feel like an alien

heatmiser

mr. green christmas
Hi,

I spent the last week coming up with a collection of instrumentals that I've posted on soundcloud as an "EP".

I got really sick of trying to sing. lol

I would have posted some of these in the clinic first for mix advice, but wanted to get it done and move on, plus I've had a lot of tunes in there lately. As a result, the mixes vary.

It was my first time trying to create, mix and master a group of tracks all at once to go together, but I guess, other than thematically in my head, they share little in common.

Anyway, just sharing this in case anyone wants to give it a listen. 5 tracks totaling about 15 minutes.

https://soundcloud.com/matango-525903835/sets/feel-like-an-alien

Thanks.
 
I like it heatmiser. Instrumental music isn't really my thing, apart from electronica, but these compositions were engaging and fun. They did have a similar vibe to electronic music, trippy and linear. Each one is a bit different. The second seemed like a nod to Blue Oyster Cult, the third had a Floydish thing going on, the fourth was funky. If I had to comment on the overall sound, I'd say a bit on the midrangy side, but this is not the Clinic.

Your composition, playing and arranging skills are very good indeed.
 
Thanks for checking it out Robus.

I wasn't going for a classic rock kind of thing, but I can totally hear what you're saying about those two tracks. I did like both of those bands as a youngster. In retrospect, I think I kind of messed up the track order as the first track is perhaps the weakest. Good thing is none of them are too terribly long! I'm glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the compliments as well. :)
 
On the second one, I thought you were making a sly allusion to "Godzilla" by BOC. The Japanese voice at the beginning, something about the opening riff, a snippet from the guitar solo. Overall, the song is nothing like classic rock, of course.

Actually, I liked the first one too. It had a pretty groovy call-and-response thing between the various instruments in the arrangement, from what I remember. On that one, more than the others, I was missing a vocal though.

I get what you are saying about being tired of dealing with vocals. I seem to be able to come up with instrumental arrangements almost at the drop of a hat, while I agonize for days or weeks over the vocal melody and especially lyrics. I've thought about doing more instrumental pieces, maybe in a prog vein. I always wind up simplifying my guitar and bass lines to avoid overshadowing the vocals. It might be fun to unleash my inner wanker! ;)
 
On the second one, I thought you were making a sly allusion to "Godzilla" by BOC. The Japanese voice at the beginning, something about the opening riff, a snippet from the guitar solo. Overall, the song is nothing like classic rock, of course.

Actually, I liked the first one too. It had a pretty groovy call-and-response thing between the various instruments in the arrangement, from what I remember. On that one, more than the others, I was missing a vocal though.

I get what you are saying about being tired of dealing with vocals. I seem to be able to come up with instrumental arrangements almost at the drop of a hat, while I agonize for days or weeks over the vocal melody and especially lyrics. I've thought about doing more instrumental pieces, maybe in a prog vein. I always wind up simplifying my guitar and bass lines to avoid overshadowing the vocals. It might be fun to unleash my inner wanker! ;)

Yup, I hear you. I could crank out music endlessly, but when it has to be an actually song, with lyrics and vocals, I tend to get bogged down. Plus, singing well is just way harder for some of us than playing various instruments. Most listeners seem to require some singing though, so I try. You seem to have the whole package down pretty well, but I dig your instrumentation the most.

lol - yeah, Godzilla was by far my favorite song of theirs as a kid. It was not on my mind at all this week, but listening back, I totally hear what you're saying. That's funny.

I llisrtened to to first song. I was hearing places for vocals in it. You said you are sick of singing. Why?

Too bad, as I think the 1st track is my least favorite...It's too long for what it is. I really like tracks 3 & 5 the best, as they got closest to what I was going for. Thanks for listening though!

Why?...just because it's more difficult and less fun for me than the other stuff I guess?
 
Why?...just because it's more difficult and less fun for me than the other stuff I guess?

I'm in the same boat, between coming up with lyrics and executing with my non-vocalist set of pipes it just seemed like more work than its worth. Thankfully I have a friend or two who can sing, and one of them has been motivated lately, so I've at least had that outlet to work on music.

I didn't check out the mix(es), just not a good time for it right now. In general though I find instrumental music is a dead end, very few people on a whole (even those interested in music) seem motivated to seek it out let alone listen to it. Even in progressive rock, a genre that celebrates noodling and extended musical sections, there's very very few solely instrumental bands (and none with any decent commercial success). Instrumental rock is a one way ticket to obscurity.
 
In general though I find instrumental music is a dead end, very few people on a whole (even those interested in music) seem motivated to seek it out let alone listen to it. Even in progressive rock, a genre that celebrates noodling and extended musical sections, there's very very few solely instrumental bands (and none with any decent commercial success). Instrumental rock is a one way ticket to obscurity.

Yeah, that's interesting, but I don't think I see it that way at all, and I know that at least some other people don't too.

I mean, I'm not a band per se, just a guy. I'm also going to be obscure whether I sing or not on my tunes, so that's not really the issue.

It just never would occur to me that the absence or presence of vocals on a piece of music would have any effect on whether or not I would listen to it, let alone whether I would expect to enjoy it. Leading up to this, I was listening to a lot of Django Reinhardt, Vivaldi and early '70's Miles Davis...you know, the spooky, funky atonal shit. All very respected and popular works with no vocals. Shit, Miles doesn't even use melody much at all during that period. To your point though, none of them are rock (and all are very talented), but I'm not trying to create rock (let alone progressive rock!), nor am I trying to create classical or jazz or whatever.

It's all just music either way. If I can't make a 2-3 minute track fun and enjoyable, it won't be because there was no singing on it, and it won't be because the kick needed a 2db boost in the 4-5k range or whatever. That won't be the problem.

Again, just to be clear, I'm not becoming an "instrumental rock band". I'm not permanently writing off using vocals (like anyone cares lol). I just wanted to share some tracks that I think sound cool, and I have nowhere else to share them. No one outside of this site ever hears my music. I could have put each track in the clinic over the next month or so and gotten listens that way, but that's not what it's for, as I have no interest in mixing these particular tracks any better. They're fine for what they are. Just a bunch of (hopefully) cool textures, layers and changes over cool beats that are hopefully unique and fun to listen to.

Sorry to write a freakin' novel. lol I did feel a bit weird posting in this sub forum, as I don't think I ever have before. I'm not selling anything here...just sharing...free downloads. Damn, I can't even give the stuff away! lol
 
Damn, I can't even give the stuff away! lol

And that's basically the problem I was trying to explain - unless someone is a standout talent (on an instrument), it's extremely difficult to find any listeners. The internet has made that painfully clear, just spend an afternoon on youtube and the amount of talent receiving no attention is stunning (and humbling). Many have wondered what-if Miles Davis, or any past iconic figures in music, were hitting the market today - what music would they be making? Would they even bother, having been forced into retail management to make ends meet, long ago abandoning their dreams? Hard to say, but that time spent on youtube certainly makes me think there have been a lot of dreams smashed in the past 15 years. I know we don't do it for fame or money, otherwise we simply wouldn't be doing it. But if we're doing it for an empty room, or intentionally creating music that normally plays to an empty room, the discussion should be had.

BTW - currently, of all the instrumental genres right now, the two I can think of that actually have some commercial success are orchestral movie soundtracks and electronic (dubstep/dance). These even have many examples of vocals being added, supposedly to improve their commercial viability.

I'm not trying to rail on what you're doing or discourage you, it just seemed by the tone of your posts that we have largely arrived at a similar place after some time making our own music. And I figured I'd share my thoughts.
 
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I'm hearing some Chemical Brothers meets Beck on track 1. I like what's here, but it may need that change at 2:00 a bit earlier.

Track 2, Beastie Boys? Moby? It's a fun song. The lead guitar, although simple, works really well.

Track 3 has a nice ambient techno feel to it. I can see the Floyd comparison when the lead guitar starts, WYWH-esque the way it moves into that strange synth section at the end. A little repetitive but it's so pleasing and smooth it can be forgiven.

Track 4 - maybe not funky or weird enough. Nice try though. ;)

Track 5 solid acoustic playing and composition.

A good collection of songs. Thanks for sharing.
 
Thank you for taking the time Pinky. It's good to get feedback. I appreciate it, and your thoughts more or less mirror my own.

Track 4 is just too vanilla or something. I should have gone further with whatever I was doing there or left that out.

Despite being fairly short, most tracks could have benefitted from more pruning, shortening, bigger changes occurring sooner I think. Good lessons to learn. If I do something like this again, I'll likely spend at least a little more time really thinking things through.

I feel less obscure already! Thanks again.
 
Hey Heat,

Great to see you’ve pulled something together into an EP. Your stuff’s too good to only last as long as your latest soundcloud moniker.

I've been struggling to get into the clinic recently – so it’s cool that you’ve made these downloadable and I can add them to my ipod and listen in the car. Hopefully back up and running soon after I’ve finished moving stuff over to Reaper and figuring out how to use it.

I don’t see being instrumental as any great barrier for me personally. A load of my favourite bands like Mogwai and Godspeed You Black Emperor are largely so, and most electronica too. I can see why it might be a dead end street in classic rock etc, but I don’t think you’re heading in that direction. I guess it’s a moot point for most of us on here anyway – if you’ve got no fanbase to please then who cares?

I'll post back once I've had chance to listen :)
 
Cheers rob. I hope you get your stuff back up and running real soon.

KC turned me on to mogwai just a couple of weeks ago in a clinic comment...cool stuff!

Yeah, definitely check this stuff out sometime, and let me know what you think. They're mostly pretty short tracks, so not a huge undertaking, although I pretty much devoted all of last week to it! If I do this again, I'll probably not set such an aggressive timeline for myself, but I never want to be one of those people that labors over an EP for like years or something, you know?

I definitely have some regrets here, but there are a couple of strong tracks I think and no complete clunkers, just some that didn't turn out quite as I'd hoped in terms of the execution and/or the general feel.

I would like to repost some of my old songs and covers too on soundcloud or somewhere. Some have stood up well over time...others, not so much! lol
 
Cool stuff, HM.
Track 1 and 2 are great. Track 5 is good, too.

The most obvious reference I hear is Flaming Lips.

You recorded all these in a week? That's prolific.
 
Thanks. Yes, I had last week off, a bunch of song titles and nothing to do, so I gave myself one day to create, track and mix each song, then by the weekend, I just spent some time pruning stuff, making some adjustments, and trying to "master" them all to be in the same tonal and volume ballpark.
 
Thanks. Yes, I had last week off, a bunch of song titles and nothing to do, so I gave myself one day to create, track and mix each song, then by the weekend, I just spent some time pruning stuff, making some adjustments, and trying to "master" them all to be in the same tonal and volume ballpark.

Cool.
Are those drums you playing or are they programmed? I like the beats.
 
Cool.
Are those drums you playing or are they programmed? I like the beats.

Nah, I played drums on most of my recordings from the last few years (up through the Godzilla soundtrack thing), but I don't have a kit now, and everything now involves loops, drum machines and/or hand percussion.

For these tracks, I simply googled, "slow funk drum loops" and went from there...it took a lot of searching and endless cutting and pasting, but I like the beats too, so thank you.
 
Nah, I played drums on most of my recordings from the last few years (up through the Godzilla soundtrack thing), but I don't have a kit now, and everything now involves loops, drum machines and/or hand percussion.

For these tracks, I simply googled, "slow funk drum loops" and went from there...it took a lot of searching and endless cutting and pasting, but I like the beats too, so thank you.

Nice. They sound good. Even with the heavy compression.

(though, I like monotonous loops so I'm probably not the best person for this).

But I was like, "Sweet beat, reminds me of rap or a Beck mashup."
 
Hey pete, had chance to listen to this a few times over the last few days. Some really cool stuff on here and I'm glad you pulled it together. Tracks 3 & 5 are my favourites I think. Track 5 has a cool pastoral vibe and I like the soundscape you built up on track 3. They're also the two tracks that push you a little further our from your usual style I think, so they're really refreshing to hear.

That third track in particular - reminded me of Entroducing era DJ Shadow a little, which is a feel I've pitched for a few times. It would be really cool to hear you explore that direction more with some full vocal songs.

Yakisoba was the only one that didn't quite click with me. I think it was the 90s rock-rap style powerchords. It was well played and arranged of course, but just not quite to my taste.

Thanks for sharing it man :)

I thought you'd sold your organ by the way. How did you do the keys? They're not through the ipad are they?
 
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