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JWM - The Journey (Orchestral Asian Trance EDM produced in NS2)
Here's my latest piece. It's probably one of the biggest productions I've ever done in NS2, let alone on the iPad!
If you like it, please do leave a comment. 
Cheers and enjoy.
Comments
Great job. This is not my style of music, but I can certainly appreciate how much work went in to this. Sounds well crafted and professional with lots of interesting elements and energy.
Great tune Jim! It sounds like a cool video game soundtrack.
I am ready for my quest! 🧝♂️
Thank you so much mate. This one was a huge project, and I actually put aside playing with miRack to produce this one, lol. The melody just wouldn't leave my head.
Yes! Good luck on that quest, lol. Cheers mate and thank you.
Wow. Thoroughly professional production, very big, epic feel, yet also super detailed, clear audio, all the parts sitting in their own distinct space in the mix. I just would have no idea how to do that.
As academic historians say, ‘NMP’ - not my period
- but I can appreciate the art and skill of it. You do seem to produce your most inspired work in this part of the EDM landscape. Well done!
This is a real treat for me, I love fusion with world music and you are very good at it. Bravo! 🤩 I would really like to have some of your ability to publish your work without hesitation in a matter of days.
I’m happy to be here and cherish every new creation on this forum. 😇
Wow… this harks back to 90s early trance in many ways. Along with my youth and C64 Last Ninja, one of the greatest video soundtracks ever. (Shout out to the late Ben Daglish)
The production on this is top notch, would love you to share some of your production process. Ever thought about pulling together a video?
Yes ! It remembered me when i was young :-) Thanks @jwmmakerofmusic for bringing me back my memories, great job !
Definitely a lot of work with the production though I don't really enjoy this side of Dance Music (I'm an Aphex Twin guy🙇)
What confuses me with this track and your previous effort called "Geisha" is the cultural mashup. For exemple, to me, Genji refers to the main character of the presumably first ever written novel "Genji No Monogatari". But It could also refer to a very important clan in Japanese history and also a short Japanese era at the end of the Edo period. And probably for most gamers, a video game reference (i know it is just a video game but mixing bushido and ninja, really 🤦?)
Whatever those tracks titles references means to you is perfectly fine. We discover and associate things in our own very personal way, which makes living such a unique experience. But musically these 2 tracks sound Chinese to my ears, not Japanese. Associating Chinese sounding music with traditional Japanese cultural elements is not bad per se, creation is free. But i also think that cultural appropriation has its limits. Living in Asia for more than 15 years (Thailand and Japan), I met many people who told me they hated the word "Asian" and found it as offensive, reductive and despicable as the N-word... Jimmy Yang brilliantly makes fun about this.
Sorry for the long post and for sounding like a pedantic PC douchebag which i probably am but these are the kind of ideas that came to mind when listening to both of your tracks. Even not my style, Both are technically impeccable soundwise and this is probably what you were hoping to hear. But no matter how well produced these are, I honestly wouldn't dare to let my wife or a few of my Japanese friends listen to these because i clearly know how it would make them feel to see their culture associated with Chinese culture. Ah... Nationalism can be a pain in the a.. 😉
Hoping to hear more minimalist dark techno from you which is
,imo, where you shine the best.
Please don’t start sending your lawyers! 😂 Continent name is a term describing large geo regions and that's it. Also we are debating and cherishing music here, mixing instruments and genres however we like. ✌️
Not sure to understand your point about the lawyers thing. Words and labelling do matter especially in the Cancel culture time. Though being in the same partof the world, Chinese and Japanese culture are two very different beasts. So I consider these remarks as constructive and in the OP's own interest.
Exposing creation on a public forum inevitably leads to divergent opinions, and that's the kind of freedom we should cherish the most. I just hope that you don't imply that if people don't totally agree they should shut their mouth... I was not discussing people's tastes, and as I said, and you also pointed, creation is free. I am assuming someone who knows of Genji No Monogatari is cultivated enough to understand what I mean, so I am sure Jim will be fine with my points. I also find it nice of you to chime in and show your love for him.
That said, I don't know which part of the world you're from, but I am sure even in your country there is some cultural pride or nationalistic feelings that (most sadly than not) influence the way some people perceive things...
And if you read my post again, you'll clearly see that I agree with the consensus about the incredible production skills at play, hats off to you @jwmmakerofmusic !
Well, maybe it's time to cancel "Cancel culture" 🤣 It's one of worst things western civilisation invented anyway, right after nuclear weapons and fastfood.
Totally agree, I really hate the time we're living in for that.
But the good point is, starting a discussion might get more people checking OP's work. So if you want to use me as a scapegoat, go ahead s... on my face guys 🤣
You scared me with words and uniformity in your observation. JWM is an open minded soul, no doubt he will take your post with respect. He used the word Genji probably because of that era in a general sense and mainly as inspiration. We should not diminish his will for experimentation.
Also nothing against you, you are probably frustrated with cancel culture more than I am. Just continue to listen and share your experience as you already do. I certainly appreciate it. 😎
I hate cancel culture, but not frustrated about it as I didn't suffer directly from it, but today might be my day!!! 😂 A non Techno/Trans head opening the can of worms and getting a thousand kick drum shot per second in the stomach ! Wow, must hurt a bit, I like this idea. That said, I am not into Techno Trans but I had my most memorable metaphysical experience taking LSD in a free wave in the south of France. Does it make me a better person 😂? @jwmmakerofmusic ! I am doing my best working plenty of comments to get traction. Hope you're appreciating the effort.
what would really make this world better is if people should improve own mental/emotional resilience and stop being butthurt when somebody else say something which is based on their subjective model of world culturally/socially/religiouosly or politically incorrect.
That would be REALLY cool.
Because hell there is +7 billions of people on this planet and EVERY one has it's own model of outside world encoded in their brains based on all experiences they had during lifetime. Every of us literally lives in own simulates reality, and theae realities overlap in some parts, and are totally different incompatible in other parts.
Let's stop trying to force other people to adjust their reality to our, and just accept the differences and diversity
(end of philosophical rant - don't get me wrong JanKun, it's not mentioned against you, it's just general thing)
I like JWM's song a i like cover image- in my simulatec reality inside my brain they perfectly fit together. I doesn't have any deeper knowledge about that topic and i doesn't need that knowledge in my life. So i am ok with what JWM provided here - nice music which dtrivgered my positive emptions, supported by nice cover gfx.
I really like that. I am having this kind of thoughts a lot lately. There is probably an universal truth hidden somewhere. But none of us can grasp it. We're living in a little cages made of flesh and bones with our 5 senses as very small windows to the outside world. We only see a small fraction of the reality but because this is the only thing we know we consider it is as the truth. Wow, I got a high on my LSD shot from 20 years ago. Which one should I take? The blue one or the red one ?
Actually i am convimced there is no universal truth at all. Just infinite multiverse of alternatives for everybody of us to experience.
On the subject of cancel culture, but really more broadly, the whole culture wars in general, I cannot recommend the series 'Things Fell Apart' by Jon Ronson highly enough. It's on BBC Sounds as well as loads of other places. People on any or no side of the cultural divide that seems to be one of the defining aspects of our era will find much to love about this. The episode about Tammy Faye Bakker is spectacular, as is the opening episode about how Evangelical America first started to make an issue of abortion. Superb investigation, interviewing, analysis and reportage.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/things-fell-apart/id1592984136
What I mean by universal truth, is something that holds the whole thing together. Some people into anthropomorphism call it God. Some people are building huge magnifying lenses and complex string or loop theories to understand it. That's just what I meant by universal truth.
I personally couldn't care less about this multiverse thing. At some "meta" Quantic point it is probably part of this universal truth : I am both a dead and alive cat in a box and probably plenty of other things at the same time. But my perception is so limited that I have enough on my plate with this version of me, here and now. 😉
@JanKun
Addressing the elephant in the room here first.
I said "Asian", not "Japanese", not "Chinese" nor "Korean" nor "Vietnamese" nor "Balinese" nor "Thai" nor "Laotian" nor any other specific country. And I didn't mean "Asian" as a pejorative.
And how can you in good conscious associate the word "Asian" with the "n-word"?! The "hard r n-word" may not carry any weight where you're from, but in the United States it carries HEAVY weight due to its origins in slavery, the racist history of its usage, and the implications it has on modern society for People of Colour.
But when it comes to creation, are we not free to make whatever we want without fear of it offending somebody? And hearing things like "I wouldn't let my friends listen to this" is rather hurtful in of itself. I didn't use any racial slurs in my instrumental piece of music (nor would I ever use slurs in any piece of music). It's all rather bloody exhausting. 😮💨
But aside from that, thank you for the compliments and praise for the music itself, and I may create more minimal techno in the future. And which pieces of Aphex Twin are your favourites?
Also, what @Luxthor meant be "sending your lawyers" is in reference to something crazy that happened here on the forum earlier this week.
@Svetlovska
Thank you so much my friend.
"Not my period", haha. Yeah, EDM is what I've produced for most of my life, and only within the past couple of years recently have I started branching out into other genres.
@Luxthor
I'm happy to be here and cherish all the new creations on this forum too.
I just wish I had time to reply to all of them.
@ik2000
I never heard the C64 "Last Ninja" soundtrack, but now I'm going to have to give it a listen.
And yes, I was shooting for early 90s Trance feel with the synth and drum parts. Using 909 samples like Paul Van Dyk is part of that secret sauce.
And, I thought about making videos and starting a Youtube presence, but it would probably hinder my creativity rather than enhance it as I'd be worried about trying to do things without making mistakes with my talking, and yet making mistakes is part of the creative journey.
That said, some of my production techniques. I used TB Reverb as my main reverb. I turned the shimmer section on for some tracks, and kept it off for some of the other tracks in the mix.
EQing took me years and years to learn that "you don't need to change much".
Basically, highpass the sounds that are not kick and bass. If two sounds are clashing, figure out which of the two sounds is less important. Cut the less important sound at around 3.5kHz with a narrow Q, and boost the more important sound at around 3.5kHz with a broad Q. Don't make your boosts and cuts more than 1dB either direction.
I mixed into Nanostudio 2's basic limiter. This is part of the secret of my mixdown technique is squashing the mix when mixing down before deleting the limiter and then mastering.
And the best advice is, find a great pair of headphones, and/or earbuds, and/or studio monitors. I used to mix on Koss headphones, and I always struggled to find clarity in my mixes. I switched to Beats headphones the past few years, and those work very well for my ears (your mileage may vary). These days I use 3rd gen Airpods (not even Airpods pros).
@dendy
Thank you so much mate.
@Gavinski
Thank you for the recommendation. Looks like I can listen to it on Spotify as well (I don't have Apple Music), and now my curiosity is piqued.
That's a nice piece of work. Definite sense of the East in there. Not sure if it's been mentioned, but can I ask how many tracks you used for it?
Great piece of work, my friend. Excellent arrangement and mix. Super clean and tight. Sounds as good as anything produced in a fancy, expensive L.A. studio.
@Wyvern
Thank you so much mate.
That means a lot to me. Right, above is an overview of the project. I made a couple of test "practice" versions, but the main version on Soundcloud is what you see there. 
Mastered with MagicDeathEyeStereo, Reelbus, and NS2's own limiter (I couldn't be faffed today to use Barricade lol).
@Paulieworld
Thanks mate! Sometimes I mix "on the go" as I produce the arrangement. Then again, sometimes it helps to listen to the "Thriller" album before a mixdown session so your ears hear what proper mixdowns sound like. Bruce Swedien was the man (sadly he passed in Nov 2020). Paul Van Dyk's "Out There and Back" album is another top-quality production for training one's ears.
It also helps to have top-quality well-recorded dry drum samples. I used the 909 kit from KB6's free sample website (although all Boss and Roland samples have been taken down. Luckily I still had the old Boss and Roland samples tucked away on my 2017 12.9" Pro that I use as a sheet music reader, lol.)
I used to tout Sounds of KSHMR samples as the best drum samples for EDM, and maybe they still are for modern EDM, I don't know. But lately I just think all modern EDM sounds the same (at least all the tracks released from Spinnin Records). It kind of bottomed out for me in late 2021/early 2022 once "Slap House" became a thing.
That all being said, here are some sample kits I can highly recommend...
https://samples.kb6.de/downloads.php
https://www.image-line.com/fl-studio/samples-loops-presets/real-drumkits
https://www.image-line.com/fl-studio/samples-loops-presets/superdrums-8000
https://www.image-line.com/fl-studio/samples-loops-presets/the-lo-fi-box
And you may say "Well Jim, these samples sound a bit dry and underwhelming". That's the point. You feed them through your own effects chain to give them some sauce.
Here I mainly used the KB6 Minipops....
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2ivjv911ylmis4o/JWM - Kids Cuss (Mamimi).m4a?dl=0
Here I mainly used the KB6 LinnDrum...
https://www.dropbox.com/s/idsx3iysnn5hhvo/JWM - I'm Not In the Magical Mystery Tour (Allan).m4a?dl=0
And here I mainly used drums from IL Real Drumkits...
Yeah, that's not a chopped loop. I programmed those live-sounding drums using some Dilla techniques and processed through Beef.
Right, Beef is my secret sauce. Knock may be yours. Or you may use a combination of plugins. Your mileage may vary afterall. And for those orchestral taiko drums, I just use KAPro's Epic Drums in Module Pro.
Quite a complex project there. Nice to see NS2 handled it well and not too much on the CPU. Thanks for your reply 👍
when you stay with Obsidian, Slate and bundled FX, on newer devices in can handle easily 60-80 tracks or even more
Of course mate. Always glad to explain things and help out.
Like @dendy said, NS2 is easier on the CPU than many other apps, especially when you stick to everything that's built in. Of course I do love my romplers. 😂
The track has a good melody and excellent production
And to wade into the potentially risky issues raised by my good friend @JanKun I think it was nothing to do with cancel culture or censorship - he was merely raising the issue of cultural awareness.
I think as Westerners we inevitably think of Eastern culture in terms of well-worn stereotypes, and the whole continent gets mixed up in our minds. But Jankun lives in Japan so he has a much greater awareness of how the Japanese feel about the way they are represented in Western media.
But imagine for a second if someone made an album of Irish music but put a Union Jack on the cover: people in Ireland would be incredibly upset. Or if someone made an album of Croatian folk music and then called it Serbian, same thing, people would be upset.
For Japanese people conflating their very ancient and specific culture with Chinese culture would be similar to conflating French culture with German, or Mexican culture with the US. Japan and China are very different places with ancient and distinct cultures.
Thanks mate.
Now that was explained much better than the way JanKun initially explained it lol. Of course JanKun and I talked it out in private like two grown adults should. (Of course saying "I wouldn't let my friends listen to it" was hurtful and conflating the term "Asian" with the "n-word" is just shocking and wrong. Like in the US, when a form asks for race, they usually list "White", "African American", "Indigenous", "Asian", "Hispanic", etc). So I didn't exactly realise this, but you explained it better, and now I understand better.
Thanks mate.
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