Pre-releases from new PhaseIV album


Kevin Taylor
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Joined: 03/05/00
Posts: 4,722
Kevin Taylor
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Joined: 03/05/00
Posts: 4,722
08/05/2004 7:03 am
A new MP3 forum ... groovy potatoes, doods :)
Figured I'd post a bunch of pre-releases from the upcoming PhaseIV Soundtrack album I'm putting out in September & see if anybody wants to comment.

Most of it's done on Guitar Synth, Cubase 5.1 and various synth plug-ins with a Mac G3 Beige, 266/320. The guitar parts are done straight line in with Amplitube applied to the final mix.
Any suggestions, heaps of loving praise or outright stinky insults greatly appreciated :D

The album's gonna be available from all the usual retail places like iTunes etc...so for anybody who wants to contribute beer & party money to yours truly, get your ass in gear & buy the damn thing :p .

http://s93744050.onlinehome.us/ mp3/CovertOperation.mp3
http://s93744050.onlinehome.us/mp3/Anatomy16.mp3
http://s93744050.onlinehome.us/mp3/ColourOrbit.mp3
http://s93744050.onlinehome.us/mp3/InharmonicMemory.mp3
http://s93744050.onlinehome.us/mp3/StarGate.mp3
# 1
iamthe_eggman
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iamthe_eggman
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08/05/2004 8:16 pm
Initial listen on my cheap computer speakers at work turned down to an office-appropriate volume resulted in a positive reaction.

I like the dance beats in Stargate. I'm gonna give them a better listen at home when I can blast it.

Did you consider vocals at all? Even sampled vocals (I know you did something like that on one of the tracks; it was either vocals or speech, can't remember)?
... and that's all I have to say about that.

[U]ALL[/U] generalizations are [U]WRONG[/U]

[/sarcasm]
# 2
Kevin Taylor
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Posts: 4,722
Kevin Taylor
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Posts: 4,722
08/06/2004 1:25 am
yep...they're comin up. I'm working with a guy in the UK called 'Imaginary Band' (http://www.imaginaryband.com/) and a girl in California called Ruth Cocherell. (http://rootmusic.com/)
They've got the CD's on hand & are coming up with vocals and other atmospheric 'talking' type stuff to go over top of em.
I'm also redoing some of Duncan's music for Imaginary Band.

For now tho, I'm gonna be pushing this CD as background music for tv/film stuff.
I'm kinda letting the songs sink in for awhile too cause I did the whole album in about 4 weeks & haven't gotten used to em yet. (some songs got done in just a few hours & I don't even remember em :)
There's still more work to do on them but for tv stuff, for now, ya need to leave it as unobtrusive as possible so it blends in with the visuals.

p.s. ...& yeah... the way it was mixed, ya need to play it nice & loud through a decent stereo system, preferably with headphones to get the full effect.
Watch yer speakers though cause some bass notes are killer on subs and the mastering isn't perfect yet.

I also just did a deal with the guy from 4thOrder (http://www.4th.cc/) to do some custom futuristic artwork in exchange for trading links too so...smokin... :D
Some of his artwork is awesome & fits perfect with music!

Here's the rest of the tunes if anybody's interested.

http://s93744050.onlinehome.us/mp3/SydneyBeach.mp3
http://s93744050.onlinehome.us/mp3/StormLive.mp3
http://s93744050.onlinehome.us/mp3/RoboEntrance.mp3
http://s93744050.onlinehome.us/mp3/RockSplosion.mp3
http://s93744050.onlinehome.us/mp3/RoboFactory.mp3
http://s93744050.onlinehome.us/mp3/FlammableMemories.mp3
http://s93744050.onlinehome.us/mp3/EscapeFromNewYork.mp3
http://s93744050.onlinehome.us/mp3/fginst.mp3
http://s93744050.onlinehome.us/mp3/FinalFlight.mp3
http://s93744050.onlinehome.us/mp3/LastThought.mp3
http://s93744050.onlinehome.us/mp3/JamaisVox.mp3
http://s93744050.onlinehome.us/mp3/EndCredits.mp3

Still lookin for feedback & suggestions no matter how outlandish or negative they are....
all the songs are still in pre-production stages so anything can be changed.
# 3
iamthe_eggman
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iamthe_eggman
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08/06/2004 4:40 am
I'm liking the ones from the first post so far... but Covert Operation only has the first 8 secs... maybe something wrong on my end, though, since I got the whole thing at work.

I like the feel of the songs... definitely a TV/Film feel to them. They'd be wicked in Alias.

A bit of overload, though... I think you'll get a more constructive response if you broke it up into 4 songs per post or something. The most I can give you right now is "I like them", rather than pick each song apart.

Well, OK, I'll try for the first five from your first post, but it'll be a bit "stream-of-consciousness"-ish:

  • Colour Orbit: Intro reminds me of High Hopes (Floyd), but I guess it also reminds me of For Whom The Bell Tolls and Hell's Bells, so never mind. I like the samples a lot. I love the driving beat. Bass is almost non-existent in my headphones compared to the mids and highs, esp. on the toms/kick drums. Wicked guitar tone on the "chorus". Don't know if I like the intro breakdown with the jazzy piano bit, but it might be one of those things that grows on you and you start to love.

  • Covert Operation: Couldn't listen to it at home. From what I remember, it was the real dance beat-y song. Think I remember liking it. I'll edit this part when I get back to the office on Monday.

  • Anatomy 16: Sounded cool, but I'd need to hear the final vocals to know if I thought the humming was cheesy or not. I like the bass parts. The constant muted guitar strumming is cool. Again, needs more in the low freqs.

  • Star Gate: Could use a stronger groove, but the beat is very compelling; just needs to be stronger in my opinion. This could be a killer song if you add the right vocals! I wasn't really moved by the guitar solo; it seemed to be from a completely different place than the rest of the song and didn't really add much to the overall song. However, there is a place for such solos, and perhaps you feel this is it. The chipmunk voices at the end are a bit cheesy. Yup, you guessed it, needs more bass... Hmm... maybe something's wrong with my headphones? I'll give these all another listen tomorrow morning when I can blast them on speakers.

  • Inharmonic Memory: I like the orchestral feel to this piece. Again, with vocals, and a really solid build-up, this song could be extremely killer... very emotional and raw. Needs a break-out solo in that case.



OK, those are my thoughts so far... I'll get through the others some other time.


Edit: Well, I noted that my EQ settings on my comp. were off. Now the bass is pretty loud, but not very punchy. Personally, I like the bass to hit you in the gut and pound at you like a 3-storey wave. Yeah, like those annoying kids in their rice rockets with the trunk full of 12" subs.
... and that's all I have to say about that.

[U]ALL[/U] generalizations are [U]WRONG[/U]

[/sarcasm]
# 4
iamthe_eggman
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iamthe_eggman
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08/06/2004 4:45 am
Well, I had the other MP3s lined up in WinAmp, and was meaning to get to them later, but Sydney Beach came on, and I was not able to turn it off...


  • Sydney Beach: Reminds me of U2 (probably the "pop pop pop" + Sydney + bass riff). Good groove. Nice little keyboard section. Amazing.


... and that's all I have to say about that.

[U]ALL[/U] generalizations are [U]WRONG[/U]

[/sarcasm]
# 5
Kevin Taylor
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Joined: 03/05/00
Posts: 4,722
Kevin Taylor
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Posts: 4,722
08/08/2004 5:33 pm
Kewl... I really appreciate the feedback guys .. :)
yeah... every tune is done completely from within the computer using headphones, so I haven't even heard it on a stereo system yet.
I tried mixing everything so that all the frequencies came through. (ie, left the bass below 40hz) so I should probably go through each track and better isolate them so that each instrument has it's own space.

Weird ya mention Sydney Beach. That was one of my least favorites and I was gonna leave it out.
Weird... ya never know. Sometimes I do a song & think it's the best thing I've ever done and everybody says "cheesy drum machine...crappy sound" etc...
Then I'll do one like Syndney Beach that took all of 20 minutes to record and everybody likes it.

I found an awesome graphic artist to do the CD artwork too...

http://www.4th.cc/schmange/cover.htm

These are just temporary mockups, but he's gonna do em free of charge in exchange for album credits. Beats the stuff I was gonna use before all to hell. He's even designing graphics for each song and contacting animators to come up with moving animations to go behind the music. Kewl :p
# 6
Kevin Taylor
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Posts: 4,722
Kevin Taylor
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Posts: 4,722
08/08/2004 6:00 pm
fz??d find)

Weird how everybody likes different things.... :cool:

The guys at Taxi say that I need to put a demo together that shows more variety...like country, hard rock, orchestral etc....
So I guess that's the next step.

oh well.... fun stuff :p
# 7
Kevin Taylor
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Posts: 4,722
Kevin Taylor
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Posts: 4,722
08/08/2004 6:01 pm
Further note: Eggman

I agree with ya on everything ya said.
I'm kinda mixing everything with my own system in mind. (Luxman L-410 Amp circa 1985 and a pair of Koss headphones)

I tried mixing through Paradigm 5SE speakers and a new pair of Sennheiser headphones but couldn't get a feel for the sound.
I really appreciate the feedback from people with other systems.
(on HomeRecording.com they all said the drums were cheesy sounding...even after going out and buying Battery, LM-4 and the best Acid loops I could find)

Weird how everybody likes different things.... :cool:

The guys at Taxi say that I need to put a demo together that shows more variety...like country, hard rock, orchestral etc....
So I guess that's the next step.

oh well.... fun stuff :p
# 8
iamthe_eggman
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iamthe_eggman
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08/09/2004 5:30 am
Yeah, from what I've heard, it's all pretty similar, but vocals can make all the difference.

I actually like the "cheesy" drum beats. If someone says they don't like them and that they're cheesy, they're snobs who spent too much on drum loops and are too proud to admit it was a mistake. Drums are drums. I like the dance/techno feel to them.

It's 1:30 am and I'm not very intelligent/intelligible right now.
... and that's all I have to say about that.

[U]ALL[/U] generalizations are [U]WRONG[/U]

[/sarcasm]
# 9

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