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(Thorsten Bartel)More to come...
(Thorsten Bartel)More to come...
(Thorsten Bartel)More to come...
(Thorsten Bartel)More to come...
(Thorsten Bartel)More to come...
(Thorsten Bartel)More to come...
(Thorsten Bartel)More to come...
(Thorsten Bartel)More to come...
(Thorsten Bartel)The end of the year is approaching - this also means kind of finish for the project in 2009. Until now, the following news are to be announced:
"Creatures Of The Underworld" is complete - We don't want to let the cat out of the bag, but this tune is definitely one of the most diversified, complex and challenging ones. The guide tracks will be handed over to the musicians and the recording of the guitars is about to begin.More to come...
(Thorsten Bartel)The "T.Q.O.T.A." project has proceeded well since the last news entry, especially in terms of songwriting: "Medea" and "The Crashing Rocks" are almost complete. "Medea" is the only real yet not sappy ballad of the album whereas "The Crashing Rocks" consists of several different parts and changes of tempo - a quite diversified tune. I'm dying to hear the singers on these songs.
Moreover, Joe Lemke from Düsseldorf recently dared to play on our edrum kit. After a short adaptation phase he was able to get used to the confinements of the kit and gave "The Theft Of The Golden Fleece" the missing human touch. Again, we achieved an immense advance.
More to come...
(Thorsten Bartel)It's been a long time since the last news of the "T.Q.O.T.A."-project have been presented here - but that definitely doesn't mean, that the Argo has been afflicted by a calm. In particular, the schedule looked like this during the last weeks:
More to come...
(Thorsten Bartel)
"T.Q.O.T.A." goes musical... that could have been the slogan of Jörg Piron's recording session. But actually, this wouldn't cope with the congenial all-rounder whose background lies in the branch of progressive metal. However, we asked him to put a lot of staginess into his role of "Phineus" who has a pretty important scene in the song Wings Of Metal. We already knew that he's able to do so because of his dedication at the musical ensemble "Movie and Motion" (www.movieandmotion.de). In this context, we'd really like to mention here that Jörg took on the long trip from Bielefeld to the studio just to support our project. Hats off! His contribution will definitely enhance the whole project and in particular Wings of Metal.
This week, a highlight occured to us since with Andreas Lohse (profile will follow soon) a real pro made his way into our studio. The samples he provided us in advance already made us ruminative and we asked ourselves, why we hadn't seen his former band and him as the frontman in one of the common metal magazines before. Anyway, we were able to accomplish the "Aeetes"-parts for "The Prophecy" in a relaxed yet always professional atmosphere within a few hours. In this context we'd like to mention, that Andreas' voice executes an ingenious counterpart to the ones of Regina Pfau (Medea) and Oliver Gärtner (Jason), for example. And the next highlight concerning vocal artists is already scheduled for next week!
And something else: Francis has created a new video which is now provided under the "Media"-category. More to come...
Once again, it was Oliver's turn to join uns at the studio. This time we recorded his parts of "The Theft Of The Golden Fleece".
After we had to cancel a session two weeks before 'cause Oliver's voice was quite exhausted from many rehearsals and live gigs, he did an amazing job once again. So, "The Theft ..." is the first song with complete vocals. Get ready for some sound samples. More to come...
(Thorsten Bartel)
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Adverse conditions resulted in the fact, that we hadn't got any recording session with singers during the last couple of weeks. However, Christian Schäfer finally found his way into our small but nice project studio to record his "Phrixos" part for "The Prophecy". Apart from the fact that he's a real nice guy, everything proceeded in an optimal way. There elapsed more time while determining our favorite tracks than actually recording them. Heavy is the head that wears the crown! It's simply a pity, that Phrixos only appears once wihtin the whole story. Yet, Christian already mentioned two possible reasons for another meeting: Firstly, all participants in the project should come together once and secondly, there should be a part where all singers could act like a choir. Nice idea, isn't it! More to come...
Even though we weren't able to arrange a session with Daniel Fischer so far, he has already proved himself to be extraordinarily helpful for the project. He was able to make contact to 2 exceptionally talented instrumentalists, namely Andre Neuman and Chris Grundmann (see Artists). In this context we'd like to pronounce our laud especially to Daniel but as well to any involved artist for their motivation and interest in the project.More to come...
(Thorsten Bartel)
As I entered the studio that evening, I was met by the voice of Timo Kotipelto - I thought at first. But it was actually the singing of the extraordinarily talented Mr. Gärtner, who was stretching his vocal chords for T.Q.O.T.A. into altitudes that night that could have brought tears to a grown man's eyes. Yet no need to worry - male singers are not driven to a maximum performance by the use of some "family juwels clamp". Crystal clear and absolutely confident like Reinhold Messner without closed-circuit breathing apparatus on Mt. Everest, Oliver circled up to heights which chiselled a permanent and pleased grin into the faces of Thorsten and me. Afterwards I had the pleasure of interviewing Oliver regarding the project; the first of many I plan to do for T.Q.O.T.A. and which we hope to put onto the website in the near future. One can therefore only conclude that we once again struck it lucky - musically as well as personally. Good on you, Argonauts!
There's a lot going on at the "Argo": Two more singers, namely Andreas Lohse and Christian Schäfer have signed on. Furthermore, we're honoured to welcome René Gärtner as the first solo guitarist among the "T.Q.O.T.A." crew. If you want to gain some impressions from a recording session with Regina Pfau, just do so in the Gallery section. More to come...
(Thorsten Bartel)Session with Regina: I didn't want to miss this for the world after hearing her voice samples. And I wasn't disappointed: A voice like velvet filled with splinters of diamonds. After the session we tried to find out who she reminds us of but her voice proved so versatile that we ceased to compare. Still, we were pretty much impressed, especially about the speed with which the takes were recorded. Also present was her husband Marcel who is- as she puts it herself- her toughest critic and who surely contributed to the excellent outcome of this session. The chemistry between us was positive from the very beginning and we are really looking forward to our next encounter. By the way, we have recorded this really successful evening on film. As soon as possible you should be able to see how this session went. And not only this one... Thorsten and I are planning to put together video material to create a trailer, so that it will be possible for you to get an insight into the work on this project. Outtakes are not entirely unlikely... ;)
(Francis Brown)After a longer involuntary creative break, the Doctor and the mad Englishman have finally stuck their ingenious congenial heads together again to perform another major feat in this exciting project: The artists confirmed here who are participating in this project have been assigned their parts. The yet missing vocal samples of potentially interested singers are greatly anticipated as three characters are still available. The current list of cast runs as follows:
After a few small changes in the lyrics, which will enhance individual parts, recordings may begin. And finally, when the crew is complete, it will be: Set the sails, argonauts!
(Francis Brown)The actual state of affairs is as follows: The preproduction of 'Wings Of Metal' and 'The Theft Of The Golden Fleece' is almost complete. Both tunes being rather of a 'straight' type, 'WOM' is a fast, riff-driven song with lots of double-bass parts whereas the main thing about "TTOTGF" is its 'catchy' chorus. Actually, I sent them to Oliver ('WOM') and Regina ('TTOTGF') so they can give it a try. I even recorded proper guitar tracks to 'WOM' in the studio already. More to come...
(Thorsten Bartel)It's been a long time but due to some private stuff I had to concentrate on other topics during the last months. But that doesn't mean, that 'TQOTA' will fall into oblivion. On the contrary, there are some excellent news to be spread around. First of all, I found 3 new awesome singers for the project: Regina Pfau, Dennis Eikenkötter and Daniel Fischer (see their profiles on Artists). Moreover, the preproduction is in full activity. More to come...
(Thorsten Bartel)Wow! Oliver's got it! We sent him an old song of us plus lyrics. He did some draft vocals and sent it back. His interpretation of the song fitted matched our imaginations perfectly. We met at the studio and he recorded the vocals properly. It sounds awesome! Watch some nice pictures at our gallery. More to come...
(Thorsten Bartel)Happy new year, folks! Although we set the ball rolling to 'T.Q.O.T.A.' in the end of 2008 I'd like to 'proclaim' the beginning of the new year as official start of this project. It is really just raring to go, however I'm pleased to say that we already found someone who is willing to make his contribution, namely Oliver Gärtner (see his profile on the Artists-site). More to come...
(Thorsten Bartel)