New batch of songs: Three on a Match

[ufug]

Hello everybody.

I'm back with the third and final installment of my home-brew tunes for the year, give or take a few weeks:
Three on a Match. If you like it, feel free to download it in whatever format you like (just put in zero for the amount).

I continue to mix and match open and closed source, depending on what works best for my needs in the moment: Mixbus 32C, Guitarix, Calf and Tracktion plugins, and the Infamous Lush Life covered 90% of it. Keys are SetBFree, Calf organ, Helm, Dexed, and Pianoteq. Electric guitars are all "in the box" with Guitarix, except bass which is just DI (usually with a little tube saturation).

Some background on why I did this for anybody who is interested: The three-albums-in-a-year project was a personal challenge designed to get myself back on track writing music and to learn how to use the tools available to me on Linux. I've been a full time Linux user for almost 11 years now (Mac refugee), but using it to make music had always been a point of frustration for me. I'm not super-technical or detail oriented as computer user or as a musician, and like most of you I have very limited time for music, so it was a great exercise in focus. And boy have I scoured this forum. I'm pleased with the progress I've made over the year, although I can certainly hear some rough spots--I let plenty of "issues" go in order to keep pumping tunes out.

I have a lot of thoughts brewing (or brewed) about Linux as an audio production platform for musicians with modest tech skills, and hope to blog about it a bit in the near future.

[magicalex]

Wow, that's a great bunch of songs. What an achievement in such a short space of time. Quite an inspiration for people like me who've spent the last 25 years trying to finish one song. I love the Harrisonesque slide on 'Promise of Brevity'.

[ufug]

Thanks Sandy! I've listened to most of your videos and I think we have some very significant record collection overlap.

[jonetsu]

Quite good. It would be nice to attend a 'concert' in a small place, would make for a nice evening. This said, the music could be in many cases a bit more upfront, more bite, more edge. Not too much, a bit.

[magicalex]

Thanks Sandy! I've listened to most of your videos and I think we have some very significant record collection overlap.

Thanks, Scotty; you obviously have impeccable taste.

[GMaq]

Hi, and congrats!

You've got it all going on here, really unique and interesting songs with killer lyrics (love your voice!), great playing, sounds and arrangements with a lot of atmosphere and the production and mixes are very well done to top it all off. Please keep challenging yourself to put out "three-albums-in-a-year".

Excellent stuff!

[ufug]

This said, the music could be in many cases a bit more upfront, more bite, more edge. Not too much, a bit.

Very astute and I absolutely agree. I have not had much edge myself the last few months due to some personal stuff, and I think the subdued performances reflect that more than any plugin could fix. I am definitely going to keep that comment in mind going forward--more upfrontiness!

[GMaq]

Hi,

I'm certainly not going to disagree with you ufug, you are the maestro.

I do wonder though about how influenced we are by the pumped up mastering of EDM and heavier more rhythm section-based forms of music. I really like that the songs/vocals/lyrics here are the dominant thing I'm hearing rather than feeling the kick drum in my ribcage. Some of these songs are very delicate and I actually like that the 'edge' and 'bite' are a bit subdued, the edge and bite are coming through loud and clear in the lyrics and delivery. I think it almost seems/sounds like a conscious decision to let the production reflect the mood and gently backlight the songs.

I dunno, obviously your call, I'm really enjoying the arrangements personally.

[ufug]

Hey Glen, belated thanks for the comments, I really appreciate them.

You are definitely right that our expectations have changed sonically over the years. This past year I've been learning a lot more about mixing (AKA listening), something I've not really paid attention to in the past. As much as I might enjoy mix referencing to Nilsson Schmilsson, it might be interesting to try an updated context and a more up-front approach. I'm always up for those kinds of critiques that could either improve the result or lead me to try something new.

Quite a few of the songs were written for a couple who are my dearest, oldest friends, one of whom passed last night after a long illness. I think having them on my mind so much definitely led to some gentleness in the performances, which is real and appropriate, but life is fleeting and I love big pop hooks so I think next time I will notch it up for sure in the energy department!

You know what i like? In all songs your own 'style' comes back. It's highly recognizable. That's super.

42low, that is probably the best thing we can hope for out of any creative endeavor. Thank you.

[jonetsu]

I do wonder though about how influenced we are by the pumped up mastering of EDM and heavier more rhythm section-based forms of music. I really like that the songs/vocals/lyrics here are the dominant thing I'm hearing rather than feeling the kick drum in my ribcage. Some of these songs are very delicate and I actually like that the 'edge' and 'bite' are a bit subdued, the edge and bite are coming through loud and clear in the lyrics and delivery.

There's a world in-between EDM/loudness wars and adding a bit of an edge and bite. No. There's a universe. I hope the universe is not reduced. I think it's still expanding.

In this case the lyrics, the nature of the vocal delivery on many pieces (not all - and I did listen to every piece) would benefit from an E&B in the music dept. It would uplift the whole piece altogether. As always, it's the little additions here and there that cumulates to give a global effect on the audio. It's a balancing act. There is way much more than we perceive in the interaction between frequencies. Wanting to mostly suggest to the listener and have the listener actively - and not with too much effort - fulfill what remains of the suggestion, possibly by having the listener 'surf' on the audio waves.

And then there's Rammstein.

[singforme]

So great, how do you do that in such short time? Love the music!
Keyboard sounds are insane too!

[ufug]

Thanks for listening, singforme!

...how do you do that in such short time?

Basically just by blocking out a day every weekend and getting to it. For the music, I let A LOT of mistakes go. These songs have plenty out-of-tune singing, guitar clams, timing issues etc. and I'm OK with that--my audience is just my friends and you guys, really. I also don't do punch-ins, and believe it or not, that saves huge amounts of time. I throw away sessions and/or songs that aren't working and move forward, because trying to fix broken things can really kill you on time.

*Anything* to avoid time-suck on details helps. I think the power of the modern DAW can constantly tempt us away from ever finishing things.

For lyrics I've been using Pomodoro Technique. I totally clam up on lyrics, it's a nightmare for me. I do take notes during the week if I have an idea or hear something interesting, and use those as my Pomodoro nuggets.

[singforme]

A lot of wisdom in there, very inspiring! I'll need to try out this pomodoro technique some time. You've also got a lot of talent it seems, because if you're fine with "mistakes", then there's not a lot one can really spot.