Cytgord Hardd

https://soundcloud.com/zoeblade/cytgord-hardd

sweet track, very enjoyable.

I like your stuff Zoe, always has an unforced sound, things sit naturally together and this is no different. Reminds me of The Knife almost but at an increased tempo. Really nice track, it's the type of track that could give me heckles! Unfortunately though it doesn't. I think it's the pad… it lacks something. Couldn't help thinking it would really suit some binaural panning, make it go over my head sometimes and down my back, along with an automated high frequency boost maybe. I'm not sure though… cryptic information, it's the best, right? :-)

It's a solid sounding track although sounds a little dead in my hd's which makes me think it might need a dB or so boost in the mid-range… which might be the ticket for my heckles! ha Nice echoed chimes/chirps/electronic steel drum? sounds at ~3min, left me wanting.

well, i like it, i miss a little glitch maybe? i don't know, some breaks here and there, spice it up! that is all.

Thanks for the advice! I guess I'm not going to get out of EQing it after all, heh... :)

That bit at the very end is very similar to the arpeggiated bit before it, the one that's almost Boxing Day like (as I realised too late; I think it was supposed to be more Ziggomatic like, but I haven't got the hang of that yet). I think both are either square or triangle waves, highpass filtered, with lots of 4096 stage BBD and spring reverb. I'm probably starting to overuse those effects, but they sound so beautiful to my ears... The fact that something particularly interesting comes in just in time for the fadeout is a sort of nod to .215061, which is what I was mostly basing this on. I'm not sure if it was supposed to be teasing, showing a glimpse of something even better then pulling you away again, but I was trying to go for that sort of vibe regardless.

I like it quite a lot. It has an innocent and emotional feel to it. Listening on external speakers, I kind of feel like the lead synth might be too in the forefront. Maybe you should play with it and make it more transparent, allowing you to accentuate the background elements more.

That synth does sound like the synth at the end of ziggomatic. Another thing about the ziggomatic synth is that there is nothing else really going on except reverb, so there's no muddying, and you have that beautiful bell-like sound going everywhere in your speakers but not hitting each other in the panning while the reverb fills in the transients.

This has a very "homemade" sound in a definitely good way. It sounds like the bassline doesn't go to the root note of the chord at the start of the chord progress but it brings a good tension to the whole thing (if that makes any sense). I didn't like the fade out at the end but it's not a big deal. You definitely have your own solid thing going on here.

Thanks! Yes, I'm trying to bear in mind the little music theory I know, yet not get so boxed in by it anymore. I'm finally starting to make basslines that aren't centred around the root note of each chord, but are still sticking to the notes of the chord in general, aside from the occasional grace note.

Innocent, naïve and homemade was definitely the emotion and aesthetic I was going for with this one, so I'm glad it came through. Thank you!

And yeah, I usually don't fade out music. I guess I was stealing a bit too much from .215061, perhaps partly out of habit more than because it was warranted, in terms of what best served the music. I'll try to keep an eye on that. I know I should be trying to find my own voice more and stealing from my favourite other artist less, but I'm making what I'd like to hear, which happens to be partly in the vein of that artist. I guess I should make more of a conscious effort to expand my listening palette, and the writing should follow...

I don't see the problem with taking heavy inspiration like that from other artists. You should just do whatever comes naturally to you. If it ends up sounding like something in another song, like a really similar mood or something, I don't see the problem with that. Just follow what moves you emotionally. It could end up sounding forced if you avoid something because you feel like you're stealing. That's how I feel anyway when I find something I did sounds similar to another artist.

Hey Zoe. You've got a wonderful palette of sounds here. Love the bass, the vocal-y pads, and the simple drum programming. Honestly, I'm not feeling the lead synth sequence that starts at 1min and think it could compliment the rest of the song better. It also gets a bit repetitious towards the end, probably because I'm not that into it.