just a zeppelin-y demo song thingy

[Shane Sanders]

>>>Nightfall in Mesopotamia

I'm thinking of working on this song again in the near future. It's unfinished and pretty much dies after 2:20 until I figure out what to do with the arrangement and how to thicken the orchestration beyond that point.

Are the melodies compelling at all? I liked them today when I listened to this mix, but had that feeling that I'd heard them too many times to be objective. I'm thinking that some cool Tull-esque flutes and slide guitars doing counterpoint in spots might do the trick over the sparse verse parts.

[Ahlyn]

Okay.. I just listened to this about.. 20 times somewhat. My Media player's on repeat and I didn't bother changing in.. because this song really fits my mood at the moment. And it's making me realize I need some time off of the computer.

Thank you for this. This is my favorite track I've heard here so far.

[vurt]

it does seem a little empty in parts shane, not sure what would work tho.
not 100% sure about flutes because of the mood of the piece, i think sax ala the floyds dark side type sound

[multree]

that's FPC with the Gretsch kit right ??? maybe try something else in there.... the beat or the sounds is/are a bit too tame for the rest - or just try a track of clickerclackerpercussionsounds ontop of the drums... would fill the emptiness vurt was talking about

[JeffSanders]

Awesome, Shane! imho this is like something from Wish You Were Here...and I wholeheartedly agree with Vurt's sax idea. Then again, it may sound too much like Floyd that way. (as if that's a bad thing!!)

[Shane Sanders]

Okay.. I just listened to this about.. 20 times somewhat. My Media player's on repeat and I didn't bother changing in.. because this song really fits my mood at the moment. And it's making me realize I need some time off of the computer.

Thank you for this. This is my favorite track I've heard here so far.

Thank you for this compliment. Honestly there's undoubtedly something cooler than this posted every day at KVR, imo. There's so much talent here. We probably just both have some things in common and that's why it resonated with ya.

[Shane Sanders]

it does seem a little empty in parts shane, not sure what would work tho.
not 100% sure about flutes because of the mood of the piece, i think sax ala the floyds dark side type sound

Sax wouldn't be a bad idea at all, but my ability to really program one is so limited. I'll have a look and see what I have at my disposal. Maybe some eastern sounding clarinet type thing might work? I have more of a sense of how to "think" those instruments.

But yeah, it's too repetitive as it is. It doesn't build up and that's because my chord progression is totally spent at 2:20. I always come up against this when I write.

[vurt]

Sax wouldn't be a bad idea at all, but my ability to really program one is so limited. I'll have a look and see what I have at my disposal. Maybe some eastern sounding clarinet type thing might work? I have more of a sense of how to "think" those instruments.

yeah that would work, just something a little less flutey if you get me? flutes always seem a little "jolly" to my ears for whats needed here.

[Shane Sanders]

that's FPC with the Gretsch kit right ??? maybe try something else in there.... the beat or the sounds is/are a bit too tame for the rest - or just try a track of clickerclackerpercussionsounds ontop of the drums... would fill the emptiness vurt was talking about

I can't recall but it's either FPC or a slightly modded loop from Stylus.

The percussion idea is great. I should just lose the trap kit until much later and let the timbres do all the work up until that point.

[Shane Sanders]

Awesome, Shane! imho this is like something from Wish You Were Here...and I wholeheartedly agree with Vurt's sax idea. Then again, it may sound too much like Floyd that way. (as if that's a bad thing!!)

Cool! I wouldn't mind being a Floyd clone. No shame here. To be spoken of in the same breath would be fine. lol.

I think there's a big "3rd and the Mortal" influence on this one, especially the Night Swans EP.

[Shane Sanders]

Sax wouldn't be a bad idea at all, but my ability to really program one is so limited. I'll have a look and see what I have at my disposal. Maybe some eastern sounding clarinet type thing might work? I have more of a sense of how to "think" those instruments.

yeah that would work, just something a little less flutey if you get me? flutes always seem a little "jolly" to my ears for whats needed here.

There will be no jolliness for sure. Reading too much Ernest Becker for that!

[chimpuat]

definitely got a 'floyd' vibe off this song. VERY nice. all you need is to find someone that can pull off a david gilmour-ish vocal (nothing too fancy, but it might be a cool addition to sprinkle on). could even be just 1 or 2 phrases repeated throughout.

held my interest all the way through, so it must be compelling enough to do the job.

[rockstar_not]

A tremelo and/or chorus on the EP would fill things out nicely in the first part of the track. The drum loop is all up and down center with no panning. Rides/crashes should at least get spread out some. I hear a little on the crashes, but everything else percussion wise in the loop is too mono.

The strings sound nice and are appropriately huge for the song.

But first get that EP moving around my head and then Floyd will be happy.

-Scott

[Shane Sanders]

A tremelo and/or chorus on the EP would fill things out nicely in the first part of the track. The drum loop is all up and down center with no panning. Rides/crashes should at least get spread out some. I hear a little on the crashes, but everything else percussion wise in the loop is too mono.

The strings sound nice and are appropriately huge for the song.

But first get that EP moving around my head and then Floyd will be happy.

-Scott

Good advice. Hopefully the muse will strike soon. I've got a bit of freelance stuff to do but then I'm gonna tackle this piece with a vengeance.

I think I might try running the EP through FreeAmp2 and try out the trem there along with some cabs.

[SynDrone]

Sounds very cool. I think you should consider really keeping the orchesta on for the remainder of the song, thinning it out here and there, and then of course beefing the strings up with some 16th violin runs. Something else to consider might be to add a bit more air to the drums.