Effacing Autumn Needs YOU...Support a Great Band

General Forums Off-topic Chat
1

Hey Peeps, This will only take a couple minutes.
Thus far this community has been extremely supportive, guiding me thru my time using blender. In return, I feel like Ive helped out quite a few new users, older users, and gotten to know all you general forum loiterers.etc…
Now, I need your help again. Im in a band, and though we’ve been together a few months, we’re still working on creating a real buzz(we’ve been approached to play shows, we should get around to that by november).
Ive been told(by more than my family mind you) that we sound really good, and I feel we just need a bit of luck to get our internet buzz going.
However, Im too impatient to wait for that to get going, and would like those who are willing to check out our band purevolume page at

purevolume.com/effacingautumn

and our myspace at

myspace.com/facingautumndemosong

Check the purevolume page first.

You can get a free listener account, listen to our music, join our fan list etc(as well as listen to every other band in existence).

Anyway, I feel kinda flaky asking everyone to do this, but If your interested, your help would be much appreciated.

Thanks for looking,
Drew
PS sorry for the crappy spelling, Im in a hurry atm, thanks again.

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thats you singing… ?

woaahhh :eek:

well ill add a link to you, hope that helps.:cool:
also if you would like any ajustments to your songs i could possibly do them.
stereo effects etc…

hope this helps.

//charlie

ps. the penny drops one is broken or set to mute.

3

Yeah, I also play guitar, drums etc. Actually, Im a producer, so most of this is just me(and the rest of my band helps play it live), but I get to handle all of the effects, composition, makes it much more fun.

Anyway, thanks for the plug! Don’t be afraid to mention and/or link to us anywhere in your blogs etc… :wink: Just kidding, thanks so much.

Peace bro.

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Hehe, the quality of the music is actually very good, lirics are also as good as ive come to expect, given that it is mostly you, i have to say that its quite impressive.

Not exactly my style of music, but im sure alot of people would like to listen to this kind of stuff.

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Im still deciding whether or not thats an insult :)…

And yeah, Its a very soft type of music, our harder songs arent recorded yet. The others we have are more punk/emo. Obviously, weve got a fairly large genre range.

Thanks for looking!

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No, i phrased that wrong, i’ve never heard anything from you so how would i have any pre-conceived ideas?

I menat given that you are young, experimenting and still, dont take this the wrong way, unexperienced, it was as good as i would expect it to be.

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Ha, not taken as an insult in the least.(I was kidding), though, in my defense, these are my simplist songs lyrically.

Ive got two of those harder ones, they are much better in that department. Ill haev o get those up there soon and redeem myself.

Thanks again.

8

I thought it is actually quite good. As someone alse said, not really my style, though I would like to hear some more. Keep recording and adding to your site, I, for one would go back and listen.

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Thats great to hear! Just out of curiosity, what is your more preferred type of music?

Thanks!

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it is not bad for pop punk but there’s so much being pumped into that genre right now it is not even funny.

that and i hate the genre but w/e

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You’ve got quite a good sound going there! I particularly like ‘Ignorance is Bliss.’ Keep it up.

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Whats up man. Not bad, I’m not really into the emo/softer rock styles but I hear talent. How old are you guys (if you don’t mind me asking). I’m just curious because if you’re under 21 gigging will be a bit limited bar wise unless bars in your area allow 18+ if you don’t drink since some near me do. It’s nice to know there are so many musicians in the 3d world :slight_smile: Being in a band can be hard at times but it’s so much fun so good luck to you all!

Forgot my info isn’t in my sig here: Emisis - www.myspace.com/emisis www.emisismusic.com

-Patrick (Rhythm guitarist)

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Great voice.
Advice: sit in and sing with some of your local bands who are already doing shows; It could help you and your band. Just my experience talking.

Good luck.

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@Fuzzmaster: Yeah, so true. We’ve got a fair bit of acoustic influence(not so obvious in these songs), which is a little different(though I took off our really good all-acoustic song), but our sound will evolve as our tastes do.

@Mr_Morten: Thanks! Im glad you like it.

@pnoland: Yeah, its one of those genres that either you like, or it’s just boring I guess :slight_smile: Im 14, Bryce is 15, and Blake is 16. We wont be able to play many bars and clubs, but we do have a steady place to play already(basicly a small theatre. We’ll start playing shows in early november). We’ve also been checking out various outdoor venues that have shows weekends.
But first we need some live equipment( some good mic amps, another guitar amp), Have any advice on that front?

Sweet band btw, not exactly my style, but I can appreciate :slight_smile:

@dukytime: Thanks man. What do you mean, ‘sit in’? Thanks again.

Huge thanks everyone for checking it out, it means a lot!

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by sit in, he means get to know some local bands & organize to do a guest song with them (usually a cover). If it works you get yourself exposure and can lead to work for your band. Good Luck.
m.a. (semi-retired musician)

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Ah, okay. Yeah, we’re definately going to check out the shows, though I never thought to sit in…

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By “Sit in”, I mean just that. Some bands will let you come to their rehearsal and join in, let you try your hand at learning a song or two of theirs, and maybe even perform with them live on their material.

I think you have a strong and solid enough voice to sit in with a variety of different bands, which could help the style of your own band.

I think the musicianship is not quite there yet. I am trying to be honest, because that is what “up and coming” artists need to hear.

When you say to people, “hey, check out my stuff”, people want to be kind, especially to cool people like yourself…but people also want to be “blown away”. So, you want to have your strong stuff ready. Don’t say “My harder stuff will be up soon”. I’m sure it’s cool and all, but we would not know, because the stuff that you drew attention to, is just not strong enough to gather the support you are probably looking for.

I have friends in the “Biz”, and I’d love to toss them a link to your stuff, but it really has to be strong, because I am not gonna waste their time for bands that “mean well” but are not strong enough to hold their own against industry standard groups that hit strong live and have at least 7 scalp peeling tunes to promote themselves.

Sit down with your bandmates, and be honest with each other. Pick 7 songs that just grab people by the chest, whether soft, hard, indy, crunch, whatever…Just fricken strong!

Kid, you definitely got the voice, you just need the sound.

Right now, I can pass your links around, but it probably won’t catch the attention of people from Spin, Rollingstone or Blender magazine…unless you Move some serious cone, bro.

I could probably master a song of yours, to help out. But, still, there is only so far technology can go. You need the vibe, the sound and the musicianship…You already have the voice.

EDIT: BTW, the voice is probably the most important. So, already, you are a rare and much sought after commodity.

Good luck.

EDIT: Here is a band that my bro mastered. They are called Far Cry. They are very different from your band, but notice the musicianship, strength in vocals and songs. They opened for most major rock acts rolling through portland and are getting local radio air play. Hope it inspires you.

Far Cry

Sorry, had to axe the other band link. Too old, and no new music added.

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Thanks for all the advice!

As far as ‘sitting in’ we should probably play a few gigs first(we can play live, we just havent yet. First gig is a fairly large party early september), but I know a few local bands who I really like, and who knows, maybe they’d be down with that.

And yeah, vocal wise, I think the biggest issue is that I like so many types of music(from bluesy John Mayer to R&B style(or gospel), to fall out boy, blink 182, switchfoot. And I can sing most of them really well), that I dont know exactly where to put myself. And I dont want to sound like any other artists either. But thanks, Im glad you think my voice is great, Ive wanted to sing in a band for a few years now, and Im finally getting the chance.

And I want nothing short of complete honesty about our sound. I dont think we’re quite where we need to be either(its just that something that isnt quite there when you listen), though over even the past few months we’ve progrssed exponentially.
And yes, of course saying I’ve got ‘other stuff’ isnt really acceptable, just hollow words. I understand that completely.

As far as 7 strong songs, we can do that. A couple likely need work, but we could definately pull that off. As far as ‘musicianship’ do you just mean the sound, the style, the composition? I want to be sure of what you mean.

And yeah, mastering would be helpful, but not the answer(from what your saying). For the record, the songs there(except for Ignorance is bliss which I wrote and recorded in a halfhour for not exactly fun, but not hard core serious either) are a few months old. While its not a good excuse we do have much better stuff in the ranks, just not recorded due to recent pressure to work on our live setup. We upped the ante on guitar, song structure, and especially lyrics and vocals.
But as you said, it means nothing if its not there…

Anyway, thanks so much for all the extremely helpful advice, (this is the kind of stuff I was looking for) and thanks for the honesty. So many people think it’s better to just smile and say “Aw, thats great.”, and it totally isnt.

Thanks again.

Drew

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One song for an example of where you could improve on musicianship, would be Penny Drops;

Like anyone would, I since you guys trying to own this grove a little. But, where the “skank” stroke on the guitar, could be consistent within it’s self, fretted solid so it don’t sound outta tune: The guitar sound lacks intonation. could improve muting technique, or whatever it takes to make the chords sound solid.

Similar progression to the bridge leading to the chorus of All Star by SmashMouth. Where they play G maj -->C7–>C# over C7 back to C7. Though you play the progression with a different style(which is good for you), if you notice in Smashmouth, the root is held down with the bass, and the melody chords cruise through.

Similar progression to Penny Drops. Since there is no bass guitar, there should be clean distinction between the two guitars(The “skank” stroke is kinda weird, and not an a good way.), especially during the part leading to your build up where the guitar comes in with the G#Maj -->D#7 --F7 --C#7(The chord on that are not played clean).

If the Lo-Fi indy sound is what you are after, do it in post pro, not in performance.

I dig progressions like that, but if they are not played clean, they sound outta tuned and hard to wade through, and could definitely distract from the voice and the message(Cool lyrics, BTW, too).

After experiencing a theft of my studio gear, I can only record an acoustic version of what I am talking about, to illustrate my point to you. if you are interested, PM me and I will arrange to send you an mp3 of some chord phrasing ideas. I wont attempt to try and tell you how to write your songs, that’s your job, your band.

If not, good luck either way.

20

first, I did not want you to think that I have a problem with your style. I actually dig listening to new artists. I’d rather hear someone create something original than someone playing some old song written by some dead person years ago, and everyone else seems to be playing it too.

There are actually great bands that sound absolutely huge, while they are just 3 people. John Spencer Blues Explosion has always been a favorite of mine, and they are just 2 guitars and a 3 piece drum set(No bass guitar)…but they sound like freight train in a living-room.

You said you were influenced by blues, among your list… Check out Mississippi John Hurt. Players like that, who are just one person, but they make you feel like you are listening 2 or 3 people playing.

Feel is almost everything…Louis Armstrong had unmistakably blown vocal chords, but he handled his gravely voice with finesse.

Youtube seems to be sprouting a immense volume of all kinds of music. I found things that I’ve used to listen to that I never even known videos even existed for them.

Chords can be strange, weird, avant garde, whatever, but if notes are just being thrown in and out with random fret buzz, it should sound as though it was planned that way.

I like the band Morphine, and Frank Zappa, and Mr. Bungle, and I also Like Miles Davis and the Melvins, and I like the Blue dudes that beat on PVC, and I like PJ Harvey…All very different and not your usual radio friendly sounds, but they all have a sound that is solid and clean in themselves.

Dirty and sloppy are good. But, you have to be good at being dirty and sloppy…lol.

I don’t think you have a “technical” sound, and that’s great, but it would not hurt to learn some chord phrasing and melody techniques, right and left hand muting, as well as music theory.

Bjork wrote an album of just vocal tracks, so fret buzz was not too much of an issue with her at that point…lol

Good thing to do is, after recording a song, take a few days off of listening to your own stuff, and then come back to it with imagine you are hearing someone else for the first time, then ask your self “Would you buy this?”