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MannequinRaces

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Description

This is one of my first decent little snippets that I finished in Reason 4.0. This style of song is quite a departure from the music this community is used to me making with my other username Piscean Dream Band.

Basically I'm trying to get a small collection of all instrumental alternative/electronic pieces together to put on an EP.

Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated!

-Adam

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Song Stats

Hits: 378
Comments: 18
Fans: 3
Plays: 50
Downloads: 33
Votes:
Uploaded: Feb 19, 2009 - 01:07:48 PM
Last Updated: Mar 05, 2009 - 02:48:04 AM Last Played: Nov 23, 2009 - 12:57:23 PM

Song License

Creative Commons License:
Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial

Song Actions

Keywords:

electronic (373), bells (55), alternative (306), pounding (11), electronica (276)

Hardware:

M-Audio Oxygen8 v2.

Software:

Reason 4.0

Comments

Elevator_Funk	Elevator_Funk said 280 days ago (February 19th, 2009)
	cool.... i checked out your stuff on that other site. I don't remember hearing this one. Good stuff. I love that all the samples sound very real and not 'synthy' or midi-sounding. Check out my latest song called Post Nasal Drip

MannequinRaces	MannequinRaces said 280 days ago (February 20th, 2009)
	Sweet! Awesome. Thanks for stopping by and commenting Brian, and thanks for checking out my stuff on the other site. Check out my latest song called Lost At Sea

chikoppi

chikoppi said 273 days ago (February 26th, 2009)

Quirky is good
This one is tough to critique. I like the crisp, almost severe, separation of instruments. The tone of the instruments, combined with the mechanical regularity of the composition and glockenspiel-like chimes, evokes something like a union between a music box and a drum machine.

The character of the piece is unique enough that I listened with interest. Even though the piece is short, I think you provided enough variation in the composition to provide a complete musical idea. The one thing I found I missed was something to contrast the rigidness of the composition. It might be interesting to introduce an element that is overtly analog/improvisational and that provides strong counterpoint to the regularity of the "music box." Maybe some sort of free-form harmonization in the background, courtesy of rough vocals or an analog synth voice (like a heavily-processed guitar). Anything that obviously couldn't be produced through midi programming.

Looking forward to the rest of the pieces in this project. Quirky is good!

Check out my latest song called Loop It or Lose It 9

MannequinRaces	MannequinRaces said 273 days ago (February 26th, 2009)
	Thank you very much! Brian, Thank you very much for taking the time to listen and give such a detailed critique! I was also thinking that it sounded a little "sterile" or "clean" sounding. Maybe I should put something in the lower frequencies like a bass synth. A heavily processed guitar would also be cool. Thanks for the ideas! -Adam Check out my latest song called Lost At Sea

TobinMueller

TobinMueller said 273 days ago (February 26th, 2009)

Syncopation
Thank you for asking for input from the Critics Circle. I agree with everything chikoppi says. I will add a few things that occur to me as I listen.

My initial reaction was favorable, the focused sounds and clear separations was what I might call "cleansing." I was intrigued,about 2/3 of the way. Altho the piece is short, I actually lost interest before the end. And then I asked myself why. I think it is becuz the arrangement has little surprise or liveliness beyond the bouncy nature of the music bed and clean sounds - and lacks syncopation or variation in accents and rhythmic lines. I think shift some of the accents off the beat, after the straight rhythms have been established, would add an needed element of play and surprise. Not too much, just enough to give it more life. Also, a legato melodic voice or a synth wash undercurrent would add dimensionality to the arrangement.

When critiquing music, I always like to know who the intended audience is, what the music is intended to do, etc. If this piece is intended for an EP, I wonder what sort of music will be on either side of this track. If this is intended as an interlude, it might work. I'm not sure if it is strong enough composition as a stands alone without additional work.

The mix and balance seem perfect.

Hope this helps.

Check out my latest song called Forge A New Life (MJRF)

MannequinRaces

MannequinRaces said 273 days ago (February 26th, 2009)

Great to ask why!
Tobin,

Awesome critique and feedback. It's always good to ask the question "why" when something isn't working! I agree completely because I myself also sort of loose interest about 2/3 of the way through. Your suggestions, along with Brian's, give me some great ideas to tweak this song further and flesh it out a bit more to keep the listener more interested and involved.

To be honest, I'm not quite sure who my intended audience is. I've been trying to search for music that is similar in style to this but haven't really found much besides The Octopus Project and Black Moth Super Rainbow. If you or anyone else know any bands that sound quirky, then please let me know. I also really have no idea what genre the new music I am making should fall under.

My goal is to put out an EP with 6-7 songs on it and this one would definitely be used as a prelude or interlude to other pieces.

Thanks for taking the time to do this critique. I look forward to more critiques from you and Brian in the future!

-Adam

Check out my latest song called Lost At Sea

chikoppi	chikoppi said 273 days ago (February 26th, 2009)
	More Quirkiness You might enjoy a band called Radian (you can find them on iTunes, albums include "Juxtaposition"). They put out a couple of albums that marry stripped-down analog synth to a live kit drummer. They come at music from a completely odd angle and their work is a study of contrasting tones, timbres, and rhythms. Check out my latest song called Loop It or Lose It 9

jiguma

jiguma said 272 days ago (February 27th, 2009)

Hi Adam
- greetings from the southern hemisphere! You asked for comments about the production and arrangement: firstly, I think you'll get more listens if you put it in another genre - it sounds too organic to be "electronica", but too electronic to be "alt rock".

That little problem aside, I like the quality of the sound you have come up with on this. It sounds like a professional recording (and I have to be honest) of music for something like an advert or a TV show theme. I don't know if this was the direction you were thinking, but I suspect there are people out there looking for music like this for that sort of purpose. as far as arrangement goes, you're probably way outside my area of expertise/experience here. It sounds good on the ears, and I couldn't hear anything jarring anywhere. I basically agree with Tobin and Chikoppi although I wouldn't say I lost interest - it was more a matter of wondering what sort of musical context this would work best in. There is an excellent collaboration site for photographers, video artists and musicians that I belong to (Australian based, but I'm not sure if you have to live here) called Pool where I have made some tentative incursions. I imagine that this music (as opposed to my own which is way too "wrong" for them) would get quite a bit of attention because it could be added to video to create a whole new piece of creative work. For me that's where this will come into its own - videos, ads, short films etc.

Sorry I can't be all that useful here Adam, but I do like it.

Cheers,
Neil

Check out my latest song called Lost In Translation (w Mike Watkins)

MannequinRaces

MannequinRaces said 272 days ago (February 27th, 2009)

Thanks
Hi Neil,

Thanks for listening and the comments! You pretty much hit the nail on the head. In the future I do plan on trying to license my music to places that need music for short films, commercials, video games, and etc..

Your too humble when you say that I'm "probably way outside your area of expertise/experience!" The reason I asked for your opinion Neil is because I think you have very good arrangement and production skills!

Thanks again for taking the time to listen and leave a comment!

-Adam

Check out my latest song called Lost At Sea

Doadars Uncle

Doadars Uncle said 272 days ago (February 27th, 2009)

Nice Adam!
I love the separations. It is very kinetic and has my mind moving.

Because of it's length, it seems more like an exercise, to me. I think the production is great and it has a spacious and crispy feel. This could easily be expanded with variations, alternating voice and dynamics or even a round/canon.

I hope I have brought some good thoughts to a song, I think, is very cool!

Doug

Check out my latest song called Capitalist's Drag

MannequinRaces	MannequinRaces said 272 days ago (February 28th, 2009)
	Thanks Doug Thanks for taking a listen Doug! I agree that is does sort of sound like an exercise. I was thinking it might be good for a TV commercial, or a short animated film if I keep it short though. I might try and extend it and see what happens. Thanks again for stopping by! -Adam Check out my latest song called Lost At Sea

Doadars Uncle	Doadars Uncle said 271 days ago (February 28th, 2009)
	Beautiful song It evokes brightness and crispness. As it is, it is a little gem. Check out my latest song called Capitalist's Drag

Dj French Toast	Dj French Toast said 262 days ago (March 9th, 2009)
	This is sweet ! Check out my latest song called Its The French Toast(Colab W/WillBill808)

MannequinRaces	MannequinRaces said 261 days ago (March 10th, 2009)
	Thanks Thanks again for listening and commenting on my older stuff! Check out my latest song called Lost At Sea

Char	Char said 261 days ago (March 11th, 2009)
	I thought it sounded like a tamed version of what a bunch of kids would do if they were given free reign to play the instruments in a studio. There is nothing but pure fun. It would be great as a soundtrack for a cartoon. I could listen much longer. Good luck in your quest to find a home for this. Thank you. Check out my latest song called Break Away (Mark Holbrook & Awigze)

MannequinRaces	MannequinRaces said 261 days ago (March 11th, 2009)
	No Thank You Thank you Char for listening and commenting! I'm thinking about doing an extended version but we will see! Check out my latest song called Lost At Sea

TracyVosh	TracyVosh said 233 days ago (April 7th, 2009)
	Different. I can appreciate the experimentation. It's different and holds my attention...it's cool man! It's so short though...I'd really like to hear more of it. Check out my latest song called Octopus

MannequinRaces	MannequinRaces said 233 days ago (April 8th, 2009)
	Yes! Yes, it is short. I might use it as an intro or outro or something. Thanks for listening and commenting! Check out my latest song called Lost At Sea

Fan List

Dj French Toast

Char

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Artist Info

Name: Adam McClure

Hi. My name is Adam and I'm a one-man-band from Dayton Ohio. I do music as a hobby but hopefully one day will start releasing my songs. If you like quirky music along the lines of Radiohead, The Octuopus Project, or Black Moth Super Rainbow you ... [see more]

Check out some of my other songs:

Genre Info

The terms alternative rock and alternative music[1] were coined in the early 1980s to describe punk rock-inspired music genres which didn't fit into the mainstream genres of the time. At times it was used as catch-all phrase for rock music from under

More songs in Alternative Rock:

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