Song Of The Month Club - September 2024

klownshed

I’ll be back soon to comment on everybody else’s tracks. I’ve listened to a few already and there are some really good tracks so looking forward to listening again more intently.

squeals

@richardyot very good song. Feel that with every track I’m getting more of a sense of who you are. Songs are consistent without being repetitive.
With this track I really like the pace and the big sound in the chorus. Really like the keyboard solo coming out of it as well. Endings a little abrupt for my tastes, but that’s not saying it doesn’t work in its own right. Top marks

squeals

@BillS well that is just a really lovely beautifully crafted song. Some very nice melodic choices that surprise and delight. The only thing I don’t love about this is the drums. Might just be my new buds. The kick specifically feels I don’t know if it’s the right word but I’m struggling to get the right one ….invasive feels too strong but it’s taking my attention when I don’t want it to. Might be better without the kick, less prominent, I don’t know.
But that’s just to my ears and does nothing to prevent me saying how delightfully fresh this track is. Big 👍

klownshed

@richardyot said:
My entry for the month, lyrics in the spoiler:

You and me, we both know
We made our minds up long ago
I know you well, and in your soul
Something new is taking hold

You never felt like this before
This is what you waited for

You feel like you’re on fire
It’s burning right through you
You feel so alive
And I’m seeing it too

And so you’re dreaming
You can’t stop believing
You love the feeling
That’s running through you

You know me, I can tell
That your life is going well
It’s for the best, I tell myself
I can stay here on the shelf

You’ve never let me in the door
All those years I wanted more

You feel like you’re on fire
It’s burning right through you
You feel so alive
And I’m seeing it too

And so you’re dreaming
You can’t stop believing
You love the feeling
That’s running through you

Cracking chorus! The song starts with a driving bass line and doesn’t let up, yet still sounds mellow despite the big guitars and finishes with a dripping wet wall of sound before leaving you with a very catchy last chorus. Really good.

klownshed

@BillS said:
Here’s my entry - I posted it separately last month, so apologies if you’ve already heard it. Occasionally I’ll write a song that I’m especially pleased with, and this is one of those. It was written and recorded quickly and the acoustic guitars were done in (more or less) one take, as was the vocal.

Took a roundabout way to finally find you
The endless meandering and bumps in the road
But oh when I did, I finally discovered
What being in love means and what it’s like to strike gold

No flash in the pan, no two year wonder
The decades stretch on, we’re not news anymore
Still I reach for your hand as the TV drones on
Unhearing, not watching I’m lost in the glow

When I say you’re beautiful you think I’m blinded by love
Well I know it’s not true, if you stood in my shoes
You would see the love that I feel everyday

When the demons creep in, when worry takes over
When my complex mind it seems to explode
You restore the peace, my strength and my rock
You say everything’s OK and I know that it’s true

My choice of long words, the world’s worst romantic
You forgive the sceptic, poor excuses, the cynic
But my heart is so true and I’ll do right by you
We still fall about laughing we can flourish and thrive

Well crafted folky story telling song with some lovely acoustic guitar flourishes. Sounds quintessentially English and quirky. Good stuff.

klownshed

@DavidEnglish said:
This is a music track that I improvised on two MIDI keyboards connected to Bitwig Studio on a desktop PC. There the MIDI was routed to Solo for the bassoon, cello, and flute; Noire for the piano; Speculative Memories and Epic Choir for the singing voices; and Omnisphere for the other instruments.

After bringing the audio recording into Vegas Pro, I applied the Lurssen Mastering Console plug-in to the audio mix.

It's titled The Magic Shop.

The music is up to your usual consistent standards. The cello is lovely and deep and goes well with the mellow flute and piano flourishes. Another gentle, meditative piece. I like the piano, which sounds dark whilst playing very mellow melodies. Cool visuals too.

klownshed

@jo92346 said:
@richardyot I like the song a lot, but the EQ is weird here. On AirPods Pro 2, on the max and on the dt770.

@bills great job. Super clean mix. Made me travel far from the cave I’m stuck in.

@DavidEnglish, I loved this one when you put it one YouTube a while ago. I still like it.

And my contribution:

Final version: https://josephbalson.bandcamp.com/track/the-last-cowboys

Or the not final version:

Well crafted song, with good production values and nicely programmed guitars which sound very impressive and realistic.

BillS

@klownshed said:
And now for something quantized within an inch of its life

I originally made the bones of this track ages ago but never found a way to finish it at the time. I was listening to it recently and thought maybe film samples might work with it and this is the result. It came together reasonably quickly once I knew what I wanted to do with it after going down many dead ends. It only took 2½ years. True story.

Even if it does sound more like it took 2½ minutes

I too have been stuck in that rut of not knowing how to finish a good idea, I’m sure many of us here have been. Great job, you’ve persevered and it’s paid off, fabulous piece of music. I’d have cut the more or less drums only part starting around 1:30 a tad - listening through a couple of times I felt that particular part was a bit long. A very atmospheric piece and the samples work excellently.

BillS

@squeals said:
@BillS well that is just a really lovely beautifully crafted song. Some very nice melodic choices that surprise and delight. The only thing I don’t love about this is the drums. Might just be my new buds. The kick specifically feels I don’t know if it’s the right word but I’m struggling to get the right one ….invasive feels too strong but it’s taking my attention when I don’t want it to. Might be better without the kick, less prominent, I don’t know.
But that’s just to my ears and does nothing to prevent me saying how delightfully fresh this track is. Big 👍

Thanks very much. Despite its acoustic nature I felt the track needed to be driven along, and I actually tried several percussive setups…maybe all it needs is the kick fader to be edged down a fraction. Always great to get a fresh pair of ears, thanks again.

richardyot

@squeals said:
@richardyot very good song. Feel that with every track I’m getting more of a sense of who you are. Songs are consistent without being repetitive.
With this track I really like the pace and the big sound in the chorus. Really like the keyboard solo coming out of it as well. Endings a little abrupt for my tastes, but that’s not saying it doesn’t work in its own right. Top marks

Thanks for listening and commenting. The solo is actually a guitar solo, the wah pedal should give that away, as well as my slightly rushed playing 😅

squeals

🤣🤣 nightshift is obvs ruining my hearing.

klownshed

@unlink said:
My submission for the month:
https://www.soundcloud.com/unlinker/convoluted-lies

I'll take some time to listen to other submissions before posting.

Beautifully gritty and dark. It ramps up a notch with the dynamic drums which give the piece a different and still edgy vibe. Great stuff.

unlink

@klownshed said:
And now for something quantized within an inch of its life

I originally made the bones of this track ages ago but never found a way to finish it at the time. I was listening to it recently and thought maybe film samples might work with it and this is the result. It came together reasonably quickly once I knew what I wanted to do with it after going down many dead ends. It only took 2½ years. True story.

Even if it does sound more like it took 2½ minutes

Time for some good four-on-the-floor goodness Very dancey for my taste but I like it, especially the "vintage" synth at the beginning and the piano. All blended very well, good job.

klownshed

@unlink said:

@klownshed said:
And now for something quantized within an inch of its life

I originally made the bones of this track ages ago but never found a way to finish it at the time. I was listening to it recently and thought maybe film samples might work with it and this is the result. It came together reasonably quickly once I knew what I wanted to do with it after going down many dead ends. It only took 2½ years. True story.

Even if it does sound more like it took 2½ minutes

Time for some good four-on-the-floor goodness Very dancey for my taste but I like it, especially the "vintage" synth at the beginning and the piano. All blended very well, good job.

Thank you!

Four-on-the floor is very dancey for my taste too, but I figured I should try and get out of my comfort zone from time to time It's probably why I sat on it for so long...

richardyot

@klownshed said:
And now for something quantized within an inch of its life

I originally made the bones of this track ages ago but never found a way to finish it at the time. I was listening to it recently and thought maybe film samples might work with it and this is the result. It came together reasonably quickly once I knew what I wanted to do with it after going down many dead ends. It only took 2½ years. True story.

Even if it does sound more like it took 2½ minutes

Beautifully tense marriage of samples with the music, the synths are very cinematic and there is a strong sense of a story unfolding behind them. The arrangement is well-crafted and takes you on a satisfying journey and the changes are always interesting.

klownshed

@BillS said:

@klownshed said:
And now for something quantized within an inch of its life

I originally made the bones of this track ages ago but never found a way to finish it at the time. I was listening to it recently and thought maybe film samples might work with it and this is the result. It came together reasonably quickly once I knew what I wanted to do with it after going down many dead ends. It only took 2½ years. True story.

Even if it does sound more like it took 2½ minutes

I too have been stuck in that rut of not knowing how to finish a good idea, I’m sure many of us here have been. Great job, you’ve persevered and it’s paid off, fabulous piece of music. I’d have cut the more or less drums only part starting around 1:30 a tad - listening through a couple of times I felt that particular part was a bit long. A very atmospheric piece and the samples work excellently.

Thanks. I had so many variations of arrangement (too many!) I got to the stage where I listened through and didn’t get annoyed by anything so figured it was finished. I had many a version without that bit at 1:30 but I ended up liking this version enough to want to draw a line under it…

I could have gone on for months tweaking and changing things lol :-)

deadpoetlive

@klownshed said:
And now for something quantized within an inch of its life

I originally made the bones of this track ages ago but never found a way to finish it at the time. I was listening to it recently and thought maybe film samples might work with it and this is the result. It came together reasonably quickly once I knew what I wanted to do with it after going down many dead ends. It only took 2½ years. True story.

Even if it does sound more like it took 2½ minutes

It is working great as a soundtrack while I'm washing the dishes...bit annoying that it is not longer because I have to keep drying my hands to play it again...

DavidEnglish

@deadpoetlive said:
The video is rather hypnotic, what did you use to make it and is it specifically triggered by the music?

For the visuals, I tend to use Astrofox, Magic, and other PC-based visualizers as a starting point. Then I transform them with various video FX plugins within Vegas Pro.

It's not triggered by the music. I just try to have it match the overall tone and pace of the music.

DavidEnglish

@BillS said:
The title is intriguing - often I can imagine where your titles might come from (rightly or wrongly), but not this time.

At the time, I was watching the second season of Good Omens. One of the minor characters had a magic shop in London. I was thinking how cool it would be to visit a magic shop as a young, impressionable child. The music seemed to fit that.

DavidEnglish

@richardyot
Very solid song with a wraparound instrumental sound. The lyrics are especially strong with this one. And the guitar licks are the icing on the cake.

@BillS
Beautiful and heartfelt song that doesn’t shy away from the complexities of an ongoing relationship. Love the acoustic guitar.

@jo92346
Strong, yet sentimental. With just the right amount of western twang. The movements and counter-movements of the background instruments are a superb fit for the lyrics. A vanishing breed… or maybe not.

@unlink
An almost symphonic opening. Moody with a hint of a deep mystery. Builds and evolves nicely throughout. A kind of sound poem that stretches your senses.

@klownshed
Sudden opening makes it feel like you’re already running away from something. Works to successfully build up a sense of motion and apprehension. Excellent in both concept and execution.

GeoTony

Yes its October but I’m still mopping up September …
Just thought I’d pop in to say that I’m in awe of the talent on display in this thread.
I know it’s a place for insightful critique but really all the tracks are superb… that’s about as insightful as it gets 👍