Fragile Gods - "Step Outside the Frame" (video added Jan 1)

[Frantz]

What I find helpful - and massively reduced the number of comments about the vox being unintelligible - was to not listen to the words, but to listen to the sound of the voice. Then you can't second guess the lyrics any more. That turns off the voice in my head and I find it easier to view the vocals as just another part of the song.

Yes, I've tried this on occasion although I find it difficult to put into practice. Thanks for the suggestion. I will try it again on the next song.

[Allomerus]

Hi Frantz,

This is an enjoyable track with a cool vibe. It's good for us to step outside the frame!

Cheers,
John

[Jace-BeOS]

Great clear mix again, though you seem to be great at mixing all the time anyway One of these days i will have to try a sparse mix, because your stuff is so easy to listen to and mine is so effing busy.

i took notice of your vocals on the chorus. You were more melodic here, i think, compared to your other stuff (i've not gone through your entire catalog, so this is based on my recollection of limited exposure). My personal taste, of course, but i liked this more than usual. i love the quality/character of your voice, in general; it's an enviable character (especially for spoken word stuff) But i liked this usage in the chorus even more.

If i had to make any critical analysis, it is that the hard release of one of the synth vox (maybe one of the instances of M-Tron Pro?) is so abrupt that it started getting my attention while i was trying to just enjoy the song. i thought it was clicking, even (left channel?), but once i tried to consciously observe it, i wasn't sure if it was interaction with other sounds making me think i was hearing clicking or if the actual instrument itself was clicking.

[justin3am]

That was a lot of fun. Great arrangement. I really enjoyed the video, it fit the tone of the song.
Thanks for sharing!

[sjm]

Only just got round to watching the video. Looks like you had great fun

Is the greenscreen thing easy to do?

[Frantz]

This is an enjoyable track with a cool vibe. It's good for us to step outside the frame!

Thanks for giving this a listen.

You were absent from the Cafe for a bit. Nice to have you back, John.

[Frantz]

Great clear mix again, though you seem to be great at mixing all the time anyway One of these days i will have to try a sparse mix, because your stuff is so easy to listen to and mine is so effing busy.

Thanks, I spent a lot of time on the mix. Making things sparse definitely makes it easier. Although at some point, I usually run out of energy during the mix process and call it done even if there are minor issues.

i took notice of your vocals on the chorus. You were more melodic here, i think, compared to your other stuff (i've not gone through your entire catalog, so this is based on my recollection of limited exposure). My personal taste, of course, but i liked this more than usual. i love the quality/character of your voice, in general; it's an enviable character (especially for spoken word stuff) But i liked this usage in the chorus even more.

You are observations are on point here. I am fairly comfortable with the spoken vox approach but I think that becomes dull for an entire song. So I am incorporating bits of more melodic singing especially in the choruses here. I am glad you like this one because it confirms I am on the right track.

If i had to make any critical analysis, it is that the hard release of one of the synth vox (maybe one of the instances of M-Tron Pro?) is so abrupt that it started getting my attention while i was trying to just enjoy the song. i thought it was clicking, even (left channel?), but once i tried to consciously observe it, i wasn't sure if it was interaction with other sounds making me think i was hearing clicking or if the actual instrument itself was clicking.

I think you could be hearing the hats or the Korg Mono/Poly which is playing a percussive part. I am sure there is room for improvement on the mix but at this point I am focusing on the next song.

Thanks for the detailed, helpful comments.

[Frantz]

That was a lot of fun. Great arrangement. I really enjoyed the video, it fit the tone of the song.
Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for the feedback. Glad you liked the video.

[Frantz]

Only just got round to watching the video. Looks like you had great fun

Is the greenscreen thing easy to do?

There is a significant learning curve doing a green screen video the first time around. First I had to research the camera, lights, and green screen to buy. Then filming yourself is kind of tricky since you can't really see how it looks until later when you load it into your computer.

The biggest mistake I made was not stretching the green screen fabric properly. Wrinkles on the green screen appear as black lines. I reshot some of this footage. Other sections I rotoscoped (painted green over the black lines) frame by frame which was incredibly laborious.

There was also the project of finding stock footage and editing everything together while enduring dozens of crashes of my out-of-date Linux video software.

In summary, it was kind of fun but also fairly stressful. It would be a lot easier to do another video with the knowledge I have now. Thanks for asking.

[sjm]

I hadn't even thought of the lighting, but yeah, I guess having shadows or other weird things is going to screw with the whole effect. So I'm guessing it's not exactly a case of "I'll just knock this up quickly in my kitchen", but requires some actual thought and planning to get done properly.

As with anything, I'm sure you'll find it a lot quicker/easier in future. It seems to have worked quite well tbh, even if it was a bit stressful.

[layzer]

just a simple little "congrats" bump for hitting 1000+ views on this one

[Frantz]

I hadn't even thought of the lighting, but yeah, I guess having shadows or other weird things is going to screw with the whole effect. So I'm guessing it's not exactly a case of "I'll just knock this up quickly in my kitchen", but requires some actual thought and planning to get done properly.

Yes, lighting is a complex topic so I spent a lot of time watching YouTube tutorials prepping for this. You need multiple lights just to light the green screen evenly. On a person, you are supposed to have a key light (main light), a fill light (secondary light to eliminate shadows), and a back light. You can also have reflectors and diffusers to soften harsh lights.

It was a bit of a mess because I was working in a confined space and was getting greenish light bouncing off the green screen onto me. I also couldn't see how everything looked until I got it into the computer. So I ended up applying a grain filter over everything which helped cover up some of the issues with the lighting and green screen.

[Frantz]

just a simple little "congrats" bump for hitting 1000+ views on this one

Thanks layzer.

[e@rs]

Any chance of a lossless download?
Or an instrumental version?

The song really grew on me with each listen. And now I can't get it out of my head...

[Frantz]

Any chance of a lossless download?
Or an instrumental version?

The song really grew on me with each listen. And now I can't get it out of my head...

I enabled downloads of the .WAV master on Soundcloud for today so grab it now. Enjoy.