Messages

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Covers / Original song inspired by Silent Jealousy - "Lucid Odyssey"

« on: July 04, 2016, 05:20:05 PM »

Hey guys,

I hope you don't mind my posting this here - it's not a cover this time per se, but rather a (glorified midi preview of an) original song that is heavily inspired by Silent Jealousy.  Much of the song structure is there (a mellow intro, into a blazing fast main riff, leading eventually into a verse/chorus setup, then a piano slow down only to come back into bass solo and twin guitar solo, etc...) - and in fact I'm not a drummer at all and basically taught myself to compose drums in the past week by picking apart the drumlines of a number of X songs.  The synth leads starting around 1:10 are meant to be the vocal line.

So, perhaps the feeling you'll get if you listen to this is that it somehow sounds familiar, yet it's different.  There is definitely my own stamp in the form of judicious use of fretless bass.  Please me know what you think, and if you'd be interested in a properly done album sometime down the line  .

s

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Covers / Re: Cover of ToshI's "Amaoto"

« on: May 11, 2016, 08:40:19 PM »

Hey, sorry for not noticing this post earlier.

I think you've got a good voice for ballads and you're making a good effort conveying emotion.  If you find joy in doing it, then keep doing it for as long as you can!

Did you translate the lyrics directly from Japanese or come up with something totally different?

Since you asked for some constructive tips, I have a few.  I'm not really a vocalist myself, so take it with a grain of salt, and please don't take any of it the wrong way.

-Your intonation seems to be good once you're in the middle of singing a passage, but sometimes the first few notes are a little off ("If it's possible" at 3:06).  If you play any instruments, I suggest playing the notes you're trying to hit and singing over it.
-Sing a bit louder and project more confidence.  If it's possible and it helps, try to find a time and place where you can be alone (I did notice the message that people were sleeping over.)
-If you have the means and are serious, invest in a good vocal microphone, like this one: http://www.shure.com/americas/products/microphones/sm/sm58-vocal-microphone.

By the way, I've never heard this song before.  This is solo Toshi stuff?  What's the name of the album?

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Covers / Art of Life piano solo - with overly dramatic Yoshiki impression!

« on: May 03, 2016, 02:18:49 AM »

Hey guys, I'm back with another cover... different song, different instrument 

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General chat / Re: We Are X SXSW

« on: April 06, 2016, 02:12:32 PM »

Thanks for the review.  So stoked to see this!  I'm 100% sure this will be made available on DVD in time, making it scarce for now is just excellent business sense 

As to the discussion on Taiji leaving, I read in a fan translation of Taiji's biography that the final argument that left to his being asked to leave was about royalties.  Yoshiki was getting (probably still gets) the lion's share of the profits of X Japan, and I guess Taiji had a problem with that.  But that doesn't seem like it would be such a taboo rule breaking thing that it can't be talked about.  Curious as to what it could be...!

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Covers / Re: Weekend - fretless bass cover with (attempted) backing vocals

« on: April 06, 2016, 04:00:07 AM »

Awesome cover dude! I found myself sing along with you & ToshI during the video, hahaha.

Thank you!  It's such an infectiously fun song to sing along to, isn't it?

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Covers / Weekend - fretless bass cover with (attempted) backing vocals

« on: April 05, 2016, 09:03:15 PM »

Hi fellow X Japan fans!

I made an account to share this cover I just did of Weekend on fretless bass:

J-rock, and especially Taiji and Toshiya (Dir en Grey), were the reason I picked up bass over guitar many years ago.  I've since got into a bunch of other stuff and switched to fretless finger style, but I'll never forget the inspiration from those wicked early X Japan basslines.  Hope you like it!