Saturday, June 20, 2009

Day 170: Alan Braxe gives production advice.

Picked this little interview up over on Cuepoint. French funk house legend Alan Braxe talks about becoming a DJ, production tips, and his new album.

Nice to see such humility and humbleness from such a great artist.


2/365

p&&l

bang!

Friday, June 19, 2009

Day 169: Dynamite MC the next big thing...

My hometown of Bristol has always been ridiculously consistent at producing great talent, and one area in particluar has been MCs/Vocalists.

I don't know if it's just that we are a gobby bunch, but there was a time for me that if the guy on the mic wasn't from Bristol, I wasn't interested :P

From the old skool ravin days of Ribbz, Jach Horner, and Joe Peng, to Drum & Bass and contemporary pioneers like Jakes and Dynamite, Bristol has always represented hard. Maybe it's a mixture of the cities sound system culture, and oft ignored west country sense of humour and independence.

Recently though I happened across a Jack Beats remix of one of Dynamites tunes, and it reminded me what a great vocal talent he really is. To call him an MC isn't doing him justice. This guy is a full blown Vocalist.

I have many many fond memories of sweaty jam packed clubs rocking out to Roni Size with Dynamites characteristic voice (quite a rarity in DnB circles) booming over the mic. You knew you were in safe hands when he was in control. So I am glad to see that he is developing his talents and releasing records now in his own right.

What I DON'T understand is why he isn't the biggest thing ever. Seriously. The quality of his lyrics are as good as any other RnB/Hip Hop vocalist out thereon the $$$ scene. Britain has always been good at nurturing it's underground vocal talent, a-la Estelle/So Solid etc, so what's going on here!

Maybe if I can dust off some old skool Bristol contacts, or from a bit of pressure on his MySpace we can get a full interview and get the low down.

Oh and those who thought I just skimmed over the equally talented Jakes... don't fret, the same goes for this cheeky legend too, having gone full blown producer this is another talent I would love to see go major.


2/365

p&&l

bang!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Day 168: Ableton track walkthrough #1

A while back I posted some samples from some new tunes I had started. I thinly promised to go through the making process to see how things develop, and give a kinda raw look into the process. See what bits are kept/canned/developed etc. So here is one such example.

The tune I have been focusing on most recently is currently entitled 'Pre Party' and the snippet I posted a while back sounded like this:









As you can see, just a coupla bars, giving an idea of a tune. Basically I had created the bass sound using an LFO to control the cut off of a bass note (I wont go into the fuller synthesis details here), and a fairly simple kick/high hat 4/4 combo. I also added in a high end string stab at the end of the bar to 'answer' the bass tone.

This next piece of audio is what it has developed into so far. I would say the arrangement is about 40% done, just needs filling out, then detail adding to the 8 bar phrases to make it more interesting. I have added some variations to the bass and string sections to give it more of a 'tune'. I also actually lowered the bass in the mix a bit, to bring out the high end, and in fact I might actually go further with that and make the high end the key part.

The queue for the first hearing was mega.


The drums I have added a few hits in to make it more interesting and off centered some of the sounds to widen out the beat a bit. So far I haven't gone into adding effects and compression as such, and to that end the all over mix is still not that hot, but hopefully you can see that it's starting to begin to sound like more of a structured tune:








2/365

p&&l

bang!

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Day 167: Making use of time.

One thing I have been terrible at, almost all my life, is making use of time. Add to that the fact that, you know, some cruel twist of fate means we have to waste over 50% of out waking lives going to work, then yeah personal endeavours barely get a look in.

Well every once in a while chance throws you a bone, and it's up to you to take that bone and er... use it wisely (mental note to use a better metaphor next time).

So, let's just say that my work schedule is looking, er, a whole lot quieter at the moment. Bad times. But bad times can be good times.

A while back after clicking away too much of my time not doing very much of interest, I took a step forward, and gave myself the chance to make a real go of things. Insert 'terrible use of time' here. Let's just say I enjoyed myself a little too much, and didn't get round to a whole bunch of things.

Well, as fate would have it, I've basically been given a second bite of the cherry, this time with a much better footing. Now really is the time when I can get all the projecty things going, whilst still (hopefully) being able to keep the wolf from the door as it were.

Already today I have managed to work through some Ableton tutorials I had been putting off, and made some progress on one of the tunes. Good times, exciting times. And yes, finally I should be able to dedicate some proper time to the BTDJ project, and therefore impart more wisdom to you other prospective DJs.

Maybe...


2/365

p&&l

bang!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Day 166: Fake it till you make it.

Damn... now if I lived in the UK, this is an opportunity I would definitely be putting myself up for.

Lost Dog Records are looking for Actors to be in their coming short film 'The Pick Up'.

The movie is set to portray what it's truly like on the London club scene, on the pull. They are opening up the opportunity to be in the film to any willing wannabe actors, and are looking for 5 key roles. Two ladies (presumably the prey), two bar staff and a DJ.

The DJ role can be either male or female between 18-30, the female leads need to be between 19 and 23, whilst the bar staff can be male or female from 20-35, and preferably with some bar experience.

If you think you've got what it takes, or just fancy being seen on screen headphones pressed to ear, moving records back and forth then auditions will be held in London, Birmingham and Manchester during July and August. Further information can be obtained by contacting castingthepickup@gmail.com.




2/365

p&&l

bang!

Monday, June 15, 2009

Day 165: APC40, then new MPC??

Few bits of kit ever make truly legendary status, but the odd one or two capture the imagination of a music making generation.

One such piece of legendary kit is the MPC series from AKAI, notoriously the MPC60... tho all of the sub versions held massive favour with Hip Hop producers in general. Well there could be a new contender to that throne.

The new APC40 (also from AKAI) has already got forums chatting with its hackable functionality (we nerds love a bit of hackability). Also there is the talk of Monome emulation, which, seeing as the APC weighs in at a measley $400, makes it a very interesting bit of kit indeed.

Check here for some more info on the hackability.


2/365

p&&l

bang!

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Day 164: How to make build ups in Ableton.

Here is a neat little tutorial about how to make those essential build ups using Ableton.

So stop reading, go watch:

2/365

p&&l

bang!