"Ray of LIght" in A-Minor

ONE STEP CLOSER

"Welcome to Acid Theater......."

Started with that little vocal sample found on an old VST.  

I've received lots of questions regarding the technical bits.  Here ya go:

GUITARS: Schecter Hellraiser and Ibanez S5470
DAW: Cubase 6.5
AMP:  "Nemesis" (1990 Mark-IVa head), Channel 2, boosted with Fulltone
           MOSFET 2
GUITAR EFFECTS: none
CABS: Avatar 212  and Genz Benz 112(recorded LOUD)
MIC: Shure SM-57, recorded near where cone meets dustcap, tilted slightly away from the dustcap about 4 inches away
SYNTHS: Dimension Pro, Omnisphere
DRUMS: Superior Drummer 2.0 with Metal Foundry SDX
MASTERED in T-Racks 3 (Pultec and Limiter)

GUITAR MIX: The guitars were quadruple-tracked (four separate tracks, not cut/pasted).  I chose Channel Two over Three because, when boosted with the Fulltone, it gets really nice and crunchy without being overtly "Metallica." 

The gain on Channel Two was probably at about 6.5 with the amps "master" absolutely cranked, and the actual volume being controlled with the individual channel master.  

While I absolutely LOVE "Nemesis", it IS an old, "moody" amp with its own personality (probably due to the ORIGINAL filter caps needing replacement...lol) On THIS particular day I let it warm up for quite a while before starting, in addition to recording at a deafening level.  Moody or not, I never plan on selling it.......

The two Avatar signals were panned left at 90' hard left & right.  The Benz cab was layed down at 75' left & right. High and Low Pass filters were added at 120hz and maybe 3khz (my memory is fuzzy.) There might've been a slight EQ boost (1dB) at around 750hz.  

As with most recordings, a tremendous effort went into the proper placement of instruments within the track itself to allow each their own space .  The only two things that were probably deliberately panned near dead-center were the bass and piano. 

After recording the strings and other synth sounds, I initially planned to add lead guitar in the middle portion.  Then i realized that the rhythm guitars were SOOO grinding and profound (at least with regards to MY own capabilities) that I just decided to leave it as is.  I may one day return to it if I have the time.....

T-Racks provided some very slight EQ enhancement using the Pultec plugin as well as some limiter on the tail end.  Limiters can get out of hand as everyone wants to be "louder", but if I squeeze it too much there are no dynamics left.

Black Winter

FREE BACKING TRACK IN THE KEY OF G.  FREE TO DOWNLOAD

BACKING IN G

I've always loved the contrast between piano and strings.  Took a run of the mill piano patch, and flooded it with reverb to give it a more "haunting" texture.  This continues to be one of my favorite compositions.

Love Theme

Teddy's Lullaby

Initially written for vocals, I fell in love with the progression as an instrumental.  I recorded it several years before running into Jason Shuck.  

Jason's intricate playing REALLY brought it to life, turning it into something quite special.  

All Slide and Acoustic guitars courtesy of Jason Shuck.  GREAT job!!

Time (Featuring Jason Shuck)

Initially recorded around 2013, it was originally piano and strings.  It was a very special piece to me at that point, and to be honest I had never thought of letting somone else play on it.  

Well, that was until Jason Shuck came into the picture three years later....

After his work on "Out of Time", I sent this to Jason and asked if he would sprinkle his fairy dust on it.  What he delivered was nothing short of MAGICAL.  All guitars are Jason......

Jason, ur the best....and I really appreciate you taking the time to take it to the next level.

Eclipse (Featuring Jason Shuck)

Sonata #1 in F#-MInor

We are weaned from our timidity
In the flush of love's light
we dare be brave
And suddenly we see
that love costs all we are
and will ever be.
Yet it is only love
which sets us free

-Excerpt from Maya Angelou's "Touched by an Angel"

In the Absence of Light

Subconsciously based around an unusual chord progression from a 70's song (can anyone guess the song in the comments?), I wanted lots of tension with no resolution.  I plan to eventually work on a sequal to this where it DOES resolve a bit.  

*HINT: Think "sub-atomic".......

Prometheus Was Here

Woke up with this melody in my head, and had to rush and record it before it vanished.  I may come back to revisit it one day.....

Dark Matter

First time playing guitar in about six months, and it certainly shows.....

Stand Clear of the Doors

A Spider's Lullaby

A Spider's Discovery

JEDDAH(رمال جدة)

AN URBAN ISLAM

Fallen Angels

Diary

Would You?

Don't Say Goodbye

Guitarist for over 30 years, I only started composing/recording my own material around 2006, which is when I also began dabbling in piano & synth.   

Many of these 100+ tracks are centered around life experiences, as well as people I've crossed paths with.  

These tracks are all presented "as is," and as such may have varying sound quality and volume levels.  Many of the older ones were recorded before I had any idea about multi-tracking.  

Some may even sound a bit "out of context", as several of these pieces were pulled from larger, more experimental compositions.  

Over the past several months I have started slowly returning to my rock & metal roots.  It seems to always come down to a lack of time; having lots of ideas but no time to actually sit down and bring them to life.

Let me end by saying "thanks" for stopping by to check them out.  I'm always up for a collaboration, so drop me a line if you're interested......

Veil Project

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