Saturday, February 28, 2009

Day 59: Big like titanic.

Right, here we are, just coming in under the bar. February's minimix. It really truly, seriously is a belter.

If you hadn't guess, this months theme is Drum & Bass. Being a Bristolian, this is a genre close to my heart. I even kick off the set with an ultra Bristolian combo of Jakes/TC/Dynamite, by means of homage.

Direct Link (Right click save as).

Bang the DJ Drum & Bass minimix:








This reminded me of the Jan minimix, that I wasn't entirely pleased with... so I went back to it, and tweaked the levels to make it a bit smoother, and now, I actually quite like it, so in case you missed it (on my own advice) here is again:

Direct Link (Right click save as).

Bang the DJ Disco minimix:







What I really liked about this mix is that it's a scene that I haven't been too involved with of recent, so effectively had no tunes etc. Off I went to the always excellent Drum & Bass Arena, safe in the knowledge they would have the goods. And indeed I wasn't disappointed. Snapped me up a few bargains. 49p for a kick ass mp3? Can't be bad.

I actually bought quite a few mp3s this weekend. It actually reminded me how much I actually prefer buying them, yeah weird. Without going in to the whole rant about it... basically 'the blogs' are a very good source of upfront tunes, but if you rely too much on that, you soon find your musical horizon is quite narrow.

Example, while looking to buy 'Champion Sound' on mp3, I stumbled upon another tune of the same name, that is a completely different hip-hop number, that was really good. I discovered a new artist, and might even follow that up as a theme for a mini mix.

Not only that, having paid for something, by its very nature, gives it value. I think nothing of skimming through the weeks blog offerings, crassly deleting this, 'possibly' keeping that... this is someones hard work. Yet the mp3s I buy, seem cherished, special.

On top of all of this, is the obvious act of doing right. I don't spect Bruce Springsteen would ever notice if I bought his tracks on mp3 or not... and I don't just mean on a monetary level. However buying these mp3s there is that definite sense of contributing back to the artist. Yes financially, but also in the more supportive sense.

If I released music digitally, I would get a mad buzz, when checking my stats (as I am sure is possible/they do) to see that people actually buy my music, not as part of a mix, or compilation... but the specific track. So it is definitely nice to give that back.

I'm not about to suggest everyone should do the same, we are too far down that road for it to matter, however, I just wanted to comment that despite all the fears, maybe music sales aren't going to die after all. Who knows maybe the hard working independent artist might flourish in this more level of playing fields.

1/365

p&&l

bang!

Friday, February 27, 2009

Day 58: Rule my world.

Weekend time bangers, and just over 24 hours left to get the Feb mini mix in. Leaving it til the last minute for a change.

I have been having a few ideas on the production front too, and have decided to have a stab at a remix. I figured this frees up the frustrating part of trying to write music while still learning new software etc. Meaning I have less to worry about on the tune creation part as such for now.

However it does also pose it's own problems. But what the heck I decided to give it a punt. I am not giving myself a time limit for this though, but I am hoping in a week or two to at least have something half formed.

Now obviously to decide on which tune... easy. There are a million tunes I could choose from, but on a personal note there has been one tune I always wanted to pay homage too, and it's quite possibly one of the best Drum & Bass tunes of all time, and if you don't know it, it means you weren't there.

Enjoy:





1/365

p&&l

bang!

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Day 57: Gutter punch.

Properly exhausted today,

Not been a day for making DJ progress sadly.

All I can offer you today (by means of an easy win) is an introduction to a series of videos I found ages ago on youtube.

This guys has thousands (literally) of DJ tutorial videos, and the more you watch he's actually a thoroughly likable guy too:



Practise and N-joy


1/365

p&&l

bang!

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Day 56: DJ Skills

Afternoon Wanna be DJ's,

I've been thinking of a few new angles of attack with the whole 'Make it as a DJ' thing.
Some of the ideas are old, some not so. But either way I think it's worth a punt.

One of which will be the BTDJ quarterly Podcast (yeah podcast, I know, how 2004). However this will be another avenue of reaching people, and opportunity to explore another medium and just other general such 'stuff'.

I will aim to do this bi-monthly I think, due to time restrictions. I am tempted to maybe make it a video podcast too, we'll see. I have almost no video editing skills at all though, so that might be a tall order. Most likely I will keep it audio, review some tunes crack some funnies, and devour the music press.

Moving on from that though, and not entirely unrelated was the idea of doing some tutorials right here on the site.

I mean, come on, why didn't I think of this earlier, this is exactly what needs to be going on.

I have also recently been looking in to some music production, and DJ related books. There are some good looking titles out there, and I have something special lined up for this very soon.

So keep em peeled for all that. Not sure when the Podcast will see the light of day, I am hoping first half of March. I am throwing this open to anyone else too who feels they might like to contribute. Got a relevant piece, opinion etc? Send it in!

Till tomorrow...

1/365

p&&l

bang!

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Day 55: Frustration.

Nowt more annoying than being full of ideas and motivation for the project during the day (while locked at work) then coming home and just wanting to eat, and curl up in to a ball.

Just listening to some tunes from the blogs, and checking out videos on the Mad Decent website isn't really progress. It really is hard I tells ya.

I have however uploaded the Phase 2 mix to The Mixing Bowl, and had it Snatched 10 times (at time of writing). Might upload it to a few more trackers 'for a laff'.

ha ha, indeed.

Got loads of vibes to get on this week, and meeting some peeps after work tomorrow and Thurs that might lead to some things.

Who knows.


1/365

p&&l

bang!

Monday, February 23, 2009

Day 54: Choice

New week, and it's straight in to it.

Just been having a little meddle with the mini mix tunes, and looking good. It's nice to try something different, a new style, because it forces the brain to re-adapt its mixing 'ears' which can only be a good thing.

I spose a bit like driving a different way to work, reminds you of other parts of the city.

Wow, great metaphor right there.

How about a completely unrelated picture:

No caption required.

To be fair though, since when are any of the images related. Well they are, but maybe you just don't realise that they are.

I really want to try and get the mix about this week... but it's going to be hard due to a brace of evening commitments, and a busy working week.

However no-one said this would be easy.


1/365

p&&l

bang!

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Day 53: Noodie noodie noodie.

If there is one thing everyone enjoys, it's getting naked. So imagine my joy when I discovered this wicked awesome video:



In BTDJ related news, not a lot gone on since yesterday's triumphant mix. I have added a soundcloud widget to the bangthedj.com site, and a new link to the download area.

I've also madly tarted up the said download area, in as much as, that before it was just a blank directory. Now I've suped it up with some images and all that.

Once I get paid, am gonna get some CDs done up, print some labels, and start firing this puppy out.

All good in the hood.

Right, spose I might get dressed and have a cup of tea...

1/365

p&&l

bang!