Palmiro

Thank you, I enjoyed it... It has pleasing new wave vibe, it flows very well (the image of a train is very fitting)... I would have perhaps created more dynamic contrast in certain sections, for example by including a part where bass + drums stand alone, or maybe even only drums... it would make the return of the high pitched keys very pleasing I think (I guess here it's my composer side who's talking, rather than just the listener; in this forum sometimes is necessary to point out the difference ). Also, in the final part, I like the way the keys sort of "drag down" from 2' to the end... but it also has a bit of a "jam session-ey" feeling to me, as if there was still something missing, as if the resource wasn't totally exploited... Maybe in that part I would add some more dynamic change too, perhaps by increasing percussion, or a single note growing in volume signaling the end in a "classic" way... Just a few random ideas one "overhears" while listening, but it's a good song as it is, nice and soothing; although I mentioned the new wave it also has a more optimistic aspect to it, something more like say Ultravox or Alan Parsons... I can totally picture it as the final song in the album, or maybe as the interlude before "the big single we all know..." Good job...

Wow, mind blown... I didn't expect an answer so philosophical and existentialist... So, the way I understand it, the difference is not in the song itself, it's more a subjective thing you feel about it, you miss that person you were a few years ago, the person who wrote those lyrics... You feel there's been a loss in some aspects... I know that feeling, of course, like any half sensitive person who has the habit of looking back now and then... Although each person's walk through life is different and I frame mine differently, and use different names for it... I have to say, though, that the way you've phrased that angst in your post, in just a few lines, is pure poetry in itself, a song or a poem or a short story or an essay could be written simply out of it... Very intense, you really live this stuff from inside, the sign of a real artist... I object perhaps a bit to the use of the word "taming", which to my ear has a negative ring, but like I say, each person will frame differently these things (the passing of time, the way in which one changes)... I don't know what else to say after such depths... See you around and thank you for your music and your vision

It's funny, since I joined this site, I've already found two instances of people who have a problem of "excessive austerity". I used to think it only happened to me. I used to think of a guitar, my main instrument, the way one would think of a stapler, "why would I want to have two? It would be wasteful, this one gets the job done!" That's one extreme. The other one is those bastards in YouTube videos who show off their garages completely full of gear. Or something like Joe Bonamassa, which is downright pathological (I saw a documentary and his house looks like a warehouse). There's a middle ground, I'm sure each of those two instruments will have different properties and texture, and as a guy who deals in music, and has his own studio, it isn't too bad having them both around, if they give you joy and push you to pursue your music making. Maybe the better question would be "which one to purchase... first". (This is a bit of a philosophical answer, coming from a vocalist/guitarist/pianist; maybe you were rather looking for someone more brass-savy who could tell you "don't buy the pBone, my cousin has one and sucks!"... Just my 2c... )

Very nice song, I've listened to some of your other stuff before and I always find it soothing, hypnotic... It's like you've created a genre of your own... The lyrics are very good too, and your videos also have a very characteristic look and feel, very well done and fitting the songs very well, like in this case... Buen trabajo I'm curious, in which way do you feel you're "going back" to your former self with this song? To me it feels very consistent with the previous ones...

Good tips... As I learn, I'm favoring more and more delay over reverb. It really goes a long way to solve muddiness sometimes.

Nice resource... The technique I can relate to most is stacking. I often pan center the main vocal, and then slightly to the left and to the right I have duplicates, one sung one octave below, the other one octave up (whenever I can I actually sing them instead of just changing the octave with the DAW, it's a good vocal exercise and great fun). For certain songs I sometimes add also a track whispering the lyrics. I also add often a distortion bus, sometimes it increases punch and helps with intelligibility... but it has the disadvantage that, depending on the compression, it can accentuate the esses too much and then you have to tweak the deesser, do a new round of volume automation... Another technique from the video I've used sparsely is the vocoder, only because a particular song demanded a robotic voice... Never to autotune any note, that's just slander because I always always always sing on pitch

@HoboSage, lol, I know what you mean. Depending on the day of the week, it could be me the one making that comment instead. But funny that you mention Alice Cooper... a great example of how there's no such thing as retirement for musicians, it's our blessing and our curse I guess...

@CCB, Hey CCB, thank you for the welcome... And for checking my Soundcloud (it's a bit old, as you'll see... lack of bandwith for both projects at the moment). I also enjoyed your stuff, concerts must be very fun, with the appropriate amount of beers and smokes... (I couldn't stomach the larder song, though... too graphic for my taste... Although you certainly address the subject with great enthusiasm 😛 )

Thank you for your comments. Very interesting, lots of food for thought. You're right that it will be better that I open a thread on the topic rather than using this one here... It is going to take a while, though, because I'm advancing very slowly in the songs that I want to publish... But I'll certainly will want to pick some brains here... So great being able to share this stuff and get other people's impressions... Thank you so much

Thank you for your welcome to my species, and for checking out my stuff Do you have any advice on spreading one's activity on multiple projects? I'm currently just making the music, but I'm at a bit of a loss on how will I go about it in the tube later. E.g., I don't know if publishing the new project in the same YouTube channel, to take advantage of synergies, or maybe it would confound people and it's better to create a new channel... I was going to pose that question at some point here, but given that you mention it...

I like the idea of keeping a log book. I record my YT metrics in a spreadsheet, I guess it's a start... I want to clarify my comment on the $59 course... I'm not dissing paying for good content and information. What I was implying was more that: most of YT videos are like brochures to sell you something at the end, and at least this guy doesn't do it (although he does promote in a btw manner his books, "which are studied in university", etc).

Well, I don't know if someone can "overdo" something in music, it's creativity, the way I see it there's no wrong or right if that's how you feel it... (Speaking of "Killing me softly" the Fugees version comes to mind... ) My main project is a one man hardcore punk band, Black Sheep Riot, but it's currently on hiatus, in these days I'm in the works of a more poppy thing, I'm preparing a "stash" of songs that I want to start launching regularly in the tube once I finish them...

Great information again, very enlightening, thank you. I'm going to copy these two posts and study them like a "manual". What I found in this Musformation thing is a guy who gives you a methodology you can stick to, a strategy... which doesn't involve buying his shiny new e-course for $59.95. In fact he also debunks things like buying FB ads or playlist listens, as crap. I also like this idea of staying several weeks around the same song: both as a way of "hammering" the song into people's volatile attention span... and also as an unsaid statement that your music is important. Not only for them, also for yourself; if I find one of my songs is only meh, I'll find very hard to promote it with conviction, make lyric videos, video clips, create buzz around it... I can connect this way of doing things to my craft, it's not only marketing strategy. But of course the guy will probably be partial and for sure self-serving in everything he says. To say it all, I find him and his delivery so cringy that I don't even watch the videos anymore, I just read the transcripts . But I think the content is good, at least it's plausible, he has a consistent message from one video to another. I never thought of internet marketing, when it comes to music, as "niche". To be honest, hearing it denominated like that is a relief for me, as it means there is life outside this big "computer god" who seems to have swallowed all the music creation and distribution in our days... I hope to growingly learn more about those other avenues...

Wow John, your knowledge of this stuff is impressive. Thank you for sharing! Musformation gives advice for all platforms, but I'm by now doing only the cycle of publishing in YouTube, to see how it goes, because all I aspire to is having some people listening to the music. I like having this regular schedule to stick to, to avoid falling into "endlessly perfecting one song" (and certain track within the song, and certain detail within the track...) At first I was reluctant to making video, but then I thought that all my heroes from the pre-Internet era have had to do this kind of "ancillary" stuff in some way or another too, so I try to see it as another avenue for my creativity. For example, by recording myself in chroma videos, I'm getting to experiment with my stage persona, useful for when the moment comes to play actual gigs (it's been a while, sadly). Also, looking at myself as a viewer, I sometimes wonder "what will X be up to?", and I wish they published more often. I wouldn't mind to be that kind of little "incentive" for someone else, something that pops up in their day now and then...

Welcome from another newbie. I enjoyed the cover, you have great pipes, man. Looking forward to see you around.