Apocalyptic Dawn: A Zombie Rock Opera

[JonOfTheShred]

This is an online zombie concept album / rock opera. I designed the website and graphic arts myself, and of course composed all the music. I posted this in Dr Logans Chop Shop a few days ago. APOCALYPTIC DAWN Currently I'm on Chapter 2, totaling 5 songs. (1 song being an epic 15 minute journey.) Please, give me some feedback and let me know what you think. Still much more story to be told here; currently in the middle of the 6th song now. I will post updates in this thread as they appear.

[AcesandEights]

Sounds fun, Jon! I will give a proper look when I get home from the office

[Neil]

Not had a chance to listen yet... But any chance of an idea of the hardware/equipment/software used for the music?

[JonOfTheShred]

Not had a chance to listen yet... But any chance of an idea of the hardware/equipment/software used for the music? Well I play guitar, bass, and piano. So for music equipment I have: LTD Deluxe Electric Guitar Jackson Dinky Electric Guitar Fender Acoustic / Electric Bass Rogue Lap Steel Guitar I have a cheapo keyboard, but it has touch sensitivity, a pitch bend, and MIDI connection. So I use it as a MIDI controller, and from that I have literally endless possibilities at my fingertips. For example.... East West Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra Gold & Silver (A full orchestra at my fingertips! This is the program professional film-scorers use to create massive soundtracks when they don't have access to a real, live orchestra. The results, to the untrained ear, are incredibly realistic and professional.) East West Quantum Leap Stormdrum 2 (This program, you literally hear used daily. It is the drums in TV commercials, in movie scores, in the background of video games.) East West Quantum Leap RA (This program is instruments from around the world. The diversity of sounds works great for ethnic themed tracks.) Vintage Movie Tones Basically stuff used in the 70's and 80's horror movies we all love and hold dear. Not the theremins from the 50's flicks, but the cheesy synthesizers as popularized by artists such as Goblin, Tangerine Dream, Ozric Tentacles, John Carpenter, John Harrison, Paul McCollough, and many more.) Vintage Chiptune Tones (This is for hardcore video game fans. I have tones from Ocarina of Time, Megaman X, Goldeneye, Banjo Kazooie, the Sega Megadrive, and many more. Being able to use these instruments to create new music is a blessing.) I also have studio monitors, a high-performance Alienware laptop, and of course, my Komplete Audio 6 interface. I've been recording music completely solo since the 6th grade, but I guess technically you could say I got serious in 2007, and have improved with every new song ever since. Have something like 50 - 100 songs floating around online, I reckon. I have written / composed an easy 100 songs, probably closer to the 400 mark by now, if I included EVERYTHING, including collaborations with other artists, songs from old bands / projects, unfinished songs, and songs that I just wrote with lyrics, such as when I do hip hop tracks. (I spit militant, anti-establishment, conspiracy hip hop. :B) I have gotten my music into a few things here and there...an indie film, a documentary, and some silly flash games etc. But nothing legitimate enough for me to really feel accomplished from, like a full-length zombie film, which is why I started this epic project. Well, actually, most of my music has a bigger picture to it...I've written 5 or 6 rock operas over the years, and even have a huge chunk of a zombie stoner musical film. (Shaun of the Dead meets Half Baked meets Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny, basically.) It's where the name "Jon of the Shred" originated, but when I abandoned the project due to the same general premise being realized with Night of the Living Heads, I started performing live and releasing music as Jon of the Shred.

[JonOfTheShred]

New song posted. Haven't made the graphics for this one yet, but it's another epic track, over 13 minutes of various genres. (From EDM to metal to Spaghetti Western film-scores) http://soundcloud.com/jonoftheshred/herdofthedead

[AcesandEights]

Love in' how the intro gets a bit funky as it goes on and then you drop into that bassy guitar strum. Very epic, offbeat, but fun

[Neil]

Well I play guitar, bass, and piano. So for music equipment I have: LTD Deluxe Electric Guitar Jackson Dinky Electric Guitar Fender Acoustic / Electric Bass Rogue Lap Steel Guitar I have a cheapo keyboard, but it has touch sensitivity, a pitch bend, and MIDI connection. So I use it as a MIDI controller, and from that I have literally endless possibilities at my fingertips. For example.... East West Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra Gold & Silver (A full orchestra at my fingertips! This is the program professional film-scorers use to create massive soundtracks when they don't have access to a real, live orchestra. The results, to the untrained ear, are incredibly realistic and professional.) East West Quantum Leap Stormdrum 2 (This program, you literally hear used daily. It is the drums in TV commercials, in movie scores, in the background of video games.) East West Quantum Leap RA (This program is instruments from around the world. The diversity of sounds works great for ethnic themed tracks.) Vintage Movie Tones Basically stuff used in the 70's and 80's horror movies we all love and hold dear. Not the theremins from the 50's flicks, but the cheesy synthesizers as popularized by artists such as Goblin, Tangerine Dream, Ozric Tentacles, John Carpenter, John Harrison, Paul McCollough, and many more.) Vintage Chiptune Tones (This is for hardcore video game fans. I have tones from Ocarina of Time, Megaman X, Goldeneye, Banjo Kazooie, the Sega Megadrive, and many more. Being able to use these instruments to create new music is a blessing.) I also have studio monitors, a high-performance Alienware laptop, and of course, my Komplete Audio 6 interface. I've been recording music completely solo since the 6th grade, but I guess technically you could say I got serious in 2007, and have improved with every new song ever since. Have something like 50 - 100 songs floating around online, I reckon. I have written / composed an easy 100 songs, probably closer to the 400 mark by now, if I included EVERYTHING, including collaborations with other artists, songs from old bands / projects, unfinished songs, and songs that I just wrote with lyrics, such as when I do hip hop tracks. (I spit militant, anti-establishment, conspiracy hip hop. :B) I have gotten my music into a few things here and there...an indie film, a documentary, and some silly flash games etc. But nothing legitimate enough for me to really feel accomplished from, like a full-length zombie film, which is why I started this epic project. Well, actually, most of my music has a bigger picture to it...I've written 5 or 6 rock operas over the years, and even have a huge chunk of a zombie stoner musical film. (Shaun of the Dead meets Half Baked meets Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny, basically.) It's where the name "Jon of the Shred" originated, but when I abandoned the project due to the same general premise being realized with Night of the Living Heads, I started performing live and releasing music as Jon of the Shred. Never even heard of "East West Quantum Leap"!

[JonOfTheShred]

Never even heard of "East West Quantum Leap"! You've probably heard it before in Video Games, on TV, and in Movie Scores. Very professional sounding, it's like legitimately kidnapping an orchestra. Here, check it out:

[JonOfTheShred]

Made this glorious image last night, finishing it up today. Attachment 1162 It's the image that goes along with THIS, my latest track: http://soundcloud.com/jonoftheshred/herdofthedead ((If the image is too big, delete it, mods.)) Give me some insight, people! I'm making a WORLD WAR Z meets PINK FLOYDS "THE WALL" and feel like it deserves some feedback

[JonOfTheShred]

You guys not music fans in here, or something? If this latest track doesn't win y'all over, I give up! Inspired by Goblins Dawn of the Dead soundtrack, this track has vintage synthesizers, coupled with really trippy / ambient soundscapes. FAR MORE HORROR in this track - I went real dark with this one! http://soundcloud.com/jonoftheshred/...e-shred-undead I want ANY KIND OF FEEDBACK. Whether you think it sounds amazing or like utter crap, I want to know. I make this zombie rock opera music for zombie fanatics like us. THIS IS MUSIC MADE FOR YOU! What other musician has a zombie theme in most of their songs? I haven't found one yet, that's for sure! Even my stage name I've played nearly 100 live shows under is a riff on Dawn of the Dead. Love in' how the intro gets a bit funky as it goes on and then you drop into that bassy guitar strum. Very epic, offbeat, but fun Thanks for listening! Are you talking about the 8bit / video game intro section? How far into the track? The offbeat part, I mean. I assume you mean the 'dubstep / complextro' section after the orchestral build?

[ProfessorChaos]

i've listened to a bit of it so far, jon. and i definitely am pleased with what i've heard....my problem these days is time, and i've really not had much of it lately....however, i do have a four-day weekend coming up, and think i'll likely put this on while re-visiting dead rising on the xbox.

[JonOfTheShred]

i've listened to a bit of it so far, jon. and i definitely am pleased with what i've heard....my problem these days is time, and i've really not had much of it lately....however, i do have a four-day weekend coming up, and think i'll likely put this on while re-visiting dead rising on the xbox. Seems like a winning combination, progrock and zombie video games. :B Some times I forget most of these songs are in the 7 - 15 minute range, and that's a lot of time to put aside for music when there's 7 or 8 of them. You have given me the idea to try playing Dead Island while listening back to my tracks for mistakes. It's a great way to see if the songs have any mistakes and if they properly capture the mood of a zombie apocalypse as intended.

[ProfessorChaos]

bookmarked your soundcloud page, plan to listen to some of it this holiday weekend. speaking of dead island, it's only 10 bones at wal-mart on black friday, and i was thinking of having the gf pick it up for me. i asked about it in the shoutbox and only got two replies, one good, one bad....what's your input, if you don't mind....worth a tenner?

[JonOfTheShred]

bookmarked your soundcloud page, plan to listen to some of it this holiday weekend. speaking of dead island, it's only 10 bones at wal-mart on black friday, and i was thinking of having the gf pick it up for me. i asked about it in the shoutbox and only got two replies, one good, one bad....what's your input, if you don't mind....worth a tenner? The game itself is really fun. I enjoyed the gameplay immensely. Loved the graphics, loved the locations - the beach resort in particular is really fun to play in, and beautifully crafted. I got it months after the release, so there was no bugs for me. Some of the most satisfying zombie gameplay in the history of gaming. The cutscenes are laughably bad. Some of the worst voice acting in gaming history, and the story falls on its face hard, breaking its nose and blinding itself in one eye in the process. The characters just kinda suck. It's kind of like watching a zombie movie that has terrible actors but amazing gore effects - it's worth it in the long run, and you're glad you watched the movie. But you don't expect it to win any Emmys for its shitty story and hack-acting. The game itself is so fun, IMO, that I just ignored the cutscenes or laughed at their corniness. This game covers quite a few different perspectives of zombies, too, which I really liked. (Overrun city / Voodoo / Isolation / Re-animator Dr Frankenstein) I paid $30 and was more than satisfied. $10 is a steal.