NOTHING BUT MUSIC!!…and maybe random other things :)
Hey everyone!
Alright, just want to give everyone an update. I’ve been extremely busy and I’ve been neglecting my music 😦 I have a few posts coming up though. One, I have a featured artist that I really enjoy and I’ll be talking about what I like and don’t like about their music. Then I have a new mix coming up, BEACH THEMED! So excited for summer..it’s only what…3 months away! And James has a article in the works as well.
Cheers and hope to have all this fun stuff out there soon!
Ams
So, there’s this great track from 2009..you may have heard of it called “Stereo Love” by Edward Maya feating the wonderful voice talent of Vika Jigulina. If you haven’t, then I’d be super shocked haha. And a little concerned. But if you haven’t, well, here..check it out.
The track is excellent and the best part is the accordion instrument. I remember trying to find a sound like that after hearing and couldn’t for the longest time. Well recently I came across a remix pack for the track and got super excited. In fact, when I started importing all the components (MIDI, wav, etc.) the instrument track had linked to a VST that I already had and guess what…IT WAS THE ACCORDION INSTRUMENT! hahaha I had it all along and never found it..geez.
Anyway, so myself and CT came together to produce this (I think) pretty awesome remix. As always, I tend to love the Gareth Emery style, and it’s definitely in there. So here is our remix. Keep in mind it’s not completely mixed and mastered properly.
In the process of building the track, the biggest debate we came across was whether to actually use the accordion instrument or not. Now, it’s a little funny saying that after talking about wanting that instrument for so long…*cough*1+ years…but most remixes out there use it and rightfully so. We started out trying without it and using a more traditional trance synth.
It sounded cool but it felt a little too disconnected to the original. And it’s pretty obvious that the two main features of the original are the accordion and the vocals. The sounded great with a trance synth, no doubt, but it just didn’t feel right. We went to the accordion sound and more or less used very similar effects settings on it, and I think it turned out for the better.
The one other notable feature that I love is the piano. Now, if you look at most of my work a piano is almost always used. I just love the piano. haha But trying to do something unique I added a neat delay (1/8 I believe, with a high feedback) to try to have this rolling feel. It was for two reasons. One, to try to do something different and cool and two, to try to create a element that moved the song forward.
Well, hopefully people enjoy it. Please leave some feedback, questions, etc. and I’d be happy to discuss this stuff further. Also I put a download link below for the remix pack that I used for anyone that would love to try themselves. If you do, I’d love to see your interpretations so leave them in the comments 🙂
Ams
So, there’s this great video game on the NES that is called Ducktales! And more specifically, there is a level in there called “The Moon”. Now, not everyone is a gaming type person and that’s cool. This isn’t about the game but it’s about this great song that accompanies the level. And here it is!
This is some classic 8-bit music at it’s finest. So, when I first started producing one of the first tracks I ever tried making was a remix based on this melody and here it is. The mixing quality and such isn’t the greatest but I think for one of my first tracks ever. It’s not bad.
Now, some of the other remixes and such out there really try to stay within the spirit of the 8-bit style (SID). But I decided to try to make something very trance-y but nothing too different that you wouldn’t be able to tell where it came from. So the arp is an 8-bit saw synth which allows me to stay in the spirit of the original composition.
So, it’s been a few years since I made that track and the other days I dug it up and showed it to Ams. She loved the melody and decided to give it a shot:
Her version is a bit more…crazy, haha. No, it has some really neat elements and there is progressive elements used. I particularly love the use of the old Blade Runner type brass synth she used. It feels very old school. Also, she utilized the 2nd phrase of the original composition where I did not. And the end is pretty neat with the pianos and the rhythm being pretty much a nod to the original drum loop.
But I must say nothing compares to that original composition…just brilliant.
My first blog entry! Woo.
The purpose of this blog is to follow my music production related stuff. I will be sharing tracks, samples, melodies, mixes, etc. in this blog and share maybe why I pick certain elements within those tracks. I may even share my thoughts on other artists tracks that really stand out for myself.
But we’ll see where it all goes. Nothing better then doing stuff on the fly.
Well, I think my first entry will be the first episode of a series called Needle Drop! So here we go!
Episode track list:
1. Arty – Zara (Original Mix)
2. Max Go & Chris Lawr – Afterburner (Original Mix)
3. Super8 & Tab Feat. Julie Thompson – My Enemy (Rank 1 Remix)
4. Mat Zo – Back In Time (Original Mix)
5. Ams – Tears From Above (Original Mix)
6. Fabio XB – Reflected (Trance Gate Remix)
7. First State Feat. Sarah Howells – Reverie (First State’s Pounding Club Mix)
8. Dash Berlin Feat. Emma Hewitt – Disarm Yourself (Dub Mix)
9. Nadia Ali – Rapture (Gareth Emery Remix) [Episode Favorite]
10. Aruna & Mark Eteson – Let Go (Nic Chagall Remix)
March 14, 2011
Ams
Ams
CT
ams Music Blog 