Fragile Gods - "Fade Like The Night"

[Frantz]

Great to hear more FG! Really cool track - left more comments on SC.

Thanks for the listen and the enthusiastic comment SparkySpark.

[seismic1]

It's got the usual Fragile Gods hallmarks, and they're all working well together.

I only noticed the volume jump at 0:32 after reading the comments here. The first couple of times I played it, I hadn't read the comments, and didn't notice. It doesn't appear to happen after the second verse.

I really enjoyed the percussion for some reason. It's not doing anything remarkable, but it sounds "right" or "appropriate". Like Mark, I think it could be a little louder.

My favourite part of this song is the backing vocal arrangement, which contains lots of variety and interest, and is also very musical.

The overall song arrangement and structure was great too, resulting in a very entertaining 3 minutes.

Good work

[Frantz]

Very Covenant sounding, which is not a bad thing.

I like me some Covenant so I am happy to hear that. Thanks.

[Frantz]

I agree with vurt about it still sounding contemporary despite the 80s feel. just a great track all round.

Thanks very much Frank.

[Frantz]

Listened 4 times now...Another really great piece of electronic pop music - thoroughly enjoyed it.

For me this is what I would call a really strong album track. Compared to other recent pieces of yours it was clearly 'strong' from the start, but had slightly less 'instant impact'. But... it then grew and grew on each subsequent listen with lots of little details and delicate embellishments rising from the mix.

I understand your overall assessment of less "instant impact" than my previous song (which was kind of an earworm). I am glad you appreciated the little details and that it held up to multiple listens.

Production is really very good to my ear...slightly more contemporary maybe, but still with a clear retro vibe. All the sounds combine well. It's sharply etched yet still warm...punchy but balanced. Soundstage is excellent.

Couple of very minor questions production-wise:
1) Maybe the drums are very slightly low in the mix?
2) There is definitely a little volume bump at 32 seconds.

I'm pleased that you liked the production and mix. I attempted some very basic mastering this time with Newfangled Audio Elevate so perhaps that helped.

I think the questions on the levels are fair. Unfortunately, having spent so much time working on this, I am pretty burned out on it and am trying to muster whatever remaining energy I have left to complete an animated video for it. The mix would certainly be better if I handed it off to someone else but given that this is just a hobby I can't justify hiring a pro mixer.

Musically it rises and falls effortlessly, gently driving forward with a slick little underlying groove...all the various parts sync together very effectively.

The underlying harmonies all work with the melodies...there are moments when I really wanted the bass to drop down to that Dominant A before returning to the Tonic D for a little bit of extra lift at the end of certain phrases, but that might well be too much in this context!

I am too much of musical simpleton to do anything clever with the bass but I am happy you liked the melodies, harmonies, and groove.

Your thoughtful and detailed feedback is always greatly appreciated.

[whit3h34rt]

The mix ix clean as, not my style of music. As previous comments above sounds very 80's.

[Frantz]

I made an animated video for this song which was an involved but fun project.

https://youtu.be/97kH_Na3MpM

[vurt]

that drum robot looks cool!
i want a model of that now!

[vurt]

fun little video too
nice work, although you look taller than id guessed.

[eassae]

I made an animated video for this song which was an involved but fun project.

https://youtu.be/97kH_Na3MpM

Cool track, and cool video. I was just checking out your website, reading the about, and realized I hadn't listened to Nitzer Ebb in a long time:) Just curious, what program do you use for your character animation?

[Frantz]

Cool track, and cool video. I was just checking out your website, reading the about, and realized I hadn't listened to Nitzer Ebb in a long time:) Just curious, what program do you use for your character animation?

I used Adobe Character Animator for the animations and Adobe Premiere for the rest of the video work. You can get fairly quick initial results with Character Animator since you use your webcam to do the facial animations and lip syncing. But the tracking is never quite right so a lot of editing/overdubbing is required.

Thanks for checking this out.

[eassae]

Cool track, and cool video. I was just checking out your website, reading the about, and realized I hadn't listened to Nitzer Ebb in a long time:) Just curious, what program do you use for your character animation?

I used Adobe Character Animator for the animations and Adobe Premiere for the rest of the video work. You can get fairly quick initial results with Character Animator since you use your webcam to do the facial animations and lip syncing. But the tracking is never quite right so a lot of editing/overdubbing is required.

Thanks for checking this out.

Cool. I ask because I had a bunch of animated characters on one of my past album covers, and always wanted to do a video with them. I checked out toonboom but didn't want to dive down another rabbit hole. I'll check out Character Animator. Thanks.

[Frantz]

that drum robot looks cool!
i want a model of that now!

fun little video too
nice work, although you look taller than id guessed.

All three of the characters in the video are puppets provided by Adobe so I am guilty of using animation "presets."

I agree the drum robot is very cool looking.

Thanks for your comments.

[Frantz]

Cool. I ask because I had a bunch of animated characters on one of my past album covers, and always wanted to do a video with them. I checked out toonboom but didn't want to dive down another rabbit hole. I'll check out Character Animator. Thanks.

There would be a significant amount of work to create your own original puppets for Character Animator. But my overall impression of the Adobe suite of products that I've tried (Character Animator, Premiere, and After Effects) is that they are professional, full featured, and stable. They are miles ahead of Kdenlive which I used to do most of my previous videos.

[eassae]

There would be a significant amount of work to create your own original puppets for Character Animator. But my overall impression of the Adobe suite of products that I've tried (Character Animator, Premiere, and After Effects) is that they are professional, full featured, and stable. They are miles ahead of Kdenlive which I used to do most of my previous videos.