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Doing an album


Nillerbabs

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Hey folks,

 

 

Hope you are all doing well. I by no means want to brag, but I can hardly contain my excitement, and this being my go-to 'home' on the internet, I can't help but sharing with you guys.

 

I've composed jazz material steadily for the last couple of years. Since seven years ago, in boarding school, I always wanted to write a proper 'song' - with lyrics and everything, but I never seemed to be able to figure it out.

Well, I have to do an exam project for my current music studies. I considered recording a bunch of my jazz tunes with a piano trio, or doing some sort of educational material, but none of these things resonated with me. My girlfriend is a very competent songwriter, and so the idea struck me: I want to be able to do that as well.

 

So I started writing songs and lyrics, using guitar just as much as piano, and really picking up the singing. Initially I aimed at 3 or 4 songs, but now I have nine really good ones, pop, rock, and slightly experimental stuff. I've decided to go full on and make an album, release it properly with singles and music videos and the like and get a load of gigs and publicity - hopefully.

My band and I go in the studio from next monday, and it's gonna be a hoot. Although the music is in no way keyboard based, there will be some piano, wurlitzer, a great deal of synth and maybe a dash of mellotron. I've arranged for a great female singer to come sing a duet, and I'm hoping to get some string and brass players on it as well.

 

I will, of course, keep you guys up to date. Thanks a lot for reading this lot of self indulgence :)

 

 

/ Niels

When in doubt, superimpose pentatonics.
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I still call collections albums. I never was clear on the lingo. I guess I thought an album was a collection of pieces like a photo album and whether stuff was on tape CDs or lp records was irrelevant.

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!!

So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

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Songwriting is a great art. Its easy to fool someone with a complex but not-so-great "jazz" tune, but its much harder to fool someone with a bad song. You took the hard way, so good luck!
Be grateful for what you've got - a Nord, a laptop and two hands
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album

noun

1 a blank book for the insertion of photographs, stamps, or pictures: the wedding pictures had pride of place in the family album.

2 a collection of recordings, on CD, record, or cassette, that are issued as a single item.

 

That's funny. This is from the Dictionary app on my Mac, which you would think would include "MP3s" or digital files in the definition. "Record" doesn't really cover it, as the appropriate entry under "Record" says

 

a thin plastic disk carrying recorded sound, esp. music, in grooves on each surface, for reproduction by a record player.

a piece or collection of music reproduced on a phonographic record or on another medium, such as compact disc: my favorite record | [ as modifier ] : a record company.

 

Anyway, my point in all this is that album doesn't exclusively mean vinyl.

"I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck

 

"The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI

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Timely, as I've been on a vinyl kick lately. Got my 8yr old daughter into it as well going through my record collection. There's something awesome about album covers and the inherent influence on listening to at least an album side in its entirety, if not the whole thing.

Dan

 

Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth.

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Anyway, my point in all this is that album doesn't exclusively mean vinyl.

 

The operative word in Dave's message (for me anyway) was "turntable" ... which implies a vinyl record.

 

Maybe it's just me.

Now that you say that, I can read DDave's post differently. But I did think he meant album = vinyl record, and that he was surprised people made those, even though the OP never mentioned vinyl records, just "album."

"I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck

 

"The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI

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Dana - yea, for sure ;)

 

Quibbling aside, I think an album can be a vinyl, a CD or even a bunch of MP3's. The crucial thing to me is that it's a package with a general artistic expression and intention. Like pictures in an exhibition, a song can be enjoyed on its own, but being on an an album it's also part of a greater whole.

 

Many of the guys I know making hardware renditions of their recorded material opt for vinyl, some even for tape. There's a serious vintage craze among people my age, in some cases more justifiable but others, but regardless, there's a serious market. I think my music is obscure enough that if I were to put it down to hardware, I would go for vinyl in order to sell the most.

When in doubt, superimpose pentatonics.
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Hey Niels, congrats man! Great to hear that you're expanding your creativity.

 

I know how you're feeling, being all giddy with a new project and stuff. I was just in the studio yesterday with my newest and most exciting project. I'm listening to the takes right now and I can barely contain myself!

 

Let us know when we can hear it. :thu:

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My band put out a double lp about a year and 1/2 ago, you can find it here,

 

Doing the vinyl was very expensive, in fact, we just paid it off in December. We've actually sold more copies of the vinyl than the CD's and paid downloads combined, even though the lp is much more expensive.

 

An interesting and unexpected bit of feedback I've gotten from a number of people who bought the lp is that they have taken the time to sit and listen to the full album, lyrics sheet in hand, from Side A to Side D. When I hear this, it mkes me feel great!

 

I may be old fashioned, but I still really believe in the album, whatever the format. Even though it's not a concept album, we put a lot of thought into the song order, trying to make each side work as a mini-set, each lp work as an independent whole, and the whole project work from start to finish.

Turn up the speaker

Hop, flop, squawk

It's a keeper

-Captain Beefheart, Ice Cream for Crow

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My band put out a double lp about a year and 1/2 ago, you can find it here,

 

Doing the vinyl was very expensive, in fact, we just paid it off in December. We've actually sold more copies of the vinyl than the CD's and paid downloads combined, even though the lp is much more expensive.

 

An interesting and unexpected bit of feedback I've gotten from a number of people who bought the lp is that they have taken the time to sit and listen to the full album, lyrics sheet in hand, from Side A to Side D. When I hear this, it mkes me feel great!

 

I may be old fashioned, but I still really believe in the album, whatever the format. Even though it's not a concept album, we put a lot of thought into the song order, trying to make each side work as a mini-set, each lp work as an independent whole, and the whole project work from start to finish.

:thu:

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The head of our label is big on vinyl as well. I don't think we'll have our most recent album released on vinyl although the thought is appealing (gatefold!! yeah!!!)

 

Look forward to hearing the album too!

"The devil take the poets who dare to sing the pleasures of an artist's life." - Gottschalk

 

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Aethellis

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