Shadows - Recording the vocals ! Episode 3

Hi everyone!

Today, other samples from the vocals recordings. This time, it's the song "I will light a candle", with Xiomara Crystal.

I hope you'll like it!

Recording "I will light a candle" with Xiomara Crystal for my upcoming album "Shadows"

Une vidéo publiée par Jimmy Tillier (@jimmytillier) le 24 Mai 2015 à 0h00 PDT

See you next week!

Shadows - Recording the vocals ! Episode 2

Hi everyone!
Today, new samples from the recordings, still on instagram, so they are 15s maximum.
It may be very frustrating for you, but I don't want to show you too much !
Here's a short sample from the song "No Memories", with Xiomara Crystal.

Recording "No memories" with Xiomara Crystal for my upcoming album "Shadows"

Une vidéo publiée par Jimmy Tillier (@jimmytillier) le 9 Mai 2015 à 11h11 PDT

See you next week!

Shadows - Recording the vocals ! Episode 1

Hi everyone!

Today, here are the first samples from the vocal recordings!
You already read that I had a lot troubles finding Shadows' voice. Finally, after a casting on starnow, I chose Xiomara Crystal. Everything was fine, and we spent a few days together recording the songs and talking about future collaborations. This is only a beginning...
The recordings are now completed, and I have to start mixing the album.
But before that, here's a sample from the song "The Book of Destiny".

Recording vocals for "the end of a dream" from my album Shadows. With Xiomara Crystal.

Une vidéo publiée par Jimmy Tillier (@jimmytillier) le 2 Mai 2015 à 9h15 PDT

See you next week!

Shadows - Recording the drums, bass and keyboards parts - episode 12

Hi everyone!

Today, here are some samples from the studio, before to record the vocals.

I was listening to old unfinished songs of mine, and I thought that this song could be great for "Shadows". I finished it and called it "Reflections". I hope you'll like it:

Une vidéo publiée par Jimmy Tillier (@jimmytillier) le 4 Avril 2015 à 12h16 PDT

Une vidéo publiée par Jimmy Tillier (@jimmytillier) le 4 Avril 2015 à 12h18 PDT

Une vidéo publiée par Jimmy Tillier (@jimmytillier) le 4 Avril 2015 à 12h21 PDT

Bye!

Shadows - and the singer finally is...

Hi everyone!

After my 2nd casting, where I had to choose between 52 singers, I finally chose...Xiomara Crystal !

She has the voice I'm looking for, but she also plays guitar and piano, and she writes for her band CrystalX !

We already talked together, and we record by the end of april.

Until that, you can discover her by listening at her soundclouds:

- her personal soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/xiomaracrystal
- her band's soundcloud, CrystalX: https://soundcloud.com/crystalxmusic

I'm really happy to record with her, and of course you'll have some samples here when everything is recorded!

See you next week.

Shadows - looking for a singer...again

Hi everyone!

You know that it was hard for me to find a singer. I finally organized a casting, and I found one !

Unfortunately, we have schedule issues, so I have to find another singer.

I created another casting on starnow, and I had 50 applications.

I will keep you informed when I made my decision !

See you soon !

Shadows - Recording the strings - Episode 5

Hi everyone !

Today, here are some samples from the strings sessions !
The strings players on my album are: Louise Leverd (Cello), Jasmine Collet (Viola), and Pauline Denize (Violin).

First, here are some cello and viola samples from the song "Between Clouds"

Une vidéo publiée par Jimmy Tillier (@jimmytillier) le 21 Févr. 2015 à 7h56 PST

Une vidéo publiée par Jimmy Tillier (@jimmytillier) le 21 Févr. 2015 à 7h57 PST

To finish, here's a violin sample from the song "I will light a candle".

Une vidéo publiée par Jimmy Tillier (@jimmytillier) le 21 Févr. 2015 à 7h58 PST

See you next week !

Shadows - Recording the drums, bass and keyboards parts - episode 11

Hi everyone!

Another samples about the making of the album. The song is "Whirling", you can also find it, in an other version on my EP "Shadows on Keys".

Une vidéo publiée par Jimmy Tillier (@jimmytillier) le 14 Févr. 2015 à 10h22 PST

Une vidéo publiée par Jimmy Tillier (@jimmytillier) le 14 Févr. 2015 à 10h26 PST

Une vidéo publiée par Jimmy Tillier (@jimmytillier) le 14 Févr. 2015 à 10h23 PST

See you next week!

Shadows - Recording the drums, bass and keyboards parts - episode 10

Hi everyone!

Now you know that I found the singer for my album, so I will soon be able to go further.

Before we record the vocals, here are again some samples from the recordings for "The end of a dream"

The piano sample is extracted from a live from youtube, so the video quality is really bad...

Une vidéo publiée par Jimmy Tillier (@jimmytillier) le 7 Févr. 2015 à 11h37 PST

Une vidéo publiée par Jimmy Tillier (@jimmytillier) le 7 Févr. 2015 à 11h39 PST

Une vidéo publiée par Jimmy Tillier (@jimmytillier) le 7 Févr. 2015 à 11h45 PST

See you next week!

Shadows - And the singer is...

Hi everyone!

Big announcement today! You already know that all the songs from "Shadows" are recorded, but I was still looking for the singer...

I tried several times to contact various singers, who didn't answer me, then I decided to try something different. I created a casting on a website called Starnow.

In two days I had 29 applications, from a lot of countries. Before that, I had felt that the singers I had contacted were not interested in my project, so that was a big contrast!

The most important thing is that among all these singers, I discovered someone with the voice I am looking for, the one that I really want to hear on my album, the one who is perfect to tell the various stories from "Shadows".

And this Irish singer is... Edwina Van Kuyk. You can listen to her voice on her soundcloud page.

I look forward to working with her and I'm very glad I found her. Now we have to organize our schedules to record the vocals, and the whole album will be recorded!

See you next week!

Shadows - Recording the drums, bass and keyboards parts - episode 9

Hello !

Those of who know all the details of the album know that there are 13 songs on it, and you may have noticed that I didn't show you all the recordings...
I keep some of them to make you discover the songs from time to time, like today !

Here's a sample of the recording of the song "The book of destiny", which will be a song with vocals, as soon as I find my singer, that means as soon as a singer replies me...You can see what I have to do to contact singers, without having replies, in the previous articles of my blog...

I hope you'll enjoy that !







See you next week !

"Shadows" is looking for its singer - again

Hi everyone !

You may remember that the last time, I covered a song from Hannah Trigwell in order to contact her and ask her if she was interested to sing on my album.
A few emails later, she finally won't sing on the album.

Almost two weeks ago, I sent an email to another singer, and as usual (I'd really like to know why), I don't have any reply.
So I attempt to do the same thing I did the last time, to have her attention.

This time I try to contact Sara Niemietz, an american singer. If she is interested, we would have to work "online", because for financial reasons, I can't go and record her in LA or pay her to come in France to record with me...it's an interesting challenge though !

This time, no loops, it's piano only. The song is Rooftops, by Sara Niemietz. Let's now hope and wait for any reactions...

See you next week !

"Shadows" looking for its singer

Hello everyone!

As you know, all the instruments are recorded on the album, except one: vocals. Today, I tell you why I don't have a singer yet.

First, from the beginning, I don't want a French singer for several reasons, including the accent, and then the way of singing. I know that some people don't agree with me, but with the same technique, and similar voices, two singers from different countries will not sing in the same way. It turns out that I don't like the way French singers sing, at least for my album.

I spend a lot of time on Youtube listening to singers. I'm not looking for a specific voice, I just want that voice to make me feel the emotions of the song. I saw some very good singers, some very bad, and others that fit perfectly with what I wanted.

From there, I contact the singer and I expect her to reply me. If she doesn't reply, I usually contact her again a week later, by all means at my disposal (facebook, official sites, managers, etc). None of them answered me yet (I sent my first email in June).
For those of you who bought the EP, and who are dreaming about listening to the full album, you have to know that these singers have access to the whole album. No reasons to be jealous though, none of them listened to it!

So in these cases, I have to question myself and don't think all singers are rude.
In my emails, I think I'm respectful to the singers I contacted, but again, without any reply, no way to be sure.
I remain convinced that if people don't read my email or don't answer me, that is because I don't interest them (because of the double handicap cited below).

After a moment, I decide to contact someone else. That means I'm gonna spend several weeks to find another singer. I usually look for someone with a different voice from the previous singer, not to have any point of comparison.
It is a very exhausting process, since I have to find a voice that will suit my songs, although I already found one. And it's even more exhausting because I usually don't have any reply from the previous singer, so I still hope that she accepts ...

I know I have a double handicap: I'm not known, and I'm French. French music is generally associated with the accordion, you just have to watch a foreign film whose action takes place in France... However, I have nothing against accordionists, who also have to fight against this cliché. For those of you, not french, who read this blog, be aware that french music is not musette !

For now, I contacted 3 singers.
I first contacted a German singer, who never replied me, although I'm sure she got my emails.
I then contacted a Russian singer, with whom I chatted, but she never told me yes or no.
Three weeks ago, I contacted an English singer, Hannah Trigwell, I have no reply yet.

With the Russian singer, I did a video cover of one of her songs, which allowed me to strike up a conversation.

Today, I go further, I cover Rectify, a Hannah Trigwell's song, to try to have her attention and ask her if she is interested to sing on my album.

I'm pretty sure she will see at this video, and I hope she'll reply me.

Warning for you who read this blog, I'm sure Hannah will see this video, so no need to spam her about it or ask her to reply me. This is my personal initiative, I don't know if she'll like it, she can delete this video, she is allowed not to reply, or even refuse to sing on my abum or any reason.
But in the state where things are, "thank you for your interest, but I'm not interested" would be a short, yet polite reply, and that's all I ask.

Here's the video. Everything is performed and looped live:

Let's hope we'll have news about that soon, and of course, you'll know it !
I will surely do a video tutorial about the keyboard programming for this video.
See you next week !

Shadows on Keys - EP release

Hello everyone!

Today is the release of my EP «Shadows on Keys».

First, let me play to you a short medley of the songs from this EP, I hope you enjoy it!

You can buy it on my bandcamp page 

Id like to let yo know that, despite the reasons that led me to do this EP, it is by no means an EP done fast. It is not either of the piano parts of the album that I extracted to make the EP.

I spent four days recording the five songs of this EP. It then took one day to mix, add some effects on 2 tracks and master the EP. The total length is about 18mn.

The musical themes are really the ones you’ll find on the album Shadows, but in different versions arranged for this EP. The structures are mostly identical to the original songs, but sometimes I had to slow the tempo down to suit the atmosphere of the piano.

If you read the history of this album, you know that all the songs have a very melodic section, usually played by the strings, and a rhythm section that contrasts with the mood of the strings. This rhythm section is absent on the EP, so the songs are much more melancholic than the same ones on the album.

Price:

I sell this EP 5 €.

For now, it’s only a digital version. I will certainly edit physical copies when I release the album.

As you know, the money from this EP will help me to move forward on the album. Be aware that if you buy this EP, you can buy the album at a price of 10€ in its physical version, including mailing costs, instead of 13 € for people who didn’t buy the EP. Make sure to correctly fill in your name and email address when you order the EP.

Why I chose Bandcamp and not iTunes...?

First, Bandcamp is a platform for musicians. I ‘m the only one to manage my page. When you buy the EP, you pay me directly and instantly, which is not the case with iTunes, where you have to wait at least one month before a statement of sales which can never be sure ... It is then necessary to ask his money, and you know it annoys me a lot.

On Bandcamp, you can listen to the entire songs, not just 30s of random extracts. I do not make money on these streams. I much prefer this system to a platform like Deezer, which pays the artists ridiculously low, when they want,...

You also have the option, and I advise you to do it, to download the files in their original format, uncompressed WAV.

There was a time when iTunes was interesting, but now there is everything and anything on it. There was a time when you could discover some artists on iTunes. Now, if you want to find me, you’ll have to search for me.

Financially, at the end, the income generated by the two platforms are identical, but in terms of operation and services, Bandcamp is better to my way of thinking about listening and buying music. So if you have to search for me, do it on Bandcamp !

What if you want to support me, but you don’t have money?

Well, we need this EP and the upcoming album to find their audience. If you can not or do not want to buy this EP, but you still want to help me, then share the info!

To share, simply send the link to the Bandcamp page to your contacts, your friends, your enemies ... everyone, no matter how old they are and where they live, telling them to share.

Feel free to invent chains such as "if you do not share to 10 people, that's what will happen ..."

I also want to add that there is actually a "loudness war" in the music industry. Very often, the dynamic range of the songs is really small and the songs are loud from the beginning to the end.

If I played nuances on the piano, I want you to hear them.

If there are volume buttons on the devices used to listen to music, they are made to be used, so do not expect to hear this piano with the sound level of a hard rock band ...

Thanks for your help !

Shadows on Keys - The EP - The origins

Hi everyone!

You may have seen this picture on facebook monday. Shadows on Keys is an EP. You'll find some songs from the upcoming ablbum Shadows, in their easiest version: only with a piano

I will tell you everything about it saturday, but for now, I'd like to tell you about its origins.

At first, there was a nice reason:

I was a bit worried for the live (I always think about the live when I'm recording or doing anything with this album, and I can tell you that it will be great), specially for the money I'd need to organize a concert. I was wondering if I was able to play the songs alone (I'm not interested at all to play them alone, but if I don't have any other choice...)
After a few tries and arrangements, I managed to play the songs. I kept that in my head for some weeks.

Then I had a small problem. This blog is about my work, and I think it's important to tell you about the things when they don't go right.

These last years, I always had to claim my money each time I worked as a composer. I had contracts, invoices, but none of the payments was paid in time. Most people don't have to claim their money at the end of the month, and I think it's totally not normal for me to ask for it.
In that mix of bad luck and bad faith, I had to face parental leaves, people who simply forgot...several times, people who dismissed their job or were fired, and replaced by people who didn't ever contacted me...

The problem is that when I have to ask, it takes time. Sometimes, I had to wait for over 6 months to have my money.

Actually, I'm waiting for money, a lot of small amount which make a big one.

If you read this blog regularly, you know that I produce the album on my own, I planned it from the beginning, and I knew I was able to do it because of that money I'm waiting for, since september.

You know that I spend a lot of time trying to contact singers. But I have to slow down a bit, because if I find her, today, I can't pay her. Once the recordings done, I need one month for mixing and mastering, then I'll have to make the cds...with the money I'm waiting.

Nothing here is really serious, that money isn't lost, and I will earn it one day, but I need it now.

I release the EP to raise money while I'm waiting.

I could have used a crowdfunding plateform, but I didn't want to sell something not really appropriate, or an album which isn't finished. I decided to record some of the songs from the album in other versions, so that you can have an idea of what the themes are, and this is something directly related to the album.

You now know everything about the origins of that EP, you'll know everything about the EP saturday !

Shadows - Recording the strings - Episode 4

Hi everyone!

The recordings are finished (except for vocals), but you didn't have samples from all the songs...
Today, here are some samples of the strings.
The strings players are: Louise Leverd (cello), Jasmine Collet (viola) et Pauline Denize (violin).

First, cello and viola on "Remembering Children's Games".



Here is a sample of the strings, together on "Shadows"

Une vidéo publiée par Jimmy Tillier (@jimmytillier) le Nov. 11, 2014 at 7:48 PDT

That's all for today. I will post something during next week to tell you about a surprise next saturday !

See you next week !

Shadows - Recording the drums, bass and keyboards parts - episode 8

Hi everyone!

Today, here are some samples of the recordings, on the song "Shadows".



All the instruments are now recorded, all that remains is the mystery singer...

While I'm looking for her, I'm working on the visuals, here's the album cover:

See you next week!

Shadows - Recording the drums, bass and keyboards parts - episode 7

Hi everyone!

Today, here are some recordings samples, all about one song, with a lot of instruments on it.
Remembering Children's Games is an instrumental song, about children playing, creating their own universe for a few moments...

Chargement

Basse sur remembering children's gammes. #shadows

Afficher sur Instagram

Chargement

Enregistrement du piano. #shadows #rememberingchildrensgames

Afficher sur Instagram

To end, here's my updated todo list, I think the instruments recordings will be finished next week !

Shadows - Demos VS Actual Recordings

Hi everyone!

Today, I wanted to change a bit, so no video samples.

Today I'd like to speak about the differences between the demos and the recordings.

If you read this blog regularly, you read here about the different steps when creating this album.

Once the whole album composed, I had all the songs in a demo form. They all had their "almost definitive" structure, the strings parts, bass and drums riffs, and some basic keyboards parts.

I already knew what I wanted to add to these demos, the sounds, the keyboards, some effects...
When I started to record everything, I played the things I wanted, the way I wanted them to sound...

And the songs came to life. In the first post about recording the album, I told that I was discovering the songs, and that's still the case for all the songs.

Today, I want you to understand what I mean, so here are three samples. On each one, you'll hear the demo version, then the actual recording. It's always the same sample (not mixed).

I hope you'll like them, see you next week !

Shadows - Recording the strings - Episode 3

Hi everyone,

Today, here are some samples of the strings recording session, this time all about violin with Pauline Denize!

Here are the 3 frustrating new samples for the songs of the album:


And here's my updated To do list. Tomorrow, we complete recording violin parts. I will have to record bass, drums and keyboards on 4 songs, and I still need the vocals for 6 songs...

See you next week !