Skysaw's Site - Progress on my CD

Progress on my CD in Off Topic

ID:190099

Mar 17 2003, 8:00 am

Hey all,

It's been awhile since I've posted any new songs, but it doesn't mean I haven't been busy musically! I am almost finished tracking and mixing songs for my CD, and have a mastering artist and graphic artist as well as a CD manufacturer lined up to hopefully get everything done by early May.

I've created a page at http://redwire.allhands.com that has recent mixes of all of the songs, as well as a progress report that is updated often. There are some new songs there that I've never posted before, and descriptions of each track.

Just thought I'd share what consumes most of my life at the moment. Feel free to share your comments, positive or negative. Some of this stuff is pretty far off the beaten track, so it won't be for everyone.

Skysaw

#1 Mar 17 2003, 4:49 pm
Sariat	Maybe you should do some hip-hop. A music video would be "off the heasly" inside joke

#2 Mar 17 2003, 11:50 pm
Crispy	Go Red Wire! Nice music, nice lyrics, pity about the website... I mean... cough... nevermind. ;-)

#3 Mar 18 2003, 3:11 am
Maz	Just at college, listening to Time to run. My personal fav, I used the lyrics on the lyrics page to create a virtual Time to run for Alathons Intermudia ( http://developer.byond.com/forums/Alathon/SongLib/ index.cgi?action=message_read&id=1&forum=1&view=2 ) If you dont want this feel free to say so. :D

#4 Mar 18 2003, 6:17 am In response to Maz (#3)
Skysaw	I don't understand what that is, but if you're just quoting lyrics, it's fine with me.

#5 Mar 18 2003, 6:34 am In response to Skysaw (#4)
Maz	Thats basicly it :) /Me likes!

#6 Mar 18 2003, 10:47 am
Kunark	Do you use a recording studio and many different instruments for some of them, or did you use a music-making-like program? If you used a program I would like to know what you used.

#7 Mar 18 2003, 11:13 am

In response to Kunark (#6)

Skysaw

I have a small studio setup in my house. Some of the sounds (mostly the drums) come from loop CDs, since I'm not much of a drummer. I tend to process them and chop them up quite a bit, so there is still a lot of work there. Most of the rest of the sounds are just me (except where noted), playing guitars, bass, keyboards, (even french horn on "Quiet") and singing.

There are also the "weird sounds" that I include. Most of these start out as a guitar sound or something else recognizable, then I manipulate the hell out of them in Sonar using plugins. For example, some of the swirly sounds in "My Hands are Shaking" started life out as acoustic guitar sounds, though you would never know. "Elaine Incident" includes the sounds of three different alarm clocks, cordless and cell phones, and an electric razor mixed into the background. Don't ask me why... that's just me.

My setup consists mostly of my Windows XP machine with a Delta 66 sound card and Omni Studio breakout box, running Sonar 2XL with a host of plugins, and Sound Forge. Most of the keyboard sounds come from my Alesis QS8, though I have a bunch of other sound modules as well. The guitars are a modified Epiphone, my brother's old Stratocaster, and an acoustic Ovation Balladeer. The electrics I run through a POD2 amp simulator, or through a software amp simulator inside of Sonar. I also use a Fender Jazz Squier bass, and a Rode NT1000 mic for vocals.

#8 Mar 18 2003, 11:15 am
Maz	Hey, is it possible you can put up the chords for the bassline for Time to run somewhere, a friend of mine wants to know it. :D

#9 Mar 18 2003, 11:21 am

In response to Maz (#8)

Skysaw

Maz wrote:

Hey, is it possible you can put up the chords for the bassline for Time to run somewhere, a friend of mine wants to know it. :D

The chords are

Bmin - - - -
E - D C
Bmin -
E - D C
Bmin

That's it! :-)

The groovy bass is Ted Hovis mainly just improvising. I have alternate takes of him playing, so I can't guarantee it will stay precisely as is. I tend to chop phrases up and rearrange them.

There is also a piano bass line that simply repeats B F# A D most of the way through.

#10 Mar 18 2003, 11:22 am In response to Skysaw (#9)
Maz	Thanks! Il send him the links, and maybe even get him to teach me how to play. =D

#11 Mar 24 2003, 1:53 pm
Gughunter	I just listened to it and on first listening, it sounds good. I usually have to listen to music a few times before I "get to know it", so I'll probably have more in-depth comments later! I did immediately recognize one song I'd heard before -- don't remember the title, but it's the one with the haunting piano theme right before the lyrics "and then she was gone". That one's really good.

#12 Mar 24 2003, 8:56 pm
Crispy	In "My Hands Are Shaking" (great song by the way!), there are words in the background at one point that go something like this - "Did you say something?" "My hands are shaking." "Turn around". I feel sure I've heard those exact words before somewhere, but I just can't place it. Can you remind me? =)

#13 Mar 25 2003, 5:53 am

In response to Crispy (#12)

Skysaw

Crispy wrote:

In "My Hands Are Shaking" (great song by the way!), there are words in the background at one point that go something like this - "Did you say something?" "My hands are shaking." "Turn around". I feel sure I've heard those exact words before somewhere, but I just can't place it. Can you remind me? =)

Some time around 1989 I wrote a set of ten poems called "The Angry Moon." The last two lines of one of the poems were:

my hands are shaking
turn around

I stripped them of their context, added the "did you say something" to the front, and it was just mysterious enough to work.

If you've heard this before, you may have heard a previous incarnation of the song, or slightly less likely, you happened to be at the Takoma Park MD Municipal Center some time around 90-91 when I did a performance reading of the poems.

#14 Mar 25 2003, 11:45 am

In response to Gughunter (#11)

Skysaw

I definitely welcome any more in-depth comments you come up with later, whether they be positive or negative.

The song you mentioned is called "Mercury in Retrograde." That seems to be a favorite of a lot of folks. My personal favorite is "The Mystery We Bear," because I have no idea where it came from. It haunts me that I don't recognize my own artistic impetus in something that complex and large. The same can be said about several of the songs, but this one is just hits me a little harder for some reason.

#15 Mar 25 2003, 12:26 pm In response to Skysaw (#13)
Hedgemistress	you happened to be at the Takoma Park MD Municipal Center some time around 90-91 when I did a performance reading of the poems. Dude! That was you?

#16 Mar 25 2003, 12:31 pm In response to Hedgemistress (#15)
Skysaw	Hedgemistress wrote: you happened to be at the Takoma Park MD Municipal Center some time around 90-91 when I did a performance reading of the poems. Dude! That was you? Sorry, you already got me with that one. [link]

#17 Mar 25 2003, 1:35 pm In response to Skysaw (#16)
Hedgemistress	Sorry, you already got me with that one. [link] Oh, that was you. I'll have some actual constructive feedback later, I'm browsing from work and can't listen to music.