Concept album

[FatherSonAndAlcohol]

Hi guys,

I recently started work on a "concept" album, and I was wondering if anyone has any tips that would make things a bit clearer. I have finished one tune, kind of an intro/ prologue, and I really feel like I'm going into this blind. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[Da hand]

Outline the overall concept of your album. That should make things easier

[BlackMath]

make other types of art that tell the story of the songs
so you are creating visually as well
kind of like scoring a movie that doesnt exist yet

collect images online that have to do with the concept
start a pimtrest page to collect the images

just a few ideas

[juniorsfave]

Do you already have the design cover? You should focus on the album's cover song for the album design. Aim for a graphic design that would have optical illusions or similar graphics that would have the same effect since it would be a great promotional aspect to the album

[FatherSonAndAlcohol]

Awesome. Thanks for the tips.

[Kent_in_CO]

I just released a concept album, and have learned a lot about the process over the past two years.

Keep developing your story, but don't think it has to be super-deep or complex. Just a basic idea is enough. Mine was based on a simple premise:

Hong Kong: 2050 A.D. You're about to inject a dose of mind-altering nanobots. This is the soundtrack to your trip.

Here are some techniques that can help you tell a story:

- Take some index cards, and put each song (or a track number for a song if you don't have a name yet), then on the other side write down what's going to be happening at that point in the story.

- Linearly map out a song's timeline, start to finish. On one line, list the sounds that are occurring (i.e. here the drums are fading in, here's the bassline, etc.). On a parallel line, write down what these sounds represent in terms of the story.

- Design certain sounds to represent certain elements of your story. For example, the chiptune sounds in my album represent the nanobots coursing through your body.

- Take some time away from the studio to just think through everything. Put yourself in that world/environment, and live in it for awhile. Develop a deep sense of what you would be feeling and experiencing, if you were actually living that story.

Here's an interview where I explain my process in more detail:

http://www.modulatethis.com/2012/08/mus ... beria.html

Cheers,

Kent // SEVEN7HWAVE

[FatherSonAndAlcohol]

This is great stuff! Thanks, Kent.