What do we play?

[Néal Zheimer]

Bonjour

I have some questions about my band's music. We only play original. You can hear some of out material here: http://soundcloud.com/nealzheimer/sets/seed-pulse-labo
Those are uncut recordings straight from the rehearsal place when we created the songs, they have evolved a bit (and are played nicely) since the recordings.

1. What kind of music would you say we play?
2. Would you add a singer in the mix?
3. What do you think about it?

Cheers!
Guillaume

[zmBass]

1. I would say Post rock/Experimental rock

2. No it already sounds cool , (personally) adding a singer would make it sound to busy

3. Its sounds great and its refreshing to see some new fresh post-rock


zmBass

[Néal Zheimer]

Thanks for your input zmBass!

Both the drummer and guitarist say they want to add a singer to the band. I was saying what you say: "for me there's not really room for a singer in our music". I wanted other people's opinion on the subject.

Oh and the guitarist is a huge post-rock fan.

Feel free to chime in.
G

[Néal Zheimer]

Anyone ?

[4dog]

Yeah some vocals would help,, kept my attention for a bit,, then lost it,, sounded good though,, and plenty of space for lyrics

[Silas Martinez]

It sounds to me like there may be a bit of playing to fill the space going on. Yes, I hear room for vocals - but it will probably mean some rearrangement to make space for them.

[allanhearn]

sounds very good. The right vocalist could take it to another level.

[Piggy8692]

Based only that song, I would look into getting a vocalist. A good vocalist could do a lot with that. If that's your busiest song, definitely get one.

[AuntieBeeb]

From the first two tracks, I'd say:
1. Some kind of experimental rock with a touch of ambient
2. Probably not necessary. Bands like Ozric Tentacles manage to do similar things without a singer.
3. Really rather good. Nice to hear something a bit different!

[bggeezer]

Depends on where you wanna go and how you wanna get there.

For me vocals would definitely add to the mix.

[Néal Zheimer]

I appreciate the new comments.

My band mates and had a plan to add another member -some kind of keyboardist/synth pads player/hardware/computer assisted musician/sound tweaker/sequencer player/DJ scratcher/...- and go from there regarding the addition of vocals. We sadly have yet to find such fellow weekend warrior interested in the project.

So now we are open to try vocals given that it will fit the music. We know it would need re-arrangements, we arranged it this way to have some material exposed. We like both instrumental (and non lyrics centered) music and songs (in the way that someone sings it) so it could go either way or mix and match. Instrumentals can convey intentions and energy that words would deserve. On the other hand, lyrics and a voice are sometimes the heart of the song and/or the cherry on top. Having a singer/front man would definitely be a plus.

Answering quickly and simply the question "What kind of music does your band make?" as been proven to be a challenge in a time limited conversation so I figured, listeners could label it for us right? We don't really care about genres on this project and only go (musically) where we like to go.

[Silas Martinez]

If I had to put a label on the kind of music, I'd call it prog rock. On the lighter side of that spectrum - not prog metal - based on what I've listened to. However, in my opinion, adding vocals will probably make it easier to identify a genre.

[Stewie26]

Tracks #2, 4, and 5 would make excellent video sound tracks for extreme sports videos like rock climbing, surf and skate, snowboarding etc. In the 90s my band put out an instrumental CD and quite a few of our songs were picked up for sports videos. Video producers are always looking for good instruments that they can edit and build their visual ques to . We did not get rich but the licensing revenue helped pay for some of the studio and CD production cost. For more mainsteam audiences I would consider adding vocals.

[two fingers]

If it doesn't end with the word "core" about half of TB won't care.

[Néal Zheimer]

Looks like it.

[backup]

if you stumble upon a good vocalist you could incorporate that as well.
but be sure the vocalist is not an egomaniac and doesnt get in the way of the instruments
btw i have the same question about my band you mind if i open a similar thread tomorrow?

[Néal Zheimer]

Yeah, I'd like to find one of those. We used to play with a formed opera singer (and actually not a diva at all). We didn't manage to incorporate her singing in the music, we had to leave a lot of room for her voice (mainly the guitarist did).

Go ahead and open it, I feel it's hard to define your own music when you step out of the main genres. Do you play alien music from Saturn?

[backup]

Originally Posted by Néal Zheimer

Yeah, I'd like to find one of those. We used to play with a formed opera singer (and actually not a diva at all). We didn't manage to incorporate her singing in the music, we had to leave a lot of room for her voice (mainly the guitarist did).

Go ahead and open it, I feel it's hard to define your own music when you step out of the main genres. Do you play alien music from Saturn?

non-opera singing opera singers have a certain reputation haha
no my bands music is actually quite secular

[Bassist4Eris]

I'd call it post rock. To me, prog rock implies something more structurally dense. I felt that the music was sufficiently interesting to work as instrumental music, but I also feel there is definitely room for vocals, should you decide to go in that direction. For better or worse, it will make you sound more "commercial" for sure. I really like the idea of an electronics/DJ-type guy in the mix too. I honestly really enjoyed it.

[bluewine]

Interesting music.

I'm curious, are you mainly a recording band or do you gig. If yes do you only big shows opening for signed bands, local multi band originals shows. How often do you get to play out or maybe gigging is not the focus of the band?

Blue