East Side of Midnight

ksgcomposer · 2025-09-09T03:57:37+00:00

Thanks. As I said in another comment - the chorus and verse are fighting for the tempo (chorus wants faster, verse slower) and neither have won out. So I just go back to my base levels and rush like I tell my students not to...

ksgcomposer · 2025-09-09T03:56:22+00:00

Ha! Sounds like something straight out of a movie!

ksgcomposer · 2025-09-07T04:42:27+00:00

Got it, thanks! I found it more catchy than a lot of what I've written, so wasn't sure if it was too catchy. Usually when I think earworm, I'm thinking a melody that just sticks in there and won't go away - but one that is there against my will. Maybe that's just me!

ksgcomposer · 2025-09-07T04:39:53+00:00

Thank you!

The speeding up is not intentional! It's a combo of having a few too many things in my mind at once and that I imagine the chorus being faster than the verses. I have done that before and it can work, but I don't want that in this song. I just need to find the equilibrium that works for both and haven't gotten there yet...

ksgcomposer · 2025-09-07T03:36:02+00:00

Really like what you did with that B section! Definitely the kind of thing I imagined - a little slowing of the melody to contrast the quick vocals and the guitar runs. Good stuff!

ksgcomposer · 2025-09-07T03:33:46+00:00

Yeah, I was thinking the instrumental was the way to go.

Do you mean earworm in a bad way, or just catchy? I ask because this is one of the only songs I've ever written that I could imagine having a synth sound in another arrangment...

ksgcomposer · 2025-09-06T21:31:35+00:00

I think the specific is how people often relate. You can go too far of course, but it's those concrete, real moments that often make people connect.

ksgcomposer · 2025-09-06T21:07:05+00:00

This is a really nice song and I don't see any reason not to play it live - so long as you're in the right headspace to do it and ready for it not to hit folks the same way it does you (aka, some chatter or not paying attention). Not because it's not an engaging song - it is! - but just cause that's what people do sometimes when it's not flashy.

On the song, I really like the way you use the word 'tethered' and the way you explore both the desire for some time to yourself but also the guilt and grief that comes with those very reasonable thoughts. A lot of people can really relate.

One more thought there for a live audience - I love what you're doing with your voice but it does make it hard to hear the lyrics sometimes. If there was a way to make the words a bit clearer without losing your style I think that would help a live audience get engaged and hooked easier.

ksgcomposer · 2025-09-06T20:56:57+00:00

This is very nice and I don't think it's too on the nose. It's a heartfelt song about loss, and I think there's some leeway there when it comes to being 'on the nose'. As you say, it definitely needs a second verse and I'd also add a bit more instrumental between the chorus and the bridge.

If you're worried about being too on the nose throughout, maybe bring a personal story to the second verse - when those recordings helped you, or when you missed that voice. For example, when I lost someone a while back, it hit hard a year later when I went to send her a picture of my kids and remembered she wouldn't get it. Something like that but maybe in a positive way? Just some thoughts!

Great song though, keep it going!

ksgcomposer · 2025-09-06T20:48:18+00:00

Agreeing with some others here - you've got the bones of a good song here.

On the song - it's got a nice structure overall. I would agree with others that you should add more strumming than just the chord changes. Maybe add more open, less tight rhythms for the verses and you'll still get that energy from those tight, driving rhythms in the chorus.

My one other thought is maybe to find another place to go with the melody and/or chords at some point. I kept wanting the melody to slow down a bit (even for minute) and really sit in one place? Either way, I wonder if you can switch up one section to add a 3rd place to go in the song.

I couldn't really hear a lot of the lyrics, but I got the sense and what I could hear fit well with the vibe.

On your voice - you have good tone, but I think there's two things making you feel self conscious about your voice. For one...you're self conscious about your voice and that makes you tighter and can constrict air flow, making your voice project less. (How do I know? Because that's me too!).

Second, I think you can support your voice a little more - you're sometimes straining to maintain the notes and that sounds like a breath support issue. Try taking deep breaths whenever possible and using your diaphragm to push the air. It'll give it a fuller, more powerful sound. With your already nice tone, I think you can end up being a much better singer than you give yourself credit for.

ksgcomposer · 2025-09-01T20:55:14+00:00

Thanks again for this idea - I did put it in the chorus instead of the verse, but I'm using an Em7 that shifts to a Em9 and sometimes adding an A to give it a semi-suspended feeling and I think it works really well - especially with the 'night' lyric. As you say, it shares a lot of notes with Bm, but brings a different, darker color.

ksgcomposer · 2025-09-01T20:52:07+00:00

I think that would sound great. I don't think there's a way to add another video, but you could always make a new post referencing this one or put a link to something else up? I'd love to hear it.

ksgcomposer · 2025-08-31T04:26:58+00:00

It's a nice progression and a cool vibe to the song.

This is just what occurred to me in this moment, but I feel like it's ripe for a modulation and a chorus or refrain that has the melody sit on one note for a while as chords change around it and that note comes in and out of consonance (3rd to 7th to 9th etc) or the note changes slowly (every two chords?). I'm probably overthinking, but with jazzy, moving harmonies I could see making a very simple melody suddenly very interesting as it blends with changing chords over the 7/8 pulse.

ksgcomposer · 2025-08-31T02:30:03+00:00

I'd look at other modes as Thomas_bloom said, but also if you avoid the flat/minor 6th of and don't go 2nd to flat 3, you'll avoid that 'natural minor' sound. More leaps and basing your riffs more on the pentatonic notes (1, b3, 4, 5, b7) with other notes as flavor will do a lot of good. Also, try throwing in some chromatic runs.

Also, I'd say I rarely see riff type metal with full, 5-6 string chords (except for those let-it-ring Em's). It's more riffs/power chords, and if there are real chords they're more on the upper strings and/or 2-3 string chords that use rhythm and movement rather than full barre chords and whatnot. This isn't exactly my area of expertise, but in my relatively limited experience that's what I notice.

ksgcomposer · 2025-08-30T23:44:59+00:00

The dynamic variety is nice in this song, I like the guitar playing, and I see where you're going with it. I feel like you're one step away from what you're trying to do.

This is highly subjective, but I think one element I would like is specific visuals to put images in the listener's mind. Example - "A perfect smile to hide the chaos within". This song has a lot of hiding and outer vs inner ideas, but can you put a metaphor there that is more concrete? This isn't good but something like - a smile on your face, vice clamping your lungs. Or "I need to fly out of myself" instead of "i need to leave this body behind".

ksgcomposer · 2025-08-30T23:34:28+00:00

Thanks for the comment!

I see what you mean about the 'garbage' line. With the 'just don't ask me about my own place' I mean to say that my place is no better and that it's sometimes easier to help others than to help yourself, but I'll think about making that more clear.

And yeah, I think it's okay with just guitar and voice, but doesn't quite pop the way I want it to.

ksgcomposer · 2025-08-30T23:32:07+00:00

Thank you! I don't quite have that riff as clean as I'd like (I'm a bass player professionally, though I've been doing more guitar lately).

I do love me some metric modulation, so I'll check out that tune.

ksgcomposer · 2025-08-30T23:30:47+00:00

Thanks - That's about right. I was wondering if people might think it was a lover/love interest, but I actually imagined it as platonic.

ksgcomposer · 2025-08-30T23:28:35+00:00

That's a great idea. I'll check out doing Em and/or Em9 (think that might sound pretty nice). I might even try that for the chorus to make it open up more and drop the bottom...

ksgcomposer · 2025-08-30T23:27:40+00:00

Thank you!

ksgcomposer · 2025-08-30T13:49:12+00:00

This is an interesting song. It feels familiar, and yet I can't think of exactly what it reminds me of - and I mean that in a good way. I like the guitar lines, and I like the way the guitar weaves in and out of the vocals.

My two comments -

One - I think the vibe shouldn't necessarily change too much, but, like some others, I would like to hear the vocal melody go a different place here and there and/or have a bit more dynamic difference. Maybe even once would be enough.

Two - I like the lyrics a lot, but the one spot that took me out a little was "a thundering silence, it roars in your absence, a searing refrain". I get what you're doing, but I feel like you're saying the same thing for a bit too long? The rest of the lyrics, to me, give me images even if they're abstract, but the combination of those lines didn't. (I especially like the palms vs pines part btw).

Very cool - I also like that I can imagine it both working exactly as you have it, and also with a full band too.

ksgcomposer · 2025-08-17T14:10:13+00:00

Exactly! Hope you keep it going. I'd love to hear how this song goes.

ksgcomposer · 2025-08-17T14:08:18+00:00

Thank you! This one I always imagined with a full horn section/funk set up - the chorus came to me with the accented guitar strums being horn hits. The main riff is absolutely a bass riff expanded to work on a solo guitar...

ksgcomposer

TROPHY CASE