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Well, here's the latest to go on the CD. One specific question: Is it too "busy", music-wise, from about 2:35 to 3:00?

All comments, suggestions and critiques appreciated. Thanks! Here's the URL to my Soundclick music page. this one should be the very first song on the page.

http://www.soundclick.com/pro/view/01/default.cfm?bandID=276329&content=music

Thanks in advance.

Alan

Hey Alan,

Nope, I don't reckon it's too busy at all. I would look at the drum patches though, and perhaps replace them with a more natural kind of tone, simply because they are almost a feature instrument and would sound better with natural skins. Maybe invest in a drummer for this track to polish it off ?

The arrangement is good, interesting, but still keeps the flow.

cheers, niteshift

Al,

Once again I am no one to give advice on this kind of professional production so I can only say that I really like it. Good luck on the CD project!

Clint

Hey Al,

You really are doing a wide variety of stuff on this album and I have to commend you for it. I really liked the part at 1:50, almost dream theater-esque in a way (progressive rock if you haven't heard of them), personally wanted to hear it again or have it developed, I thought it was quite effective. I don't think its too busy toward the end either. Why no guitar on this one? Good job,

Mike

Enjoyed the keys playing a lot here, Alan! That's my favorite part. Of course I'm biased. I didn't hear "too busy." I second the vote for real drums for this one, too.

Nice work!

Linda

Another nice one, Alan. Love the arrangement on this. Sounded ready to go to me - not too busy for me at the end.

I can't comment on the drum SOUNDS, as I'm listening on the cheap speakers. But I thought the drum PART was very cool....

Scott

niteshift...

hey, thanks for stopping by for a listen. I really appreciate it. I am very pleased that you like this one. Regarding the drums, there isn't a lot that I can about them except try to go back and do a little better job on the programming and recording. A live drummer is out of the question. I am guessing you haven't had the opportunity to read my reply on another thread about using midi drums. I would LOVE to have live drums. But, money is the issue. I do not want to sound like a whiner, but my wife's medication costs almost $9,000.00 per month and that is always my highest priority. I have two real nice guitars, a nice amp, 2 nice computers, a nice mic and some pretty decent music software. That is all the budget allows. The only other musical treat we allow ourselves is a trip to Pineyfest. As much as I love music and the creative process involved with it, my wife's health is first and foremost. Thus, what we have already spent on music is all that there is to spend on music.

But, that said, I know what you mean. Live drums would really give this a boost. But, it is just out of the question for the forseeable future.

You commented: "The arrangement is good, interesting, but still keeps the flow."

Thank you for those very kind and encouraging words. That is probably the nicest compliment you could have paid me. I truly appreciate those words!

Thanks agin for your visit and favorable review. The best to ya!

Al

Clint...

Thanks for the listen and nice words. But, do not underestimate yourself! I think you are a far better musician and composure than you give yourself credit for. You are a very talented man, Clint. Listening to a "Clint song" is kinda like getting your favorite dinner served to you when you're famished...it's real treat!

But, I do appreciate your nice words and wishes for succes with the CD project. Appreciate that!

Al

Hey Alan,

You're welcome mate, it's a cool arrangement.

If you want to email me a MIDI file of the drums, send it to me and I'll see if I can pull up a natural kit. Yours if you want it.

cheers, niteshift

Mike...

Thanks for the visit. I always look forward to your comments...really...I do! And yeah, you picked out one of my favorite spots in the song, too! Glad you agree with me on that.

Why no guitar? Well, to be honest, this is not a style I play very good. I did a couple of guitar riffs in it and they sucked like a Hoover with an extra battery pack! So, not wanting to advertise my shortcomings on the guitar, and they are numerous, I elected to go guitarless on this one. It was a self-defense decision!

I am not familiar with Dream Theater. But, I will look them up on the Internet and see what i find. thanks for the reference. And, thanks for the very kind words. I am glad you enjoyed this one. And thanks for letting me know!

Al

Hey Al,

Yeah if you look up Dream Theater just be warned that you will be welcomed with an onslaught of notes, a veritable blizzard of notes, too many frickin' notes! That being said, they are probably the best technical band out there, and for that reason are huge in Japan, so to each his own. Just wanted to let you know, so that you know I wouldn't urge you in the direction of producing such a dizzying cascade of notes on the brain, but I think you are with me on that one anyway .

Mike

Al,

Sorry to say that I really can't call this alternative rock or rock at all. Doesn't make it bad or anything, just not rock.

I thought the "piano stabs" at 0:34 - 0:42, 1:38 - 1:53 and 2:51 - 3:01 were muddy and unconvincing to me. I would change to a cleaner piano sound. Now, I see others have commented positively on the piano sounds, so I may be in the minority here.

Good luck with the CD. Having a lot of variety and still be easy to listen to is a good thing.

Kevin

Linda,

Hi! Thanks for taking the time to listen and comment. I am most delighted that you like this. As far as the piano playing, I did but a small aprt of it. The majority of the opiano music was programmed on my computer. I am, at best, a very mediocre pianist, and that is probably too much credit. I know that you are a much more accomplished pianist, thus your kind review is very much appreciated. Thanks!

Alan

Scott...

Howdy! Appreciate ya taking a listen and then commenting. Glad ya like it. The drums, as far as tonal quality and being "airy" is concerned, will always be an issue to the discerning musician-listener. I just work with what I have and try to make the best of it. Sometimes it works better than other times. But, I do appreciate you commenting favorable on the drum content and arrangement. Thanks a bunch!

Alan

niteshift,

Thanks so much for the offer with the drum track. I do not have it in a true midi form. But, I think i can extrapolate the drum line in itsw current format and convert it to either a WAV file or an MP3. If I can do that, will that work for you?

Again, thanks so much for the kind offer!

Al

Mike...

I am going to check them out this weekend. I'll let youy know what I think!

Al

Kevin,

Thanks for taking a listen and passing on your thoughts. I appreciate it it!

As far as genre. This is a pretty tough one to categorize! I also have it posted at SongRamp. I ran into the same problem over there as I did at Soundclick...no apprpriate category in which to submit it. So, I chose what I thought was closest. My opinion is that it is somewhere between Movie Theme, Indie Instrumental and Alternative Rock. There is a little of each in it. The only thing that was close to that combo, both at Soundclick and Songramp, was Alternative Rock. The other thing that makes it tough to categorize is that it is a blend of classical piano with other genres. As such, that somewhat bends it away from any traditional genre because I wanted to retain the classical piano sound within the context of the other genre. Trying to maintain some of the integrity of both styles kind of morphs this into something that has no specific genre. Thus, I simply had to choose something that was fairly close to any of those influences.

I guess what all of that means is you might be right, but I had to call it something! Neither site offers a "Miscellaneous" genre.

The "piano stabs" you mentioned are actually a left-hand chord and either a matching or corresponding chord on the rythm guitar. I'll see what I can do about cleaning that up a little more. Appreciate your insight on that. Even if you are in the minority with your opinion, so what!!?? If it is your honest opinion, it is a valid point of view. And that's cool with me. I just appreciate you saying what you really think.

Thanks for your kind wishes for the CD. That, too, is appreciated! Best to ya!

Al

Hey Al,

Well done!

I find it an interesting listen almost has a Kansas feel to it which is a very good thing.

I understand the music budget you have alloted yourself, so I listen to this as a well programmed piece and I appreciate the piece as is but at the same time I entertain myself with the notion of what it would sound like with real players.

I hope that is OK with you because I know you keep hearing that over and over again.

You do such a good job programming that's what it makes me do!

Martin / Accel

I like the way the ending is. It comes to a climax. Very good song. Midi, drums? They sounded real to my tin ears.

The pianno playing was excellent. Nice work!

Martin,

Thanks for the very kind words about this cut. I hadn't thought about the possible similarity to Kansas, but I think you have a valid point. Where the heck was I when they were going strong??!!

I am accustomed to the comment about the programmed drums, so, no offense taken. I, too, would love to cut this with live musicians. But, for now, I have to live in the real world! Dang it!!!

And I truly appreciate you coming back to listen to each of my posts. That is a very nice, unspoken compliment. And, i am very pleased that you like my programming efforts. It's a challenge sometimes, but it all seems to come together somewhere along the way. Thanks again. I truly appreciate your constant support. Means a lot!

Al

Alan ... this is my favorite of your instrumentals to date..
I think each section is very strong....
I listened yesterday....and like, Mike,really liked that section coming...in at around the 1:50 mark...

Best of luck with your project...Alan...

I do not know what you are planning for graphics...or if
you are doing them yourself....but...Wy and I are planning
on having Christine..here on the boards...do the additional
graphics work we need done. She is reasonable...and
everything I've seen of hers...is very good.
In any case...the very best to you and Helen...

H,
Kaley...

Naw, it's not too busy, some nice soft-rock.. You sure try alot of different genre's. Seems like that would be hard to do, for me at least.

Hey Moose!

Thanks for the listen and the very kind words. I appreciate that.

As most of the folks that have been around JPF for a while already know, I am not an accomplished pianost. I am very mediocre. I programmed About 80% of the piano music on my computer. I did about 20% of the piano and all of the rythm and lead guitar work on my recordings. I sometimes do the bass, as well...but not on this one.

Thanks again for the visit and nice words!

Alan

Kaley...

You are always one of the sweetest folks arounf JPF. Thank you for passing on your very nice comments. This isn't MY favorite, but it is one of the top 3!

As far as graphic arts for this one, I am working on a CD insert. I used to do computer graphics. If it doesn't turn out the way I want it, I'll make sure I get in touch with Christine. Thanks for that reminder.

Helen is having a very difficult time right now. After taking morhine, codiene and 600mg of Fentanyl, she is still in excruiating pain. She is sleeping 14 - 16 hours every day just as an escape from the pain. Her pain management team is doing all they can, but so far nothing is helping substantially. But, thank you for asking. I will make sure she knows that you did.

Best to you and all the "other Willows" :)at your place. Have a really good weekend!

Alan

Al. Solid piece. Nice composition

I agree the drums are the weak in this. They sound like squeaky clean midi drums. You might try 'dirtying' them up a bit. I suggest starting with:

http://www.camelaudio.com/camelcrusher.php

You might try using different amount of dirtiness on different drums. There's tons of free plugins to experiment with at KVR:

http://www.kvraudio.com/get.php?mode=results&st=adv&soft=e&type%5B%5D=15&type%5B%5D=73&f=vst&fe=0&win=1&free=1&sf=0&receptor=&de=0&sort=1&rpp=100

Best of luck with this.

Peace,

Ian

Louis,

Sorry I am so late getting back to you. Haven't been around JPF very much as of late. Probably won't be checking in too often for a while. Got a lot of things going on!

Thanks for the kind review! Regarding the varius styles/genres...I haveenjiyed almost all genres of music since I started playing music back in the early 60's. As a performer, I have played mostly country and southern rock, as those were "money makers". And, country music hyas always been very kind to me, financially.

But, my musical interests have always been much broader than just country and southern rock. Many of my country music counterparts (primarily musicians) used to scoff at the time I put into learning a couple of jazz songs, or bigband, etc.

I have always wanted to become more involved in other genres of music, both as a permer and as a composer. I know have the opportunity to do that. This CD project is my very first serious effort to do that, other than just sitting around the house and entertaining myself.

Some of it has been very challenging (precision coordination of drums and bass lines for the specific sound I wanted, in particular). Other parts have come together rather smoothely.

Thanks again for the visit and very nice words.

Al

Ian...

Thanks for the visit and your observations. I am pleased that the song, as a whole, was okay for you. This not a genre that I get involved with very often, so I'm kind of doing the hit and miss thing with this! But, glad that the overall concept seems to work for you.

When using midi, or any other drum loops/clips, there is always going to be consternation with their sound. They will almost always sound too thin and tinny, too muffled, not "airy" enough, or...as you mentioned...too squeaky clean. Producers and engineers are usually the folks who are most offended by them. And, I see their point. So, as a home-based composer with a VERY, VERY limited budget, I do the best I can with the software I have. But, as you pointed out, there are ways to reduce that "mechanical" sound.

I appreciate the links you out up. I have visited the sites and found some potentially good utilities there. I will download the ones that seem most fitted for my projects and see if I can improve the drums.

Before I do anything else, I am going to go back and run the tracks through the "humanizing" effect on my software and see if I can loosen them up there.

I appreciate your suggestions and the URLs. And thanks for taking the time to listen and comment. It is much appreciated.

Al