Somnius Ex Machina

Hey Guys,

It feels like a while since I've posted something here. But, since this track is going on a game on Sunday, I was wondering if you had any comments before I released it!

The themes of the game had to do with dreams and machines. Musically, I was going for lotsa dark colours and ambiance. I messed with a lot of plug-ins to alter some machinery sounds I had (cement trucks, bicycles). It was fun learning what bitcrushers did and how modulation, tremolo, and how reverb effects changed the sound of truck. All-in-all, good times.

Enjoy!

Somnius Ex Machina (music)

Somnius Ex Machina (game)

-John

P.S. It loops

YC Link

hey john,

nice job, ambient like with a sense of machinery in it, kinda a spacey with that starcraft science vessel effect (that tu tu tu tuuu tutu)

sounds like a solid mix to me, i really like that guitar part in the end, reminded me of the great new tracks in starcraft 2, so i guess its a great job in there.

it has kinda cumbersome vibe to it, drifting and heavy, not a happy platform kinda game day. i would put it as a space music as well.

kudos

Thank you kindly, The J.

I was very happy with the guitar as well. I threw after my first draft when I was switching up the form and I needed a bit more melody.

Glad it evoked Star Craft 2! I haven't heard anything other then the main theme, but that was pretty kickass.

Thanks for listening, The J.

-John

Wow, John, I really like this... really ambiental and moody... I especially liked the bells and the guitar... and the bass also sounds great. And when the beat came in it was just really spot on. It reminds me a lot of some songs by Enigma, Deep Forest and such... really, really great work. This is my fav piece by you!

Thanks, Phant! You're kind to say so. This track was definitely fun for finding what sounds really worked well together. I don't do a lot synth stuff, so I was experimenting with a lot sounds trying to come up with something badass.

Haven't heard of Enigma and Deep Forest but I guess I should!

Glad you liked =)

-John

hey john, i like the feeling of it , it works for a dream-like scene/game . specially the sounds in the backgrounds and your panning work made it better nice guitar sounds , was that real playing? great piece! i loved it ! giving it 9/10 , because it did what it is supposed to do !

Excellent work, John.

You've used and mangled the sound sources without letting it get contrived and you've maintained a very good atmosphere throughout. I'm a bit bothered by the second half and it's for easy-to-fix reasons. The slight build and then drop right before the guitar seems to fall off too abruptly; it interrupts the flow of the mood. By all means keep the build and the quick drop, but add a sound or something to smooth it over a bit. I also dislike the guitar sound. It's an excellent touch and introduces the beat very nicely, but the actual mixing seems a bit too close for my ears. Sounds too alt-rock song and not enough like an ambient game cue....toss some extra verb on the guitar and I'll feel better. Also in that last section where everything's going together, there's a synth pad or something that's just a bit too loud and it's pushing the mix up with an unnaturally big resonance. Maybe tone that down a bit?

Overall some of your best work though. Tasteful, subtle, and soothing to listen to. Excellent piece. :happy:

Awesome, you're composing my favourite type of music. I really like the mellow feeling, but with a odd sense of unfamiliarity... almost like being lost in a the city of machines. The drum beat was introduced smoothly, really created a nice contrast in mood. Very very nice, John. I'd love to hear what you can do with this type of genre.

I love you all!

@abd_zibdeh: I figured it out; you're the one who added me on facebook, right? Abdullah Zibdeh if I'm not mistaken. Guitar wasn't real, it just had a bit of a delay on it to make it seem real =). Thanks for 9, Abdullah; I'll save it for a rainy day =)

@Marius: To say I drew inspiration from your Dreams of Electric Sheep track is to say that clouds draw inspiration from water vapor. I.e. I had your track in mind the moment I heard this game was dreamy and mechanical.

I concede that I got carried away with that whole build-up. I just love sudden drops like that. No worries, I can make it less intense and cover it up with an atmospheric WOOOSHHHH.

The guitar is a bit too in your face, trusay. Extra verb throwing it further into the distance makes good sense. Treating this as a game-cue and not an alt-rock song also makes cents =)

Hmmmm, synth pad with unnaturally big resonance? Is it the sound that rises and falls throughout the latter section? I only hear that deep sound when that effect is playing. Let me know.

Marius, if you sold stamps of approval, I would buy a dozen. Thanks for listening!

@Sepharite: Very insightful thoughts, Sepharite; thank you. Apparently lotsa people like ambient types of music; I guess I'm a fan too. It's hard to judge the piece's unfamiliarity since I've heard it so many times. The thought you had about being lost in a mechanical city resonates with me a bit though. Lotsa industrial sounds that just seem to be part of the background.

The drum beat was fun. I knew I wanted it, I knew it was gonna sound intense, I just needed a big crescendo to get there. And then, presto! Drum beat added.

What else can I do with the genre? I don't know! Hopefully a lot! I figured out a lot tricks while making this piece that should be pretty applicable to everything else I could write in this style.

Thanks so much for your comments guys! I'm glad this piece didn't fall through the cracks and that people actually got to comment on it.

Peace on Earth,

-John

Ooo thought I commented already here - apparently not, sry!! Anyway, here goes...

I've heard this piece before, it was that really awesome one ;) !! There's nothing I can nitpick here, it's amazingly well composed and fantastically mixed, though at 1:45, there is the possibility of the guitar being a little sharp for a ambient track. That beat after is amazing though - was all of this from Logic preset?? So yeah, immensely enjoyable, hugely awesome, and keep them coming!! :D

I like that track too John. I wish you had real guitar. :)

Thanks a bunch, CL and Jem!

The guitar definitely should be tweaked a bit. If it was real, all the better. But, alas, so much more convenient to just use the keyboard.

All the instruments are Logic presets. Lotsa atmospheric loops. One of the sounds was a cement truck and another was a bicycle. I had fun twisting and mangling them up =)

Thanks a lot, guys! I wanna link to the game tonight but I feel like taking it up with Jason and Shaun first.

-John

You put me in a trance John! So mellow and eerie, though straight up beautiful. I love it. Keep up the great work

Aw, thanks Jon!

Trance is a good description and a pretty awesome compliment. If I got you under my spell, then you're fully engaged.

I'm excited to hear what work you've been doing lately for the libraries. Post it soon please =)

Peace out, Adamich!

-John

EDIT:

Here's the actual game the piece was written for. It's fairly experimental and to get past the game over screen, you have to push it out of the frame with your cursor. Like any good experiment, half of the game is figuring out what the game is =P