[Music] Tapewolf: J.P's music (16/Apr/2017 - 'Numerology')

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Given the roads around about here, I can hardly blame you.

Maniacs, the lot of em. Not that the underground or the trains are much better. *sigh*

[Tapewolf]

I've loved Bal-Sagoth ever since I first heard them, and now the time has come for me to do a spoof Bal-Sagoth song, copying their manic drum-machine style, Roland XP50 orchestration and H.P. Lovecraft-inspired voiceovers.

The other target of my spoof is the town of Merthyr Tydfil, notorious for its crime-ridden housing estates where, for example, children light fires to attract the fire brigade so that they can throw rocks at them.  As soon as I described it to my brother, he immediately made a mental connection with Innsmouth, and thus got me reading Lovecraft.

This weird and hopefully amusing song is the unholy spawn of these ideas.

http://www.jpmorris.force9.co.uk/music/test/merthyr4.mp3
http://dougtheeagle.com/ferret/ferret3.mp3

The death-metal voice was the hardest.  I can barely speak now.

[Tapewolf]

Okay, here's another DMFA song.  It's called "What did Daniel think he was?", and it's about Dan's reaction to discovering he was an incubus - one of my favourite parts of the comic strip.

http://www.jpmorris.force9.co.uk/music/daniel6.mp3
http://www.jpmorris.force9.co.uk/music/daniel7a.wav.mp3

Comments and complaints are welcome as always.

[Supercheese]

Hmm, isn't he technically mortal? (I don't think it was part of a rhyme...)

"...he's an incubi." Now, that was a rhyme (that I predicted rather easily), but the grammar just makes my eye twitch...

Ooh, I wish I could put percussion to it. I think it needs it quite badly.

Alternatively, go for a rave remix... nah. 

Mmmm, needs to be faster, IMO...  Just, it's all slow an' stuff...

(Hope I'm not being overly critical here. I don't know much about the technicalities of how to actually go about making music like this...

... I overuse ellipses...)

[Tapewolf]

Hmm, isn't he technically mortal? (I don't think it was part of a rhyme...)

Originally it ran "But now he knows that he's a Being" - but I changed it to 'not mortal' to make it more accessable to non-DMFA people.  I did say 'not mortal' rather than 'immortal', mark you

"...he's an incubi." Now, that was a rhyme (that I predicted rather easily), but the grammar just makes my eye twitch...

Oh, I know, it really hurt to do that.  At one point it just said "'cubi" but it had to be stretched unnaturally so I went with the plural and damn the grammar.

Ooh, I wish I could put percussion to it. I think it needs it quite badly.

Mmmm, needs to be faster, IMO...  Just, it's all slow an' stuff...

It's a moody ballad, it's not supposed to be fast :twisted
As for the percussion, there is a click track (which I faded in on the first gap) but that's not what you meant.  I suck at drum programming and couldn't come up with a suitable drum track.

**EDIT**

Lyrics, reformatted to save space:


His name is Daniel Ti'Fiona,  his mother was a succubus
And when he found her genes had carried, he didn't view that as a plus.
His parents never got to tell him, they left him when he was a child,
And when he found he was a demon, that was the last day that he smiled.

What did Daniel think he was?
He should have worked it out because
He lost the need to sleep and eat
The price of power is rarely sweet

He didn't know he was a Creature, he thought his wings were just for show
And now he knows that he's not mortal, it left him really feeling low.
He's got the power to read your feelings, he's got the power to steal your soul
But powers come with heavy burdens, he's frightened he might lose control.

And now his life will change because
He's just discovered what he was
He thought he was a normal guy
But really he's an incubi

Dan:	..why of course not.  I just LOVE the idea that I'm now destined to become a  part of the demon race!
Alexsi:	I think you're overreacting a bit.
Dan:	There are freaking wings coming out of my head!  I get every right to overreact!
Mab:	Aw, Dan, Cheer up!   I'm sure things will turn out okay.  After all, you now have hundreds of years to come to terms with the change!
Dan:	No!!!!
Mab:	Alexsi, was Dan aware that incubi live for a couple of thousand years?
Dan:	This definitely is a big change in my life... I guess I'll have to live with it... And outlive everyone I've ever cared about... Added to the fact that I'll likely start hunting others, and be hunted down by other adventurers.. Or does it actually change who I am?

Perhaps he thought he was an Angel, his wings are feathered as should be
He didn't have a 'cubi clan mark, on any place that he could see
His name is Daniel Ti'Fiona, his mother was a succubus
And now he knows that he's a 'cubi, no point in kicking up a fuss.

And now his life has changed because
He's come to terms with what he was
Of all the things we can't escape
We have no fate but what we make.

[Aridas]

Suggestion: say "normal gus" and you can use proper grammar. I know calling someone a gus may be a bit goofy, but.... grammarz!

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Artistic licence, perhaps? Songs tend to be allowed to mess with the "normal rules" of grammar...

[Aridas]

Nooooooooooooo!

[Tapewolf]

If I can recreate the levels and amount of slapback I used on Monday, I might change it to say "'cubiiiiii" instead.  But this is the best performance of the song I've done so far, so I'm a bit reluctant to mess with it.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Save it and make a new copy?

... just a thought....

[Aridas]

No sense in making a new one if you can't match up to the old one, so llearch probably has the right idea.

[Tapewolf]

Save it and make a new copy?

... just a thought....

Tricky.  It's all in the analogue domain, remember.  I _could_ digitize that chorus and try to drop it back in if I can't improve it, but personally I'm thinking more along the lines of including an apology in the liner notes

**EDIT**
Actually I could back it up on the flute track since it is isn't being used at that point.  The TSR-8 is pretty good with track bouncing.

[Tapewolf]

Apart from the fact that the click track has been left on, is that better or worse?

http://www.jpmorris.force9.co.uk/music/dan6_cubiiii.wav.mp3

[Aridas]

Tough to say, actually. Sounds stranger.

[Hilary]

Maybe you could say, "but in reality, he's a cubi," with the 'but in' as eighth notes?

EDIT-- And I think the lastest version sounds good enough to use in place of mangling grammar.

[Aridas]

"but the truth is, he's cubi"? That could kill two birds with one stone.

[Boog]

Awesome, awesome song. Gonna look through the rest of your stuff now. Again, awesome!

[e_voyager]

i like it as well. oh man i need more time. that and more money

[Tapewolf]

Awesome, awesome song. Gonna look through the rest of your stuff now. Again, awesome!

Thanks.  In case anyone's interested, this is the 'band' page:
http://www.dougtheeagle.com

..the second album is in a funny state between finished and logjammed, owing to the fact that my Mastering Engineer is prone to Tezkat-like hiatuses.  It's very nearly ready, although there's a bit of inside cover artwork still outstanding.

The third album is all planned and mostly ready to go - most of the tracks on it, ZooCity, Jakob's Revenge etc, have already been mentioned here or on The Nice. 

As for the grammar, I think I'll probably go with the 'cubiiii' solution.

Now I just need some kind of distribution chain

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Talk to Moekii about the distribution?

[Aridas]

But the one I just recently gave you fits the song's intended syllables *dies*

[Tapewolf]

But the one I just recently gave you fits the song's intended syllables *dies*

Not when I play it back in my head it doesn't.  Think you could provide an example recording?

[Aridas]

Possibly not at the moment, since the jet engines in my computer would drown it out, and I can't afford to turn them down before winter. You just have to say it a bit differently, after the original but. I had a whole other more complicated thing here, but I realized you don't really need to change the style of that line to make it work. You just need to start the new "but" where "really" is, I think. Then it would fit. Lemme tweak it a bit more actually...

But rea  lly   he's an  in   cubi
      but the truth is, he is cubi

I decided to kill my contraction to fit that note which I was trying to fit in the first place... Terrible sight at first, I guess.

[Tapewolf]

But rea  lly   he's an  in   cubi
      but the truth is, he is cubi

Ah, got it.  To be frank, I'm not sure it's a great advantage over "he's a 'cubi", but I'll give it a go at some point.

[Aridas]

Well either way I guess, if something fills that extra note it should solve the problem.

[Tapewolf]

Hmm, quite a gap since I recorded something I thought was worth putting up.  I'll assume no-one minds...

Sometimes when I go for a walk in the hills I come up with some rather strange ideas.  Jakob was one of those ideas, and this song is another.  I'm wondering whether to add a drum track or strings or something, but it seems to be okay as it stands.

http://www.jpmorris.force9.co.uk/music/test/sheeps3.mp3
http://dougtheeagle.com/ferret/ferret7.mp3

It doesn't really have a name yet, so I'm just calling it 'sheeps' until I can come up with a proper title.
I'll probably re-record the vocals again, since my voice has only just recovered enough to be able to do it and sounds a little off here and there.  I'm not entirely happy with the mix either.

[Drake Manaweilder]

Not shure if this was your aim but I find this song to be pretty funny
a few things bug me though, the eco/reverb on "Rise up and fight!" seems to carry on just a little too long, and theres one word i can't make out:
"Yes it's real no it's not a dream the rebellion is in full steam" I think it's at 2:15 ish.

[Tapewolf]

Not shure if this was your aim but I find this song to be pretty funny

Like I'm actually going to do an serious song about how sheep are really working for Satan 

a few things bug me though, the eco/reverb on "Rise up and fight!" seems to carry on just a little too long

It's definitely too long in that I can't fit the other line in and it obscures the deliberately off-key part on the organ, but after trying several different approaches, delay times and so on, I decided that was the one which worked the best.  IMHO the copicat sounds better than the digital delay, even though all the repeats are distorted because it's knackered.  The snag is you don't get much choice of delay length.

Thanks for the comments, though.

and theres one word i can't make out:

Something happened in the fields of green
Where the sheep and the rabbits can oft be seen
Men were murdered, their bones picked clean
There's something afoot that should not have been

Any sheep can be a wolf in the fold
With the power of darkness as a hand to hold
Such a force could never be controlled
When your woolly soul has just been sold

Rise up and fight
That's all we ask of you
Rise up and fight
Like the Master told you to

They just finish drinking from the stream
When they suddenly face you with their eyes agleam
Yes, it's real - No, it's not a dream
The ovine rebellion is in full steam

Every sheep can be a wolf in the fold
With the power of darkness as a hand to hold
Such a force can never be controlled
When your woolly soul has just been sold

Rise up and fight
That's all we ask of you
Rise up and fight
Like the Master told you to

[Hilary]

Heh... now I have the strange compulsion to draw a sheep looking up from a stream with demonic eyes. *scuttles off into the shadows to do so*

[Drake Manaweilder]

Like I'm actually going to do an serious song about how sheep are really working for Satan 

just making shure.. we all have our own conspiracys.