Moloko – The Time is Now

– Title: The Time is Now
– Genre: Trance
– Length: 2:27
– A capella source: Moloko’s "The Time is Now"
– Produced using: Reason 4

Here’s my third ever song, a short based on a Moloko classic. The tune is entirely original, though I’ve used one of the a capellas I found here for vocals. I’m eager to see if it’s worthy of spin time on your decks or just too has-been. My illustrious music career is now about two weeks old, so please go easy on me.

One thing I’m still getting a handle on is nomenclature. Were I to go commercial with it, how should I title this track? "Moloko – The Time is Now (Jim Carnicelli remix)"? "Jim Carnicelli – The Time is Now (feat Moloko)"? Something else? I want to give the proper credit for the source vocals, so advice is appreciated.

– Jim

Thanks much for the input.

One thing I’m trying to get a better grasp of is how to make a component seem like it’s louder without significantly taking away from the other parts. I kinda like how the bassline on this in the latter 1/3 of the song does have more of a "buzz" that makes it seem louder and deeper. I’d welcome any insights on how else to achive the goal.

One great example I’ve found of a song sounding more energetic is a great track to begin with that Tiesto does wonders with in concert:

Fred Baker vs Nyram – Confirmation
– Original: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A76eCGZUWCU
– Tiesto: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPJGKHM3JJg

I should be able to up the higher pitch on the lead synth, but it might detract from the vocal. Have to try it out.

As I’m playing with tracks, I’m trying hard to figure out how to do good intros and outros. More importantly, I’m trying to figure out how to keep shifting the style without losing the flavor. I don’t want any of my songs to just drone on forever. Guess I just need more experience and patience. This track took about 2 hours to make.

Thanks again for some great feedback.

I forgot to ask: is this the right topic to be posting trance music in? I didn’t see an obvious place to put it, otherwise.

LOL. Thanks for the kudos. Might want to download the song, though.

otg wrote:

The introduction before the vocals come in could do with extending, the vocals seem to be rushing into the track.

I keep wondering about this. A good DJ is going to crop the beginning and end and just use the "meat" in the middle, no? Are the head and tail very important for the cross-fade? In which case, should I avoid dramatically different intros and outros in favor or slow shifts to give a DJ time to beat-match and blend? I guess I tend to get annoyed by really long, droning intros and outros, but maybe they serve a non-aesthetic purpose.

otg wrote:

More percussion, especially hats, will help to fill out the tune and add drive without overpowering other elements.

I was kinda hoping the buzzy bassline that appears around the halfway mark would serve the role and provide some contrast. Still, I suppose I could add some more percussion to give more texture to the rhythm.

otg wrote:

The kick drum sounds a little muffled, it’s lacking bite and clarity, possibly due to the choice of drum sound.

Agreed. I rifled through a lot of different drums and settled on this one. I’ve noticed most good trance seems to feature less "realistic" drums in favor of harder hitting, more synthetic sounds. I need to experiment more.

otg wrote:

You can do a number of things to sharpen it up – have a look in the Reason Factory Soundbank in the Combinator section under Dynamics for some patches to be used in line

Wow. I didn’t even realize there were patches for the Combinator, preloaded with tons of devices. I took a quick look. Lots in there. Good suggestion.

otg wrote:

You could also try sidechaining or eqing the bassy saw synth (and other bassy elements) to give the kick room to breathe.

I don’t understand what "sidechaining" means.

otg wrote:

Good choice of synth sounds, and it was in key and on tempo, so good work for a novice!

Thanks for the kudos and excellent suggestions.