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Off Kilter


by

aralim

 Genre: Trance

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Description
This is my very first GarageBand composition. It started out with the intent of a loops-only piece, but before I knew it, I was tinkering with existing loops and had a couple of nice melodies going through my head that I knew had to be in this! Thanks to the new musical typing and musical notation features of GB2, this wound up being easier than I thought it would be (though hardly a cake-walk!). Considering that I haven't tried writing music in close on 15 years now, I'm pretty darn proud that I was able to create this!

Please listen and comment! Just because I think it's good doesn't mean you will. ;-) If it can be improved, let me know how!

Run time is 6 minutes, 19 seconds.
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Lyrics
None
Song Stats
Hits: 2085
Comments: 18
Fans: 0
Plays: 292
Downloads: 46
Votes: 10
Uploaded: Sep 25, 2005 - 10:16:15 PM
Last Updated: Sep 25, 2005 - 10:23:23 PM Last Played: Nov 11, 2009 - 09:47:00 AM
Song License
Creative Commons License:
Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial

Creative Commons

Song Actions
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Hardware:
Apple PowerBook G4 17" (1.33 GHz)
Software:
GarageBand 2.0, .Mac samplers of Jam Packs 1, 2, and 3
Comments
cjhoose said 1518 days ago (September 25th, 2005)
earcandy
Not quite the usual trance, but good dance stuff. Could use a deeper
bass and a more prominent melody. I like though.
Check out my latest song called Julia
aralim said 1517 days ago (September 26th, 2005)
Guess it depends...
...on what you consider "normal" trance. ;-D

Most of my collection consists of this kind of trance music. About 1/3 of it's hard trance, a 1/3 of it's progressive trance, and the last 1/3 is the most recent "dark" style of trance (not sure what that sub-genre is called). I like because it energizes me and helps me wake up on the drive to / from work, as well as keeps me going during work.

Thanks again for the comment and the vote!
said 1518 days ago (September 25th, 2005)
NICE DITTY!
Lovely ditty little kiddie! I was smokin a J while pissing while I was listening! Quite ebjoyable and definetely helped the flow!
gregd said 1518 days ago (September 25th, 2005)
Not...
...bad.
Trance isn't really my genre of choice, but I like how you keep things
moving. It stays interesting, which can be hard to do in a trance tune, I
think. I dig it, but I agree that the bass and melody could be
differentiate, separated, or otherwise emphasized, or perhaps
distinctuated, if you like? I dunno. It's late and past my bed time, but I
do like the tune.

Well done,
thelonious.
Check out my latest song called 08nov08
said 1518 days ago (September 26th, 2005)
F23k Yeah!
Looks like making tracks is like riding a bike!!! My only criticism is the
kick fill where the bassline drops off/changes about a 1/3 of the way in
- make it longer and faster so that you get that build up that all the
drug addicted rave kids love! LOL! This would be a great track for a
porno. Nice and steady!
helloreb said 1517 days ago (September 27th, 2005)
F23k Yeah!
At 2:30 in is were I'm talking about. Feels like it really wanted to build but
ended up coming on to fast. Still really enjoy this though!
drakonis said 1517 days ago (September 26th, 2005)
good for 1st GB tune!
Unlike others who post their first loop-only tune here, you've gone
beyond that and tried experimenting with making this your OWN
composition, not just stock loops. You also do a pretty good job of
building suspense as new instruments come in. I like the slight
dissonance. Pretty decent first composition, a lot better than my first
in GB! Anyway, one word of caution... this music writing stuff in GB,
combined wiith the wonderfully fun MacJams online communnity is one
addictive combination! Welcome to a very fun place, and I look forward
to hearing more from you. Feel free to reciprocate and find out what
some of us have written, and drop us comments too!
ttfn,
Drakonis
Check out my latest song called Lullaby for the Inner Child
aralim said 1517 days ago (September 26th, 2005)
re: good for 1st GB tune!
Drakonis, thanks for the many kind words! :-) The dissonance is very deliberate -- one of many reasons I called it "off kilter".

My brother-in-law (a former rave DJ with a major techno / trance collection and scads of experience working with the stuff, though not composing his own) let me in on a little secret about techno: Almost all of it is written in a minor key, even if it doesn' t sound like it was. In the case of this song, it was written in a major key (A) but the two primary melodies contained many minor chordings / progressions.

I also called the song "Off Kilter" for what my BIL refers to as the "DJ-unfriendly kick", since it seems to come on the off beat, when in fact almost everything else is on the off beat.
fax4voice3 said 1517 days ago (September 26th, 2005)
re: good for 1st GB tune!
I'm the BIL in question. I DJed from about '87 through '94, the last three years almost entirely hard trance at raves.

Actually, the intro is a bit less unfriendly than it was in the early version you played for me, and the outro is a gift - VERY mixable. A slightly punchier kick, and maybe a 2-4 snare in parts, and it would have fit into all but the hardest sets of mine. I like this a lot, WITHOUT the "for your first try" qualifier.
said 1517 days ago (September 26th, 2005)
I DIdn't Find this Off-Kilter
But I liked it all the same. A bit repetitive, but that's the point, eh?
caroline said 1515 days ago (September 28th, 2005)
blimey...
no wonder the bear was bouncing!! it's not my kinda thing but he tells me that it keeps him going - thanks for sharing x
Check out my latest song called clink that link mjrf
The Composer said 1515 days ago (September 28th, 2005)
Too repetitive for me
But you already know that. I'm glad to hear that you are mucking
around with layers a little (different combinations of tracks) which is
great, by having even subtle changes in the texture you can keep the
listeners interest without having to change the chords or melodies you
are playing. You've also got some nice grooves going (and yay for you
for experimenting with the loops).

Some comments though, another way to keep the interest going in a
similar way to mucking around with the layers... since this is electronic
music, remember that you don't have to confined by the performers
instruments... muck around with the timbre of different bass lines/
melodies/chords etc ... as in use the same melodies... just with a
different sound.

One critisim though.... I really liked your intro... but the intro was the
only place I heard some of those sounds (particulary the tabla). Make
the most out of the material you have, don't just go from one riff to
another, but remember what you've written already. I would've loved
to have heard parts of your intro towards the end of the song... but it
just didn't happen... in the end I forgot your intro until I listened to it
again. Do the listener a favour and remind them of things you want
them to remember.

Other than that, don't stop... just keep going.
aralim said 1515 days ago (September 28th, 2005)
re: Too repetitive for me
Composer, thanks for the detailed feedback. I appreciate it!

The tabla in the beginning does resurface at the end, but I kept it at a slightly more muted volume so that it was no longer dominant, but a subtle reminder of what came before. I guess it was too subtle! :D

Trance is a bit different from other forms of electronic music, in that the repetitiveness is very deliberate and seeks to put the listener into a trance-like zone or state of mind (hence the name). For the same reason, most trance tracks rely almost exclusively on changes in the layering to accomplish the growth and evolution of the song. While a given trance song may have many layers (I tend to lose count after about 25 or so), no more than 10 or 12 are in use for any prolonged period (kick beat, hi hat, snare, cymbal(s), bass line, and the main melodies and harmonies). Some layers are "atmospherics" or "stingers" that just come in for a measure or two here and there (like the panned synths and the paradiddle/cymbal combo); others are supporting rhythms that are played at a very low volume and blend in well with the other rhythms.

I'm nowhere near that level yet -- this song has a total of 15 layers, and by the end I was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed (and so was my laptop before I locked every track except the one I was editing! ;D). I figured best to stop there and keep things on the "minimalist" side. I'm hoping as I get more experience, I'll get better at coming up with or finding rhythms that blend well together and layering them in more intricate ways.

If you want to hear a really majestic and gorgeous sounding work of trance music, listen to "Arms of Orion" by Tea Freaks. It's on the Tranceport II compilation CD (Amazon picked a bad sample for the disc page, so don't listen to it there). It's as repetitive as any trance piece, but the sustained major chords that come in about half-way through, combined with the soaring primary melody and the underpinning harmony (that starts off as the melody) makes this something that gives me goose bumps every time I listen to it.
stevec said 1515 days ago (September 28th, 2005)
Awesome first effort
I didn't vote as I have no reference for this style of music, but I thought it was a good listen. Look forward to hearing more from you!
Check out my latest song called Pieces
DeputyDoofy said 1514 days ago (September 29th, 2005)
Cool.
I like this tune a lot, but it tends to be super-repetitive.
Of course, most trance songs are. Which means - you did what you set out to do (trance) and did it extremely well. :)
Check out my latest song called Sweet Smell Of Success
thetiler said 1513 days ago (September 30th, 2005)
cool beat and rhythms
like the panning, fun for the ears. A bouncy fun!
Jungle computer sounds.
Check out my latest song called The Bluebird Cafe (with two other guest)
ginz111 said 1512 days ago (October 1st, 2005)
The juices are flowin
I can tell your creative juices have been building and are ready to explode. My only complaint is the drums could have been a bit more kicking. Otherwise good stuff. Awesome first track. And I am really looking forward to your future tracks. I am sure the will be very interesting.
Check out my latest song called Sobriety II
nealgardner said 1468 days ago (November 14th, 2005)
needs work.
a decent start; keep experimenting.
-hi-hats pattern too repetitive
-not enough kick drum
-synth sounds too out-of-the-box circa 1985.

i agree with earcandy; not quite the usual trance.
this sounds more like soundtrack music.
i suggest you pick up some current trance compilations for inspiration and hear how things have evolved.
Check out my latest song called My Amphetamine
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Artist Info
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Name: Joe Moran
send a note
I'm a computer programmer who also has a love of all kinds of music. Now that Apple has released Garage Band, I'm trying to get back to my college efforts at creating music on the computer. I started off college as a double-major in music, but ha... [see more]

Check out some of my other songs:

Genre Info
Trance music is a subgenre of electronic dance music (EDM) that developed in the 1990s. Trance could be described as a melodic, more-or-less freeform style of music characterized by steady beat between 130 and 158 bpm and repeating melodic patterns.

More songs in Trance:

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