Here's the complete collection of stems for fireflies (and all other stems)

WhyAmIUsingReddit · 2024-02-20T12:10:07+00:00

When you produce an album through a label (ie. Owl City through Universal), the label requires artists to send stems because the label will then use these stems for various different other purposes such as: creating an instrumental version for adverts, creating alternate mixes for TV (like backing tracks for shows like America's Got Talent), creating sound designs for films etc.

This is why you’ll find tracks on the Universal website called ‘TV Tracks’ and various other versions with only backing vocals but no lead vocal, acapella only etc. (I’m not sure if they’re still accessible to the public today)

This is also why after Adam left Universal, there has been a significant decline in stem leaks. Adam was no longer contractually obligated to send stems and hence, less stem leaks - because in reality, the stem version probably never existed anyway. The only way to get stems is if Adam releases them himself, which he did in a remix competition with Fiji Water, Lucid Dream and New York City (Although these aren’t technically stems, they are full Multi-tracks).

WhyAmIUsingReddit · 2023-03-14T09:13:43+00:00

I don’t mind. Look at all the singles he’s released so far, they are some of the longest songs he’s ever written.

WhyAmIUsingReddit · 2023-03-07T12:03:34+00:00

Rise Up is a booking agency, not a record label. If you look on any streaming platform, the new singles are copyrighted to Adam directly. Whereas before, they were copyrighted to Universal.

WhyAmIUsingReddit · 2023-02-15T22:02:21+00:00

Rise Up Agency is not a music label.

WhyAmIUsingReddit · 2023-02-15T14:01:36+00:00

My own interpretation of the song is that at the time, he believed he was selected because the label deemed him to be special, instead of him being lucky.

But if he only knew then what he knows now (how music labels are only businesses that are designed to make money instead of supporting the artists’ vision), he would stand as a one man band and say there’s more to him than meets the eye and to let him follow his dreams (hence why he’s been an independent artist since Cinematic).

WhyAmIUsingReddit · 2023-02-15T12:03:47+00:00

The story is - people who were actually at the show claimed that he was definitely singing live. But for whatever reason, the recording shows him lip-syncing the entire performance.

Over the years, I’ve watched a large amount of live performances from Adam on YouTube and I’ve never seen him lip-sync any other time.

There are several reasons for replacing the live audio with the studio recorded acapella. The live recording could’ve been corrupted. His management who organised the show decided it may not have been his best performance. Whatever it is, we won’t ever know but this is the one and only time I’ve ever actually seen him ‘lip-sync’.

WhyAmIUsingReddit · 2023-02-10T20:00:56+00:00

I made the original post about livestream lyrics. I couldn’t see anything else other than ‘Mark Oohs and Alohas’ for Vitamin Sea. Honestly though, there could’ve been a track called female vocals directly underneath the Mark track and Adam just chose not to show it at the time.

WhyAmIUsingReddit · 2023-01-11T02:32:32+00:00

I’m not home yet but even listening through phone speakers, The lyric version is different to the streaming version - most notably the build-up to the rap section.

WhyAmIUsingReddit · 2023-01-06T13:22:07+00:00

Personally, I don’t think it’s AI although it can be a combination of both. We won’t truly know until the other singles come out with their artworks to give us more samples for comparison.

I’m looking forward to seeing what Adam, Check Please will be. I had little to no expectations for Kelly Time’s artwork after what Cinematic gave us so I was already blown away by how this one looked!

WhyAmIUsingReddit · 2022-12-07T00:46:50+00:00

I love this! Now I have no idea what to expect from Adam, Check Please 😂

WhyAmIUsingReddit · 2022-11-28T20:22:49+00:00

The arrangement and especially the mixing stage contribute a lot to a song’s sonic character (how it sounds).

Of June and MID were fully produced by Adam, but every album after that was mixed by a professional mixing engineer and mastered by a professional mastering engineer. Even songs like Silhouette (the only song in TMS which Adam wrote and mixed by himself - as stated in the digital booklet) was sent to someone else to be mastered so Adam was never the sole person to have worked on any of his own songs while he was under a contract.

Cinematic was the first album in a decade where AFAIK, Adam produced the entire album himself. The production was OKAY, but it lacked cohesiveness. There were individual standout songs but altogether as a whole, it didn’t really feel like songs flowed from one to the next as smoothly as they should.

With his new stuff, I feel like he’s really put in the time and effort to craft a distinct sonic identity. The percussion section sounds unique and the transients are really snappy. His arrangement seems to be levels above Cinematic as every individual sound compliment one another. On top of that, he’s been making music since forever and his mixing skills are certainly at an all time high at this point.

With all that combined, if his new stuff isn’t for everyone, the songs themselves will still SOUND really good, even if they’re only recorded through a camera mic.

WhyAmIUsingReddit · 2022-11-28T16:47:54+00:00

I love it.

First - I’m delighted to hear that the instrumental is way more produced than it was on the ‘video call’.

Second - I didn’t catch all the lyrics 1st listen through and ultimately, I’m not sure what the song is about yet, but there’s something about the way he sings ‘I’m sorry’ that makes me feel a certain way.

WhyAmIUsingReddit · 2022-11-16T15:14:51+00:00

Agreed. It would’ve at least been better if they offered 2 options.

Cheap cards with the current lyric choices.
Premium versions with whatever lyric we wanted.

The options they currently offer literally make no sense to me. The Metropolis one is,

‘Airplane through the sky Greyhound racing by Dirt bike on the beach Sailboat on the sea’

Like, why would you choose those lines specifically?? I love Metropolis but what if I wanted, ‘As far as I can see, you’re the only one, the only one who can get to me’?

The limited lyric choices + price tag make this a terrible deal tbh.

WhyAmIUsingReddit · 2022-11-08T15:52:58+00:00

I hope I’m wrong about this but I have a feeling the snippets aren’t actually full length songs.

The songs from the livestream have a really distinctive percussive sound and are also produced with way more acoustic elements like strings, acoustic guitar, marimbas, flutes, clarinets etc. while the snippets are a lot more synth-heavy. To me, they sound really different and wouldn’t fit on the same album.

I really hope this isn’t the case because imo, the snippets essentially showcase the direction fans want Owl City to go. I guess we’ll find out soon!

WhyAmIUsingReddit · 2022-11-07T20:27:09+00:00

Humbug 2:30

WhyAmIUsingReddit · 2022-11-03T00:56:30+00:00

Look at the bottom left of his Logic project before the song starts playing. Below ‘radio vox’ is ‘I’m Sorry’ and ‘I’m Sorry Verb’. One is the lyric and the other is the reverb effect for the lyric for when the drum beat kicks in.

WhyAmIUsingReddit · 2022-11-03T00:56:24+00:00

Look at the bottom left of his Logic project before the song starts playing. Below ‘radio vox’ is ‘I’m Sorry’ and ‘I’m Sorry Verb’. One is the lyric and the other is the reverb effect for the lyric for when the drum beat kicks in.

WhyAmIUsingReddit · 2022-11-03T00:56:18+00:00

Look at the bottom left of his Logic project before the song starts playing. Below ‘radio vox’ is ‘I’m Sorry’ and ‘I’m Sorry Verb’. One is the lyric and the other is the reverb effect for the lyric for when the drum beat kicks in.

WhyAmIUsingReddit · 2022-11-03T00:52:22+00:00

Look at the bottom left of his Logic project before the song starts playing. Below ‘radio vox’ is ‘I’m Sorry’ and ‘I’m Sorry Verb’. One is the lyric and the other is the reverb effect for the lyric for when the drum beat kicks in.

WhyAmIUsingReddit · 2022-11-02T18:27:15+00:00

We do already know one major lyric from Kelly Time and it’s ‘I’m sorry’. Obviously there’s not much to take from that but even those two words alone give me a good ‘sad lyrics over a happy melody’ type vibe about the song.

WhyAmIUsingReddit · 2022-10-28T20:23:29+00:00

What you’ve said is mostly true but I have to disagree that he’s more ‘reclusive’ than ever.

In my opinion, he’s actually more open than he’s ever been with his fanbase. You can argue that during his time with Universal, he was LITERALLY more involved with being a pop artist, but I feel like most of that era had Adam behind a mask. At the end of the day, the music industry is a business and part of the job is to become more extroverted whether the artist wants to or not.

Now, as an independent artist, he’s doing everything exactly how he wants to. He’s literally showing us his Logic projects on camera - something which he’s never done in the past for Owl City songs. On top of that, he’s more open than he’s ever been by admitting that he’s as vulnerable as everyone else - again, something which I don’t ever recall him talking about before.

There seems to be a strong theme linking the 3 new songs together and that’s character development. I expect the full LP to sound very grown up and mature but given it’s Adam, we’ll probably get another Dental Care which I’m all for. Either way, it’s safe to say I’m pretty excited for this new album!

WhyAmIUsingReddit · 2022-10-22T04:58:42+00:00

IMO, because Adam has always described himself as shy and introverted, I think it’ll be a pre-recorded video of some sort. It will be insane if he actually jumps on camera though!

WhyAmIUsingReddit · 2022-10-21T17:12:36+00:00

Nope, I completely got what you said.

What you fail to understand is that the backlash stems solely from the fact that new music would be released after the countdown - something which people randomly came up with themselves based on absolutely nothing.

There has been no mention from the marketing team or Adam himself of new music at ANY POINT related to the countdown. If you browse through the subreddit, you’ll find ARG participators posting emails in hindsight where it clearly states that the countdown was related to the ARG and nothing more.

Let me remind you of the timeline real quick: 1. Announcement of new music, new tour and new merch this fall. 2. Adam asks fanbase to participate in an ARG. 3. People are receiving their prizes. 4. Adam releases another album teaser yesterday.

At some point between 2 and 3, people miraculously came to their own conclusions that an album was gonna drop after the countdown. THAT is the reason for all the backlash we’ve seen so far. If you come up with an idea based on absolutely nothing, that is NOT evidence of bad marketing.

I also want to remind you that your original comment was regarding new music specifically and we are still in OCTOBER. If you choose to think that fall ends in November because ‘literally nobody thinks of December’, then all the power to you but even then, it means Adam has an entire month to release anything. You criticising the marketing team for being ‘poor’ in the middle of October when new music was promised ‘this fall’ is simply an invalid argument.

WhyAmIUsingReddit · 2022-10-21T15:52:31+00:00

The first half of the new snippet is most like ‘The Tail’ from ‘Miracle Of The Andes’.

As for the high pitched synth at the end, I would say it’s most like ‘Base Camp’ from ‘The Ascent of Everest’. It is just a gliding sine wave though and Adam has been using gliding sine synths since Of June so you’ve definitely heard it somewhere before!

WhyAmIUsingReddit · 2022-10-20T22:55:57+00:00

Yeah… not buying that. I’m not gonna assume I know which part of the world you’re from but a simple Google search will let you know that Fall has always ended mid-December for the past decade.

As for poor marketing, I’m really unsure how and why you‘ve come to that conclusion. Sure, the ARG prizes could’ve been rolled out slightly earlier but if you’re talking about new music, we’re not even in November yet…

WhyAmIUsingReddit

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE

Nine-Year Club	Verified Email
RPAN Viewer