes progression in E (EM7, C#m7, F#m7, B7), which lent a gorgeous ethereal quality.
- After a couple of false starts with other pads, this one grabbed me. I’ve used it in other pieces.
- I toned down my use of the Microphaser and the GoldReverb.
- Midranges don’t have much distortion and none of the transitions are overwhelming.
- The floating feel of this piece—the airy highs and the bottomless bass—makes this fade into the background, unless you want to pay attention to it.
What I Don’t Like About It
- Maybe -4.1 on the channel mixer was a little much. This particular bounce is a little too quiet. It’s hard to hear it unless the volume is cranked.
- There’s still some distortion in the low end on my iPod headphones.
Note: These are rough drafts. Constructive criticism is welcomed, of course.
In 52 Tracks, Ambient, Music on
June 18, 2008 with no comments
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Title: Apollo Lee – Bitterroot
Date: June 18, 2008
Software: Logic Pro 8
Genre: Ambient
Timing: 7:54 @ 40 bpm
What I Like About It
- The structure of the harmony is descending minor seventh chords until the dominant seventh chord (Bm7, Am7, G#m7, F#7). It lends some very interesting harmonic textures.
- The instrument is beautiful and I’ve used it a few times before.
- The Microphaser I use throughout gives a strange floating back and forth like a snow flurry in the mountains of Northern Idaho.
- I successfully equalized the distortion out, mellowed the sound out a little bit, and gave it a little more reverb.
- The modulation effect on this instrument is very evocative.
- The diversity of notes is good, especially on the low end. The big bass notes give a feeling of vast scale.
What I Don’t Like About It
- This drifts aimlessly with no real sense of direction or form.
- Some of the consonant chords hold a little too long.
- The Microphase had too fast a cycle time.
- The modulation effect wasn’t used in a very interesting way and its appearance was too sporadic.
Note: These are rough drafts. Constructive criticism is welcomed, of course.