[Music] From The Lake - AVAILABLE NOW

And here's the demo for Dearly Beloved:



Our musical story begins with the finding of the body of a well-liked girl in the town of Pinkerton on the lake shore. Also represented are the reaction of the town and her funeral.



I am specifically looking for feedback regarding bass levels. While working on this music everything sounded fine, so I bounced the project and gave a listen to make sure everything was okay before uploading. Somehow the bass range was suddenly super loud. I have no idea why it's doing this, but I think I've gotten things to an acceptable level for now. Maybe the problem is just on my end and there's some sort of bass boost setting somewhere that I'm not seeing, though I really doubt that's the case.

I actually liked it, though, I am not the most capable music critic on these forums. I do think the bass was noticeable, but not overbearing. Some of the horns were a bit more noticeable at times that others (I assume some of that was done on purpose though to emphasize emotions throughout). I think with a little more work it'll be quite enjoyable, though of course that's not my vision/goal to really say anything about. Keep up the good work; I'm really looking forward to hearing more from you

If by horns you mean from the Overture I sent you, then horns sticking out more than they should may just be due to your particular headphones/speakers/pc sound setup. It's going to sound different for everybody and there will be no way to have a "perfect mix", so to speak. If you meant this track, then I think I know what you mean. And in this particular track I think I overcompensated on the bass and need to get it higher, but not as high as it was (that's the bass range, not the instrument).

The other track I sent you seems to have waaay too much bass. There's still a lot of balancing to do in both, but until I get all the instruments in it's difficult to get things where they should be. Thanks for the input!

Anyone else?

I wonder if you're emphasizing the wrong EQs in the bass. My first reaction was that I wished the bass were louder since it's so important in this track, but now that you mention it, it does sound like the bass is loud, except it's maybe only a narrow, not so important portion of the bass.

I don't know though because I don't have a very good ear for mixing.

Also this was always my favorite from the midi/vst demos. It's really neat to hear it with real instruments.

I didn't do any EQing except to add a bass plugin-thingy. Maybe I need to use a different plugin-thingy. I don't know, it's weird man. Shit's weird. I'll get it figured out eventually.

Also I think the acoustic guitar kind of gets lost in the mix too, but I think that's because there are so many instruments already in that range and I've heard that's a common problem with acoustic guitar. Also it's not a real one, so maybe when I get a real performance it'll help it stand out a bit.

Also the weird thing is everything sounds good in logic until I bounce the project.

Huhh

Do your levels ever peak above 0db when you listen to it in Logic?

No, it's all pretty well below since I'm still missing instruments. I amplified the track after I bounced it so it wouldn't be so quiet.

It's only in this particular project, so I'm thinking that it must just be a bug or some weird setting I accidentally turned on. As for the actual sound of the bass, I think I found a better plugin, and I think once it gets time for EQing it'll help the sound of it. I also realized I have almost everything panned to the center right now, so there's bound to be weird stuff going on.

I like it.

That's really all I can say. I don't know anything about music. .__.

Thanks!

Just caught this.  I expected something darker, but this is not only pleasant- it fits the mood. Rather, it conjures images that work with the intent. I'm listening on a crappy mono speaker so i cannot comment on bass levels yet; so far though, its very cool! Complex enough to be interesting, for sure. Good work, my friend!

Hey, I was literally just about to post here, what a coincidence.

Glad you liked it! As far as bass levels go, I think I've gotten things more or less sorted out for now. Listening on a mono speaker probably doesn't sound much different since right now almost everything is still panned to the center so it sounds mono anyway lol (working on panning stuff in the next couple of weeks). This one is kind of dark, but not quite as much as the story may suggest, yes. I did that for almost every track in order to keep from being too predictable. It all fits (hopefully), but isn't fully what you expect (hopefully).

As for my update: a few of you know already, but I've been talking to RMRK's own great arltree, the great arlen a.k.a. arlen reyb a.k.a. Moss a.k.a. Ryan "Goodbeard" Leber about doing acoustic guitar for me. It's not 100% official, but it's close enough that I feel comfortable posting here about it. So that's awesome. In addition, my violinist Andrew has offered to play the viola as well which is incredibly good news because finding a viola has proven impossible without hiring someone well beyond my price range. The not so good news is the cellist I had lined up had to pull out, so uh... if any of you happen to know someone who plays cello in my area.... for some reason.... ..... ... . .. .

Anyway, if arlen is able to send me some tracks soon, new demo? I think so. I'll post an update to Dearly Beloved too, with real acoustic guitar this time (which sounds much better - he sent me a snippet of that track already) and better mixing. ETA: Late September/early October.

Now in the meantime, off to find someone who plays French horn.

All hail the arltree!



Blessed be his fruit!

Recording french horn this weekend! Also, this thread turned 2 years old almost a week ago. In honor of this "joyous" occasion, and because I have to at some point, I will now post the story.

Because this started out as a rock opera, much of the music written up to the point where it was decided to go all instrumental told a story in a musical sense. I decided to keep the story and to try and express it through the music and track titles, but of course there's only so much you can do with that and it leaves a rather large amount to the imagination. Deciphering what the story actually is would be impossible unless it were told to you, so here it is (written almost entirely by a friend of mine):

Spoiler for A presentiment:

Years and years ago, there was a man. We don’t know his name because he doesn’t have a name anymore. The Devil owns it. See, when you make a deal with Lucifer he not only takes claim to your soul, but also your name. So we call this man The Fat Man. The Fat Man was clever, quick and convincing. Before he met Lucifer, he could talk his way into — and out of — anything. He could convince a poor man to give him money, a hungry man to give him food. He could convince any woman to adore and any man to serve him. But he was hungry for more and more and more. He ate to his content and became extremely wealthy.

He decided one day that was not enough. He wanted more. He wanted power, eternally. Who has such power? The Devil. So, he conjured The Devil and said, “Let’s make a deal. You give me a plot of land in Hell to use as I please, and in exchange I’ll gather souls for you.” What he planned to do was use that land to get into Hell and convince its tenants to mutiny and overthrow Lucifer, naming the Fat Man king of the damned. Well, Lucifer is The Devil for several reasons, one of which is that he cannot be outwitted. So Lucifer agreed to the Fat Man’s deal and granted him a patch of land. That land is actually a tiny lake located in a tiny town on Earth called Pinkerton. This lake is special because it is basically Satan’s septic tank, where all the garbage, sludge and sewage of Hell flow. The Devil had the last laugh, and The Fat Man had a debt to pay. In order to gather souls, he had to make "deals" with people, all of which he kept because he knew if he didn't keep his word, then people would know better than to make any sort of deal with him. He gave them whatever they wanted, usually in an ironic manner, and in exchange all they had to do was drink some water from The Lake. Someone drinking from The Lake after coming to The Fat Man was the same as signing a contract - their soul now belonged to him. The catch was he could not kill that person. He had to wait to collect their soul after they died naturally or at the hands of someone other than him.

So The Fat Man took his land and did his job of making deals and gathering souls for years and years on end. Until one day, he met Persephone, the image purity — a beautiful, young thing. But the problem was her sister, Defiance, who raised her and kept her safe. While Defiance was an honest and kind woman, she hoarded greedy genes inside, festering in discontent, waiting for a break. The Fat Man could smell her greed and convinced her he could giver her endless power and money. And she agreed. He handed her a cup of water from The Lake and bade her drink. She drank it eagerly and that was that - until 6 days later when she was found dead, body floating in The Lake.

Spoiler for And so it begins:

Defiance had a lover. His name was Catastrophe. He found her face down in The Lake and was stricken with grief. He had heard rumors about what The Fat Man was capable of, just like everyone else in Pinkerton. He had always thought they were just urban legends, but he was desperate. He went to The Fat Man to ask him if he could bring Defiance back to him. This was something no one had ever asked The Fat Man before. Of course, he knew he was capable - with some help from Lucifer - but this would mean giving up a valuable soul. He decided to revive her but to leave out her soul, thus bringing back a woman who was only a shell of her former self. So he gave Catastrophe a sip of water from The Lake, and it cost Catastrophe his soul as well as his name.

After being reunited, Persephone knew immediately that something was wrong with Defiance (aside from the fact that she was previously dead and buried). Deep down, Catastrophe knew as well but remained willfully in denial, just happy to have his love returned. This wasn't something he could keep up long, however. See, Defiance's body returned, but it brought something else within it, something evil. Persephone pleaded with Catastrophe to do something about Defiance, to try and make him understand that this thing wasn't really the woman he had loved. Eventually, he knew what he must do.

Catastrophe confronted The Fat Man, and, in their fight, suffered a mortal wound and then died. The Fat Man panicked, as he knew that he was forbidden to kill anyone who had made a deal with him, but regained his composure, knowing he could work his way out of this, just like anything else. He knew of Persephone, though, that she was the only one who knew where Catastrophe had been when he ultimately died, and he knew that he needed her soul as it was stronger and more pure than anyone else's in the town.

So The Fat Man went after Persephone. But what he didn’t know is true love is a seven-headed beast. When Defiance met Catastrophe at the gates of Hell, his sacrifice for love woke The Angel who burst from heaven’s mist. He reigned down fiery death, destroying the corrupt town of Pinkerton. The Fat Man turned to ash and burned eternally. Defiance and Catastrophe became one in eternity, leaving sweet Persephone to dance on the ashes of The Fat Man’s greedy gluttony.

THE LAKE IS A LIE

THE LAKE IS A LIE

THE LAKE IS A LIE

DON'T DRINK IT, YOU'LL DIE

Wow this album suddenly seems way more sinister xD 



I still love what I've heard

Fun fact: the title was originally From The Cake and it was inspired by Portal. lol memes!

that is SO cool!! what a coincidence!!! ROFL

;bruoh;

I've been talking to a few of you the past few days about this, so I figured it was time for another update.

Recorded French horn last weekend and finished on Monday. It turned out really well, but recording in a bedroom is even less ideal for this instrument than others due to they way sound travels. There's some spots I'm still having trouble getting it to blend in with everything else and not sounds so low budget, but for the most part I've managed to make it sound pretty good, I think.

Arlen has recorded a few tracks already and is hoping to have everything done by the end of the month. I plan on recording (and hopefully finishing) trombone late this month after Christmas, but we'll see. Other than that, there won't be much time for recording until January. I also have a couple of leads on potential cellists, so fingers crossed that something there works out. 99% likely I need a new electric guitarist; will probably ask arlen.

Debating on whether or not to hire someone to do trumpet, or to just use a virtual instrument. When I set out to do this, I wanted real instruments for everything, except piano and stuff like pipe organ which just isn't feasible to do. But then it became apparent that due to the area I live in, finding musicians for certain instruments would be incredibly difficult and/or well out of my price range, and thus not worth pursuing. While it would be awesome to actually have someone play the bassoon, for example, the time and cost is not worth it when you consider the bassoon part does not have much solo material, and therefore will not stick out too much as being fake by making it a virtual instrument. So stuff like that I'm fine with not having a real performer. But then there's stuff like the oboe, which does stand out even if it isn't solo material, but finding someone to perform that is highly unrealistic for me, so once again virtual instrument. With a trumpet, however, I could easily find someone to do it but much like the bassoon there's not much standout material for it and may not be worth the time. I'll be considering it. For now, the synthetic instruments I'm using (meaning it's just an audio file of my computer playing the part back) are oboe, english horn, clarinet, bassoon. Still debating clarinet as well, but that's mostly due to money.

Things I have left to record: finishing up trombone (about 50% remaining), viola, cello, tuba, finishing up violin (less than 10% left to do), alto flute. Gonna have to rent an alto flute, so not sure when that'll happen. That may seem like a lot left, and it is since that's easily more than 20 hours of sessions, but for me that's like nothing.

Soon I will be asking a friend of mine to start on art for the art book. That's a little bit lower priority than getting all the recording done, but depending on how much that will cost, I could go ahead and get it out of the way.

I did some pricing on printing up scorebooks (though I sincerely doubt any of you here are interested in that). Way more expensive than I was expecting, but that's due to there being so many pages. Maybe I can format the score in a way to lower that some. It might be something that will have to wait until after the project is finished, unfortunately.

Once arlen sends in his tracks, I'll be releasing another public demo, and this time it will actually be mixed decently! Maybe it'll be something you haven't heard yet, not sure.

If everything goes accordingly, a May release is very likely, possibly April.

Sounds like things are moving along for now. I look forward to hearing another demo.

Have you thought about taking out a personal loan? I don't know the specifics of your financial situation so it might not be a good option, but it could be a possible way to get that last bit of funding.

Nah, I have enough money to hire all the musicians I need right now and then some to cover most of what's left. I really just need to find a job because then everything could be paid for pretty easily, but so far no luck

With a trumpet, however, I could easily find someone to do it but much like the bassoon there's not much standout material for it and may not be worth the time. I'll be considering it

Would it really take more time to record a real trumpet than to get a virtual one to sound good? I assumed cost was the main obstacle for real instruments but that it took less time overall, assuming the performer is competent.

I did some pricing on printing up scorebooks (though I sincerely doubt any of you here are interested in that).