Old 12-23-2012, 04:46 PM   #1
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Default A rock opera produced with Reaper

We have finally released our third CD, and first one produced completely in Reaper.

In the past, I've had to to tracking in ProTools so that the mixes could be handed off for final touches to another engineer. In this case, our keybaordist was working in reaper, and the mixes were up to me, so I had the freedom to use Reaper throughout the entire process. I have no regrets whatsoever - in fact, I have almost no incentive to ever update ProTools, or even pay the $40 service fee to have Avid reissue a new ilok license since I had to buy a new iLok!

So, here it is, Shadow Circus' new rock opera called "On a Dark and Stormy Night", which is lyrically inspired by the fantasy novel A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle....streamed in its entirety in 320kbps mp3:

http://www.shadowcircusmusic.com/audio

Hope you enjoy!
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Old 12-23-2012, 07:53 PM   #2
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Hell Yeah keepin' the Prog alive!
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Old 12-24-2012, 07:34 AM   #3
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That's indeed super proggy, stellar musicianship. Love the keyboard work, there's never enough moog (or moog-soundalikes anyway) solos
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Old 12-27-2012, 11:15 PM   #4
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Hell Yeah keepin' the Prog alive!
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Originally Posted by zeekat View Post
That's indeed super proggy, stellar musicianship. Love the keyboard work, there's never enough moog (or moog-soundalikes anyway) solos
Thank you very much, glad you enjoyed! :-) I must admit, Moog solos were one of the main ingredients brought me to this genre!
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Old 12-28-2012, 03:49 AM   #5
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effin beautiful !!! the performance and the production. too few bands playing this kinda updated version of prog rock. the orchestration, the guitars, the keys and the drums : everything sits perfectly in the mix.
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Old 12-28-2012, 05:44 AM   #6
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FANTASTIC JOB!

cheers
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Old 12-28-2012, 06:23 AM   #7
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Stunning!
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Old 12-28-2012, 02:39 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by zeekat View Post
That's indeed super proggy, stellar musicianship. Love the keyboard work, there's never enough moog (or moog-soundalikes anyway) solos
Why does this make me think of Christopher Walken saying "It needs more moog solos"?

Seriously though, I'm just on track 3 and love this rock opera. I've already sent the link to 2 friends. Keep up the awesome work!

-- Jim
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Old 12-28-2012, 02:47 PM   #9
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effin beautiful !!! the performance and the production. too few bands playing this kinda updated version of prog rock. the orchestration, the guitars, the keys and the drums : everything sits perfectly in the mix.
Thank you so much, now I am excited to check out your Space epic! I'm especially grateful for your assessment of the mix - this is my first shot at mixing (well, I tried mixing our first two CDs, but our drummer/engineer at the time pulled them from me to mix them himself, but I really wasn't that happy with the results)...

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FANTASTIC JOB!

cheers
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Stunning!
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Why does this make me think of Christopher Walken saying "It needs more moog solos"?

Seriously though, I'm just on track 3 and love this rock opera. I've already sent the link to 2 friends. Keep up the awesome work!

-- Jim
You have all made my day, thank you so much....cracking up at the Walken reference -- "I've got an itch - and the only thing that'll scratch it is more Moog!!!!!!"
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Old 12-29-2012, 06:40 AM   #10
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Heavy Arjen Lucassen influence there. I really enjoy this style. Great musicianship and production. Not too cheesy.
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Old 12-29-2012, 04:28 PM   #11
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Heavy Arjen Lucassen influence there. I really enjoy this style. Great musicianship and production. Not too cheesy.
Thanks! I was just reading up on your Word/Phrase composition technique, very interesting!
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Old 12-31-2012, 01:17 PM   #12
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Beautiful. Right up there with Ayreon, Circus Maximus (watch out for too many backwards "s"s), Magic Pie. Musicians' music. (= don't count on any mainstream play)
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Old 12-31-2012, 02:49 PM   #13
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Yay!

I've been waiting for you to put out another disc. I still listen to Whispers and Screams quite a bit.

This new release is fantastic. Swirling, beautiful, melodic, percussive, riffy, creative, interesting and expertly composed. It's like Pink Floyd meets Genesis meets The Who. The vocals throughout are the kicker. Great timbre, great melody, and a swagger that's pretty infectious.

I can't even really express how awesome I think this is! This really shows tremendous growth over your last release, which is a huge compliment, since the last release was out of this world.

Just purchased! Downloading right now...

Good luck with this album. It deserves to be heard!
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Old 12-31-2012, 03:13 PM   #14
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Beautiful. Right up there with Ayreon, Circus Maximus (watch out for too many backwards "s"s), Magic Pie. Musicians' music. (= don't count on any mainstream play)
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Originally Posted by kindafishy View Post
Yay!

I've been waiting for you to put out another disc. I still listen to Whispers and Screams quite a bit.

This new release is fantastic. Swirling, beautiful, melodic, percussive, riffy, creative, interesting and expertly composed. It's like Pink Floyd meets Genesis meets The Who. The vocals throughout are the kicker. Great timbre, great melody, and a swagger that's pretty infectious.

I can't even really express how awesome I think this is! This really shows tremendous growth over your last release, which is a huge compliment, since the last release was out of this world.

Just purchased! Downloading right now...

Good luck with this album. It deserves to be heard!
Wow! I'm floored, thank you, very, very glad you enjoy!

These responses really mean a lot to me, especially coming from fellow musicians. It's all too often that sharing something on a forum is just passed up on as spam, so that you've taken the time to listen and appreciate is phenomenally cool. As there isn't much in the way of financial success to be had making this kind of music, these kinds of reactions are really the payoff! :-)
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Old 12-31-2012, 03:17 PM   #15
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...meets Supertramp, meets Queen, meets Steppenwolf...

Seriously, 'Whosit, Whatsit & Which' is mind-blowing to say the least.

No, really...

This is pure awesome.
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Old 12-31-2012, 05:17 PM   #16
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...meets Supertramp, meets Queen, meets Steppenwolf...

Seriously, 'Whosit, Whatsit & Which' is mind-blowing to say the least.

No, really...

This is pure awesome.
Thank you, you rock! :-D
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Old 01-01-2013, 05:16 AM   #17
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I worked for DPRP.net years ago, I'd like to buy the download and post an official review there.

(edit) Well I just looked and I see you've already sown that field with prior releases -congratulations!

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Old 01-01-2013, 10:58 AM   #18
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I worked for DPRP.net years ago, I'd like to buy the download and post an official review there.

(edit) Well I just looked and I see you've already sown that field with prior releases -congratulations!
Cool - yes, a review for the new one should be appearing on DPRP any day now...but I would still love to read your thoughts on it! If you want to post a review somewhere else, such as on Progarchives, that would be awesome!
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Old 06-12-2013, 01:52 PM   #19
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Bump outta nowhere!


Just listening to Make Way for the Big Show.

Awesome.

You guys rock my world (in a proggy sort of way).
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Old 06-12-2013, 04:10 PM   #20
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Default Yay bump me likie!

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Bump outta nowhere!
Never doubt the magnitude of a well-timed bump. I owe ya.

JPlanet - Yikes! This is quite a monster. In a good way!
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Old 06-13-2013, 09:43 AM   #21
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It's like Pink Floyd meets Genesis meets The Who.
Only have to quote this.
Hats off gentlemen !
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Old 06-14-2013, 09:27 AM   #22
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fabulous - top notch prog!
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Old 06-14-2013, 01:21 PM   #23
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I'm 30 minutes in. This is beautiful.

Some quite fine vocal and guitar work. The expressive effect of the production overall is stellar.
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Old 06-15-2013, 12:32 PM   #24
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cool stuff!! Beautiful!
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Old 06-15-2013, 12:51 PM   #25
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Very well done!
Amazing skills at work here.

Personally, I'd like the vocal more up front.
And some vocal-melody-lines seems a little like written by an instrument-player.
And you could consider the less-is-more philosophy regarding structure, instruments and elements. But, it's prog

Is it done with metronome or not?

Awesome job. Big respect!

(rock yeah, prog yeah, opera.. where? )
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Old 06-15-2013, 01:12 PM   #26
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Amazing,,must be like 3hrs of music there.Mixture of Genesis,Yes,It Bites etc,,well done.Good luck with it.
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Old 06-24-2013, 09:35 PM   #27
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Wow, thanks kindafishy for the very kind bump, and such nice responses. It's especially nice, as I know that people here all produce music and have a lot of talent, so thanks to all for taking the time to listen and for the kind words!

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Originally Posted by G-Sun View Post
Very well done!
Amazing skills at work here.

Personally, I'd like the vocal more up front.
And some vocal-melody-lines seems a little like written by an instrument-player.
And you could consider the less-is-more philosophy regarding structure, instruments and elements. But, it's prog

Is it done with metronome or not?

Awesome job. Big respect!

(rock yeah, prog yeah, opera.. where? )
Thanks, G-Sun, good comments! I agree, no opera-sound, but just the operatic idea of an entire album that tells a single story (like The Who's Tommy), with songs sung from different points of view. As far as Metronome, I think that only Ixchel and the orchestrated intro of Overture used it (no drums as a guide so it was necessary). After attempting to use clicks on the first album, I gave it up - it seemed to rob the music of its organic feel...I like tempos that evolve, slow crescendos and ritards, etc...very hard to program those and have a band accurately follow! In fact, it was Reaper's intuitive handling of such tempo shifts that brought me to the program, though I mostly only use the tempo maps now to demo the compositions before the band plays them...
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Old 06-24-2013, 10:42 PM   #28
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Thanks for bumping this kindafishy. This is a great project.. good songs, refreshing.. Its a very familiar classic style but new..


jplanet you said this is your first mixing project. Great job on the balance, the emotion translates. nice job. I really like the punchy drums, very quick snappy sounding bass and snare drums.


If I purchase on reverbnation is it in 44.1-16bit?
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Old 06-24-2013, 10:47 PM   #29
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Thanks for bumping this kindafishy. This is a great project.. good songs, refreshing.. Its a very familiar classic style but new..


jplanet you said this is your first mixing project. Great job on the balance, the emotion translates. nice job. I really like the punchy drums, very quick snappy sounding bass and snare drums.


If I purchase on reverbnation is it in 44.1-16bit?
Hi TNS! The new album isn't sold through ReverbNation - but the good news is, it's available in m4a lossless from: http://10trecords.com/store/shadow-c...-stormy-night/

If you have any trouble with the format, please feel free to PM and I'll be more than happy to help. Thanks for supporting the music, I hope you enjoy it!
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