Fragile Gods - "The Digital Divide" (music video added Jan 18)

[Frantz]

Love it. Very 80's, and quite in German new wave sauce, I think of Der Plan the the like. Brilliant.

Glad you enjoyed it ZQ. German new wave sauce is my favorite. More delicious than marinara or bolognese. I'm not familiar with Der Plan but I'm a fan of DAF which is coming from a similar place. Thanks for your comments.

[Frantz]

Too clinical, cold and mechanical for me. Sorry.
There's something in that track as if life has been extracted from -almost- each sound.

yeah, but there's still something left in that void. that's what makes it fascinating.

i'll be frank - if it wasn't for your voice, i'd consider this track boring, i think. the vocals give this meaning. and it makes the whole thing work - i mean, it makes the arrangement work in turn as well, you know?
i love this alchemy thing with music. add or subtract a thing and it suddenly all makes sense - in my case it's probably more substraction than in yours, cause i'm overeclectic
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a quick outburst of warmth with an emotional melody in a chorus section or something, that can add another dimension to a song like that. i'd say, get more confident about your melodic skills, then you can play with those contrasts more. not that every song has to be like that, of course.

you got the voice to carry songs already, just a bit more pitch and you can do anything!

Thanks for your detailed feedback. This may not be my most exciting song but I am sure your boredom meter and mine are calibrated very differently. You tend to throw in lots of wild changes into your tracks. I am happy with things being more repetitive/hypnotic/monotonous. Many of my favorite bands (DAF, Cabaret Voltaire, Suicide, etc.) take a similar approach with repetitive music and vocals that don't carry a lot of melody. These are not very popular bands but they create an atmosphere and mood that I happen to enjoy.

I'm glad that you like my voice. I think it's OK for speaking but when I try singing, I often sound like a dying moose. I may try something more vocally ambitious on the next song but there are definite limitations for me when it comes to singing.

[nasenmann]

i had decent-ish pitch from early on but always hated my timbre, so bit of a reverse situation there. i considered that a definite limitation too. started to look at it differently when i noticed that my voice can sound good in certain situations and stylings. noticed i tend to have a better sound in the morning after waking up, for example.
i think it has much to do with comfort zone and general state of relaxiation.

i think it applies to everything. ok, holding a pitch has to be trained, but the question is, what are the optimal circumstances for training? i think it's a relaxed state of having fun and not giving a damn. if prolonged, the learning effect happens quickly, and people talk of 'talent'.
just keep experimenting, it'll come to you i'm sure. only if you want of course, nothing wrong with spoken lyrics.

[layzer]

I often sound like a dying moose.

i happen to like your dying moose vocals when it has that telephone quality to it.

[Frantz]

audio quality is good all around. Nice synths. That one synth note lasts longer than I'd do, but not a big deal. Good you added vocals. I like the vocal melody better on the chorus than the verse. Nice song! See you on the other side!

Thanks for the feedback. I'm glad that you liked the song and sound design.

It's true there is not much vocal melody in the verses. They were meant to be mostly spoken.

Yes, I may have gotten carried away with that note in the solo.

[Frantz]

Sounds professionally made... not much I can say in the way of feedback other than just keep doing whatever you're doing in the mixing stage.. its awesome...

Thanks, I appreciate the nice feedback on the mix.

[Frantz]

ok, holding a pitch has to be trained, but the question is, what are the optimal circumstances for training? i think it's a relaxed state of having fun and not giving a damn. if prolonged, the learning effect happens quickly, and people talk of 'talent'.
just keep experimenting, it'll come to you i'm sure. only if you want of course, nothing wrong with spoken lyrics.

Thanks for your words of encouragement. I will continue trying to do some singing in the future but will certainly do a lot of "safe" spoken stuff too. It's true everyone can improve their singing with practice but it's not my main area of interest. For example, if Kraftwerk hired a professional singer to front the band, would it make the music better? Not for me.

[JDMSPEC]

Hey Frantz,

Returning the favour.

This song is very retro sounding which is pretty cool actually! I like the chorus and how the vocals get thicker (is it compressed more?) It's a nice effect.

The synth you used for the melody might be a little too detuned for my liking but that's just my preference.

My guess is that you wanted a really mysterious song, I think you should use more SFX to spice up the track a bit and to make it sound more mysterious. (ex. Big reverbs on one shots that sound mysterious and using explosions). But maybe though it would take it outta that retro feel, if that's what you're going for.

The biggest thing that kinda bothered me was the melody that starts 3:03(coming from a EDM producer though). The 2nd note is played too early I think. But maybe you want to play it like that? Just sounds kinda off to me because the 2nd note cuts off the first note too early. (E to C# is what I believe you're playing).

I like the mix, it's nice and loud and sounds pretty modern, even though it's in a style of a retro song.

Nice work and take care!

[Frantz]

i happen to like your dying moose vocals when it has that telephone quality to it.

If only the whole world had your tastes, my album "Telephonic Moose Calls and Other Disturbing Noises" could top the Billboard charts.

But seriously, I appreciate the encouragement.

[Bubbamusic]

Great piece. Very original. Love the synth patches and the voice. Seems to me that it has commercial potential (if that means anything). Great job. Thank you for the treat.

[electroworks]

Great track and Great synths!

Which synths did you use for the bass and the "arp" in the beginning of the track?

[Frantz]

This song is very retro sounding which is pretty cool actually! I like the chorus and how the vocals get thicker (is it compressed more?) It's a nice effect.

The synth you used for the melody might be a little too detuned for my liking but that's just my preference.

My guess is that you wanted a really mysterious song, I think you should use more SFX to spice up the track a bit and to make it sound more mysterious. (ex. Big reverbs on one shots that sound mysterious and using explosions). But maybe though it would take it outta that retro feel, if that's what you're going for.

Thanks very much for the detailed and thoughtful feedback!

Retro and mysterious is a good description. I agree the mix could benefit from more "spice." Something to think about when I work on the next one.

The chorus vox are double tracked. I also used the Spread parameter of The Drop in the chorus only which may account for the difference from the verse vox.

I spent a lot of time creating that lead synth patch so the vibrato/detuning is intentional but it's probably an old fashioned sound.

The biggest thing that kinda bothered me was the melody that starts 3:03(coming from a EDM producer though). The 2nd note is played too early I think. But maybe you want to play it like that? Just sounds kinda off to me because the 2nd note cuts off the first note too early. (E to C# is what I believe you're playing).

My keyboard solo is getting decidedly mixed reviews. It was an improvised live take with rough timing. I thought it fit the mood but will give more care to the middle eight section next time around.

[Ridan]

Don't have any critiques to mention for this track. Love the feel, and monotonous vibe. It's a refreshing change from the "in your face" electronic music I hear just walking down the street.

[Frantz]

Great piece. Very original. Love the synth patches and the voice. Seems to me that it has commercial potential (if that means anything). Great job. Thank you for the treat.

Thanks very much for the nice comments. Glad you enjoyed it.

[Frantz]

Great track and Great synths!

Which synths did you use for the bass and the "arp" in the beginning of the track?

Thank you!

The staccato bass and regular bass are both Monark. The arpy synth is Electra2.