Hourglass Suite Length

[bpmolder]

We have requests for 2 versions of Hourglass Suite that have been requested, the full 16 minute long version and a scaled down, 8 minute long version. My man Tanner has made a very valid point that a great album must be defined to the point that the tracks are set and stand as they are, without deviation. I concur with his beliefs on this and am convinced that it should be one way or another, one version billed as the album version and the other billed as a bonus single.

So please vote on which version you want on the album and make your comments here as to why you believe this, just for the sake of everyone's understanding. I will let the poll run for 2 weeks, after which time we will know which the people prefer.

[oz1701]

i just cant decide - if it was re-jigged it might be fine longer but in its current form it does need to be somewhat shorter.

the management would say it would never sell in either form and go do another song.

[Hudini]

Geoff, why don't you do something like a test version of the short "Hourglass Suite" so we can compare these two and decide?

Oz is right, it's not a commercial song in no way and we won't gain anything but CD space if we shorten it. The people who don't want to listen to such a piece won't listen to it even if it was 2 minutes long.

[PooF]

I've gone for 8 as the better of the 2 options, but can't really think of anything helpful to say

[bpmolder]

Solid idea, Hudini. A shorter edit would indeed be in order to actually have something to compare with. What do you guys say? Should I do it with or without the Jumblies poem?

[davidjay]

keep the poem in. i thought that it all seemed a bit long when i heard it and a shorter edit might be nice. i think that it'll sound better just a bit tighter.

[bpmolder]

I'm working on getting the poem re-read. That way, we can leave it in both edits and just chop down some of the other random stuff. There is also about 30 seconds of silence that I can chop out of the mix as well, along with the corresponding spoken audio bits.

[oz1701]

but the 30 seconds of silence was the best bit




sorry - just couldnt resist that line

[bpmolder]

but the 30 seconds of silence was the best bit




sorry - just couldnt resist that line

seriously though. I will begin the edit for the alternative edit tomorrow. I will just leave the Jumblies poem we have in there for now pending a replacement reading. It will end up making the poem longer in duration but all I will have to do is chop a few more random bits to accommodate it. Shouldn't be a problem.

[oz1701]

i think we are all looking forward to it

[filthyfish]

8 mins. Without a doubt.

[bpmolder]

Looks like we have an overwhelming majority in favor of an 8 minute version so far. Let's see how good we can pull it off. Stay tuned, boys and girls!

[Massed Gadgets]

It's hard to say what length it should be, because it depends on how it sounds with "improvements". If the piece develops in some way and justifies a longer length, then go for it, but as it is now, I would vote for 8 minutes. Even with development, though, because it's more or less an ambient piece with spoken words, rather than a "song" per se, I would vote for shorter.

[bpmolder]

It's hard to say what length it should be, because it depends on how it sounds with "improvements". If the piece develops in some way and justifies a longer length, then go for it, but as it is now, I would vote for 8 minutes. Even with development, though, because it's more or less an ambient piece with spoken words, rather than a "song" per se, I would vote for shorter.

Good point, Jeff. I plan on beefing it up considerably, so you never know. It might end up working at 16 minutes long. I have no preference myself either way really. I'd be cool with whatever. I'm just going to do the best I can with both edits and leave it up to a final, democratic decision.

[moom]

I think, what if we do a split:
one part is that 8-minute thing, and the other part is the rest?

If no, I'll go with 8 minutes, because though I still love the longer version better, I currently am in a mood when I think 16 minutes would be TOO long. As long as the spirit and the best stuff remain, I'm okay .