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About
I make music exclusively with Renoise, a neo-tracker with all sorts of nifty features and an efficient, if intimidating, interface. It's what I'm used to, it's what I do. It's also cross-platform, which has made switching over to Linux a bit less painful in terms of Wine-hacking. I'm doing two albums at once because they're different styles, something I don't normally do but it felt right this time.
I don't make as much music as I'd like, because I spend so much of my spare time programming. I like Python, have a thing for Google Wave, and try to open-source as much of my code as possible for other people's benefit. My current projects are Orchard and Park.
Back to this theme. I honestly like it better :)
I really respect the filtered percussion in this part, it plays to the mood and the effect is subtle.
The mix of the vocals here is just perfect. I love it. Great work.
At first I wasn't sure about this vocal stuff, but now that I'm used to it, it's good, just a little to loud. Bring the gain down about 3dB and that should do it.
I'm very much reminded of Moby. Don't let me make... the same mistaaaake again....
This last section would probably be awesome with some kung fu and free running visuals, but on its own it's kinda forgettable for some reason.
Oh, okay, it's a choir. I don't know why I didn't register that before. Regardless it feels out of place, or rather, these interludes feel out of place - although when bookended by the ostentatious action sequences, this one feels much less like mood/style whiplash.
This is pretty awesome, gotta admit. It doesn't have quite the emotional pull of that first section but big things are happening here and it's great. STUFF IS AT STAKE, MAN!
But then the cheezy pad strings kick in, and the homegrown Hugh-Laurie-sings-the-blues feel gets defenestrated. I understand that it's making room for a different kind of song coming up, which I enjoy in its own right, but I feel like this song that could have been, up at the front, was the more meaningful one.
Right off the bat I'm captivated. This opening is so soulful and it catches you.
Not sure what exactly doesn't fit about the drums, especially since if this was the music for a game it would fit right in. Something about the context of the song in an album instead of a soundtrack... I dunno. It's hard to put into words.
This whole section is awesome. You really nailed the vocal settings, and the chord progression is very nice as well
Really getting into a groove here and I like it. It feels appropriately dramatic without crossing the line into "overblown"
Wow, what I wouldn't give to have these strings in my arsenal. Excellent :D
All and all, this was really solid, and I'm looking forward to an album full of stuff at this quality level :)
And back to the title! Very catchy chorus, the whole track really drives forward relentlessly and it's great that way.
Everything here is awesome except the synth bells. Something about them is distractingly fake. Which is sad, because they fill a nice hole in the spectrum, so if you were to do something about them, you'd want to replace them with something very similar :/
I was gonna that this is my favorite part, but then the suspenseful / metal theme came back, and I can't decide. So it's all my favorite part. The whole thing. I don't care if it makes no sense, this whole track is platinum dipped in gold inscribed with the cure to cancer in microprint.
Random / S&H ring modulation! An old friend of mine, it serves you well :)
If you make this downloadable, it's going straight into my music library. I don't even have words for how much ass it kicks.
@The Exploding Rats: Ah, thanks for the storyline :) I didn't really catch a distinction between parts 2 and 3, so my indexes are off, but knowing that it's 4 parts, I can see it now...
This drum track is absolutely perfect. Hardcore, dude!
The banjo is like a microcosm representation of the whole second section. It's awesome, but something about it doesn't fit thematically. You know? Gah, it's so hard to explain.
I'm not sure I get what this part of the story is, I get the emotion a bit but it seems out of place. Like I can't fit it in with the first or third movement, but it stands in a way on its own.
This is definitely the triumph part. And despite it being the triumph _of_ the dead, I have to say I can't help but root for the zombies here, because it's downright inspiring.
This is actually a very decent score. I feel like I could turn on the TV on Halloween and hear this as a haggard young lady confronts her ghost father or something.
@The Exploding Rats: Ah. I'm kinda waiting on the microphone I was supposed to get for my birthday, or inspiration to hit me, since all the songs that I've been meaning to do are primarily vocal. As soon as either condition is met, there will be music!
The idea of a washy pad is good, but in practice the choir turned out a bit cheezy. This kinda causes a chain reaction where the normally fine synth strings have their cheezy side emphasized. If you can maybe replace with a carefully highpassed "warm" pad preset, you'd be good. And that's my only criticism for this whole piece. Seriously, fantastic job.
I like this section. It's thoughtful but not in a boring, navel-gazing sort of way. In fact, just the opposite. It's interesting and draws you in.
At first I wasn't sure how well I was liked the drum track on here and how it fit with the rest of the spectrum, but now I'm a believer. Well done.
Okay, right from the very beginning, this is catchy and awesome and just the right amount of folky.
@narcofunk: heh, I *was* going for minimal :) I think if I put anything else in here, it would probably be gentle synth strings, but that vocal snippets things is also a great idea, I'll see if I can get some unlicensed ones for another song...
There is something intensely exciting yet chill about this track and it's amazing.
@The Exploding Rats: Awww thanks :D
@The Exploding Rats: Oh man, I wish I still had my vocoder/talkbox plugins! I managed to fake it with a bitcrusher, which is a tool I'm using increasingly these days for some reason.
@Patrick Setty: Ah. I was more focused on the harmony and the collusion of external and internal forces against the melody, didn't realize they were getting too muddled together in the process. I'll see what I can do about that to make the hum more separate from the melody bass.
I remember this video! It was awesome, zero-g kicks ass
This back half of the album has convinced me to buy it. Stupid Borders, going out of business and making music purchases inconvenient, but I shall prevail nonetheless.
Got a nice hip hop feel to this one, I'm really getting into it
Lately it's like every track you put out is blissfully wonderful to me. Keep it up, this is great!