Ellll, June OSAM, Enfolded

[ellll]

As Usual...sorry 'bout that...Can't get by this romantic period...

Done as usual..Piano played at a sitting...then cleaned and repaired..Brass, Strings and Flute added after...It is self explanatory...Enfolding....

http://www.korgforums.com/mp3/Enfolded.mp3

Thanks, Everyone for listenin!!!

Johnny..(ellll)

EDIT: Changed the title a tiny bit...Try it if you wish..It has a tighter sound, a tiny tempo change, and a few new notes as well as a better..(?????????) recording, maybe...let me know...

Still tryin..better recording I think.. Feb..

Your Friend, Johnny, John...(ellll)

[georgeinar]

Beautiful on many levels here. It does sound improv'd here, which may have been your intent. I think the way you added the accenting instrumentation after the keys does add a lot. It seems it could use a bit more development in emotional tension or variances in chord progresson, but don't take my ears to heart too much as I am not at all as proficient as you when it comes to orchestration. I did load your mp3 into soundforge and it detected many areas of "clipping" meaning your db levels are exceeding the 0 limit for digital music, so whatever your recording on is allowing you to max out and beyond in decibels. In some part of your recording chain the volume or pre-gain or something is set too high, it's not at all your performance because you should be able to bang away all you want and not worry about recording levels. If you have any kind of soungforge or wave lab just load it in and click on 'detect clipping' and you'll see what I mean. But thanks for sharing this song. I appreciate your willingness to get these in well within the deadlines. You've definately got the ole team spirit thing here which adds much to our small group of, dare I say, geniuses at work.

[ellll]

Hi George,

Thanks for the listen and the comments...I appreciate your interest and your friendly comments as well..

The clipping must be a trade mark...I keep forgetting...I track a portion...and then get through and realize some portion was louder than I remembered...and then forget to at least drop the amplitude back a shade..

Sorry...I have to be more careful...I am remembering some old recording ideas that always suggested right up there to the clip....for the best overall amplification...

I believe I will just go ahead and re-do now, as I NEED to get my recording area in the correct factors if I want to avoid this problem...

Many Thanks for the kind words...

Really do!! Enjoy your doing this forum. You are doing a work here my friend!!!

John...(Johnny)..(ellll)

[JonSolo]

Well I have to admit, I was really getting into the last several songs you did. They were easily accessible and had a very definite direction. It was not hard to discern melody and the construction, while sometimes random seeming, was welcomely soft and easy to listen to.

But I got a bit lost on this one. Lots going on within the piano track. Maybe too much. It sounds as if many ideas came together and then multiplied like rabbits. (I am not trying to be critical or funny, but to quote from the movie Amadeus "there are too many notes"!) I could not find a lead to bite into and hang on...so I just got washed away with an enormous amount sound.

However...the last 1/3rd of the song became quite accessible again and ended on a nice note with a good feel of supporting instruments done lightly. Love it.

Jon

[Stephen]

I liked it!
Especially, as Jon mentioned, the later portion.
I guess I'm too much of a fan to be critical.

[ellll]

Thanks Guys...This was actually, an interesting piano improv.....

But probably should never have seen rthe light of day as a complete song...I want to try to thin it out..'cause there is an interesting tune "in" there...but its hard to do with the complexity of the orig. piano track...but we will see..

Thanks for the great comments...and I did know it had good....and bad features...(kinda like my first girl friend.....) ...so your reinforcement just encourages me to look a little deeper at this one....Will let ypou know what I come away with ....maybe down the road..

My Regards!! Johnny...(ellll)

[JonSolo]

Well I didn't want to be the bad guy, but I knew there was something in there hiding within all those notes...that was evident by the way the song came so well together in the latter third!

John I am eagerly looking forward to your "thinned out" production! If it is anything like the last part of your song it will be fantastic!

Jon

[chordial]

I quite like the busyness of the piano part, it's bold and has a relentless feel. Nice orchestration too.
Even with the quieter sections, I'm left with thoughts of listening to a powerful performance.
Very good work.


I seem to remember that with tape you could go over 0, and it might distort a bit, but digital is different, anything over 0 will just break down.

"and I did know it had good....and bad features...(kinda like my first girl friend.....)"

[Diego]

Great tune, gerat feelings and emotions!
You're an amazing musician, and a great player!!!

Try to work a bit more on the production, and you're done!!

[DrWho]

Hi ellll,

Interesting performance you've got here. For me the last part seemed more intact - for lack of a better word. I liked the ending especially. Man you certainly can play the piano!

I think on the production side the distortion was very noticeable at a few points, and the overall sound seemed a little flat - not much depth.

Please repost of you reproduce it!

={> Art

[ellll]

Hi All,

Much thanks for your kind listening...to something a bit hard 'tis true..

Tellin' it like it is, this was conceived and done for piano, and does work fair on just the ivory...However, ..I wanted another orchestral base instead, in this one, and made instead of a complex piano composition....a somewhat muddy, lost sounding and uncertain mixed piece...(had a lot going on in my life, and didn't allow it enough thought....)

Perhaps I can post the piano sometime, if I can correct the changes I tried to make to accommodate additional instruments...I will take a look.

Thanks again for your kind listen!!!

Johnny...(ellll)

[jazlover]

Johnny, I was afraid to listen to your piece with my brain in summer cold/flu land. I left it for almost last. I lack the experience in music and life to have my opinion considered of much value (even when lucid). Having said that I do believe all of our ears are able to discern Mozart and Chick Corea genius. So I will trust my untrained ears.

One of the big problems for me in listening to your music is that I am easily distracted. I hear what you are doing with the piano and I think "Wow". While that happening, I get distracted by a cool thing you do (and have done) with the horns in the background. Before you know it I am listening to the track four or five times before I feel I can comment on the piece. You can imagine how long this takes when I am doped up on cold medicines.

I hear a re-occurring theme (I will call) "majestic something is about to happen" that I hear in many of your pieces. It is a powerful idea that frankly if you could not play with such virtuosity, would lay dormant inside your conscience. That would be tragic! You do this thing on the piano. I am not sure I can describe it. When you play a piano chord (major) you play a rhythm of the root with the 4th, the 5th, the 4th, the 3rd, the 2nd, the 3rd while the other instruments are building excitement. You also do this cool thing with the horns that I will have to sit down at a piano to figure out. I may be way off (I am under the influence) but this feeling you express in your music is powerful and interesting. If only you had tympani, cymbal crash and real symphonic samples like film scorer use, you would then be able to express whatever is going on inside of you. I believe your music would be great outdoors with a real orchestra and some fireworks on a cool Florida spring evening.

Your playing knocks me off my socks as always. I love the uplifting nature of your pieces. I am sure you can easily write all ranges of the emotion, but this emotion is one I always need.

One more thing....the ease at which you do these improvisations, is a bit discouraging. In that regard, Ii feel like I'm in the movie Amadeus.

You are truly gifted Sir.! Thanks!

[ellll]

Hey...Jaz...,

You are again, more than kind, besides living in..to me...one of the great cities of USA!!...LOVE Tampa...and spent a lot of time...mostly Linebaugh, my wifes family home, and May Circle, where her aunt and uncle kived...Had my wifes kin all over central Florida!!....and had many good times, from there to Sarasota ...

I say more than kind because...in the end, I run hot and cold and the result shows...I fail on continuation of the ideas ...sometimes, or maybe even usually..., because I have already taken off on something new...a result partly, of a bit of brain disconnect with a "slight" Bi-Polar problem...Always fought it...all my life..

Anyway. I have found new friends, new meaning, and new grace and character by working now, twice, with the OSAM, a real stroke of genius by one of our supporters and leaders, the one who started it.., Sharp...a truly great idea!!, as you probably remember as well as I..!!...It is just simply one of the best groups of people I have run into on the web!!

I will try harder..and will try not to burn out or fail completely, but the rest of you are great in what you do...beyond my ability..!!!.., for the most part...and I have learned from all of you.

Sorry you have been flu-ey..., and hope you are much better!! it can put you under!!...Thanks again for the truly humbling comments you have made for me!!

Johnny..(ellll)

[ellll]

Yes!! I meant to comment further to the issue given by Cordial, above:

The way I grew up...you pressed for the clip...and didn't worry if it touched, or even slightly passed.. some....BUT..It appears thats just too close for digital...

I have been setting the level to the almost exact point, using the waveform. ..If I go in and check to add additional amplification.,..the value allowed is 0.0,....in other woeds , none is allowed..unless you allow clipping...BUT.. .well..it seems at least on audacity I have been, even with running the whole thing and checking the waveform..., over enough that it is clipping...without addiitional amp...

So..I will drop it back to a better level...Thought I was hearing it...but wasn't sure...I was tired every time...and the sound is confusing if I have been doing a LOT of listening...

Regards all....Johnny (ellll)

[georgeinar]

Ellll, can't you just go it at lower levels and when you're completely done, you take the final wav file and normalize it to zero, that way you have the maximum volume and nothing goes over zero. that's what i do, although I will use limiters to bring the bottom up even more, but normalizing will then bring you to zero with your final wav file