I just posted a track called "The Desert Is Just Dessert".
I really like how it came out.
Here's the direct link, if anybody has some time to kill:
http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=6635624&q=hi
If long-winded links make you nervous, you can also get there by going here:
http://www.soundclick.com/AMUC
(Click on "Music" from there, and you'll see it.)
I just posted a new track over on Soundclick called And The Damned Demanded.
As you can tell by the name, it's a really happy number with lots of tap-dancing, and not in the least bit depressing. (I wouldn't be capable of writing a depressing song - it's just not in my blood.)
Anyways, I wanted to see if I could get some feedback. I'm particularly interested in the end of the track. (I think the levels might be too abrasive, but my ears are badly desensitized to it now. I already wrote a ... (209 more chars)
I have a ten minute track over on Soundclick called Baptism / Format Sea.. I'm listening to it right now, and it still sounds like it needs 'something' to flesh it out a little bit. (I was going to try bringing up the levels slightly, but there's more to it than that.)
Did anybody want to try remixing it?
I have it arranged in Jeskola Buzz, so anybody familiar with that may have the easiest time working with it.
Song is here, if anybody wants to give it a listen:
http://www.soundcl... (175 more chars)
I made it to 666 listens on Last FM.
(happy dance)
This is the high point of my music career so far.
Do I get groupies now? How do you normally get those? Do they come in the mail?
http://www.last.fm/music/AMUC
I'm back into OCD mode, trying to fine-tune an epic track.. Arrgghh.
"And The Damned Demanded" -- this is NOT going to be easy. It's the fourth or fifth time I've rewritten it. Each time it sounds a little better, but each time, I have a few less hairs on my head.
I can't seem to get mine to work right. Any attempts to change the preferred track from the jukebox doesn't seem to stay in place.
Is this what is driving RPM Radio, or is it separate?
I plan on submitting a second RPM Challenge this year - there's still plenty of time left.
I just need to get my time travel device working.
It looks like just an alarm clock - but it's so much more than that.
I wouldn't mind swapping my disc for others doing electronic, new age, and louder rock.
Mailing address for me is:
Papercut Suicide, PO Box 16916, Worcester, MA 01601
(Yes - that's actually how the PO Box is labelled. I think the Postal Service workers are amused by it.)
Give my stuff a listen here:
http://www.rpmchallenge.com/component/option,com_comprofiler/task,userProfile/user,861/
If you like what you hear, and want to trade discs, PM me with your mailing address..
(... (128 more chars)
I just uploaded a bunch of music from my album to my page here..
http://www.rpmchallenge.com/component/option,com_comprofiler/task,userProfile/user,861/
I'll see if I can upload some more later. I'm not sure how much I can squeeze in..
I uploaded Telegraphinar Pt I .. I'm going to try and upload some of the other stuff as well.
It's here:
http://www.rpmchallenge.com/component/option,com_comprofiler/task,userProfile/user,861/
Let's see..
I had a blackout on Tuesday night when I was trying to finish my album. The power went off at 9pm right in the middle of the mix, stayed off until midnight.
It came back on for a half hour, waited for me to start working again, and THEN shut down a second time until 5:00am.
Suffice to say, I DESPISE the electric company now. While they can't be blamed for the outage, it's absolutely incompetent when it takes them #!% eight ?!# hours to fix the power. That's pathetic.
Aft... (777 more chars)
Alternate Modes Of Underwater Consciousness: Midnight In The White Room
1 Panopticon
2 Empty Cup
3 Telegraphinar, Pt I
4 Satan Lives In The Toy Aisle At Walmart
5-7 Music Box Of A Madman
Pt 1 - The Madman
Pt 2 - The Dancer
Pt 3 - The Music Box
8 The Hi-Tech Shower Of A Time-Displaced Sailor
9-11 Midnight In The White Room
Pt 1 - The Walls (.. are closing in)
Pt 2 - Grandfather Clock
Pt 3 - The Vanity
12 Lazarus
13 Death By Karaoke
14 Grime
... (61 more chars)
I posted the main album art.
I'm not sure why these layouts always come out as 'jazzy' looking..
http://www.rpmchallenge.com/component/option,com_comprofiler/task,userProfile/user,861/
I was pulling my hair out with it last year, but I'm getting to a point now where I can look at a unmastered song in Adobe Audition, and get a general idea of what needs to be done to optimize the sound.
I still have some more mastering to do - I'm hoping to finish it either tomorrow or Tuesday morning at latest. (Then, I just need to burn the disc, go to Kinko's and get the cover done, and throw it in the mail.)
I'm getting ready to do the finishing up on my album in Adobe Audition. I did the math - I actually have 42 minutes worth of material. 44 minutes if I use one additional track. Those two and three minute songs really add up quickly.
As far as the additional track goes, I had based some lyrics around an episode of the Simpsons. The lyrics are quite good, and the vocals are pretty decent as well. However, I didn't have a chance to do a backing song for it, so it kind of sounds like Tom's Di... (158 more chars)
I had a pretty productive run tonight, despite all manner of issues ranging from faulty ceiling lights to non-performing car batteries. (The former had me standing atop a stepladder and cussing for a good half-hour.)
My focus right now - get what I have done finalized and into WAV files. I'm doing minor fine-tuning, but not making any major changes at this point. Existing songs come first - I have other songs I can develop if I need to fill space.
I have to stop now, though - I'm getting ... (337 more chars)
Well, the song is 'up' online, but Lazarus himself isn't up yet, despite the significant investments in alarm clock technology that he's made.
Go here..
http://www.rpmchallenge.com/component/option,com_comprofiler/task,userProfile/user,861/
This is where the OCD really begins to get to me - I feel the need to fine-tune everything, for better or worse.
The good news is I should have ten songs - although, I may need to improvise a track at the last second to get up to 35 minutes. I'm not sure.
My final mission before beginning the final album compilation is to try and assemble Panopticon into coherent order.
It was one of the earlier songs I wrote, and while I like it overall, it comes across as more of a 'vocal test' than anything. There's definitely an interesting dialogue going on, but in some ways it seems like this endless series of different vocals strung along, without anything holding it together.
I'm trying to refine it a little - I had some luck tonight, but I think i... (479 more chars)
Everything is looking good. Barring a hard-drive crash, I'm in good shape. I'll reach the deadline with 10 songs, even if not 35 minutes of material. (I haven't timed it, but I think I'll come close, at least.)
While I'm more focused on polishing/completing existing songs, I'm still churning out some new ones right into the end.
I developed Satan Lives In The Toy Aisle At Walmart today. This one is definitely a keeper. (Not the absolute best track I've done, but I'd say it's above-aver... (854 more chars)
I'm gunning to finish off the songs that already do exist, making sure they have endings and more or less sound the way I want them to. (There are a couple spots I feel the need to re-record, but not many.)
My other mission is to keep churning out songs as I go, so I'm at least at the 35 minute mark. I (mostly) completed Satan Lives In The Toy Aisle At Walmart , and have at least one or two more tracks which I could develop. (One has the vocal tracks completely recorded - I just need to pai... (323 more chars)
.. it's kind of devolved into a tale about an overdramatic night owl forced to work a day job.
Akmed also supplies some guest vocals - for the record, Akmed is that guy that enjoys walking up to the windows of night owls at around 6:00am, and annoying the holy hell out of them.
Any night owl has probably met him - he's kind of like God or Santa Claus - omnipresent (or at least capable of tranversing great lengths to irritate night owls across the planet).
I've decided to scrap my current album, and focus the remainder of the month into creating a 35 minute triangle solo.
I'm sure it will be a big hit at the listening party.
I'm currently working on one of two 'audio tryptichs' on my album. I have two song names that actually spawned multiple songs. The songs each put their own spin on the song name. Rather than a 'storyline' that plays itself out in three parts, it's kind of like one scene that you're seeing from three different vantage points.
I'm making good progress, but if I continue any further with the sleep deprivation, I'm going to have little Christina Aguilera monsters chasing me around.
I'm at the point now where I'm less interested in writing new songs, and more interested in developing/expanding that which I already have.
I could probably churn out several more songs [and very well might, as I get bored dealing with the same tracks for hours on end], but I want to give myself enough time to flesh out those tracks already on the table.
So far, so good - I've managed to get beginnings, middles, and ends for several of the tracks, and some of the endings really kick butt.... (645 more chars)
Since we're near the middle of the month, I'm trying to finish up writing the endings of all the songs over this weekend, so I can spend the remaining time doing some fine-tuning.
Suffice to say, writing the ending of the song is the hardest part. When a song has only just been started, you can go in any number of directions - the sky is the limit.
However, the further you get into the song, the more limited your options become - you need to write an ending that fits with the material y... (598 more chars)
I just churned out the vocals for a track called Grime , influenced by a Simpsons episode. The lyrics are surprisingly dark for something Simpson-based. It sounds like Katatonia [at their most melodic] meets Celtic vocals [with maybe a little bit of a TSO vibe here and there].
It sounds like a folk guitar belongs in the background - which I may try my hand at if I have time.
Anyways, my goal is to work on new songs until the 15th. This weekend, I'm going to take inventory on what I have,... (840 more chars)
People are going to hear this album, and think I'm suicidal or something.
I swear that's not the case. I just suck at writing love songs. =)
..
I wrote Lazarus today, which may get paired up with Icarus .
It's a tough song for me to mix, since it's very out of my element. I was using real instruments [keyboard and voice], only using Jeskola Buzz to mix them together.
For the most part it sounds good, but the timing may be a little off. I might go back and fix it if I have time... (388 more chars)
I just wrote lyrics that sound like Les Claypool paying homage to Paul Simon, with Paul Simon being suicidally depressed by hanging around Trent Reznor too much.
I have the vocals - now I just need to write the rest of the song.. =)
I was working on a track, and Jeskola Buzz crashed on me.
After spewing out profanities loud enough for the Chinese to hear me, I redid the work. The revised version sounds good, but it heads in a different direction than the original version.
That's the kicker with electronic music - it's very hard to repeat anything that gets erased.
Suffice to say, I threatened to chuck my computer out the front window if it ever does this to me again. (I hope the pedestrians below are wearing prot... (24 more chars)
I finally decided on an album name after hearing those songs that I've already written [or started writing].
Midnight In The White Room fits the mood perfectly. I even have an album cover idea.
Tentative Song Listing so far
Telegraphinar
Midnight In The White Room
Panopticon
Empty Cup
Music Box Of A Madman [He Watches]
The Hi-Tech Shower Of A Time-Displaced Sailor
Death By Karaoke
Icarus
Final Flight
I'm going to see if I can get one song 'complete'... (391 more chars)
It's not half as easy as it looks to do a controlled scream in such a low octave.
I just wanted to do a single line with the death growl, and it took me about two dozen tries, and an entire bag worth of throat lozenges.
Friday night started off kind of awkwardly, but things turned around..
I have this 'everything but the kitchen sink' instrumental that didn't seem to be going anywhere. As I tried to expand it, the various generators and effects began to malfunction, so I didn't make much progress. (Unless something magical happens, it's probably going to be a brief filler piece.)
I had better luck with another song though - one of the generic instrumentals now has a name [Icarus] , and is no longer an ... (318 more chars)
That's kind of how this album is materializing. Even on days that I'm tired from work, I figure if I can add two minutes of length a day, I can still hit the 35 minute mark.
Today, I was focusing more on the instrumental tracks, many of which are unnamed so far. (I have vague names in mind, but I don't want to pigeonhole the song too much with a name before it's developed.)
I was experimenting with drumbeats that rely heavily on probability-based triggering. (A drum may have a 75% chance ... (272 more chars)
While some days have been more productive than others, I feel like I'm getting something done each day.
Today was a long day for me - I got to work at 7:00am, and when I left work, I had to go for a physical, followed by grocery shopping, etc..
However, I was able to make some time tonight for some recording. I let my stuffed bunnies sing on one song. Er - try to sing - they don't really know what to sing about, and the timing of their choruses is completely off.
And I honestly think t... (304 more chars)
I wasn't expecting to do much today, since I did the night shift at work today, and will be doing the early morning shift tomorrow.
Although, I got some vocals recorded for a song called "Final Flight". The vocals are all I have right now, but they sound pretty good. (I need to record everything else, though.)
I was running into two issues, though.
1) I find my voice tends to deteriorate a little bit when I use certain higher-octave singing styles. It took me a few tries to get some o... (437 more chars)
I can already tell Panopticon is going to be the magnum opus of this album. It has more twists and turns than one of those Hot Wheels racing tracks.
The vocals and lyrics are coming out really good too - I kind of have dueling vocals, that range from Sting-sounding to Queensryche-sounding. Maybe a little Savatage vibe in spots too. (It's definitely not electronica sounding vocals.)
If you took a microphone into the shower with you, would you get electrocuted?
It's sad that I get all my good ideas in the shower.
(I'd spare RPMers the video footage.)
Today was a little bit different than yesterday.
I think I'm back to where I had been last year, with me programming a ton of different melodies in the very beginning of February. For the last challenge, I got 35 minutes worth of material by mid-month, and then spent the second half of the month trying to make it suck less.
I'm not sure if this is the best approach, but it worked well enough last year. Why reinvent the wheel?
The only downside is this album may lean more towards electr... (403 more chars)
This is definitely going much differently than last year went.
The beginning of Feb 2007 was essentially a speedwriting session for me. I was programming in Jeskola Buzz very quickly, with varied results.
This time around, it seems slower and more methodical. I've been working on an album with painstaking detail for about eight months, which might be affecting me here. The editor is a little more active right now.
The good news is what I have created sounds good - it sounds like heavy,... (503 more chars)
I tested out my new vocal microphone, and connected to my guitar amplifier, it kicks serious butt.
I have the beginnings of a song already - it's called Panopticon tentatively.
Of course, fifteen minutes into the contest, and I'm already seeing how far I can bend the rules. I sampled the ending from my 2007 RPM album. I already like where this is going, assuming my voice can hold up.
Irving Finkelstein showed up at my apartment, and he brought his sock puppets.
He said they can be a backing chorus for me on all of my tracks for this RPM album, but they're pretty tone deaf, and can only sing in backwards Lithuanian.
How do I politely tell him that I don't need his help?
(I'm actually kind of surprised he found me after I moved, considering that I never gave him my new address.)
So - any tricks from the professionals on how to perfectly time vocals to music and/or vocals to chorused vocals?
I've always had a heck of a time getting it right.
Sadly, my voice isn't bad, but the timing always kills me.
The Pinchcrotch album from 2007 was pure genius. The 35 minute epic track he wrote is the best thing ever written in the entire history of mankind.
I hope he's doing an album for 2008..
I was thinking that I wanted to experiment with some electronica-esque stuff that used real drum tracks. Are there any drummers out there that want to collaborate?
I was looking for somebody who could play polyrhythms, compound time-signatures, and 'beat the holy crap out of their drums'. It might help to spice up ambient music a little bit..
Hell froze over, and my employer actually called off work.
(It -never- happens, but there is a crapload of snow out there, and it's hitting right amidst the morning commute, and showing no signs of letting up.)
So, it's giving me a chance to contemplate what I want to do in February.
I have a couple of general goals in mind:
1) One song with death vocals.
2) One song created in the genre of "Idiotic Dance Music", as a spoof of "Intelligent Dance Music".
3) A couple wholly imp... (868 more chars)
