Tron mix - Rough draft

[garote]

Over the last month, in pieces, I've been working on a new mix ... not Drum'n'Bass this time, but a more general Electronica one.

I extracted the 5.1 audio from both Tron films, into a collection of dialogue pieces, sound effects, and eerie background noises. Then, because I wanted even more booping and beeping, I extracted sfx from the "Transformers 2" film in the same way. I loves me some boops and beeps. (If you're interested in the toolchain I used for this, I can post a summary.)

Then I spent a reaaaally long time auditioning tracks that sounded like they were from the Tron universe. It's been difficult, there are fewer than I thought. Primarily I've been looking for a "big keyboard" sound that isn't too "ravey", doesn't have some fugly "new age" feel to it, and evokes electronics more than it invokes heavy machinery, sci-fi, or horror (which rules out almost all Industrial music, most IDM, most Drum'n'Bass, and a lot of Goa and Trance.) And, most important of all, the music has to NOT SUCK.

Man, there is so much music out there that just sucks... Oh the horror... THE HORROR......

Anyway, this weekend I sat down for twelve straight hours and put together a first draft of the first half hour. It's not yet suitable for auditioning to the wider world, but it's certainly looking good. I listened to it on the shuttle to work today and made the following notes that I need to follow up with later in the week:

0:45 - treble is too harsh, it overbears the bass
1:40 - ending of intro dies down too much before Pulse starts up
2:50 - drone overlay is wrong - too airy, dominant
3:15 - the glitch transition may actually be good here. Put it back?
5:30 - if there's any other way to arrange this, go for it - the track is good but the suture is bad. Maybe 6:25 start instead?
7:57 - this is just too DDR. Use earlier section? Toss it? Put at end?
9:10 - cut keyboard typing in half
12:40 - repeat horns theme on overlay with Jega
13:55 - and again? - this whole section could be a segment longer, to avoid overbraking.
15:15 - "survive" - stretch 2x or reverb
17:50 - Adjust compressor to scrub remaining bass. Before bass kicks in, add a dialogue sample
19:35 - Extend this segue - add a second compressor track to cut the bass of the destination track out
23:30 - Mirror OST may be too loud

Comments

Primarily I've been looking for a "big keyboard" sound that isn't too "ravey"

[reluctance.livejournal.com]

Wendy Carlos defined the Tron 1.0 sound, so other Carlos albums (or fellow Moog-master travelers such as Tomita) ought to yield a rich vein.

Re: Primarily I've been looking for a "big keyboard" sound that isn't too "ravey"

[garote]

If I were trying to make something less energetic and beat driven, Wendy Carlos, Klaus Schulze, et al would be perfect ... but the vast majority of their work is too "standalone" to fold into a proper mix. I have preserved a couple of orchestral bits from Tron 1 ... the disc programming and the light sailer ... but most of it I had to leave behind. :/