I’ve been away from Cubase for a week or so, but picked this one up again today and put together a rough mix of something which may make it to FOUR – but I’m still unsure (so any feedback gratefully received). I quite like some bits of it – certain bass parts, the drums and brass – but I think I may have ended up with two tracks here which I’m trying to mix into one, linked by the percussion.
First full arrangement – 6th June 2010
I’ve added a couple of new sounds and put together an arrangement. Need to leave this for a couple of days, let the ears recover and work on the mix later in the week. Doesn’t seem like too much is out of place, but tired ears mean I may not be hearing everything. (Over to Pure Tone for analysis.)
Track #6 Arrangement #1 by Kieron James
With some revisions – 30 May 2010
Track #6-98-bars by kieronjames
First upload
The Burns We Earn
I spotted the @blocsonic remix competition on Twitter on 1st May and was intrigued at how I’d get on remixing a track which was “outside my genre comfort zone”. A couple of elements of the track – notably the bass and vocals – suggested one or two ideas and I started to play around with them.
I extracted midi from the bass line and worked with Rob Papen’s SubBoomBass to generate a couple of different sounds. I created a new (extremely simple) drum part in Battery and glitched the hats using Audio Damage’s Automaton. I created a sequence for one of the original synth parts using BigSeq2 and applied a few filters to the vocals. The guitar part was run through Native Instruments’ Guitar Rig as was an additional synth to create the siren sound.
First up is the original – 2 minute track from Friends or Whatever:
Friends or Whatever – The Burns We Earn by blocSonic
And here is my remix:
The Burns We Earn (Kieron James RMX) by kieronjames
You can download the single including six other remixes and a lovely eleven page PDF booklet from blocSonic’s website:
FOUR, by Kieron James
OK, this one has turned out completely off whack with the first three tracks of the album, but there’s something I really like about its quirkiness. There are lots of parts – both in terms of its many layers and the way it jumps from section to section.
I still have doubts as to whether it all works as a whole, but I’m not sure I care! Kinda happy to let it exist as a free-spirited piece and bounce wherever it likes.
Four by kieronjames
Update: 7 June 2010
Lovely to see that Matt Pacyga used this track for one of his #DAPTS videos:
Daily Achievements #DAPTS Playing Foursquare from Daily Achievements on Vimeo.
Kicked off this morning with Battery, as I tweeted a couple of hours ago. Wrote a drum part, added a little Automaton (Audio Damage) and a bass line using my “go-to” bass sequencer, Rob Papen’s SubBoomBass.
This is what I have so far. Time to walk the dog and see what ideas come to mind.
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Dog walking complete and it all seems to have turned a bit dub. (Just drums as that bass line was too reminiscent of something I think Mass of Moments?)
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And after tea, a little bit more. Playing around with a couple of sequences in Massive and SubBoomBass which work quite nicely with the break beat.
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Update 4 – After a week away
Worked on the bass line and some of the drum sounds. I think I have enough to turn this into a track now. (And I’m really pleased with how it’s shaping up.)
Four (20100305) by kieronjames
Update 5 – Fun with SBB and PSP Nitro
Whatever becomes of this track, gotta say, I’m having great fun putting it together!
Four (20100306) by kieronjames
FOUR, by Kieron James
I’ve been working on this one for a while and I’m getting happier with the mix. Need to tweak the arrangement though – not sure about the first appearance of the guitar or its sound. I think that will be removed once I have the vocals. It seems incongruous early in the piece.
You can follow the history of work in progress as Johnny developed and the story of the track’s title on this post.
One thing which Pure Tone suggested, was some “girly vocals”. This set a train of thought in motion and I was looking around some movie sites last night. The track is pretty light and bouncy so I was after something with a touch of humour for some of the quiet sections. I thought these four lines would work well and I’m delighted with the way Salwa Azar has delivered them.
Johnny, is this true? ‘Cause if it is…
Good luck Johnny
Bye bye Johnny
Say kid, what do they call you?
…never should have picked a name like that. A name like that you gotta live up to.
Any last words Johnny?
So apparently it’s Black Friday in the US. Not really sure whether there’s any significance beyond a general sale, but the good news is I managed to pick up a copy of Native Instruments’ Reaktor 5 for €99. Quite a bargain.
I didn’t really know what it was, though I’ve heard @ambienteer and @fjfonseca refer to it a good deal on Twitter. So I thought I’d satisfy my curiosity whilst the price was low.
Much to @dustmotes‘ doubtless incredulity, I have managed to hook it up to Cubase (without any sticky-backed plastic) and here’s my first upload. I’ve been messing around with the drum sequencer “Massive”, using some of the on board samples. To this I’ve added some Audio Damage Automaton FX and a quick and dirty bass line using Rob Papen’s SubBoomBass.
I can see that this is going to be fun 
Update 7: 03/01/2010
Here’s one that somehow never really gelled, but I’ve been so backwards and forwards with it that I’ve run out of steam.
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Update 6: 22/12/2009
I’ve been really on and off with this track for way too long. I’m at the point where I might just ditch it. I’m uploading 48 bars and as you can see, I’ve been pulled in lots of different directions with it. In truth, it’s all over the place. I’m not sure I can salvage anything, so I might bin it (or park it at least) and start with something new.
But I think I’m done for 2009. Time for a break and return in the New Year with a fresh direction.
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Update 5: 10/12/2009
A glitch too far? Very probably. Still screwing around with this to see what falls out. Creating some wah wah effects from Monday’s brass stabs. Still some bits I like and others which will go. Not the quickest track to come together, but I think it’ll get there in the end. May work on something else for a while and come back to this.
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Update 4: 07/12/2009
Last night, Doyle suggested some brass stabs – an idea supported by Linda. They both got me thinking and I couldn’t wait to have a play. It takes the track in an entirely different direction from the idea I’d loosely formulated, but hey!
I’ve not got very far – just toying around with some ideas, but is this the kind of sound we were all thinking of?
(Needless to say, there’s very little chance the brass will stay this “straight” throughout the track. It’ll need to be treated, glitched and generally bent out of shape, but I may keep the odd 4 bars here and there quite conventional.)
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Update 3: 06/12/2009
I’ve been a bit blocked – and I think it’s this track in particular. Really happy with the drum part and some of the other bits. I’ll add lots of incidental percussion – little fills here and there – once it’s complete, but it’s not coming together quickly. Then again, what’s the rush?
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Update 2: 01/12/2009
Starting to develop some parts, but still no arrangement to speak of. Again, not mixed or anything yet so levels are probably all over the place.
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Update 1: 29/11/2009
Had a bit of a play with this today. Added some elements which I like and some I’m not so sure about. I’ll leave it for a couple of days and see what stays and what goes. Also need to start thinking about a lead part.
As usual, there’s no arrangement here, not even an introduction – so prepare yourself as you hit play! The drum loop I’ve created is also pretty raw. The bass drum triplets, whilst powerful, are clearly repeating too frequently. I’ll pull these in probably once every 8 or even 16 bars once the piece is further on.
Not sure at all about the funky wah wah guitar type synth sound. I suspect that will die. Only bit I’m really happy with at the moment is the repetitive bass line and the drums (once the BD triplet frequency has been reduced.
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First upload: 27/11/2009
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I’m not going to add too much content to my own blog, since it’s being covered in detail over at Half-BIT.com, but I will take a moment just to add a brief description of what Fernando and I are working on.
It started with a tweet from @AudioPornTwitz about a Little Boots remix contest. The Earthquake stems were posted online so I DM’d Fernando to see if he was interested in having a play with them for our follow up to Separate.
Earthquake – GAP RMX by Half-BIT
