Transient Shaper and how to use it

(tip: use it constantly)

Alhena – Overload

Another cover has landed – this time for a single “Overload” by Alhena. I did some driving retro hard trance remix for it, and it turned out really catchy. Well, you’ll have to wait till September 13th till it’s released.

For now, just enjoy the preview:

But know that the buildup is the the part where the magic happens 😉

The making of Starvation

Since now extended versions of tracks are on Youtube, there’s a good point to discuss how “Starvation” was made.

I had a simple idea in mind – a straightforward trance tune with african theme. This involves, obvioulsy, polyrthytmic djembe drums, but also harmonies. Some grooves were played by hand using different instruments, such as Ableton stock rack and Big Bang Cinematic Percussion, other loops were found on the Internet. As to harmonies, I googled some “african music”, understood correctly or not, and tried various chord progressions until it worked.

How are previous tracks doing

My previous release Convergence found its way to Youtube, so you can listen it in full version. Mind it was not mastered for streaming, and that makes a difference.

That being said, the track met no interest whatsoever. I seemingly hit the wrong label which just doesn’t promote stuff at all. Just avoid Speedsound altogether, guys.

In the meantime, remix of Angetenar gets a number of plays everyday, already reaching 1100 today. And doesn’t look like this madness is going to stop anytime soon.

Strangely enough, most of plays come from the country of Turkey, for which I have completely no explanation. But anyway, there’s some success to celebrate 🙂

The making of Introscope

Since it’s out now for everyone to hear (and to buy, apparently), I can say a few words how this track came to life. It took incredible amount of time and effort, but was worth it.

https://www.beatport.com/track/introscope-original-mix/9963922

It actually started as far as two years ago, with the rough idea to create some true hard-hitting and dark trancer with evolving structure. The title “introscope” means “device to look into yourself” – it was meant to be a journey through different emotions and states of mind.

Introscope / Starvation now in all stores

Here comes EP! Check them out, lots of banging trance with strong motiffs and driving acid riffs. Oh, and these are original – not common nowdays.

Beatport
iTunes
Juno
DJTunes

Grab them now!

Pure Trance Mix 2017-10-04

Trying to keep up with DJ sets. Don’t really have much time for these, but here it is:

Also features my latest own tune “Starvation”. Pretty simple and straightforward trance tune using african instruments and harmonies. Check this out.

Pure Trance Mix 2017-08-08

Back with a mix, long time no see! I couldn’t find much time for music lately, mostly as Stema Summer Sale got me 😉 But now I’m back on track, mixing music but also making it. As I don’t record mixes recently, the tracklists are getting too old. Need to catch up, have another similiar mix soon, or maybe more. To get anywhere with it, one needs to perform it on regular basis.

This set is an absolute premiere of my new production “Introscope”, which was born in pain over last two (!) years and kept in shadows, but finally coming close to completion. More details will be coming in the fllowing months.

Now, enjoy the mix!

Mid-Side Effect Rack for Ableton

I’ve been using this rack for two years now or more. Also requested it as a standard feature in Ableton library, but to no avail. So here it is, as simple as it gets: mid/side Audio Effect Rack. It consists of two channels, mid channel  (width 0%) and side channel (width 200%). That’s all that was needed to make it work… once you know it. The reality is, not many people do.

Now it’s here for everyone to download and use.

Just use simple gain boost/reduction or put different effects in mid and side channel. Solo/mute channels to check mono compatibility. Or do some weird shit, it’s all up to you.

Enjoy!

Kamille Louis – Still Waiting Remix

Another month, another remix contest.

Just before the deadline I finished a remix of Still Waiting by Kamille Louis. Good thing it’s shared in public and you can actually vote for it. The competition is strong though, mostly thanks to significant rewards.

Please vote here!

Now back to backyard: The original feels pretty uninspired. I guess the author had no idea what to do with, and neither had I – the genre was quite off :P. The basic idea was to use samples from remix pack as much as possible. I started down from cutting every sample out of it and procesing them until they ended up with something useful. The track is driven by polyrhythmic maracas (new technique to me) and basslines were resynthesized in Serum from original samples. The pads were also resynthesized with Harmor, though with poor results – mostly ending up with atonal textures. Second lead was chopped guitars playing MIDI extracted from generic drum loops – Ableton bread and butter.

Still, it eventually turned out to be pretty nice progressive house with a bunch of unusual sample FX. In fact it’s all about mixdown.

So it’s done. The next remix will be full-on trance at 140 BPM made from this. Should be quite straightforward.