man of mystery

scott reiter is a criminally underexposed synthesist and sound engineer. he lurks in the studio, crafting sounds in headphones for hours. when he's been onstage, he's generally behind stacks of synthesizers and rack gear, or on the side, doing monitor mixing for some of the biggest names in music. in the past, i've hired him to mix live sound for dream into dust shows.

scott is as elusive as his playing style. he almost always plays keyboards with one hand while the other is changing his sound or tweaking an effect box. he's constantly pushing the envelope of what a piece of gear can do or what a sound can be. what's more amazing is that often he does this in a melodic way.

the best way to capture scott is either while he's jamming with a band, or just letting him go off on his own, and recording without telling him. he's certainly capable of writing great musical parts, but left to his own devices, he is like no other keyboardist i've ever heard.

although he did use a digital/sample keyboard on the new album, scott's weapons of choice are often his korg ms-10 or sequential circuits prophet-5. sometimes he ran these through an adrenalinn to add an extra layer of madness.

as a result, scott's musical voice is probably most dominant on the new album's 5 instrumental pieces. his textures morph from one sound into another, creating soundworlds and then changing the landscape around you. however, several brilliant snippets also became part of other songs throughout the album. the ghostly chorus rhythm in "suspended in fear"; the plaintive wails, sputtering glitches, and epic strings in "end of memory"; lush synthetic washes in "flowers of destruction". he aslo wrote the basis for the intro of "so beautiful and so dangerous", and was the strongest voice in cutting additional section out of "counterfeit" to make it leaner and meaner.

scott's musicality is a huge supportive factor in the album. he may not step out to the front of the stage much, but his musical presence looms so large, you'd definitely miss it if it wasn't there.

to hear scott's amazing sounds, pre-order so beautiful and so dangerous until march 29th using paypal here.

lost in space

the main joy of having your own recording space is what you can have on hand to use at a moment's notice. the new album has a broader palette of sounds than before because more of it was worked on in the rehearsal studio, which also has a recording setup.

previous dream into dust albums were mainly recorded in my home studio, "elsewhere" (shown above). it was originally my intent to just do a few overdubs with other musicians in the rehearsal space and return home to finish them off. but once the album got into the group environment, it increased in scope. for one thing, we had the ability to record live as a band to separate tracks, a technique most obviously put to use on the new album's 5 instrumental pieces.

the studio began as rehearsal space for bryin dall's old band, loretta's doll, and morphed to include a recording component and easy-acces playground of bizarre instruments. over the years, it's been the center of activity for 4th sign of the apocalypse, a murder of angels, and our soundtrack work for the ballad of genesis and lady jaye, among many others.

bryin's collection of analog synthesizers easily made their way into the sound of the new album. i've always loved them, but used to prefer sample manipulation to synthesis as a basic building block. not anymore. i got to use the roland SH-101 and jupiter-8, sequential circuits pro-one, and ended up buying my own juno-106(though technically a digital synth, it has analog filters that fatten the sound). bryin played his ionic performer, cat and kitten.

the other great thing about using a studio is being able to be loud whenever you want. this comes into play when using electric guitars and amps, which happened a lot more on this album than before. there were at least two different tube amps used (vox and selmer), several different distortion and chorus pedals, and i've lost count of the number of different guitars and basses that ended up on the songs. whatever sound was in my head, or if i was at a loss, i could look around and pick an instrument that might hold the answer.

of course, some of this cornucopia of choices turned out to be discarded, but being able to pursue an idea to its conclusion was great. it was also time-consuming, but in the end i think it was worth it for the range of sounds we were able to capture on the album.

to hear pieces of about 5 of the 55 miniutes that make up the new album, see the trailer video, and pre-order so beautiful and so dangerous until march 29th using paypal here.

bringing into focus

audio mastering is one of those stages of releasing recorded music most people aren't aware of. it's always been an important stage, but even moreso with the increasing use of recordings done on home equipment, or anything not involving a knowledgeable audio engineer.

with the advent of affordable recording technology came a lot of musicians (such as us) getting creative on their own time instead of paying by the hour. but that savings can come at the cost of sound quality. untrained people operating lower-end gear has created great artistic results, but also some sonic problems.

the making of this dream into dust album has been no exception to that. it's been an incredible learning experience, but also a long and difficult one. even once a song is mixed down, it may turn out to have sounds lurking that cause problems on some sound systems. these could be things meant to be heard that end up too prominent or disappear, or unheard artifacts that keep the music from sounding louder, or even damage the speakers.

generally, the job of a mastering engineer is to take a final mix, keep its overall original sound, but accentuate or de-emphasize certain frequencies to bring out the best in the track. for an album, the other goal is to make sure all the tracks sound somewhat similar in terms of volume and tone.

adrian morgan is an independent mastering engineer with his own studio, timeless mastering. he formerly worked at sterling sound (one of the biggest and best mastering houses in the US). he uses both analog and digital gear, like we did when making the album. while working in digital offers sonic clarity and the ability to save your work in progress, analog brings warmth and depth to sound.

this additional step makes a world of difference. there were supportive friends saying the album sounded so good it didn't need mastering. but the fact is, recordings get heard in context with other recordings, not just the hermetic environment of a song or even an album. mastering helps bring the volume and tone to a point of reasonable comparison. it's an added expense, but totally worth it.

to hear the final results in their entirety, see the trailer video and pre-order so beautiful and so dangerous until march 29th using paypal here.

our worth made coin

the kickstarter campaign to fund the release of the new album is underway.

part of the reason the album didn't come out last year is lack of money. kickstarter offers a way to raise both money and awareness of an upcoming project, possibly to a wider base of people than the usual channels.

the great thing about it for backers is there's no risk. you can pledge using a credit card, but you're not charged until the campaign is over and the project meets the goal. if the project doesn't get fully funded, no one is charged. if it's successful, the money is paid through an amazon account to ensure the promised rewards get delivered to everyone.

this seemed like a good opportunity to reintroduce a few items from the back catalogue. independent promotion and distribution is difficult, so the results can be uneven. i know there are some people who thought the lathe of heaven was the first release. others weren't aware there was anything out since we were on elfenblut (misanthropy records' non-metal label).

there are also other releases and t-shirts, as well as framed and signed prints of my original photography offered as rewards for donations.

the campaign will run until march 15 2012.

until then, share the video above and the link below if you want this to succeed. thank you.

http://kck.st/wiyOom

p.s. the title of this post comes from the lyrics to "counterfeit"

watching from outside

the video for "bruises never fade" came about on the spur of the moment. as the album release date kept getting pushed back, it seemed time for another video. a more ambitious one has been in pre-production, but delayed. this song seemed the next likely candidate.

i can't be on both sides of the lens, but i don't know any actors. i'm used to shooting inanimate objects for my art photography. so i thought i would use backgrounds, composition, and a human figure to get feelings across.

the figure i used is a visual artist who goes by the name grey heart. she was willing to let me shoot her and give her minimal directions, with the understanding that she was being used as a visual element more than an actor.

the song itself went through a few developments, the most significant one being my realization that it didn't need any melodic guitar (as detailed in an earlier post). i also wanted it to have a slightly distorted, overloaded quality, so the vocals were pushed a bit too hard, and bryin added layers of synth and guitar noise, including an amazing loop that sounds like some wounded beast sobbing. finally, i added the sound of glass crashing backwards in slow motion underneath the chorus.

sonically, there was a slight problem with the original bass guitar, which disappeared on smaller speakers such as laptops and phones - a common problem these days. so the version in the video actually has a replayed synth bass. although it gives the song a colder, more electronic feel, i'll be glad when the album is out so people can hear the original.

tactile ephemera

the new album is essentially finished, and has been for a few months. the only things to work out at this point are the special packaging and the mastering.

as i've mentioned in earlier blog entries, the engineering aspect of recording has been one of the bigger issues faced. the music is often a delicate balance of sounds and textures that may not easily fit together. it's been a long learning process figuring out mixing tricks and sweet spots.

the goal has been to make an album that not only surpasses our own past work, but also stands up both artistically and sonically to some of my favorite recordings. although we've done a lot towards that end ourselves, for that final step, we need professional mastering.

i've learned a lot about how to make things sound better than they ever have before. but there's a certain objectivity and knowledge that a professional engineer can bring. every major release of ours has been mastered, and the difference between the final mixes and the mastered version has been significant and definitely worth the expense.

as for the packaging, it's always been an important aspect of the final product to me. mass-produced CDs in standard jewel cases don't seem to have much point these days. in a time when people can download anything, nothing feels like it has much substance or value. part of the reason people have turned to vinyl is the cover art. i always strive to make ours fit the project and stand out, and this will be no exception.

the golden age illusion

"perfect vision" was originally written on acoustic guitar at a faster tempo, and at various early stages had a second middle section, different music for the second half of each verse, and a classical-jazz instrumental intro based on the verses. in the first demo, the drums were more rock than dance, bass guitar was used, there was a minimal keyboard line.

a synth-riff intro that ended up unused was the catalyst for a more electronic approach. whole sections were dropped, others re-written, and the song was re-recorded more like eurodisco with arpeggiated strings.

it was better, except for one thing. i was aping things i dislike in order to mock them to make a point. unfortunately, in the process, the song was becoming too much what was being mocked. so i redid the production from scratch on vintage drum machine and synth. it gives a knowing wink at retro-futuristic nostalgia, while at the same time indulging in a style i actually like.

bryin processed the hi-hats a variety of ways that punctuate the song's intro, outro, and just before the first verse. and more importantly, he added shimmering accents through a twisted series of vintage pedals that sound nothing like the electric guitar he's actually playing (as is often the case).

the audio is a "home-mastered" mix, optimized as best as possible for youtube. the final master should sound better. the video uses footage from the 1980 TV adaptation of aldous huxley's 'brave new world'. it's been re-colored and edited to fit the song. i hope those changes are enough to constitute "fair use". the movie itself is nearly impossible to find officially.

themes in the book were a direct inspiration on some of the song's lyrics, particularly in the middle section. in the same breath, i chose to salute one of the inspirations for the final arrangement of the song. "images of heaven" by peter godwin is a classic slice of new wave that still stands up today.

the overall sound and meaning of the song are also linked both to each other, and to a central issue of the album. the quest for perfection, its possible futility, and the fact that so often we end up looking for it in the past.

when it's done

as great as it was to get out the "counterfeit" web project, i'm eager to complete the rest of the album.

one of the thinly-veiled messages of that song is a criticism of low-bitrate compressed audio as a sonic baseline for music. MP3s are a great promotional tool. at 320kbps, they can even take the place of other somewhat disposable formats such as the CD single, cassette single, or mixtape. but my ultimate goal is to release uncompressed (in terms of the audio file format, not the dynamic range) recordings, in a physical format. i want them to be associated with specific artwork and design and presented initially in a certain order.

strange how this is now considered old-fashioned. i think of it almost as multimedia, something expressed on several levels: audio, visual, tactile. the final result is more of an art object than a mass marketing tool (which is necessary too...and what MP3s excel at).

i've resigned myself to the fact that this album, more than any other i've worked on before, is just such an "art object". there are overarching themes. various song lyrics reference each other. different tracks flow together. imagery is visually connected to the music.

at this point, 7 songs are done, and another 3 almost finished. in addition, there are 5 instrumental interludes. several more songs and instrumentals were written, and some of them recorded, but those are what made the cut after putting them in order and trying some rough crossfading.

some tracks just didn't fit into the flow, or were deemed not good enough. the decent ones may come out in some form in the future. for a short time i toyed with the idea of a second CD (maybe just a 3") of more instrumental material, but i think that would delay the project too much more as well as make it too costly. then again, just mentioning it, i like the idea, so who knows? the point is, it's done when it's done. but i can say that more easily now that it's actually closer to being a reality.

making copies

on 10.10.10, the track "counterfeit" was released online in six different forms. for streaming or free download from the dream into dust website, as well as streaming (and shareable) on soundcloud. the files have now been removed

the web mix is basically the original, although slightly shorter and lower quality than the forthcoming album version. this is the song i've referred to on this blog several times as being made of dozens of different parts. almost nothing in this song is "real". everything is made up of samples of toy instruments, chopped up and overprocessed loops, analog and digital synths, a circuit bent plastic guitar, and a bass guitar recorded onto a cheap boombox and then severely stretched to fit the song. the vocal was shouted into a handheld mic plugged straight into the mixing board and later tweaked by bryin.

the deviation mix came out of a desire to feature certain instruments and to make it more of a crazy drum and bass track. bryin did his own version, which turned out a bit breakcore/speedcore because of the tempo (and so was named the breakneck mix).

DJ angztek fired up his gear as angztek industries and chopped up sounds from the song and constructed a pounding dance beat around them.

shannon fields of stars like fleas, the silent league, and family dynamics used his catch-all moniker prequel for this cold wave style vintage mix. lots of original instruments added for authentic feel. this is unlike anything he's known for previously.

leech of theologian (formerly of navicon torture technologies and one of the most collaborative and prolific artists i know who retains high quality) utterly destroyed the song. i mean that in a good way. pitched down, distorted pieces from the original mixed with key rhythmic elements.

finally, a no-budget video was shot using the motion picture setting on a still camera and effected to look like the whole thing has been photocopied. an HD version is available on youtube.

online digital releases are far from ideal. but this song and video are a comment on certain aspects of the world we find ourselves in, and that makes this type of dissemination fitting in this case. there will definitely be more sharing of snippets and using video in the future, as well as remixes.

the good part's just getting started.

i sing the body electric

being a vocalist is a pain at times. there are any number of activities or dietary choices that can end up affecting the quality of your voice in both the short and long-term. this can put a damper on the rest of life, especially when you're supposed to be recording final takes, or even run-throughs that you hope might end up being usable. normal and enjoyable things become potential hazards to productivity. each one becomes a choice; to pass it up and have a better singing voice the next day, or indulge and face 24 hours or more of vocal uselessness.

sometimes it's not even a choice. i'm grateful for the smoking ban in NYC clubs and restaurants, but i can't control private areas i may be in. then there's cookouts with family or friends. excusing or repositioning myself in any of these situations can be awkward. no one wants to be a killjoy, especially for such an esoteric, artistic, and wimpy-sounding reason.

at times i envy my musical partner bryin, whose baritone seems to gain an appropriately raspy edge from smoking. for material like our dark hank williams covers, it really seems to work. however, when singing in a higher register, such as mine, it only causes harm. add to that the fact that as much as i've been complimented on my "pretty" voice, i have less interest in using it these days - and harsher tones tax vocal cords more.

singing can, however, be its own great reward. even when not recording or in front of an audience, there's a joy and power that comes from feeling your body resonate with the notes. certain tones, melodies, moments of vibrato feel good both physically and mentally. not to mention those times when you let out a scream straight from the gut.