Monday, March 23, 2009

coming along

I've been working (mostly) on the song that I started on the 19th. I've gotten a nice progression so far. Along with what I had, I've switched up the bassline with a few breaks, and added a couple extra instruments.



I've changed a few things since this upload. Mainly lowering the cutoff on the bassline (it was a little too rezzy) and upped the last synth line an octave.

Along with this song I came up with two other loops. One's an arpeggiated Cynthia VST line with some drums and the other is a house-y riff with some simple drums. I'm keeping those on the backburner until I finish this song - just adding to them when I get an idea in my head.

I also got some graph paper out today to map out song structures. I was stumpted as to how to advance on my tunes - they tend to end up too repetitve. So I went after 'Got Glint?' by The Chemical Brothers. I love how their songs are simple in structure, yet have so much going on. They're masters at tossing about little effects and sounds. I'm going after that in my current work - hopefully I can come somewhat close.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

back on track

After being lax on music for the last month I'm back in the groove. I went to revisit WiP 7 (out of 8) but ended up, as usual, starting a whole new track. It's really smooth and groovy - tastes like wine.

I was reading up on techniques, namely Breakbeats via Wikipedia. I knew the fundamentals thanks to The Chems, so I took a hand at creating a polyrhythm with a dash of syncopation for good measure. I came out with a funky little drum line. I planted a bassline on top of that and added some wispy pads on top. The result is a groovy little funker that I really dig. I only have 4 bars so far, but it's coming along nicely.

I also stumbled upon GOLD tonight. A persona by the name Kutiman takes youtube music clips and edits them together into entirely new songs. His project is called ThruYou and it's simply amazing. Not only is the music astounding, but the video editing is fascinating as well. At least listen to 'This is what I became' and 'Babylon Band', his style ranges from Jazz, to Hip-Hop, to Drum-and-Bass. It's just amazing the talent this man posseess. Great stuff, and very inspiring.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Working in progress

A couple days ago I scored a new set of headphones. Granted, they're $20 Sony MDR-V150's, but I was using a shotty $5 pair of Coby headphones with ripped wires that emitted a constant buzz. Once I get the funds I'll be upgrading to a pair of AKG K240's, along with a new soundcard (did I mention my current one crackles constantly and has the latency of a dying elephant?).

Today I uploaded a set of works in progress to Soundcloud (embedded below) to try and get a feel of where I should be heading. GAME 5.0 is coming up (releasing in June) and Project 168 kicks off on Monday, April 13. I would like to have 2 songs for GAME 5, and another 3-4 songs, comprising an EP, for P-168. I've been slacking on music lately, so I'm going to have to kick it into high gear to churn out 6 unique songs in April.

Give these WiPs a listen and let me know which you'd like to hear turned into a choon. I'm thinking of making an Acid-House track along with a complimentary ambient/chill tune for my set of GAME 5 songs. The theme is Summer, so it shouldn't be too hard to get into the vibe.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

GAME 4 Released!



GAME 4 has finally been released! You can visit the thread on NeoGAF or download the album directly from m0dus' website (that also includes the previous 3 GAME compilations).

GAME 3.1 will be released shortly, from what I understand. We're currently working on the theme for GAME 5, which will probably end up being a summer party themed album. We're looking at a June release date.

Time to get back in the studio!