To: (my online Sufi friends)
From: shadowpupp3t
Date: Sat Feb 18, 2006 5:52 pm
Subject: Musical sneak-preview from Shadowpuppet to the group.
(plus a smidgen of tech talk.)

As-Salaamu Aleykum.

This mp3 which I am going to link here is basically what one would refer to as a "pre-master" audio file. It is the final mixdown of the centerpiece of a 3-song single I will be releasing to the masses absolutely free of charge in the near future.

When my friend, PJ, from the UK does the final mastering, the volume level will be pushed to the max and any peaks will be flattened, with the possibility of a final EQ, with or without a filtering technique called compression. It's basically the final touches of a mixdown before it's ready for CD release.

I thought maybe I'd share it fresh out of the studio with the group to sort of "bust the bottle over the ship's behind".

Call it a take on Turkish pop:
(note: this track has been replaced with the mastered demo version.)

Turn2Stone-Heaven.mp3 (been deleted...decided it sucks)

I'll be taking it a bit deeper as time progresses.

Credits:
lyrics, various instruments + vocals: Chris Lee, U$A
vocals, flute, & hammered dulcimer: Saskia Domisse, N€
(mixed at home by Chris Lee)

Again, it's more or less about a bird that died in my hands around the same time the US invaded Afghanistan, taken from a poem I wrote years ago. The rest is a bit personal and probably self-explanatory. The radio chatter you may hear in the background from time to time is an Afghani woman speaking (Dari) on the dangers of giving one's children opium poppies to soothe them -- used by permission of the station regarding the license of use which pertains to non-profit broadcast of the recent radiocast. (I will never see one red cent for the distribution of this recording.)

As a little bonus, here's a spontaneous piece I did recently with a Ney sample (yes, I can play a bit of wind but I don't own a Ney at the moment.. have my eye on a black Duduk, actually) as a way of smoothing out some rough communicatory waves caused by a small language barrier between my fiancée and I. The barrier is slowly disappearing, Inshallah, the more of eachother's native language we become versed in. Anyway, it worked like a prayer, Al-Hamdullilah, so.. I thought it may have a similar effect for others. The volume is correct but the piece itself is a bit rough around the edges, as I had intended, so as to give the listener the effect of actually playing the instrument rather than simply participating from within
the audience.

I'll be using a more polished, less "spontaneous" but condensed version of it for the intro to a future release apart from the upcoming single but I will only be sharing this version of it with my Sufi & Alevi friends.

(No, Saskia is not my fiancée.)
Peace. ;-)
~Chris
http://rap.midco.net/bleu/Le_Desert_Vert/Lys.mp3

http://rap.midco.net/shadowpuppet/Chris.jpg

This song is basically aimed at people who are used to hearing Western pop music so...if you don't like it ....no worries. I have other things planned.

Someone also mentioned that the vocals were a bit more up front than the music ..and if such is the case....try turning up the bass.

Peace.
~C*

Someone also mentioned that the vocals were a bit more up front than the music ..and if such is the case....try turning up the bass.

Peace.
~C*

THAT SOMEONE WAS ME :gosterge ...bass it is...Thanks.

THAT SOMEONE WAS ME :gosterge ...bass it is...Thanks.

Don't want to go dropping names.

But, anyway.. I'm just going to leave the mix the way it is until my friend from the UK has a peek because it really does sound okay the way I have my speakers and EQ set up. And that's why you never master your own recordings.You know how CDs can be. They're all a bit different in tone...thus the buttons on your box.

(If there is a button on the box ..I will push it.)

If you use Windows Media Player, the best setting is probably New Age, give or take a notch or two on the hi/lo ends.

This song is basically aimed at people who are used to hearing Western pop music so...if you don't like it ....no worries. I have other things planned.


~C*


Sure I didnt like it. this song as if not aimed at me.....:p :p :D

Sure I didnt like it. this song as if not aimed at me.....:p :p :D

Eh, sokay-salright. (There are plenty of people who do!)

It's not one of my favorites either but it's leading into something else, the 2nd song of 3, so.. I finished it.

....I absolutly love both the songs.....
but my favourite was Definitely the second one. it's a bit like whale music very relaxing and carming.
thanks for sharing with us shadow puppet :)

Okay.

Paint is dry on this one now: Heaven (remaster) (http://rap.midco.net/shadowpuppet/Turn2Stone-Heaven.mp3)

Same song ..loud and clear this time.

(I'll shut up now until I have all 3 songs finished. And...again, this is really just the second part of an intro.)

Oh...Leyla. If you like Mercan Dede, check out the album Dust by Peter Murphy. Mercan produced and played on the album. It's the sort of thing I'd like to do myself but...with a bit of a twist.

One of my favorites.
Peace.


Woops.. erased my thank you to Canan! (My Turkish is terrible. Sorry...thanks.) :-)

Okay.

Paint is dry on this one now: Heaven (remaster) (http://rap.midco.net/shadowpuppet/Turn2Stone-Heaven.mp3)

Same song ..loud and clear this time.



very nice...
thanks :ilgili:

Okay.

Paint is dry on this one now: Heaven (remaster) (http://rap.midco.net/shadowpuppet/Turn2Stone-Heaven.mp3)

Same song ..loud and clear this time.

(I'll shut up now until I have all 3 songs finished. And...again, this is really just the second part of an intro.)

Oh...Leyla. If you like Mercan Dede, check out the album Dust by Peter Murphy. Mercan produced and played on the album. It's the sort of thing I'd like to do myself but...with a bit of a twist.

One of my favorites.
Peace.


Woops.. erased my thank you to Canan! (My Turkish is terrible. Sorry...thanks.) :-)

Hey Chris, hope your good. I know which song your talking about :komik i've listened to it many times before.....if i'm right in thinking it is the same track, thank you for your mail!

I've listened to Heaven (Remaster), i must say i like it alot....infact i was listening to it quite loud...so that i can hear it in the kitchen (while doing the dishes) and i thought is was very good.....it has this Arabian feel to it....i can imagine being de-hydrated in the middle of the desert and having this track play in the background :hmmm...ur probably thinking im mad....but i just have good imagination :yamukgul:

It sounds good....but still i can't resist to say....i think there should be alot more of the person doing the light vocals towards the end...it sounds so nice...again this arabian sound almost.

:) Thumbs up.

It sounds good....but still i can't resist to say....i think there should be alot more of the person doing the light vocals towards the end...it sounds so nice...again this arabian sound almost.

:) Thumbs up.

Thanks.

And.. I agree. Saskia is a guest vocalist in the band...for now.

I would like to feature a female vocalist on future tracks if it were possible. A complete and total balance between the genders.

But..they're my lyrics so...I sang them. ;-) And I'll improve with time.


Just remember the song is not really a complete picture yet. It's the second track of 3. An ice-breaker. "The Pop Song".

Peeeeace.
And thanks again.
~C*


p.s. My love and respect, from America (I don't know about the United States.. I've never been to such a place)....and gratitude...to Alevi people everywhere.

I have a Turkish word tattooed in cursive on my ankle. It reads "aşık". Now...if I could only find a nice little sterling scemitar...I'd have a proper necklace.

...again this arabian sound almost.

:) Thumbs up.


That's the thing...isn't it? Almost. It's...too derivative. But...I had to finish it and...listening to it on another system...it sounds like absolute shhhh.

So...I'm scrapping this two-chord rock & roll crap for something more pulsey....ambient. Lo-fi punk Sufi trip-hop? Yeah, something like that, I suppose.

Thanks for the input, folks. It's not transferring well from my gear to the audio deck so....I'll try something I really can't go wrong with. :p

woops. blah blah blah hi hi Aleviler...

Okay ..so Heaven is out. Was a good warm-up but a bit too boring for me. Too...Western?

track 2 (http://www.dreamsmadeflesh.org/turn2stone/mp3z/Turn2Stone-Wildflower.mp3) and track 3 (http://www.dreamsmadeflesh.org/turn2stone/mp3z/Turn2Stone-Un_Tiers_De_Mon_Poids.mp3) are complete. I think these ones are a bit more to my liking, as well as others who have heard them. People keep asking when and where they can buy an album.

In any case, track 1 will be finished very soon and all 3 songs will be posted on audiostreet.net for free. An ambient, a dance tune and a ballad. Just thought to share the new one. Haven't posted in awhile.

Love from America.
Chris

p.s. Incidentally, one of the tracks I linked to in the original post last winter is being used to promote a book of Sufi poetry on a number of different radio stations in America right now. It's not very Turkish but still somewhat cool. An ambient ney piece. Was really just a glorified instant message but, anyway...if anyone wants it, I've remastered it (and the other songs in this post) so the volume and tonality is more compatible with other songs they may have in their playlist.

(We progress.)

Lys.mp3 (http://www.dreamsmadeflesh.org/turn2stone/mp3z/Lys.mp3)

Lets see :)

.

Track 3 is missing.

I liked the Track 2. It sounds colourfully blended with oriental melodies.

Lets see :)

.

Track 3 is missing.

I liked the Track 2. It sounds colourfully blended with oriental melodies.

Thank you, Gannush.
Very much.

Try track 3 (http://www.dreamsmadeflesh.org/turn2stone/mp3z/Turn2Stone-Un_Tiers_De_Mon_Poids.mp3) again.

hmm. Man, are you professional or something else like music producer?
I would like to listen more of your works.. PM more about it.

Let me comment about this song.
I liked this one even more (apart from one thing)..

That thing rattling like a metronom in the intro should be cut off from the music I think. Because it turns out to be disturbing once the music begins. The melody is soft and while you listen it, that noise distracts you... Something softer may go well with the song.

Mmmm... professional as in am I getting paid for it? No, not currently. It's all for kicks.. all for free. But thank you all the same.

And.. I like it disturbing.
Much more life-like. :w00t:
(The noise is a cricket....an insect. Don't make me kill the cricket.)

Hehe ok then.
I just mean.. when I listen this type of music, I want to live the moment of relieve, not distraction. Life is already a challenge you know :)

Anyway with or without cricket, I liked it.

Cool enough, my friend.

;-)

If anyone liked those last two songs (track 2 (http://www.dreamsmadeflesh.org/turn2stone/mp3z/Turn2Stone-Wildflower.mp3) and track 3 (http://www.dreamsmadeflesh.org/turn2stone/mp3z/Turn2Stone-Un_Tiers_De_Mon_Poids.mp3)) ... try downloading them again. I've moved to a different place where the bass pocket is fairly accurate. These are much better. (Not so bassy.)

I played them back on a stereo and they actually sound professional now.

Peace, all.
C*

My little music site was approved today so..
if anyone cares to visit and download my 3 free mp3s (if you haven't already) .....feel free to do so:

http://www.audiostreet.net/turn2stone

Not really shooting for greatness here.
Reflections, at best.

Peace.
C*