Thomas Klepl

Hilarous! Maybe fat isn't the right word.. the rhodes just sounded really lush, warm and detailed to me. Is that a real rhodes? If not, what is it? I'm listening with Mackie HR824 monitors. But I think it's more of a personal opinion rather than differences in equipment. I'm pretty sure I used a Proteus 2000 patch on my "Visions in Blue" song for the mute trumpet as well. It does a decent imitation but yeah, I'd love to have live trumpet on that song, it would really bring it to life. Thanks Phil, very nice comments. I see what you mean about the melody - there isn't much of one http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif I actually had a friend sing on this tune (female) and it turned out quite nice considering the lyrics I wrote in a short time, and the short amount of time she had to practice. I don't have that version on my mp3 page though. Let me know what you think of other stuff if you can! Thanks!!! My main gig is graphic design-I do a lot of web page design and multimedia work.

Hi everybody, I recently posted this message in the "Let's hear it" thread but I think it might be more appropriate here: I recently found this forum and I must have spent at least 4 hours reading through the many topics.. definitely the best keyboard forum I've ever seen! Nice to see Mr. Bryce heading it up too (Dave, I sent Alesis a midi file of my first QS7 composition about 4 years ago and that's when I first saw your name when you replied! The song I sent is now titled "Wish upon a Star"). I thoroughly enjoyed reading the "how did your parents react when they found out you were interested in music" thread... I'm 23 and still living with my folks, and they are pretty much the least useful source of feedback (I think the most they've said is "oh, that's nice!"). It's hard to find other people who can comment on your music from a musician's perspective, unless of course you know a lot of musicians (I do not). Anyhow, I write in the "new age" genre mostly on midi gear (a QS7 and a Proteus 2000). I've also recently started recording djembe and various african hand percussion. I've got a couple of inexpensive large diaphragm mics, a mackie 1202 mixer, delta66 sound card, cakewalk sonar, and a pair of mackie hr824s (I think these babies will last me for ever!) I've been playing piano on and off throughout my life but started composing music about 8 years ago with computer-based tracker software (669 Composer and Screamtracker), then moving into midi about 5 years ago. Tom Oh yeah and I'm from Toronto. My music can be found at: http://www.mp3.com/tomklepl Feedback much appreciated on anything from song structure to production..

Hi Phil! I enjoyed the piano solo the most and the electric piano in the background sounds really great. The overall vibe is pleasing. I admire your jazz piano abilities. The mix sounds nice and balanced, with all instruments coming through clearly. I also liked the intro which is interesting, as well as leading into the song smoothly. A couple of things that jumped out at me..mainly production issues. The electric piano sounds really good and fat (what instrument is this?). So good in fact that the rest of the instruments sound thin and lacking in comparison. Most notably: the mute trumpet. I've used midi mute trumpet on a couple of songs too so I know how hard it is to get a good natural sound with proper dynamics and expression without being "screetchy". The natural thing to do of course is drown it in reverb to try and hide the "unrealism" but this doesn't really help. The 808 drums, at least to me, sound too much like an "out of the box" 808 kit. I've probably done the same in a lot of my music too but sometimes it's hard to see these aspects of your own music after you've been so close to it. Perhaps some funky processing FX could be done to these drums to make them sound less generic, try a different kit, or combine say the 808 snare with a different kit's hihats. Also it sounds to me there's too much reverb on the drums (and maybe even the whole mix) at times (- I think I make the same mistake too http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/mad.gif ). Anyway, just my 2 cents, I'm no authority on this stuff http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif My music is at http://mp3.com/tomklepl. My jazziest pieces are "Timeless", "Wish Upon a Star" and "Vision in Blue" (which actually uses a midi mute trumpet too http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif). Some feedback (from anyone!) would be great. This message has been edited by Thomas Klepl on 08-25-2001 at 12:09 AM

Ok.. I think the heavy bass could be a result of my miking technique. I used one mic at the top to capture the slaps, and one underneath the drum to capture the bass. I could trim down the bass channel ... Djembe is much bigger than a bongo. It has a large goat skin surface and a flared bottom. There are usually some nice carvings in the wood. There are also djembes made from synthetic material. A normal size djembe is about 2 feet tall. The other instruments I used were goats nail shakers ("chaichas") and a guiro which is the hollow wooden instrument with ridges all along one side which you run a stick over in both directions and different speeds to create a rhythmical sound. You're probably thinking of Adiemus music and the British Airways commercial http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif There's actually a picture of a djembe on my page (http://www.mp3.com/tomklepl) next to the song. Puka must be timpani? I actually used a nice timpani sound in my latest song "Undercurrents". This message has been edited by Thomas Klepl on 08-22-2001 at 02:40 PM

Thanks for listening! I never looked at it that way, but I see (hear?) what you mean. Technically speaking, what do you think of the recording of the djembe?

Hi everybody, I recently found this forum and I must have spent at least 4 hours reading through the many topics.. definitely the best keyboard forum I've ever seen! Nice to see Mr. Bryce heading it up too. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the "how did your parents react when they found out you were interested in music" thread... I'm 23 and still living with my folks, and they are pretty much the least useful source of feedback (I think the most they've said is "oh, that's nice!"). It's hard to find other people who can comment on your music from a musician's perspective, unless of course you know a lot of musicians (I do not). Anyhow, I write in the "new age" genre mostly on midi gear (a QS7 and a Proteus 2000). I've also recently started recording djembe and various african hand percussion. I've been playing piano on and off throughout my life but started composing music about 8 years ago with computer-based tracker software (669 Composer and Screamtracker), then moving into midi about 5 years ago. I've been looking for something like a "Let's hear it!!!" spot on the web for some time. I'm really looking forward to some constructive critique. Oh, and after listening if you think I'm worthy to comment on your own masterpieces, please ask and I'll try my best. May this thread live on!! Tom http://mp3.com/tomklepl "Undercurrents" is my latest, "Wash over me" is my first recorded song with djembe "Mystery to Me" seems to be popular