Quick Update
You can now download the entire album all at once here:
http://cid-83919c46a065e03b.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Helbm1%20-%20Dave%20Ives?lc=2057
It took me all day to figure out how though.
Its .RAR
Hazaar!
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SeasideMan
Pro - 2009-07-29 @ 23:28:38
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Davidives
- 2009-07-29 @ 23:43:14
The Critics bite!
Ouch!
But no, thanks for having a good listen and telling me your honest opinion. I do appreciate that. One thing I think needs to be realised though, is all of these songs were recorded about half a year ago (some up to over a year ago) and are all unfinished. I know the thought of releasing an unfinished project is a fairly stupid one, but is only done so because the master recordings were all lost about 4 months ago when my computer went into a digital coma. I am glad you picked up on "weeks" and "caves" though as i feel those were the closest songs to finished.
In terms of your opinion on logical development i would have to disagree. Granted, because they are unfinished some development isn't right, but if you strip away the drums, and the ambience and the noise and listen to the base piano melodies that accompany all the songs, I feel song development isn't lacking.
In terms of the drums, you're correct that "3 more weeks" is highly Aphex Twin inspired and is therefore difficult to call boring, but i think to call the other beats boring is a touch unfair as it assumes there are new beats to find. And just for the record there are NO drum samples on any of the songs. Everything was built from nothing.
Like i said thanks a lot for checking out the album, and I do appreciate your constructive criticism, but i can assure you this style of music only barely hits "hobby" on my list of priorities however i did feel the need to defend it.
Thanks Tom-
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SeasideMan
Pro
- 2009-07-29 @ 23:53:56
I could hear 808 snares and other recognisable drum sounds on there. Did you play drum-pads yourself and trigger the sounds that way then?
For an "unfinished" project it's promising. For my ears, I would like to hear more sounds that jump out at the listener, sounds that make you go "Woah, how did he do that?".
I never used the word "boring" btw...-
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Davidives
- 2009-07-29 @ 23:57:46
I misunderatood when you said samples, i was thinking of loop samples, so yes the drums are sound samples (heavily edited at that)
And yes you didn't say boring but "generic" insinuates boring.
Unfortunately it will never be finished, thus releasing it how it is, because the masters are all gone. My Cubase file only contains newer stuff that i'm working on now.
Thanks again for the review-
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SeasideMan
Pro
- 2009-07-30 @ 00:03:10
Generic doesn't necessarily imply boring. The Sherlock Holmes stories are generic detective fiction but that doesn't make them boring...
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I'm gonna be totally honest about my opinions here and you might not like what I have to say. I make music like this myself, so perhaps I am being harder in my criticism than others would.
The music is quite generic, and the sounds lack variation. This latter point is a serious flaw - the same high-pitched synth sounds appear on almost every track, and similar pads and bass sounds appear throughout.
The songs lack structure: they start, carry on for a bit and then stop again with little logical development. It feels too random.
I think there is a good idea hiding in "Caves" if you could just uncover it. The More Months was the most creative piece, and it had a nice Aphex Twin feel to it, albeit a bit too clean and formulaic.
On the upside, the production is clean and the simplicity of the arrangements comes across well. Some of the drum programming works well, but these drum samples have been heard far too often before.
Tom.