(new song) Night needs to know

New song, if you have a listen…I thank you,

sensible and helpful comments always appreciated

http://knmac.bandcamp.com/track/night-needs-to-know

https://soundcloud.com/knmac/night-needs-to-know

Kevin :slight_smile:

well done Kevin ,nice clean production ,has a euro pop kinda vibe to it ,i could imagine it played in dance clubs in Europe/ Scandinavia anywhere really, at times it has a trance like quality to it when it cooks away in Bb ,i would maybe exploit that a bit more .i think it might need another section dunno . by the way nice bit of totti in the pic, ha ha.very serious eyes though.

Hi polgara, thanks for listening, would’ve exploited the the Bb area more but didn’t want it to be too long, can’t expect people to waste any more of their time listening to my stuff than necessary,
I’m tempted to do another song based on the trancy Bb thing :slight_smile:
the totti in the pic is my wife, she has a BA in science and technology (or something like that) so maybe that’s why she looks so serious, she’s way too clever for me :laughing:

cheers mate…Kevin

Hi Kevin

I listened. :slight_smile: Fundamentally I like the song, another good example of your writing and style.

Unfortunately I’m really confused about the structure in this one. The choruses weren’t as obvious as I would have liked and there seems to be a real assortment of parts to the song, which all sound kinda similar - dynamically it’s also quite flat. Certainly I really do think you need to inject the choruses with a good shot of adrenalin :smiling_imp: - and bring something new into the arrangement… guitars?

I think one of the things that’s confusing me about the structure is that I actually think there’s too many parts :astonished:

I hear an intro - then into a verse, then another part (“the night needs to know”) then what I guess is the chorus (“then we’ll sail away…”). There’s a break… and then a bridge(?) (“so where might we like to go?”) and back to “the night needs to know” part and then a 2nd of only two choruses…? :astonished: … and then some other bits (repeats of earlier parts?) and end. :confused:

There’s that saying… “Don’t bore us, get to the chorus”. The hookiest part is in fact “then we’ll sail away…” - I like that so I reckon it needs to be delivered much sooner.

Actually, you know, it almost sounds in fact like two songs they have become completely entangled.

Out of curiosity I wouldn’t mind having a go at unraveling them and seeing there are in fact two songs in here…

:sunglasses:


UPDATE…

Kevin, I took the liberty of chopping your song into the various parts… of which there are many! :astonished:

I was able to reassemble them and create two separate songs, both under 4mins.
You can check them out if interested. They sound a bit weird at the joins of course, and lyrically it’s a bit silly with the mixing and matching of parts, but will give you an idea of the songs and structures that I was hearing.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/l6w9wsgzuudxrv8/AAC3RxM9YgND90OJOawoB_WDa?dl=0


Cheers :slight_smile:

As always Ian your “take” on things is very interesting and creates lots of problems for me :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
had a listen to the examples and can’t help thinking that if I did them you would say they were not interesting enough and didn’t contain enough parts :slight_smile: although I do appreciate that they are just seminal idea type things and need more work,

I think maybe I’m trying too hard to make a song interesting but personally I would prefer a song with more parts than less,

I said in a post above that I was considering making a different song out of a part of the song so we’re sort of on the same page :slight_smile:

your input always makes me think harder and I thank you for it…

Kevin :slight_smile:

Lot’s of parts can certainly help make a song ‘interesting’ but then so can production values and arrangements. AND ‘interesting’ is not necessarily the same thing as say - catchy, hooky memorable etc which are usually the attributes most writers, particularly of pop are after. Now that’s not to say that an interesting multi-part song is not a valid piece of work, and I certainly have plenty that fall into that catagory myself, and in fact will post one today! :smiley: It’s just for me, in its current form this song sounds somewhat confused and I hear in it potential for a couple of catchy pop song(s) more consistent with much of your previous work.

Anyway… if nothing else it’s inspired some interesting dialogue! :slight_smile:

Have to agree with you :slight_smile: I have moved away from trying to write something catchy to trying to write something with a bit more goin on…not sure why :confused:
and my arrangements and production skills leave a lot to be desired :frowning:
Kevin

Ha Ha very clever ,i think number 1 is the completed song and arrangement but obviously done smoother and number 2 the Bb part which sounded very trancy :open_mouth: should stay but i`d loose the other part no disrespect ,and find something equally has trancy :open_mouth: but different.

Hi Kevin, listened a couple of times, no odd bass notes! I really liked it (of course), and thought the echo-ey thing that goes throughout the song was a wonderful and interesting way to back up the great vocals. I would only suggest that you heighten that impact by leaving it out/replacing it/doing something else during whatever you would consider the appropriate bridge or chorus section… A little contrast, maybe quite a bit harder in rock terms is what I imagine once you drop it out. I can hear it in my head, even if I can’t really describe it. It’s quite a good song. And I’d like to thank your wife for her contribution too. Does she know you’re putting these stunning pictures of her on the web? Thanks for those too!

Hi early21 and thanks for listening, it’s nice to know that the bass is correct this time and stopping the echo-ey thingy somewhere is an obvious thing to do now you mention it :blush:

yes my wife knows her pics are online but it is not only my wife…there are lots of other models pics there also…they’ve all been paid for their work and all have signed the relevant releases.
as from now the model pics will only be on Bandcamp, I’ve changed the Soundcloud pics to flowers…nice :laughing:

cheers, Kevin

Not sure how much I’ve missed, though I shall try to be as sensible as possible! :smiley:

I think the intro synth/effects are very cool and that the percussion comes in at the right time. I think the intro could benefit from a subtle pizzicato double bass or something as it sounds a bit empty in the low register. The chorus melody is nice, though I think it sounds a bit bare, actually I think that a pizzicato double bass throughout would sound really nice with those synths. Or even a full string section playing pizz. on the accents could sound really cool. Really digging those synths/effects anyway.

Didn’t read all the comments, seem to be always pushed for time these days, even on weekends. D: Anyway, I didn’t notice any odd notes either anyway in regards to the harmony, sounds pretty smooth to me. The melodic phrasing is fine throughout too; my only criticism is when the vocals first begin, the intervals seem like something you use a lot.

Nice track overall though, quite relaxing. ;D Just missing a nice pizzicato double bass to my ears. :sunglasses: Hope you’re doing well too, bro. (y) (I see they still haven’t added a thumbs up emoticon. :frowning: )

Thanks for listening Jonathan, I will definately have a look at the pizz strings suggestion…sounds like a good idea,
not sure what you mean by “the intervals are something i use a lot”
could it be something to do with only knowing 2 and a half chords :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

nice to have you back mate…did you get those headphones…Kevin

Hehe, it’s just on the very first vocal phrase, the notes sound very similar or the same (mainly the last two) to what you’ve used in many songs to end a phrase on. :stuck_out_tongue: It’s no big deal, just something that my ears/brain seem to have taken note of.

Well I got a pair of headphones; Behringer HPS3000 for £13, not exactly great but they are balanced enough that the trailer company can use my mixes now instead of sending my project files to another composer to fix the things I couldn’t hear cos of using earbuds. I’ve updated my Julie’s Adventure thread with the latest mix at the first and last post if you wanna take a listen and see if it sounds more balanced/more depth etc. Using a few Waves plugins that I never had back then too, like REDD channel strip, Kramer Tape and API 2500 compressor. (Just edited the posts to include the latest links as I didn’t want to needlessly bump such an old thread.) Got my system upgrade planned anyway, though the parts aren’t out yet. :stuck_out_tongue: