Super Sonic Symphony

E minor again?! I had written the riffs and rhythms in this song to be sung over, so all the soloing is basically an effort to get some usable melodies out of it to use at a later date. One thing I noticed which is pretty important for me is that when I double my leads they end up becoming way more focused. I listened to “Lone Ranger” and “Cordelia” after completing this song and discovered that having to memorize a line and then figure out where (if at all) to harmonize it makes me write more melodically (I think). I did so in those songs and I think those leads are stronger

I really like the rhythm guitar in this song but am not big on the ensuing solos. Like I said I wasn’t intending for this to be instrumental, but I figured why not see what happens. Eb minor, Bumblebee Washburn tuned to Eb.

Also: new cover songs coming as soon as I get a chance to record vocals!

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Finally. I haven’t recorded anything in a while thanks to my recording software screwing up and me being too lazy to fix it. I managed to record this a couple of weeks ago however, but along with the recording screwups I couldn’t find the original files to finish it. The guitar tracks need to be overdubbed and the vocals need some overhaul and EQing but the basic idea comes through nicely. Other problems are all over but will be fixed in a future update (when I go to re-record everything).

This is a song my friend and I had been working on for a while, I only just added the lyrics when I recorded it. Its in E minor. I had used the Dean through my Rocktron/Carvin setup (Left Guitar in Stereo), and my Black Washburn through a Roland Micro Cube Mic’d up (Right Guitar).

I also just noticed that the recording clips in a bunch of places when I put the waveform into Ableton. Great.

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Co-written by Jedd Ahyoung. Copyright Micky Sakora, Jedd Ahyoung.

I found that some of the previous songs stretch on for a little too long – five minutes maybe isn’t all that necessary. For these two I tried to keep them short and to the point, condensing what is good about the other songs into a tighter structure. Some of the mixing is off (as usual) the drums might be a little too loud in The Circle but I’m having issues with my recording software. I began Birdhouse first but took a break and recorded The Circle when I got to a sticking point. Then I went back and finished Birdhouse. I think this helped, I was able to go at it fresh the second time and get a different sound than what was originally intended.

The Circle – B minor, Peavey, disorted bass.
Birdhouse – D Dorian, Peavey and Washburn, same distorted bass tone.

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I went for something short and sweet and I think it came out rushed and sketchy. I like parts of it a lot but it gets redundant after a while which shouldn’t be happening in a two and a half minute song. I was going for an Yngwie Trilogy Suite Op. 5 kind of thing but I think I got a little ahead of myself. I didn’t plan this one out like I should have, the song needs to be more rooted down than it is right now. I already have a better idea that will take the main idea behind this song and make it better. I think I can take the fast waltz shred thing and work it out into something more melodic (but still fast).

Its in C# minor and though it may not sound like it, I didn’t use any tapping in this song. Everything is picking or legato. I really do like the part in the very middle with the legato lick with the wah cracked open giving it a vocal sound. Too bad that can’t take the song to the next level. After recording it I noticed I liked it a bit more than I did during the process though, so its not a loss and its not bad enough to be B-Listed. I don’t think.

Also: I’m pretty sure I should look into getting a mastering program – some of these mixes are kind of quiet.

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After exporting and posting Collapse I immediately started playing the intro guitar part to this song. I figured out the other backing chords and sections pretty easily but I felt like it took forever to figure out the leads and melodies that went over them. I recorded and re-recorded a lot of material that I didn’t end up using in the final track. Surprisingly though, I got the solo over the piano down easily. After figuring out the first couple bars, I improvised the rest in one take. My thinking went something like, “go Steve Vai on it,” and I think it worked out. The bass line was similarly easy, it only took a little bit (comparatively) to figure out which part needed what.

I’m not a huge fan of the mix. I spent a while on it – longer than most of the other songs – and I’m still not happy about it. It seems too muddy in some places and some of the dynamics are off. I did it over two days but I got impatient after a while, wanting to get the song posted by tonight.

Just the Peavey and my bass. A cello VST through the song, and a short interlude with the MDA piano. The chords are weird in that they go between A minor and A harmonic minor every other bar, and the soloing goes in some weird directions consequently.

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This song came out of listening to 80s pop songs for a couple of hours, specifically hearing Joy Division. It might be easy to miss, but the second chord progression reeks of Love Will Tear Us Apart. Also I’m not quite sure about this, but I kept thinking of The Fifth Element every time I played the intro line, maybe the Leeloo theme in the second to last scene (where Milla Jovovich tears up the super-evil-death-ball). Speaking of which, apparently Milla Jovovich released an album years ago called The Divine Comedy which also apparently got decent reviews. Hopefully writing it down will remind me to listen to it.

So, five guitar tracks total, all on the Peavey. Electric bass, a little synth stuff for background color. Three drums tracks. Its in D major (yes MAJOR), but ends at the very end in A major.

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Now for something a little different. Much credit goes to State of Mind’s Sun King which I referenced liberally (the drum and bass). This time I started with the beat and chord progression heard in the beginning which was heavily influenced by that song. It grew into something much different after that with the weird solos and heavy guitars. I think starting with the beat first helped immensely, giving the song more structure than last week’s offerings. The piano/synth arpeggios came from a sweep picking lick I made up a little bit before starting the song proper and sound just a little bit like a certain theme from Final Fantasy XII.

I didn’t use any bass at all for this song, instead I relied on the three drums tracks and the detuned rhythm guitar for the low end. I used the yellow Washburn which is tuned to C# for the rhythms – it has a way thicker, darker sound than the Peavey. I used the Peavey for the leads in standard tuning. Also a synth through most of the song for the airy background sounds. Its in C# minor.

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This song started off with the simple hybrid picked intro and got kind of out of hand after that. I doubled a lot of the guitar parts and doubled the main lead with a synth. I was shooting for a Ratatat kind of lead sound with that but it came out kind of harsh sounding. I’ll need to work on that. For the synth I had to tab out the solo which was easy enough, but it was far harder playing it than writing it. Each individual part is fine, the problem came trying to put it all together. I realized that I am really out of practice. I need to pull out the metronome for this stuff.

Its in E minor, a key which I’ve shied away from as its my default (It’s the metal key). I feel like this goes beyond what I normally do so no problem there. That’s what this is all about anyway. Peavey guitar, and my P-Bass knockoff, and Ableton Live drums.

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This song started with the opening melody on the E and B strings and was built in order from there. Each section was built after the last without too much real arranging. I think it shows as the direction of the song is kind of muddled, but it allowed me to thing of things differently than how I normally write. The solos were written and then performed back to back to keep with this idea.

Its in B minor with the electric guitar and bass doing everything besides the percussion; no synths. There is a weird pick scrape thing going on between 2:30 and 3:00 with a phaser and distortion on that I thought was interesting. I’ll probably refine it in another song.

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I wrote and recorded this song for a video game trailer (of the same name) for class.

At first the ultraviolet light would be blocked by the dust cloud kicked by the collision. During the extended winter that follows most animals would become weaker, and more vulnerable as many animals depend on exposure to ultraviolet light to keep their biological protective mechanisms operational. When the ultraviolet spring arrives those animals and plants that had survived would have lost their resistance to ultraviolet radiation. Consequently the ultraviolet rays will penetrate far more deeply and with a greater intensity.

Ultraviolet Spring

Its in D minor tuned to drop D. I used the Peavey, I didn’t have a bass with me and used the Peavey for that too, pitch shifting it down a step. That’s why the bass sounds muddy and lacks definition. The piano is a VST called MDA Piano.

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