Influences: Early Genesis, Rush, King Crimson, ELP, Yes, Radiohead, U2, Muse
Other music I'm into but not so much influences: Steven Wilson, Haken
I am primarily a pianist, but have focused more on guitar and bass in recent years. I've played keyboards in a Genesis Tribute band and in an original prog rock band.
I went to school for sound recording technology, music composition, and piano performance.
I have been writing and recording my own material for, well, forever, but I only consider a small percentage of the work worthy enough to share. The rest I consider part of my ongoing education.
My work can be measured and mathematical, but not without emotion. Lately I seem to be heading back to my prog rock roots and I'm enjoying it.
Current Sausage Factory:
Software:
Cubase 9.5 Artist
Tooktrack Superior Drummer 2 with Prog Foundry and 70's Prog MIDI Pack
Arturia V Collection and Pigments
IKMultimedia Total Studio Deluxe
Hardware:
Allen & Heath QU-16 Digital Mixer/USB Interface
11Rack for Guitar
SansAmp for Bass
Vox recorded on Shure SM-7B
WA73 Pre-Amp
KRK Rokit 8 Studio Monitors
Yamaha NS10's and P2150
Keyboards/Synths:
Arturia Keystep for MIDI input
Roland RD-2000 for MIDI input and piano sounds
Roland D-50
DSI Prophet REV2
Korg KingKorg
Korg MS-20
Moog SlimPhatty
Yamaha AN-1X
Dreadbox Nyx
Arturia MatrixBrute
Arturia Microfreak
Guitars:
PRS Custom 24
Epiphone Les Paul Studio
G&L Tribute ASAT Tele
Basses:
ESP LTD 5-String
SX J-Bass 5-String
SX J-Bass 5-String Fretless
#1 | Open Hands |
8 Feb 2022 |
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#2 | Pseudodox |
12 Feb 2022 |
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#3 | Satellite |
3 Feb 2022 |
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#4 | Skyline I |
9 Feb 2022 |
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#5 | Skyline II |
4 Feb 2022 |
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#6 | Starbound |
10 Feb 2022 |
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#7 | Pulsar |
6 Feb 2022 |
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#8 | Transcend |
7 Feb 2022 |
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#9 | Hop Along (Little Proggy) |
5 Feb 2022 |
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#10 | Write a Song |
5 Feb 2022 |
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#11 | Beast |
3 Feb 2022 |
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#12 | War Monger |
11 Feb 2022 |
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#13 | Home |
5 Feb 2022 |
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#14 | Winter Lament |
3 Feb 2022 |
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#15 | The Cycle Again |
3 Feb 2022 |
Hey- great work this year, hopefully you'll get to see. Just wanted to check in after. There were a ton of great moments, though my favorite would be the full 10 minute Skyline, followed closely by Transcend. A very cinematic year for you. Sorry for all the Interstellar comments, though I think you could score sci fi in particular with one hand tied behind your back(which would be playing bass back there or something). Cheers!
Congrats man! Crunch time is always crazy - will def be back to listen and comment in March
Congrats to you as well! 15 is a big bravo. It is truly an accomplishment just to finish lol. You have done great work here too.
You made me listen to ALL of your songs because they are so damn good. Where can I find the final versions?
Thank you! I’ll definitely come back to you for a collab :)
I never released an album but it’s my aim for this year. Yes, I can also be quite the perfectionist. When things don’t sound as I want them to I get frustrated and then I abandon the whole song. That was before FAWM. I feel more comfortable now and motivated to finish/re-record songs, also some ideas from a few years ago. Will follow you too on SoundCloud :) happy listening!
Thank you so much :))) yes it’s one of my favorites too I think although I spent a lot more energy in other songs but maybe that’s the fawm spirit, it was getting easier now. Will definately listen to your songs next week, you also reached the goal so congrats :)
Nate, you can be VERY proud of the stuff you written this year, independently if you reach the 14 or not. I try to avoid political and social content, but I also wrote some stuff outside my comfort zone this year, because too many things bother me. You don't have to feel bad about non-listening. Some people are here in March. I definately will and listen to the rest of your songs. My watchlist has 98 people and 1000 songs... oops!
Thanks for checking out “Broken Will” . A lot of my vocals need a redo and Nadine’s idea of being a duet is intriguing.
-on vocal roll Off.. I usually run a high pass filter at 100-110 hz. I did here but ran it with a milder DB cut because I was looking for the Geoff Tate effect in that first verse. It is muddy and a poor performance.
- 2-3 min section… I wanted a staccato strings section. Believe it or not it is directly derived from the verse material. It is abrupt but a supposed to be a shift in the story when he realized he won’t get the girl. Music theater-ish lol
Nate,
Stopped by to catch up :) Thanks for checking out “Warm Shine”! This wonderful BG vox are the East West Voices of Soul. Amazing library and they can do text to sing
Thanks for your kind words on 'Deep Blue Sky', much appreciated!
You're welcome! You write and perform real good prog music. Just hits me nerve because its complex and melodic but not "I can write 47/4 signature with septulets in lydian b4" mind twisting as Dream Theater and other top acts. Imho its really hard to find the sweet spot in between complexity and catchyness.
Thanks a lot! I didn't expect to reach the official FAWM goal that early but I did dome fun stuff, drafts, skirmishes so I don't feel like stopping. I may write some more songs but in a slower pace. You're half way congrats! :)
Thanks also for explaining me the b chords. Sounds like you borrow chords from another scale and the function theory notation doesn't allow other roman letters lol. I'm not onto theory but some people come with these expressions and I try to understand where this all comes from. Last week somebody spoke of tonic parallel and I'm like: tonic? Where's the gin?!
Thanks also for your kind words on "Pedal to metal". Since I permitted my muse to do whatever she likes I come up with the weirdest ideas and styles. I fail if I do this intentionally. I'm not sure what my home base is. Pop Rock? Epic Trance? Alternative Rock? That's where I have written most songs. I tried many genres but I have no idea abd feeling for ambient and funk. I feel better in melancholic heaviness of any kind.
Hi Nathan, thanks for your kind comments on Longing…… and good call on the vocal saturation…. I took off the delay, reduced the reverb, tweaked the EQ and raised the volume by 3 db and sounds much better! I am often guilty of uploading too early, which is stupid really,I spend so much time putting the production together, mixing and mastering,…. But it’s so much work when you only have a 2 day window, so much for my pledge to not to do this
Ha and sorry… I’m reading them now lol
Nate,
Thank you for the comments on “Complicated” I am going to get caught up with listening this weekend. The tune I would really love to hear your thoughts on is “Compromises” it’s a full prog composition
Thanks a lot for listening and commenting "How are you". Can you please explain what a bVI chord is? I saw this b a couple of times, but i really don't understand if the b is shifting the signs, transposing one tone down... Sounds like I did some borrow chord madness?! I suck at music theory!
Thanks for the welcome back! I'm pumped to see what you're cooking up this year, and I would definitely be down to collab again
Thanks for your comments! Guess you're right. I'm drawn to the darker and heavier topics this year. Nothing happende in particular, maybe I'm not in the mood for super happy pop music these days?! I definately enjoyed my listen, and I will listen to many more of you.