Track 6: Black Magic

[K-dub]

This one is sort of in a progressive pop rock vein. Give it a moment or two, it gets going eventually. The link below should pop a quick separate player, so allow the pop up. Let me know if anyone has trouble playing it. Thanks!

Black Magic

Best,

Kev

 

[ido1957]

Nice tune Kev, great keys. vocals, guitars and drums...I thought the lead break was too low because the drums seemed too loud at that part, but only that part... You always impress with your songs.

 

[K-dub]

Nice tune Kev, great keys. vocals, guitars and drums...I thought the lead break was too low because the drums seemed too loud at that part, but only that part... You always impress with your songs.

There's drums in the lead part? lol ...

Actually I tried to avoid having there be a clear lead ... I was going for more "organized chaos" ... so I tried to ride the delicate balance between the levels; so that nothing dominated too much and everything contributed equally to the musical mish mosh.

The toms are a tad thunderous though, aren't they? Maybe I should pull them back a hair ...

Thanks bud!

Kev-

 

[queepy]

Hey Kev, are you doing the lead guitar on this? Nice playing! I like this one a lot! Sorry, nothing more constructive then a big thunbs up!

 

[JordanD]

wow, really sounds like the good king crimson songs from their first few albums. i like it with my blunt! oh the drums came in, nice! now it sounds a little like 'starsailor; lead vocally, i used to like them before RC. a few minutes in and im imaging a wise old 60's musician behind this song, the acid days gone in this new clearness, i was waiting for some guitars, nice, a little gilmourish. the only thing missing so far is the guitar stabbing on the snares for the rhythm with a dirty crunch. nice job. im stopping now. i dont think that guitar thing is coming.

 

[K-dub]

The lead guitar was done by the late great Mark Crumb ... who passed on WAY to early from an unexpected massive stroke. He was 46.

The bass guitar is performed by Tjarko Busink of the Netherlands, who is the best bass player I've ever had the pleasure of working with. He's a musician's musician with the Midas touch. He plays many instruments superbly, and what he contributes to turns to pure gold.

The drums were added by Frank Basile. Frank is known for being the person who does the clips for "Session Drummer" for Cakewalk. When you use that program, you're using Frank.

I do the rest.

(I'm glad you liked)

Best,

Kev-

 

[K-dub]

wow, really sounds like the good king crimson songs from their first few albums. i like it with my blunt! oh the drums came in, nice! now it sounds a little like 'starsailor; lead vocally, i used to like them before RC. a few minutes in and im imaging a wise old 60's musician behind this song, the acid days gone in this new clearness, i was waiting for some guitars, nice, a little gilmourish. the only thing missing so far is the guitar stabbing on the snares for the rhythm with a dirty crunch. nice job. im stopping now. i dont think that guitar thing is coming.

lol ... GREAT review, Jordan ... you painted a perfect picture. AND ... Gilmourish is exactly the model for the lead guitar part.

One of the things learned by years of doing this (I'm an 80s musician vs a 60s one) is that you really can't fit everything in and keep it all sounding cohesive ... something has to give to "make room" in a mix.

This mix (as you know) is already dense. Believe it or not, there are tracks w/ dirty crunchy guitar that I've muted, because it didn't add anything important or critical to the sonic arrangement. It was just another thing to try to account for.

In a "less is more" sort of way, I had to cut out a shitload of additional stuff that simply might have been "nice", but the addition screamed "where the hell did that come from?"

I tried to adhere to the concept of a truly "live" performance by a real band, versus introducing a bank of dirty guitars that didn't appear previously.

The things that remain could then be played live ... even if I never will ever do it ... because they were deemed elemental to the overall presentation.

There's only so much sonic space between the speakers ... and to achieve cleanliness in a mix, decisions (sometimes hard ones) must be made.

It's a shaky balance beam walked when mixing ...

Kev-

 

[JordanD]

lol ... GREAT review, Jordan ... you painted a perfect picture. AND ... Gilmourish is exactly the model for the lead guitar part.

One of the things learned by years of doing this (I'm an 80s musician vs a 60s one) is that you really can't fit everything in and keep it all sounding cohesive ... something has to give to "make room" in a mix.

This mix (as you know) is already dense. Believe it or not, there are tracks w/ dirty crunchy guitar that I've muted, because it didn't add anything important or critical to the sonic arrangement. It was just another thing to try to account for.

In a "less is more" sort of way, I had to cut out a shitload of additional stuff that simply might have been "nice", but the addition screamed "where the hell did that come from?"

I tried to adhere to the concept of a truly "live" performance by a real band, versus introducing a bank of dirty guitars that didn't appear previously.

The things that remain could then be played live ... even if I never will ever do it ... because they were deemed elemental to the overall presentation.

There's only so much sonic space between the speakers ... and to achieve cleanliness in a mix, decisions (sometimes hard ones) must be made.

It's a shaky balance beam walked when mixing ...

Kev-

very insightful and knowledgable!

 

[K-dub]

I'll add, J ...

When mixing, keep foremost in mind that there is an infinite amount of things that can be played and/or mixed into any presentation.

The art is deciding what stays because it's important.

K-

 

[Chili]

This is absolutely great. Arrangement is great. One of the better tunes posted here at HR. Damn, the bass is awesome. very consistent. Shit!!

Yeah, I'd like to hear the lead solo come up a little.

Thanks for sharing!!!

Cheers,

 

[K-dub]

Thank YOU for the kind words, C!

I am going to dial that guitar in just a hair more prior to sending everything off to the M.E.

Thanks for the comments!

Best,

Kev-