(Post-Rock) Regulus

[adfielding]

Howdy folks! I'm not entirely sure if I've posted any music here before, so it seems kind of interesting to be posting something that's quite far removed from my usual style



Basically, I decided to try something different with this tune - instead of relying heavily on electronic elements, I decided to limit myself to a typical band setup. In this case, I chose 2 guitarists, 1 bass guitar, 1 keyboard, and 1 drummer. I wrote the tune around these elements, and recorded most of the parts (besides the drums, because - alas - I can't play the drums!) live before tweaking them afterwards.

I wrote the first version of this in early 2015, but was never really happy with it until I came back to it in December 2015 and stripped out the old drums and tweaked the mix properly. It was a fun exercise, and it's an idea I'd like to return to in the future.

Everything was recorded, produced, and mixed in Reason, and the export came directly out of Reason. All guitars and bass were processed using Kuassa REs (Vermillion for one guitar, Creme for the other, Cerberus for the bass), and the drums came from Record Drum Takes - which I maintain is hugely under-rated. The RE-2A got plenty of use as well. The piano is from the Abbey Road Refill, and extra synths came from Tom Pritchard's excellent Refill series.

[satyr32]

Good. But then again I am into Post-Rock big style so I am a bit biased.
Also production-wise it sounds good.

[adfielding]

Good. But then again I am into Post-Rock big style so I am a bit biased.
Also production-wise it sounds good.

Thanks for checking it out! I'm really glad to hear you liked it

[esselfortium]

So, so good. I love the wailing guitar. You've perfectly captured the wall-of-sound style I love hearing in postrock -- it's like being wrapped in a warm fuzzy blanket of sound!

[6502]

You are one talented dude. I really like the ending with the decrescendo and the old piano coming in. Overall it's a well written piece of music. Sounds good in mono on an iPad. I hope to listen again on my studio monitors.

[Benedict]

Hi Mr Fielding

Overall the sound is really good once you get the whole lot flowing along. The only thing I really struggle with are those drums which IMO sound really flat and canned. It really feels like they aren't part of the piece. Surely you can hire someone online to play something more organic and suited... I also wonder if you wouldn't need a vocal - will fans buy a whole record of instumentals like this??

As a test I think this is definitely showing a good viability.

[6502]

I listened on my studio monitors. Nice warm, lush mix. I think the drums are well arranged and really suit the flow of the music. But I do think that perhaps the drums could sit back in the mix a bit to really showcase your "human-played" (and really well-played) instruments.

And BTW, I really feel weird giving any constructive feedback at all seeing as I haven't posted any of my own music here. I hope to do that at some point soon as all posters here have inspired me to make that a goal.

[adfielding]

So, so good. I love the wailing guitar. You've perfectly captured the wall-of-sound style I love hearing in postrock -- it's like being wrapped in a warm fuzzy blanket of sound!

Awesome, thanks, I'm glad you liked it! I do love a bit of tremolo picking...

Overall the sound is really good once you get the whole lot flowing along. The only thing I really struggle with are those drums which IMO sound really flat and canned. It really feels like they aren't part of the piece. Surely you can hire someone online to play something more organic and suited... I also wonder if you wouldn't need a vocal - will fans buy a whole record of instumentals like this??

As a test I think this is definitely showing a good viability.

Cheers! That's a fair point, really - I think if I were to get an album or EP put together in a similar style then I'd consider getting someone to record some actual drums for me, but for the sake of one track I think it'd be a bit excessive. As for the question of instrumentals... well, so far my most successful independent release has been an entirely instrumental album - although maybe that says more about the quality of my vocals more than anything else, haha!

I listened on my studio monitors. Nice warm, lush mix. I think the drums are well arranged and really suit the flow of the music. But I do think that perhaps the drums could sit back in the mix a bit to really showcase your "human-played" (and really well-played) instruments.

Thanks for checking it out! I might make a few mix tweaks further down the line, especially if I do decide to change up the drums in the future. Surprised to hear anyone call my bass guitar playing "really well-played" though, not that I'm complaining, mind! Cheers!

[jjpscott01]

Adam this sounds so good. I love the way it just keeps building towards the end. It almost has like a huge post-rock opera type sound. I do agree it would sound incredible with a vocal down over it to BTW! For what its worth, I enjoy all of your stuff and I have listened to almost everything you've put out in the past, and this just might be my favorite thus far. I'd love to hear more of this style from you man so keep it up!

[adfielding]

Adam this sounds so good. I love the way it just keeps building towards the end. It almost has like a huge post-rock opera type sound. I do agree it would sound incredible with a vocal down over it to BTW! For what its worth, I enjoy all of your stuff and I have listened to almost everything you've put out in the past, and this just might be my favorite thus far. I'd love to hear more of this style from you man so keep it up!

Hey, thanks for the kind words, really glad to hear you liked it so much!

If I come back to this style then maybe I'll experiment with some vocal ideas, though if I were to add vocals to the mix it'd probably be in a more atmospheric/instrumental-type fashion than in a typical "singing lyrics over the top" kind of way (if that makes any sense...!), basically treating the vocals as an extra instrument rather than as a focal element I guess.

Might be a fun project for the new year

[Sinistereo]

Love it Adam. Not that I'm surprised - your music is always candy to my ears.

Really enjoying your exploration of post-rock sound. Pristine production. Please keep them coming!!!

[gak]

Nice!

[adfielding]

Love it Adam. Not that I'm surprised - your music is always candy to my ears.

Really enjoying your exploration of post-rock sound. Pristine production. Please keep them coming!!!

Nice!

Thanks guys! Glad you liked it!

[Last Alternative]

Well I love post-rock and you captured the sound I love about it: a catchy memorable melody and the apocalyptic darkness deep within which is what makes post-rock what it is. I almost agree with Benedict on his point about the drums but then again, I also kinda like the sound of them in the mix because the cymbals and hihat are big and lush. Maybe the snare is pretty flat. Then again, it's loops you said, which makes me a little turned off about the originality factor. BUT like you also said, if this was going to be a commercial production I know you would either program your own beat or have a real drummer play. Either way at least the beat fits.
Other than all that I really enjoyed it, my friend.

What studio monitors do you use? I have the Yamaha HS5's (love'm to death!)

[adfielding]

Well I love post-rock and you captured the sound I love about it: a catchy memorable melody and the apocalyptic darkness deep within which is what makes post-rock what it is. I almost agree with Benedict on his point about the drums but then again, I also kinda like the sound of them in the mix because the cymbals and hihat are big and lush. Maybe the snare is pretty flat. Then again, it's loops you said, which makes me a little turned off about the originality factor. BUT like you also said, if this was going to be a commercial production I know you would either program your own beat or have a real drummer play. Either way at least the beat fits.
Other than all that I really enjoyed it, my friend.

Hey, thanks! I'm glad you liked it!

About the drums - I feel like a little explanation is necessary on my part. They're not really "loops" as such, the drums were originally sequenced using a completely different kit. I ended up using the recordings from RDT1 and chopping them to bits to recreate my original drum sequence - to give a hint of how much I ended up mangling the recordings, it's worth bearing in mind that the original recordings are only available in 4/4. There's also an NN-XT included based on the same recording sessions so you can add your own flourishes to the (somewhat edited) recordings.

Here's what the drum tracks looked like when I'd finished mangling them...

Screen Shot 2015-12-17 at 13.01.32.png (184.91 KiB) Viewed 1294 times

Needless to say, there was a fair bit of finagling involved It was a lot of fun and I'm happy with how it turned out, but - as you said - I think if I were to make this a "proper" project I'd probably look at getting the real deal.

What studio monitors do you use? I have the Yamaha HS5's (love'm to death!)

I'm currently using a pair of KRK Rokit 5s with a KRK 10s sub. I was vaguely considering an upgrade earlier in the year, but I figured there isn't really much point until I can do something about the actual room I'm using - and, in my current situation, there's not really a lot I can do. But they've served me well over the years, for sure!

[Last Alternative]

^I loved my Rokit 5's until I heard them next to the Yamaha HS5's which is why I upgraded. They're just so much cleaner and flatter. The Rokits actually sound muddy in comparison. Luckily my room is a decent makeshift studio with blankets and acoustic panels, carpet--plus my bed--and so there are no echoes going on, however it is a small square; not really right for bass. It seems one would have to be rich to have the truly correct room for all that. Maybe someday...
Thanks for the picture and holy hell you spent some serious time on those drums! Glad it was fun for you. Definitely some sick beats you made and I'm impressed it doesn't sound choppy. I've always admired your talent, Adam. You're a music master. There's a handful of peeps in here who totally inspire me.

I hope all is well with your label and contracts and royalties and all that jazz!
Godspeed

[adfielding]

^I loved my Rokit 5's until I heard them next to the Yamaha HS5's which is why I upgraded. They're just so much cleaner and flatter. The Rokits actually sound muddy in comparison. Luckily my room is a decent makeshift studio with blankets and acoustic panels, carpet--plus my bed--and so there are no echoes going on, however it is a small square; not really right for bass. It seems one would have to be rich to have the truly correct room for all that. Maybe someday...
Thanks for the picture and holy hell you spent some serious time on those drums! Glad it was fun for you. Definitely some sick beats you made and I'm impressed it doesn't sound choppy. I've always admired your talent, Adam. You're a music master. There's a handful of peeps in here who totally inspire me.

I hope all is well with your label and contracts and royalties and all that jazz!
Godspeed

Yeah, I've got a nice little short-list of monitors to check out when I eventually move on - now that I think about it, the HS5s might have already been on there (and if not, I'll have to add them in a sec!). Thanks so much for the kind words!

[jfrichards]

More great music Adam. One quick question. What is the "post" in post-rock referring to? For me, the instrumentation, rhythmic structures, chordal evolutions, big-sky openness, etc that are beautifully done in this piece fit perfectly within the period of rock from around 1967 to 1970 that included King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Cream, Yes, and several others. From my point of view, this is a serious compliment. This stage of rock seemed to have been destroyed by commercialism, idolatry and drug abuse, but I think it could have evolved wider and deeper, including into the soundscapes you are so good at. For me, it may be post-commercialized, post-idolatry, and post drug-abuse rock, but it feels as solid as rock.

When my band was looking for a new drummer in 1972 in Boston, we wandered around the halls of drum practice rooms in the Berklee School of Music, listening at each door. We were shocked at the precision of the students. They sounded like the drums on this song. Real, but overly precise, or overly-composed. We opted for a drummer with far less technique and far more intensity. I don't know how to achieve this inside Reason. Heavy use of Synchronous?

Great work as always.

edit: I forgot to mention... I really like the drums a lot, just addressing what some others brought up and how cool it would be to have the drums flail around in a controlled explosion kind of way like the guitars do.

[adfielding]

More great music Adam. One quick question. What is the "post" in post-rock referring to? For me, the instrumentation, rhythmic structures, chordal evolutions, big-sky openness, etc that are beautifully done in this piece fit perfectly within the period of rock from around 1967 to 1970 that included King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Cream, Yes, and several others. From my point of view, this is a serious compliment. This stage of rock seemed to have been destroyed by commercialism, idolatry and drug abuse, but I think it could have evolved wider and deeper, including into the soundscapes you are so good at. For me, it may be post-commercialized, post-idolatry, and post drug-abuse rock, but it feels as solid as rock.

I guess the simplest way I'd describe post-rock is that it generally refers to a band or musician that relies on traditional rock instrumentation (often without vocals) in a sort of non-rock way, focussing more on atmosphere and intensity than you'd normally find in a traditional rock outfit. Despite relying on more progressive song structures, I'd say the main difference between post-rock and prog-rock is more of a focus on intensity rather than technicality in the former. That's not to say that post-rock can't be technical (because that would be a bit of a silly claim), just that it's not a primary focus like it is with a lot of prog-rock bands. As with all genres, I'm sure people will disagree with my description but, hey, that's genres for you

When my band was looking for a new drummer in 1972 in Boston, we wandered around the halls of drum practice rooms in the Berklee School of Music, listening at each door. We were shocked at the precision of the students. They sounded like the drums on this song. Real, but overly precise, or overly-composed. We opted for a drummer with far less technique and far more intensity. I don't know how to achieve this inside Reason. Heavy use of Synchronous?

For sequenced drums, I like to use the groove mixer to loosen things up a bit if I need to. I didn't do that here, but adding a random timing element does tend to give a bit of a looser/more human feel. I also tend to do that a lot on piano parts, it just adds a little bit of a (non-destructive) human feel to things.

Great work as always.

edit: I forgot to mention... I really like the drums a lot, just addressing what some others brought up and how cool it would be to have the drums flail around in a controlled explosion kind of way like the guitars do.

Thanks a lot, and I'm really glad you liked the track! If you're after something in a similar style with more of a human feel, I released an album with a band called Civil Protection a couple of years back.

http://civilprotection.bandcamp.com

I ended up having to produce it in a few weeks so I'd be the first to admit that the mixing and production is totally wonky in places, but I tried to go for a sound that approximated our live sound at the time... so it's all live instrumentation, along with a couple of synth elements that I'd trigger when playing live.