Dreaming In A Loop

Give Love

(Free WAV Download available here under '••• More'; and eventually, as part of a future solo album)

Greetings all you fun and funky SC musicians. I don’t typically upload remastered versions of a song as a new track. I usually just replace the old with the new, and change the title to reflect the remaster. But this one is special, for a few reasons (and if you’re not much into personalized mixing details, you may want to skip this liner note).

First (and most importantly)… I thought I’d lost the ability to edit the original tracks for this song. The last time I opened it up in Logic (updating it for the 2018 album remaster), the siren voices were all messed up (automation in Alchemy can have odd results sometimes). I just assumed the original native file was broken forever, because I no longer had access to that version of Logic. I had to do the album remaster from my only existing mix… and it was definitely lacking.

4 years later, I’m so glad I took a chance on reopening the native file when I concluded this ‘Siren’ trilogy. All the sounds/automations were exactly as I had left them. Prior to this attempt, I just assumed the worst, and never tried again. Thankfully, I was wrong. :D

Second… the remaster turned out much better than I hoped; and the differences were so satisfying, I thought it might be fun to have both versions up (for a side by side comparison, for any interested musicians out there. Here's the older version: https://soundcloud.com/grevusanjl/siren-rising).

So why does this one sound so much better than the original version? (And please take all of this with a grain of salt. I’m no pro. But I have discovered what works for me.)

Honestly, a tremendous amount of credit goes to having a much better understanding of Compression. For many folks, Compression is almost a dirty word. Just the title of the plug-in alone confused me at first. Why would I possibly want to compress my sounds, when I liked them as is? 

But it turns out (for me at least) that the different Compression options really shine when chosen specifically, and used minimally. As an example (and I’m not sure if your DAW offers similar options, but), Studio VCA works brilliantly with strings, female vocals and many of my favorite synths. But Studio FET works great on drums. Etc. And while some might cringe at the idea, I absolutely love what Soft Distortion does to most tracks as well. Used in mild amounts, Soft Distortion adds a phenomenal amount of spacial quality to the sound. I don’t use this one all of the time, but I bet I use it at least 75% of the time now (and Compression in general on about 95% of the tracks).  So there you go… I’m definitely a big fan of Compression… when used responsibly. :)

In addition, I’ve also learned a lot about EQing since I first did this song in 2017; so much so, that I was actually baffled by some of my earlier choices. So a large amount of the repair/update time for the 2022 remaster was spent on getting the EQing for each track set up more effectively.

And finally, I had the opportunity to give the full mix a healthy rebuild. After 5 years, you’re undoubtedly going to have a very fresh perspective on a piece. And I realized a lot of the sounds simply weren’t in their optimal positions in the stereo field. I also reconsidered where sounds faded in and out, and how intensely they did so… and I updated all of that as well. 

And there you have it, the story/history behind one of my all time personal favorites. I’m so glad I had an opportunity to revisit this one (while leaving all the original instruments true to form), and I hope you enjoy all the latest sound enhancements as well. I’m excited to hear what you think of my ’Siren Rising (2022 Remaster)’. :D

WTF! The Musical

Siren Rising - 2022 REMASTER

Vocals, lyrics by Nadia Selvaggi
Instrumental & mix by Toshi Rio: https://soundcloud.com/toshi-rio
*Photo: My mother, Esther, Williamsburg,  Brooklyn, NY

Italian American
By Nadia Selvaggi

Shadows creeping over
tailored plastic upholstery
A chorus rising
from the Kings of Williamsburg

O, As gray and worn out
as the buildings on Grand St, Bedford, and Ainslie
O, Sauce from a brown paper bag,
breaded artichokes, and Angela's gravy

Shadows creeping over
baccàla and calamari
Undershirts, hairy chests, 
the thrill of Brylcreem

O, Plaster saints, plastic rosaries,
OLMC's Giglio Feast
O, A hundred black haired lifters
and the scent of Tony's powdered Zeppoli

I am an Italian American

O, Uncle Sal's pre-paid crypt
at St. John Cemetery, Queens
O, Fifty grand for
Gabriella's fancy sweet sixteen

I am an Italian American

Shadows creeping over
the Brooklyn Bridge and Domino's factory
Marco and Carmella's fancy wedding

O, Red, white and green
on a box of Fortunato's pastry
O, Cherry ices,
Uncle Angelo's embroidered shirt
stained with Spumoni

I am an Italian American

O, Uncle Pete's pasty pancaked corpse
at Mastroianni's
O, Twenty grand
for marble cased eternity

Italian American by Toshi Rio & Nadia Selvaggi

dark matter

This is the first track from the new album 'Welcome To Dystopia Land' https://on.soundcloud.com/vX696 Please enjoy."

You Are The One

Boffins Are Baffled

Lost Tribal Leader

Kompromat

YOU ARE MY STARWAVE

This song is a love story of sorts, a temptress who is luring in this man with her wild ways, getting him to leave his normal mundane life behind and live with her in the forest of blue. In my mind this had a fairy tale feel to it but with a darker element...  The music I feel works great with the piano and strings, giving it a great atmosphere and really fits in well with the storyline

Cat's Whiskers

the forest of blue (2 Rightly/Aine Parkes)

Thanks to all of you who listen to my mixes .

Dreaming In A Loop

The fifth Beetle