I sent this to Eddie via PM and I felt I should post it here too.
Hey Eddie,
How are you doing?
Just wanted to let you know that it has been a while since I last listened to your album seriously. Last night I was pretty burnt out and couldn't sleep and I wanted something mellow, without being boring, so naturally I chose your CD. I also have received a new amp, the Meier concerto, and what better a way to evaluate gear than with great music
.
I must say that the experience was even more enjoyable as it was when I first got the cd. I respect that your CD was mastered with headphones that you feel are perfectly balanced, but that aside, the CD sound phenomenal on the D7000. Absolutely amazing. If you go to a meet or whatever, it is really something you should hear.
Subtle made some pretty rude comments about you in general, and that one regarding your CD was really out of line and honestly, it was downright false. I find the bass to be a bit light, but it goes soooooo low and is so tight -extremely well produced. If people can't recognize this as a standout achievement in your production, then that is their loss. It really makes my D7000 shine. I am actually still listening to it now as I write to you.
So in the end, while you do get teased a bit too much around these parts you should know that there is a method to your madness, because the results speak for themselves. Also, you can create music great, not only listen to it and that is something not many people here can claim.
Any news on the second CD you thought about releasing?
After having the CD for some time I figured you might want some feedback too. It is just one opinion but here is some of what I liked most:
-How clean detailed and well produced it was. Clearly a labour of love and high end gear and a keen ear. The bass was really spot on for me with my D7000, goes deep with no bloat or boom. It was a bit light with other headphones, but if thats what it takes to get such a clean sound, don't change it. Changes like that should be made with an EQ and headphone, not on the source side, and I am sure you will agree.
-How the songs flow from one to another so smoothly as to not interrupt the trance experience. While maybe this seems like something silly to throw in there, it is rarely achieved as genuinely as it was with your CD. I really does flow without sounding like it is trying to flow if you get me. No strain or trying to hard.
-The part in "Who's Tripping" where the voice saying "trippy" sounds like it came up right behind you. I kinda hated that at first as it freaked me out
but in the right mindset it is really powerful. Again, very well produced.
-Deep, "earthy" baselines that just grove. I like the layers too. I was really astounded by the level of detail and imagery in the bass. Admittedly, it took a serious amp and some "bassheavy" headphones to really bring it out for me.
-Packaging and artwork is a great way to top it all off. Really professional. Like I said at the time, I would have bought it at HMV.
The things I didn't like so much:
-lack of mids(?) I don't know if it is mids per se, but a lot of the music is either super low or super high. While it is pretty effective for getting the vocals to really stick out, I think it is a domain you could go a bit further with. Although, it does does give the impression of floating in some songs, which is nice. And it does give your CD a really fresh sound, to me anyways. I am not an electro/trance guru by any means, but a lot of it really does sound reused, whereas with your CD it does not.
-The high pitch noises sometimes seem a bit too abundant. Admittedly as I listen to the CD more and more I "understand" it better, but upon my initial listening sessions it is just one thing I noticed. "Tell me a story" was super mellow and mesmerizing and it had a lot less of the high pitched stuff. I found it easiest to really get lost in that one.
-Reverb on the voices. Like in "Just Burn" and "Funk Channel" The vocalist (for some reason I think I read somewhere that this is your wife but the credits would tell me otherwise) seem to detract a bit from the sincerity/power of the lyrics. Like especially when she says "Feel me" I think it is a bit too heavily applied.
Things I would like to see you apply in your future work:
-Some "Wobble/bouncing" basslines from genres like Grime and Dupstep. While this might not be your style at all and might not interest you, I think someone like you could pull it off really well if you got into it and tried. Dubstep is nowhere near my favorite genre, but it does have some nice pioneering work in the bass region you might want to look into for inspiration. Lots of it is really poorly recorded stuff though. I would really like you to take a shot at it
if you felt artistically inclined.
-I really liked your synth work ( in the traditional sense ) but there wasn't a lot of it. Electro maybe has too much synth most often, but I think yours is very good and could be used more.
-Maybe some different time signatures, or less linear 4/4 bass drum drives. Just throwing in a few pauses instead of constant thumps really changes things up. Whether or not it will be for good or for bad I don't know but it is something to consider. Pauses are definitely easier to work with than different time signatures, and I would imagine are much less intrusive in a trance experience. North Americans are not well versed outside 4/4
.
Admittedly, I have only listened to your CD sober, and a lot of techniques applied in electronic music are much better perceived while not -so I am missing part of the picture. Doesn't have anything to do with the way the CD is made IMO, to me all electronic music is like that. Sensations such as floating, depth perception, and emotions are better felt through electronic music with some help because they are far removed in terms of expression. It is a lot harder to hear the emotion in it then say a voice, but that is to be expected.
Lastly, I hope you read this as positive, especially overall as that is how it was meant. If the critique seems more robust than the praise it is simply because it is always easier to say what could have been better then what was good. If something is done right, there is nothing left to add, whereas a perceived lack of something can lead to infinite variations in "improvement".
Thanks for taking the time to read this super long PM! I appreciate it because it took me a while to write haha. Thanks for the CD and I really hope you keep your work up. I am looking forward to the next release. If you remember, please shoot me a PM or email when it comes out as I might miss the thread!
Cheers,
Sokolov
