Author: Thomas Marvel

I learned about the Haas effect for this track. I always feel the vocals are the weakest part of my songs so I try to enhance them with some sonic wizardry. What else did I do? Oh, I tried to keep the vocals simple – the majority are only three notes but I still struggled to keep in tune. Maybe I should stick to instrumentals but words are quite effective at conveying a message…

I wanted to tell a story with this one, so that’s what I did. See if you can hear a snippet from an old TV show in the mix – I would have asked for permission to use the clip but Great Uncle Bulgaria is hard to track down these days…much like the dodo.

Yes, the title sounds like an awesome Depeche Mode song but unfortunately it sounds nothing like that classic tune. It does sound like, however, I’m still trying to merge my guitar with the electronic beats. I think I’m making progress…

There’s a popular movie playing at the moment with the same name as this track but would you believe me if I told you that I wrote this song prior to knowing about the movie? Anyway, I experimented with merging electronic sounds with guitar-based melodies here – take a listen … if you’re brave enough.

On this track I learned about the crossfader – I used it on the vocals to melt them in to one another.

I promised my daughter a more conventional song this week so I’ve revived an old one that actually has – wait for it – a verse/chorus structure! …and – can you believe it? – no rambling guitar solo!

I was fooling around with sibilance on this track. I played it to my daughter and she thought it sounds too weird so I’ll try for something a bit more conventional next time, although I warn you – convention is not my forté.

I experimented with the vocoder modifier on this track making it instantly susceptible to criticism for copying Daft Punk. However, unlike Daft Punk, it is clear I have no clue how to make the robot voice sound cool…

I apologize for the self-indulgent guitar solo – I was having such a fun time I just couldn’t bring myself to erase it.

I will try to be more disciplined next time…

I had some fun with the stereo field on this one – check out the guitar solo – can you make out the phasing? I haven’t decided yet if it sounds interesting or annoying. What do you think?