For the newest of news click THIS LINK.
November 14, 2007
I have started a new blog, which should replace this News page better than my blog at MI7 did, because that one was mostly used for
updating you on the availability of new songs. This new blog should contain some more info about what's going on in the Subliminal
universe, and then some..... I have added the link to the new blog to the Links page, but for those too lazy to go there, you can also
use this link. And you don't have to register to leave any comments, so don't be shy
and tell me what's on your mind. I can always delete your comments afterwards... ;-)
November 12, 2007
The problems over at MI7 seem to be solved with a more permanent solution on the way, so for the time being any new updates can again be
found there (like my remix of Calendar Girl's December).
November 10, 2007
There seem to be some server problems over at MI7, so for those dedicated followers of my blog over there that are unable to reach the MI7
site, I will keep you updated on that situation and more music-related business over here. And even if you can reach the site, I will still
post any new updates here until further notice.
July 12, 2007
Well, this could be the last news entry you will get from me, but I don't promise you anything, so don't get your hopes up too high.
For more information on this bold move and your regular dose of Subliminal madness, head over to my blog at MI7:
MI7 community blog
And for the really dedicated followers there is a RSS feed for said blog:
RSS feed for the MI7 community blog
July 7, 2007
In an attempt to reach an even wider audience than is currently the case, I have created an account at the VIRB site. I have added a link
to the Links page. Again, all the relevant music can be found over here, so for Jay and Silent Bob there is nothing to gain. The only
question that remains is where I will maintain a more regular blog, because I don't have the intention to update all these accounts with
more than the most essential blog entries. By the time I have figured that out I will let you know, so you only have to visit this site
for the music and the account chosen for the regular blog entries.
July 2, 2007
I have created a MySpace account and added the link to it to the Links page. Musically it doesn't add to what's already available here,
so your time is better spent listening to the full version of The Hands That Hold... in stead of heading over to my MySpace page. For me
it's a convenient way to monitor what some of my favourite bands and artists are up to. Furthermore, it's just another way to reach a
wider audience than just my two most regular visitors (let's call 'em Jay and Silent Bob). Not that I don't appreciate 'em... I have also
added a link to the site of Immune, a band I recently came across and really, really like.
I have been trying some new ideas for In Retrospect, but they didn't work out (ofcourse). However, I already have some new ideas lined
up for that song, so don't despair.
June 30, 2007
Reading back the last entry, I realise that I have written The Hands That Hold The Key To Creation in one day. The fact that it lasts
15 minutes and 30 seconds doesn't mean that it is the achievement that it appears to be, because there are a lot of repetitions in that
song. However, I have put more effort in it than most people will probably think after hearing it. As said before, the scale used and
the arrangement chosen are based on prime numbers. I am quite pleased with it, although I probably will be the only one. But then again,
who cares. This is not a song that you should listen to with too much of a focus on what is happening, because there is not much to focus
on. Turn down the lights, turn up the volume, lie down on your couch and let the music wash over you. Or just use it as background music
for whatever you are doing. Or use it as elevator music should you have an elevator with build-in sound system. Whichever suits you.
Anyway, it is filed under The Hole In The Universe and if you cannot spare the time and the patience then go to my MI7 page, where you
can find an excerpt of the song that lasts for only 4 minutes and 40 seconds.
June 29, 2007
Well, it's not that I have hit a dead end with In Retrospect, but somehow I don't seem to find the time to work on it any further. I
believe that I have passed the 6 or 7 minute mark, for those who are keeping score. This morning, while listening to David Sylvian's
Approaching Silence, I was thinking about prime numbers and how I could use those in a new song. So I have started something new, which
is relatively loosely based on prime numbers. It is called The Hands That Hold The Key To Creation (at least for now; I was also thinking
about Prime Suspect as a title) and will probably have to be filed under The Hole In The Universe. Apart from that, I have also been
thinking about remixing some songs from fellow MI7 community members. I don't have that much remixing experience (I once had a go at
Marillion's When I Meet God), but it could be an interesting experience, just because it's such a completely different approach. However,
there is also more than enough stuff of my own lying around, so I am really in two minds about doing those remixes.
June 19, 2007
I have added a new page, called Projects, which lists the most recent Subliminal projects (or collections of songs, depending on the
perspective taken). From there you can proceed to the respective projects by clicking on the images to the left of the titles. The
images used for Songs Of Doubt and The Hole In The Universe are photographs from Edwin van Buuringen, and are possible starting points
for future artwork. At the bottom of each project page is a link to the folder containing the mp3 files of the songs and, if present,
the jpeg file of the CD cover artwork.
Apart from downloading projects, I have been thinking about making available CD audio versions of 'completed' projects for those
interested. These CD's will contain (simple) artwork and will be free of charge as long as the demand isn't too overwhelming (which
I don't expect). Send me an e-mail if you are interested in these. The e-mail address is on the bottom of the Links page.
In the past couple of weeks I have been working on a 'new' song, called In Retrospect, containing a couple of old ideas from Drowning
Man/Lo Siento/SoulBreather. I have already passed the 5 minute mark and I am not even halfway through. Furthermore, I have been thinking
about the direction to take with Sleeping Buddha. Progress is very slow on both songs, so don't expect some results too soon.
June 6, 2007
Well, what about a music-less update? Do I hear a sigh of relief? Today I have been one with nature to record some ambience with my
binaural stereo mic's and my trusty mp3 player. I used a couple of different combinations of (no) adapter / recording volumes, but
the results were quite noisy at best. Too bad, because when listened back over headphones binaural recordings can sound quite realistic.
Maybe I am going to use some of the recordings anyway, even those where the quantization errors are clearly audible.
I have done a bit of work on a new song. Well, it's more of a new approach using a couple of old ideas. It could sound fantastic, but it
probably won't, but you will be the judge of that...or not...Well, that's it. I have to take the garbage out. Rock'n'Roll!
June 3, 2007
Welcome to the half-monthly update, again containing some half-decent tunes for your listening pleasures. Apart from a super-tiny change
to King Of Nothing (as promised in the previous update), there is now also a new version of With Friends Like These. After struggling
with some additional synth lead parts, I have decided to make it available in its current form, which may or may not be the definitive
version.
By the way, it turns out that I have twice as many devoted fans than initially thought, so have fun the both of you.
May 15, 2007
So here I am once more...Don't worry, I am not going to tell you about a new, absurdly small change to King Of Nothing, although I have an
idea for such a change. But I will probably put it up here with a new and maybe 'complete' version of With Friends Like These, to avoid
boring the hell out of the only fan I have left (and you know who you are...you are the one reading this...). This new version of With
Friends... will not contain any riffs from Van Buuringen's Too Much Too Soon, as initally intended, because that idea didn't work out as
good as I hoped it would. Like most of the other ideas (for different songs) I have tried the last couple of weeks, which was rather a
frustrating period to say the least. Anyway, should I find the courage to come up with some lead synth parts for With Friends... before
the end of the week then you will read about it here (and only here...or maybe my MI7 page).
May 1, 2007
And again a tiny change to King Of Nothing, really not worth your precious time checking out. I have also added two links to the Links page.
The first one is a link to the website of Portal, a Canadian band that I came across when listening to an internet radio program. Chances are
that I am going to translate their new site into Dutch, coinciding with the release of their new album Blood Red Tape. Great music from a bunch
of really talented guys. Their latest release Element consists of reworked versions of seven songs from the previous one, The Vast Expanse
Diminishing. These new versions really do justice to the quality of their songwriting and performance. The second link is to the website of
The Freesound Project. This site contains some interesting sound samples, a couple of which I have used in my own music.
April 14, 2007
Very, very slight changes to The Whole Of The Universe and King Of Nothing.
April 1, 2007
Okay, I had totally forgotten that I had a slightly updated version of King Of Nothing waiting to be uploaded. Consider it done. Go check
it out on the The Hole In The Universe page and see if you can spot the differences. I have also changed the name of A Song For Every
Occasion into Songs Of Doubt.
March 31, 2007
I have added the Unraveling Utopia project to the site on a seperate page. It has been available before, but not for too long in it's
complete form. I have also added to that the left-overs from the Simons & Van Buuringen album Desperate Measures. More information
can be found on the Unraveling Utopia page.
March 22, 2007
Well, it was not my intention to upload the slightly different version of this site at this moment, but I guess I got a bit too enthousiastic.
So anyway, here it is. No mayor changes, apart from a different background image (courtesy of Edwin van Buuringen; his photos site is added
to the links section) and renaming the GRO... page to A Song For Every Occasion. The reason for these changes is the fact that I decided to
abondon The Hole In The Universe as a project, and to abandon the idea of projects completely, at least for the moment. So now we have a page
for the more experimental tracks (The Hole In The Universe) and a page for the less experimental songs (A Song For Every Occasion) without
the songs on these individual pages being part of a particular project. This does not mean that the whole idea of projects is abandoned forever.
It just means that, for now, I will not be writing songs with specific projects in mind.
March 19, 2007
I have added a short piece, called The Sky At Night (which was the subtitle of Cloud In My Head), to the THITU page. It was generated by
the program AudioPaint, which was written by Nicolas Fournel. This programs converts images to sound, and the image that has been converted
was one of the images used for the artwork of The Hole In The Universe. I will probably process the generated sound a bit more to give it
a more personal touch, but I thought I put it up here anyway.
March 18, 2007
Not overly excited with the direction in which THITU was going, I have decided to (re)move some of the songs. First of all, I have removed
Drowning Man. Although I think that there are a couple of decent ideas in that song (that's probably why I still have not deleted those
ideas after all these years), I am not too pleased with this version and its place within the sonic concept of THITU. And because of that
last reason I also have moved Which Way To Leicester Square (- Return), Lonely Is The Crowd and Still Life to the GRO J1655-40 page.
Hopefully that will give the THITU project the necessary boost, although I won't be focussing solely on that project anymore.
March 8, 2007
And now for something completely different.....Although it was never my policy not to upload songs that were not (almost) completed, I always
have been hesitant to do so anyway. However, since the new page with songs that do not fit into The Hole In The Universe (pun not intended...
I think...) is looking pretty empty, I have decided to add a work very in progress to that page and its mp3 player. It is based on an idea I
have had for quite some time now, but I have decided fairly recently to give it a try. Anyway, go check it out!
March 6, 2007
I have added Drowning Man to the mp3 player on the THITU page, although I am not sure if this will be the final version of that song. But
then again, when can anyone ever be sure about such things? Thanks to the persons (or person that voted twice) who visited my page at
www.ongekendtalent.nl and voted favourably for that page. Much appreciated. The highest ranking for Lonely Is The Crowd was in the 400s,
but that was last week, so keep those votes coming. Anyway, next up is The Downhill Climb or the 'new' song...I think.....
March 4, 2007
What can I say? When you think that you are almost there, it turns out that you are still lightyears away. Not all too happy with Drowning
Man and Lo Siento, I decided to make one song out of those two. Although I am still working on that one, I have added its title already
to the THITU page. It is called...Drowning Man... I was also not pleased by the running order of the songs, so I changed that too. Because
of the work that still has to be done (parts of Drowning Man and King of Nothing, whole chunks of The Downhill Climb and Sleeping Buddha,
and possibly a 'new' song), the sequence of tracks is subject to change.
I have added mp3 players (created by Jeroen Wijering; with thanks to Edwin van Buuringen for the idea) to the THITU and GRO J1655-40 pages
(the last one, however, is still pretty empty), which hopefully makes the listening experience a bit more pleasent, or at least easier. I
have also added an e-mail address at the bottom of the Links page which you can use to send me your thoughts on this site and the music
featured here.
And if you can spare the time, check out my page at http://www.ongekendtalent.nl (search for
"Subliminal") and vote for the page and/or the songs present. And if there is even more time to be spared, come back and vote regularly.
I will try to change the songs frequently, so regular visits are most welcome.
February 18, 2007
After trying a couple of different ideas for The Downhill Climb, all of which turned out rather weak, I decided to work on an idea that has
been haunting me for ages, which, however, is not part of The Hole In The Universe. To give such songs a home on the site, I decided to create
two seperate sections, one for The Hole... and one for all the other tracks. The last one is called GRO J1655-40. This is not a new project,
at least not for now. At the moment this section looks rather empty, but I wanted to add it anyway.
I have also added a link to my site at the MI7 community. That site does not add anything to what is already presented here, but it is a great
starting point for hearing a lot of other music. And there is quite some interesting stuff out there, so if you can spare the time then check
it out.
February 12, 2007
The whole of The Whole Of The Universe has been uploaded to the Music section.
February 7, 2007
I have added the mp3 file of Lo Siento to the Music section. This too is an 'oldie', although not as old as Drowning Man, and this too
has seen quite some changes. Still left to do are: the second part of The Whole Of The Universe (renamed to Aftermath; the second part
that is), The Downhill Climb, Sleeping Buddha and some extra layers of sound for King Of Nothing. Or to put it in a Wrecking Crew way,
75% of the writing/recording (which is one and the same process for me) is done.
And on the subject of Wrecking Crew, tonight is another rhythm guitar recording session for Bram. We are probably going to record Lord
Of The Seventh Sea and rerecord Open Fire. We will have to see.
February 2, 2007
In a couple of hours I will be off to the Marillion Convention Weekend. But first I want to share with you two new additions to The Hole
In The Universe. My initial idea for Dwarfed By A Red Giant did not work out, as I already stated in a previous news update, but yesterday
I managed to come up with a different approach. It sits very well with the other more 'abstract' pieces, especially Cloud In My Head, so
be warned. Drowning Man (formerly known as SoulBreather, which is still the subtitle) has come a long way since it was first conceived,
when it reminded van Buuringen of The Gathering. Eventually, it was not included on Unraveling Utopia, so I changed it quite a lot for
inclusion on Happiness In Twelve Easy Steps. However, that project was abandoned, so once again I decided to change it, this time to fit
in more with the sonic concept of The Hole In The Universe. Anyway, both songs can be found in the Music section.
Due to some health issues I had to skip last wednesday's recording session for the new Wrecking Crew album, but I hope to record some
rhythm guitar next wednesday. We are almost finished recording the rhythm guitar parts from Bram and Buks, leaving three songs each still
to be recorded.
January 26, 2007
I have been browsing through a couple of 'old' ideas, mostly from the abandoned projects Happiness In Twelve Easy Steps and The Blacklist.
Particularly songs and ideas from the first one could be relevant for inclusion in The Hole In The Universe. One of those songs is Still
Life. It is a solo flute piece which was to be the last song of the Happiness... project. I have added it to the Music section, where it
can be downloaded.
January 25, 2007
Yesterday, Buks has recorded his parts for Eyes Of God (even some lead work in the intro) and Torquemada, and has re-recorded his parts
for WWIII, because he was not that satisfied with his own playing from last sunday on that song. This probably means that poor Bram has
to re-record his parts for that song too, to make sure that the rhythm guitar parts are tight. Earlier that day I had sent (new) mixes for
Underground and WWIII. To be honest, I do not feel too comfortable mixing without my monitor speakers, so I hope that they (or a new pair)
will return soon. Especially now the guys from Wrecking Crew want some changes in the already mixed tracks.
My idea for Dwarfed By A Red Giant did not work out as good as I hoped it would, so I decided to continue working on Which Way To Leicester
Square, of which you can find a new version in the Music section. That song is finished, at least for the moment. I do not know for sure
which song will be the next one to work on. Maybe The Whole Of The Universe, The Downhill Climb or Sleeping Buddha, or maybe even something
outside of the scope of The Hole In The Universe.
January 23, 2007
Well, I have just sent a first mix of Falling Down to the guys from Wrecking Crew, including both the rhythm guitar parts from Bram and
those of Buks. I have put a couple of small tricks in the mix, so I am curious what they think of those. Anyway, tomorrow evening is the
second rhythm guitar session for Buks. Maybe I will give one (or both) of the other two songs that were recorded last sunday a try before
the recording session.
In the meantime, I have solved, or to put it in more exact terms, worked around the problem caused by an effects plug-in, so I have
uploaded mp3 files of Cloud In My Head and Which Way...Return, which can be downloaded from the Music section. I also have some rough
ideas for Dwarfed By A Red Giant, so that's most probably the next song I am going to work on.
January 21, 2007
Today was the first rhythm guitar session for Buks, who also plays the bass guitar on Where Soldiers Die, the new Wrecking Crew album.
After a slow start, where some decisions had to be made about the guitar sound and some of the riffs, he managed to record his parts for
Underground, Falling Down and World War III, three of the four songs Bram has recorded his parts for last wednesday. Before today's session
I had already made first mixes including Bram's rhythm guitar parts of Open Fire, Underground and World War III. Now I can revisit the last
two songs to incorporate the parts from Buks into the mix. Maybe I will have a go at Falling Down first, though, because there I have only
mixed the drums and bass guitar tracks up until now. Anyway, next wednesday evening is the second session for Buks.
I have also been working on Cloud In My Head and Which Way To Leicester Square - Return from The Hole In The Universe. It was my intention
to upload both songs today, but some problems with a distortion plug-in I have used on Which Way... made me decide to fix that problem first
before uploading the songs. So, you have to wait a bit longer for that. Nonetheless, as I have already stated earlier, the project is
progressing quite nicely.
January 18, 2007
It was brought to my attention that I have misspelled the name of one of the Wrecking Crew songs. There is no song called Angel Slaughter,
although I wish that there was one, but there is a song called Agent Slaughter. Anyway, yesterday was Bram's third recording session, and
a productive recording session it was. He played and I recorded (so why is it called his recording session anyway; it should be his third
playing session) four songs, which were: Falling Down, Open Fire, Underground and World War III. This means that Bram is almost finished
recording his parts, only leaving Lord Of The Seventh Sea, some 'acoustic' guitar parts for Open Fire and a single chord on one of the other
songs for him to do. Next sunday could be the first rhythm guitar session for Buks (who has already recorded the bass guitar parts earlier),
but up until now nothing is finalised.
Tomorrow morning I will send my monitor speakers away for repair or replacement, if the weather is willing to work with me, because I have
to carry those two blue monsters to the post office for a distance too far to walk through too much rain and wind (both of which we had more
than plenty of already). They (or a new pair) should be back before the end of next week. In the meantime I will try to do some mixing on my
large, consumer speakers and/or my headphones. This means also a different strategy for the recording, but we will work something out, so we
can keep up the pace. Speaking of mixing, I have send new works in progress of War Machine and Wrecking Crew to the guys from Wrecking Crew.
Also, I have done some work on Cloud In My Head and Which Way To Leicester Square - Return from The Hole In The Universe. Not enough to
justify the uploading of some excerpts, but it looks like the project is taking shape.
January 14, 2007
A quick and small update (especially after that long one from yesterday, of which, I hope, you have reached the end, because there was also
some info on The Hole In The Universe) on todays recording session for the new Wrecking Crew album. Bram had decided to record his parts
for the two most challenging songs, at least from his perspective, being Wrecking Crew and War Machine. I know from a previous recording
experience of that last track how difficult that one can be for the rhythm guitar, because of its absurdly high tempo. But it has to be said
that Bram did a fine job, recording both songs within two hours. After that he had a go at Open Fire, but eventually decided to let it rest
until wednesday, because those two monsters he had already recorded had worn him out.
By the way, I have found a work-around for my problem with one of my monitor speakers. So, until I have to send it away for repairs, I can
proceed with the mixdown of the already recorded parts for the Wrecking Crew album. This means also that I can postpone the more tedious
editing stuff, which nonetheless have to be done in the near future.
January 13, 2007
Thursday I have spent a large part of the morning filling in the annual DPRP poll (www.dprp.net).
Among the information requested was my personal top 10 of albums released in 2006, something I would gladly want to share with you,
so here it is:
01. Tool / 10,000 Days
In spite of being criticised for making a step in the direction of more mainstream music, I personally prefer this album over their
previous one, Lateralus, though that is also a more than decent album. For me, the individual songs on 10,000 Days have each their own
identitiy, something which was a bit lacking on Lateralus. No fillers on this album, but I have to mention the title track and its
companion track Wings For Mary (pt. 1) & 10,000 Days (Wings pt. 2). Superb!
02. Sylvan / Posthumous Silence
Although Posthumous Silence is the fifth album from these German progressive rockers, I was pretty unaware of them until a review of
this album triggered my attention. After listening to some samples on their site, I decided to buy not only their last effort, but also
the previous two albums, Artificial Paradise and X-Rayed. Posthumous Silence may not be the most innovating album in this top 10, but its
beautifully emotional atmosphere justifies its place.
03. The Mars Volta / Amputechture
Although the previous album, Frances The Mute, was criticised for being too psychedelic at times, it still remains my favourite
The Mars Volta album. Amputechture, however, is a good second (out of three, I have to admit) and a step back from the weirdness of its
predecessor. The first song I heard, Viscera Eyes, made me really look forward to the new album, and though that song is one of the
better ones on the album, I was not disappointed. But The Mars Volta will stay a love-it-or-hate-it affair for most people.
04. Thom Yorke / The Eraser
The debut album from Radiohead's lead vocalist is reminiscent of the electronic influences which can be found on Kid A and Amnesiac
from that same band. But if you manage to listen past the electronics you will find a collection of beautiful songs. One wonders how
this album will effect the new Radiohead album, now that Thom Yorke has got these electronic influences of his chest?
05. OSI / Free
The second OSI (Office Of Strategic Influence) album sees ones again the talents of Fates Warning guitarist Jim Matheos and former
Dream Theater keyboard player (and Chroma Key mastermind) Kevin Moore combined to offer a blend of heavy rock and modern electronics
which was the trademark of their debut album. And although the second half of the album cannot sustain the sheer quality of the first
half, the album as a whole is still more than just good. Even the bonus disc of the special edition, filled with left-overs, is
worthwhile listening to. Favourite track on the main album: Home Was Good.
06. Muse / Black Holes And Revelations
I have the distinct impression that most people who are into Muse like Absolution or Origin Of Symmetry, their previous two studio
albums, more than this one, but I, for one, am glad that they have managed to come up with a more diverse sound for Black Holes And
Revelations. To be honest, it took me a while before I liked the first single from this album, Supermassive Black Hole, but the album
as a whole is just great, and they end in style with City Of Delusion, Hoodoo & Knights Of Cydonia.
07. Wolverine / Still
To still call Wolverine progressive metal is more than ever far from the truth, and not doing them justice, because their sound is
very diverse on this album. True, they still can deliver their own brand of the progressive metal stuff, but there is more to be found
on this album than just that, even coming close to pop tunes, great pop tunes that is. Still is a big step forward from its predeccesor
Cold Light Of Monday, which was already a good album.
08. Delaware / Lost In The Beauty Of Innocence
Do not let the bandname fool you. This band is Danish and their sound is very British (at least that is my humble opinion). But most
importantly, one wonders why they are not more well-known, because their music should appeal to a larger public. Anyway, this is a fine
collection of songs, worthwhile checking out if you are looking for quality poprock tunes.
09. Frost* / Milliontown
And then it was over before it had begun, another short-lived progressive rock supergroup. Fronted by keyboardist/vocalist Jem Godfrey,
writer for the 'stars' (Ronan Keating, amongst others), who enlisted the help of IQ's rhythm section, consisting of John Jowitt and new drummer
Andy Edwards (who is really a revelation; sorry Cookie), and the multi-talented and multi-involved (The Urbane, Arena, Kino, It Bites)
guitarist/vocalist John Mitchell. Only after the album was available as a mid-price cd I decided to buy it, because I already had my share
of progressive rock supergroups (Transatlantic, Kino). In the end, I am glad to have bought the album, because it turned out to be a great
album after all. It is still growing on me, so its 9th position might turn out te be somewhat underrated, or not. In the meantime, Jem
Godfrey put the band on hold due to a full schedule, so it will probably be the last we will ever hear from Frost*, but it was worthwhile
the effort.
10. Paatos / Silence Of Another Kind
Although not overly impressed at first, this album gradually started to grow on me. It has a more 'organic' feel than their previous
album, Kallocain, which was produced by Porcupine Tree's Stephen Wilson. Some tracks stand out more than others, but its overall melancholic
atmosphere gives it a certain coherence which works in its favour.
And because it was a very close call, I want to mention my 11th favourite album of 2006 also:
11. The Pineapple Thief / Little Man
While listening to the first couple of songs for the first time, this album reminded me of its predecessor 12 Stories Down (or its remake,
10 Stories Down), which is not exactly their best album to date. But just like Silence Of Another Kind, the album started to grow on me and
was saved by its overall melancholic and mellow feel.
Well, although this is an impressive update already, there is even more I want to share with you. I have added slightly different versions
of The Whole Of The Universe and King Of Nothing, my own mix of Van Buuringen's addition to Which Way To Leicester Square and Lonely Is The
Crowd to the Music section. And on the subject of the new Wrecking Crew album (which is called Where Soldiers Die) the following: Tomorrow
Bram will have his second recording session. The mixing of the album, however, has hit some bumps in the road, now one of my monitor speakers
is giving me a hard time. There is still a lot of editing to do, which can be done without proper monitoring, but I am a bit disappointed
just the same. Anyway, I will keep you up to speed on the progress of both the Wrecking Crew album and my own The Hole In The Universe project.
January 11, 2007
The last couple of days I have been working on the mix of Torquemade (the song formerly known as Whitchburner) and Angel Slaughter, adding
Bram's last sunday recorded rhythm guitar parts to the rest of the mix. I am waiting for comments from the Wrecking Crewers on these newly
mixed songs. Eyes Of God has still to be done and I could start tidying up the different takes from all the songs, but I also want to get
working on some of my own songs (like Lonely Is The Crowd). Anyway, the new mix of Torquemade is already on the Wrecking Crew site. So, if
you want to know how it sounds like at the moment, you should go check it out over there (for a link go to the Links section).
January 8, 2007
Since I am mixing the new Wrecking Crew album (and recording the rhythm guitar parts) these news updates are coming quite frequently...
Yesterday I have recorded Brams rhythm guitar parts for Eyes Of God, Witchburner and Angel Slaughter within three hours. And Eyes Of God
had not just one, but about five guitar parts from Bram alone, so three songs within three hours was quite an accomplishment from Bram.
His next two sessions are Sunday 14th and Wednesday 17th, after which his parts should be mostly done. Tomorrow I will start working on
mixing the recorded guitar parts with the already pre-mixed drum'n'bass tracks.
January 6, 2007
Yesterday and today I added the effects agreed upon last wednesday to the rest of the songs from the new Wrecking Crew album. There were
some problems identifying the tom tracks, but in the end it turned out to be quite easy, in spite of faulty labeling on some of the songs.
Unfortunately, the song Open Fire had a bigger problem, because the floor tom track is largely missing (except the last take). I do not
think that this will pose too much of a problem, but it is a shame just the same. Anyway, you can download an excerpt from the last mix of
Eyes Of God from the Wrecking Crew website (see the Links section).
Also, I decided to get rid of the guestbook, because it was visited mostly by @, who nows how to contact me in a lot of different ways
anyway, and some spam, who can also reach me by e-mail.
Well, that's it for now. Tomorrow Bram will start his recording sessions, which gives me a lot of new stuff to incorporate in the already
pre-mixed songs.
January 4, 2007
After giving it some thought it was decided to abandon the vBDG&S project. Work was not really progressing and I guess that we were not
all that motivated to get it finished. The Ring And The Dance took us about two years to complete, but how slow its progress might have
been, there was always something happening. This then, together with the shift in focus from The Blacklist to The Hole In The Universe,
was reason for me to change the appearance of the site yet again, this time to reflect the artwork for The Hole... a bit more.
So, my focus will be on working on The Hole In The Universe and mixing the new Wrecking Crew album. I am even considering abandoning
The Blacklist for good, maybe using the ideas already spawned for a new collaboration (hint, hint...). Time will tell...or not.....
Anyway, yesterday evening the three wise man paid me a premature visit bearing gifts of beer, cappucino and the first season of Babylon 5
on dvd, of which only the last was really meant for me. Eventually, they turned out to be BuksMax and Bram from Wrecking Crew, dropping
by to finetune the pre-mix of Eyes Of God. The mix agreed upon by those guys is the starting point for pre-mixing the rest of the songs
before the vocals and rhythm and lead guitars are recorded. The rhythm guitars will be recorded at my place, starting off with Bram next
sunday. Major advantage for me is the possibility to mix the rhythm guitars with the already recorded parts soon after the recording has
taken place. And because we are going to record the rhythm guitars through the V-Amp directly into the computer recording at my place is
possible in the first place.
I will try to keep you updated on all the activities mentioned above.
Welcome to the official Subliminal website.