Originally Posted By: floyd jane
Goodness! it takes a while to read your threads (especially if you've been away or don't have time to get to it for a few days)!!

I do enjoy the fact that you document your thoughts and processes. Interesting reading. Your thoughtful responses to comments, too...

Hi, floyd jane.

I do tend to write a lot. A lot is re-processing what I'd tried to do with a particular song, and see where I'd hit or missed particular marks. Plus, songwriting and production tends to be a very solitary process, so it's really helpful to talk and get feedback from other songwriters and producers - especially those I admire!

So I appreciate all feedback, both positive and negative. It helps confirm places where I already think I need to improve, and point out places I've entirely missed.

I'm not just bumping my post. wink

Originally Posted By: floyd jane
The BAND/tracks sound great. The opening gave me a Steely-Dan-vibe...great company to be in... the mix is tight.

Good to hear! I'm a big fan of Steely Dan, and the Alan Parsons Project, and I suspect I'm more producer than songwriter.

But that also leads to problems when I figure I can fix something via production rather than going back and fixing fundamental things like a hyperactive melody. It ends up pretty, but still fundamentally flawed.

Originally Posted By: floyd jane
The robot voices ARE impressive (technologically). But...it seems as though "they all sound the same". Not just your use of them, but ALL uses of them. You do a hell of a job getting them to sing with a good cadence. But...they, inevitably, lack true emotion.

I hear what you're saying. I've spent a long time trying to get my own vocal synthesis program off the ground, and no matter how much improvement I've done, there's always a huge gap between what it does and what a real singer can do.

And I always feel sad when I hear someone who uses strings with a "cheap" MIDI library, because it feels like it just lets the song down. So when it's the vocals, which are the key to the song, it's even more so!

A lot of these songs simply wouldn't have been possible to do without a vocal synthesizer, since my home is currently anything but ideal for vocals. But I've also got a house full of singers (myself included), so I should make more of an effort to get real vocals on my songs in New Year.

In the meantime, thanks for putting up with the robots! smile

Originally Posted By: floyd jane
You write very cool melodies. However, (I didn't want to say "But..." again smile ) This one feels like a trying-too-hard moment. The melody "bounces" a lot. Ups and downs - which works at times, then, at times, just feels like it is up-and-downing unnecessarily - which begins to sound forced. There actually needs to be more "sameness" ("even-ness"?) to the melody to make it sound "natural", not "manufactured".

Yeah, it's a "threading the needle" thing for me, and I'm obviously not there yet.

My verses often feel like they're trying to be the chorus. I'm spending too much effort trying to outline the chord changes and create interesting lines, but that's not really the job of the verse.

I think part of the problem is the way that it's created. I'll start with chords, when melody is the real driver of the song. Then I'll build the melody up one phrase at a time, without enough attention to how it matches what's gone before. Then I go back and try to make it more unified, but still focus on the micro level of the melody.

In the future, I'll try to re-use motives, have less ideas, and avoid using so many leaps that sound lovely, but are out of place in the verse.

Originally Posted By: floyd jane
...this is in NO WAY intended to suggest what you are doing is not VERY impressive (all aspects of it). It's VERY impressive. The acoustic sounds wonderful! The harmonies are exquisite. The drums are tasty!

No, I appreciate the honesty here.

And thanks for mentioning the drums.

Originally Posted By: floyd jane
You are a very talented musician and songwriter and producer.

And, of course, I appreciate any praise in addition to constructive feedback! wink

Thanks again. It's always good to hear from you!

-- David Cuny
My virtual singer development blog

Vocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?