Fun track!
I really enjoyed listening to it. It has a nice spooky energy and atmosphere. I love the drum performance, as well as the one headphone/ conducting approach (been there, lol). The vocals were a nice touch. I also really dug the cool string parts.
I found myself wanting the drums to be bigger or wider somehow, but considering the single mic setup you had they sound pretty damned good. I kinda like the distant quality of that reverb, but it seems to clash a bit with the early reflections of the actual room ( ? sorry, I dunno how to describe what I'm hearing- some kind of phasey-ness) Overall though, I think you got a pretty well-balanced mix. Good work!
Author Comments
I started writing this song in early October when I heard about the Spooktacular. It was initially written as a simple Ostinato piece meant to rapidly build tension and tell an interesting story.
Drums were performed by my good friend Danny. I was actually conducting him blind for the entire recording (I couldn't hear the music, and there was no sheet music and we only have one set of headphones with our work set up), and, while we considered Micing each instrument individually we had to settle for a slightly distanced room mic for the drums based on the time constraints.
Johnny and I haven't sang in choir voices since high school, so we were a bit rusty, but it was fun to sing in Latin again!
I was picturing a gravedigger (similar to Dampe in Ocarina of Time) who had gone mad, and on a dark, rainy, foggy night, he musters up his own twisted courage to dig up a grave, but this grave is a little bit different. This ghost haunting this grave possesses the gravedigger's lantern and knocks him out, falling into the grave he just dug up himself, the old gravedigger's fate is unknown as the lantern's flame is mysteriously extinguished.
In the case that this song wins any part of the contest, it has been mutually decided that the funds will go towards improving our band's equipment/rehearsal space, more than likely with a new bass cab or put aside until we can get a better recording set up for the drums with multiple mic inputs.
We hope that you all enjoy, we put A LOT of effort into this, and it was a lot of fun to do!
Lyrics (Roughly Translated)
Vespilo est cornu.
Ignis est egressus.
The Gravedigger's lantern
It's fire is gone.
Notes:
Written by: Frootza
Drums: Danny
Vocals (Tenor 1 & 2): Frootza
Vocals (Bass): Johhny Kashed
Mixing & Stuff: Frootza
Happy Halloween!!
frootza responds:
Thanks for the review Acme! Hope you've been well!
Interesting for you to pick up on the phaseyness since we were trying to figure it out ourselves. For this particular recording, the room we are in has a glass bottle collection. If you listen really closely to the isolated drum track you can hear the glass clicking together, but sometimes those little nuances make for a more interesting mix in the long run! I hope we can get a better set up one of these days, we'll see where it goes though haha.
We did what we could, and are just hoping for the best! Again, thanks for the review dude, I'll be sure to return the favor when I can!
Credits & Info
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frootza 
Licensing Terms
Please contact me if you would like to use this in a project. We can discuss the details.
