Quantum Cascade

MasonAtom

Get Flash to see this player.

Description

This song is dedicated to my loving wife, Melissa.

It was born out of much comtemplation regarding the circle of life. To me, the song is at times both melancholy and uplifting, sad yet hopeful.

This is my first time recording, singing, and producing a song like this, so please bear that in mind.

Mason

Leave a Comment

You must be registered and logged-in to comment.

Lyrics

The beauty is inside us
May it never fade away
The cascade mechanisms
That take us, day by day

And your smile is my momentum,
Your uncertainty, my pain.
As the cascade chain reaction
Melts my strength away

And life goes on
We dance the cascade
And life goes on
And the plans are made

What might have been
What could still be
What lies ahead
For us to see…
What dreams we’ve dreamt
What paths we’ve tread
What visions cascade
Through our heads?

And life goes on
We dance the cascade
And life goes on
And the plans are made

Song Stats

Hits: 1559
Comments: 29
Fans: 19
Plays: 478
Downloads: 105
Votes: 9
Uploaded: Apr 18, 2007 - 05:05:21 PM
Last Updated: Apr 19, 2007 - 08:51:29 AM Last Played: Nov 03, 2009 - 11:18:17 AM

Song License

Creative Commons License:
Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial

Song Actions

Hardware:

Dual 1.8 GHz G5 - 2 GB RAM
JoeMeek JM37 mic
JoeMeek SixQ channel strip
Mackie Onyx 400F firewire interface
Gibson Les Paul Studio
Line 6 Gearbox

Software:

Vocals - Line 6 Gearbox
Bass - Amplitube 2
Guitar - Amplitube 2 (fender and THD models)
Drums - Drumcore
Mixing - Waves Renaissance Ax/ Vox / Comp / EQ - Trueverb
Mastering - Mackie Final Mix, Wavearts FinalPlug Demo

Comments

cjhoose	cjhoose said 952 days ago (April 18th, 2007)
	goooood song For a first time (?!?) it's amazing. I can't think of ANYTHING else this needs. Check out my latest song called Julia

MasonAtom

MasonAtom said 952 days ago (April 18th, 2007)

let me qualify that
thanks for the kind words.

Just to clarify - this is my first time doing a song of this type. I've never written anything remotely like this in my life (every other completed song I've ever recorded featured HEAVILY overdriven guitars).

Mason

---
"The pump don't work cuz the Vandals took the handle"

Check out my latest song called Tiny Man Inside (Read Between the Lines)

	said 952 days ago (April 18th, 2007)
	solid your golden this is excellent ! like it alot! This is smooth the singing is real good excellent glad you didnt trash it. Nice bass line wow!!

MasonAtom	MasonAtom said 952 days ago (April 18th, 2007)
	thanks my singing... well... the beauty of recording to hard drives is that you can do about 40 takes. So I was bound to get one right sooner or later. Mason --- "The pump don't work cuz the Vandals took the handle" Check out my latest song called Tiny Man Inside (Read Between the Lines)

ktb	ktb said 952 days ago (April 18th, 2007)
	dig this I'm with Cj this is a remarkable effort. The guitars have a special sound that help create a mixed ambience along with the minor progression. Really nice vocal. The drums sound natural and organic. Nice job mixing the whole shebang. Maybe would've pumped up the Voice just a tad. Check out my latest song called Texas stump

MasonAtom	MasonAtom said 951 days ago (April 19th, 2007)
	thanks Thanks ktb - kinda different from my stuff with Tiny Man Inside, no? Regarding the vocal track - well, if you do 40 takes, one of them is bound to be decent, right? You should hear some of the takes that didn't make the cut. Yuck. Mason --- "The pump don't work cuz the Vandals took the handle" Check out my latest song called Tiny Man Inside (Read Between the Lines)

jiguma

jiguma said 951 days ago (April 19th, 2007)

Jeez I'm glad you pointed me here!
Hey Mason - this is really special. Excellent big sound, beautiful guitars, and your voice is just perfect for the song - bass/drums work really well too. I'd really strongly suggest you do more in this vein, for me at least, this is about as good as it gets at MJ. Your style really sits where I like listening.
Cheers,
Neil

Check out my latest song called Lost In Translation (w Mike Watkins)

baki	baki said 951 days ago (April 19th, 2007)
	guitar... texture is really nice. i can see some female back vocals coming in here and there. the tune has the atmosphere... cheers Check out my latest song called On the Other Side

MasonAtom	MasonAtom said 951 days ago (April 19th, 2007)
	good suggestion I was actually originally thinking of asking LeDeb if she'd be interested in doing some backing work, but I know how freakin' busy she is with collaborations here. --- "The pump don't work cuz the Vandals took the handle" Check out my latest song called Tiny Man Inside (Read Between the Lines)

ledebutant

ledebutant said 947 days ago (April 23rd, 2007)

Heh!
Busy, yes! If only you knew, my little Atomic friend...

...but, if you write the part, I'll sing it for you, no problem. I owe you one.

I waited to come over here to comment because I've been trying to think of something sensible to say, but really what I want to say the whole time is that I have no idea why you haven't been singing your own stuff more if this is any indication of what you can do. Also, pah! on the 40 takes, thing. Cutting together a vocal is just par for the course. I was much happier once I figured that out (and so were everyone's ears).

Great production, as usual. Really, you need to stop hogging up all the talent, dude. :-)

Check out my latest song called Black Star (MJ Live Aid w/jgurner)

alexweiler	alexweiler said 951 days ago (April 19th, 2007)
	The silence before the strom although I was awaiting the storm breaking loose (or some kind of a climax) I like your calmy track, especially your voice. Your one-man-show works very well for me, I like that spacial sound (as matter of recording ... maybe a few less would be better?) Check out my latest song called Roaming (Heavy Remix)

	said 951 days ago (April 19th, 2007)
	I like what you have done here... ...I also would like to hear a "chorus" and a "bridge" to give your composition a little more "flare." Expressing yourself with more emotion, should you decide to make any alterations will complete this song. Vocal inflections, with a "build" will add much more emotion to this piece. Alimar

MasonAtom

MasonAtom said 951 days ago (April 19th, 2007)

cool
thanks for the comments Alimar. I love this kind of constructive criticism.

This was a really odd song for me... I've never really done anything like this before, and it took a long time to get rolling. I had the guitar part written for about a year, but couldn't bring everyhing else together. Then one day the song just kinda wrote itself. I was weird, all the drums and bass just came out of nowhere.

I know exactly what you mean in terms of adding more "emotive" dynamics... but I'm afraid that this song really isn't meant to have that kind of content. As rtcooper commented on the guitar demo - this is really about the "Drone and Descent".

I'm not going to get into what sparked my writing of this song, but it came out a sort of deadened feeling that my wife and I had at the end of February and the beginning of March. The song reflects that mood, but hopefully with an eye towards uplifting changes. At the same time, I really think of it as a celebration of our life together.

As far as the melodic inflections go, well, this is really the limit of my abilities as a singer. The melody here is really basic because that's really all I can do.

Basically, what I'm saying is that I will definitely take your comments to heart on future stuff, but this song is a bit too internally personal for me to change up much at this point. It really captures where our heads were at the time. I hope you can appreciate that.

Mason

---
"The pump don't work cuz the Vandals took the handle"

Check out my latest song called Tiny Man Inside (Read Between the Lines)

dreadmon

dreadmon said 951 days ago (April 19th, 2007)

What they said -
This is a great track - great vocals, nice space in the production. I'd like to hear either the vox come in sooner or maybe something else there to build over the groove. The absence of a conventional bridge and chorus doesn't really seem odd, in fact it seems to fit the subject matter - it's another bus ride to work, another sleepwalk in the big city. Kudos.

Check out my latest song called Dive!

EZamor	EZamor said 951 days ago (April 19th, 2007)
	disclaimer? this is excellent work all around. truly. you should have more confidence in your abilities, and not feel compelled to include a "this is my first time..." disclaimer. Check out my latest song called Peace (One Drop in the Blue) (w/ LunaTrick)

MasonAtom

MasonAtom said 951 days ago (April 19th, 2007)

thanks
well, it is easier said than done... if you listen to my other work with my band Tiny Man Inside, you'll see that this is a huge departure from my comfort zone. I think there is a natural trepidation whenever you're trying something new. I know that I have a ton of confidence in the other stuff I write.

Mason

---
"The pump don't work cuz the Vandals took the handle"

Check out my latest song called Tiny Man Inside (Read Between the Lines)

spitlogic	spitlogic said 951 days ago (April 19th, 2007)
	each instrument From the beginning I liked the way that the song was layered. I think this jam is well organized in the transitions and the lyrics are very hearfelt. Nice jam. Check out my latest song called Guillotine

echoroom

echoroom said 951 days ago (April 19th, 2007)

Big as life
christ on a bike Mason, the production on this makes me go green. the guitars sound right next to my easr, the drums sound lovely ... just fabulous.
This has a really lovely guitar line - dreamy and memorable.

The vocals - I'd lose the effects on it, i don't think it adds to this - the vocal should be as open and honest as the guitar. Your singing sounds great to me - subtle, broken, no bum notes - what more could you want.

Bloody great.

Steve

Check out my latest song called Deeper (w/t Racerat)

MasonAtom

MasonAtom said 950 days ago (April 20th, 2007)

thanks for the comments
My wife is completely baffled by your "Christ on a bike" statement...

Glad you liked the guitars and drums. I did the drum track with loops from Drumcore.

Thanks for the vote of confidence in the vocals. My first mix had a much more dry track with only reverb, but I tend to drift around the pitch quite a lot and adding a bit of chorus smoothes it out somewhat. Unfortunately it also gives it a bit of a brittle/digital sound. I'll keep working on it.

Mason

---
"The pump don't work cuz the Vandals took the handle"

Check out my latest song called Tiny Man Inside (Read Between the Lines)

echoroom	echoroom said 950 days ago (April 20th, 2007)
	God on a moped! Christ on a bike is just an exclamation of surprise - maybe an Irish thing. I am no singing expert, but if you want any help, feel free to ask - I really like your work. Steve Check out my latest song called Deeper (w/t Racerat)

	said 951 days ago (April 19th, 2007)
	Nice I rarely vote around here, but i gave this straight 9's. It was great, and did something for me. Thanks for sharing. Brandon

stevewhit

stevewhit said 950 days ago (April 20th, 2007)

Nice One!
This sounds great to me. I love the guitar and drums. You have a really good voice and my only comment would be that it could be with being a little louder in the mix (this is only my opinion and it may not be correct).
I'm not too sure where other listeners stand on this, in some songs the vocals are very laid back in the overall mix.

Thanks

Steve

Check out my latest song called schooldays

	said 950 days ago (April 20th, 2007)
	This is cool It is continuous, but did not lose my attention the whole way through - enjoyed it a lot. nice vocals, and the guitars are nicely clean. I need to upgrade my Amplitube, but it won't help me play like that:) . - Harold

SmokeyVW	SmokeyVW said 950 days ago (April 20th, 2007)
	very fine man i love the idea of dancing the exploding cascade of quantum decision points... this is a very cool way of tying a fundamental physics concept to the everyday process of living our human life... thanks! Check out my latest song called One For Me

Stun Nutz	Stun Nutz said 945 days ago (April 24th, 2007)
	solid Quite a piece of work here... very strong. The limited singing range gives it an emotional focus. Check out my latest song called Gossamer dissected

Leon

Leon said 945 days ago (April 25th, 2007)

serene
Sounds like one of the early Duran Duran tracks without a climactic center... Don't get me wrong, I love the song overall but I can't help sensing a bit of monotony towards the later part... leaves me a little bit wanting for more... like there is something lacking still. Voice is a pleasure to my ears and the background music is definitely soothing... Calm and serene... Overall, still a definite two-thumbs-up effort!

Check out my latest song called The Nightingale (music and lyrics by Oceans)

MasonAtom

MasonAtom said 945 days ago (April 25th, 2007)

well
I know exactly what you mean in your comments, but at the same time I actually have to consider the song a success if that was your emotional response to it... because that was kind of how it was designed and kind of how I was feeling while I was writing it.

I didn't write the piece from the standpoint of trying to generate a catchy song with a lot of peaks and valleys - it has more of a droning/cyclical feel that I was looking for - something that nearly reaches that next level, but never does.

Not sure if that makes any sense, but that's where my head was when I wrote it.

Mason

---
"The pump don't work cuz the Vandals took the handle"

Check out my latest song called Tiny Man Inside (Read Between the Lines)

Leon	Leon said 945 days ago (April 25th, 2007)
	indeed... Your emotions and purpose behind this song were exactly how I felt listening to it, in which case you have succeeded tremendously. --- The lion roars, the eagle soars. Check out my latest song called The Nightingale (music and lyrics by Oceans)

HOKEY POKEY	HOKEY POKEY said 945 days ago (April 25th, 2007)
	Nice Tones I really like the guitars, they just ring like bells. Hokey Check out my latest song called Maxwell's Alien Sonata Opus B, pt. 3