The Giantitp Band!

[grimbold]

So, I recently had a really cool idea

I know several groups of musicians that record stuff together and write music all through the internet

i was thinking that maybe it would be a good idea to try this out for ourselves!

My idea is to form a band for Giantitp about all sorts of fancy topics that we talk about. So basically a band that talks about D&D all the time :smalltongue: The people i've mentioned it too think its a really cool idea, and i wanted your opinions!

I know already the RebelRogue and Zeratul would both be willing to help, and of course i want to play too.

If YOU want to join up all you have to do is fill out the following basic little form

Username
Instrument(s) Played
Musical Interests
Type of Recording equipment
Level of interest in project (1-10)

I'll start

Username:Grimbold

Instrument(s) Played: Guitar, Bass, Death growl A Little bit of Sax, A little bit of piano, a little bit of recorder

Musical Interests Metal, Blues, classical, Jazz, Rock, Fusion

Type of Recording equipment: Presonus Audiobox

Level of interest in project (1-10): 10! :smallbiggrin:

so what do you guys think?

who wants to try?

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

AThousandWords, Moff Chumley and I had something a while ago. It's hard. Very hard.

[grimbold]

AThousandWords, Moff Chumley and I had something a while ago. It's hard. Very hard.

why not try again?

[Howler Dagger]

For music you could play, I recommend the OOTS soundtrack project music in the OOTS forum (not like I'm biased:smallwink:) I could fill out a complete form later, after some sleep.

[Moff Chumley]

Username: Choff Mumley
Instrument: Bass. Also, I'm pretty good at mixing/mastering, should it come to that.
Recording Equipment: decent project studio. 16 interface, couple thousand bucks in mics, and Propellerhead Reason, which is fabulous. This is my school's, not mine, but I have plenty of access to it.
Musical Interest: I know how to play some genres better than others, but I'm cool with trying anything.
Interest: Minimal. My band's currently doing this since one of our members is on the other side of the country, and it's incredibly difficult. But, if some other folks with good recording gear/songwriting chops get on board, I'm happy to add some bass/do some mixing if I have the studio time.

[Raistlin1040]

Username: Moff Chumley
Instrument: Guitar
Recording Equipment: Fender Telecaster and some fairly cheap recording software.
Musical Interest: You probably haven't heard of it.
Interest: Ish

[Moff Chumley]

Recording Equipment: Fender Telecaster

Telecaster? As if. I play a jazzmaster because I'm a nonconformist, just like all my indie rock heroes who also play jazzmasters.

...But seriously, jazzmasters are beautiful guitars. One of the guitarists in my band has a good-condition 60s model, it's one of the nicest instruments I've ever played. :smallbiggrin:

[Raistlin1040]

Stop trying to steal my thunder, Choff Mumley. I play a nice 70s model Telecaster and I like it.

[grimbold]

so from what i understand right now we're basically going to be some sort of nerdy death metal act?

I can ask Seffbasilisk if he wants to do the drums because i know he plays

[the humanity]

Username: the humanity
Instrument(s) Played: bass. bass. more bass. with fuzz. Warwick Fortress Masterman into a Wounded Paw Attack Goat is a beautiful thing.
Musical Interests: Rock. classic rock. some funk. indie. some metal. prog. blues. latin. jazz.
Type of Recording equipment: Warwick Fortress and wounded paw attack goat. I can borrow equipment to get goound sound onto my laptop, which uses garage band.
Level of interest in project 3. unless the sound grabs me or my very... well... upfront aggressive playing is required, I doubt participation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ewd88bQ0jQE&feature=plcp&context=C33de74cUDOEgsToPDskLstx6y22UTskTjN7xHRIwB
this is a song I recorded with a friend a while back, it'd be his recording gear I borrowed to get a good sound.

The band should be called Enter the Giant.

[grimbold]

i like your thinking the humanity XD nice band name

so now that we have some interested people should we start trying to write some stuff? I can come up with a few guitar lines and we could build off that... does anyone want to do lyrics?

[Makensha]

Username: Makensha
Instrument(s) Played: Vocals
Musical Interests: Rock, Electronic, Metal, and most things really.
Type of Recording equipment: CAD u37 mic.
Level of interest in project (1-10): 4

I can write lyrics, but I'd like to know what I should be writing about.

[Nameless]

Ah, if I had the time I would so be up for this. :smallfrown:

I'll put my stuff down anyway for if I do ever get some free time


Username

Nameless

Instrument(s) Played

Electric guitar, acoustic guitar, penny whistle, keyboard/synth

Musical Interests

Metal (Most of the variations and sub-genres, too lazy to list every single one :smalltongue:), Industrial (Again, most of the variations and sub-genres), Synth Pop, Future Pop, Trance, Dark Wave, Goth Rock, Classic Rock, Prog, Post-Rock (Shoegaze and stuff), Classical, Folk

Type of Recording equipment

Blue - Snowball Mic
Audacity

Level of interest in project (1-10)

Dunno, I suppose about 7.5 if I get the chance and stuff.

[The Extinguisher]

This seems like a fun idea if it ever gets off the ground. I'd throw my name into here, but I'm a terrible musician, and I cover that up by being loud and angry, so I think it's not quite what you're looking for.

[Kindablue]

I'd throw my name into here, but I'm a terrible musician, and I cover that up by being loud and angry, so I think it's not quite what you're looking for.


so from what i understand right now we're basically going to be some sort of nerdy death metal act?

No comment.

[grimbold]

I've got some little riffs and guitar lines that I had come up with that I can show. As to lyrics, I can write lyrics, but not if it's about D&D :v

could you go ahead and post those comrade?

i will upload some ideas later today

as for lyrics, let's just start out with whatever, keep it to a fantasy type theme if possible, personally i can only write fantasy lyrics, but they won't really be about D&D

[Makensha]

I have a rough draft for lyrics of a song.
Awaken the Giant!
He sleeps too long.
There is a shadow.
It threatens to consume.

Awaken the Giant!
His time has come again.
Three centuries gone.
Judgement is at hand.

A shadow from the North,
An army from the East.
The Prophet dreams of sorrow.
The villages begin to burn.

Hold out a little longer,
For the Giant awakens!

//Change Voice
Who are these mortals
That they take my land?
Murder my subjects
And eat my livestock?

Surely these people know
A land of mine,
A land secure,
A land to fear.
The eastern men will die.

And what of the abomination?
Will it flee before me
Or will I have the pleasure
Of knowing its demise?

I am the Giant.
All who stand will kneel or perish.

Is is worth refining?

[grimbold]

I have a rough draft for lyrics of a song.
Awaken the Giant!
He sleeps too long.
There is a shadow.
It threatens to consume.

Awaken the Giant!
His time has come again.
Three centuries gone.
Judgement is at hand.

A shadow from the North,
An army from the East.
The Prophet dreams of sorrow.
The villages begin to burn.

Hold out a little longer,
For the Giant awakens!

//Change Voice
Who are these mortals
That they take my land?
Murder my subjects
And eat my livestock?

Surely these people know
A land of mine,
A land secure,
A land to fear.
The eastern men will die.

And what of the abomination?
Will it flee before me
Or will I have the pleasure
Of knowing its demise?

I am the Giant.
All who stand will kneel or perish.

Is is worth refining?
DUDE
frickin sick! amazing!

i am trying to think of how to set up the voice change thing as the only singers so far are growlers, i think that the voice change bit should maybe just spoken as a monologue thing maybe in a lighter death growl? my growling would probably be better suited for that... comrade can take the more sung parts if that's cool with him

[grimbold]

Presenting: Comrade's completely watered-down, ****ty-ass stuff (http://vocaroo.com/i/s0zBSsHAp7sT).

Alright, I absolutely have to apologise for the way it sounds completely ****ty. As I said my recording equipment is **** and it makes my playing sound like ****. I had to leave out tremolo picking because when I tried to record it it sounded like just a bunch of noise. So for reference: those first two riffs are supposed to be tremolo picking throughout for the most part. I also had to slow down for the part right before the breakdown-ish section because, again, it came out as just a bunch of noise, and the mic would not pick up the pinch harmonics (in point of fact, it still didn't). And to top it off I couldn't play with real distortion like I usually do because of the damn mic.

So yeah. My playing's not as god-awful as that recording makes it sound. It was supposed to be just a collection of some riffs and stuff I came up with but the recording screwed me over big-time. :smallannoyed:
well i started to get a feel for your riffs,
could you send me the tab? and then i could try and do it on my interface

but i like the ideas you have going

[Dark Elf Bard]

Username: Dark Elf Bard

Instrument(s) Played: Drums

Musical Interests: Metal, Blues, Jazz, Rock

Type of Recording equipment: Only Garageband:frown:

Level of interest in project (1-10): 8.5

Maybe we could make an Belkster metal song

[grimbold]

Username: Dark Elf Bard

Instrument(s) Played: Drums

Musical Interests: Metal, Blues, Jazz, Rock

Type of Recording equipment: Only Garageband:frown:

Level of interest in project (1-10): 8.5

Maybe we could make an Belkster metal song

very cool!

[Qaera]

AThousandWords, Moff Chumley and I had something a while ago. It's hard. Very hard.

It was strictly physical, babe. :smallwink:

We need to produce HC/T at least.

I play the piano~ I'm good at Pachelbel's Canon and the Entertainer and a couple more. I'm also very good at words, especially if there are a thousand. (I can write)

~ ♅

[Makensha]

Maybe we could make an Belkster metal song
Trying to work on one. Thinking of having three acts.

Act 1: Belkar, the Sexy Shoeless God of War
Act 2: Belkar, the Dark Comedian
Act 3: Belkar, the Unwanted and Unloved (Inspired by this (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0128.html), among other things like the cat).

[grimbold]

Trying to work on one. Thinking of having three acts.

Act 1: Belkar, the Sexy Shoeless God of War
Act 2: Belkar, the Dark Comedian
Act 3: Belkar, the Unwanted and Unloved (Inspired by this (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0128.html), among other things like the cat).

this will be awesome!

i have some riffs, expect them wednesday...

[grimbold]

well, here (http://soundcloud.com/matt-bacon/enter-the-giant-song-ideas) are my ideas!

the first bit is for the first two verses
the second for the next two

after that is a bit for the last part before the voice change,

after that theres the giants first bit

then there's the two verses of giant vocals before the "I am the Giant" bit

shredding throughout!

[Makensha]

@Grimbold very nice. What is the BPM?

I have scrapped my idea for a Belkar epic, as it was not turning out well. Might try writing a simpler song.

I have written a prequel of sorts to "Enter the Giant". My full idea is to put together a string of lyrics that flesh out the events mentioned in "Enter the Giant". This one, titled "Prophet of Alien Dreams" is about the prophet's dreams prior to the Giant's awakening.


Prophet of Alien Dreams

//prophet
I see only madness.
A wave of eyes staring
Into a pit of shadows.
From below it has come
to shroud us in its
forbidden magnificence.

What kills a shadow?
No light can penetrate
and no flesh can touch.
For that which greets
the oncoming darkness
is overtaken with its corruption.

//people
Prophet of alien dreams
What stops this doom?

//prophet
The future is coming.
Nothing stops destiny
but why then do I prophesy
what can not be stopped?
It is my greatest curse
and most excellent blessing.

My dreams tell of sorrow.
This shadow will consume all.
Enslavement is our ending.
The Giant will only delay it.

From the West comes an angel.
She carries a blessed spear.
She is our hope for freedom.

I use the term "angel" as in "I'm a guy having prophetic drug trips, what do you expect, a detailed explanation of her facial structure?"

Tell me what you think. My one concern is that it undermines the awesomeness of the Giant figure, but I also see this as a necessary step to strengthen the story.

[Makensha]

I figured I should just write out the whole Giant story to see whether it is worth pursuing as a whole.

The prophet has a dream of a coming Shadow that will enslave the entire state. Meanwhile, escaped slaves and prisoners from an eastern kingdom are attempting to take a piece of this state's land so that they will not die in the desert. The Giant is awoken (a champion or god figure) to save the country from these threats. The Giant decides to take care of the Shadow first, but is unable to stop it. He manages to delay its conquest with fire, but he has to escape to the south and request help from the Magi. The shadow "corrupts" (mental enslavement) the entire state, including the eastern slaves. The Giant, Magi, and the Angel from the west all join up to fight the threat. The angel's spear free the people of the corruption and finally the Shadow's physical form shows up to fight. The Giant and Angel fight the Shadow, and the Giant dies. The Angel manages to stab her blessed spear through the Shadow's heart, killing it. The Angel and Magi leave. The state itself is now locked in a hopeless war against the eastern slaves while the actual eastern kingdom sends an army to take the desolated state.

What does everyone think?

[Makensha]

Well, only Grimbold has really commented on fantasy being a theme, but I do not really see many alternatives. As a GitP band, the only themes that make sense are OotS, fantasy, role playing, or a connected theme. I chose fantasy because that is something I am comfortable writing about.

We have not really went into detail about the band's theme, music style, or even had much discussion on naming it besides someone mentioning "Enter the Giant." Since most projects like this tend to fail before getting off the ground, my main goal thus far is to get something done. Even if it is not perfect, it keeps the band going.

And I am not a fan of Death Metal. At all. But if that is what we end up with, at least we have something.

Additional Note: My lyrics thus far have been cheap and fluid. It is not going to upset me if they are scrapped.

[grimbold]

I figured I should just write out the whole Giant story to see whether it is worth pursuing as a whole.

The prophet has a dream of a coming Shadow that will enslave the entire state. Meanwhile, escaped slaves and prisoners from an eastern kingdom are attempting to take a piece of this state's land so that they will not die in the desert. The Giant is awoken (a champion or god figure) to save the country from these threats. The Giant decides to take care of the Shadow first, but is unable to stop it. He manages to delay its conquest with fire, but he has to escape to the south and request help from the Magi. The shadow "corrupts" (mental enslavement) the entire state, including the eastern slaves. The Giant, Magi, and the Angel from the west all join up to fight the threat. The angel's spear free the people of the corruption and finally the Shadow's physical form shows up to fight. The Giant and Angel fight the Shadow, and the Giant dies. The Angel manages to stab her blessed spear through the Shadow's heart, killing it. The Angel and Magi leave. The state itself is now locked in a hopeless war against the eastern slaves while the actual eastern kingdom sends an army to take the desolated state.

What does everyone think?
seems pretty tasty so far,

would it pay to have interconnected guitar themes?

[Makensha]

Alright, rough drafts of the Giant and Shadow story is finished.

1: Prophet of Alien Dreams

//prophet
I see only madness.
A wave of eyes staring
Into a pit of shadows.
From below it has come
to shroud us in its
forbidden magnificence.

What kills a shadow?
No light can penetrate
and no flesh can touch.
For that which greets
the oncoming darkness
is overtaken with its corruption.

//people
Prophet of alien dreams
What stops this doom?

//prophet
The future is coming.
Nothing stops destiny
but why then do I prophesy
what can not be stopped?
It is my greatest curse
and most excellent blessing.

My dreams tell of sorrow.
This shadow will consume all.
Enslavement is our ending.
The Giant will only delay it.

From the West comes an angel.
She carries a blessed spear.
She is our hope for freedom.
2: Soldiers of the East

Fleeing from one fate,
We travel to another.
Fleeing from one enemy,
We war against another.

Soldiers of the East;
they call us this.
If it were only true.
We are simple men.

Revolution is never
As smooth as they claim.
The soothsayers speak
And venom drools out.

Escaped from our cells,
Literal or otherwise,
We fight for freedom
Even at the pain of others.

This desert is no place to live.
We know not how to survive.
These westerners will make room.
We can not give them a choice.

Soldiers of the East;
they call us this.
If it were only true.
We are barbarians.

Do not stand in our way.
3: Enter the Giant

Awaken the Giant!
He sleeps too long.
There is a shadow.
It threatens to consume.

Awaken the Giant!
His time has come again.
Three centuries gone.
Judgement is at hand.

A shadow from the North,
An army from the East.
The Prophet dreams of sorrow.
The villages begin to burn.

Hold out a little longer,
For the Giant awakens!

Who are these mortals
That they take my land?
Murder my subjects
And eat my livestock?

Surely these people know
A land of mine,
A land secure,
A land to fear.
The eastern men will die.

And what of the abomination?
Will it flee before me
Or will I have the pleasure
Of knowing its demise?

I am the Giant.
All who stand will kneel or perish.
4: Futility of War

The Shadow is slow and unceasing.
I dare not touch it without knowledge
Of what will happen to me.

I already know what will happen.
My people corrupt in its presence.
What stops a shadow?

Fire! Fire is salvation.
The shadow can not touch fire.
It flees in the presence.

But the corrupted ones do not.
They work themselves till death
To put out their master's enemy.

It does not even pay attention to me.
The Shadow creeps inevitably.
I am not the enemy.

Once the trees are burned
There is no fire to push it back.
Once the oil is gone
There is nothing to stop this shade.

I have failed my people.
There is no forgiveness to free me.
I must leave.

Perhaps there is still hope.
The Magi may yet have a solution.
Do not lose hope my people.
I will come back with a vengeance none have seen.
5: Corrupted

I watch my brother die,
But work continues.
The birds of the air
and the beasts of the land
will consume of his corpse,
But work continues.

My finger came off,
But work continues.
It bleeds upon the ground
As infection sets in.
No one bandages it,
But work continues.

This body is not my own.
My life passes before my mind.
To scream would be a blessing.
To run a miracle.

The Giant is gone.
The trees are gone.
The sun is gone.
The warmth of fire is gone.

Work continues.
6: Angel

Angel, oh beautiful Angel;
How you shine in the dark.
A beacon to all who are lost.

Where from, oh beautiful Angel;
Do you gain your power?
There are none more violent.

Frightened, oh beautiful Angel;
You wrath is of nightmares.
I kneel to your deadly salvation.

The Giant, oh beautiful Angel;
He has abandoned us to Shadow.
We need a champion to relieve us.

Freedom, oh terrible Angel;
It is all we want.
Even the Soldiers of the East.

Power, oh terrible Angel;
You have what we do not.
Power to end this darkness.
7: End of Time

//Giant
The time is gone
So the time is now
Seventeen months in
We've split the calf

Free my people
And I'll give you gold,
Kill the Shadow
And my alliegance is yours.

Angel of the West
Do you come as they say?
Welcome to fight
But stand your ground.

Your spear repels
That evil corruption.
The Magi will empower it
To bring greater salvation.

Nothing will stop us
For we have light
Greater than darkness;
Come Shadow, come and fight.

//Shadow
Fools!
This is merely my pestilence.
Witness your true master.
I am Shadow!
All shall kneel!

//Angel
At last.

//Shadow
You!
Why do you hunt me?
I have left your land in peace.
Begone or I shall end you.

//Angel
You will try.

//Prophet
Oh great Giant, you end is at hand!
Turn back and let the Angel finish this!

//Giant
I can not.
These are my people.
This is my land.
I will not turn away.

//Prophet
Then your fate is sealed.

//Shadow
Enough!
I have waited for this;
I shall wait no longer.
Giant, you are nothing.
Meet your end!

//Giant
*Cry of pain*

//Shadow
This is you last chance, Angel; leave!

//Angel
I will give you no such option.
Even a being such as you has a heart.
You fear this. Let me show you why.

//Shadow
*Gasp*
It is finished.

//Prophet
And so the Shadow and Giant fell.
The corruption dissipated.
The Magi and Angel returned to their homes.
The war with the easterners continued,
But the real threat of the Eastern Kingdom had yet to come.

2: Since the Shadow was pure evil, I wanted to make the eastern men more tragic than evil.
3/4: 3 is the Giant speaking of how awesome he is, only to realize how insignificant he really is in comparison to Shadow. He is disgraced and ashamed.
7: To split a calf (and then walk through it, which is implied) was a way of making a sacred agreement in Ancient Near East culture (Which is the quasi-setting of this story). The agreement is to that if I back down from this promise, may I also be split in half.
7: End of Time refers to the idea that the Giant has lost everything and now can lose no more. With nothing to be lost, he is willing to go all in order to regain something, even if it requires his life to gain it (in this case he regains the freedom of his people and self respect).

My next step is give each song a proper rhythm.

Important question. Rhyming: Yay or Nay?

[grimbold]

lyrics are looking not bad at all!

obviously some bits need tightening up, i like rhyming if its controlled, it shouldn't come out nursery style, but it should be coherent

[Makensha]

Helloooooo

I revised Prophet of Alien Dreams



//prophet
I see only madness.
A wave of eyes staring
To a pit of shadows.
Below it will come from
then shrouding us in a
dark black magnificence.

So what kills a shadow?
No light penetrating.
Mortals can not touch it.
For the life that greets this
this oncoming darkness
Corrupt by possesion.

//people
Prophet of alien dreams
What stops this horrid being?

//prophet
Destiny is coming.
Nothing stops the future.
Why then do I dream of
what nothing can revert?
It is my greatest curse
and majestic blessing.

Dreams please tell me no more sorrow.
This shade will consume us all.
Enslavement is our true ending.
The Giant will be no savior.

Across western borders
Comes the divine Angel.
Carrying a blessed spear.
Freedom is what she brings.

The one line I'm not happy with is "Carrying a blessed spear." 6.3

Is there still interest in this? If there is, which song should we really focus on?

If we are absolutely desperate for filler instruments, I can do some MIDI work (check my youtube channel), but I'd prefer not to resort to that several reasons.

I'm also missing my mic for about a month, so if we do want to use me as a (clean) vocalist, it would be a bit before I could record.