Alright, this one is proving to be a bit more of a challenge than initially anticipated but I'm enjoying it and think I'm two more dedicated music sessions away from finishing Hourglass.
The tune has morphed quite a bit since the first iteration, which originally made use of "happier chords" and twinkling bells in the intro which I thought got a little repetitive:
https://soundcloud.com/nickyhavey/hourglass-work-in-progress
However, as the tune is meant to be a little bit of an introspective look at how we spend our time, this more suspenseful feel works a lot better - well, it does in my mind anyway!
I modified the chord sequencing of that original bell synth you hear in the intro and the whole dynamic changed!
What I also did was to change the notes of that high string melody a little bit to fit in with this new arrangement.
Version 3 has now got a modification to the drum beat to make it flow a bit more, the sound balancing across the board has been addressed via playback through the main studio speakers.
When I was working on version 2, I could only use headphones, which are good to get the frequencies in the "ball park" area but there was definitely an imbalance with the sub bassline, the snare was waaaaaay to potent and I think the drum beat needed a lift in general.
https://soundcloud.com/nickyhavey/hourglass-wip-3
The next steps are to fine tune the frequency balancing, add effects, crashes and whooshes to make the rises and drops more impactful and I think Hourglass will be complete.
As I finish writing this blog though, I have just had a thought to make two versions of Hourglass. One with the more suspenseful sounds, the other with the happier vibes from version 1 and call them "Glass half empty version" and "Glass half full version" to represent the different moods!
We'll see...
Hope you enjoy!
Nicky