Some new-ish songs

[Hunter]

These were all written/recorded a few months back along with a bunch of others.  This is a selection of the I can listen to and feel somewhat satisfied with.

Lyrically, these are quite different from previous songs in that either I didn't write the words, or they're rather not autobiographical.
In future, I might get better at reducing background noises, or at least remembering to edit some out.

Thanks for listening, and comments are appreciated.

Like Yesterday w/ lefty013 - Performed at Feral! '09
"Facts are facts and this I know,
All the words I never said are the ones I meant the most."

At Your Side - Musically, my favourite
"Still as the frame
Still as though life had come
Still as the blood turns cold"

Rot and Burn - The fan favourite, it seems
"Dressed so perfectly
It all came off so easily"

Somewhere Else w/ Helen - Meter go crazy!!!  Not really.
"Years go by and still it's the same
I wait for something more"

Desires - There's no justification
"These things
They conceal"

[Josiah Tobin]

Ahh, wonderful mellow stuff... Have to say "Desires" is easily my favorite for the sparse, mysterious sort of percussion going on there and the simplicity of the lyrics. Reminds me of Robyn Miller's work (possibly my favorite musician).

All the songs are quite well done though. You have a great airy voice, very pleasant to listen to... Your pitch is amazing, are you using any pitch correction on these? Not meant to offend as I know some have a dislike for such techniques (I don't use them myself but I don't really have the means to do so efficiently), I just thought I heard some correction artefacts here and there. Just curious is all, it's wonderful either way.

I really like the lyrics to "Somewhere Else" in particular.

Thanks for sharing!

~Josiah

[Hunter]

Thanks for the listen!
Can't say I knew who Robyn Miller was.  I've played Myst, but can't think of much in the way of music from it.

There is pitch correction in all of these, yep.   In the case of Somewhere Else, there are melodies Helen never sang in the first place.  I use some form of it most of the time, especially as I love using vocal pads and ostinatos and pretty much anything I can do with a vocal base.  So no offence taken - I'm quite secure and happy in my retuning.

It's good to know they're enjoyed. ^^

[Josiah Tobin]

Wow, lucky guess there... I thought I heard retuning but I wasn't sure. Certainly doesn't detract from it anyway; sounds great.

Funny-- the music in Myst I find particularly amazing and completely mesmerizing... Robyn Miller also did an album with Keith Moore as Ambo called 1,000 Years and One Day, my favorite album, just amazing otherworldly stuff. I think you have a similar sort of 'drifting' musical style.

~Josiah

[Lady Serpent]

Ah, much new music to listen to. 

I'll attempt to get in here and give all of it a thorough listen when the house isn't filled with loud, aggravating children.


Cheers;
-LS

[Hunter]

New song: Breaking Up

This time, I take on the boy-band genre.  It's really a fun style.  Heavily auto-tuned, somewhat illogical lyrics and bad puns combined with non-serious singing.
I had a lot of fun making this one.

I shall now poof back into near-disappearadness.

[Josiah Tobin]

Wow, very nice job emulating that genre-- I wouldn't bat an eye if I heard this on a top 40 station-- but I'm afraid I've recently discovered I have something of an allergy to the kind of music played on said stations. Something about R&B rhythms, autotune, the certain notes/scales/etc used in the vocal lines and the heavy abuse of hard limiters just combine to very unpleasant (but extremely memorable) effect, with me. Almost without fail makes me lethargic and depressed, which is unfortunate given how often workplaces seem to have a radio on constantly blasting the stuff. It's kind of like a poison, modern top 40 music. Sticks to the inside of my skull like a parasite even after I've stopped listening.

Er, kinda went off on a bit of a tangent there, but no... really excellent job writing something inside the genre, even if it's perhaps the one genre I have almost no tolerance for. I could never do it that well. I especially noticed the accurate emulation of the over-compressed mastering that seems to be a requirement of the style, hehe. Only thing missing was a 'truck driver's gear change' key shift on the last repetition of the chorus!

~Josiah

[Hunter]

Heh, I agree on some points.  I still rather enjoy pop music (and will play things like you'd find in trance in the middle of jazz sets, just because I like it), and my main aversion to radio is vapid writing, rather than the production - something I often find admirable, when not in excess.  'Course, now I'm a little surprised you listened with foreknowledge of the style.  (Augh!  I made someone depressed!  Nooo~~!)

There's actually not much compression in there - it's mostly a limiter, and both are only on the master.  Kind of a happy accident, 'cause I don't know how to use a limiter.

Ooh, the truck driver modulation.  It didn't occur to me to do that, but thinking about it, it seems a bit excessive - a modulation on top of chorus layering, which is already a modulation?  (Plus, the song as is had me hitting the high C)  That technique does show up in another one, an inappropriate children's song.

But, thanks for taking a listen!  And that it didn't cause too much pain..

[Josiah Tobin]

Hehe, well certainly there is some pop music out there that I enjoy, and there are some fantastic mixes and production as well (though many ruined by being completely and unnecessarily brickwalled by limiters and compressers... sigh). Much of the R&B-like and/or 'empty' stuff out there just utterly messes with me, though. And don't worry, you didn't make me depressed.

Ahh, I was actually referring to limiters when I mentioned over-compression, but I just tend to use 'compression' as a blanket term... It kind of works seeing as how limiters are really just compressors with -10dB threshold or greater, really. Similar effect either way.

~Josiah

[Hunter]

I had been wondering why the WAV didn't have any sharp edges, despite looking like a brick.  I figured the limiter would be more blatantly destructive.

There's another one I need to rework the arrangement/mix on, but it's a lot more R&B (it's just drums and strings, with one synth that desperately wants replacing).  To think the thing I'm most likely to post next is also on that potential GRR path. XD  Ahh, I should just spend some time learning this stuff.

[Josiah Tobin]

Hah, well certainly don't take my personal tastes for any indication of what you should release next!

~Josiah

[Hunter]

New-ish song: Man On The Moon

This is a slight re-mixing of a track from last year.  I don't think I posted it before, but if I did, it's a new version anyway.
This is also distinctly not that R&B track I expected would be next.  There's a plug-in on that one that refuses to remember its settings, so I've been putting it off.