# Progressive Rock & Metal



## josh_campbell

Hello fellow composers! My name is Josh. I wasn't sure what kind of reaction (if any) I would get for posting in here. Like most of you, I am a composer of different styles, including orchestral, honing my craft and finding my way. 

Well, my other passion is *progressive rock and metal* and I have dedicated alot of my time to recording my own self performed/produced albums. I've just released my second studio album, _*Sentian, Vol I Revelation*._

Sentian, Vol I Revelation 
Sentian, Viol II Revolution 

This is instrumental music, highly arranged and conceptual based. Other friends/users of this forum have suggested I post it here, so here you go. There are orchestral elements of course, but there is also heavy use of synths. Either way, I feel these albums are very topical and would love to hear any feedback.

*My question is, do we have any other users out there, into prog rock and prog metal? It would be cool if there are! Hit me up with your songs or thoughts on prog.




*


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## creativeforge

josh_campbell said:


> Hello fellow composers! My name is Josh. I wasn't sure what kind of reaction (if any) I would get for posting in here. Like most of you, I am a composer of different styles, including orchestral, honing my craft and finding my way.
> 
> Well, my other passion is *progressive rock and metal* and I have dedicated alot of my time to recording my own self performed/produced albums. I've just released my second studio album, _*Sentian, Vol I Revelation*._
> 
> Sentian, Vol I Revelation
> Sentian, Viol II Revolution
> 
> This is instrumental music, highly arranged and conceptual based. Other friends/users of this forum have suggested I post it here, so here you go. There are orchestral elements of course, but there is also heavy use of synths. Either way, I feel these albums are very topical and would love to hear any feedback.
> 
> *My question is, do we have any other users out there, into prog rock and prog metal? It would be cool if there are! Hit me up with your songs or thoughts on prog.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *



Hi Josh, Love what you did! I'm partial to Prog Rock personally, I find it is a genre that has always resonated with me, rarely boring. I grew up in the 60s and 70s with ELP, PFM, Curved Air, Genesis, Ekseption, Triumvirat, and beynd with IONA, Dream Theater, Rush, etc. Hardly "easy music," but challenging, engaging great instrumental storytelling.

So far I heard two of your songs and love the journey!  Great production, (love the drums and synths) and the multiple directions the music goes without feeling it's losing its relevance. Do you play all "instruments?"

Very well done!

Andre


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## creativeforge

I'm not a professional musician but I did a foray into Prog folk/rock last year to self-produce a cover of a song by Magna Carta, Lord of the Ages. I was well-received by the band. I had members of Celestial Fire (IONA) contribute and that brought it home for me. I took care of the keys, virtual synths, arrangements and mixing.



Peace,

Andre


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## topaz

Love your music Josh, thanks for sharing. Big Frost fan here but love lots of prog artists.

be proud. great music sir


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## josh_campbell

creativeforge said:


> Hi Josh, Love what you did! I'm partial to Prog Rock personally, I find it is a genre that has always resonated with me, rarely boring. I grew up in the 60s and 70s with ELP, PFM, Curved Air, Genesis, Ekseption, Triumvirat, and beynd with IONA, Dream Theater, Rush, etc. Hardly "easy music," but challenging, engaging great instrumental storytelling.
> 
> So far I heard two of your songs and love the journey!  Great production, (love the drums and synths) and the multiple directions the music goes without feeling it's losing its relevance. Do you play all "instruments?"
> 
> Very well done!
> 
> Andre


Hi Andre, thanks so much for the kind words, that means alot. Yes, I played all the instruments, apart from the drums that I programmed with GGD Modern & Massive. All those bands you mentioned are absolutely on the list of my influences. ELP especially comes out near the end of the last track on Vol I. Rush, Dream Theater, much the same. Some of these guys I've not heard of, I'll check them out


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## josh_campbell

topaz said:


> Love your music Josh, thanks for sharing. Big Frost fan here but love lots of prog artists.
> 
> be proud. great music sir


Oh thanks so much! Highest of compliments indeed. Yes Frost* are one of my favorite all time groups. I love the way Jem leans more to the synth/electronic side of things as well. I think that's what makes this great.


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## josh_campbell

topaz said:


> Love your music Josh, thanks for sharing. Big Frost fan here but love lots of prog artists.
> 
> be proud. great music sir





creativeforge said:


> I'm not a professional musician but I did a foray into Prog folk/rock last year to self-produce a cover of a song by Magna Carta, Lord of the Ages. I was well-received by the band. I had members of Celestial Fire (IONA) contribute and that brought it home for me. I took care of the keys, virtual synths, arrangements and mixing.
> 
> 
> 
> Peace,
> 
> Andre



This piece is great Andre. I thought it was really nicely mixed and I liked the mixture of modern ambient sounds along with the retro 70s instrumentation. Very cool. Reminds me of the group Beardfish.


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## Riz

Hi Josh, I‘m a fan of prog too, namely Genesis, with some sprinkling of Yes and Rush, but also listen to a wide and varied pallet. I find a lot of prog fans are also into composing more orchestral pieces, either for pure pleasure or commissioned. The love of instrumentals and letting instruments ‘sing’ in prog is a good grounding. Will give your music a listen when I get a chance later this week!


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## philamelian

Hi Josh, similarly I am a music composer and also a keyboard player in London prog circles. I played with the band called Karnataka until 2017. I co-write and released the Secrets of Angels Album with the band and some other live albums and DVDs and album got some awards in the prog circles. Nowadays playing with Hayley Griffiths Band, working on the new album. I shared stage with many other great bands of Prog with my bands in the UK and in other parts of the world.

This year I have two prog band albums in production with some other big names of the genre in the UK and Turkey.


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## philamelian

Your album is right my type of music btw. Congratulations with the release. This weeks album listening sorted.


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## FlyingAndi

I listened to Vol I and liked it very much. As others already said, very good and creative synth usage and a nice balance between vintage and modern.
But did you ever consider recording it with real drums and guitars (the guitars aren't real, right?)?

So here's my story: I started a 2-man-epic-prog-rock-project with a friend in 2003. We wrote a concept album (called Exodus like your 2nd track) and then started recording it song by song.
The things happend in life and we split up with other bands we were currently playing in and lost our rehearsal room. So we had the album half way finished but couldn't record drums any more.

A few years later we wanted to continue but couldn't agree on the drums. My friend wanted to use programmed drums but I found them too lifeless. And still we didn't have a room to record real drums.

Fast forward to 2021. My friend has now moved with his familiy to another city. A few weeks ago we had a phone call and I talked about continuing the album. I had the idea to have a drummer I had previously worked with on fiverr record the drums. So we talked to that drummer and he recorded a demo of one of the tracks and then we all decided to give it a go and record the album with him.
To have a consistent drum sound we're going to re-record the drums for all tracks with him. We're now almost finished preparing the backing tracks for him, so we're very excited what he will deliver in the next weeks.
We still have contact to some of the singers we had, but lost contact to some others, so we will have to find some new singers as well.
We're doing this as a hobby, so the whole process might still take some time. So hopefully, I can present the final result here in 2023 (20 years after we started it).

And I'm very excited to have some new opportunities to use all the libraries I aquired out of GAS


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## b_elliott

josh_campbell said:


> *My question is, do we have any other users out there, into prog rock and prog metal? It would be cool if there are! Hit me up with your songs or thoughts on prog.*


Nice songs of yours. Thanks for opening this thread.
I have done my share of prog playing & listening. 
As a life-long King Crimson fan I only discovered earlier this year that Fripp is married to Toyah Wilcox. Here is Toyah singing/performing one of the finest arrangements I've heard in a long while. Believe me "21st Century Schizoid Man" this lady gets it. Check it out:


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## josh_campbell

Riz said:


> Hi Josh, I‘m a fan of prog too, namely Genesis, with some sprinkling of Yes and Rush, but also listen to a wide and varied pallet. I find a lot of prog fans are also into composing more orchestral pieces, either for pure pleasure or commissioned. The love of instrumentals and letting instruments ‘sing’ in prog is a good grounding. Will give your music a listen when I get a chance later this week!


Cheers Riz. Yes I think the style just naturally attracts those sorts of people. Both those bands are high on the list for me. Track three from Vol I will is very reminiscent of Genesis.


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## josh_campbell

philamelian said:


> Your album is right my type of music btw. Congratulations with the release. This weeks album listening sorted.


Ah thanks very much my friend. I appreciate that alot. Well done on the awards, they were well deserved for sure. I'm getting Ayreon vibes quite alot (which is always a good thing in my books!).


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## josh_campbell

FlyingAndi said:


> I listened to Vol I and liked it very much. As others already said, very good and creative synth usage and a nice balance between vintage and modern.
> But did you ever consider recording it with real drums and guitars (the guitars aren't real, right?)?
> 
> So here's my story: I started a 2-man-epic-prog-rock-project with a friend in 2003. We wrote a concept album (called Exodus like your 2nd track) and then started recording it song by song.
> The things happend in life and we split up with other bands we were currently playing in and lost our rehearsal room. So we had the album half way finished but couldn't record drums any more.
> 
> A few years later we wanted to continue but couldn't agree on the drums. My friend wanted to use programmed drums but I found them too lifeless. And still we didn't have a room to record real drums.
> 
> Fast forward to 2021. My friend has now moved with his familiy to another city. A few weeks ago we had a phone call and I talked about continuing the album. I had the idea to have a drummer I had previously worked with on fiverr record the drums. So we talked to that drummer and he recorded a demo of one of the tracks and then we all decided to give it a go and record the album with him.
> To have a consistent drum sound we're going to re-record the drums for all tracks with him. We're now almost finished preparing the backing tracks for him, so we're very excited what he will deliver in the next weeks.
> We still have contact to some of the singers we had, but lost contact to some others, so we will have to find some new singers as well.
> We're doing this as a hobby, so the whole process might still take some time. So hopefully, I can present the final result here in 2023 (20 years after we started it).
> 
> And I'm very excited to have some new opportunities to use all the libraries I aquired out of GAS


Hi there. Thanks for listening. The only thing that isn't real is the drums, which I used GGD for. I just work really hard to play them as accurately as I can. My story isn't that different from yours to be honest. Life moves forward and so do people etc. My philosophy though is and has always been to just get it done; don't let anyone hold you back (especially flaky drummers). I don't really care about execution. It's a means to an end. And at the end of the day, I will only produce to the best of my ability and that's all one can ask for. Just expressing myself is the main objective.


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## josh_campbell

b_elliott said:


> Nice songs of yours. Thanks for opening this thread.
> I have done my share of prog playing & listening.
> As a life-long King Crimson fan I only discovered earlier this year that Fripp is married to Toyah Wilcox. Here is Toyah singing/performing one of the finest arrangements I've heard in a long while. Believe me "21st Century Schizoid Man" this lady gets it. Check it out:



Thanks very much. Yeah I couldn't find much on this website about prog, so everyone's coming out of the woodwork which is great to see! Yes I follow Robert and Toyah on Instagram which is always entertaining. This is a cool cover. Just on the topic, see what you think of 'Power' by Kanye West. He sampled this track.


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## creativeforge

Riz said:


> The love of instrumentals and letting instruments ‘sing’ in prog is a good grounding.


Very good observation. I love that aspect too. I read somewhere lately someone referring to Keith Emerson as being the Jimi Hendrix of keys, and I understand what he means. My first fascination as a kid was to listen to whole classical vinyls, box sets by Reader's Digest or others.

And when I first heard of Pink Floyd, it was their film at Pompei broadcast on TV. I found many of the expansive sonic explorations mesmerizing. Songs didn't have to be 3 min long, and instrumental music could be much more than a vehicle for lyrics, but have their own stories without words.


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## josh_campbell

creativeforge said:


> Very good observation. I love that aspect too. I read somewhere lately someone referring to Keith Emerson to the Jimi Hendrix of keys, and I understand what he means. My first fascination as a kid was to listen to whole classical vinyls, box sets by Reader's Digest or others.
> 
> And when I first heard of Pink Floyd, it was their film at Pompei broadcast on TV. I found many of the expansive sonic explorations mesmerizing. Songs didn't have to be 3 min long, and instrumental music could be much more than a vehicle for lyrics, but have their own stories without words.


Keith Emerson was the boss quite frankly.


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## b_elliott

josh_campbell said:


> Thanks very much. Yeah I couldn't find much on this website about prog, so everyone's coming out of the woodwork which is great to see! Yes I follow Robert and Toyah on Instagram which is always entertaining. This is a cool cover. Just on the topic, see what you think of 'Power' by Kanye West. He sampled this track.



I am drawn to the idea of song that becomes bigger than its original as it goes on to be incorporated by other genres/artists/generations. Sort of how Dickens' story characters find themselves outside their origins.

You mentioned metal in your OP....

Earlier on in vi, I brought up a heavier band Converge out of Boston. Normally I don't listen to hardcore punk; however, I discovered them being featured in a Berklee College of Music sound engineering class re their Jane Doe album. The polar opposite of Jon Anderson; yet, they connect. 



Please continue to post your stuff on vi. There is a cadre of the savvy here who know and love the progressive. 

Now it's the beauty way to go "Take off eh".


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## creativeforge

josh_campbell said:


> Keith Emerson was the boss quite frankly.


My older sister had been studying classical piano for years at the time I brought Pictures At An Exhibition home. Like most of us at the time, she didn't have a grid for what she heard, and she yelped at some of the things she heard, positively blew her classical mind.


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## bvaughn0402

One of the reasons I got heavy into classical composition/writing, was so that I could learn it for my prog rock initial album.

I've always played around in that field though.

I sold Mellotron samples to Kurzweil who put them in their keyboards. For a while the Moody Blues were playing my sounds in concert (although I'm sure they switched to either M-Tron Pro or Memotron solutions).

And I used to work for Jordan Rudess. I helped him create the initial "Online Conservatory" for him.

But me ... decades later, and still no prog album. But I'm close. I'm already working on album cover as I finish the album.

In the mean time, I created 3 albums around spooky instrumental music (which has a little prog tendencies at times). That is my Raven Chronicles "group."

What I would LOVE ... is to find people to collaborate with ... maybe someone to do vocals ... or just other musicians. Steven Wilson pulls off the "solo" artist, but to me his best tracks are when he had other players. Dream Theater, Genesis, Kansas, Yes ... it was never "solo" acts who tried to do everything like they were Prince. Even with Kerry Livgren writing all the big Kansas tunes, it was still a band effort.

I just don't know where to really start looking. I've always contended I was a "Paul McCartney looking for my John Lennon".


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## philamelian

josh_campbell said:


> Ah thanks very much my friend. I appreciate that alot. Well done on the awards, they were well deserved for sure. I'm getting Ayreon vibes quite alot (which is always a good thing in my books!).


Oh yes, probably that is because Arjen Lucassens work has been engraved in my brain  I have limited editions of many of project's early albums.


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## Brian2112

topaz said:


> Love your music Josh, thanks for sharing. Big Frost fan here but love lots of prog artists.
> 
> be proud. great music sir


Hey! I’m a Frostie too! And I’m all the way in Texas. Not expecting a tour through here anytime soon. That’s ok, was thinking of defecting to Scotland anyway. Was just there before the plague hit. 
As others have mentioned, I grew up playing the piano by ear and loving Bach but especially Beethoven. Didn’t care too much for rock growing up in the seventies but then I heard Rush and that was it. Now my heart beats in 7/8. But part of it is the smartass factor. Any band that names a tune “The Rage Against the Dying of the Light Blues in 7/8” as Frost did are going to be my gods. My dad was a jazz pianist among other things (cough,CIA,cough). So the fusion thing is another factor.


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## Brian2112

bvaughn0402 said:


> One of the reasons I got heavy into classical composition/writing, was so that I could learn it for my prog rock initial album.
> 
> I've always played around in that field though.
> 
> I sold Mellotron samples to Kurzweil who put them in their keyboards. For a while the Moody Blues were playing my sounds in concert (although I'm sure they switched to either M-Tron Pro or Memotron solutions).
> 
> And I used to work for Jordan Rudess. I helped him create the initial "Online Conservatory" for him.
> 
> But me ... decades later, and still no prog album. But I'm close. I'm already working on album cover as I finish the album.
> 
> In the mean time, I created 3 albums around spooky instrumental music (which has a little prog tendencies at times). That is my Raven Chronicles "group."
> 
> What I would LOVE ... is to find people to collaborate with ... maybe someone to do vocals ... or just other musicians. Steven Wilson pulls off the "solo" artist, but to me his best tracks are when he had other players. Dream Theater, Genesis, Kansas, Yes ... it was never "solo" acts who tried to do everything like they were Prince. Even with Kerry Livgren writing all the big Kansas tunes, it was still a band effort.
> 
> I just don't know where to really start looking. I've always contended I was a "Paul McCartney looking for my John Lennon".


All the same here. I have a sound design resume as well (though not nearly as impressive). Jon Anderson sang over my samples. That was a highlight. In the same boat here. Just having someone to bounce crazy ideas off of is something I miss. We should be in contact.
My documentary scoring has halted due to COVID. Just want to rip out some Prog. Warning: My main instrument is drums.


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## bvaughn0402

Brian2112 said:


> All the same here. I have a sound design resume as well (though not nearly as impressive). Jon Anderson sang over my samples. That was a highlight. In the same boat here. Just having someone to bounce crazy ideas off of is something I miss. We should be in contact.
> My documentary scoring has halted due to COVID. Just want to rip out some Prog. Warning: My main instrument is drums.


You are in Texas? Where?

You know ... drums are my weak area ... :D


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## Robo Rivard

creativeforge said:


> I'm not a professional musician but I did a foray into Prog folk/rock last year to self-produce a cover of a song by Magna Carta, Lord of the Ages. I was well-received by the band. I had members of Celestial Fire (IONA) contribute and that brought it home for me. I took care of the keys, virtual synths, arrangements and mixing.
> 
> 
> 
> Peace,
> 
> Andre



Wow! C'est pas mal bon ton stock!


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## creativeforge

Robo Rivard said:


> Wow! C'est pas mal bon ton stock!


Merci Robo!


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## creativeforge

For the interested creators of prog rock music, you could contact Progzilla Radio for airplay. She told me they are "_always looking for original music to get out there._"

Contact:
*Emma Roebuck*
Content Manager Progzilla Radio
www.progzilla.com

There's also LouderSound/Prog you could contact for a quick insert, stream, etc.

Contact:
*Jerry Ewing*
Editor, Prog
Prog|Louder

All the best!


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## Brian2112

bvaughn0402 said:


> You are in Texas? Where?
> 
> You know ... drums are my weak area ... :D


Corpus Christi on the beach
I am old (55) and a bit out of practice but I have a nice Roland set of triggers that I use for Superior Drummer samples. I can still play fusion and Rush,Genesis,Yes stuff, but things like Tesseract, I have to write down first...lol!


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## creativeforge

Still amazed at your "drumming," @josh_campbell ! It's always been one of my favorite instrument in prog rock (beside keys), and I'm floored at how good these sound here. Enjoying the drive and energy they bring. Wow. Well done!


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## Brian2112

creativeforge said:


> Still amazed at your "drumming," @josh_campbell ! It's always been one of my favorite instrument in prog rock (beside keys), and I'm floored at how good these sound here. Enjoying the drive and energy they bring. Wow. Well done!


Agreed! I love that POP you're getting from the snare too! Love that! That was a lot of work to program I imagine.


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## Brian2112

josh_campbell said:


> Oh thanks so much! Highest of compliments indeed. Yes Frost* are one of my favorite all time groups. I love the way Jem leans more to the synth/electronic side of things as well. I think that's what makes this great.


HEADS UP! NEW FROST ALBUM NEXT MONTH!


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## josh_campbell

creativeforge said:


> My older sister had been studying classical piano for years at the time I brought Pictures At An Exhibition home. Like most of us at the time, she didn't have a grid for what she heard, and she yelped at some of the things she heard, positively blew her classical mind.


Yes it's a stunning piece of music. For me I got that album and an few other ones, not realising that it was based on someone else's music! Same with Jordan Rudess' cover of Tarkus, weirdly. It all became clear eventually!


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## josh_campbell

Brian2112 said:


> Agreed! I love that POP you're getting from the snare too! Love that! That was a lot of work to program I imagine.


Ah thanks so much Brian, that's very kind! To be honest I would say the level of processing was pretty straight forward. I try not to make any moves that our out of my 'understanding' if you follow me? I suppose I'm more concerned with the composition of the drum part than the production.


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## josh_campbell

Brian2112 said:


> HEADS UP! NEW FROST ALBUM NEXT MONTH!



Yeah I absolutely love these guys. So fresh sounding. I saw them supporting Dream Theater in Leeds in 2009 and again at Dingwalls in London.


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## josh_campbell

bvaughn0402 said:


> One of the reasons I got heavy into classical composition/writing, was so that I could learn it for my prog rock initial album.
> 
> I've always played around in that field though.
> 
> I sold Mellotron samples to Kurzweil who put them in their keyboards. For a while the Moody Blues were playing my sounds in concert (although I'm sure they switched to either M-Tron Pro or Memotron solutions).
> 
> And I used to work for Jordan Rudess. I helped him create the initial "Online Conservatory" for him.
> 
> But me ... decades later, and still no prog album. But I'm close. I'm already working on album cover as I finish the album.
> 
> In the mean time, I created 3 albums around spooky instrumental music (which has a little prog tendencies at times). That is my Raven Chronicles "group."
> 
> What I would LOVE ... is to find people to collaborate with ... maybe someone to do vocals ... or just other musicians. Steven Wilson pulls off the "solo" artist, but to me his best tracks are when he had other players. Dream Theater, Genesis, Kansas, Yes ... it was never "solo" acts who tried to do everything like they were Prince. Even with Kerry Livgren writing all the big Kansas tunes, it was still a band effort.
> 
> I just don't know where to really start looking. I've always contended I was a "Paul McCartney looking for my John Lennon".


That's fair enough mate. Of course so many great things come out of collaboration. I just go solo at the moment out of necessity really. I'm almost 30 and life has moved forward. My friends from 10/15 years ago are all doing there own things in life etc. I'm just getting what I can do *done*, without hindrance, you know? But a time will come very soon, when I'm done with my solo ways, and get back in a room. You can hit me up for whatever though bud, honestly. I'd like to hear this music of yours. All that's me on the album (apart from the programmed drums). 

That's really cool about your Mellotron samples. Do you think you could point me in the right direction for some? I really want them but last time I ended up with a virus! And Jordan Rudess as well. That' a story for the Grandkids! On Vol II, _Liberation_, there is a synth solo where I used his patch from a Roland.


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## josh_campbell

Brian2112 said:


> Hey! I’m a Frostie too! And I’m all the way in Texas. Not expecting a tour through here anytime soon. That’s ok, was thinking of defecting to Scotland anyway. Was just there before the plague hit.
> As others have mentioned, I grew up playing the piano by ear and loving Bach but especially Beethoven. Didn’t care too much for rock growing up in the seventies but then I heard Rush and that was it. Now my heart beats in 7/8. But part of it is the smartass factor. Any band that names a tune “The Rage Against the Dying of the Light Blues in 7/8” as Frost did are going to be my gods. My dad was a jazz pianist among other things (cough,CIA,cough). So the fusion thing is another factor.


Absolutely bud, Satellites is a phenomenal album; if not for the music then for the outrageous production. Rush are up there too. 80-87, my favorite years.


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## josh_campbell

Brian2112 said:


> Corpus Christi on the beach
> I am old (55) and a bit out of practice but I have a nice Roland set of triggers that I use for Superior Drummer samples. I can still play fusion and Rush,Genesis,Yes stuff, but things like Tesseract, I have to write down first...lol!


Our drummer is really into Tesseract. But he's 30 and suffers from tendinitis so don't beat yourself up about being out being out of practice!


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## josh_campbell

Brian2112 said:


> Agreed! I love that POP you're getting from the snare too! Love that! That was a lot of work to program I imagine.


I think maybe t's just part of the character of the drum samples Brian, to be honest. Was it Vol I or II you listened to as they were different packs. Vol I has GGD. If their forum is anything to go by, the popping snare is a known factor! Single chain is dead simple though. EQ, Comp > Drum Bus/Tape Dist > Parallel Comp.


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## Jeremy Spencer

Great stuff! Lots of great music here. I played in a couple of prog and power metal bands years ago (Wolvengard and Destiny Calling). We had the awesome experience of supporting Stratovarius, Three, and Sonata Arctica on their Western Canadian tours. My fav band of all time is RUSH....yes, I'm a hoser from the Great White North, eh.


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## osum

Oh I didn't realize there was a metal thread 

The main reason why I got into all the orchestral composing stuff was basically because I wanted to do some symphonic metal stuff but more in a soundtrack way and not so much your typical Nightwish/Epica stuff (what most people think of if you mention Symphonic Metal)











Forest of Eternal Dawn, by Nahtram


7 track album




nahtram.bandcamp.com





I'm currently in the production of a new album, the first one already sounds a bit dated to me :D


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## FlyingAndi

josh_campbell said:


> That's fair enough mate. Of course so many great things come out of collaboration. I just go solo at the moment out of necessity really. I'm almost 30 and life has moved forward. My friends from 10/15 years ago are all doing there own things in life etc. I'm just getting what I can do *done*, without hindrance, you know? But a time will come very soon, when I'm done with my solo ways, and get back in a room. You can hit me up for whatever though bud, honestly. I'd like to hear this music of yours. All that's me on the album (apart from the programmed drums).
> 
> That's really cool about your Mellotron samples. Do you think you could point me in the right direction for some? I really want them but last time I ended up with a virus! And Jordan Rudess as well. That' a story for the Grandkids! On Vol II, _Liberation_, there is a synth solo where I used his patch from a Roland.


Redtron SE is a good sounding free Mellotron VST:








Artifake_Labs







sites.google.com





Unfortunately it's only 32bit and I sometimes have problems when reopening a project, that the patch I was using has changed.


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## osum

For Mellotron I also like the Mellotoon for EZKeys, but that one's not free. I really like the sounds though. Gives me those Opeth vibes :D


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## josh_campbell

osum said:


> Oh I didn't realize there was a metal thread
> 
> The main reason why I got into all the orchestral composing stuff was basically because I wanted to do some symphonic metal stuff but more in a soundtrack way and not so much your typical Nightwish/Epica stuff (what most people think of if you mention Symphonic Metal)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Forest of Eternal Dawn, by Nahtram
> 
> 
> 7 track album
> 
> 
> 
> 
> nahtram.bandcamp.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm currently in the production of a new album, the first one already sounds a bit dated to me :D



This is great bud, really nice production. I'm getting Turisas vibes particularly at 2:40! Love that flute melotron as well. Yeah I started this thread a few weeks ago and it seems as I thought, there are quiet a few closet prog rock/prog metal heads in these parts. Here's my latest album that I released in Jan. It gets a bit symphonic on the last track, but generally I've steered to the electronic/prog side of things.


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## josh_campbell

creativeforge said:


> For the interested creators of prog rock music, you could contact Progzilla Radio for airplay. She told me they are "_always looking for original music to get out there._"
> 
> Contact:
> *Emma Roebuck*
> Content Manager Progzilla Radio
> www.progzilla.com
> 
> There's also LouderSound/Prog you could contact for a quick insert, stream, etc.
> 
> Contact:
> *Jerry Ewing*
> Editor, Prog
> Prog|Louder
> 
> All the best!


Hey, I was wondering if you had a direct contact for Jerry Ewing at all?


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## creativeforge

josh_campbell said:


> Hey, I was wondering if you had a direct contact for Jerry Ewing at all?


Check your PM, Josh.


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## bvaughn0402

osum said:


> For Mellotron I also like the Mellotoon for EZKeys, but that one's not free. I really like the sounds though. Gives me those Opeth vibes :D


I'm in the process of hopefully buying an actual Mellotron. So possibly by this summer if anyone wants me to record authentic Mellotron, just let me know!

To me, the best Mellotron on the market is the GForce M-Tron Pro. EZ Keys is good. There is one for UVI. Logic Pro actually has some great ones. There are lots of stuff out there, including built in samples in Nord, Kurzweil, Mellotron M4000D, and Memotron.

If you want a hardware version, I would probably go with the desktop Memotron.


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## creativeforge

josh_campbell said:


> Hey, I was wondering if you had a direct contact for Jerry Ewing at all?


I used the same email as is on their website:

[email protected]

Their site staff: LOUDERSOUND - ABOUT US

You may also want to reach out to Progzilla 

Good luck!


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## josh_campbell

creativeforge said:


> I used the same email as is on their website:
> 
> [email protected]
> 
> Their site staff: LOUDERSOUND - ABOUT US
> 
> You may also want to reach out to Progzilla
> 
> Good luck!


Cheers man


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## FlyingAndi

IK Releases SampleTron 2


Vintage sampling instruments meet IK’s advanced tape modeling May 20, 2021 - IK Multimedia releases SampleTron 2, the rebirth of analog tape-based sampling. SampleTron 2 combines the powerful sound engine of IK's award-winning SampleTank 4 with IK's industry-leading tape modeling technology...




vi-control.net





Wow, this looks nice! What a prog-machine. Not only standard mellotron sound, also bass pedals and a VP-330 vocoder.


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