Author Topic: TheLordOfTheStrings' band & music projects  (Read 3685 times)

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Offline TheLordOfTheStrings

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TheLordOfTheStrings' band & music projects
« on: November 23, 2017, 10:57:16 AM »
Hey dudes, so I've been posting this stuff in the "All Musicians Unite!" thread, but I'm not sure if many people really look at that, so I thought I'd just make my own thread that people can stumble on.

I've got a few music projects floating around. My first was a sorta prog metal thing called ALL HAIL, which I wrote four albums for (one being a concept album). We never ended up getting anything recorded and the band is pretty much on hiatus at the moment. We plan on getting back together to at least record the songs that were written and release those four albums.

My second project is a prog rock concept band called Bloodhound. I've written a little synopsis (which I posted in a thread at the prog archives forum) of what that band is all about, which I will post in the next comment. We released a 25 minute 4 song EP in October of 2016, an 80 minute 20 song LP this past July, and a new single earlier this month. We have also finished writing our next album. We're in pre pro for that right now and we should start recording in the next week or two.

Lastly I released my instrumental solo guitar album this past August. It was a lot of fun to work on. I had a blast. I've recently started writing the follow up to it - this one won't be instrumental, and it will actually have a concept that ties in directly with the concept for Bloodhound AND the concept album I wrote for ALL HAIL.

So those are my projects. I've written tons of other stuff as well like 8 bit video game music and other stuff which people have described to me as "video game music". Hopefully you guys can check some of this out. It would really mean a lot to me. I've put years of work into making music and developing my playing and my writing to a point where I'm comfortable in sharing it with the world. Also, if you dig any of this stuff, I'd super appreciate if you guys could like us and follow us on Facebook and instagram - as I'm sure most of you know these things have become super important for bands, unfortunately.

Bloodhound: https://bloodhoundbandcamp.bandcamp.com
   FB: www.facebook.com/bloodhoundband
   IG: @bloodhound.music

Solo album: https://codymckenna.bandcamp.com/releases
   FB: www.facebook.com/thecircleofwonders
   IG: @thecircleofwonders

8 bit video game music: https://soundcloud.com/cody-marshall-mckenna/sets/video-game-music

Thanks guys.
« Last Edit: December 09, 2017, 11:44:59 AM by TheLordOfTheStrings »
Check out my various music projects - I’ve got concept albums, singer/songwriter, rock, metal, prog, and more coming soon:

https://linktr.ee/STARCOMMANDStudios

Offline TheLordOfTheStrings

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Re: TheLordOfTheStrings' band & music projects
« Reply #1 on: November 23, 2017, 10:58:04 AM »
Here's my post about Bloodhound, copied from www.progarchives.com:

Now I'm afraid at first glance the concept of our band might seem a bit all over the place and out of order at the moment, but rest assured, we've got it under control. Now, without giving too much away, I'm writing a book titled The Story Of Bloodhound, which is a story about a young man named John Caselli (nickname Bloodhound) who, on his 18th birthday (in December of 1978), essentially decides to grab his guitar, hop on a freight train, and travel the US in order to find musicians to put together a rock band. Needless to say, he encounters many odd people, places, and happenings during his year-long adventure. With that being said, our albums/EPs/releases don't solely revolve around this particular character (though he's obviously the namesake of the band, and for good reason). We've decided that any and all secondary characters, specific locations, and even characters who are so obscure that you wouldn't give them a second thought, should all be fair game to have their back-stories told through our music as well. Our first release, POET (released October 21, 2016), was an EP that detailed the unfortunate fall of the first character Bloodhound meets on his journey, Dr. Poet - a once famous blues/folk musician who's own stardom was just too much for him to maintain. Our next release, our first full length album Caution K9 (released July 10, 2017), is a bit different in the way it's related to the concept. It doesn't tell a story in a literal sense, but it's our interpretation of the first album released by the very band Bloodhound sets out to form (its kind of an album within an album). This band is incidentally called Caution K9, hence our album's title. Oops. *SPOILERS* It's okay, the point of the story goes deeper than whether or not Bloodhound ends up putting this band together. And though it doesn't have a direct storyline, the songs written are meant to be the reactions that some of the band members have to events that happened during our main storyline. Okay, now where was I? Oh yeah - our next album, which we literally finished writing last night. This will be titled "Timber", after this story's main character, Benjamin Timberton (nickname... you guessed it, Timber). This album tells the story of a Vietnam veteran who lost all of his friends in the war, and who can't forgive himself for surviving it. His growing guilt and depression drives him to banish himself into the woods, toward a mysterious cabin which all but begs him to end his life and enter "away".... So how does Timber fit into our main character's story? I can't give you all the details! You'll have to figure some of these things out on your own! But let me tell you, it absolutely does connect, it's extremely important, and... it's really good.  So, let's just say for a second that you're interested in all of this. Where's the book? Well to be honest, it's not finished yet. I have a pretty sh*tty day job which takes up a lot of my time, as well as other life duties, not to mention making music, keeping time for my amazing girlfriend and family/friends, etc. So, the novel for the main storyline is probably going to take a while (I'm really trying to make it good after all). BUT! Our POET EP comes with a 20 page story (in PDF form when you download the digital EP from Bandcamp) which tells the Dr. Poet story, and Timber will include the same (though, the Timber story will probably be twice as long, if not longer. Still working on that one too!). The idea is to include a story with every album released, permitting that particular album/EP tells a story (once again, Caution K9 being an example of one that doesn't, therefore it doesn't include a story). So if you guys are interested in checking out what we've got, our bandcamp is here:

https://bloodhoundbandcamp.bandcamp.com

 We literally recorded, mixed, and mastered everything in a livingroom/bedroom by ourselves, on essentially no budget, and we're extremely proud of the way everything has turned out. Hopefully some of you check it out and can enjoy it as well. Thanks so much for reading, and prog on!
« Last Edit: December 09, 2017, 11:47:22 AM by TheLordOfTheStrings »
Check out my various music projects - I’ve got concept albums, singer/songwriter, rock, metal, prog, and more coming soon:

https://linktr.ee/STARCOMMANDStudios

Offline Skeever

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Re: TheLordOfTheStrings' band & music projects
« Reply #2 on: December 06, 2017, 03:34:55 PM »
This stuff is awesome dude! Love it.

Offline TheLordOfTheStrings

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Re: TheLordOfTheStrings' band & music projects
« Reply #3 on: December 09, 2017, 11:36:59 AM »
Wow thanks! We're desperate to get the word out, so feel free to pass the tunes along to your friends and whatnot. I'll send you the digital albums if you want them. Just PM me and they're yours. At this point, I'm just glad if anyone wants to listen.  :lol
Check out my various music projects - I’ve got concept albums, singer/songwriter, rock, metal, prog, and more coming soon:

https://linktr.ee/STARCOMMANDStudios

Offline TheLordOfTheStrings

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Re: TheLordOfTheStrings' band & music projects
« Reply #4 on: February 26, 2018, 10:43:15 PM »
Just released the first single off my next solo concept album. Thoughts and opinions are greatly encouraged and appreciated!
https://codymckenna.bandcamp.com/track/drawing-on-the-wall-part-1-single
Check out my various music projects - I’ve got concept albums, singer/songwriter, rock, metal, prog, and more coming soon:

https://linktr.ee/STARCOMMANDStudios

Offline TheLordOfTheStrings

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Re: TheLordOfTheStrings' band & music projects
« Reply #5 on: July 26, 2018, 11:09:38 PM »
Released a new single from my upcoming solo album.

https://codymckenna.bandcamp.com/track/come-and-see-the-show-single
Check out my various music projects - I’ve got concept albums, singer/songwriter, rock, metal, prog, and more coming soon:

https://linktr.ee/STARCOMMANDStudios

Offline TheLordOfTheStrings

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Re: TheLordOfTheStrings' band & music projects
« Reply #6 on: August 28, 2018, 01:51:11 AM »
Solo concept album cover has been released. Album should be out this winter.

Check out my various music projects - I’ve got concept albums, singer/songwriter, rock, metal, prog, and more coming soon:

https://linktr.ee/STARCOMMANDStudios

Offline TheLordOfTheStrings

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Re: TheLordOfTheStrings' band & music projects
« Reply #7 on: January 25, 2019, 10:23:04 AM »
New concept album is out! I worked really hard on it and I'd really appreciate it if any of you guys gave it a chance. I think there's something in it for everyone to enjoy.


https://codymckenna.bandcamp.com/album/volume-ii-tribes-oddities
Check out my various music projects - I’ve got concept albums, singer/songwriter, rock, metal, prog, and more coming soon:

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Online lucasembarbosa

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Re: TheLordOfTheStrings' band & music projects
« Reply #8 on: February 04, 2019, 06:56:07 AM »
Just listened to the entire album, and it's REALLY good! One of the recurring themes reminds me of one the themes from The Astonishing xD

It's a good blend of BTBAM, Periphery, The Dear Hunter and lots of original elements. Loved the clean vocals, but I think how it would sound with some growls in the heavier sections...

Offline TheLordOfTheStrings

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Re: TheLordOfTheStrings' band & music projects
« Reply #9 on: February 04, 2019, 10:16:10 AM »
Just listened to the entire album, and it's REALLY good! One of the recurring themes reminds me of one the themes from The Astonishing xD

It's a good blend of BTBAM, Periphery, The Dear Hunter and lots of original elements. Loved the clean vocals, but I think how it would sound with some growls in the heavier sections...
Thanks so much for listening, I'm glad you enjoyed it! Just out of curiosity, which theme reminded you of The Astonishing? Also I spent a lot of time debating whether or not I wanted to include heavier growling vocals but ultimately decided that I would only want to do that if it served a purpose to the story and ultimately there was nothing really in the story that would have called for that kind of thing. It's absolutely possible that a future release could include something like that though.
Thanks again for listening and taking the time to give feedback.
Check out my various music projects - I’ve got concept albums, singer/songwriter, rock, metal, prog, and more coming soon:

https://linktr.ee/STARCOMMANDStudios

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Re: TheLordOfTheStrings' band & music projects
« Reply #10 on: February 04, 2019, 07:41:46 PM »
Gladly I found the project's profile on Spotify... I'll listen to the other stuff and who knows - buy it  :hat

It's almost 3 a.m. around here, tomorrow I'll listen again and see the exact theme I was talking about.

Another kind of nitpicking comment is about the drum volume in the mix... I didn't listen to it in my headphones, only in a small bluetooth speaker. Drums sounded way higher in the mix. But after a few songs a guy can get used to it.
« Last Edit: February 04, 2019, 07:47:16 PM by lucasembarbosa »

Offline TheLordOfTheStrings

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Re: TheLordOfTheStrings' band & music projects
« Reply #11 on: February 06, 2019, 03:46:45 PM »
Another kind of nitpicking comment is about the drum volume in the mix... I didn't listen to it in my headphones, only in a small bluetooth speaker. Drums sounded way higher in the mix. But after a few songs a guy can get used to it.

You know, I went back and forth with myself on the drum volume. Ultimately, I personally really like it when drums are a bit higher and punchier than people typically have them. Being a fan of the way Nolly mixes and produces drums, as well as the way MP always made sure his drums sounded in previous DT albums, I decided to make them prominent. I don't regret it.  ;)

Also I saw that you mentioned something about checking out my projects other stuff - I've only got an instrumental album that came before this, which I'm in the process of remixing as it came out very thin sounding (it was the first thing I had ever mixed).
Check out my various music projects - I’ve got concept albums, singer/songwriter, rock, metal, prog, and more coming soon:

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Offline Architeuthis

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Re: TheLordOfTheStrings' band & music projects
« Reply #12 on: April 16, 2019, 02:14:52 AM »
So I just listened to "Ants"and "Odyssey" and I really dig those tracks!  I like the break sections in both songs, especially that nice solo in Odyssey. The main riff in Ants really makes me feel like there are ants crawling around everywhere, lol.
 They are both well written and catchy songs. I will listen to more of the singles soon and also check out the concept album when I get a chance.. Thanks for sharing!   :tup
You can do a lot in a lifetime if you don't burn out too fast, you can make the most of the distance, first you need endurance first you've got to last....... NP

Offline TheLordOfTheStrings

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Re: TheLordOfTheStrings' band & music projects
« Reply #13 on: April 17, 2019, 08:44:38 PM »
So I just listened to "Ants"and "Odyssey" and I really dig those tracks!  I like the break sections in both songs, especially that nice solo in Odyssey. The main riff in Ants really makes me feel like there are ants crawling around everywhere, lol.
 They are both well written and catchy songs. I will listen to more of the singles soon and also check out the concept album when I get a chance.. Thanks for sharing!   :tup
Thanks! I'm currently in the middle of remixing Bloodhound's albums so if you end up liking the other songs, they're going to be rereleased really soon sounding a lot better. Thanks so much for listening.
Check out my various music projects - I’ve got concept albums, singer/songwriter, rock, metal, prog, and more coming soon:

https://linktr.ee/STARCOMMANDStudios

Offline Architeuthis

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Re: TheLordOfTheStrings' band & music projects
« Reply #14 on: April 18, 2019, 12:08:07 PM »
Right on, I look forward to hearing the new mix, in the meantime I'll check out your other songs.  :coolio
Btw, I posted a link to some of our originals in another thread. If you get a chance, tell me what you think. We were working on a follow up CD that had way more potential, but the band split four years ago due to a mid-life crisis.  At least we made one album before it fell a pat..lol!
You can do a lot in a lifetime if you don't burn out too fast, you can make the most of the distance, first you need endurance first you've got to last....... NP

Offline TheLordOfTheStrings

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Re: TheLordOfTheStrings' band & music projects
« Reply #15 on: April 29, 2019, 07:36:51 PM »
Right on, I look forward to hearing the new mix, in the meantime I'll check out your other songs.  :coolio
Btw, I posted a link to some of our originals in another thread. If you get a chance, tell me what you think. We were working on a follow up CD that had way more potential, but the band split four years ago due to a mid-life crisis.  At least we made one album before it fell a pat..lol!
I'll certainly give that a listen. That's funny, I'm in sorta an opposite situation. We wrote three albums of material, but never recorded any of it. Now that I've learned to engineer/mix/etc, we're 'getting the band back together' so to speak just to record the material. Afterwards, who knows. But once again, that's awesome. I look forward to checking the stuff out!  :metal
Check out my various music projects - I’ve got concept albums, singer/songwriter, rock, metal, prog, and more coming soon:

https://linktr.ee/STARCOMMANDStudios

Offline Architeuthis

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Re: TheLordOfTheStrings' band & music projects
« Reply #16 on: April 30, 2019, 04:59:54 AM »
Right on!  The ten songs we did are kind of hit and miss, lol. We've only recorded a small fraction of our originals. We were kind of back to square one with that cd as we just got a new drummer, so we only recorded some more of our strait forward songs. We have much stronger material but hadn't worked it out with that drummer.  There's a couple songs that get interesting and meander a bit, but it is what it is.
Btw, I did listen to three of your songs again but this time through a big stereo hooked up to the output on my phone. They sounded awesome!  That's the only way to really give music a fair shake, cell phones never do it justice..
You can do a lot in a lifetime if you don't burn out too fast, you can make the most of the distance, first you need endurance first you've got to last....... NP

Offline TheLordOfTheStrings

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Re: TheLordOfTheStrings' band & music projects
« Reply #17 on: January 24, 2020, 08:41:49 PM »
I personally remixed and remastered a concept album I wrote with my band Bloodhound, which was originally released back in 2017. I'm SUPER proud of the way it turned out (as I was pretty disappointed in the way the original mix sounded). PLEASE give it a listen if you're interested. I spent so many hours recording it, and then so many more hours remixing it.

https://open.spotify.com/album/6cMimMKQM1CywjFRtTtivQ
Check out my various music projects - I’ve got concept albums, singer/songwriter, rock, metal, prog, and more coming soon:

https://linktr.ee/STARCOMMANDStudios

Offline Architeuthis

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Re: TheLordOfTheStrings' band & music projects
« Reply #18 on: January 25, 2020, 02:48:25 AM »
I will certainly check this out soon, I'm gonna wait until I can hook up my phone through my stereo sometime this weekend. :coolio
You can do a lot in a lifetime if you don't burn out too fast, you can make the most of the distance, first you need endurance first you've got to last....... NP

Offline TheLordOfTheStrings

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Re: TheLordOfTheStrings' band & music projects
« Reply #19 on: July 17, 2021, 11:50:51 AM »
Check out my various music projects - I’ve got concept albums, singer/songwriter, rock, metal, prog, and more coming soon:

https://linktr.ee/STARCOMMANDStudios

Offline TheLordOfTheStrings

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Check out my various music projects - I’ve got concept albums, singer/songwriter, rock, metal, prog, and more coming soon:

https://linktr.ee/STARCOMMANDStudios

Offline TheLordOfTheStrings

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Re: TheLordOfTheStrings' band & music projects
« Reply #21 on: December 18, 2022, 01:42:23 AM »
Just released two singles from my two upcoming concept albums (a single from each album). Without going into a crazy amount of detail at the moment, one of the albums is about a serial killer, and the other is about an American Vietnam War veteran who suffers from depression and PTSD and is convinced by a witch that his only way out is suicide. Both tracks are currently on their way to Spotify, Apple Music, etc, but in the mean time are available to stream on my bandcamp.
https://thecircleofwonders.bandcamp.com/

Also, if any of you could take the time to follow on Instagram, it would really mean a lot to me. Everything you hear (every instrument, voice, lyric, the mix, the writing, the stories, etc) is all done by me alone and I work really hard on it, so any type of support (a listen, likes, follows) would mean the world to me.

https://instagram.com/thecircleofwonders?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Check out my various music projects - I’ve got concept albums, singer/songwriter, rock, metal, prog, and more coming soon:

https://linktr.ee/STARCOMMANDStudios

Offline TheLordOfTheStrings

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Re: TheLordOfTheStrings' band & music projects
« Reply #22 on: January 01, 2023, 02:56:56 PM »
New songs now available on Spotify.

A Killer Return!!: https://open.spotify.com/album/4S43vqwMMInrSD6mGU0x1m?si=wszZGWApQA6P-rj3u8piUA
The Witch & The Widow:https://open.spotify.com/album/0Ek1fQv1bOQZL7nUIPOmwS?si=lQ73HpnyTMWtsNwMrISubQ
Check out my various music projects - I’ve got concept albums, singer/songwriter, rock, metal, prog, and more coming soon:

https://linktr.ee/STARCOMMANDStudios

Offline TheLordOfTheStrings

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Re: TheLordOfTheStrings' band & music projects
« Reply #23 on: December 24, 2023, 11:08:21 PM »
My latest concept album “III: The Sparrow & The Architect” has released! Without explaining the story, it’s about a serial killer mystery. Clocking in at just under 82 mins, it’s my longest album to date (not intentional) and I’d love your feedback and opinions. I write/record/play/mix/produce everything for this project and I’m extremely proud of the work I’ve done here.

https://open.spotify.com/album/3n2qQY59OdPK4O40gBYfn9?si=JxQHPq7TTUmatIn30Lxy2w

thecircleofwonders.bandcamp.com

If you enjoy it, please follow the project on Instagram @thecircleofwonders
Check out my various music projects - I’ve got concept albums, singer/songwriter, rock, metal, prog, and more coming soon:

https://linktr.ee/STARCOMMANDStudios

Offline BlackInk

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Re: TheLordOfTheStrings' band & music projects
« Reply #24 on: December 25, 2023, 06:39:24 AM »
Dude congrants. I'm becoming increasingly aware of how much work it is to do something like this, so I can't imagine the grind of producing an 80+ minute album ready for release like this, especially as a one-man show.

Listened through most of the album, some really cool stuff, everything sounds really nice. There were particularly some heavier riffs that sounded really crisp that caught my attention. Your acoustic guitar also sounds really nice, as does your voice, so good job on that.

Also, that final little bit at the very end was really fun :lol

Offline TheLordOfTheStrings

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Re: TheLordOfTheStrings' band & music projects
« Reply #25 on: December 27, 2023, 12:47:09 AM »
Dude congrants. I'm becoming increasingly aware of how much work it is to do something like this, so I can't imagine the grind of producing an 80+ minute album ready for release like this, especially as a one-man show.

Listened through most of the album, some really cool stuff, everything sounds really nice. There were particularly some heavier riffs that sounded really crisp that caught my attention. Your acoustic guitar also sounds really nice, as does your voice, so good job on that.

Also, that final little bit at the very end was really fun :lol

Thank you so much for listening!
Check out my various music projects - I’ve got concept albums, singer/songwriter, rock, metal, prog, and more coming soon:

https://linktr.ee/STARCOMMANDStudios

Offline Lonk

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Re: TheLordOfTheStrings' band & music projects
« Reply #26 on: January 03, 2024, 07:10:13 AM »
My latest concept album “III: The Sparrow & The Architect” has released! Without explaining the story, it’s about a serial killer mystery. Clocking in at just under 82 mins, it’s my longest album to date (not intentional) and I’d love your feedback and opinions. I write/record/play/mix/produce everything for this project and I’m extremely proud of the work I’ve done here.
As you should be, this is pretty good  :tup
Vmadera has evolved into Lonk

Offline TheLordOfTheStrings

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Re: TheLordOfTheStrings' band & music projects
« Reply #27 on: January 25, 2024, 11:24:34 PM »
Someone from my local newspaper contacted me to do a story about the project. Kinda fun so I figured I’d share. Lol.

https://burbankleader.outlooknewspapers.com/2024/01/16/david-laurell-the-architect-behind-the-circle-of-wonders/
Check out my various music projects - I’ve got concept albums, singer/songwriter, rock, metal, prog, and more coming soon:

https://linktr.ee/STARCOMMANDStudios