The Devin Townsend Supermegathread!

[wankerness]

I've been listening to Ocean Machine a bunch recently. It's weird how much more mature this sounds than practically everything that came since. Funeral, and especially Night and Bastard, are some of my favorite songs ever.

 

[TedEH]

Dev posted some snippets of his current writing session:

That first one... all of the excitement.

 

[musicaldeath]

It is sounding like a more evolved (I am think flushed out, mature I guess, evolved might not be the word I am looking for...) version of Synchestra. I am excited. I am interested in seeing what comes out when he is not bound by the laws of DTP (although there really shouldn't be any there...)

 

[ppinkham]

This video isn't supposed to be officially released until 5/25, but ssshhhhhh....

 

[TedEH]

It is just me or is the drum mix suuuuper wide? Almost distractingly wide with headphones on. But the snare doesn't sound as obnoxiously sample-y as it could have been, so I'll call it an overall win.

Spotted the pianist air drumming while he didn't have a part to play - this made me happy.

 

[ppinkham]

It is just me or is the drum mix suuuuper wide? Almost distractingly wide with headphones on. But the snare doesn't sound as obnoxiously sample-y as it could have been, so I'll call it an overall win.

Spotted the pianist air drumming while he didn't have a part to play - this made me happy.

The show was mixed for 5.1 surround, and it was Devin's first time doing so. I haven't had a chance to listen to it in full surround yet, but I'm dying to hear it!

 

[auxioluck]

The show was mixed for 5.1 surround, and it was Devin's first time doing so. I haven't had a chance to listen to it in full surround yet, but I'm dying to hear it!

I just popped a listen on my surround headphones, and damn does it sound good.

 

[wankerness]

Surround sound on live albums is sort of a weird thing. Do you mix it as if it's a surround sound album, making it sound nothing like it would if you were there? Do you make reverb happen everywhere and make it sound kind of terrible in a misguided attempt to duplicate the live experience? I dunno if I've even heard a surround sound live album that had anything other than minor crowd noise in the back channels.

I'm imagining some kind of live in studio stuff where the focal point kind of has the band radiated around it, and the drum set is also spanned around the channels as if you were the drummer. that would obviously fit into the former category.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Weird mix aside, that guitar tone is on point.

 

[chopeth]

On the process of creation of Ziltoid:

Oops! Almost let this one slip by completely! Earlier this month marked the anniversary of this little gem. How could we forget?!

May 21st, 2007: ZILTOID!!!

"I had kids at this point, and the life changes, (as those who have kids as well know), cannot be accurately described. It has been the best thing and worst thing and hardest thing I’ve had to do. But it’s such a part of the human condition that it’s not even a big deal, you know? I remember though when they were first born, I actively decided to quit doing drugs and drinking, and in doing so, found that I was able to stand back from myself a bit, and analyze the whole SYL trip and my persona I felt I had been working with onstage. For some reason, the idea of finally making a puppet (which has been a dream of mine since watching ‘The Dark Crystal’ as a kid) became a kind of compulsion. I went out and bought a bunch of clay and just plopped down at the living room table (between feedings and naps and diapers etc), and started making a Ziltoid. At first, it was just a kind of silly hobby… (Gave me something to do while not getting laid and pining for a drink)… but as soon as I put the eyes on him, I heard in my head the song ‘ZTO’ – like his theme song, and that was it, it just snowballed. I received a bunch of stuff from Toontrack (EZdrummer) as well as having put together a total rudimentary studio. (As a side note, ‘The New Black’ cost a bloody fortune to make. Lots of unnecessary expenses and also the Ozzfest was 80k to do, and at the time, one of my side problems with SYL is that we spent money like we were in Led Zeppelin). I wanted to use the idea of Ziltoid as a way to prove not only to myself, but to others that I could make a record on my own for a few hundred dollars. So idly, (again, between the new responsibilities that fatherhood had brought), I began to write. This record was the beginning of the way I write now, with Protools as a sketchbook that eventually ends up being a final product. I worked late at night after the family was asleep and struggled to keep sober for the first time while writing. The result was an album that though full of metaphor, was an intensely emotional record for me. Ziltoid became the personification of the side of me that was allowed to ‘play rockstar’ in Strapping Young Lad, and although I was becoming uncomfortable saying and doing certain things in my music, to have a puppet do it instead was very liberating. The idea that ‘we are all puppets to other peoples desires’ seemed like the best way for me to say certain things indirectly about my fears and hang-ups with SYL. Ziltoid was a huge breakthrough for me artistically, and my future I think is FULL OF ZILTOID, however, the realizations that came with making this record opened up a can of worms that I knew, even at the time, had to be purged and clarified before I would be able to fully explore the ‘Ziltoidian’ world and potential. It was quite literally the last day of recording Ziltoid that I knew I needed to do the Devin Townsend Project."

 

[Spicypickles]

I think those are the same anecdotes he had in his book regarding each album.

 

[Mprinsje]

It is just me or is the drum mix suuuuper wide? Almost distractingly wide with headphones on. But the snare doesn't sound as obnoxiously sample-y as it could have been, so I'll call it an overall win.

Spotted the pianist air drumming while he didn't have a part to play - this made me happy.

I'd just call the drums too loud overall, or the guitars too soft. can barely hear what's being played.

 

[drmosh]

I'd just call the drums too loud overall, or the guitars too soft. can barely hear what's being played.

same thing he does every time, unfortunately

 

[Mprinsje]

same thing he does every time, unfortunately

usually my gripe with his production is not being able to hear the guitars due to the walls of synths/orchestra so it's sorta different i guess...

 

[drmosh]

usually my gripe with his production is not being able to hear the guitars due to the walls of synths/orchestra so it's sorta different i guess...

well, that's what I mean. He puts the guitars too low in the mix, and the synths way high. Something Nolly fought against with their last release and many people much preferred the result, just not Devin it seems

 

[BlackMastodon]

well, that's what I mean. He puts the guitars too low in the mix, and the synths way high. Something Nolly fought against with their last release and many people much preferred the result, just not Devin it seems

Funny to hear that because I think when he mixed Intronaut's last one a few years ago it was their best sounding album. But they also don't use synths so maybe Dev was at a loss with that and they also had another producer.

 

[Zalbu]

Dev produced one of my favorite sounding albums, Becoming the Archetype - Dichtomony, and the guitars are clear and aren't being overpowered by the strings. Seems like it's mostly a problem with Devs own music, not when he produces for other people.

 

[Lianoroto]

Nolly mentioned somewhere that the reason Devin wants certain elements the way they are, is because of "feel" and artistic vision. Basically Devin got a soundscape in his mind, and needs all the important elements to coexist in a specific way. I guess the problem then becomes that everything is a "wall of sound" and a bit overwhelming.

 

[TedEH]

I think a lot of people just want to hear guitars. IMO I've never listened to a Dev album and thought "the guitar is not up front enough here". I want to hear the whole band, the whole song, the whole intention of the piece, not just guitar with some other stuff supporting it.

 

[AngstRiddenDreams]

I think a lot of people just want to hear guitars. IMO I've never listened to a Dev album and thought "the guitar is not up front enough here". I want to hear the whole band, the whole song, the whole intention of the piece, not just guitar with some other stuff supporting it.

This is a guitar nerd forum after all