[Music] Tapewolf - More Songs About Demons (LP)

[Tapewolf]

This is my seventh(!) progressive rock album, 'More Songs About Demons'.
As usual, demos of most of the tracks were previously published in my music thread or on FA.

I haven't made the link fully live on the website yet as I'd like to get opinions from folks here first.  In particular I'm terrified that I've got something wrong with the 3-page foldout PDF containing the lyrics.

Here is the link:  http://www.dougtheeagle.com/msad.htm
...I'll also be uploading it to Jamendo sometime next week.

The cover art was poached from last year's Halloween picture by Ren and myself - thanks again to Turnsky for the logo.
As usual I'm going to try and get a short run of CDs pressed to bring to Anthrocon.

Guest vocals have Jairus as Abel on the hidden track.  Mastering was done once again by Alex Balzama at Swift Audio Solutions, London.

This one has no overall theme, though I consider the highlights to be 'Niall's Song' and 'Demonhunter'.  Most of it is 1970s-1980s oriented, with the exception of 'Return Ticket To Heaven' which is the more electronica-oriented track on this album (there is usually one).

Thanks again to Ren, Keaton and Wuff for their support and comments on the music.

All tracks were recorded on 8-track tape at 15ips except 1, 2 and 7, which were recorded 16­track using two synced tape machines.

http://www.dougtheeagle.com

[VAE]

Firstly, *thankyouthankyouthankyou* .. released just the night before i go to slovakia with sparse internet access for about 10 days.
Secondly, serious business *serious lynx is serious* - there is a typo in Niall's song "that's when I set of the charge" instead of "set off"
Also, Demonhunter: in the bottom section, "What do you when you're the monster||demon you've hunted" - the word "do" is missing.
Thirdly, for the songs - i understand music like a goat understands salad, but still.
It probably won't surprise you i loved "This is a triangle" ... sort of in the style of Crystaltopia (specially the beginning) and some of the songs from the ADA.  Whatever you did there works for me.
Also from the new stuff, Get your facts right - i liked the lyrics... indeed this is how some myths surely have begun.... Also it reminds me of a czech hard rock song by the group Kabat ,Opilci v dejinach (Drunks in history) singing a slightly modified story of how Newton and Einstein came across their respective theories thanks to alcohol
Demonhunter i have already commented on when it was last put here
Also, makes me wonder what did Daryil do in Anathema to be thrown away. That one was slightly too dark for me, but still nice.
Not much else to say.

[Tapewolf]

Secondly, serious business *serious lynx is serious* - there is a typo in Niall's song "that's when I set of the charge" instead of "set off"
Also, Demonhunter: in the bottom section, "What do you when you're the monster||demon you've hunted" - the word "do" is missing.

Okay, thanks.  I'll fix those.

Thirdly, for the songs - i understand music like a goat understands salad, but still.
It probably won't surprise you i loved "This is a triangle" ... sort of in the style of Crystaltopia (specially the beginning) and some of the songs from the ADA.  Whatever you did there works for me.

Thanks.  It was a long time in the writing.  I started out with the beginning, and kept adding bits to it.  It was originally going to be "Demonhunter" - I really wanted to do a song on that theme, but it didn't turn out musically how I had intended for such a piece and I absolutely could not write lyrics for it.  The section starting around 5:25 was lifted from another, semi-abandoned song called "Prodigal Son".
Its working title was '210' right up to the point at which I sent the album in for mastering, at which point I suddenly remembered that curious phrase from my old Doom add-on 'The Sky May Be'.

Also from the new stuff, Get your facts right - i liked the lyrics... indeed this is how some myths surely have begun.... Also it reminds me of a czech hard rock song by the group Kabat ,Opilci v dejinach (Drunks in history) singing a slightly modified story of how Newton and Einstein came across their respective theories thanks to alcohol

Heh.  I know that Whitefox is going to be spitting teeth over the primitive verse structure in that one.  With that song, I do personally think that the song itself was a little disappointing - my favourite part is the bridge and ending piece.  I really do like the way that turned out and I think it was the perfect place to end what would be the first side if it was pressed on Vinyl.

Demonhunter i have already commented on when it was last put here

Yeah, after the failure of '210/Triangle' to morph into a song about demon persecution, that one just seemed to come out of nowhere.  I think I got the chorus first and the rest of the song grew out of there.  I do clearly remember the genesis of the harpsichord part, though.  I was playing Doom 2 with the "Final Gathering" level set, hunting demons so to speak.  Then suddenly I heard this waltz in my head.  I immediately quit the game and fired up the sequencer to capture it before I forgot it.

Also, makes me wonder what did Daryil do in Anathema to be thrown away. That one was slightly too dark for me, but still nice.

Not one of his finer moments, no.

[Sienna Maiu - M T]

I'd wondered why there were so few (any) comments in this thread. Once I got to your site, I knew.
Well, it's midnight, so I figured I'd just listen to the first one for now and that I'd check out the PDF, as it seemed you were concerned about it.

So, 'Niall's Song'. Music seems kind of... choppy. Especially in some segments of the beginning.
And man, I don't think I've ever actually heard an accent in singing before
Some of the lines seem a little cumbersome.
I like the orchestral bit at 6:00.

And just because;
"Super Funk Time" really is super funky. *grooves to it*
(I especially liked 1:30)
I'm not sure how much it makes me think of Biggs though...
I also like that little trill at 0:55

What's up with 'This Is A Triangle' anyway?

And I'd also love to know more about your music process.

[Tapewolf]

So, 'Niall's Song'. Music seems kind of... choppy. Especially in some segments of the beginning.

What do you mean by choppy?  Playback seems to be okay on the mac via Quicktime.  What are you using to play it with?

Does this version have the same problem?
http://tapewolf.wildernessguardians.com/audio/nialls_song.wav.mp3
 

And I'd also love to know more about your music process.

Basically it's something like this:
1. Plan it out and compose on computer
2. Work out which track goes where
3. Record it track by track onto tape under computer control.
4. Finish writing lyrics (there's inevitably a verse or two that needs finishing at the last moment)
5. Record vocals
6. Listen to it, rerecord vocals if not happy
7. Mix down to stereo (possibly several times if not satisfied)

[Sienna Maiu - M T]

It's morning~~!   Time for more music!

I love the preamble into 'Get Your Facts Right'. Good phrasing in this song.
I might have gone with 'So pick up the slack' rather than "So just cut the slack"... but I'm not exactly a song-writer/musician am I?

'Return Ticket To Heaven' is next, because I want to multi-task and can't be listening to lyrics.
Very beginning (0:19-0:29); I really love that. 1:11 is fun! I like the switch-over at 2:20 (suddenly, electric organ! ).  3:03, whewt! and 3:20 sounds awesome! Sudden stop at 4:03 makes a Sienna sad
Overall; I dug it.

I feel like in Anathema that it starts too abruptly and that the first chord switch at 00:04 is abrupt. "folly" makes me giggle. I feel like the ending could have been a bit more impactful.

I'm liking the start of 'Demonhunter'. "Dances with Demons", *snickers*. It's choppy, but I like the violin at 5:30. Frig yes!, 5:56 (I seem to like it when there are sudden stylistic and sound changes). 6:27 is pretty groovy. I especially like the second half. However; it ends at 10:44, and then silence... and then just, suddenly Abel. Suddenly unexpected and mostly unrelated Abel And the only mention to Able anywhere is 'Abel on 'Coventry Carol' (DMFA intro) played by Jairus'... what's 'Coventry Carol'.

As for the PDF, it seems a bit choppy. I think that it would be awesome if you kept a consistent font throughout, or at least similar sizes. In particular 'Get Your Facts Right' stands out to me as not meshing with the other entries. You might consider making the spaces between verses smaller and possibly allowing 'Niall's Song' to run over onto 'Get Your Facts Right'. (I have seen this done in pamphlets before.) Later I think I'll print the PDF out, cut it out and fold it up, to see how I can play with it.

So, 'Niall's Song'. Music seems kind of... choppy. Especially in some segments of the beginning.

What do you mean by choppy?  Playback seems to be okay on the mac via Quicktime.  What are you using to play it with?

I was tired last night, I'll have to get back to you on that.
And I use Windows Media Player on my netbook.

Does this version have the same problem?
http://tapewolf.wildernessguardians.com/audio/nialls_song.wav.mp3

I'll have to get back to you on this one later as well. But on the surface; it is seemingly better.

"Now it's time to make our getaway." I do not remember that from last night!   That's so AWESOME! It' said in this kind of mischievous voice which kind of just gets me laughing as I listen to the instrumental.

~ Sienna Maiu - Moonshine Tallgrass, out.

[Tapewolf]

I love the preamble into 'Get Your Facts Right'. Good phrasing in this song.
I might have gone with 'So pick up the slack' rather than "So just cut the slack"... but I'm not exactly a song-writer/musician am I?

I never really did like the lyrics on that one, but the instrumental at the end made it worthwhile, IMHO

'Return Ticket To Heaven' is next, because I want to multi-task and can't be listening to lyrics.
Very beginning (0:19-0:29); I really love that. 1:11 is fun! I like the switch-over at 2:20 (suddenly, electric organ! ).  3:03, whewt! and 3:20 sounds awesome! Sudden stop at 4:03 makes a Sienna sad
Overall; I dug it.

Thanks.  There was an earlier version of that on FA some time ago.  I was hoping to extend it, but I couldn't really stretch it out any further, sadly.

I feel like in Anathema that it starts too abruptly and that the first chord switch at 00:04 is abrupt. "folly" makes me giggle. I feel like the ending could have been a bit more impactful.

Probably.  I liked the vocals on the last part, but the reason why might be a little too subtle

I'm liking the start of 'Demonhunter'. "Dances with Demons", *snickers*. It's choppy, but I like the violin at 5:30. Frig yes!, 5:56 (I seem to like it when there are sudden stylistic and sound changes). 6:27 is pretty groovy. I especially like the second half. However; it ends at 10:44, and then silence... and then just, suddenly Abel. Suddenly unexpected and mostly unrelated Abel And the only mention to Able anywhere is 'Abel on 'Coventry Carol' (DMFA intro) played by Jairus'... what's 'Coventry Carol'.

If I put 'Hidden track' on the label it wouldn't be very hidden, would it? ;-)
That's the sort of thing that makes more sense as a CD, really.  It was a common trick in the mid '90s.  (Though I seem to recall Sergeant Pepper did something similar with the run-out on the LP)

As for the PDF, it seems a bit choppy. I think that it would be awesome if you kept a consistent font throughout, or at least similar sizes.

What I've been trying to do is pick a font for the title that matches the song theme.  For instance, on 'Daryil Answered' all the 1960s-type songs had a weird font, "All Machine" had a typewriter/Courier font, 'Professional Suicide' was in Times, and the other, DMFA-ish songs were in Gothic.

For the body, they should all be the same font, but the size is varied because some of them are very long.

In particular 'Get Your Facts Right' stands out to me as not meshing with the other entries. You might consider making the spaces between verses smaller and possibly allowing 'Niall's Song' to run over onto 'Get Your Facts Right'. (I have seen this done in pamphlets before.) Later I think I'll print the PDF out, cut it out and fold it up, to see how I can play with it.

I could try that.  Bear in mind that this is intended for a 3-page fold-out, so which page is next to which other page is something I haven't quite got to grips with.  I think it's correct in that the top right panel is the cover and the top middle panel is the back, but I'll have to double-check against the template I have from the printers.

What do you mean by choppy?  Playback seems to be okay on the mac via Quicktime.  What are you using to play it with?

I was tired last night, I'll have to get back to you on that.
And I use Windows Media Player on my netbook.[/quote]
Okay, thanks.  These tracks were ripped from the CD sent by the mastering engineer so they should be good, quality-wise.

I'll have to get back to you on this one later as well. But on the surface; it is seemingly better.

"Now it's time to make our getaway." I do not remember that from last night!   That's so AWESOME! It' said in this kind of mischievous voice which kind of just gets me laughing as I listen to the instrumental.

Ah.  I actually decided it was silly and dropped it from the final version...

This one is, IIRC the version that was eventually sent off for mastering:
http://tapewolf.wildernessguardians.com/audio/stuff/nialls_song_take2.wav.mp3


Also, the album is now on Jamendo here:  http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/88977

[Sienna Maiu - M T]

I feel like in Anathema that it starts too abruptly and that the first chord switch at 00:04 is abrupt. "folly" makes me giggle. I feel like the ending could have been a bit more impactful.

Probably.  I liked the vocals on the last part, but the reason why might be a little too subtle

I wouldn't mind hearing it.

If I put 'Hidden track' on the label it wouldn't be very hidden, would it? ;-)
That's the sort of thing that makes more sense as a CD, really.  It was a common trick in the mid '90s.

phht...

What I've been trying to do is pick a font for the title that matches the song theme.  For instance, on 'Daryil Answered' all the 1960s-type songs had a weird font, "All Machine" had a typewriter/Courier font, 'Professional Suicide' was in Times, and the other, DMFA-ish songs were in Gothic.

... what?

I could try that.  Bear in mind that this is intended for a 3-page fold-out, so which page is next to which other page is something I haven't quite got to grips with.  I think it's correct in that the top right panel is the cover and the top middle panel is the back, but I'll have to double-check against the template I have from the printers.

haw   And stereotypes say that men are better than women at visualizing forms in 3D. It's correct, do not worry about that aspect
(and yes, I was aware it was in two-fold )

What do you mean by choppy?  Playback seems to be okay on the mac via Quicktime.  What are you using to play it with?

Okay, "choppy" was at about 0:30; the violin switchovers aren't very smooth. I'll let you know if there are other things... but typically it's if I don't feel you were very legato, especially with something like strings.

Ah.  I actually decided it was silly and dropped it from the final version...

awwh...

[Tapewolf]

... what?

That doesn't leave me a lot to go on - I take it you didn't see the previous album - and more specifically, the 8-page booklet that cost a fortune to produce and which no-one looked at?

http://dougtheeagle.com/ada.htm

Okay, "choppy" was at about 0:30; the violin switchovers aren't very smooth. I'll let you know if there are other things... but typically it's if I don't feel you were very legato, especially with something like strings.

Ahhhh.  Right.  That's an intrinsic part of the sound.  Those strings were actually recorded in 1952 or something and have been used in goodness knows how many records ever since.  What they did was they recorded an 8 second clip for each note onto tape, and built a machine which played each sound back by playing a strip of tape for each key on the keyboard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eR6D1ZH2CMk&NR=1&feature=fvwp

...the idea was to try and make - using 1950s technology - something that allowed you to play orchestral instruments at home.  But because of the way it worked and the imperfections in the technology, it ended up with its own unique (and sometimes slightly creepy) sound, which proved popular until synthesizers finally caught up in the 1980s.
It has become a rather sought-after sound.

I think the two most iconic uses of the string sound are these:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBwVo27KJ1I   (0:30 - yes, they were a bitch to keep in tune)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9IQnDRYIYU

The classic example is the flute on Strawberry Fields Forever by The Beatles.

And the other sound which I have (over)used throughout all the albums is the 8-voice choir (or 'Choir of the dead' as some call it).  That's used as the backbone for 'Anathema'.
I think my favourite use of it was at the end of this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01CnBGWvBpE

[Sienna Maiu - M T]

... what?

That doesn't leave me a lot to go on - I take it you didn't see the previous album - and more specifically, the 8-page booklet that cost a fortune to produce and which no-one looked at?

Hey, this isn't my fault. I've been away from the internet forum. D:

http://dougtheeagle.com/ada.htm

That looks all... Enya-ey.

[quote
It has become a rather sought-after sound.
[/quote]
Mah bad then.
I shall attribute it to personal tastes.