My first "lockdown" production - shot live in the studio

[Foxglove]

This has been one of the most enjoyable and rewarding things that I’ve done musically (for myself) during this lockdown period. Larry (drummer) and I had a lot of fun recording this. The track forms part of my next solo album which I’m busy with at the moment. The genre is very much in the Alan Parsons Project kind of production. He has been a massive influence on the way that I write, produce and mix.

 

It was quite tricky doing all the filming and playing myself (except for drums) but I'm quite happy with the result. I also showed which keyboard VSTs were used in the making of the track.

 

I was able to use the Kemper Profiler for all the guitars in the way that I think it was meant to be used, in that most of the profiles were created by me. The profiles used in this track were created from my live rig using all the various pedals etc. This device has been a revelation for me in terms of guitar tone and ease of use.

 

Please note, if you normally listen to three or four minute songs this is definitely not for you. It's an instrumental track which runs for around 12 minutes and is structured into three parts.

 

Hope you enjoy,

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

 

 

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[john]

Good job. Pretty well put together. Musically, very well done.

 

Video, personal taste I'm not a big fan of the titles. Some nice scenic footage would work very well with the studio footage and helped make it feel more adventurous. Musically you set a great scene. Video wise some footage goig down the highway, time lapse on a city, rolling hills, flowing river, moving crowds etc Something, even with the insets on top. Not to dominate with the extra footage, just to add some touches. Even close ups on faders and LEDS changing focus or depth of field shots. Just like music, video is about variety. Better if you can also profide some sort of narrative. Think Pink Floyd "Live at Pompei". Most was performance, but there were arty shots, scenic shots and there was the narrative that showed the band setting up and taking down their gear, the passing of time as it went into night etc. It all gives a frame, a backstory.

 

Naming Your Kit

 

Who is your audience? I would have thought fans of the bands you mention would be your audience, and they largely do not care about your gear. Don't get me wrong, I get there is a small part of your audience who would be interested, but perhaps you coulc just add that to your YouTube description, or make available on your website.

 

Shot Selection

 

Good variety of shots. Missed some arty shots and some footage outside of your studio. As mentioned above some focus and depth of field changes would make for a nice addition to shot selection.

 

FX

 

Transitions generally good. Insets pretty good too. Could perhaps have used dip to black, cross fades for transition variety. Green screen... meh I don't think it would have added anything to this. 

 

Lighting

 

Here having some lighting changes would have helped. Although in a studio the presentation is like a live gig... ie it is all performance shots. Some colou washes and spots would have taken it too a different visual zone.

 

 

All in, pretty damn good. I am nit picking to try and be useful

 

[John W Selleck]

Hi Peter,

And welcome. I normally don't listen to many instrumentals but this was very well done, and personally, I prefer the shots of you pickin' and the drummer playing. Thanks for sharing.

[Foxglove]

16 hours ago, john said:

Good job. Pretty well put together. Musically, very well done.

 

Video, personal taste I'm not a big fan of the titles. Some nice scenic footage would work very well with the studio footage and helped make it feel more adventurous. Musically you set a great scene. Video wise some footage goig down the highway, time lapse on a city, rolling hills, flowing river, moving crowds etc Something, even with the insets on top. Not to dominate with the extra footage, just to add some touches. Even close ups on faders and LEDS changing focus or depth of field shots. Just like music, video is about variety. Better if you can also profide some sort of narrative. Think Pink Floyd "Live at Pompei". Most was performance, but there were arty shots, scenic shots and there was the narrative that showed the band setting up and taking down their gear, the passing of time as it went into night etc. It all gives a frame, a backstory.

 

Naming Your Kit

 

Who is your audience? I would have thought fans of the bands you mention would be your audience, and they largely do not care about your gear. Don't get me wrong, I get there is a small part of your audience who would be interested, but perhaps you coulc just add that to your YouTube description, or make available on your website.

 

Shot Selection

 

Good variety of shots. Missed some arty shots and some footage outside of your studio. As mentioned above some focus and depth of field changes would make for a nice addition to shot selection.

 

FX

 

Transitions generally good. Insets pretty good too. Could perhaps have used dip to black, cross fades for transition variety. Green screen... meh I don't think it would have added anything to this. 

 

Lighting

 

Here having some lighting changes would have helped. Although in a studio the presentation is like a live gig... ie it is all performance shots. Some colou washes and spots would have taken it too a different visual zone.

 

 

All in, pretty damn good. I am nit picking to try and be useful

 

Thanks for the comments and for watching, John. I take all your points and welcome any other comments. To put it into context, this was put together in lockdown - There was no one involved but myself and a drummer. I had to do all the filming, playing etc. When I recorded the drummer, I was concentrating more on what he was playing and to get the parts that I wanted recorded. The cameras were just rolling to capture the recording takes. Cameras had to be stationary as there was no one to man them. I really wasn't going for a "music video" type production. I don't have a green screen or a fancy lighting setup. This is an audio studio not a video studio.

 

The studio is part of my house and I don't think that anyone would be interested in seeing the outside of the studio.. The reason for putting up a video was actually to document the recording of the track. A lot of my followers prefer to watch and listen than to listen only. I've had requests to basically put together videos of every song on the album. Far too much work. I normally put about three or four songs out on video.

 

I am busy putting together a "making of" type of documentary which will consist of recording footage, interviews etc.

 

I just think that video plus audio these days is better than just audio.

 

As I said earlier, thank you for your comments. I really appreciate any feedback - good or bad. It's nice to get other perspectives to give me ideas going forward.

 

16 hours ago, John W Selleck said:

Hi Peter,

And welcome. I normally don't listen to many instrumentals but this was very well done, and personally, I prefer the shots of you pickin' and the drummer playing. Thanks for sharing.

 

Thanks for your comments too, John! Yes, Instrumentals aims at an extremely small market but I consider myself lucky that I am able to have enough interest from a selling point to make a decent amount from sales to cover the costs for each album.

 

Cheers,

 

Peter.