I'm releasing an EP.

[reckoner11]

So I've been working on the little project in my spare time for a couple of months. It's 4 instrumental made-for-film type tracks. I posted it on myspace a couple of days ago so feel free to check it out:

The Link

You can stream it or if anyone wishes, you can download it for a little more than the cost of a happy meal.

I'm not sure who the audience would be for this kind of thing but it's what I came up with so hopefully someone out there will get something out of it. Anyhoo, for those who check it out..I hope you enjoy and if not...thanks for listening anyway.

 

[jimmyjazz]

Thanks for posting those. Are you looking for feedback?

 

[reckoner11]

sure...not too harsh though

 

[unpaintedhuffhines]

I get a True Romance/Badlands vibe from the Chiquapin track

I don't have a real critique from a composition standpoint, but for the purposes of made-for-film, Magma Hills stood out.

 

[reckoner11]

thanks for the feedback, unpainted...

 

[jimmyjazz]

I liked them in general, although I thought everything was way too long, especially for soundtrack work. Most soundtrack compositions get very little sequential film time, maybe a minute or less.

Your acoustic piano is out of tune. I'd bet it's digital, though, and that's what you were going for.

One of the tracks (the one with the long name?) was eerily reminiscent of a Spoon song.

I like the reverse guitar or reverse reverb on one track, but it might have worn out its welcome.

I'm glad to see you doing this. You obviously put some thought into your music and having the balls to release it is not all that common. Good luck, and thanks very much for sharing your work. I'd encourage other hornfans musicians to do the same, except then eventually I'd have to put some of my stuff out there, and that would be embarassing. (Maybe I could provide some links to things I've produced or engineered, and then I'd only get blamed for the recording.)

 

[Hornfan#10]

Jimmy Jazz, if you want to hear some more hornfans original music, my band has some stuff atwww.myspace.com/thebanneryear. I'd love any feedback anyone wants to give, and Reckoner, I'll be checking out yours soon, the comments above have me interested.

 

[jimmyjazz]

I remember your band from a link you posted a while back. You have a new CD out, right? I'll check it out tonight. Thanks.

 

[jimmyjazz]

Listening now to The Banner Year:

Pretty damn good. I like that your mixes have plenty of bass guitar -- so much punk and punk-derived stuff has no bass. The guitar tones are a bit thin and "razor-like", and the drums could be a lot bigger, but some of this smallness could be related to the media. mp3 sucks.

Intros are a bit long on "Grayscale" and "Daylight Robbery". I thought the latter had single-esque tendencies, but it veers off pretty far in the break. That's fine. The melody is pretty tasty. I like a lot about "Tonight's Top Story", too. The tempo change -- or maybe it's just a feel change -- is a surprise. The backing vocals before the 2nd verse are a bit odd. The low one sounds auto-tuned.

I think you told me where you did this, but I can't recall -- so where did you do it?

Good job, all.

 

[unpaintedhuffhines]

i knew jimmyjazz had the bones to give the composition critique so I'm glad he did. I have no f'in clue about that stuff, but my ear and sonic heart are pretty in tune and generally I like what i hear

keep up the good work (and take jimmyjazz's advice)

 

[unpaintedhuffhines]

hornfan#10...

admittedly your bands style of music is not normally what I am into. In fact, it takes something extraordinary within that genre to have a positive effect on me.....

I've recently been introduced to some of Against Me's earlier stuff (specifically live stuff) that actually blew me away. I bring that up for this reason...I hear a hint of the uniqueness of Gabel's voice at times. It's here and there, but not consistent (the uniqueness, not the sound). I say that not because you should sound like them, but more to say that they've created an amazing sound within the punk/pop era and managed to not sound like *******. That's admirable. Plus their lyics are really ******* good. You guys have a chance to tap into something unique.

regarding your live track on myspace...you guys are missing a chance to really showcase your stuff. It sounds watered down and average based on the other tracks you have on your site (again, being honest, not an *******)

with all of that said, congrats on having the balls to be a musician

 

[l00p]

Listen to both of these guys and their advice.

 

[reckoner11]

Thanks again for all of your input guys!

jimmyjazz, you are correct about the piano. It is acoustic but out-of-tune due to sentimental reasons. You're not the first to comment on the length either. I can't thank you enough for giving me a good listen. I'd love to hear some stuff you've engineered.

hornfan#10,
I checked out your space and although punk is not typically my genre, there's no doubt you guys are talented. Very good vocals. I particularly liked the intro to daylight robbery. What kind of acoustic are you guys playing at the begginging of Top Story?

 

[Hornfan#10]

Reckoner, finally got a chance to give all the tracks on your site a listen. I'm no knowledgable enough to be a critic on your stuff, I stick more to the classical theory with pop focus side of things, but it did sound good. The chiquapin song was my favorite, and magma hills was my 2nd favorite. During those two I actually kinda felt like i was watching a movie, esp the chiquapin one. And not that this means much, but listening to it kinda feels like someone is watching a good movie in the next room.

 

[Hornfan#10]

Thanks guys for taqking the time to listen to my stuff and for the feedback.

Jimmy, it is in fact a tempo change in tonights top story, we have two songs on the cd that have some tempo changes, that ones a bit harder to notice though cuz it speeds up and goes to to half time. We actually had a producer tell us that no song does stuff like that, but after recording it both ways, I can definately say it sounds better this way. As far as the auto-tuning being a backing vocal its possible, I know we didnt use any auto tuning on the lead vocals, something I'm proud of(even though im not the singer) but we used it a bit on backing stuff I think. We recorded with Paul Soroski, the bassist of Podunk.

Unpainted, thats awesome that you bring up against me!, esp there old stuff, we're pretty huge fans of them. And don't feel bad dissing the live track, its a cover, we played it at a wedding cuz it was the married couples "song".

Reckoner, thanks, I love that intro, and it came out great in the studio. As far as the acoustic, I don't know, we didn't use any of our own gear in the studio, our producer had better stuff, I know we used a gibson les paul guitar and a marshall and mesa heads, but couldn't tell you on the acoustic. Fun fact about the acoustic, on our heaviest closest to metal song we use the acoustic on the first verse, I think it makes for a great suprise after the intro.