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Hi TL. I've decided to post some music I've made here on my blog because this is the only online community that I am a member of, really. I am a 31 year old dude living in Austin, Texas. I'm a licensed attorney, though I'm not practicing currently. Currently I'm a bit of a bum--unemployed and feeling a little bit lost.
I started writing songs and recording music when I started college (I'd been playing guitar for a few years at that point). I went through college in 3.5 years and then went to law school for 3 years, and then I practiced law for 7 years or so (time flies). I started playing live shows in law school, and was in a band that played around central Texas for a few years while I was working at a law firm in Austin.
It's always been my desire to do something with my music, but I have always pushed it to the side in favor of more "practical" things. But also, I've always felt really insecure about my music. I'll work and work and work on a song until it sounds really good to me, and then when it's time to share it with the world, I'll start to hate it for some reason or another.
I think I have reached a turning point, though. Over the Christmas holidays, I got together all of old songwriting notebooks and have started recording (or in some cases, rerecording) the songs that seem promising to me. Fifteen years of messing around with a guitar and a pen and paper has added up to two two-inch binders full of songs and song fragments.
So I am going to share these songs with you as individual songs, and I'll tell you a little about each one as I do. I've always wanted to release an album, but because these songs were written over such a long stretch of time, they are of wildly different styles and genres, from singer-songwriter to EDM, and don't really hang together as a single thing.
The song I'd like to share today is one I wrote in 2002 or 2003 and started recording this February. It's about that feeling of loneliness you get when you can't sleep, because your mind is racing with worries and you can't see a way out.
https://soundcloud.com/user812632894/middle-of-the-night
If I get a good response, I'll start doing these regularly.
Peace.
 
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The vocals are kind of not so good.
1:20 - 2:03 sounds pretty good though.
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I never heard something like this before. I think You have a very special voice; should post the lyrics with the song next time.
Looking foward to hearing your other pieces too 
Honestly says who an album has to be related genders of music, if there related by something else connecting them it still works.
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Not bad, not bad. I like it
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Bookmarked the song instantly after hearing, like it a lot
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do it regardless of good or bad response and use the bad response a feedback to improve yourself man! I mean... you didn't even have a proper soundcloud username... don't be so afraid of criticism!
IMO it's a great sign if you hate your older work, it means you're PROGRESSING! As opposed to being stagnant, or worse, delusional
I like you idea and compositions but I don't like the samples and the production. If you want to make a big sound at the end at 3:08 you should've mixed the backing vocals in stereo
To improve on production and sample sculpting I suggest watching the shit ton of videos available on youtube, even though they are related to other genres, the core idea of production, mixing and sound sculpting process is similar. For example, I've made some weird fusion of hiphop and orchestral genres but I've learnt everything from videos about dubstep and house and all that. (I've spotted a glaring error in my song which I will correct soon =( )
Oh ya, and in case you didn't, please get some good headphones or speakers so you can mix properly, and do constant comparisons with a song that has a similar effect you'd like to achieve
good luck and keep it up!
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Improve Production, a lot of times the song just sounds messy.
I love the vibe and the sound idea of it, I am really into 90s techno and moby though :D
I think you could cut a lot of the lyrics and the kind of rapping (1:30-2:05) (2:53-3:28).
Your voice is touching, use it more precisely though and don't be afraid to have 20% lyrics 80% instrumental parts, I think it would fit your song well and give the words that are left more significance.
I guess cluttered is how it sounds to me, but there are many good bits and pieces, polish and present them better.
Keep em coming !
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On May 27 2014 14:51 MichaelDonovan wrote:
The vocals are kind of not so good.
I don't really agree with this. I think that most people just aren't really used to hearing somebody's raw voice. Thery're so used to hearing over-processed artificial singing voices that hearing something like this with minimal editing is off-putting to them.
I thought your ideas were all really good, that spoken word/rap section was a cool idea and sounded really good in the beginning but I felt it was a little too long and maybe could've ended around 1:51. Either that, or the rest of the section needs to feel like it has a little bit more direction. Making the vocals a little bit more rythmically interesting or more melodic might help. I'm not a musician myself so it's tough for me to explain, but I just feel like the last part of that section makes it feel like it drags on a little to long.
Overall I thought it was pretty good. Of course you could make it better and I'm sure many people are willing to give you feedback, but don't let it discourage you! I know you've written many songs but since you've mostly done so in private and not full-time I'm sure you will improve and your songwriting will mature quickly if you do it often enough.
If you want some inspiration, check out a great artist named Gavin Castleton. He is probably my favorite musician and, judging by the song you posted, I think you may enjoy his music.
You can listen to a lot of his stuff for free at https://soundcloud.com/gavincastleton.
He has a lot of stuff on his soundcloud so if you want some suggestions, try these:
Gavin Castleton - Unparallel Rabbits
Gavin Castleton - Bad Rabbits
Gavin Castleton - The Song You Didn't Write
If you think you might like his music try listening to Home, which I personally think is his best album. You can listen to it in its entirety on his website. Its a concept album so it might be a little weird and you might not get it at first but if you listen to it all the way through you might like it. You can also listen to it with his commentary that can shed some light on the backstory of the album.
If you decide to take a listen let me know what you think! And keep sharing your own music! Some may not like it but some definitely will and I'm sure you will get some good feedback either way.
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EPT
