This is the beginning of a new song. I am setting aside Atlas and Sidewinder (only for now!) so I can continue practicing with new sounds. Hopefully, my goal is to keep learning enough about multiple ways to get a song rolling so I can rework my previous projects.

Chesapeake Dreams attempts to fulfill some of the goals I have had for my previous tracks: groovy basslines and lush pads, with emotional melodies. The name of the song is based off of the area I grew up in, the Chesapeake Bay area. The Chesapeake Bay is one of the world's largest estuaries, filled with millions of wildlife (fish, eagles, herons, crabs and other aquatic life.) The song is sort of a hope that we can improve the things we treasure or take for granted. I have worked on this song while viewing a background of sunsets over bodies of water, to bring about a sort of calm, relaxed feel to the song. No telling yet where this song will take me, but so far, it's moving in a direction I want it to go. It's only 1:44 long.

So, I share these thoughts with you.
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So now I have the basic foundation to the song more formalized. There is a defined bassline and the percussion is more complex. A few pads have been added. A "side" melody (not the main one I intend to use) was added as well. Lots more stuff going on to make it interesting.

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OK listening now. You've defo improved your beats/percussion, quite substantially infact. First thoughts are that you need to compress the kick a bit, i'd suggest a threshold of about -5db with a ratio of 4:1. The sort of bass/lead sound thing that comes in is also nice, but try changing the melody a bit to add a bit of variation. The clap is good, dunno whether you added the reverb but i'd say just lessen it a tad, not much though. In the mini break that effect at the beginning is good and then with that nice quite dreamy lead. When it kicks back up again it's nice, but that arp melody needs a bit of variation since it's same as the first part of the intro, try extending it a bit. Bassline is good. During this second part it needs something else on top since nothing much is happening and nothing new is being brought on.

Hope that helps.

Thanks! Yeah, I definitely have been experimenting a lot with percussion lately, especially on how to work in a variety of effects and different beats. Still pretty shaky on compression, though, so I'll try what you suggest. I did add a bright reverb effect to the clap, 41% bright with a length time of 15%. I also set the reverb volume above the normal volume, so I could try to get them closer together and see if that helps. I've got ideas for the melody, so I know the track is pretty "boring" right now in that sense, because I'm just laying down the basic groundwork. I'll definitely be adding a lot more as time progresses. Thanks for the tips!

A new version is now up. The bassline has another layer. The main kick is different as well, as I couldn't get the old one to sound very strong. Either that or I really suck at mastering LOL. I'm banking on the latter.. The song sounds rough, but it gets some of the basic ideas I want in there. For instance, the transition into the lead after the 2 minute mark iis a little goofy.

A new arp lead with a melody is also introduced. It still needs a ton of work. I want the melody to sound better, but it's a start I suppose. Still no breakdown, it's still 3 minutes, it's just a more complex version of what I've done. On a side note, I'm thinking about changing the name to just "Chesapeake", because Chesapeake Dreams is a little long I guess. Anyway, please check it out and tell me what you think!

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