Re: [LAU] Prog rock instrumental, sort-of WIP

Rob wrote:
> This is probably as close to my preferred genre as anyone's ever posted to
> LAU, and it's very nicely done. Once again it makes me rethink whether
> it's practical to try to record prog rock using only free software, since
> it's so dependent upon a certain palette of sounds that's amply covered
> under Windows but not as easy to come by under Linux. I have some crunchy
> Mellotron samples I like, but certainly nothing like M-tron. But what
> struck me most after the Mellotrons was how good the organ sounded, so
> maybe there's hope.
>
> I know you think it sounds unpolished, but I actually find glossy,
> overproduced stuff to be kind of wearing, especially when it has a big,
> symphonic arrangement. Hope to hear the rest of it someday.
>
> And while I haven't listened to that much Scandinavian prog, I like
> Anglagard better than Flower Kings too.
>
> Rob

Hi Rob

Thanks for listening and for commenting. I'm glad you appreciated and
like the track. Out of interest, what is your preferred genre exactly?
(I'm intrigued as to what symphonic prog rock would be a near match to:
prog metal? Tech/extreme prog metal? RIO/avant-prog?)

I must admit I was being deliberately provocative in my original post,
in response to some recent comments about using Windows progs in Wine (I
think it was on LAU, I can't be sure as I also have UbuntuStudio and
Ardour lists all coming into the same mailbox and it often all blurs
into one).

I'm sure I could have done more of what I do using free software if only
I could be bothered and, more importantly, weren't so mesmerised by
eye-candy!

NI B4 II may be reputedly the most accurate software B3 emulation, but
that's probably only relevant if you're a B3 owner/player who expects to
get more-or-less the same sound in software as you do in hardware with
exactly the same settings (which I'm not, never even seen a real B3 -- I
just like the eye-candy).

Ultimately, it's the sound that matters and most end listeners aren't at
all bothered about how you achieve it. I'm sure there's plenty of FOSS
options out there for Hammond. In fact, I think I checked out AZR3 back
in my impoverished and also pre-Linux days, not that they lasted long
(pre-Linux that is, not the impoverishment!). I'm sure the same is
probably true for electric piano sounds.

By the way, a tip for everyone who doesn't mind using commercial,
proprietry software under Wine: at the beginning of October IIRC, Native
Instruments announced that B4 II, Elektrik Piano and Akoustik Piano were
discontinued -- I managed to pick them up for a fraction of their normal
retail prices (about £60 each, rather than £150+) following that
announcement.

Now Tron, I can imagine, is much harder to do completely FOSS. I have
read that the M-Tron is possibly the biggest selling VSTi ever, such are
the sounds (and reliability!) sought after. I suppose the only option is
for Gigasampler version or WAVs and create your own .gig files for
Linuxsampler.

I've certainly seen many people swear by the Mike Pinder sample CD --
he's an ex-employee of Streetly Electronics, the company that made the
Mellotron, plus was also in some band... the Moody Blues or something ;-)

I think I've found somewhere that sells the CD
(www.mellotron.com/cdlist.htm) but it appears to be $199!

There are plenty of free Tron sample sets out there, such as:
http://realmusicmedia.net/Mellotron.html
http://tinpan.fortunecity.com/aphex/113/

...but I guess none of them will be anywhere near as complete as the
M-Tron. But let's face it, sounds like the 3 Violins, Choir and Flute
are used way more than many of the others.

I suppose what I'm saying is, there are probably ways and means if
you're not as lazy (or easily seduced by looks and eye-candy) as me!

Regarding polishedness and production values, yeah, I'm not keen on
ultra-shiney, hyperproduced modern production styles either -- I suppose
that's one of the extra appeals of Änglagård over some other
"retro-prog" bands, they do sound a bit more old-school.

When I talk about polish, I'm including hobbyist, home-recording
production values on the spectrum and hoping to be somewhere vaguely
near as polished as commercial (no matter how low budget, limited in
sales or appeal) commercial CDs rather than sounding amateurish. I'm
really not interested in sounding anything like as "polished" as Britney
Spears (inspite of "autotuning" my appalling flute intonation!).

It seems, from the comments I've received on the list, that I have
achieved my goal of not sounding too amateurish and that's plenty enough
polish for me.

Sorry for the lengthy reply!

Q
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Received on Fri Oct 30 04:15:06 2009