CBC Challenge: Medieval. With songs of Love in their hearts and their retinues in tow, the poorest of the Crusader knights began the 2,500 mile walk out of Europe to Jerusalem, hoping to find redemption in battle.
progressive
rock
instrumental rock
metal
fusion
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Story behind the song
Little did the first knights know how strange and hostile the Holy Land would be or the hardship they would face. Nor the ripples through the ages they would would create.
With the Pope's words of redemption in fire still ringing in their ears, much needed for these violent feudal lords, they would sing songs of Love and Devotion as they travelled. This serenity is pushed aside by the stark and harsh reality of the Holy Land, and into the 'Crusader blues' as they suffer hunger and hardship.
The 'Love in my heart' sub-title? lol, I kept hearing that in the harmony guitar during playbacks as though from a religious song, with visions of young pilgrim maidens in the retinue singing angelically, with yearning. This also prompted me to put the harmony behind the blues rock section, trying to maintain that yearning feeling in strife.
I have a feeling that the riff during the bluesy rock bit sounds like another song, but I was aiming for a old school rock feel so possibly it was inevitable.
I was quite pleased with the arabian/blues sections solo guitar tone and that I managed to keep it quite tight and not go twiddly-diddly-neeowng in a random fashion as is usually my wont :D
I think I achieved the 'aural visualisations' and overall feel I'd hoped for.
I've been experimenting with layering guitars recently and this track features mass guitar layering for the blues rock bit, up to 8 individual guitar tracks at one stage at various levels of drive. lol
I had trouble with bass definition compounded by mp3 compression, so apologies if it booms a bit in places. Unfortunately, the ME-6 can be a bit hummy/hissy, which is present in some of the recordings. Particularly with (funnily enough) the clean chorus'd guitar. But I liked the tone from that particular patch so, meh :) (excuses, excuses...)
Getting to like the drum kit VST our Bruce passed to me: Akoustik Drumz. Quite basic with only one tom, but it has a good retro feel to it I think. A little Bonham-esque IMHO. No, I haven't yet got to grips with my own real kit lol.
Disclaimer:
This piece is not intended to glorify the Crusades. It is not intended to promote or blaspheme any religion.
Acknowledgements:
Concept sources from good old BBC TV and their current documentaries on the Crusades: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01b3ftw/The_Crusades_Holy_War/
Bazaar sounds from random YouTube videos featuring Damascus and Marakesh.
Call to prayer from a YouTube video of a mosque in Mecca, KSA.
Lyrics
Alluha Akbar - God is Greatest