General Music Chat

It's called "Past Fillmore", and it's the first track on my profile now.

OK this just "popped out" while I was tweeking and editing this movie music I have been working on. It's electronica, and features Howard Giesel on violin.

Enjoy. Or not. As always, comments and critique are welcome.

Irminsul, it is the fast replying person here, lol. What do I think of this piece, well it is rather fascinating. I would give it a good 4 out of 5 stars if I had to rate it. The beginning is rather strange to me, it just fades in kind of weird, I am not sure how I would change it, due to the fact I am not too good with this kind of music. I must say I love the violin, it is rather beautiful in this song. This song has these highs and lows about it, almost like a light form of trance music.

It definitely sounds like a techno piece, only thing different is it sounds sort of overly digital (Like a cheap midi) in the beginning. However, due to the complex changes in sound and rhythm I find the piece rather fascinating. It is a fairly well done composition, maybe with a couple of changes here and there it would be perfect.

I know I could never do something like that, the only thing I could think of when listening to your piece was adding a guitar part. There is a pedal called the Korg AX3000g I believe. It has this techno like effect in it and it gives the guitar this smoothed out but digital like sound. I would probably take that and add a solo in somewhere on there.

As I said, I am no master on this music. But this is my overall honest opinion, no offense meant by anything I said.

Good luck with all of your music. If you need a more specific response, I would not mind going over the piece and picking out the exact parts I would change. I am too tired to really go over it at this second, lol, or I would, sorry about that.

Peace out, GuitarAnatomy.

I'm not a electronica guy, especially percussion parts..

the buildup at 2:48 was kinda kewl though.

the doohicky at 4:48 is neat
while listening, I was wonderin what the application is, beyond your own enjoyment of course..
I.E. is this genre something that is done for an audience, or as a backdrop for gaming/relaxing/toking?


music is cool, no?
Rich

Very cool. I especially loved the violin. I'd like to do a piece like that with some trippy guitar leads ala King Crimson, etc. Good job!

Irminsul,

I am a seperated parent with 2 kids in seperate schools. I make an 85 mile loop every morning and afternoon to get them to and from school. That being said I spend a lot of time in a vehicle listening to music. Lately I listen to either PBR (classical) or a local college Jazz station. It suprises my buddies when they get in my vehicle and Im not listening to Led Zep, AC/DC or Aerosmith, but you know Ive been there and done that.

This music in my mind is a marriage of those 2 genres. Ive come to really like the violin and cello. I guess they are the equivalent of electric guitar in the hard rock area I inhabit in my playing. I really enjoy listening to your work and am glad that you make the effort to post it here. Obviously its a lot different than what I play as a musician. When the song starts I was thinking Star Trek or Space Odessey, if that makes sense. It gives me a feeling of wide open spaces.

I dont know how to critique this in any way. The mix sounds good, your instrumentation fits the mood of the song. I know it electronica but I still like to hear more of a real drum sound, that being said the only weak part to me is the drum sound, but it fits the song. What i hear in drums in my head would probably sound out of place.

Good Job, you do really good and interesting work.

You guys are making me feel bad cause lately all my time has been tied up in cover type things and I havent created anything original.

Thanks for Sharing

"past fillmore" is very beautiful. i wonder why you titled it that.

i have always liked electronica since "cars" by Gary Numan came out so long ago. finding it on the car radio in the late hours while driving around DC is a trip.

in not sleeping on "blindside barium"-- i like that much more, in fact.

Irmy,
That "ring-modulated sounding bell tone" at the beginning of the piece took me back to "Tomita's" tones in his version of "Holst"s The Planets! I love that sound. It also wouldn't surprise me to learn that you listened to a bit of "Tangerine Dream" back in the day.
I found the drum track unnecessary and a bit annoying.
The violin got me thinking about "Jean-Luc Ponty" , So I googled him and found an awsome youtube video! I havent learned how to "cut and paste" the address so if you want to check it out you'll have to find it yourself.
Your stuff is always worth a listen, so KEEP 'EM COMMIN' !

Holy ring modulators, thanks very much for all the feedback, dudes. I guess I should probably try to do some individual acknowledgements so, here goes...

Guitaranatomy: As always I value your feedback. Some of what you mentioned I hand't thought of before, least of all before I composed this piece. Food for thought indeed. You know the electronica drum tracks are funny - some people dig em and others, they really dont like them, so I understand. I have to tell you this, you constantly surprise me with your observational prowess. I wish to hell I was as smart and articulate at your age.

Celticpiping: In answer to your question, this thing just sort of popped out when I was working on totally unrelated stuff. It really didn't have an application outside of my own personal satisfaction. Wait, not entirely correct....the process actually taught me some more tricks in producing electronic tracks, so maybe the muses had that lesson in mind. Hard to say.

jimmydanger: I'm thiiiiiisss close to doing a mix without the violin, sending it to you and saying "You and your guitar have at it!"

jw123: Compelling observation about the jazz/fusion stations. You know the absolute best radio station I ever heard in my life was on the way back from Las Vegas to my parents' home in Mesquite. It's about a 2 hour drive, much of it through desert nothingness and certainly no good radio, but low and behold in the middle of static I get this station calling itself "EtherWaves" and its playing this mind bogglingly beautiful electric/jazzish/fusion/ambient stuff just non stop...no talking, no commercials, just jaw dropping great music. I often wonder whether it was a pirate station or something. But the point is, it had such a profound effect on what I do outside of classical piano, harp and string quartet work. Thanks for your great comments.

Gi: I titled the piece that because it triggered a "travel memory". See I do alot of traveling to perform harp gigs, house concerts and the like. That takes me through the center of Utah alot. About dead center in Utah is a tiny little town that's mostly a gas stop, called Fillmore. When you are going south, and if you are travelling at night, just past Fillmore things get very black, silent and eerily beautiful. On moonlit nights you can see some amazing landscapes. It's quite magical. The musical impressions were from that common experience for me, viewing the cold ice light on these expansive desert fields. This area runs right till you get to Cedar City when its lights sort of breaks the "spell".

Howlinj: Man you got me pegged dead to rights. I am a long time Tomita fanatic, and his remake of Gustav Holst's "The Planets" was one of the seminal recordings that launched my interest in electronic music at all.

And Tangerine Dream? Oh you bet. Another one of my obsessions. These guys are old now but they practically invented electronic music.


Anyway thanks again you all. This has been some valuable commentary to try and digest. I appreciate you all being sounding boards.

Guitaranatomy: As always I value your feedback. Some of what you mentioned I hand't thought of before, least of all before I composed this piece. Food for thought indeed. You know the electronica drum tracks are funny - some people dig em and others, they really dont like them, so I understand. I have to tell you this, you constantly surprise me with your observational prowess. I wish to hell I was as smart and articulate at your age.

Thank you for the compliments. As far as the music goes, yes, taste is taste as far as sound is concerned. I have listened to many techno pieces before, but as I said, my knowledge is rather limited in understanding the in depth functions of the music. If you listen to "Gold" by Klee or "Tribulations" by LCD Soundsystem, you hear those strong techno rhythms that tend to be rather intoxicating may I say. It kind of makes you go into another zone, I guess that is why it ends up being dubbed "Trance" music.

If I had a good guitar and the right pedals, I would produce something over that piece of yours that would fit the techno theme. I tend to be able to hear in my head what would fit the music. So yes, when I get better gear for sure I will be posting a lot of my stuff. Hopefully by that time I am even better at this instrument.

Continue writing, Irminsul. Your stuff is very professional and very good. It is fascinating to know someone who creates that kind of music, it allows me to branch off into the vast world of music. So many genres and so much time to study them.

I do not know if you have heard of him, but Rob Dougan was one of my favorite composers. He has not done anything recently that I am aware of, but he did contribute music to the Matrix films. I bought the Matrix Reloaded soundtrack and that is where I first heard his stuff. Then I bought his CD "Furious Angels." It was awesome. The complex compositions he designed, intertwining them with an orchestra. His best tracks on that album were "Furious Angels" and "Clubbed to Death (Kurayamino variation)." There were many versions of both those songs released, ones where he sang, and ones where it was just the orchestra.

That kind of music was extremely fascinating, and very different from my taste now. I listened to it when I was younger, but still love it. I will be fascinated to take my guitar and add these effect pedals to it and produce music that is techno sounding.

Well, at any rate, good luck and peace out, GuitarAnatomy.

I'm thiiiiiisss close to doing a mix without the violin, sending it to you and saying "You and your guitar have at it!"

Sweet, a collab would be fun. Again, great job!

yes i like it....well i do listen to alot of stuff like this but it remindes me of "the orb"(slow breakdown) and "robert myles"...the main part is very robert myles "hands in the air" type of dance music but i like the slow orb type bit the most...some nice layers goin on but i would have worked the fast break beat back in again after the half time break down..very josh winx but it really gets the pulse racing.....

but yes i like it............ good job irminsul

Woah.... Past Fillmore ... UTAH!!!!!

I totally got lost on that one.

I was convinced that you entitled it that in some type of nod to the legendary Fillmore. Many famous acts of various genres have graced it's stage, including poetry readings, rock bands, orchestras and psychedelic groups, alternative, you name it.

I assumed that the odd union of the violin, which weaves in and out of an expected melody line, was like some sort of memory of past acts that played the Fillmore. Like a dream of musicians past, having graced that stage, and still haunting it's hallowed halls.

Boy did I get that wrong.

LMAO!!!

See, now you've got me interested in visiting The Fillmore Theatre with EMF meter and digirecorder for EVP, in hand.

(Yeah, I'm one of THOSE guys...)

Sorry to say, I never made it out to the Fillmore in Frisco. As a lad in the 60's ' I did make it down to the "Big Apple" to the "Fillmore East". The three band lineup included (1) "Rhinoceros"( Great band with "Billy Mundi", from The Mothers of Invention, on drums). (2) The "Moodey Blues" (Still had "Mike Pinder" on Mellotron!). (3) John Mayall and the "Blues Breakers"("Ansly Dunbar",drums ;" John McVie" bass ; and "a very young "Mick Taylor",guitar). Needless to say, it was an awsome show!

See, now you've got me interested in visiting The Fillmore Theatre with EMF meter and digirecorder for EVP, in hand.

(Yeah, I'm one of THOSE guys...)

So am I one of those guys, very into the paranormal. I got into EVP after learning about it from the movie "White Noise." Way before that I studied ESP and use to write reports (once a column for a school newspaper) on it. I studied it all the time, learning about different people like J.B. Rhine (Founding father of parapsychology). I love the study, it is amazing.

I always wanted to go to haunted areas and investigate. However, I have gone into some areas down here that are supposed to be haunted. Creepiest place is "The Breakers," it is a hotel down in the richest part of Palm Beach (Considered "Palm Beach Island"), it burnt down 3 times. There are pictures in the hallways, it is very old, built back in the early 1900's.

So, you are not the only one who is "One of those guys," Irminsul.

Peace out, GuitarAnatomy.