Davester2296 | DAR - Retrospect @DAR-Davester2296 | Uploaded November 2023 | Updated October 2024, 1 week ago.
At last, the closing track to the RISEN album!

A song of longing and looking back as our protagonist reminisces a bit before setting off into the sunset, like a cowboy.

Looking back on this song (pun sorta intended?), Retrospect has kind of been like the sister song to Sky. If I have one of them, the other one has to be on the album as well (i.e Heofones Mist and Introspect from HORIZONS, and Taking Flight and Retrospect [acoustic ver] from On Impulse).

Always really loved the vibe of this track, I could totally imagine some credits rolling to this song.

On a whim (and slight confusion at referencing my song spreadsheet), I decided to record it a semi-tone lower. I think this change turned out very nice, as it made the song a bit darker and warmer in its timbre. Really hits differently compared to the original tuning.

As always, I've tried to stay close and faithful to my original version from nearly a decade ago. Much like Sky, this one also got pretty strings and keys to accompany the rockin' going on! That and an extension of the outro as well.

I wound up trying out an amp sim that I've had sitting around for at least a couple of years now. I needed something for my Strat in the intro and the choruses. For the intro specifically, I ran it through some chorus since I felt like that bit of modulation sounded more interesting than the original's normal fade-in.

Then for the choruses, my Ibanez joins with the Strat to play that main riff. For this, I was able to disable the chorus on the Strat since the two guitars now had this natural kind of chorus going on.

Speaking of the Ibanez, I have always LOVED the bit when the heavy/distorted guitars kick in for the first time. Loved that part when I made it all those years ago, and I'm very happy that it came out sounding so badass for this remake!

On another note, I also slightly changed up the main riff in a few spots. Mainly to keep it a bit more interesting and a bit less repetitive.

I've also had a bit of fun tweaking the bass. Still mostly thumping away at that root note, but with some occasional octaves and fifths. As always, such a small change goes a long way in helping to spice things up for the track!

It was also great fun noodling around, coming up with the new leads for the extended outro.

Also, following what I had done for the Sky remake, I had the song fade out to just the strings and piano. Made for a nice, delicate, and resolved ending to the tale that is "RISEN".

I'm just really jazzed about seeing how this song has grown. I remember I had originally come up with the main riff (the clean bit during the verse) shortly before a stressful move. I remember after unpacking some things, finally relaxing and unwinding with my acoustic in my lap and playing the riff.

I think I really managed to nail what I had heard in my head all those years ago when I first came up with this song. I think it also really captures the vibe and outlook that I had after moving into my new place at the time. That, and it also worked great as the closer for our loose little story here for the album.

As I had mentioned earlier, Retrospect is a song of looking back at everything that led up to where you are in the present. However, its also a bit more than that. Its also got that hopeful look towards the future, for all the things still yet to come!

Anyhow, I hope you all enjoyed the remake of this track, as well as the remake of the rest of the RISEN album! ~DAR



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Make sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe if you enjoyed!
Follow me at:
(The Den of DAR) Official DISCORD: discord.gg/uEAfRWP
SUPPORT / DONATE: theofficialdavester2296.wordpress.com

DAR's Cover-To-Do List: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1DowH1EIjiLyeg29cFx-4XOWpr7-bl1Pwb2_OfVaQ1SE/edit?usp=sharing

Facebook: facebook.com/Davester2296
Twitter: twitter.com/Davester2296
Backup Channel: odysee.com/@Davester2296:c