The Mirage

[stephen1977]

I thought it would be cool to share this one with you guys. This was my first internet collaboration. I never even realized there was a whole sub culture of musicians that did this until 2006 when I was approached to do one. Then it just snowballed from there and now just about every project I am involved with is done over the internet. Go figure.This one, my first one, was written in 2006 and finished in 2007. 5 different people from 5 different points on this earth put this together by simply trading files across the internet. We call the project, "Phantom Music Box," and since, have released 4 songs over 2 years.This one is called, "The Mirage."Its not commercial. Its not a hit. It just is.What do you guys think? All comments welcome, good, bad, rude and ugly.My opinion? I think its just cool to burn and zone to.http://www.audio-village.com/kickapps/_ ... htmlThanks to all who check it out!

[ideascapes]

Thanks for posting, Stephen. Sounds pretty cohesive to have been completed across the internet. It might not be commercial or a hit, but I think it's well done, sounds full and broadcast quality. Somebody did a great job mixing.I've finished a fair number of songs this way, but always acted as producer/general contractor--hired the "right" musicians, gave direction, mixed, mastered, pitched (and owned).Can you describe in a little more detail how "The Mirage" came about? Who conceived it? How that person met the others? Who contributed what? Where there any issues over "ownership", quality, parts, etc.? Did the song mutate along the way, or was it fairly formed at the beginning?Vince

[stephen1977]

Nov 29, 2008, 1:58pm, ideascapes wrote:Thanks for posting, Stephen. Sounds pretty cohesive to have been completed across the internet. It might not be commercial or a hit, but I think it's well done, sounds full and broadcast quality. Somebody did a great job mixing.I've finished a fair number of songs this way, but always acted as producer/general contractor--hired the "right" musicians, gave direction, mixed, mastered, pitched (and owned).Can you describe in a little more detail how "The Mirage" came about? Who conceived it? How that person met the others? Who contributed what? Where there any issues over "ownership", quality, parts, etc.? Did the song mutate along the way, or was it fairly formed at the beginning?VinceWoh Vince! Thanks man. Thanks for all of your questions. "The Mirage" was actually just a bed track I came up with... ...drums, bass, synth, etc. It was originally to be just that. A background piece.Then, a singer came a long and heard it in its bare form. He offered to add some vocals to it, and I agreed. Since he was singing, he also wrote the lyrics as well. It was quite an accomplishment since I based the whole bed track around the key of D with little to no melodic changes. Of course, I did not write it to be a full song, like I said, initially it was just to be movie score type material. Background.The singer suggested a git player he knew and a female vocalist. The raw bed track, with rough vocals, went to the git player, then back, then over to the female vocalist, then finally to the guy who mastered hit, who in the end added the string intro and a few other subtle additions throughout.As far as ownership... ..never an issue. This same crew I ended up doing about a dozen or more songs with through various styles. The "Phantom Music Box" project of course, and a handful of others. We all trust each other and are very open with everything. No contracts. No nothing but one another's word. Basically we return the favor to one another by taking turns writing. There is a lot more to this and the other collabs for sure, but I can get boring real quick Vince. Thanks for showing such an interest!

[cjdenecia]

I am the singer and lyricist. my wife is the female chanting voice.chris gill, from texas is the guitarist and my buddy pat, from miami was the producer. he is my engineering mentor. or the foremost. I have many ...

[stephen1977]

Nov 29, 2008, 2:30pm, cjdenecia wrote:I am the singer and lyricist. my wife is the female chanting voice.chris gill, from texas is the guitarist and my buddy pat, from miami was the producer. he is my engineering mentor. or the foremost. I have many ... Yeah. All that too.

[jay10music]

Dude ....This is way CoooooooooL..... I JUST LOVE IT.....Great feel.....Nice Groove.....Right up my Alley.... I support Indie Music..... I just put this bad boy on the big speakers... GREAT STUFF STEPHEN.....Wild Turkey and Schnapps....Mirage...yes...... R-man.... I'm playing it again.. Geo's gonna love this. .

[stephen1977]

Nov 29, 2008, 3:16pm, taxi wrote:Dude ....This is way CoooooooooL.....I JUST LOVE IT.....Great feel.....Nice Groove.....Right up my Alley....I support Indie Music.....I just put this bad boy on the big speakers...GREAT STUFF STEPHEN.....Wild Turkey and Schnapps....Mirage...yesR-man....Hey RRunner! I've seen you around and have been meaning to check out your digs as well. The last one I tried to check out wouldn't play, but I WILL get to it. You dabble in the electronic realm? Right? I could be wrong.Thanks for the compliments man. Really. Too much man. But I can't take all the credit. Every player.. ..well played an important role which in the end took it to the "zone." Like I said, its no hit. Its just a cool groove and vibe to be in, and I can't lie, makes great @&^$ing music. Jam it out all you want my man! So glad you are digging it! Thanks for the listen and the props!

[wta]

Man, this tune rocks man. Got some NIN feel going on, ya I dig it. Liken that rhythm and lead guitar tones, what are ya using? Vox with chops. Nice backing vox as well. Instrumentation, lyric, tones, couldn't done without the indy advert but the the hay... Rocks man, serious... '-) wta

[billg]

Yeah Stephen this is cool, cj your voice sounds cool here too. really good production. I would of dug it better with a big huge out front bassline, but that's coming from a bass player so take it with a grain of salt.

[stephen1977]

Nov 29, 2008, 4:25pm, billg wrote:Yeah Stephen this is cool, cj your voice sounds cool here too. really good production. I would of dug it better with a big huge out front bassline, but that's coming from a bass player so take it with a grain of salt.Thanks Bill.I'm glad you brought up the bassline. That was part of the problem with this one. Like I mentioned early on, this song wasn't intended for what you are hearing now. In fact, the one we followed this one up with, had the same issues.Originally, Phantom Music Box, was just an instrumental, background music gig I was working on. It wasn't until this song, we went ALL band.So, when Cj asked me to lay vox to it. I already had the bed done and all separate files gone. So when it came to mixing. The bass, the drums, and the keyboards were already mixed and mastered by me. So not too much could be done to it. Our mix master had to literally dump the gits and vox and additional strings over a mastered bed that could not be changed. So in turn, that thumping bass got buried. Believe me, in the original, the bass had a more prominent role.Now the second one we did, we played an actual bass on it AFTER the bed was done, so the bass was more in your face.So, to sum it up, this project wasn't meant for this and the first couple songs we had to work with were already mastered and unchangeable bed tracks.