Progrock concept WIP

[Moresco]

So I'm putting together this record, and just figured I'd share it with everyone here.  I'd love to hear thoughts, especially from those who listen to this type of music, but if you don't that's cool too.

The timing is off in several spots, please forgive it - this is just a raw demo that I kind of did on the spur of the moment so there's no tick track or any sort of metronome.

One more thing, it's a fourteen minute track so if you don't have time now, maybe come back later when you do.  I don't think it's long, but some people do so I just figured a quick warning was in order.

Anyway enough talking:
Kidnapping Caleb - Chapter 3: Patrolman Arnold, Mopping Up The Mess

[Tartalo]

Hi, I don't usually listen to Prog but liked your demo. Some parts seemed better achieved than others, but looking at it as something unfinished the feeling was that it went the good way.

[Moresco]

Thanks Tartalo Nice of you to listen to it.

[Oz]

This is cool. I like it! Though, really... it's too long. The first part (up until 2:26) is very solid, melody wise. I would focus more on working around that portion of the track. Write some cool variations on the main theme. Right now the track strays a little too far from the main concept (in my opinion!). Still, I like this and would love to hear a more worked-over version with proper orchestration.

I know this is a draft, but anyway - some pointers! Right now, there is too much guitaring going on. It clogs up the sound. A would love to hear a dusty rhodes piano laying down some muffled chords way back in the mix. How about a weeping reverb-heavy steel guitar? A creaky organ of some sort would work nicely too I think! What kind of drumming (if any) are you planning for this one? I can see it working well without drums. Perhaps a lone snare supporting the marching rhythm and something deep like a darbuka drum hitting the 1 and 4 beats.

Nice work!

[Moresco]

Thanks for your comments Oz.  I hear what you're saying, but I've already planned out lyrics and everything - so probably not going to shorten it.  As far as length goes, this is the longest song as one track yet from me, but the seven part To The Markings Of Reality was intended as one song and so it's quite long.  For prog as a whole, I'd say this song is very short :/

I'm not sure about the very last section though, the riff that ends the track.  That's the only part, part-wise, that I might do away with or rearrange in any way. 

As for other instruments, I'm gonna stick to just guitars for now but I do like your suggestions.  I've messed around with piano on some other tracks, and they were pretty sweet, but I don't know if it's really my area.  If someone wants to add a piano part who knows what they're doing, that'd be cool.  Actually you know it's that kind of stuff I'd like to have a producer for when making a finished record, because I would never in a million years think of adding those things.   I'm good at rocking out on guitar Not so good at deciding what little things might help a track.  I do experiment with other sounds, but mostly just with the electronica stuff. 

I know the first section of verse/chorus - break - chorus - verse seems odd.  I thought about doing it the typical way, but meh...done so many times, I felt it was worth changing it up.

As for adding drums: What I do is I'll write a song acoustic guitar only, and then I'll do the parts maybe again with a drumtrack - and then I intend to double everything for the electric version but with heavier guitars.  As for the guitar, there are three guitar lines tops.  I like layers of guitars, as do most if not all of my fans - so I can't do away with them.    It's just part of my style and some people like it, some don't.  I can't help that

Here's another track, to give you an idea of what I sometimes do as far as drums go:
To The Markings Of Reality VI: The Unspoken

[Peder 🚀]

I listened this song the other day and I dont think its to long at all .

I like it alot and would love to hear the finished version when its done!

Right now its a bit to hard for me to give any critics as it aint finsihed.

[Nikolas]

Hi!

I like what you've done here!

The first track is a bit too much of a wip, so there is little to comment. It does feel a bit long, but that is probably because it's rough. Listening to your second track I did get a better sense of what you're after, but maybe alter some guitar sounds here and there (as all guitars are classical ones in both tracks).

either way, your playing is very nice and competent without any errors, which makes me think that all recording process should go smooth in the future..

About the second track which seems more complete, I will have to comment that somehow it feels that the vocal line is missing. Do you plan on putting vocals? Cause right now it's full of fantastic rips and patterns, but don't work alone so well!

The programming of the drums is good, but the sounds need variation, as that bloody hi hat is always the same and a tad loud on the left speakers...

Other than that, really I think I can hear in my head where you want to go and I applause you for that.

Everything works I believe!

Thank you for sharing your music with us

[Moresco]

Yeah the drums are all at the same level, I didn't really want to play with that too much because I really don't know what I'm doing with drums in general.

Hmm, I hear what you're saying Nikolas, I do...but I really only want acoustic guitars on these tracks.  It's just how I've been recording acoustic demos for the last year or so, and I've grown very fond of it. 

Yup almost every song I've written has some kind of vocal, lyrics, etc.  Most of them aren't recorded...well simply because my vocals need so much work (or at least I think so).  I'll give you a sample...

Finally I'm Lost
or this one (since it's the only other one ^^)
The Walk

Both of those are cover songs, just to let you know.


I will do electric versions of most (if not all) of my songs at some point, but I do not have proper equipment at the moment.  There's a lot I can do to get very nice sounding electric tracks - but it's soooo much work!


Thanks for your thoughts Peder!

This isn't prog-rock, but more like electronica of some sort...this is done I guess, I'm not too good at figuring out electronica
Even Steven Steals From A Bad Man

Thanks again for all your replies!

[Ghost]

A good job well done, I'd say. It's very nice to have accoustic guitars IMO, and they blend in well. There's a bit of a jagged line concerning audio quality itself, but for a "work in progress" it's quite impressive. Now I have no idea how to even play anything more complex than a comb-and-paper-thingy, thus I can't offer improvement advice, but my ears know what they like, and they want me to tell you they're quite happy. 

Make sure to post when you've got a complete track list!

[Moresco]

Hey thanks Ghost

Yup the audio quality isn't exactly top notch, but for working in front of my computer with a single radioshack mic, awful signal to noise ratio (all the tracks require a heavy bit of noise reduction to be tolerable) which stacks the more tracks I use, and with the acoustic moving around every time I record, it makes it hard to get the same sound consistently.  :/ It's crazy hard work actually.  I'd have more to say but I just got out of the hospital this morning and I have to rest

Anyway, a complete track list...hmm.  I could post a list I guess.  There's actually a lot more than this, but I can't be bothered to type it all up :p Since I already did this for Columbia Records tho, it was easy to copy/paste

A Call To The Silent
   I: Eyesight Interruption
   II: Shifting
   III: The Horror Of The Gelatinous Cube
   IV: Step Lightly In This Euphoric War Zone
   V: Screaming For Mercy In A Quiet Log Cabin
   VI: Follow 'long Red Light Footsteps

A Guest At The Wedding Reception
Beneath The Weeping Willow's Roots Lay Evil Rest

Bezaliel And The Quiet Ends
   I: For Her Wings With Ashes
   II: The Massacre Of The Misperceived

The Bloodied Blade Of Tein
   I: Waiting At Falpoint
   II: Two Hands Apart
   III: Forever Always Ends Abruptly

Blue: Benight As Soft Fluidic Sadness
Blue: The Better Half
Catastrophic Came The Voice Reply

Continuous Abuse Of The Physical And Nonphysical
The Dead Ladder: A Lingering Beneath These Branches
The Dead Ladder: Termination Letter
The Dead Ladder: The Timing Of Gross Malalignment

The Epistolary
   I: The First In Loss And Sorrow
   II: The Second With Struggle And Fear
   III: The Third Through Living And Rebirth
   IV: The Fourth Of Love And Tear
   V: The Fifth For What I Will Tremble
   VI: The Sixth Rise The Battle Of Soul

From The Latter
   I: Fasten Down The Furniture
   II: Cutting Throats
   III: Intrusions Unaccounted For
   IV: The Kiss In The Latter Soft Eyes Of Poetry
   V: Writer's Block II

Just Behind Ten:Twenty-Five AM
Letter By Letter Behind These Eyelids

Memory At Dawn:
   I: Mercury And The Lull Between Horrors
   II: The Horror Clothed In The Nightmare Of Syr
   III: I'll Love You When The Dead Walk
   IV: The Haunting Of The Girl You Slaughtered In Fifteen-E
   V: Dear Friends...
   VI: Feelings Before The End
   VII: Burn The Villas, Kill The Courtesans
   VIII: Lovely Red Puddles
   IX: Remorseful Daylight
      I: The Peaceful Children
      II: A Rotting Nail Through The Mouth
      III: And With Their Necks Cut Clean...
      IV: Bloody Artist Colored Canvas
      V: Heavenly Kisses From The Lips Of The Damned
   X: Tapping Into The Memory At Dawn â€" The Blindfold, Blade, And Bait

On A Cold Night In The Blackest Of Rain
Our Midnight Rest

The Pale Reflections
   I: Fate, The Author, And The Will To Destroy
   II: The Implications Of Words And Flesh
   III: Eavesdropping On Gods
   IV: Reality Veiled In Scientific Circus
   V: The Girl Keeps A Pet
   VI: A Thoroughly Heartfelt Excuse Narrowly Avoided
   VII: Overused Redundancy
   VIII: An Ice Cold Kiss Goodbye
   IX: Passive Mode Kill Level
   X: Reflections Through A Facade
   XI: Story Eat Story
   XII: The Dramatic Murder Of The Girl In Fifteen-E
   XIII: The Last Trip Changes The Outcome
   XIV: Existence Through The Eye Of The Mirron
   XV: In These Pages Burning
   XVI: Writer's Block I

Packaging Of My Apology
Pen To Paper Romance
Tears Through Katrina

To The Markings Of Reality
   I: The River Of Fate Kissed Our Path's In Death
   II: We're Only Dreaming
   III: Of A Twenty-seven Year Regret
   IV: In The Broken Air Of Sorrow's Weeping
   V: A Lost Painting
   VI: The Unspoken
   VII: Asleep In The Mirron


If you actually want to hear those tracks, you'll have to head on over to myspace:
www.myspace.com/novellice  <-- just go down past the myspace player to find all the acoustic (and some electric actually!) demos.  the quality ranges...listen at your own risk ^^

[Steel Drummer]

Is the full album going to be free to download? How long is it in total?

[Moresco]

Is the full album going to be free to download? How long is it in total?

All the demos are free for now.  There's a whole lot of them on myspace now to download.  I am going to sell a record consisting of the seven "To The Markings Of Reality" tracks with vocals added and an eighth track called "Waiting At Falpoint", but it's not really done yet.

[LGM]

wow, that's alot of demos. I may have to download them all...

[Moresco]

wow, that's alot of demos. I may have to download them all...

by all means have at them.

Oh I also went through and reorganized them and stuff. 

[Steel Drummer]

All those demos are gonna be on one album? That's like 71 songs!  :o

[Moresco]

All those demos are gonna be on one album? That's like 71 songs!  :o

Nope not at all.   For instance Memory At Dawn is 1 record, Pale Reflections is another record, To The Markings Of Reality will be one record, etc.  For the most part, the concept called Novellice (the one I hope to turn into a graphic novel someday) already consists of over a hundred songs, maybe close to two hundred.  I could put together an album with over 71 songs if I wanted to, but that would probably be too much for most people to handle on one record.

[Tuomas]

Hehe, you're really planning on a career here