Evisma

(condensed for space limit):
Mr. E.
"Thought for sure the synths would come in"
Metal is what I know best. The synth driven stuff was a pacifier until I figured out the metal. I still dick with synths, but not as much. "

2:20. I may have went a tad Mastodoniacal. It wasn't intentional, but as you well know, influences happen.
Vocals are Alan Watts. If you haven't, you should look into him. He's quite profound.
Originally, this was about life, but when I heard his speech, I had to use it. Not sure if he meant it the way I took it, or if he was using the bell to illustrate that...all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness...you know the rest
.
"You've improved since I last listened to your stuff."

That's good to hear, and thank you for saying so.
I hope to hear some new work from you soon, man. It's been far too long. Just dive the fuck in, and start swimmin'. Let the current carry you to a well earned NTB.
Take care, Mr. E.
Mr. V.

Hi Evisma....appreciate the listen and comment. I think your comments are spot on my friend......I will say I agree so much with this because of the fact I recorded this entire track once. I improvised from start to finish playing along side a loop. My intention was not to even upload it but decided it was decent enough to do so. My other track uploaded was done the same way. Of course future uploads will be mastered a bit better but these 2 I let it fly. I again appreciate your thoughts....very valuable and I thank you.

Salutations, small and pitiful gonad.

Yes, nice to hear it on the Loop. It's only taken three years for me to upload it.

"I believe I contributed the least out of the three of us."

I believe you did but those bass parts are very useful, especially the tone, which I'm not able to get.

But you know that it's the bass player's job to shut up and sit in the background, merely providing some low end and rhythm, never anything fancy. In most bands, the bass player will be immediately unplugged if he's seen or heard fingering a chord. And then made to leave the band immediately. Even if it's mid-song during a massive stadium gig.

I know very little about modes so don't know the phrygian though I have heard of it. Early lead guitar parts? There aren't any until the middle breakdown. Unless you mean The Valve's chugging early distortion.

Unintended ducking is certainly unintended. Shame about that and the apparently sub standard mix.

"Tasty shiznit there."

Yes. Whoever you got to do those bass parts can definitely play!

Yes, please find Parallax. Would be good to complete it.

As you've already worked out, there's a whole new album of Maynard lyrics to use for signoffs. So I give you:

Great And Powerful Nomad,

Calculating steps away from you

Thank you, yes... the creepy intro is part s nightmares theme of the song. This idea came from a stalker experience my fiancé had a few years back. I am almost done editing the vocals and hope it will live up to expectations :) ...p.s She is the vocalist, So expect some nice driving vocs ;)

Hi Evisma.

It's good to hear from you again. I've always enjoyed listening to your music as well. So your comment really mean a lot.
You also have a point about mixing the maniacal and the jubilant. As long as there's an upbeat, catchy jingle, you can sing whatever dark shit you want. It's amusical loophole that I'm gonna keep using.

Thanks man,
TA

Yo.

I wish the intro was a bit more epic. I tried adding more reverb to make things bigger and more powerful after 0:23, when bowed cello and second, heavily delayed piano enter. But it didn't work.

"smacling drums"

I love a bit of smacling. Very tasty as a dessert.

"drums enter and add some attitude."

Yes but surely they're not really your type of drums? More like hip hop.

"Huge improvements in sound quality."

Are you saying that my older cello recordings don't sound (as) good? I'm pretty sure I'm using exactly the same setup. I've been, to some extent, a bit unadventurous with my cello recorded sound in the last 18 months and generally just use the same multi effects patch for recording it.

"Lots of little extras here."

Find me a Nomad track without any!

"Editing flourishes I never tried to get good at."

But you still could though one big difference between my music and yours is that I'm all about micro sculpting of the track as that's partly my composition technique. You're more trying to write live band music. I sculpt and shape and obsessively edit and that's partly how new ideas are formed.

"Old guitar playing?"

Yes - everything except the electric guitar part starting 1:09. It really pleases me to reuse old, leftover parts. There's quite a skill to doing it.

"No rockin, but that's alright."

I disagree. How about 1:42-2:04? The track goes up and powerful there, with three cello layers and rockier drums.

"Good hammock music."

Yes, especially if you're lying back smoking weed.

"It all sounded good."

Thanks. I put a lot of careful, patient work into making this. So many interesting sounds to trim and arrange.

Unlimited Nomad, blue as our new second sun.

Yo, grandfatherfucker.

Sorry for the rather late reply. Then again, you've taken far longer.

Yes - nice, long, bowed intro. Very relaxing and satisfying to play.

"Butterflies and meadows."

Excellent, very accurate description! You're expressing in words what I was feeling. Some of the high cello parts do sound a bit like buzzing or some other creature flying about. Very bright, playful and warm stuff.

"Next section is a bit darker and reflective"

Yes, dark and mystical. Quite a change!

"2:50 driving snare hits are nice"

They are but they're quite electronic so I wouldn't expect you to like them.

"3:28 pluckery is a nice addition."

Two lines of plectrum-played cello. Not sure how many people ever do that but playing with fingers or bow would not have sounded the same. Very different, actually.

"I'll start making YouTube fishing vids and you can supply the music."

It's a plan but will it ever happen?

"All rather calming and relaxing."

Yeah, nothing badass but it's just not that sort of track. I really like it and find it quite addictive ie I want to hear what's coming next every time I listen to it.

Static Transmad (I'm your passenger)

It's funny you say that about the sticks intro. I have been going through old tracks I have left on my computer and I constantly felt like I need to revisit JamStix again for my drums. They have a certain realistic feel you just can't get with AD or EZ Drummer.
I pretty much use the same thing for all my guitar and bass sounds. Guitar Rig 5 I believe it is. Lots of great sounds in there.

Thanks for the listen and the feedback. Always much appreciated.

tv

Cheers Evisma, thank you for your kind words. I'll tell myself to go lighter on the bass :)
All but the drums are performed by me.

DBT were on a Tiny Desk Concert podcast a little while ago. I do like their music, good story songs.

Been working on instrument sound quality lately, now that I can hear things better I need to make some more adjustments, things are slowly getting better, hopefully.

Thanks for listening in and commenting!

Wayne

hey Ev, good to hear a critique from you. Always full of honesty and real feedback.
Recording is all separate. Drums, then guitars, vocals being last. A click may or not have been used during the recording. I am not present at these recordings so I honestly could not say. However, my guitarist and drummer know each others playing style extremely well as they have played with each other for years. The problem isnt exactly that they dont know how to play with eachother, its that we are all learning the recording process as they have not done so for many years, and I only know Vocal recordings. Off time and lack of tightness is just part of us learning how to do everything, and we are getting better. You shouldve heard our first attempt haha.

With that being said, I do appreciate the kind words and honest feedback. We know its not perfect, we know things can always be adjusted, and we will do so, but for now we just wanna get some music out there cuz right now, its passable and listenable which is what we're aiming for.

Im glad to hear that you think we have have lots of potential, coming from a respectable individual like yourself means a lot. Hopefully the next recording that I put up will be even better, and you can really hear what we have to offer :)
Thanks man -EYEDYE

Dude! I didnt even see that you left this comment! Sorry about that, man.

That intro wasn’t something that I really liked 100%, but after the amount of time Inspent processing it to sound that way, I’ll be go to hell if I just chuck it.

To say that my work reminds you of Mastodon is a pretty huge compliment. Those boys are one of my favorites. So, thanks for that.

There are some pretty dominant high-mids. But I think part of that is A) I wasn’t using my normal mixing headphones, and didn’t check all my systems first. And B) I don’t have the low end of the bass guitar up as high as it should be. Which is something I’ll be fixing. I just finished up Overmyth III. (Static should be happy about that. This trilogy concept seems to annoy him for some reason.) So, now I can go back and tweak.

I’ll give that link a try in just a bit. Right now, Valves are calling.

Laters, mang.

I should have known it was the Tool cover. But, I had forgotten about that one. I don't know why I did, though. I actually love that version. I like the way they completely transformed it into something different without losing the essence of the original. This one is actually responsible for my wanting to do a cover of Sweet Dreams. Which I did, but not anywhere near executed as well. Maybe I'll try that one again.

Maybe not. I'm already 2 tracks behind in the Overmyth set, not to mention finding something for The Bastards. I have a general idea of a track for that one, but I've been having trouble finding the connection between idea and fruition. Getting the foundation to sound like it does in my head has proven to be slightly misaligned.

From Valvehalla to just South Of Evan,
Skol!

Word up, you fiendishly clever alliterative track greeter.

You calculated what you will and will not tolerate and it seems that this little slice of Nomadhop was at least tolerable. Did you use a calculator? Does MJK?

"Listening to this in the background while cleaning the music room"

Excellent. That's just how my music is designed to be consumed. Not much goes on in my tracks so they work best as background wallpaper while you're getting on with more important and pleasurable matters such as cleaning. It's OK - I always listen to your tracks while operating a jackhammer on the deck of a fishing trawler in raging storms in the middle of the Atlantic. It allows me to focus on all the intricate details.

" 2:40 for some exceptionally cool throaty synth."

At 2:36 I turn on a series of distortion, delay and filter effects on the main trippy pad sound that is first heard on 0:24. Nice, swirling stuff that plays a big part in providing that powerful trippy vibe in the second half.

"4:36 goes all 2/2 and shit"

Damn - I'm so bad with time signatures that I'm not entirely sure what 2/2 is. 2 beats to a bar, I guess.

I am taking Getting Mental And Breathing Fire for a track title and fully intend to pay you no royalties.

"Second half is more up my alley."

Entirely as expected. You have to tolerate the hip hop the get to badassery, like eating your first course so you can get to dessert.

"after 3 years of listening to each other's music"

Coming up to 4 this summer. Let us celebrate our anniversary with a big party! Perhaps on Facebook.

"Hard to comment much on the rest."

Well, a genuine Bass Bro would always have some thoughts and words on the basslines, especially when they come from a non-traditional bass instrument. Maybe you're not the real deal after all.

"Plagued by issues and hangups with my present track."

Tell me about it. Same goes for me on most of my tracks, including this one. Sometimes I think it has to be at least a bit difficult, unless you only make unimaginative, unambitious music (which you don't).

Most is well.

Standard Nomad, coming back around to show you everything, letting you choose what you will, will not see and then dragging you down like a stone or lifting you up again, spitting you out like a child - light and innocent.

What's happnin' Mr. E.?
I'm doing ok. Things are a bit still at the moment, but tha's better than a decline. Right?

"Opening swells reminds me of "The Creature Lives"

Now that you mention it, it does. It would make sense. They are one of my top tier favorite bands. Not as much as Floyd, but they're up there.

" Distortion kicking in makes me think of "No Quarter".

Are you thinking the Crowbar cover, or the original Zep version? I honestly don't hear it. Either way, I've always liked that song. I know it's blasphemous in some circles, but I like Crowbar's version better.

" there is a bit of high end I would take out of the distortion"

Yeah. It might be a little too sizzly. I was trying to go for a razors edge on a sledgehammer sound. I may have just added too much high end.

Things are getting wellerer, I guess. Just very, very slowly.

Take care, my friend.
Aaron.

Mr. Sloe has returned to the dirt from which he came! Its purpose has been served, and he has been dealt with just as we had discussed.

"It's good to have the VD"

I'm pretty sure this is the only place you can say that as a good thing.

It may seem weird, but I really believe that the "Sloedirt" persona was so far out of sync with what I try to create that it was actually hindering me. You know, that whole body, mind, soul alignment horseshit.

Take care, hombre.
Aaron

Yo, my skyscaping bro.

A sack of squirrel shit to you too.

I'm sure that erased review was amazing.

My attack is instantly recognisable? Not sure what that means.

"Expected Nomad form for a while"

Haha - that's your summary of the first few mins. Well, I did predict on 'The Book Of Faces that you wouldn't like them much: "you will find the first couple of minutes mildly tolerable".

'Tis a shame you don't like the cool, smooth grooving Nomad and only the badass Nomad. Maybe you can learn.

I thought you might be impressed by those sinuous, sliding basslines in the first couple of mins. The drums are probably too gentle and skipping for you. Also: no bass instruments in the track, just cello.

"3:40 is an effective bit"

It is. Don't know why you have trouble with that. Just try muting the drums for a second or two. It's very effective.

"4:53, you go ahead and throw in some badassery. Thanks for that."

I try to please. Might actually be my least favourite section. Pretty simple stoner rocking but good fun. And it's just one cello part.

"seemed to repeat the same couple phrases a lot"

Yes - that's why I spent many months on it because I felt it was a bit samey and wondered how I was going to change into other riffs. Yet, I also think it progresses quite nicely and there are some fun extras eg the sweeping violin parts, the organ and, of course, the distortion and heavy drums. Otherwise, yes, it's a rather minimal Nomad track.

"The badass ending section should come much sooner"

No, I won't do that. It's a somewhat awkward change and I like the smooth, chilled grooves of the first couple of mins.

No NTB trophy? That's fine - I have a whole cabinet full of them. Maybe Mr V will award me one for this track.

"Clever fuck."

Thanks. Stick around and I will teach you more clever fuckery.

Badass Nomad, searching your eyes for a hint or a trace of humility...

Thanks a lot Evisma , I feel pretty much honored about it. Never assumed such a response from a guy that seems to be a professional musician what is proved by the great music tracks you've uploaded here :-)

Ben