Analysis of my new EP on 1605 · The Weltsound Community

Analysis of my new EP on 1605

Hey guys,

over in the 909 Tribe we have a weekly series of "Track of the Week", where every Monday I analyze a new track. Actually this week I talked about my new EP "ANANDA" on 1605 and analyzed a bit the track "Rising Hope". I thought that might be interesting for you, so here's a copy paste of what I posted in the 909 Tribe. If you want to get more like this every week, exclusive videos and a direct mentor consider joining us there! :) Here's a link for signing up: https://www.skool.com/909-tribe-4453/about

Anyway, "this week's track is my latest release "RISING HOPE" in collaboration with Alchemiah; part of my Ananda EP on 1605. It's out since Friday! So for sure, I'd love to have your support; check the Beatport Link to get your copy and support me :)

https://www.beatport.com/release/ananda/4481646

So, what can I say about this track? First of all, I chose Rising Hope over the other two for this analysis, because I think it's a very simple track that feels "full" and massive, without having too many sounds. And with my own tracks, I can give you the best insights for sure! :D

Needlessly to say that Rising Hope as well as all my other tracks features a bassline in a rolling 16th rhythm. Those can have a lot variation and for this one, we decided to go with only 2 notes instead of three, which offers a bit more space for the Kick and is more of a stomping and bouncing vibe compared to the 3 notes rolling basslines (check my "The Tribe" for example). The full beat is pretty simple with only the most standard patterns like Offbeat Hat, 16th note Hat, a Cymbal Ride on every 1/8 note and a clap on every second Kick. There's not too much going on; leaving a lot of space for more percussive elements and mainly all the Stabs and melodies we used!

I want to touch on the percussion groove as well. You can hear it right from the beginning of the track and it is interesting, because usually percussions would be more upfront and direct to the listener. This one is drowned in reverb and high-cut heavily instead, which places it much more in background of the track. To me, the hits almost sound like little water droplets far away. We will touch on the "nature-theme" of this track later. But for now, notice that nothing has to be "standard" if you don't want it to be. We use a standard beat but spice it up with some non-standard stuff like this far away-percussion sound. Which was made out of a Rim Shot and a Tom by the way.

The melody that is best showcased on the first drop (1:25) is one of the key pieces of the track, but it works in a way you wouldn't expect. It sounds like a simple Choir sample chopped to 16th notes, right? But how does it get those strong transients and definition? Well, actually it's not a choir. It's a Serum sound and it sounds like NOTHING! It's just very short plucky notes, they sound like knocking against a door or something similar. But what breathes live into the sound is actually the "VOCODER" effect. We used Vocoder on the Serum-patch and feeded it with the choir loop. This way we get the "sound"/"frequencies" of the choir, but we keep the definition and shape of the synth. With "Release" and "Formant" on the Vocoder we can control the length and "cutoff" of the sound.

The main vocal is a splice sample from a Kenyan Vocal pack and I think it's just a beautiful voice! We tried to build the main break around it by using those strong Bass Drones (this time it's not done with the Sub37, @Magnus! :D). We used Serum for it, because we wanted to use "Unison" as well, to make it sound wide. Underneath, there's a bunch of pads, most notably a recording of the infamous Korg M1 Choir Preset. With all this deep and emotional feeling, we suddenly had the idea to include "nature" sound into the track. They should be subtle but give a natural feeling, as I explained already with the "droplet"-percussion.

That's why we put a field recording into the beginning of the break. I recorded this when I was traveling through Costa Rica in the rainforest. But honestly, there's so many nice field recordings available, either on Splice or Youtube, so check this out if you want to do something similar!

Last but not least, I want to talk about the main drop. What we did here is, we took just a small chop of the main Vocal and placed it as a single note. Simple as that! :D

The track is supported by different bass stabs and plucks, but honestly it's all about the two vocal lines. Which is, why it feels so simple yet full."

But let me know what you think! I tried to explain some of the key features of the production, but also let me know if you have any further questions on the track. :)

Have an awesome week!

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