Anybody want to be an Interstellar Fur Trader?

[ingolee]

Separate tracks vs. one long mp3 is a problem we never had a good answer for. POBP is more song oriented than Mink Stolen was and could be thought of as a concept album rather than an extended work. But in order to segue between narration and a song we almost have to use one track in some cases at least, one idea I have is morphing the suspension at the end of Cue 1 into the intro of the POBP song

If the songs are tracked individually they can have a life of their own, be promoted, maybe even get some media attention separate from the work as a whole?

And what about upload limits, do we have one here on IRD? Even mp3’s can get real big.

I guess we don’t have to commit to a format yet, there’s a lot of work ahead and the direction we take may help determine the format. I don’t want to discourage any contributions so if anyone has material to submit we may have to jump around but going through the whole thing in sequence does seem to offer some advantages as far as continuity and development of themes.

[steban]

Separate tracks vs. one long mp3 is a problem we never had a good answer for. POBP is more song oriented than Mink Stolen was and could be thought of as a concept album rather than an extended work.

As much as I love Dark Side of the Moon, especially the way they could flow one song into the next on the album, it didn’t work as well on CDs. And 8-10 minute songs are pretty big at a higher mp3 size like 320, not so bad at 192. I made an iTunes

playlist for POBP so I can hear them in order easily. Under file properties we can give it an album name and track numbers to play in order.

We actually had Mink Stolen both ways- one long 25 minute mp3 and 5 parts. We could do the same here. I just bought interstellarfurtraders.com and did a free trial GoDaddy page about to expire, but it could be one home.

BTW - I have my (preliminary) drum track lined out for GAOTSS, and have been working on arrangements for the lyrics. I found those SFX we talked about too. Taking it one step at a time, but the wheels are in motion.

I was hoping we would finish by Halloween, but that is coming up so fast! It might be Christmas! And it’s because of the quality of your work, my fellow Fur Traders, the detail of your product, and it’s something I’m not the best at, I admit. So however long it takes is however long it takes. I’m sure GAOTSS is going to be astounding.

I’m having fun dreaming up new episodes- Already started Oasis and On the Way to Gallifrey, and just came up with Aarpth, the Retirement Planet, and Grand Old Planet, a planet founded by conservatives. I’m not certain about these last two ideas yet.

I don’t want to discourage any contributions so if anyone has material to submit we may have to jump around but going through the whole thing in sequence does seem to offer some advantages as far as continuity and development of themes.

Which is why I’m keeping all that to myself until after we finish POBP and hear how good it is.

[Stan_Halen]

I was hoping we would finish by Halloween, but that is coming up so fast! It might be Christmas! And it’s because of the quality of your work, my fellow Fur Traders, the detail of your product, and it’s something I’m not the best at, I admit. So however long it takes is however long it takes. I’m sure GAOTSS is going to be astounding.

Well, it did take me awhile to get going, it seemed that lots of “life” stuff came up once we had started the project. I hope to stay with it at a reasonably steady pace and not take until Christmas. While Halloween does get closer by the day, I’m trying to hold that as target deadline, but yes I do really want to put all I have into GAOTSS.

[CPF]

I don’t want to halt progress any further. By board’s been acting up and I’ve got to fix it but you’re welcome to move on without me.

[steban]

it seemed that lots of “life” stuff came up once we had started the project.

Ah, life. It is always something. We just do the best we can, dude, and I hope it’s not too bad. I’m traveling this month to my sister’s wedding in Canada and on a cruise for a week out of Galveston over Halloween (and my birthday). My wife and I’s first, should be a blast, hope to gain 5 pounds and not get bitten by a shark.

I don’t want to halt progress any further. By board’s been acting up and I’ve got to fix it but you’re welcome to move on without me.

Well, clown, technical difficulties can stop you cold. If anyone else wants a go at the show host part, go for it. I can do it Stan, you’ve got a lot on your plate. If you want to try in a different voice, then go for it! I suppose you might be curious to try since you are getting into spoken word. If not, I’ll do it if we are ready for it soon, guys.

I did listen to Cue 1.8 followed by POBP, @ingolee, and it sounds excellent! The short silence between tracks did not detract from the continuity to me. It may have heightened anticipation.

[ingolee]

I did listen to Cue 1.8 followed by POBP, @ingolee, and it sounds excellent! The short silence between tracks did not detract from the continuity to me. It may have heightened anticipation.

Thanks @steban . The end chorus patch on Cue 1 is pretty long, as Stan mentioned, so I had intended it to do something else before POBP starts. So I worked out a transition and intro which then led to some changes to POBP itself which is what I’m working on now.

Sounds like you have some neat plans, watch out for sharks (and hurricanes!)

[Sven]

I saw a mention of DISCO…
I’ve got a couple of ideas on my phone - think I have done more work on them on the music rig… been a while since I fiddled with
them…

If you’re interested in something like this, let me know… I think of them as “indie folk disco” tunes…

S

[Stan_Halen]

Ah, life. It is always something. We just do the best we can, dude, and I hope it’s not too bad.

Right. “Onward through the fog!”

If anyone else wants a go at the show host part, go for it. I can do it Stan, you’ve got a lot on your plate. If you want to try in a different voice, then go for it! I suppose you might be curious to try since you are getting into spoken word. If not, I’ll do it if we are ready for it soon, guys.

I was going to try it anyway. When Clown volunteered I thought that would be good, as from what I can tell of his personality he would be a natural. But I would have given it a try anyway. So now yes I will give it my best and see what comes out.

[CPF]

If I can get my system stable I’ll post something. I’ll be in touch.

[ingolee]

If I can get my system stable I’ll post something. I’ll be in touch.

Your system’s unstable
And now you’re unable
To share in the bliss
Of this space fable you’ll miss
Just give it some RAM
More and more RAM
Cut out the beef
It gives no relief
Forget about spam
It ain’t worth a damn
Just cram in more RAM!

[ingolee]

@steban and @Stan_Halen, here’s a remix of the POBP song, please see if you think we can use any of this.

[steban]

I listened to it a few times, @ingolee, by itself, and felt it was not meant to stand alone. The sounds and effects were a bit exaggerated, sometimes clashing in new ways above my built in offkey singing at parts, and so I slept on it. At that point I was imagining it as part of the Cue 2 behind the host intro in some fashion.

But today I tried a quick mix with a lower lead vocal line of the new with the current pobp, and below is what resulted.

I was quite surprised how nicely it mixed overall. It lined up pretty well most of the time, but it makes for a different vocal arrangement. I’m still listening to that.

There are still a few brief parts that are off to me, but the majority sounds pretty good. I can imagine them in the song itself, thickening it up a tad. I had gotten used to the simple arrangement’s ambience, but this may not detract from that, may even contribute to it. Even the extra drums don’t seem like too much. And you add a bass line as well that works well to me.

I’d say there is some useful stuff here, dude! @Stan_Halen may have a different take, but this is the sort of extra tracks I was hoping we’d get especially for the more bare bones songs. I was hoping we wouldn’t have to mess with the current shell arrangements, only add on more stuff, and I thought pobp would be hard, and yet here it is!

This gives us our first taste of what a finished song might sound like, indeed, what our “band” sounds like. And that is without any guitar Stan wants to add. It is becoming our sound, and am liking it.

There’s a lot of chaos in my mock up right now, instruments that may need adjusting- levels or replacing. The vocals are particularly out of balance, but it is such a thrill to hear what other minds come up with. Thanks!!!

[ingolee]

@steban I’m happy to do whatever you want since this is your project. I can’t really tell what’s going on with the latest mix that you posted, it’s kind of a mish-mash to my ear. If you want me to change or remix anything I’ll be happy to do that, or we can go ahead with whatever you choose.

[Stan_Halen]

here’s a remix of the POBP song, please see if you think we can use any of this.

I was imagining it as part of the Cue 2 behind the host intro in some fashion.

I guess these sound like background for a Cue, as was mentioned. I may be confused as to whether the remixes of POBP are intended to be the main song or for background. (?) I had thought POBP (the song) was mostly finished except for some possible overdubs. I do think something like this could work behind the host intro.

This gives us our first taste of what a finished song might sound like, indeed, what our “band” sounds like. And that is without any guitar Stan wants to add. It is becoming our sound, and am liking it.

After listening a couple of times, I could hear a guitar solo of sorts over top of these remixes, if they were to be used as a segue or Cue music.

I have it on the docket to do some work on GAOTSS and/or narration today. Hope to have something to post soon.

[ingolee]

@steban and @Stan_Halen, yes, I intended my remix that I posted to be the main song.

I think that the songs that Steban has posted in this thread are excellent songs and also very original which is a valuable asset. But I feel that the production quality is not as good as his best work heard here on SoundCloud

The quality of production is quite good on these two tracks and “Waiting for What” won the Hollywood Songwriter’s contest because of that as well as the quality of writing.

I think that the songs in this thread deserve to have good production done to them and that is what I’m trying to do with my remix of POBP; of course I’m not claiming that my version measures up to the two links above, but in my opinion that is what we should be striving for here. Writing and production quality is what gives a song a chance at becoming popular.

Having said that, I’m happy to go along with whatever you decide to do.

[ingolee]

Here’s a basic track of POBP with just bass, drum and vocal. Maybe you both could add some tracks to this without the other stuff in the way?

[steban]

I finally figured it out that you added four bars up front, so my mix was out of sync!

I am playing it in sync now, and it fits much nicer. Now I can hear the bass and the extra drums, and the synth line with the auto harmony and that guitar hit at 14 secs is gone. In my mind we do not want to crowd the simple keyboard/guitar sound, but the bass is good.

The drums are not clashing, so that might be fine throughout, I’m not a great drum judge.

The effects on the vocals are subtle. I had to up the level on the whole track and added Bark of the Dog to bring up the bass and drums, and I got a pretty good mix. I’ll upload that later, having slow upload speed right now.

Regarding The Life Online and Waiting for What, @ingolee, @Stan_Halen, my friend shankarji arranged and mixed those, and he adds that extra reggae feel so well. Plus we go for a big production vibe rather than a moodier vibe. POBP is moodier.

My view is we are cooking a song and adding ingredients and spices. If we add too much of anything we might ruin the taste of the recipe. POBP absorbs the bass well as there was no bass. The new drums are not over the top, and I like two drummers in bands. Here it was working to me, so far. I still can imagine a vocal harmony if we had a female voice and applied it lightly, but quite OK as is. A guitar line, not impossible, but beyond my ability. But any extra synths have little space to work within.

POBP had a lot of elements to it even as it is, and stood well in that form.

The next song, No Turning Back, has a lot more space for synths/strings/bass/harmony vox, even drums. Granted, it has a acoustic folk vibe that ought to be preserved, which is a challenge.

[steban]

So here is a mix with the bass and drums and extra vocals and the synth at the intro. I applied a little Bark of the Dog on @ingolee’s track, which seems to louden it a bit.

I’m curious what you and @Stan_Halen think about this one, but I keep getting an error at 100% on the upload! Finally uploaded!

[Stan_Halen]

So here is a mix with the bass and drums and extra vocals and the synth at the intro. I applied a little Bark of the Dog on @ingolee’s track, which seems to louden it a bit.

I’m curious what you and @Stan_Halen think about this one

This one sounds pretty good to me. I like the ambience and how the elements are working together. There are some places the drum patterns sound clunky and awkward (in terms of timing/beat) … I don’t know if that’s one of the things Ingo was talking about.

The intro drums sound pretty good, but there’s a drum fill around 1:25 that sounds awkward (and a few others probably), and in a few of the verses the beat sounds a little off but it also kind of sounds like a purposeful ‘swing’ or ‘groove’ in the beat or arrangement. I assume those have been there all along, but this mix seemed “clearer” than some of the others and maybe I could hear them a little better. Also, it is getting to the stage where we may be critiquing ourselves more and nailing down what the production values look like.

[ingolee]

@steban @Stan_Halen, I think we are getting closer here and it’s good to talk about this.

This latest track Steban has done has some good points for sure, but as you say Stan, the drums (and bass) can be a problem. To be fair, the drums (they are my drums and bass) probably make more sense (to my ear at least) in the context of my version of this tune, but that version does push the envelope in ways that Steban didn’t want for this song which I understand.

So my arrangement missed the mark; but I did do quite a bit of fine tuning to the lead vocal, and I also added clarity to the mix which is usually helpful but may also not be what Steban had intended.

I would suggest one of two approaches. I think we should keep my retuned lead vocal and either have Steban put that back into his original arrangement; or else I can redo the bass and drums from my arrangement to fit better with Steban’s latest post here.

Thoughts?