Tom Re-Armed - ElectroProg (Seismic Influenza)

[seismic1]

I quite enjoyed the build up, very cinematic as it evolves, different for you but most entertaining!

Thanks very much for listening and commenting, Matt. Glad you enjoyed it

This track was written in a particular style. I had been thinking of doing something like this for about 9 months (in 2010), the time was right and I had recently made a couple of small changes to the way I put these tracks together. This was the result.

[rylo]

this is col . loving the tron stuff . i have MTRON PRO which i need to use alot more

[Allomerus]

This is great Tim. Lots of drama and progyness. Interesting sounds and a drive that is incessant yet takes it time!

Besides the other references there is some Mike Oldfield lurking there as well.

[ThoughtExperiment]

The only anagram I could come up with was:

MORE T DREAM

But nobody's mentioned TD so that can't be right...right?

Super track Tim - love those 'tron choirs

[Frantz]

The title is quite mysterious "Tom Re-Armed." If we unscramble it, we get "Metro Dream" or perhaps "Morte Dream." (On edit, mikusan came up with the best idea "More T. Dream".) Seismologists will also note that we have left the "Hand" era and are now starting the "Concert Rust" era if we believe the MP3 album titles. "Concert Rust" is probably not the most commercial name for a tour but interesting nonetheless.

I am pretty sure the main influence is Tangerine Dream rather than the mighty Mode. The clues are in the mellotron and Waldorf Wave sounds, both TD staples from the 70s and 80s respectively. The mellotron and Wave bell sounds are both expertly deployed with plenty of time to bask in these delicate antique sounds. There is some nice old school sequencing providing the rhythmic underpinning. The track has a full dynamic range going from gentle to intense.

There is a question of pacing. The track is mostly delicate foreplay. The full on pounding lasts one minute from 8:40 - 9:44 and then reaches a possibly premature climax. But these things happen. After all, Tim is getting on in years. (Just kidding. This post is too long not to have some silly jokes.)

The mix is very good. No frequency troubles. Perhaps I would bring the hats down a bit when they appear before the rest of the drums. The cymbals are clearly samples. I might slightly bitcrush and flange/phase them to make each hit sound different. Real cymbals never sound the same twice in row.

Excellent track. I think I'll listen to it again.

[seismic1]

Good stuff
I didnt quite hear the Depeche Mode link
But enjoyed this track a lot. It stands out.
Good mix to!

Thanks for taking the time to give this a listen and some comments, Remmie. Glad you enjoyed it

Maybe this has a superficial similarity to some of the elements of Pimpf, but that wasn't my target here.

[seismic1]

sounds cool to me... I like the choir part... ahhhhhoohhhaahhooahhh

Thanks very much for checking this out and commenting, 5ynthesizer. Glad you liked it

[seismic1]

I like this one a lot. I love that choir sound. This one's a keeper for me. Thanks, seismic1.

And I'm looking forward to that dirge (naturally).

Thanks very much for listening and your comments, DHM. Glad you liked it

dirge alert...approaching at a sedate 100BPM

[any1particular]

Tim!!!!

Excuse me while I turn up the music?

yes that's right. I had to turn this up. I like the moody modal qualities.

It is very original to my ears-unlike other music I can think of? could hear it in a game?

Nicely recorded and produced. Thanks for sharing.

[seismic1]

this is col . loving the tron stuff . i have MTRON PRO which i need to use alot more

Thanks very much for listening and commenting, Shaun. Glad you liked it

Hobgoblin used to have a real 'tron back in the day. They were quite temperamental, not to mention bulky. It served us well. RedTron is a lot more practical for my deranged purposes

[seismic1]

This is great Tim. Lots of drama and progyness. Interesting sounds and a drive that is incessant yet takes it time!

Besides the other references there is some Mike Oldfield lurking there as well.

Thanks very much for listening and for the great comments, John. Glad you liked it

I was definitely going for a "Proggier" style with this one

[Shangsean]

I liked this one overall. I preferred the first half to the second as it had a great atmosphere and nice variations. The second half was still good, but I would have liked to have heard some more variation here. I also feel like the choir/organ sound sort of sits on top of everything else and could maybe drop a few a couple of db to sit better with the rest or maybe it's more the fast attack OR maybe it's just me. I think the rest of the mix is very good though. As I said, overall I like it.

[seismic1]

The only anagram I could come up with was:

MORE T DREAM

But nobody's mentioned TD so that can't be right...right?

Super track Tim - love those 'tron choirs

Good work, Mike

I was wondering when somebody would figure that one out.

Glad you liked it, and thanks for listening and commenting

[seismic1]

The title is quite mysterious "Tom Re-Armed." If we unscramble it, we get "Metro Dream" or perhaps "Morte Dream." (On edit, mikusan came up with the best idea "More T. Dream".) Seismologists will also note that we have left the "Hand" era and are now starting the "Concert Rust" era if we believe the MP3 album titles. "Concert Rust" is probably not the most commercial name for a tour but interesting nonetheless.

Yeah, mikusan just pipped you to the post with that one, but you dropped the ball with the album title I gave you so many clues

I am pretty sure the main influence is Tangerine Dream rather than the mighty Mode. The clues are in the mellotron and Waldorf Wave sounds, both TD staples from the 70s and 80s respectively. The mellotron and Wave bell sounds are both expertly deployed with plenty of time to bask in these delicate antique sounds. There is some nice old school sequencing providing the rhythmic underpinning. The track has a full dynamic range going from gentle to intense.

Tangerine Dream '72-'82 was a massive influence on me. I saw them so many times between '76 and '85. I think the first album I heard was Ricochet. Such incessant power. This track was written over a weekend in 2010 after 9 months of sitting on the fence. The music and choice of sounds was quite deliberate, although not necessarily true to any particular period.

There is a question of pacing. The track is mostly delicate foreplay. The full on pounding lasts one minute from 8:40 - 9:44 and then reaches a possibly premature climax. But these things happen. After all, Tim is getting on in years. (Just kidding. This post is too long not to have some silly jokes.)

Pacing is something I like playing with, but I still have a lot to learn about that. Oldfield was a master of pacing and dynamics, especially with Ommadawn. I think it was a Melody Maker writer who described him as a musical courtesan. These longer tracks provide opportunities for experimenting with such factors.

The mix is very good. No frequency troubles. Perhaps I would bring the hats down a bit when they appear before the rest of the drums. The cymbals are clearly samples. I might slightly bitcrush and flange/phase them to make each hit sound different. Real cymbals never sound the same twice in row.

Those hats are probably a little loud and could stand a 2dB reduction. I've already changed that in the project file. I'll try out some gentle FX on them at the weekend.

Excellent track. I think I'll listen to it again.

Thanks very much for listening and for the detailed commants, Frantz. Glad you liked it

[seismic1]

Tim!!!!

Excuse me while I turn up the music?

yes that's right. I had to turn this up. I like the moody modal qualities.

It is very original to my ears-unlike other music I can think of? could hear it in a game?

Nicely recorded and produced. Thanks for sharing.

Hey, Chuck

Thanks very much for checking this out and for the great comments. Glad you liked it

I think I was in a "moody" phase when I put this together. Drown was assembled in a similar way, as was THX-15.