Song of the Month Club - March 2016

crouchie

@LostBoy85 said:
Hey guys,
I'm super happy to present another collaboration with the amazing Marcel!! Woop woop! Last time I wrote on an already finished instrumental of his,but this time we did the whole track from the ground up.Me on lyrics and vocals,Marcel on the backing track and the guitars.This was a really fun project and we hope you like the song.All comments are welcome as always.

Lyrics.Kingdom come.

She found me washed up on the shore
A stranger lost,a shipwrecked soul
The life I thought I'd built on stone
Was drowning in the sand

Her eyes were warm and lighthouse bright
Her lips gave me the kiss of life
The words she spoke so musical
I longed to understand

Babylon,I see no hell fire here
My kingdom come,is in her eyes

My sweet Amalie,
if we only have this life,Your love is all I need
For so long I was just a skipping stone,trying to stay afloat
But you gave land to me & so I stay here
At your humble throne,my kingdom come.

She took me home through city walls
And lit a fire to warm my bones
And when she smiled a truth was known
I'd never be the same

Babylon,a revelation true
My kingdom come,she put me back together.

Lovely tune, really great effort and a great vocal - v jealous. The style is note really my thing, diagnosed with allergy to guitars some time ago, but appreciated this tune. I particularly felt your vocal sat well in the mix, wish I could get that sort of thing working in my tunes. Chorus is actually v nice when I listen back again. Great stuff, well done both

crouchie

@DaveMagoo said:
Gadgets been getting a little love since I bought an iPad again, iM1 really opens up the palette.....been playin with some grooves and sounds to see what she can do...

Welcome. Will comment on Love, the 3rd track. Really like it, my kind of thing, and freshens the Gadget sound up for me a bit. Nicely put together and really looking forward to hearing your next full length effort

crouchie

@ma_therapie said:
Put me in the game coach. Here's my inaugural submission. A tune called salt.

I like that one! Got a Ninja Tunes feel, and anyone with any sense loves that. I notice that different loops are, rather playfully, in conflicting keys, but that can work now can't it? Looking forward to hearing more, really like your style

crouchie

@technemedia said:
Hey...even us lowly developers make music every once in awhile (well actually that's why we develop music apps):

Thanks for sharing that, great stuff! Like the layers of guitar, loadsa reverb, catchy tune. Vocal has great character. I probably would have preferred the guitar to be a little rougher and more dominant in the mix, the voice sits on top a little bit too much, but still a v enjoyable tune

carol

bit late lol but cant see the april thread so thought i 'd post this here ) new project for me lol

richardyot

@carol I've just created the April thread, I suggest you repost your track there, it should get more feedback that way.

carol

@richardyot said:
@carol I've just created the April thread, I suggest you repost your track there, it should get more feedback that way.

no problem cheers richard )

technemedia

Thanks for the excellent feedback, peeps! As we all know being producer, engineer and musician has its challenges and I have to agree with everything said regarding vocal hesitancy. I think a good producer would sit there and say, nope, do another take, you can do better. And that's what I should have done but it was just close enough that I let it slide. For the technical question, this was recorded in Logic but I used GuideTrack to give me a structure and ended up using Drummer in Logic (so useful but I think one should not rely on it entirely so if I do a new version, I would ad another supplemental track to accent certain beats). I did create an extra arpeggio track in Logic as well to create a pure form of what I was doing on guitar and to help me understand what I was going for but I then decided to leave it in because it sounded nice.

funjunkie27

Gotta take another look at Guide Track @technemedia .

technemedia

I want to do so much to improve that program that I never end up doing it...hopefully in the next few months I can add that progression generator and ability to share files with DD.

funjunkie27

Looking forward to that Peter.

trackedout

trackedout

sorry to over post this song guys , i had posted it and realized i was replying to an old post and just got confused, i hope i got it right now . i really like what im hearing here, very inspired to go at it again

TGiG

Ok Guys and Gals. I'm so sorry for being unforgivably late and resurrecting this old, dead, thread but I've made a commitment and I'm sticking to it!

@theconnactic - Quid Pro Quo: Love your style brother! It’s always a joy to put your music on when I’m reading, writing, and cleaning (HA)! Yes, I’m a big fan, Thank you!

@JohnnyGoodyear - This Is How A Lullaby Sounds (love song for Lee Miller): Wow, such an interesting listen. I partially love the vocal echoes and the static in the background. I don’t have to remind you of your lyrical genius…ok reminder; you’re a lyrical genius! Such a refreshing, unique listen. Thank you!

@orchardman - Daylight Friend: Such beautiful music and the most pure, pretty vocals to go along with it! I really enjoyed the intro but the drop is amazing! Well done!

@Igneous1 - Endless Square: Hey man, You’re track is gone! Where can I find it?

@crony - Istanbul: Always a fan of your work and this is no exception! I love the glitches and the middle eastern chanting. One of my favorites this month, Thank you!

@Halftone - Safety Not Guaranteed: This is my absolute favorite track this month! The melody, your instruments, the quality,…AMAZING! This song should be in a movie! Well done sir!

@JohnnyGoodyear - Adven Turing: This is my favorite poem(?) that I’ve heard from you. Fascinating. The ambient background fits the dialog perfectly. I love it! Thank you!

@Bluepunk - stopgap: I can defiantly say that I’m a bonified fan now! Love it! Especially the drums. I didn’t have a single problem with the audio quality but then again I’ve never cared about it. Thank you!

@crouchie - Left Behind: This song is great! Agreed, everyone does love a 303 indeed! Your vocals sound really good, especially those choruses..man great! I really enjoy the tempo and I love the evolving synth in the breakdown. Thanks!

@High5denied - High5Denied 2.0 at Zechioleepolah: Such a fun song, perfect for the summer! The solo(s) at the end a great! Thanks dude!

@theconnactic - Frenesi: You, my friend, are on one hell of a SOTMC frenzy! Your guitar playing is relentless and so enjoyable! If I may ask, what apps are you using to write the rest of the instruments? The quality is always superb!

@aaronpc - Gumivore: Excellent song there chap! The whole eerie tone is perfection. And so many wired sounds, a banjo?, a slide guitar with watery reverb?, a glitchy computer?, a woman ghost? Seriously though, I LOVE all of your tacks and I’ve certainly played the hell out of this one! Thank you!

@richardyot - Bittersweet: Your production is top notch man! I particularly love the guitar in this one. You have such a beautiful writing style. I really love to chill and listen to your work. Thank you!

@LostBoy85 and @Marcel - Kingdom Come: THIS! I actually heard this song on my SC app before I saw the SOTMC entry and I was blown away! It’s so cool that you two made this beautiful, damn good, song! I love the melody, the quality, it’s so awesome! Thank you!

@crony and @crouchie - Left Behind: This is such a COOL collaboration! Such a flawless merge! I really love listening to this song!

@ma_therapie - Salt: Nice! I really enjoy this song! Would love to hear some unique MC’s (like ODB) on this track. Thanks!

@technemedia - Wishing That You Had: WOW! I’d never guess that this is an iOS music production! It sounds So good! My favorite part starts at 1:23! Thanks man!

TGiG

@richardyot said:
@TGiG there's some interesting stuff going on here, the interweaving melodies in the intro, the strings that add a rhythmic groove, and the gradually building layers, some good dynamics - especially the break at 1.50.

I would say that the piece could do with more rhythmic variety in the melodies though: all the notes in the individual melodies are perfectly evenly spaced, 1, 2, 3, 4, and it all feels over-quantized and mechanical. As a human, I want to feel some human emotion in the music so that I can relate to it, and this piece does not really feel human, for want of a better description.

That's not to say you shouldn't quantize, or use MIDI etc, but some less predictable rhythms and dynamics in the playing would definitely put more feeling into the tune.

But other than that there were some interesting ideas and progressions in the music, it had an almost classical feel to it.

Thanks for your feedback! I absolutely know what you mean about the mechanical feel. I like it tight...like a tiger!

TGiG

@theconnactic said:
Wow! Very cool, @TGiG! I really loved the piano riff. Congrats!

Thanks to the arp! Thank you!

TGiG

@Bluepunk said:
@TGiG After a few listens, it's really grown on me. It's like whoevers left from Ultrasound & Killing Joke have downed their normal tools, got together (Mmmm, I don't think so) & recorded an orchestral instrumental with modern drum machine beats!
The constant riff (KJ) accompanied with splashes of colour & some light & shade (US) is a mix my ears are not used to hearing & are now all the better for it. The sweeping intro, lovely piano & string work that flow through your tune all give a solid base. The drums (sound & playing style) do a good job of reminding us that this new & now.
Liked the part from 2.45 where you speed up those notes & makes it feel more urgent along its way to the end. Yeah, a good listen to your song has ensured a good start to my day. Cheers.

Awesome! I'm really glad that you enjoyed it! Thank you!

TGiG

@rickwaugh said:
@TGiG, huge potential there. I love what you did at the start, with the filters running over the piano. I'm with @richardyot, I think the strings are too linear. Over top of that great piano, providing some rhythmic variety would have been great - create a melody and play with it. The build is very good, the tension is very good.

On Edit: Forgot to mention, the drum sound is not natural, a bit to frenzied. Not sure if a real drummer would sound better, or could play at that rate. I'd cut the real fast repetitions in half, as in, if they are16th notes, make them 8ths.

Thanks for your input! Personally I like both the strings and drums. Frenzied is my middle name. They are defiantly not meant to be naturally replicated!

TGiG

@crony said:
@TGIG ,
Like the production, quite original with the piano, not crazy about strings part, then it's very repetitive, and has no silences, needs some air sometimes.
Didn't like the ending in fade out, sounds a bit like a loop that you're not sure how to end to me.

I hear ya. Maybe it could've used some "air". Thats a good idea! Yeah I just anted a long fade away for the outdo. Thank you for the feedback!

TGiG

@LostBoy85 said:
@tgig well I must say that sounded really good.That pianist must be bloody knackered!! I really like this style,all the elements work,I especially like the strings.its all quite hypnotic to my ears and i can def see this being used in a commercial for a car or perfume.
Good work mate.

Ha thanks! I had to change the oil filter on my ARP-o-TRON 2000 after recording this song. Luckily I was able to pay for it with the royalties from that new perfume-dispenser-you-put-over-your-car's-A/C-vents commercial

TGiG

@crouchie said:
Sorry so late! I did enjoy this one, and I wish I could get something together that is as musically adept as that. I agree with the need for a little more ebb and flow in the track, but it kept me engaged all the way through. Good stuff, well done

Well I'm sorry for such a late response! Agreed, I'll have to mix it up a bit sometime. Thank you for the kind words!

richardyot

@TGiG said:
Ok Guys and Gals. I'm so sorry for being unforgivably late and resurrecting this old, dead, thread but I've made a commitment and I'm sticking to it!

You are hereby awarded a thousand gold stars for seeing that commitment through.

Bluepunk

@TGiG .......& a thousand gold safety pins encrusted with gratitude. You're very kind. Cheers!

technemedia

@TGiG thanks for your kind words and listening...add some diamonds to those safety pins!

aaronpc

@TGiG I, too, shamefully cheesed on my March reviews, as I'm still trying to figure out a way to fit it into my workflow. That sounds familiar.

Thanks for the review, and for the reminder than I still need to pay penance in the form of April reviews despite my not having an entry this month. If only I could match your output— you're all over my Soundcloud.