Cup of Silence - More Reason Prog

[Amyjer]

Here is another prog song recorded in Reason - this one if more guitar based than keys. I used Carve numerous times to help separate out the instruments. Harmonized 12-string acoustic appears in the middle song with flute courtesy of the Eigenharp.

Thanks for listening!

[Benedict]

Hi

Interesting sound. There is a lurch/stumble in the rhythm which is initially confusing. I'm hoping it grows on me. Interesting piece but I don't think it works quite right. It often feels hard to breathe as there is so much going on and it never takes a breath.

I like it tho and if it were on an album with other stronger tracks I wouldn't be complaining.

[Amyjer]

Thanks! I may revisit the drums. As it so happens, my prog band Formativ does have an album out. Most of the sounds on this tune are from Reason - the piano is Reason Pianos (the Steinway grand):

[Benedict]

Had a dip through Formativ and it sounds good. Mix is very bright and clear.

Sadly tho there seems to be some hold-up with getting the album out as Bandcamp seems stalled at 2012! Get that sorted or you will lose all impetus.

[Amyjer]

Thanks for checking it out! We did finish the album recently - here are the links:

http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/Formativ
http://kunaki.com/Sales.asp?PID=PX00L6J885

It is also up on iTunes and Amazon.

[Benedict]

I stand corrected (might want to tidy up Bandcamp then). Congrats.

Sadly I am jobless right now so playing close with my coins or I would buy outright. Stay active here and maybe pop links in your Sig and I'll circle back around.

[Amyjer]

Thanks. All the tracks are posted on Soundcloud except one which has a video (

[Last Alternative]

I like the opening guitar part washing around. Some moments of it disappear uncomfortably if that makes sense. Sweet Metallica-y riffs here and there. that part where it changes into the choppy rock part I would dare call the chorus (if it had lyrics) is offbeat when the guitar chops play. Same with the horns on the next part like that.
Wow the themes really jump around. Makes me think of the Beatles if their time was later, like more in the 90s and they were experimenting with jazz, classic rock, modern metal, and orchestral. This is just weird stuff man. Hard to follow the method to your madness, if there is one LOL. I don't know what else to make of it. Quirky for sure. It's like a mash-up of 3 separate songs with no real direction.

[Amyjer]

Thanks! My songs tend to cross genres.  This one has a lot of contrast between the harder edged parts and the softer, acoustic sections.

[JNeffLind]

There is a lurch/stumble in the rhythm which is initially confusing. 

This is what I was referring to in the other song you posted, saying this song didn't seem to have a "pocket" the listener could get into. Anyway, maybe that goes with progressive, which is on the way towards avant-garde, no? And with that stuff, all bets are off. 

[Amyjer]

I think the rhythm section in prog music, generally speaking, does not have a pocket in the same way that other styles - especially if time signatures shift.  This piece starts out in 9/8 and shifts to 6/8 and 7/4 in other spots.  I have been already updated the mix and drums several times and will continue to work on it.  Drums are often the most challenging for me. I play them in real time on a Zendrum (www.zendrum.com) rather than program or use loops.  Thanks!

[JNeffLind]

I think the rhythm section in prog music, generally speaking, does not have a pocket in the same way that other styles - especially if time signatures shift.  This piece starts out in 9/8 and shifts to 6/8 and 7/4 in other spots.  I have been already updated the mix and drums several times and will continue to work on it.  Drums are often the most challenging for me. I play them in real time on a Zendrum (www.zendrum.com) rather than program or use loops.  Thanks!

Good to know about prog music and rhythmic issues. Perhaps that's why it's not my favorite genre. Keep it up man. Just keep expanding and experimenting. 

[Amyjer]

Thank you!

[Benedict]

Good to know about prog music and rhythmic issues. Perhaps that's why it's not my favorite genre. Keep it up man. Just keep expanding and experimenting. 

Aaw come on man, a smart young fellow like you should be dying to get your head around the highest evolution of Rock. Take a listen to the Yes album "Close To The Edge" and tell me it isn't just amazing work.

or ELP's first: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1Robezbkhg

if you are feeling a bit more Blues based then Deep Purple's self-titled is magic too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfcsP816ivc

These are the roots of Prog and very little has been finer.

To be fair when I was younger, while I really liked some later Prog like ELP's "Touch & Go" and Moody Blues "In Your Wildest Dreams" it took me a while to be able to appreciate the greater wild (and scary) complexity of the earlier works.

[Amyjer]

I agree with all bands listed and would add King Crimson, Genesis (up to ABACAB) and Jethro Tull to the list.  Gentle Giant took the concept even further although ironically Derek Shulman (their lead singer) became a record company executive who can be blamed or praised for signing Bon Jovi (depending on your point of view).

King Crimson is noted as being highly influential to many modern day metal bands - Tool in particular but there are others.  The album they tend to cite is called Red.

For modern day prog, there are a lot of great bands, but Porcupine Tree and Steve Wilson really stand out to me.  Steve Wilson's last two solo albums are beyond amazing.

As a side note, I co-wrote a song with Jon Anderson (lead singer of Yes) on his last solo album and it is more of a melodic (less prog) than anything I posted here! I did not record it in Reason though....

[Benedict]

You aren't exactly a trumpet self-blower are you  

I found it for you. Nice song and suits Jon's voice and delivery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl2_tp9pVLQ

Which lead me to:
http://www.allmusic.com/album/from-a-to-b-mw0000218501

which is a bit harder to track down but so far sounds pretty damned good.

I didn't manage to get my head around King Crimson (even tho I know they were really influential and had plenty of spin off artists). I don't own any Genesis but I have Peter Gabriel's Car and So albums (I also have a best of Phil C but don't punish me). I have listened to a full Genesis career retrospective and still like a lot of the more pop stuff even tho I can see the Prog stuff was interesting and worthy. I have a Best of Jethro Tull and "Songs From The Wood" which I adore. Gentle Giant are only a name to me. Bon Jovi's "Slippery When Wet" is a great pop record. I grew up across the 80's so my first love is in synth pop artists and then into Vangelis etc. Radio played a lot of Prog stuff for a while in the mid-80's so I got to hear a bit of the popular stuff then and I took it in. Overall I prefer pop but admire Prog greatly when it has a clear story.

If you ever feel like slumming it with a simple synthesist I have my hand firmly in the air.

[Amyjer]

Thanks so much for the kind words! Jon is great to work with a very nice person.  

"From A to B" was a lot of fun and I can't believe how long ago it came out! It is available on iTunes and Bandcamp and at this point I am almost out of the CDs.  In between, I have recorded with the bands Zapotec, Acoustic Revival, and Apothecary although this material is more in the fusion camp than prog.

Genesis veered a bit too far into pop territory for my taste but they are amazing musicians. I actually find it strange talking to some people who love Phil Collins but do not realize how great of a drummer he is - not only with Genesis but with Brand X (a prog-fusion side project he played in).  His son Simon now fronts a band called Sound of Contact - their debut album is really good.

I am big Peter Gabriel fan - somehow his veering off in the pop direction didn't bother me as much as Genesis.  Perhaps because he kept things interesting for me even when he had the more overtly commercial material on the same album ("This is the Picture" on So for example).

If you are looking for amazing pop with a prog twist, check out anything by Kevin Gilbert solo and especially the only album (self titled) by Toy Matinee.  I recently picked up a great album by Tom Brislin which is in the pop category as well (he played keys with Yes on their orchestral tour).