LinuxMusicians

Oscillator studios presents

Dreams of Seagulls - Crimson Moon

Music: Staffan Melin
Voice: Kajsa Olsson

Made with only free software: MusE, Surge, Calf, drumkv1, Dragonfly reverb

Bandcamp: https://dreamsofseagulls.bandcamp.com/t ... imson-moon
YouTube: https://youtu.be/ULzIzhZedjo

Hi, and thanks for sharing your music. A few thoughts after multiple listens:

The vocals in Blue have fewer distractions than in Crimson Moon, where
there is a lot of competition with the singer, in busy-ness and the upper frequencies.
Easy to miss the story on the first listen.

In Blue, I think the nice vocals would benefit from a more energetic beat.
The distorted synth also works against the clear vocals, plenty of alternate
sounds in Surge that would fit.

In Call Me, I think the synth parts should not overlap the vocals, and there is room for
them in the other areas. The high frequency synth can be a bit quieter and still deliver.
The tempo could be a bit quicker.

The Call Me lyrics are not concise, a blend of science fiction and struggling relationship?
Two songs worth of themes, so the future is friendly, as two songs are better than one.
A quicker tempo could make the songs easier to sing.
Cheers

This is so sweet! The big drums were quite a surprise and in a way a counterpoint to the rest of the arrangement.

Thank you for your detailed comments, @glowrak guy!

glowrak guy wrote: ↑Mon Nov 15, 2021 3:33 am The vocals in Blue have fewer distractions than in Crimson Moon, where
there is a lot of competition with the singer, in busy-ness and the upper frequencies.
Easy to miss the story on the first listen.

Yeah, we went for the "more is more" approach on Crimson Moon, and "less is more" on Blue!

glowrak guy wrote: ↑Mon Nov 15, 2021 3:33 am In Blue, I think the nice vocals would benefit from a more energetic beat.
The distorted synth also works against the clear vocals, plenty of alternate
sounds in Surge that would fit.

Ah, I was so pleased by the dist synth, inspired by old japanese synth pop, something that contrasts.

glowrak guy wrote: ↑Mon Nov 15, 2021 3:33 am The Call Me lyrics are not concise, a blend of science fiction and struggling relationship?
Two songs worth of themes, so the future is friendly, as two songs are better than one.
A quicker tempo could make the songs easier to sing.
Cheers

I get your point but we liked to mix the big and the small in this little story, leaves even the big astronomic events open to a "small" interpretation.

Thanks a lot for listening and commenting!

jeanette_c wrote: ↑Mon Nov 15, 2021 8:20 am This is so sweet! The big drums were quite a surprise and in a way a counterpoint to the rest of the arrangement.

I'm glad you liked the drums, @jeanette_c! I was a bit unsure but the song needed contrast and it seems to have worked! It is just an AVL drumset with a huge reverb slapped on it, nothing fancy.

Thanks for listening and commenting!

oscillator wrote: ↑Mon Nov 15, 2021 2:05 pm Thank you for your detailed comments, @glowrak guy!

I get your point but we liked to mix the big and the small in this little story, leaves even the big astronomic events open to a "small" interpretation.

Thanks a lot for listening and commenting!

It's extremely difficult to produce the kind music you're sharing, as everything is fully exposed!
It might be fun for you and Kajsa & crew, to spend a some time listening to and critiquing some artists
who excel, but without huge production teams. Make a party of it I think I'd start with
Imogen Heap and Alison Krauss, as their voices and styles may differ,
but storytelling and and performance details are a high priority.

As we say here, just north of Guitar Center, don't let that Record button reach room temperature

Alison's mega in-studio session video: https://youtu.be/9WNpwyP0_IA

Alison still learning: https://ew.com/music/robert-plant-aliso ... ice-notes/

Imogen talks studio vocal process https://youtu.be/Ui-DxSx8iek

(note that I just received a microphone, and am the antithesis of any and all vocal skills, my learning curve
is steap and high in front of me, can't even see the 'studio' door!)

Thank you @glowrak guy for the links, we will check them out!

I found the EP sound in the intro, and then dotted through the track rather harsh and overloud, slightly spoiling what I otherwise found a very enjoyable and well balanced song.