K
K-dub
Well-known member
I'm wrapping up production on the next release.
This one is kind of epic:
American Dream Trilogy
Best,
Kev-
This one is kind of epic:
American Dream Trilogy
Best,
Kev-
1
121234...
New member
Great tune, very nice to listen to, like the instrumentation.
K
K-dub
Well-known member
Thanks!
K-
K-
lga5824
It's Just My Opinion
Hi Kevin - Thanks for posting your music. I just listened to it and have a bit of feedback for you. I will state first that I am no pro at recording (still brand new) so to me the mix sounded awesome.
Some (very slightly) constructive feedback: On the 1st song, it seemed the vocals were a tiny bit strained (maybe the key is just a hair too high). Sounds great, but maybe put it down a half or whole step? Just my own personal observation.
In the middle section, there's an "it's time to let it go" in there as a background vocal type of section and although very cool, seemed a tad bit out of place to me and the notes didn't seem totally in keeping with the melody of the section.
I loved how all three songs melded together into the trilogy. Super cool arranging and style. You're very talented!
Jen
Some (very slightly) constructive feedback: On the 1st song, it seemed the vocals were a tiny bit strained (maybe the key is just a hair too high). Sounds great, but maybe put it down a half or whole step? Just my own personal observation.
In the middle section, there's an "it's time to let it go" in there as a background vocal type of section and although very cool, seemed a tad bit out of place to me and the notes didn't seem totally in keeping with the melody of the section.
I loved how all three songs melded together into the trilogy. Super cool arranging and style. You're very talented!
Jen
K
K-dub
Well-known member
One of the benefits and curses of being home recordists, Jen, is time.
On one hand, there never seems to be enough spare time to feed the habit, so sometimes it's easy to fall into the trap of "it's good enough" ... when something really isn't good enough ... which in part is why I post up on these boards.
When common consensus from critical listeners begins to say, "Hey, you've got to fix that. It's not hitting my ears right." ... then we're forced to take notice that we've engaged in a personal "it's good enough" moment.
This is where time becomes a friend ... for there is no deadline but my own on getting the collection out; so I can fix it on my schedule.
You're not the first to mention that the opening passage vocal could be improved ... and truly, the vocal employed here was a quick first pass that I thought I hit pretty well. The second and third passage vox were comped from several passes ... and they seem to hold up better.
So, thank you, Jen. The mention that things weren't sitting quite as perfect as it should to your ear was exactly the type of comment I was hoping for.
Best,
Kev-
On one hand, there never seems to be enough spare time to feed the habit, so sometimes it's easy to fall into the trap of "it's good enough" ... when something really isn't good enough ... which in part is why I post up on these boards.
When common consensus from critical listeners begins to say, "Hey, you've got to fix that. It's not hitting my ears right." ... then we're forced to take notice that we've engaged in a personal "it's good enough" moment.
This is where time becomes a friend ... for there is no deadline but my own on getting the collection out; so I can fix it on my schedule.
You're not the first to mention that the opening passage vocal could be improved ... and truly, the vocal employed here was a quick first pass that I thought I hit pretty well. The second and third passage vox were comped from several passes ... and they seem to hold up better.
So, thank you, Jen. The mention that things weren't sitting quite as perfect as it should to your ear was exactly the type of comment I was hoping for.
Best,
Kev-
queepy
aka Variaxman
Hey Kev, always enjoy your songs..they have that great singer/songwriter vibe to it...listening on phones...I couldn't even imagine hitting those high notes vocal wise 
sounded pretty cool to me...pretty adventurous song, nice segues between parts with the string/synth parts. The big crashes around the 5min mark sound really good, and add a cool dynamic to the song ...not sure if I like that drum sound around 6:00, were it picks up in tempo...to my ears the snare is a bit distracting, in fact this part is the 1st point in the song that didn't seem to fit with the earlier themes/music...almost sounds like a completly diffrent song that could stand on its own...I did really dig it, reminded me of Genesis's "Driving The Last Spike" from Invisible Touch...just think it might work better as it's own song...
sounded pretty cool to me...pretty adventurous song, nice segues between parts with the string/synth parts. The big crashes around the 5min mark sound really good, and add a cool dynamic to the song ...not sure if I like that drum sound around 6:00, were it picks up in tempo...to my ears the snare is a bit distracting, in fact this part is the 1st point in the song that didn't seem to fit with the earlier themes/music...almost sounds like a completly diffrent song that could stand on its own...I did really dig it, reminded me of Genesis's "Driving The Last Spike" from Invisible Touch...just think it might work better as it's own song...
K
K-dub
Well-known member
The odd thing, bud, is how most folks go one way or the other. Some think the second and third passage fit well, but the first is odd man out.
There's a story behind the writing of this.
Passage one came to me one night earlier this year in a dream ... in it's entirety. What's heard here is pretty much what I wrote that morning waking up ... nevermind that it was an 80's girl band that I heard coming out of a radio in my dream, doing a much more upbeat pop version of it (a la "The Go Gos").
I posted that individual passage here later, and one of the board members stated that he thought it sounded like the beginning of something "more".
So I decided to write more ... and wrote passage two and three together at the same time ... all the while conceptually holding that the first was to be as sparse as it is, the second grow a little more dense w/ orchestration and the third to be the standard rock unit w/ bass, drums, guitar etc ...
... so I set to building the arrangement accordingly ... trying to keep the flow interesting whilst moving the piece along three very different conceptual paths.
I built each section as separate projects, so I could individualize and comparmentalize each ...
... then when I finished all of them, I opened a new project and imported each individual mix into a compilation file; combining and adding additional parts to complete the segueways from one to the next ... moving the summed mixes forwards and backwards so that the timing and flow remained natural.
It was kind of a neat experiment for me.
Kev-
There's a story behind the writing of this.
Passage one came to me one night earlier this year in a dream ... in it's entirety. What's heard here is pretty much what I wrote that morning waking up ... nevermind that it was an 80's girl band that I heard coming out of a radio in my dream, doing a much more upbeat pop version of it (a la "The Go Gos").
I posted that individual passage here later, and one of the board members stated that he thought it sounded like the beginning of something "more".
So I decided to write more ... and wrote passage two and three together at the same time ... all the while conceptually holding that the first was to be as sparse as it is, the second grow a little more dense w/ orchestration and the third to be the standard rock unit w/ bass, drums, guitar etc ...
... so I set to building the arrangement accordingly ... trying to keep the flow interesting whilst moving the piece along three very different conceptual paths.
I built each section as separate projects, so I could individualize and comparmentalize each ...
... then when I finished all of them, I opened a new project and imported each individual mix into a compilation file; combining and adding additional parts to complete the segueways from one to the next ... moving the summed mixes forwards and backwards so that the timing and flow remained natural.
It was kind of a neat experiment for me.
Kev-
K
K-dub
Well-known member
Note to Jen:
Fixed that opening vocal for ya ...
Kev-
Fixed that opening vocal for ya ...
Kev-
lga5824
It's Just My Opinion
Can't wait to hear it.
K
K-dub
Well-known member
Cool. 
Let me know if you think I hit it right this time.
... and thanks!
Kev-
Let me know if you think I hit it right this time.
... and thanks!
Kev-
lga5824
It's Just My Opinion
niiiiiiiiiiiice. love the quality of your voice!
K
K-dub
Well-known member
Excellent. I'm glad it passed muster this time. I also posted in the other places where those w/ sharp ears like yours made similar comment ... one has also replied that he thought the correction was a significant improvement.
You've got great ears, Jen. Thanks for nudging me in the right direction.
Kev-
You've got great ears, Jen. Thanks for nudging me in the right direction.
Kev-