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Mercurial
Joined: 05/27/01
Posts: 41
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Alright, time for a W.I.P. (now completed)
Thursday, October 5, 2006 at 9:51 AM
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First, here's a finished track, since it's been ages since I had any of those for you: We Will Slam Them With Our Wings
EDIT: finished version as of last thursday: Ossuary
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naton rozenburg
Joined: 08/20/02
Location: Netherlands, where else?
Posts: 14
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RE: Alright, time for a W.I.P.
Thursday, October 5, 2006 at 1:49 PM
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I like the first one, good production, nice sounds.
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Multi-Panel
Joined: 09/23/01
Posts: 217
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RE: Alright, time for a W.I.P.
Friday, October 6, 2006 at 2:17 AM
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we will slam them with our wings:
heh ginuwine pony bass. (or synth, whatever) Timbaland! 
yeah!! rocking noise around 2.50
cool track, it does sound familiar. maybe i have heard it before.. maybe it's your style 
ossuary:
fascinating intro. great beat.. i like the vocal snippets.
yeah, at first i thought this was going to be a great track.. maybe it just needs more melodic elements.
(i.e. maybe it's too minimal)
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Mercurial
Joined: 05/27/01
Posts: 41
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RE: Alright, time for a W.I.P.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006 at 7:24 AM
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hmmm... I think you may be correct. I have a new idea for the ending... Thanks. Also, you may have been the one person who heard WWSTWOW (it's not actually very new).
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absurdist lover
Joined: 09/04/01
Posts: 223
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RE: Alright, time for a W.I.P.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006 at 11:06 AM
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I like 'wings'. It has your usual beat munging and percussive melodies. I especially liked the hard and funky bit in the middle. If I were to offer criticism I'd say you could define the harmonic progression with some kind of pads running underneath and throughout the main body to counterpoint the well-executed disjointed feeling throughout. I know you have some pads but I would add another layer, bigger but quiter, probably with copious reverb. That's just me though
I will teach you the significance of insignificance
http://www.artistserver.com/Sendy
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absurdist lover
Joined: 09/04/01
Posts: 223
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RE: Alright, time for a W.I.P.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006 at 12:13 PM
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Ossuary is wicked 
For an ending, why not try losing the drums and chops and just going into chords and drones and SFX to ride it out. You seem to do an awful lot of intense drum stuff which is a criticism I used to get from lay people who heard my music, and I was glad I did because it made me think about alternatives.
Not that I dislike good old beats and drill edits, but I think as an artist you could explore melodies and pads on their own more. That's my suggestion, take it for what it's worth, which probably isn't that much
I do think a chord/drone/SFX ending, prefably drawn out with the drums cutting in and out, getting more disconnected and with more and more of an 'percussive islands in a sea of sound' effect with them would perhaps be a nice way to end and add variation to this.
I will teach you the significance of insignificance
http://www.artistserver.com/Sendy
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Mercurial
Joined: 05/27/01
Posts: 41
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RE: Alright, time for a W.I.P.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006 at 4:15 PM
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Send, thanks for all the thoughts. You always help give me perspective on my work... You and Ludo seem to have similar thoughts on the end of the song, so I'll go back to developing that melody line a bit more, cut the drums, build to a theme. I think I know what needs to be done. Soon.
It's funny... while "Wings" is perhaps typical of my attempts at songwriting post- phase, with that particular track as a rough high-water-mark so far. As such, I spent about 6 months tinkering with it last year and am good and done with it. Thanks for the thoughts though.
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icotec
Joined: 02/08/02
Posts: 37
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RE: Alright, time for a W.I.P.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006 at 2:28 PM
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Looking forward to these ones! Good to see new Mercurial... finally!
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Mercurial
Joined: 05/27/01
Posts: 41
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RE: Alright, time for a W.I.P.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006 at 10:27 PM
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new (final) version: Ossuary
I can't do any all out melody sections yet due to the fact that the sound quality of the audio inputs on this laptop is still horrible and perhaps getting worse. So I wasn't just being lazy -- the new ending took hours to sequence note by note via cut and paste... In any event, I am so sick of this track. Enjoy. Argh.
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Multi-Panel
Joined: 09/23/01
Posts: 217
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RE: Alright, time for a W.I.P.
Thursday, October 12, 2006 at 1:02 AM
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yeah this version is a lot better. somehow there's more progress. 
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icotec
Joined: 02/08/02
Posts: 37
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RE: Alright, time for a W.I.P.
Thursday, October 12, 2006 at 8:12 AM
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Ok - started with the new version of Ossuary..
The eerie unreal mood comes in and mess up my otherwise calm mood. If you have dyspeptic tendencies this might trigger some sort of sickness.  Which is a good thing, only you do it the way you do it. I love the abstract crazy feel here, your beat munging is always very thought provoking and well thought out. I always dig this aspect of a Mercurial tune along with the wave-stretching and general messing. Bells and that hard bass is great from around 3:07. I also enjoy your atonal or better yet off-scale tendencies but this I'm very used to from your earlier work. The ending is perfect as it reminds me of Plaid with the perc bell melodic element and 'verby paddings.. (just recently started listeinig to them and enjoy it!). Will have to get back on the other, don't have time right now.
You know I wanted to "adapt" your way of working a while ago but as I did I went more and  as time went so it really didn't lead to anything and I'm still stuck with a sequencer.  It's a long story really but it still amazes me that you work only in Sound Forge.
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doofgoblin
Joined: 01/21/02
Location: charlottesville, va
Posts: 191
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RE: Alright, time for a W.I.P.
Thursday, October 12, 2006 at 9:24 AM
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Quote:lay people
lay people say my songs have too much "scratching and scraping" sounds.
Nate - Ossuary is my new favorite song of yours. then again, it's been a while so I guess I've forgotten what my old favorite of yours is! meticulous and dynamic. you've mixed this really well, too. the stretches and and drills smoothly richochet into the tones that create the harmony and melodies. thanks for sharing this gem.
I dig WWSTWOW too, you cover a lot of ground with that one. I especially like the big distorted tear up section in there. My only criticism of that tune would be in the first half or so, some of the drilling lacks dynamics and makes it feel a little clunky or rigid to me. It may be something that can be fixed in the mix, you know, some tedious fun with volume and panning envelopes.
It's real nice to hear new music from you. I still haven't bought that ivdt comp that I saw you are on, so this is the first new music I've heard of yours in a while.
edit: you still doing all of this with soundforge exclusively?
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absurdist lover
Joined: 09/04/01
Posts: 223
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RE: Alright, time for a W.I.P.
Thursday, October 12, 2006 at 10:59 AM
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Haha, I know all about that trying to coax good dynamix with the wave editor, Doof
Nate, I think you totally nailed it! It doesn't even sound to me like you're 'just' doing wave editing with this song anymore. You've completely blurred the line between sequencing and editing. I get a kick out of that thing from a technical viewpoint but it's also a very fluid song from a musical viewpoint, with a huge amount of intrigue and funkiness. This is definately my new favourite from you and as Doof pointed out the sound quality is really good too (which I know can be tricky to get without virtual studio technologee).
I really don't know how you do it... obviously I know a thing or two about bossing wave files about but I'd be lost without my sequencer
I will teach you the significance of insignificance
http://www.artistserver.com/Sendy
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Kylo
Joined: 02/16/05
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 787
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RE: Alright, time for a W.I.P.
Thursday, October 12, 2006 at 12:50 PM
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HEy, Ossuary~ 
Very cool... the main groove toward the beginning was the best part for me. And yes, I too think the bass was perfect opening your tune. At 1:44 you did a great job finding the right sound on those choral sounds! Then the bells at 3 minuten was a plus... I also listened to We will slam them w/our wings~ Very IDM. Very good...
"Energizer bunny arrested- charged with battery."
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Mercurial
Joined: 05/27/01
Posts: 41
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RE: Alright, time for a W.I.P.
Thursday, October 12, 2006 at 2:47 PM
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Thanks, everyone, for listening and feeding back, as always.
Ludo - Well, the new ending actually goes somewhere, so I guess that's more progress than the prior repetition, anyway. I owe you and Sendy some real thanks for prodding that reworking.
Frode - I recall you were trying out my approach, and honestly, I still really want to hear what you came up with there. Even if it's just an unfinished snippit. I downloaded everything up so far from Catheii Persi, by the way, and it's a lot to digest at once, but I like it a lot so far. Cesium 42 is just gorgeous...
Glad you liked Ossuary. I'm pleased that you seem to have found it disconcerting, and that you liked the dissonance (which is so wired into my songwriting that I don't really notice it anymore, and I'm never sure how it works). The Verby Paddings were just all the original melodies from the opening slathered in effects and compressed together.
John - So glad to hear that I was able to overcome the nostalgia-factor that usually stacks the deck in favor of old material (related to the dreaded "it's good but I like the old stuff more" effect identified by Fourier back in the day). Wait, the ivdt comp is out? I had no idea that was ready yet, and haven't heard it yet myself. My song for that one is another recent-ish exclusive, so literally no one here has heard it, I believe. I'll perhaps see what I can do with the dynamics for the Wings opening - I know exactly what you mean about it, and you're right. And yes, These are all in soundforge. Dustin mailed me Reaktor, but I couldn't really get any sounds I liked out of it, and the sequencer seemed really clunky (no notes or keys?!) so I shelved it.
Sendy - I know you to be capable of working in wave because that's the only way I can imagine you getting some of the excellent editing effects in your tracks. Especially some of the more recent ones. You ever finish/name the unfinished symphonic DnB track you were working on? That one was completely epic. Anyway, thanks and glad the new ending worked (I owe it to your comments). By "blurring the line between sequencing and editing" do you mean that the chopping and melodies compliment eachother intrinsically, or that you can't tell that it's not sequenced (the former choice is really really what I am going for with these)?
Kylo - thanks for listening, and the specific timepoint-comments (always helpful in pinpointing what does/doesn't work). I think I like the basic arrangement at the start the most too, but I found I just couldn't drag it out into an entire song without losing all momentum...
It's great to have real feedback from all of you again -- hopefully this will spur my production cycle again...
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doofgoblin
Joined: 01/21/02
Location: charlottesville, va
Posts: 191
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RE: Alright, time for a W.I.P.
Friday, October 13, 2006 at 7:10 AM
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Quote:Wait, the ivdt comp is out?
Indeed it is! It's here.
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absurdist lover
Joined: 09/04/01
Posts: 223
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RE: Alright, time for a W.I.P.
Saturday, October 14, 2006 at 9:11 AM
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Mercurial wrote:You ever finish/name the unfinished symphonic DnB track you were working on? That one was completely epic.
I'm afraid I'm not sure which song you mean. But now you have me intrigued so could you give me some more clues? I'm guessing you're thinking about the one that started with the bitcrushed break with the ride cymbol repeated a lot, in which case I did finish it, and named it "That sinking feeling" though that's not set in stone. You can hear it on my Radioaid station:
http://www.radioaid.com/artist.php?id=142
Mercurial wrote:By "blurring the line between sequencing and editing" do you mean that the chopping and melodies compliment eachother intrinsically, or that you can't tell that it's not sequenced (the former choice is really really what I am going for with these)?
Both.
I admit I'm often trying to play a game with my fellow technicians, sort of "bet you can't figure out how I did that!", which some people would say is a bad (anally rententive) kind of thing, but I don't, for reasons I nearly wrote here until I realized I should be posting this in an entry on my own site
As for the former (musical and technical complimentarity), this is of course the most important thing in technological music since without it you simply have a sequence of natty FX.
I will teach you the significance of insignificance
http://www.artistserver.com/Sendy
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DoublePlusGood
Joined: 08/14/01
Location: Portland, Or
Posts: 157
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RE: Alright, time for a W.I.P.
Sunday, October 15, 2006 at 5:08 PM
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Nice one Mercurial, I always aim to make this sort of glitchy stuff in my music, but fall short cause i'm lazy
But for a WIP this is really nice, I like the melody synth, and of course the drums are pretty banging, can't wati for the final product!!!
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Mercurial
Joined: 05/27/01
Posts: 41
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RE: Alright, time for a W.I.P.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006 at 8:48 AM
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It looks like you probably heard the final product already, actually, since I updated this thread with the finished song based on the first round of feedback. Thanks though.
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