A place to share your own music and creative projects.
#315283 by frog
Sat Feb 02, 2013 8:13 am
Two songs from my upcoming debut album!
[youtube]NYwKKvcL3Os[/youtube]

And for anyone that prefers soundcloud... https://soundcloud.com/thegabrielconstr ... eat-subway

It's a solo project. I wrote all of it and performed all the vox and keys, but I was joined by these guys:
Travis Orbin (ex-Periphery, Sky Eats Airplane, Of Legends) - drums
Tom Murphy (ex-Periphery) - bass
David Stivelman (ex-Debbie Does Dallas) - guitars
Sophia Uddin - violin
Soren Larson - saxophone

Recorded & Edited by Garrett Davis (Train, Shinedown, The Devil Wears Prada)
Mixed & Mastered by Taylor Larson (Sky Eats Airplane, Life on Repeat, Periphery)
Cover Art by Joseph Borzotta

Official website coming soon!
In the meantime, check out
https://www.facebook.com/TheGabrielConstruct
#315726 by frog
Sun Feb 24, 2013 8:40 pm
Thank you! Travis just posted his playalong video... check it out!

[youtube]lr_I5glnu6w[/youtube]

Travis Orbin wrote:http://thegabrielconstruct.bandcamp.com/ (free / pay-as-you-wish downloads of these tracks)
http://www.youtube.com/thegabrielconstruct
https://www.facebook.com/TheGabrielConstruct
https://twitter.com/glriccio
https://soundcloud.com/thegabrielconstruct

The Gabriel Construct is the eclectic rock solo project of Gabriel Lucas Riccio, a vocalist, composer and multi-instrumentalist from Eden, MD. His debut album, 'Interior City', is a dark and atmospheric concept album featuring myself on drum set, Thomas Murphy (ex-Periphery) on bass, David Stivelman (ex-Debbie Does Dallas) on guitar, Soren Larson on saxophone, and frequent collaborator Sophia Uddin on violin. The album unites players from rock, metal, classical, and jazz backgrounds to create a sound which incorporates influences from a wide variety of genres, including progressive rock, 20th century classical music, extreme metal, drum-n-bass, jazz, '90s grunge and space rock, '80s pop and more. The album's densely layered vocal harmonies, distorted pianos, dissonant chords, and complex rhythms envelop the listener in a hallucinatory wall of sound.

My involvement in this full-length album came about through an old friend from my local music scene, Garrett Davis, who has long since turned to producing/engineering. He told me about this guy who "might need some crazy drums" for his solo project, and within a couple of months I was writing parts for one of my favorite projects ever. I also helped round out the personnel, acting as a bit of a scout for Gabe and suggesting Tom as session bassist and, of course, my bud Taylor Larson for mixing/mastering.

I recorded all of 'Interior City' in early January 2012 at Garrett's digs (West Main Recording) in Salisbury, MD. I used a wide variety of gear, switching out cymbals and snares -- and even my rack tom for another floor tom on occasion -- per tune. I also utilized a second ride cymbal on my right side. For the most part, however, I used my Pearl Reference Pure tom-toms and my Vision kick. Cymbals in "Retreat Underground": 21" DRK ride, 18" & 19" ICON medium crashes, 14" MDM hi-hats, 8" BRT splash, 13" BRT/DRK hi-hats, 19" LTD china (older model). Cymbals in "Subway Dwellers": same as Retreat, but MDM crashes and a 20" MDM ride on the right side. I used my 'ol' faithful', my Reference brass snare for Retreat and swapped it out for my Pearl 4"x14" maple piccolo for Subway. I used Emperor coated heads on the toms, Controlled Sound on my brass snare and a coated Ambassador on the piccolo (stock head). Side note, but this was the first session I ever filmed supplemented with my Canon 60D.

"Retreat Underground" features a bit of melodic complementation during the transitional 5-4 bars and a hypnotic tom-tom part during the middle section. I launch into an exciting latin-esque groove in 3-4 at 1:43. The parts are further intensified with some double bass and loud crashing afterwards. In "Subway Dwellers" -- one of the few tunes on the album that possesses more of a pop sensibility -- I'm playing some syncopated closed hat parts in the first verse (subtle crescendo beginning at 3:11 to provide a 'lift' into the pre-chorus), and a marching-esque part in the second, with light pedal splashing on the quarters. I sought to build the section starting at 6:02 by first playing my closed 13" hats, then a 'barking' hat pattern before launching into a fun, colorful cymbal orchestration at 6:37.

Obviously, a part of being in the music business is developing relationships that are integral to your career. However, in my experience, most of the people with whom I work end up as friends, for contributing to their music is a unique, intimate experience. I'm proud to call Gabe, a fiercely talented individual, my friend and to continue to work with him on future projects - both as a sideman and a full-on collaborator. Dear audience, please heed these words: you'd do yourself a service by purchasing this album upon release, finding some headphones and a quiet room and relishing the journey.

Thanks for your time!

Full drum set transcriptions:
http://s26.beta.photobucket.com/user/shaftninja/media/TheGabrielConstruct-RetreatUnderground_zps6ea0b578.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1
Tempo = 147 BPM
Tempo change (2:28) = 'Linear decrease' to 91 BPM until end
http://s26.beta.photobucket.com/user/shaftninja/media/TheGabrielConstruct-SubwayDwellers_zps7bf0333c.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0
Tempo = 85 BPM
#316086 by frog
Fri Mar 22, 2013 5:32 am
New song, this time with some dynamics!
[youtube]BXPfUelT-yA[/youtube]

The album is coming out on April 5. Digital preorders are up on bandcamp: http://thegabrielconstruct.bandcamp.com

It will also be on CD baby, Itunes, Amazon MP3, Spotify, etc. starting on release day.

Physical copies will follow soon (whenever the layout is done) on CD baby, Amazon, Super D independent stores, etc.

for the theory nerds:
Travis Orbin wrote:Next in the 'Interior City' series is "Ranting Prophet". There's a drum loop that runs throughout most of this tune that I tracked, but - regrettably - did not film (I included it in the first bar of the transcription). In Gabe's original demo, the loop was lifted/sampled from a Genesis tune and I stuck pretty close to it. However, I wanted to retain a hand-to-hand hi-hat feel with tom-toms and other cymbal orchestrations poking through here and there, and what came out of me is what you see. My feet are playing a single stroke ostinato underneath, with the right foot moving back and forth between the right-side pedal hat and the bass drum. The ostinato dictated not only where within the bar but also which set of hats I choked.

In the section starting around 1:54, I employed some softer dynamics. There's a cool over-the-bar polyrhythm at 2:07, then each subsequent ride strike is louder to segue back into the verse. At 2:45, the loop stays in 4-4 while the tune shifts between 7 and 6. The delayed snare backbeat at 3:08 complements the vocal. For the crazy blast-beat-driven bridge, I sought to punctuate it in spots; it usually starts at the tail end of the four-bar progression then bleeds into its repeat. There's a two-bar tag at the end in which I play a 'bomb blast' in the first bar; I came up with the idea while tracking. Thankfully, my feet were cooperative that day haha.
Last edited by frog on Thu Mar 28, 2013 8:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
#318178 by frog
Mon Sep 09, 2013 10:51 am
Thanks guys! Here's all the videos so far:

Travis Orbin - Drum Tracking
Ranting Prophet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXPfUelT-yA
Fear of Humanity: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ1rK5mHEu8
My Alien Father: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3F8NCpEz50
Retreat Underground & Subway Dwellers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr_I5glnu6w
Defense Highway: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KznpdApc9FU
Inner Sanctum: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlTx_zJ9ETU

I also filmed some of my piano sessions and have posted some piano tracking videos:
Arrival in a Distant Land: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=079G3bSmE7E
Ranting Prophet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2foKea6XvY
My Alien Father: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1_EJ6JzKZE
Subway Dwellers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NpCEnxm_lo
Defense Highway: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1B23DsTze_c
Inner Sanctum: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMLQTbdNyAw

And here's a new ambient track: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CerQwm9KVto
A live recording of Arrival in a Distant Land: https://soundcloud.com/thegabrielconstr ... -land-live
And a free download of Ranting Prophet: https://soundcloud.com/thegabrielconstr ... -tolerance
Enjoy!

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 7 guests