My focus for quite a while has been on dark, beautiful, and complex music. There isn’t much dark beautiful music out there in general (and finding groups that have those qualities that are also complex is even harder)–it’s something that I feel is lacking in the music industry–anytime there’s usually something dark it has to sound harsh and distorted, like speed metal and the such. Depeche Mode has had some songs that go dark and beautiful, but the vocalist very rarely sings outside his lower range, and they rarely use many harmonies, and complex–I don’t think I’d call any of their music complex per se. There are a number of artists that have put out a few dark beautiful songs, like Portishead, Bjork, Radiohead, and Stereolab, but they’re not the style of what the majority of those artists put out. My favorite Paul McCartney song of all time, from his latest album “Chaos and Creation in the Backyard”, is “Riding to Vanity Fair”–absolutely beautiful, dark, and really good lyrics and vocals.
I’ve always had a love for odd timings, especially when they can be made in such a way that they’re still catchy. The numb song is in 5/8 (the 8 signifying that the count is faster) and the test song is in 7/8. The most catchy 5/4 song that just about everyone knows is the theme from Mission Impossible.
I know I’m just basically tooting my own horn here, but I really like where my music has been going. I like how much more control vocally I have now that I’m not smoking weed anymore. I like the way I’m able to focus on things now that I’m not smoking anymore.
I also like the fact that I don’t take contstructive criticism personally anymore now that I’m not high all the time.
Those are some interesting suggestions for the sax–I don’t have a single decent sounding sax sound, however. I have some pretty good bassoon and oboe sounds, but I don’t think that would hit the same way, even though I love those instruments.
The vocal mix is always a hard one–in the past, when I make the vocals quieter, a lot of people complain about it being too quiet and that they want to hear my voice more, and when I make it -this- level (I like this mix, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the -best- mix, it’s just my preference) there’s the other group of people who think that the vocals should be more subdued.
The Numb song I consider to be a finished product. I really do like the idea of making a more over-the-top intro for it, but I figure the intro is short enough that the meat and potatoes of the song comes in quickly enough that the laid-back intro still works. --But the test song is definately a test, and input on what could help -that- song would be the most beneficial to me. I’m still trying to get concepts of what other parts should be added–something more harsh, more mellow, a stylistic change, I haven’t been able to decide–and I also don’t know what time length I should shoot for either–is it catchy enough to be something I could push as pop, or is it too weird and are the lyrics too suggestive of me being gay?
