Simpsons Isn't On

So the inevitable backlash to the fake drums that sound real is happening. this song went with a very processed snare and kick and kept "real" sounding hats and cymbals. I think it gave it more of that electronic feel I was going for. It won't be long until I'm back to completely electronic sounding drums.

I'm really not happy with the piano sound on this song at all. I like the part, and the chord changes work, but I can't seem to make that piano seem to fit with the song. I tried making it sound deeper with reverb, tried making it sound dirtier with distortion, and tried darkening the tone with a different piano patch, but none of them seem to work. I think I'm just going to worry about writing the song, then I'll leave the mixing to some people who know what they're talking about.

I like the SONG (or what the song is so far), but I don't like something about how it sounds. It's very frustrating to be listening to all the tracks individually, then in every possible combination, and everything sounds good, but when they're all together, something's wrong. Likewise, muting one track at a time still leaves something missing. I need some fresh ears on this one.

The synth solo at 1:10 is what I'm feeling at the moment. As much as I admire Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails, I rarely tweak the sound during the track by changing the modulation, frequencies, or messing with the pitch shifter. I went for something more like that, and I think it works.

Simpsons Isn't On.

Song title? Self explanatory. My show wasn't on. I made music when I should have been taking care of far more pressing matters.

Spade Breaker

New one. I doubled up organic sounding and electronic sounding drums on this one. Combined with some of the synths and reverbs I used, I think this one has a really cool, space/sci-fi atmosphere thing happening during the verses in particular. As is most often the case, I just have two verses and a chorus at the moment. Let me know if you're feeling the clap track, because I'll put them in every single song until someone tells me to stop.

Spade Breaker.

If you haven't noticed yet, I'm a schizophrenic writer. Rarely do I sit down and only work on one piece, finish it, then move on. I'm surprised I concentrated on Tinsel Choke for as long as I did. Since my last post, I started up a few more (that, in all likelihood, will go absolutely nowhere) including a Danny Elfman sounding Halloween song.

Let me know what you think.

Richie

Rich Wronski, a local musician, came over today. Neither of us had played with other musicians in a while and we felt like brushing the dust off. This song was basically written in order. Rich had that starting riff when he came over, and we went from there. I was on synth bass, we both worked on the drums, and Rich did all the guitars. It's really not a song by any stretch of the word yet, but it is a bunch of pretty sweet parts. Next time we get together, this will definitely flesh itself out more.

Enjoy. Richie.

Destructionism 10-11-08

Updated Destructionism. It's a few days old at this point, but I haven't worked n it much since them. I am really feeling the groove in the verse. I still don't know how it fits with the chorus or where this is going to end up, but the keeper part is now the verse, I think. I like the crossover from the first chorus to the verse. The synth lead has a slight delay which blends them nicely.

In unrelated news, I am totally blown away by that new Britney Spears track, Womanizer. Catchy, catchy. catchy.

Destructionism update.

And check out Insult Comic Dog if you haven't yet. That's the best representation I have of what this whole Maybe Bomb project is going to sound like at this point in time, and I want to know what you think.

Insult Comic Dog

For those of you who have been checking out the iLike page, you may have heard Insult Comic Dog (named after went from "Triumphant" to "Triumph" then insult comic dog - Conan O'Brien anyone?). If you haven't, I suggest you check it out in its instrumental form before you go much further.

I've had some really rough vocal concepts laid down for this song for a while now, so today I finally laid down some newer versions with some tweaks. As of right now, I'm really happy with the vocal parts I have. The recordings themselves could be better, but that's what demos are for. The first two verses and their lyrics are set. The third, as of this demo, is just a copy of the first to be a place holder. The bridge, where I repeat "It's just a dream" over and over, still has room for a more prominent vocal part between the repetitions. Maybe that part after the bridge will have a solo. I had a temp one, bt I could easily see this turning into a guitar solo live. I think Kurt and I tried that last time we got together and it sounded good.

I had fun using the vocoder on this track. Also, ultra-auto-tuning for that Cher effect is fun when you are going for the robot feel. Thos choruses, by teh way, have three part harmonies doing "Rainbows in a red sky falling down." Then I doubled those tracks to make six background vocal tracks, and then I doubled the lead and added an additional dropped octave of the vocal lead. Nine vocal tracks on a chorus. That's probably a personal record.

By the way, the harmony vocal part in the verse was Kurt's idea. He rules.

Enjoy.

Insult Comic Dog.

Destructionism

I have a tendency to get sidetracked when I know I'm supposed to be grading. Fortunately, some good ideas usually come out of my procrastination. I kind of think that my subconscious tries a little harder when it knows that if I don't come up with anything good, I really can't justify continuing to work on music.

So Destructionism, for the time being, is a chorus and a bit of a verse. In all likelihood, the verse (the second half) is going to either completely change or get a massive overhaul. I'm feeling the chorus though.

I guess the title of this one was influenced by Nine Inch Nails' "Survivalism", but I think the comparison ends there.