In honor of spirit day, I'd like to take a brief reprieve from the world of music and talk a bit about another topic: ignorance. During one of my daily visits to reddit I came across this page which entails a list of bands that apparently are supporters and/or promoters of the gay lifestyle. One of the recommendations outlined on the page is to look through your children's CD collection and burn any of the albums by these artists; in front of them. Looking at the page all I can say is, "Seriously?"
I have always been a huge supporter of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of basically any choice which does not infringe upon the freedoms of others. To me it's the only logical way to live, given that life itself does not grant us a set of rules; there is no instruction manual. All we can go on is what we are taught and what we discover.
Many people will argue that life does indeed have an instruction manual, though. Problem is, this "manual" changes based on what religion each person belongs to. Everyone says they are right, but no one can prove it. I realize that is why we call it faith, but how can anyone say, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that what they believe is the one and only truth? How can something which has no physical evidence be infallible? Over the years science has proven more against all religions than it has for any single one of them.
So, would it not be ignorant for us to turn a cheek on everyone that believes differently than we do? If all we were ever taught was wrong, how would we know? We have to see all sides. We have to hear the statements of others. We have to choose for ourselves.
Listening to music is not going to make you gay any more than it is going to make you straight. Curiousity is in our blood, and what is more curious in life than all that is taboo? An overly sheltered life leads to ignorance. Our ignorance will lead to intolerance. Our intolerance will lead to destruction.
There is no reason to make outcasts out of innocent people.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Stand By Your Work
I recently came across an article online suggesting reasons behind why people pirate music. Though the article seemed to miss one of my general thoughts, it was quite logical. I mostly agreed with the reasons stated, but the last two reasons mentioned were the ones I feel best represent my issue with music these days.
Many articles over the past few years have been advocating the death of the album, because people are able to go out and purchase just the songs they like. So, what is it about all the other songs that people don't like? Well, I believe the problem is that too many groups have an abundance of filler.
Now, I'm well aware of the fact that music is subjective, but there are just so many songs out there that almost feel as though the artist was bored while recording them. As if there was no meaning behind the track, it simply existed to fill the space between hit A and hit B. It is true that not every song can be a hit, but let's face it, if all you are capable of writing is one good song, why don't you only release that song?
People are sick of buying albums that have 10+ tracks but only 2-3 truly good songs. If you bought it and don't like it, you don't generally have money back options. So what do you do? Well, it seems people begin pirating music because they feel these labels owe them something. I don't believe in pirating music, but I will actually side with those who do in this scenario.
I've had problems in the past deciding if I want to purchase an album because I was not sure I would like every track. This is why I've tried to always keep full stream versions of my tracks available online. I have nothing to hide. If people like it enough to want to place it on a personal device, then they will purchase it. If they do not, I don't want to take their money. I'm in this business to create art, not to trick people into purchasing a disc full of music they'll hate.
I wish more people would hop on this wagon, but I don't believe they ever will. "Why?", you ask? Well, because when people hear all that filler, they aren't going to be purchasing the full album. Again, I realize music is subjective, but there are songs which were so obviously created with less effort than appropriate. Filler may have worked in the past when the only media for music were physical, but it is severely damaging people's views of the industry these days.
Is it too much to ask of an artist and/or their producer to put effort into all of their work? I don't believe it is. If there is one thing I can promise as an artist, it's that I will never release anything that I myself would not consider purchasing if it had been written by someone else. I stand by the work I do. What I create may not be the most popular and it may never end up being the favorite of any person at any point in time, but it will always be exactly what I want it to be at that point in time.
Many articles over the past few years have been advocating the death of the album, because people are able to go out and purchase just the songs they like. So, what is it about all the other songs that people don't like? Well, I believe the problem is that too many groups have an abundance of filler.
Now, I'm well aware of the fact that music is subjective, but there are just so many songs out there that almost feel as though the artist was bored while recording them. As if there was no meaning behind the track, it simply existed to fill the space between hit A and hit B. It is true that not every song can be a hit, but let's face it, if all you are capable of writing is one good song, why don't you only release that song?
People are sick of buying albums that have 10+ tracks but only 2-3 truly good songs. If you bought it and don't like it, you don't generally have money back options. So what do you do? Well, it seems people begin pirating music because they feel these labels owe them something. I don't believe in pirating music, but I will actually side with those who do in this scenario.
I've had problems in the past deciding if I want to purchase an album because I was not sure I would like every track. This is why I've tried to always keep full stream versions of my tracks available online. I have nothing to hide. If people like it enough to want to place it on a personal device, then they will purchase it. If they do not, I don't want to take their money. I'm in this business to create art, not to trick people into purchasing a disc full of music they'll hate.
I wish more people would hop on this wagon, but I don't believe they ever will. "Why?", you ask? Well, because when people hear all that filler, they aren't going to be purchasing the full album. Again, I realize music is subjective, but there are songs which were so obviously created with less effort than appropriate. Filler may have worked in the past when the only media for music were physical, but it is severely damaging people's views of the industry these days.
Is it too much to ask of an artist and/or their producer to put effort into all of their work? I don't believe it is. If there is one thing I can promise as an artist, it's that I will never release anything that I myself would not consider purchasing if it had been written by someone else. I stand by the work I do. What I create may not be the most popular and it may never end up being the favorite of any person at any point in time, but it will always be exactly what I want it to be at that point in time.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Eternal Servants to the Departed
We've reached the end of the album today with the track Eternal Servants to the Departed. Those who are familiar with my song Among Them, which was written for the short film Gun Barista, will recognize the title from the lyrics. The idea behind the line of course, was that to survive the main characters would need to forever serve the undead. Seems almost the same as being a zombie when thinking back on it.
Much like Looks I Could Kill, this track began as a manipulated version of a fully arranged sound clip. A couple days into working the piece I ditched this original idea, as I felt the vocal portion was much less interesting than I would have hoped. The track was shelved for a couple months before I found the sounds which best suited the mood I wanted to capture.
I honestly cannot remember the original source for the main underscore to this piece, but I do know it originated from a part of the score for Relentless. If I had to make a guess, I would say it's most likely from the first waterfall scene. I do know that the original sounds were ethnic percussion instruments. The resulting layer continues to stick with me however, as one of the most hauntingly hypnotic drones I have ever created. I recall listening to just this layer alone a number of times, completely zoning out from the world surrounding me. This effect is best experienced with headphones.
Along with the main droning, there exist a couple of percussive layers. The first is a sparse arrangement from a portion of the Relentless score, originally created with sounds from Native Instrument's Tension Strike set. It repeats four times during the course of the track, each time using a different set of effects. Some are very subtle, but they are important to each repetition. Overall, the part is quite heavily manipulated.
The second percussive layer is somewhat buried but exists throughout a good portion of the second half. It's origin was a cue from If Looks Could Kill, which made heavy use of samples from Evolve Mutations, another Native Instrument collection. The semi-metallic sound was given in processing for Eternal Servants, it did not exist previously.
There are actually two melodic pieces in this track, though one may be seen more as ambiance. Both parts hail from a short electronic piano bit I composed a good number of years ago. For this piece, the first section was heavily delayed and reversed, resulting in very slow attack times. The second section was elongated and faded into the mix over just about the entire track duration.
The last pieces of the puzzle, the vocal clips, came directly from the recording of Among Them. They were granulated in FL Studio to slow them down slightly and then mechanized by a ring modulator, conforming to the rule laid out during the Locust Star days, "it needs more ring mod." I will forever be in debt to Kelly for this lasting advice, which has proven true on so many occasions.
The final whisper was recorded specifically for this track, but still fits the project guidelines in that it's lyrical source was a previously recorded track. I chose to not use the original recording as the presentation was completely wrong for the desired impact.
This track was the easiest to place on the album as it was the only one I thought could properly close the disc. I feel as though it fully encapsulates the collection's overall darkly melodic vibe. Definitely one of my personal favorites.
Much like Looks I Could Kill, this track began as a manipulated version of a fully arranged sound clip. A couple days into working the piece I ditched this original idea, as I felt the vocal portion was much less interesting than I would have hoped. The track was shelved for a couple months before I found the sounds which best suited the mood I wanted to capture.
I honestly cannot remember the original source for the main underscore to this piece, but I do know it originated from a part of the score for Relentless. If I had to make a guess, I would say it's most likely from the first waterfall scene. I do know that the original sounds were ethnic percussion instruments. The resulting layer continues to stick with me however, as one of the most hauntingly hypnotic drones I have ever created. I recall listening to just this layer alone a number of times, completely zoning out from the world surrounding me. This effect is best experienced with headphones.
Along with the main droning, there exist a couple of percussive layers. The first is a sparse arrangement from a portion of the Relentless score, originally created with sounds from Native Instrument's Tension Strike set. It repeats four times during the course of the track, each time using a different set of effects. Some are very subtle, but they are important to each repetition. Overall, the part is quite heavily manipulated.
The second percussive layer is somewhat buried but exists throughout a good portion of the second half. It's origin was a cue from If Looks Could Kill, which made heavy use of samples from Evolve Mutations, another Native Instrument collection. The semi-metallic sound was given in processing for Eternal Servants, it did not exist previously.
There are actually two melodic pieces in this track, though one may be seen more as ambiance. Both parts hail from a short electronic piano bit I composed a good number of years ago. For this piece, the first section was heavily delayed and reversed, resulting in very slow attack times. The second section was elongated and faded into the mix over just about the entire track duration.
The last pieces of the puzzle, the vocal clips, came directly from the recording of Among Them. They were granulated in FL Studio to slow them down slightly and then mechanized by a ring modulator, conforming to the rule laid out during the Locust Star days, "it needs more ring mod." I will forever be in debt to Kelly for this lasting advice, which has proven true on so many occasions.
The final whisper was recorded specifically for this track, but still fits the project guidelines in that it's lyrical source was a previously recorded track. I chose to not use the original recording as the presentation was completely wrong for the desired impact.
This track was the easiest to place on the album as it was the only one I thought could properly close the disc. I feel as though it fully encapsulates the collection's overall darkly melodic vibe. Definitely one of my personal favorites.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
