Valacirca - Bodiless Powers of Heaven

[heatmiser]

FWIW, I never imagined myself making music with the intent of it being commercially viable, with tangible, nicely packaged copies of it being available for purchase wherever. The only plan really, is to make music through this hobby with primarily my own satisfaction in mind, trying to progressively improve what can be improved on, and then make it available for free online to whoever feels an interest in it. Whatever does or doesn't develop after that is up in the air.

Makes sense...sounds like a plan .

I like the second track much beter than the first. Not crazy about the drum sounds though...particularly the kick...too much thud and not enough definition. Bass kind of rumbles too.

I am completely unfamiliar with the bands you mentioned earlier and so I wouldn't presume to make aesthetic judgements on the composition since you seem pretty comfortable with the lack of pronounced variation. I would've preferred more impact in terms of the arrangement sonically if not melodically, but it has a pleasing overall feel to it and I too was reminded of early pink floyd as I listened.

I like the rocky cliff image. No different than all of the soundclick photos we add to our songs. Not pretending to be future iconic images, but just something to look at and associate with the music. That photo has a sense of emptiness to it that is mirrored by the tune. That in itself it kind of cool.

 

[valacirca]

^ Yeah, I'm not crazy about the drum sounds either, but I have to make do with what I have I'm not so keen about investing in better drum plug-ins since I'm no drummer and I'm not serious enough about this to go search for a drummer and collaborate.

The early Pink Floyd comparison is both interesting and baffling. Maybe I'll have to listen to early PF though since I haven't listen to any of their records before DSotM. And thanks for your $.02 regarding the album art

Your ears are OK with it? The chorus depressed the pitch.....or the guitar was out of tune. Kind of a severe effect, if planned, for ambient, no?

My ears are okay with it and it was actually done on purpose. But I went back and analyzed the pitch objectively using GTune and it is a tad bit off tune. It sounds subtle enough and hardly a severe effect imho, but I tried correcting it anyway and re-uploaded the song to bandcamp if you want to check out the difference.

 

[joeym]

listened to Archistratege....
3 repetetive chords going nowhere, I got tired waiting for something to happen. Layering instruments on 3 same chords doesn't save it, it turns it into sound , not music. Recording-wise it's OK if that's any help to you. Me, I could have used some emotion. Wish you luck with the CD.

 

[jeffmaher]

Actually, there's a verse, chorus , and bridge. [IIRC] They take the whole length of the tune. One each. By the time the B and C parts hit, they bear no relation in the mind to what went before....and seem disconnected by anything...and the fatigue puts the brain off about recall. Like reading a book, one sentence at a time, every other day!

 

[jeffmaher]

I listened again to "Six..." [titles like Mahavisnu John!]

Better. If the lead guit is right, then the rythm guit is sharp on some strings, holding the chords with death grip?

So, anyway, I began listening in earnest to listen for the next, most egregeious badnesses that , if fixed, would improve the work:

The strum of the guitar is playing in-advance of the quantized BD downbeat, often. Edit the double hits.

Solo guitar too hot.

The drum fills ...busy as the are, leave off the most important beat. The anticipating 8th of 'one'. Every time, I think. If it's gonna be that busy, get the important beats. And the fills would be a lot more effective w/ big tub and mega ambience....make them the momentary feature...big and bold and sweet...the Phil Collins treatment.

The rythm guit is out of tune w/ itself.

Edit the parts, and multiply the cycles. ABA ABA ABC, etc. Introduce other instruments to play parts. Play the rythm guit's chords somewhere else, with a different voicing. That stock G chord with the G and D top notes can really get old.

Variation!

Just suggestions. I know you want to stretch stuff...but you painted yourself into a corner with rigidity in the parts, right off the bat. Expectations arise, and are thoroughly disappointed. So I'm suggesting the above suggestions.

 

[valacirca]

^ I think I'll settle with the tuning as it is since I don't think I can do anything else short of recording it repeatedly until I get everything perfectly. It works with my ears anyway and it seems like there are no drastic problems.

"quantized BD downbeat"? I'll listen to that again later and try to figure out what you're pointing at.

How do you do that "big tub and mega ambience" you're talking about? That sounds interesting.

Recording-wise it's OK if that's any help to you.

Wow interesting. I actually had some problems with the recording of that track, probably because it was my first ever complete track to record and I've discovered some new techniques and technology since then. What do you think of it relative to the quality of recording/mixing of the second track? I feel that the second one is much cleaner and better balanced.