12/26/17

Dimaex5001, the final album for 2017

This is it, kids, the final stop for 2017.  Dimaex5001, the sequel to Dimaex5000.  A bit more of the same, but with some new stuff happening.  Number one, there's a bit more of a rock vibe happening, with the guitars being pushed out front again. Not a lot of solos, but lots of melodic riffing and atmospheres.  

I also incorporated a new pedal into my pedalboard, and really used it a lot.  It's the new Digitech FreQout pedal, which is a "feedback" generator, and it's really cool.  I always like using guitar feedback, but it's really tough to get without cranking the volume up to eleven, and this pedal soves that problem.  You can probably hear it in my sustained notes and chords all over the place in this album.  I just couldn't help myself, it's just so cool to use once you get the hang of it, and I was able to get lots of feedback sounds at very low volume in my home studio.

The song titles, Song titles, images, and inspiration based on John Harper's RPG, Ghost Lines, available at One Seven Design Games. www.onesevendesign.com.

I also used a new VST synth called, Horror Box, a free download VSTi that generates some interesting and atmospheric background noise

Stream audio and download options available below: www.archive.org/details/dimaex5001 Download the whole album with album art
:https://archive.org/download/dimaex5001/Dimaex5001.zip

1 - On the Ghost Lines
2 - Imperium 891

3 - A Spirit Well in the Dethlands
4 - Spectrology
5 - Church of Ecstasy
6 - Violet Remedy
7 - Song of the Line Bulls

8 - Dimaex5001 

Composed and performed by Dimaension X.
Recorded and produced by Dave Lanciani at Dimaex Studios




12/17/17

The Ghost of Gawain - a new project from Exempt Human Specimen

 Greetings all,
I have a new idea for a project, and it's starting off with inspiration from using a free VST called Alter/Ego from Plogue Music Software developers.

Alter/Ego if a free vst that simulates speech and singing.  The original version only ad a female voice that was very robotic sounding, but now they're released a voice that simulates death growls and black metal vocals, along with a few different singing voices.  This one is called Marie Ork, and I used it to do the vocals in the new song.

In fact, the current version of the song is made completely with VST instruments.  There are no real guitars, basses, keyboards, drums or vocals.  It's all created in the computer.

I do plan to record actual guitar for the final versions of the songs, but everything else will be computer generated.  For now, using the VST instruments allows me to arrange the songs and get them basically ready to go, and then I'll add the actual guitars to add the "human" element.  But it is really amazing what you can do on a computer now, isn't it?

See below the the video demo of the song.  Thanks for listening.


10/15/17

Dimaex5000 (a new EP)

Dimaension X dives into the Trip-Hop genre, ... sort of.  A short EP album, very beats-driven, simple basslines, accompanying guitar, and weird voice samples.
 


1.  The Astronaut of Mass Drivers
2.  The Aristocrat of Science
3.  The King of Civilization
4.  Four of Hyperdrives
5.  The Duchess of Pulsars
6.  Two of Spaceships


Notes:
Composed and performed by Dimaension X.
Recorded and produced by Dave Lanciani at Dimaex Studios
Recorded almost exclusively with my SX Furrian Telecaster-copy guitar, mainly using pedals as my sound source, and my Mooer Micropreamp UK Gold 002 for my direct recording connection into my Focusrite Scarlett 2i2.

Signal chain is:
Joyo Vintage Overdrive
Joyo Ultimate Drive
Earthquaker Devices Acapulco Gold
Mooer Micro Preamp UK Gold 002
Morley Mini-Volume Pedal
Earthquaker Devices Transmisser
Earthquaker Devices Avalanche Run

9/24/17

Mooer, Please

I just recorded a demo using the great little micro pedal by Mooer, called the UK Gold 002.  It digitally simulates (VERY accurately) the sound of a Marshall JCM900.

Luckily, City Music in Leominster MA has most of the Mooer pedals in stock.  They are pretty inexpensive, VERY small, and sound great.  Check them out when you have a chance of you're a local musician.

The signal chain is: Agile 3010SE Joyo Vintage Drive Mooer UK Gold 002 (cab sim on) Earthquaker Avalanche Run directly into a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 I use Cockos Reaper as my DAW exclusively.



 


9/16/17

Drone2012 - now streaming at YouTube

I finally created some videos for my 2012 album called "Drone2012" and uploaded them to YouTube.



Yes, I did record this way back in 2012.  Here's the general description from the Internet Archive download page:

An experiment in drone-doom-noise. I'm mainly toying with feedback, delays and other effects in real-time. For a lot of this I just propped my guitar up in front of the amp and let it do the work.

The final "song" is a "cover-tune" of sorts, but obviously severely modified. Anyone care to venture a guess? 

All recorded with my guitar tuned to D,A,D,A,D,E. Loud amp. Loud.

All music herein remains untitled ...
All music herein shall move, yet remain still...
All music herein shall be created to be deconstructed...
all music herein shall not only be heard but shall be experienced by all tactile senses ...


Here's a link to stream / download the files at the Internet Archive:
CLICK HERE!!!

To directly download a ZIP file with the whole album, art, etc., 
CLICK HERE!!


8/18/17

Eklipss

Here it is folks, ... EKLIPSS

Some new experimental Drone Doom Metal from Dimaension X created and inspired by the upcoming Solar Eclipse on 08/21/2017.  Once again, I've been listening to SunnO))), Monarch, Olde, Thorr's Hammer, Khanate, Nadja, and other Droney Doom bands, and using the number Pi (π) as "tablature" for the notes.




1.  Umbra
2.  Penumbra
3.  Antumbra
4.  Abandonment
5.  Downfall
6.  Darkening of the Heavenly Body
7.  To Cease to Exist.

Composed and performed by Dimaension X.
Recorded and produced by Dave Lanciani at Dimaex Studios


Click HERE to go to the Internet Archive page for streaming and download options.

Click HERE directly download a ZIP file for the whole album, art, etc. 



Recorded almost exclusively with an SX Furrian Telecaster-copy (just to prove that it can be done with stock single pickups); the first album half using a Joyo Ultimate Drive for the main tone, and an Earthquaker Devices Acapulco Gold for the second album half.  I used my Yamaha THR-10 as my recording interface, with the Lead Setting (Low Gain British- EL34) as my clean tone.  I also threw in an EQD Transmisser for some of the weird modulated tones.

7/29/17

New Doooooooommm (coming sooooon ...)

New project on the way, ... some DOOOOOOMM Metal. Loud. Slow. Heavy.  HEAVY, man.

Is being recorded with a few new toys ...

Trying to make doom metal with a Telecaster-style guitar.  Yes, that's what I said.  Makin' DOOM METAL with a standard single-coil-loaded Tele. A stock SX Furrian.  No upgraded pickups.  Just the single-coilies.  Why?  Just to prove that I can.

A few new pedals in the mix.  First using my Joyo Ultimate Drive (not new, but haven't used it much), for some raging tones (drive and tone dimed!).  Next, I bought a few Earthquaker Devices pedals at City Music! Yeah, they stock Earthquaker Pedals!  Kudos to them for taking a chance and stocking up on some really unique effects pedals!

I picked up an Acapulco Gold pedal, which basically reproduces the sound of an old Sunn Model T amp cranked up to maximum volume! It has ONE knob on it - the volume control, and that's it.  This pedal is LOUD, so you have to keep the volume pretty low unless you plan on really punishing your amp.

I also grabbed a Transmisser pedal, with is a weird, modulated reverb pedal.  It makes very spacey, wobbly echo sounds.  Great for ambient music.

You can also check these pedals out on the YouTube.  Lot's of musicians online really rave about Earthquaker Devices pedals, and with good reason.  Instead of making yet-another-clone-pedal of a "Marshall-in-a-box", or ANOTHER Tube Screamer clone and the like, they really strive to come up with their own flavors of sounds and special effects that know one else does.  They can be a little expensive, but they really do things that no other pedals even attempt to do.

I'm running the pedals into my trusty Yamaha THR-10 amp that I've had for several years now.  I love the thing.  I'm basically running the pedals through the Marshall Plexi model, which is like an old non-master volume classic Marshall stack from the 1960's.  You know, low-gain preamp that goes into EL34 power tubes. You basically turn all the controls up to ten.

It's USB'd right to my computer, everything recorded direct, so you get a great rich tone with no mics needed.  I'll post some samples when I'm satisfied with the mixes.


7/9/17

Darker Dreams (newest album for 2017)

Darker Dreams - yes, my new album for 2017!

A step towards something a little different.  The guitar are less emphasized, while piano and other more "organic" instruments like violin and a few other stringed instruments are brought forward and present the melody.  Not metal, maybe not even "rock" music.  More like melancholic ambient post-rock with influences from cinematic soundtrack music.

Here is the link to the page at the Internet Archive (CLICK HERE!!!)

Or download a zipfile directly (BY CLICKING RIGHT HERE!!)




1.   False Awakening
2.   Hääg
3.   Lucid Märe
4.   Mora Myth Moroi*
5.   Night Terror
6.   Disorder
7.   Nocnitsä
8.   Parälysis
9.   Nocturnal Fusion
10. Horror
11.  Därker Dreäms

Music composed and performed by Dimaension X.
*Song #4 composed by "anonymous", circa 1829
Recorded and produced by Dave Lanciani at Dimaex Productions.

It's also streaming at YouTube:
CLICK RIGHT HERE, DUDE! 



This album is a bit out of my comfort zone, but I was really inspired after listening heavily to the Nikki Grace Experience (see my post below).

I have NO idea what's next.




6/24/17

An Ambient Jam (2 versions of the same thing)

I decided to try recording a strictly ambient guitar piece, and ended up creating something else entirely.



First I recorded a series of simple one-note volume swells ... funny fact about these notes - I used PI (π) as my tab - i.e., 3.141592653589793 - using the low E string, I played the notes at the 3rd fret (G), 1st fret (F), 4th fret (G#), 1st fret again, 5th fret (A), and so on.

I used a compressor to keep the note nice and sustained, and I used my Morley Mini volume pedal to swell the notes in.  My clean tone was my Tech21 FlyRig5 CALI, only using the Samsamp section for the first half, then I added the CALI drive section for the second half.

Then I added a boatload of effects after recording - some EQ, chorus, phasing, some pitch-shifting, and some delay and a LOT of reverb.  A LOT of reverb, to really sustain the notes for a long time.

This is how I created "Ambient Only".

But after completing the piece, I wanted to completely turn it into something else.  Luckily, I thought ahead a bit when I recorded the "swells", because I recorded them with a "click track" on.  So now I can add some additional instruments, including MIDI instruments since everything will sync to the tempo.

So I added some drums using EZ Drummer, then added the "solo" guitar (following the notes so I could figure out what key each section is in), then added live bass (my trusty old Squier Affinity P-Bass).  Voila - the piece called "An Ambient Jam."


6/18/17

Abjuration of the Black Goddess Suite


Finally completed a project that I started last year around September.

Abjuration of the Black Goddess Suite.


This is a long, conceptual piece of music.  Originally my guitar was tuned to Open C, then eventually morphed into Drop-C.  And I think I did a few parts in Drop-D, but transposed the audio tracks down a whole step.  Bass guitar is either Cakewalk Studio Instruments VSTi Bass, 4Front VSTi Bass, or regular electric guitar transposed down an Octave. 
The Ambient, atmospheric synth sounds are all guitar.  No Synths used.  In fact, this part is just my piece I just posted on YouTube entitled "Dark Drone 1" chopped up into pieces and distributed between the metal bits.

Then I added the spoken word bits after this.  The words are from a section of the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead

An MP3 file is now downloadable ... go HERE to stream or choose your download options, or glick HERE to download a ZIP file directly.

This may be my last "metal" piece for a while.  I'm beginning to find metal a bit "limited" in scope, so I'll be exploring some more alternate genres of rock and instrumental music, maybe some avant-garde improvisation, more of the "gentler" side of ambient guitar (Chords of Orion is a big influence in this area - makes really expansive, beautiful sounding ambient washes of sound, all generated by guitar), and who knows what else I'll try

6/11/17

Dark Ambient Space Drone

Only available on YouTube - NOT!  Now you can download an MP3 of this by clicking HERE! 

Or go to the Internet Archive to stream by clicking HERE instead.

created with only guitars and effects ... no synthesizers at all.




5/28/17

Oakwind Hollow

Dimaension X delves into the world of Prog Rock. After listening to lots of Yes, King Crimson and Steven Wilson, it was time to give in and try something a bit more "proggy". Less emphasis on Berlin-School electronics and more on band interplay and rocking it up a bit. There's still plenty of Moog Synth, but now some Mellotron and B3 organ, too, along with the usual guitars, bass and drums.



 Dimaension X - Oakwind Hollow

01 - Scions of Aurglko
02 - Swords and Secrets in Betua
03 - Oakwind Hollow, pt 1
04 - The Blood Queen
05 - The Exiled King
06 - Oakwind Hollow, pt 2 (What Comes After …)
07 - The Sign of the Gilded Serpent
08 - The Tower of Osaugghi
09 - The Summoning Chamber
10 - Oakwind Hollow, pt3 (The Ruins of Akharon)
11 - The Temple of Icetooth



Music composed and performed by Dimaension X.
Recorded and produced by Dave Lanciani at Dimaex Studios.

Recorded with a bunch of different equipment, guitars, amps, effects, pedals, etc.

Recorded with Reaper, as usual.

Go to the download page for download and streaming options HERE

or download a ZIP File by clicking HERE

I will be working of uploading some files to YouTube for live streaming soon!

ThanX for listening!

5/14/17

New for 2017

I started working on a few new projects that I hope to release soon.  I've been delving into some classic old Prog music lately, including classic Yes and King Crimson, and a bit of "new" prog, like Steven Wilson and Porcupine Tree.  This more "classic" style of progressive music has inspired me, and I have about 8 songs nearly complete, and would like to fill out the album with 2 more songs.

I've also been listening to a really interesting project named The Nikki Grace Experience.  This is a sort of "post-rock" meets melancholy ambient music project led by Marko Hupel since 2009. He has released a number of somewhat popular net releases (mostly on Webbed Hand Records) and some videos on YouTube. Lots of his tracks contain contributions of female singers (mainly Lotte Kestner, which is a stage name for an American singer from Seattle named Anna-Lynn Williams). Since the beginning of 2014 TNGE has added a new permanent member named Frank Lobow.  I've scoured the Internet for more information on this musical project, and the most recent "website" I can only find is a Facebook page, but the latest post is dated September 2015.  I highly recommend this band.



The Webbed Hand Records site is still active, and contains music from a whole bunch of other artists, too, so I recommend checking it out.  But the best place to find downloads of the albums is at the Nikki Grace page at Internet Archive.  They're all free and legal.  And worth it.  If you like simple, minimalist and melancholy music, this is for you.  

TNGE has really inspired me to just sit at the piano and try to come up with simple chord progressions and melodies, and then try to come up with accompaniment from bass, drums, and other instruments.  And eventually some guitar.  This is probably going to be a similar sound to my "Gothambia Redux" album, which was also based on a lot of piano rather than guitar.  I also managed to download a really good piano instrument called "Neo Piano".  It's a very good sample set of a grand piano.  With a little reverb, it sounds very realistic.

This music is a far cry from my usual metal-head tendencies, but I really like delving into different music that ISN'T metal lately.  I need to expand my horizons and challenge myself artistically. Metal isn't the only good music.

Maybe I'm just getting old? Nah.  I still have a few "metal" projects brewing, too.  But first I need to try a few other things.  Hopefully the prog album will be done soon (tentatively titled "Oakwind Hollow".)

4/9/17

Ghost/Echo - new album for 2017

Well that was quick - here it is, the new album from Dimaension X, titled "Ghost/Echo".

You can go to the Discography page and click on the links to download it from the Internet Archive, or you can follow the links right below:

Ghost/Echo (2017) - More sci-fi electronic synth rock madness from Dimaension X.  The titles and general themes are based on an interesting rules-lite RPG named Ghost/Echo by a game designer named John Harper.


Similar to the last two albums, there are synth-sequences, guitar melodies, a few solos, some cool drum beats, and more. 

Similar to the last two albums, there are synth-sequences, guitar melodies, a few solos, some cool drum beats, and more. 



Dimaension X - Ghost / Echo

01 - Looting the Ghost World
02 - Betrayed by Vixen
03 - Hungry Wraiths
04 - Crew Needs Metal
05 - Channeling the Ghost Field
06 - Paranormal Backlash
07 - Ruins of Undercross
08 - Blackcircle
09 - Echoes of Distant Events
10 - The Truth in the Datastream

To go to the download page to stream or download, click HERE.

To download a zip file directly, click HERE.

4/8/17

New album coming soon!

I am finally finishing the mixing of my new Dimaension X album! I'm just giving it a final critical listen, and will start posting it very soon.  It's in the vein of the last two albums (Brain Tree Split and Dark Spaces), very synth and sci-fi oriented, with song titles thematically created from a neat game called Ghost/Echo, which was developed by John Harper of One.Seven Design Studio.  Here's the proposed album cover, based HEAVILY on some of the images directly from the game.



  If you're a fan of bands like Zombi or Goblin, you'll probably like the music.  I wanted to keep it pretty simple, just good fun electronic rock that you can have playing in the background while you're typing away at work, or whatever.  Sounds good on long car trips.  No lyrics or singing to get in the way.  You know, typical Dimaension x music.  Might sound cool in headphones late at night in the dark, too.

I'm only playing a few actual guitar solos on this one.  I'm trying to focus more on a mood or atmosphere, while keeping it rocking and fun.  Maybe the next album will be more "guitar" oriented, but I really like working with the combination of synth and guitar. And trying to create "songs" where the guitar and synths play a melody together.  It's just where I am artistically.  And let's face it, I'm not exactly a "shredding" guitarist, so my idea of a solo is a bit different right now.  It's more about trying to create a "sound" that works with the music, rather than showing off my "skillz." 

I'm also trying out a whole bunch of different guitar tones on this one.  I didn't just stick to just one guitar or amp.  I used most of my guitars for different parts, and combined my various effects toys, like my Yamaha THR-10 amp, and both my Tech21 pedals (the RK5 and Cali Fly Rig).  All recorded though my Focusrite Scarlett 2i2.  And I think I used my Joyo Vintage Overdrive a bit here and there to "goose" the guitar signal a bit.

So I'll post again once it's up and available for download and streaming. 

And more music will be in the works this spring.


2/27/17

Hibernation 2017

Yep - ’tis still the Hibernation Season for Dimaension X.  I get a lot of music recorded and done during the Spring thru Fall, but Winter is a big drop-off due to the fact that my weekends are much busier.  But Spring is coming and my weekends will be freed up a bit, so I will have more free time to get more recording done.

I just bought a new Tech 21 FlyRig5 Cali, so as soon as I get plugged into that, some more ideas should be flying out.  It’s very similar to my FlyRig RK5, but instead of the Ritchie Kotzen OMG pedal as the front end, we have the Cali/US Metal simulation preamp (which is basically a clone of the classic old Mesa-Boogie MkII C+ amplifier).  Lots of music from the 70’s and 80’s was recorded with those amps with great results (everyone from Carlos Santana, Kirk Hammett, John Petrucci, even Pete Townsend and Keith Richards used these amps), so I am looking forward to cranking up with that!

Note that I haven’t done NOTHING all winter season.  I’ve actually spent most of my time getting demos and basic song structures written and recorded, just without any guitar yet.  I probably have enough material for several albums, so it’s really just a matter of getting the time to add final guitar to everything, and mix it all down into cohesive albums.