One year ago today I released the second album in the science fiction Signals Universe concept album series I Hear Your Signals. Time for some reflection and thanks.
I want to thank all those who listeners and bloggers who shared links via Facebook and Twitter. I huge thanks to all those who bought this album (which tells the invasion story from the alien point of view), and REBOOT (which tells the story from the human point of view)!!! Your support means a lot to me as an indie artist. Also thanks to the Spellbound radio show for airing my music and to the Redfaux Transmision for groking the album and then taking the time to review it :^) Thanks to my family for being patient while I make them listen to endless revisions of the music.
If you did download it and now would like to support the art with a purchase visit my Music page where there previews, links to iTunes, Amazon, and Bandcamp.
Spin Off
In the last year, the Signals Universe has grown in other ways. In December I released a free sound set called “Sounds from a Distant Outpost” so I and other other artists could take a trip to an alien outpost and compose with sounds and instruments from this world. Checkout some compositions here. This sound pack has been downloaded over 2,000 times!
A Special Shout Out to Ableton Colorado User Group
I want to give a special shout out to Marc (djnsm) and the entire Ableton Colorado User Group for being great test subjects for new tracks and offering me the opportunity to play tracks on awesome PAs between shows ;^) Below is a video of the fist time I performed “First Orbit” live 4 months before album release (video shot by David Henderson)!
Your support has encouraged me to continue with this concept album series so the next album will pick up where the last two left off. I’ve got a narrative and nice collection of songs that I’ve composed and been rehearsing over the last year to support the soundtrack to the story. I even played some of these songs in recent shows. Over the next few months I’ll start finalizing arrangements and start mixing the album down. Subscribe to RSS feed for this blog or join my email newsletter to stay informed.
Pass it On
I’ve created an easy to remember vanity URL http://www.SignalsUniverse.com which links my artist web site. If you know of any fans of electronic music or science fiction please consider passing this along.
My song “Control Zone” appeared in the new music block of the 11/28/2010 episode of Spellbound, A Brief Program of Music for Theremin. It appears at the 11:30 mark of the first hour of the show. I get a mention at 25:42.
Ok, this is turning out to be a banner week for good news. The song “Dark Signals” from my album I Hear Your Signals just hit #1 out of 51,220 songs on the sub-genre Electronica chart on SoundClick – Woot! This is my first single from the new album to go to number one and my forth track to hit number one. Previous number ones include “Stealth”, “Midnight”, and “They Walk Among Us” from my album REBOOT.
The song also broke the top 10 and came in at #2 out of 296,532 songs for the overall for Electronic music chart as well. This is my second track at #2 (“They Walk Among Us” hit #2 in 2009). “Midnight” and “Stealth” hit #1 on this chart in years past.
Thanks so much for all those who listened to the track.
If you haven’t heard it yet or want to help keep it in the top of the charts click here to listen!
Up until now, both my new album I Hear Your Signals and my previous album REBOOT were previously only available as digital downloads. I’ve decided to release both as Physical CD’s:
For those who prefer having a tangible disc and liner notes
To provide a convenient ption for those who want to buy a gift for that hard to buy for electronic music fan
To accommodate selling the CDs at shows and through retail outlets
Both discs are available for immediate purhase via my online ReverbNation store here.
For each release, I’ve created a 4-panel booklet with original artwork and photography including liner notes and credits. CD’s are the same quality as those available in retail outlets with printing in full color directly on disc surfaces, booklets, and tray cards, with professional-grade jewel cases all shrink-wrapped with cellophane.
These discs have barcodes so they are also ready to go for retail outlets. So, if you are interested in ordering CDs wholesale for your store contact me.
After eight months of work, I'm very excited to announce that my latest album I HEAR YOUR SIGNALS is now available as a digital download and as a Physical CD.
LISTEN/DOWNLOAD/BUY
BandCamp- available “name your price”. To download for FREE click the “Buy Now” Button and enter $0. I recommend downloading the album from here as you'll get a 4-panel digital booklet containing original photos and art and liner notes.
The album contains 8 original songs composed and produced completely in the digital realm using state-of-the-art virtual synthesizers. Even the Theremin analog signal was converted back to digital so it could be used to drive virtual instruments.
The album was composed and produced entirely on a laptop using Ableton Live 8 running Windows 7.
The album was composed an arranged for live performance and was created using keyboards, matrix controllers, the exotic Theremin, and unique visual and tangible controllers such as the Tenori-On and Percussa AudioCubes. So, while I HEAR YOUR SIGNALS is a “studio album”, I rehearsed and could perform all the songs live prior to recording. For many songs, I recorded lead synth elements live in one pass (after rehearsing for many weeks). This gives the album a more live/ “jam-like” feel than my previous album. It also makes these songs great for live performance.
A few songs like “Control Zone” are quite experimental and the notes and modulation of synth parameters was achieved with hand and finger movement in space and I never touched a physical key or button during recording.
It's a concept album in the Signals Universe alien invasion series and retells the story of REBOOT, from the alien point of view. For example, “When Connected” is the same “chapter” as REBOOT’s “Infected” but as viewed from the opposite point of view.
The images in the digital booklet/liner notes are all original and based on photographs taken by me and my children. I did the graphic design work.
LISTENING TIPS
Both the REBOOT and I HEAR YOUR SIGNALS are albums in the sense that the songs played in sequence tell a story. If you can spare the time, spin them the albums at least once in one sitting.
If you don’t have time to listen to the whole album try and eke out 5 minutes and listen to each track without skipping. These are instrumental compositions and not dance floor tracks so they have a beginning, middle and end:^).
A lot of work went into the mix and there are dynamics, sounds, positioning of sounds you’ll miss on computer speakers. So listen with with some nice headphones or on a nice system with a sub-woofer.
I hope you’ve found this information more entertaining and fun than a stuffy old press release. Drop me an email or leave comments on this post and let me know which songs you like best!
Thanks again for your support and please tell your friends about I HEAR YOUR SIGNALS.