This is what happens when a prog metal bass player writes a pop song just to prove a point

#22
Nephilymbass said:
Thought it wasn’t pretty cool and I’ve heard a lot of your other stuff on YouTube over the last couple years. You great tones.

Having gone from a nu metal band to a prog metal band back to the nu metal band myself I have to say I honestly enjoy writing the simple stuff. It sounds huge in PA systems at shows, attracts more people to shows, and to be honest I got to a point where I felt like I was playing more complicated music for the sake of playing more complicated music. On our most recent album I challenged myself in several different ways. One was to make my bass lines simple but still fun to perform. Another was to be more of a multi instrumentalist and producer (I did all the keyboard/virtual instruments work and was much more into helping with vocal ideas.
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Yeah, I can definitely see your point - I can feel the same way from time to time (which is one of the reasons why I enjoy playing with Six Feet Deeper so much - it’s hard to beat the interaction with the audience and people appreciating your music) :)

Writing and playing “progressive” music is a tricky thing - on one level, I find that I started doing it “for the sake of the music” and for myself rather than for “the audience” (if that makes sense?) - but I think that there always will be a part in every artist/songwriter that wants their work to be appreciated by their peers/friends. Heck, even Schoenberg and Berg wanted people to “like” their stuff ;) :)
 
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#23
That sounds great! It's better than anything pop radio right now. Great melody, harmony, dynamics, a hook, memorable textures, all the things that mass appeal pop music lacks. It is mixed like a prog album, so if entering a contest I'd put the vocals more out front, but overall very impressive.
 
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#24
Timmy-Watts said:
That sounds great! It's better than anything pop radio right now. Great melody, harmony, dynamics, a hook, memorable textures, all the things that mass appeal pop music lacks. It is mixed like a prog album, so if entering a contest I'd put the vocals more out front, but overall very impressive.
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Thanks!! That means a lot to hear, bro! :)

The prog is (apparently) in my DNA, so I guess I’ll have to work a bit more on my mixes to get them more “believable” :) (Or just let someone who knows what they are doing re-mix it :))
 
#25
archisland said:
Yeah, it turned out fairly more "rockier" than most contributions to the ESC. My aim is not to be on there - just wanted to challenge myself with writing a more "pop" oriented track. I'll definitely challenge myself like this in the future - but maybe go the "extra mile" then and go full on pop even in terms of production (I.E. less guitars, more synths and easier drum beats) :)
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In addition to being a well rounded player/songwriter, you must also be a mind reader.
I was just about to suggest you shorten and soften the instrumental sections, bring up the vocals and get some synth in there. It’s pop-y as is but serious instrumentation annoys your typical pop consumer, unless it’s echo drums or some other smarmy electronic gadget fill.
Abandon your dreams of being respected by those who love prog and go for the gold as a pop writer/producer. While you may feel as vapid as the product must be to sell as pop, the money and fame will help you forget your initial shame. :D
Remain calm and prog on...
 
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#26
fhm555 said:
In addition to being a well rounded player/songwriter, you must also be a mind reader.
I was just about to suggest you shorten and soften the instrumental sections, bring up the vocals and get some synth in there. It’s pop-y as is but serious instrumentation annoys your typical pop consumer, unless it’s echo drums or some other smarmy electronic gadget fill.
Abandon your dreams of being respected by those who love prog and go for the gold as a pop writer/producer. While you may feel as vapid as the product must be to sell as pop, the money and fame will help you forget your initial shame. :D
Remain calm and prog on...
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Hehe thanks for the advice bro! :)
 
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#31
Stumbo said:
Cool.

I like the dynamics of the part where the guitar distortion is turned off.

I suggest using that sound though the vocal parts during the rest of the song.

More dynamics and allow the vocals to come through better.
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I like it too in a Blink-182 kind of way. Much better than most of the stuff on pol channels these days. I do like the guitar but agree with @Stumbo that the guitar needs to be dialed back during vocal phrases - either lower volume, less drive or less aggressive strumming/picking.

Nice catchy vocal hook, good energy- what’s not to like!
 
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#32
DirtDog said:
I like it too in a Blink-182 kind of way. Much better than most of the stuff on pol channels these days. I do like the guitar but agree with @Stumbo that the guitar needs to be dialed back during vocal phrases - either lower volume, less drive or less aggressive strumming/picking.

Nice catchy vocal hook, good energy- what’s not to like!
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Thanks bro!! :)
 
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#35
Sounds like classic rock, but the writing is honestly not bad. Stick a harmonic exciter on the vocals next year.

I actually produced a song that somebody told the singer to submit to Eurovision, and she did. Didn't make the cut for the televised national eliminations, I think, but hey, it was worth a few thousand extra YT views and got people who aren't the singer's friends and family to hear the song, so it was worth redoing the vocals in English and editing the whole thing down to the 3-minute limit. If it made the cut, I thiiiink we'd need to redo the first verse a lot, since it's almost all computer-processed vocal harmonies, and there are also a few extra vowels which are synthesized, and the rules require all vocals to be performed live, so I'm kinda glad that didn't happen.

I pay no attention to Eurovision myself, the most recent winner whose songs I could name is probably Abba. But this year I did check out some of our more popular national competition. Most of it struck me as people with really good voices, making tracks that might have been marketable a few years ago. Not sure if it's all like that.
 
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#36
pklima said:
Sounds like classic rock, but the writing is honestly not bad. Stick a harmonic exciter on the vocals next year.

I actually produced a song that somebody told the singer to submit to Eurovision, and she did. Didn't make the cut for the televised national eliminations, I think, but hey, it was worth a few thousand extra YT views and got people who aren't the singer's friends and family to hear the song, so it was worth redoing the vocals in English and editing the whole thing down to the 3-minute limit. If it made the cut, I thiiiink we'd need to redo the first verse a lot, since it's almost all computer-processed vocal harmonies, and there are also a few extra vowels which are synthesized, and the rules require all vocals to be performed live, so I'm kinda glad that didn't happen.

I pay no attention to Eurovision myself, the most recent winner whose songs I could name is probably Abba. But this year I did check out some of our more popular national competition. Most of it struck me as people with really good voices, making tracks that might have been marketable a few years ago. Not sure if it's all like that.
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Thanks for the feedback bro! Yeah, I don’t pay that much attention to the ESC myself - but I have to say it was cool to hear your story :)
 
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#37
We've done something similar - my guitarists wrote a pop-punk song and stuck it up on our soundcloud just for fun. (if this is threadjacking please let me know and i'll delete)



I love watching people branch out into different genres and experiment. Lots of fun. Nice work!
 
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