Piano Electric

My new EP Piano Electric is now available to stream or purchase over at Bandcamp. For my previous releases I've done a post for each song but have decided to just do a single post for this one. 

After working with synth and organ on the last 2 projects I wanted to strip things down a bit and see what I could do with electric piano as the main focus. As I got started I set up a simple rule for myself: All songs would be arranged for only 5 players (Electric Piano, Electric Guitar, Kee Bass, Drums and a utility player). My workflow didn't change though. I wrote and worked up every idea on my guitar and modified it for each instrument as necessary. I still used LMMS as I've got a handle on it and really haven't seen a reason to move on from it yet.

For the electric piano and electric guitar parts I used the Lounge Lizard Session and Strum Session VSTs from AAS. Both sound great and had enough settings to dial in the sound I was looking for. That said, I was able to use presets for all of the electric piano parts.

The bass parts were executed via the excellent and free Martinic Kee Bass. The Kee Bass is a faithful recreation of the monophonic string bass simulator the Rheem Kee Bass and it sounds great! To really hear it work listen to the break in track 3 "Moonlight".

The drums sound a bit different on this release and that is because I was using a whole new collection of samples in the sequencer. I'd used the excellent Synare From Mars on Six Feet Under The Underground (used here as well on the closing track "Dance Your Death") and I was thrilled to be able to use their Wendel From Mars for my kick drum, snare and tom sounds. I rounded out those sounds with a variety of cymbals courtesy of Drum Werks. 

I also utilized a few other VSTs : You'll hear bongos on track 1 "3 O'clock in the Morning" and Xylophone and Cloudrum on "Moonlight". 

Effects use was limited to the Acon Digital Verberate Basic reverb, (listen for it most effectively on the snare in the section just before the break in track 2 "Hot Ham & Cheese") and the Blindfold EQ.

The only effect on the mix bus this time was the LoudMax  which I used to keep things consistent.

Final edits and output to FLAC were done in Audacity.

I hope you enjoy the EP and if you have a favorite track please let me know!

Six Feet Under The Underground: Track 8 - I'll Take the Moon

"I'll Take the Moon" was written and produced early in the process of putting together Six Feet Under The Underground but saw some work towards the end of the process as well. Notable work done was updating the bass line and adding a guitar track via the Strum Session 2 VST from AAS. The Strum Session was an interesting plugin for me as guitar is my primary instrument. Capturing ideas and creating the parts as quickly as Strum Session 2 allows was pretty cool. Recording guitar is a bit of a chore for me so getting a sound I was satisfied with that also matched my skill set on the instrument opened me up to using it much more in the future.

The song is really built around the Mr Ray electric piano riff though. Like most it was written on the guitar and I noticed a Rolling Stones feel right away. The HaNon B70 is here as well and remains one of my favorite plugins.

New to the mix is the Minimogue VA which is heard throughout the song and most notably during the lead break. I really enjoyed using this Minimoog inspired plugin and it surely added a unique sound to the track.

At the end you can hear the Redtron _SE Mellotron VST and I really love what it can add to a track. Look to hear it much more of it in my future releases.

That brings us to the end of the album and I hope you enjoyed it.

Six Feet Under The Underground: Track 7 - The Fall

   

 "The Fall" is the start of the end of the album and a piece I'm really proud of. The normal sounds are here (MrRay22 electric piano and HaNonB70 organ) as well as some new ones. The excellent Kee Bass from Martinic handles the low end and the melody line is produced via Artifake_labs Redtron_SE V1.5 Mellotron plugin. The drums were sequenced using samples from the Korg Mini Pops found at the excellent Drum Samples Archive. You'll also here the previously mentioned Synare From Mars as well.

Next time I'll take a look at "Release".

Six Feet Under The Underground: Track 6 - We Have The Machine

 "We Have The Machine" was written late summer 2020 and was intended for a different project that was going to be entirely synth-based. It occurred to me while putting Six Feet Under The Underground together though that it was perfect for the project. I stripped the synth bass away and went with the more organic sound you hear on the finished track. The SYNARE From Mars is back as well as the Clav-1. The drums are my first time use of the LinnDrum samples fed into my sequencer. Drum machine samples will occupy the next 2 tracks as well.

Next time I'll take a look at "The Fall".

Six Feet Under The Underground: Track 4 - The Dance

 

"The Dance" ended up much different than my original song sketches for it. As I was listening to the album in progress I realized "The Dance" sounded a lot like the song that was originally in the track 3 position. I modified "The Dance" (for the better) but still decided to save the original track 3 for another day.

In addition to the organ and electric piano I used the TAL-Noisemaker  for the first time which gives the opening groove a dreamy quality. This track is also a great showcase for the SYNARE From Mars which is responsible for any crazy sound you hear on the track.

Next time I'll explore "We Have The Machine".

Six Feet Under The Underground: Track 3 - One Way Any Way

 

"One Way Any Way" was the last song written for Six Feet Under The Underground replacing the song that was originally in the track 3 slot. That song sounded too much like track 4 so I ditched it and came up with this,

There are several new sounds used in this song. The rhythm track features tambourine and bongos. The tambourine track was built using samples provided by the Subtersonic Music Blog and the bongos are from the Varazuvi Bongos VST. You'll also hear the Ample Sound Cloud Drum during the break. The Spitfire Audio Peel Guitar from their excellent LABS VST can also be heard.

I'm proud of the production on this one and think it might be the best sounding drums I've had on a track yet. Like most of my drums the track was built in the LMMS sequencer using hits from Drum Werks. 

Next time I'll cover track 4 "The Dance".

Six Feet Under The Underground: Track 2 - Welcome to The Underground

"Welcome to The Underground" is a fun track built off a basic groove. The bass riff is supported with electric guitar, the TAL U-NO-62 synth and the Topaz Productions Clav 1. The cherry on top is the cowbell which I found via Sweetwater's Ultimate Cowbell Shootout. 

Next time I'll explore track 3 "One Way Any Way".

Six Feet Under The Underground: Track 1 - Carpenter's Gate

Just like I did for Catalina Rush I thought it would be fun to once again do a track by track breakdown for my new release Six Feet Under The Underground. Like Catalina Rush this one is also a concept album and although I don't think it really impacts the listening experience from a creative standpoint the concept is very important. It helps me come up with song titles and more importantly dictates the track order.

 

The first track "Carpenter's Gate" was written early in the songwriting process and was always the opening track. From an instrument standpoint I switched to a different electric piano on on the project. I wasn't entirely happy with the Sweetcase that I used on Catalina Rush and was thrilled to discover the Mr. Ray from GSI. It had been discontinued and replaced with an update by the time I found it but I really enjoyed the tones from the original. With some adjustments I was able to get some killer sounds out of it and it was fun discovering just the right sound settings to get the most impact for each song. The usual suspects show up on the rest of the track. I used Drum Werks samples in the sequencer for the drums and the excellent Ample Bass P Lite for bass. Of course the HaNon B70 is back and it continues to be one of my favorite VSTs.

I built the song around a riff I developed that has a Led Zeppelin feel to it and I'm pretty happy with the overall groove of the track. The melody line is the Mr. Ray with a wah effect which gives it a cool tone. It kind of reminded me of something you might hear in a John Carpenter movie and that's where the title comes from.

Next time I'll run through track 2 "Welcome to The Underground".

 

Six Feet Under the Underground - Coming February 5th

I'm excited to share new music! Six Feet Under the Underground is another instrumental concept album. This one clocks in at 27 minutes and I approached it with no a "no rules" approach. You can stream or purchase via Bandcamp starting February 5th. I'll also most likely do a track by track here just like I did for Catalina Rush so stay tuned.

New Music on the Way

Mid December found me in a creative mood again so I'm happy to share that I've started work on a new album that will be released in mid February. It's another instrumental concept album and I have some great ideas worked up. Stay tuned. 

Mixing Catalina Rush

As I worked on each song I would dial in a rough mix which made mixing the album a bit easier. It's ultimately a pretty lengthy process though. Playback on several devices was key but I used one as my main source for deciding which mix was final. I spent the last week of July and right up until the release on August 10th working on the final mixes.

I used the following effects on individual channels:

Bittersweet

Blind Fold EQ 

B.O.D. 

Calf Reverb  LADSPA - I used this one mainly on the drums but it did find it's way on to a handful of other channels. 

Roth - AIR

For the Stereo Buss I applied the following on each track in the following order:

FerricTDS 

MIS Stereo Buss Compressor 

LoudMAX

Mixing can be quite intimidating but I'd encourage someone making music to jump in and play around before shipping your tracks off to be mixed by a professional. If you have any questions about my mixing process you can contact me via the contact form here on the site or you can e-mail me at CraigCohenMusic@gmail.com.  

Track 11 - Catalina Lord

 "Catalina Lord" was the first song for the project and was originally titled "Catalina Rush". Once I dialed in that heavy sound on the HaNon (inspired by Deep Purple's John Lord) and started to solidify the concept the title was changed. The track is pretty sparse with just the HaNon, bass and drums. I also have the Kee Bass low in the mix playing a redundant bass line. I planned to use the Kee Bass more on this project and hope to use it more in the future.

This track is really all about the organ solo for me and it was fun coming up with it. I used the guitar less for composing it than I did the rest of the solos on the album.

Track 10 - Catalina Promise (Reprise)

 "Catalina Promise (Reprise) was my first successful attempt at using strings in one of my songs. When working this song up I had some cello sounds that really weren't working. Thankfully I found Spitfire Audio LABS and my problem was solved. I look forward to utilizing strings in future projects. Also look for the violins taking over the melody from the piano in the second half.