Deadwing

In response to: "Shakedown remix" 805 days old
by picturethoughts [Member]

Overall this is a better mix - seems tighter and cleaner. I like the new ending with the added guitar. I think the vocals need some more reverb/echo to lift them a bit - I think because there are no backing vocals, it is more obvious that the voacals are a bit flat. Better then the original however, which did have a lot of reverb, I think, but the more…

In response to: "Shakedown remix" 817 days old
by deadwingrich [Member]

Hi there, comments positive or negative very welcome. The problem with mixing down is that you can very quickly lose perspective because you are listening over and over again, so your objective ear is very valuable. Anyway, give it a few more listens and let me know what you think. We're off on holiday for a week now, so I'll respond to any comment more…

In response to: "Shakedown remix" 818 days old
by picturethoughts [Member]

Not sure about this one yet. Trouble is my speakers are playing up so had to listen on headphones. I thought the chorus was a little flat - I think this is because the Hammond organ wasn't as prominent. The guitar solo bit sounded a bit odd. Not sure why - some of the background guitar on the solo had perhaps too much echo or something. Also though more…

In response to: "Shakedown remix" 819 days old
by deadwingrich [Member]

BTW these are the changes I've made:

1. V-vocal and eq vocals in normal way
2. Added slight reverb to overall mix and one or two instruments
3. Used the VC-64 all over the place and this seems to have tightened things up
4. Used the Guitar Rig on the guitar riff which back up the intro to the solo
5. Copied and more…

In response to: "Little Circles remix" 890 days old
by picturethoughts [Member]

The mix sounds better. Piano sounds louder, drums sound warmer - only problem is the backing vocals - I think there was a reason why they are so low in the mix and that's because they aren't very good. In places they just clash with the main vocals. It may be something we can fix with V-Vocal. The other thing is the backing vocals sound a bit to sy more…

In response to: "One Day remix" 892 days old
by picturethoughts [Member]

On first listen this sounds lovely. The acoustic guitar especially sounds transformed - really clear and bright -like we used an expensive guitar. The vocals sound good -the backing vocals are more audible and sound good. The piano gets a bit lost at times. I love the lonely guitar ending, although everything else stops a bit abruptly - may have to more…

In response to: "Ghostwheel remix" 892 days old
by picturethoughts [Member]

This mix is very good. The bass especially comes a lot more - I had actually forgotten what I had played, but hearing it again is brilliant. Vocals sound good. Guitar is better. Very pleased with this. I do think it do with something else in the M8. Not sure what yet. more…

In response to: "Ghostwheel remix" 896 days old
by deadwingrich [Member]

Thanks for the comments they're really helpful. You get to a point when mixing down when you lose objectivity so having another honest outside view is essential. So...

1. I've increased the lead vocals in a few places very slighty
2. I've re-done the bass guitar and tried different settings on the Guitar Rig and VC-64. I think w more…

In response to: "Ghostwheel remix" 897 days old
by picturethoughts [Member]

Overall a good mix. It took quite a bit to get used to the vocals - at first I thought they were over processed, but I think it is just that the backing vocal's are audible and they really change the feel of the song - sounds a bit more ethereal. Drums sound really good. I wondered if the guitar was a bit too tinny - better than the original which more…

In response to: "Absolute remix" 911 days old
by deadwingrich [Member]

Thanks for the comments on Absolute they are really helpful. I think we are nearly there with it. I will adjust the mix based on your comments and re-post. Also I like the idea of changing/adding stuff, but we do need to be careful of knowing when to stop. We don't want to destroy the essence of the sessions. However there are improvements to be ma more…

In response to: "Welcome to Deadwing music" 914 days old
by deadwingrich [Member]

It's been good to put a bit of a distance between the recording session and taking stock of the results. I'm really, really pleased too with the results. I do love 'The Faithless' and the way is subtly speeds up and builds to that great M8.

I'm also pleased overall with the guitar sounds (and bass too). The Guitar Rig 2 made a real di more…

In response to: "Welcome to Deadwing music" 916 days old
by picturethoughts [Member]

So, few weeks after the recording session - I'm listening through the rough mixes again - very happy with the 3 songs we've created. 'The Faithless' - a kind of musing on religion and what it means - bit undecided, unlike the Rush version of 'Faithless' which is very much against religion. Great slow start and gentle increase in tempo. Brilliant Mu more…

In response to: "Absolute remix" 916 days old
by picturethoughts [Member]

This mix sounds fantastic. The drums sound much tighter, and the vocals are great. So much better than the original mix. Acoustic guitar is obviously louder, but
I think this sounds good - gives it a more rhythmic quality. I think there is some scope for removing the acoustic guitar in some places - I noticed one of
final verses is qu more…

In response to: "Technical setup" 936 days old
by deadwingrich [Member]

Although we've finished our recording for this session, I thought I would just complete the record of our technical set up. Rich Graves kindly lent us his Audio-Technica AT4040SM microphone along with some mic pre amps and a headphone amplifier/distribution box. All of which worked really well. The mic seemed to be very smooth and suited Gav's voca more…

In response to: "Welcome to Deadwing music" 962 days old
by deadwingrich [Member]

Hi there, I'm relaxed about the number of songs we do. The fact that we now have much more flexibility after the event with Sonar/Cubase which makes the final mix down much less critical. We can even fine tune the songs and add bits later. I remember when we did Little Circle, which was very simple, we got the main elements down and I always wanted more…

In response to: "Welcome to Deadwing music" 962 days old
by picturethoughts [Member]

I know you won't be happy with this, but I'm quite keen on doing a 4th song. I've written quite a mellow, laid back song which I can't get out of my head, and I think it could be really good. However, I don't want to lose any of the other ideas as we have spent a lot of time in thinking about themes, and I've got a lot of musical ideas for 'Glass' more…

In response to: "Technical setup" 963 days old
by deadwingrich [Member]

I've now got the Fender, but I've decided not to lug the big monitor speakers from Forest. If we don't get on with the smaller speakers I'll go to the Forest on Tuesday night. A few things left to do - keyboard undershelf, buy or borrow some headphones for vocal monitor, setting up a makeshift vocal booth (using quilts etc). I also need to ask Rich more…

In response to: "Technical setup" 964 days old
by picturethoughts [Member]

I think this might be quite interesting to try if it's not too time consuming. Especially with our thoughts about using the Fibonacci sequence in one of the tracks - don't know how feasible this is with the arpegiator. Here's an interesting link about algorithmic composition - this is where I saw the comment about Mozart using the roll of dice in c more…

In response to: "Welcome to Deadwing music" 964 days old
by picturethoughts [Member]

I think this is why I enjoy camping so much, because it does have that sense of getting away from the pressures of modern life, and you can be outdoors in public view, but not need those glass cocoons. Interesting that when I'm out walking near the canal that runs next to our house, meeting someone on the way always prompts a greeting of some sort more…

In response to: "Technical setup" 964 days old
by picturethoughts [Member]

Well done Rich. Glad you're on top of the techy stuff as I haven't got much of a clue. As far as guitars go, we'll be using a Fender telecaster and Ovation acoustic guitar, and my rather ancient blue Rickenbacker bass guitar, one of my prized possessions. I also have a yellow plectrum if I don't lose it before the recording session, and a cool cowb more…

In response to: "Welcome to Deadwing music" 964 days old
by picturethoughts [Member]

I think a lot of other people have looked at how the Fibonacci sequence can be used in music, one of them calling their piece 'Fibonacci'. I think some of this is more computational creation of music, but some composers in the past have apparently used the sequence.

http://www.mcs.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/R.Knott/Fibonacci/fibInArt.html# more…

In response to: "Welcome to Deadwing music" 964 days old
by picturethoughts [Member]

I think the line about faith leading to war is based on the worn out argument that all wars are started because of religion. I don't know if this is quite true, but it does seem that most of the ongoing wars or terrorism is linked to religion in some way. I was amazed as well to hear about a case where a devout christian in America murdered a docto more…

In response to: "Technical setup" 965 days old
by deadwingrich [Member]

Hurrah! I transferred one of our old New World songs called Absolute from 16 Track DAT to Sonar 6 tonight. I did it as a test to make sure that Sonar worked using audio recording as I had a few glitches initially with it. It all worked fine and seemed to be stable. Fingers crossed I think that Sonar is now all ready for when Gav comes down. All the more…

In response to: "Technical setup" 966 days old
by deadwingrich [Member]

I read all about using the arpegiator in FM8 today. I think there's real mileage in us exploring how technology can create patterns for us and then to develop those patterns using rules which we create in tandem with the machine. I normally like to play stuff (and still will continue to do so) but using technology yo push out the boundaries in tand more…

In response to: "Welcome to Deadwing music" 966 days old
by deadwingrich [Member]

The 'Glass' theme is sounding good too. It's interesting that we all like to create our own little glass cocoons. And we only like that cocoon to be penetrated by means that we permit. Mobiles and iPods create that cocoon and Mobiles can penetrate it too. People let in their own little mobile friends, fanatasies etc. I think that these glass cocoon more…

In response to: "Welcome to Deadwing music" 966 days old
by deadwingrich [Member]

I like the ideas for faithless or The Faithless and the few lines you have sound good. It's interesting that essentially faith is irrational and many of 'the faithful' don't like to admit that. They construct elaborate proofs around their particular worldview and forget that to actually setp inside their little constructed world takes an irrational more…

In response to: "Welcome to Deadwing music" 966 days old
by picturethoughts [Member]

I've updated the Radiohead style song, now named 'The Faithless' and posted it on box.net. Lots of overlayed guitars and vocals - mix isn't great but gives us an idea about the slow build up. Needs something else though - the dreaded middle eight!! more…

In response to: "Welcome to Deadwing music" 966 days old
by picturethoughts [Member]

More on Faithless - I've been thinking more about the general theme for this song, if we use it. Using the picturethoughts demo, it could be a reflection on someone's inner turmoil regarding what religious faith is all about - the fact that faith requires no proof, that in some ways it flies in the face of evidence. I don't want it to be anti-relig more…

In response to: "Welcome to Deadwing music" 966 days old
by picturethoughts [Member]

Just some more thoguhts about the 'Glass' idea. Firstly, I quite like this as a possible song title. It's got a simple, clean feel about it that I like.
I guess my thinking with the title was that we all walk around in public as if surrounded by glass - we can see everything around us, but we don't often interact with strangers around us - e more…

In response to: "Welcome to Deadwing music" 967 days old
by deadwingrich [Member]

I've just listened to Glass and Picturethoughts. There's definitely some material there that we can use. I particularly like the chorus to Glass, v. unusual. And I just love the mellow, Radiohead like atmosphere of the PictureThoughts. I'll try to think of some ideas for lyrics too. I noticed that box.net has an option for embedding the folder into more…