Guilty Conscience Music Blog

Moroccan Morning

jay — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:38:19 +0000

Start with the drums. I should learn from this; it is often when a track comes together quickly. The halting staccato drum pattern was the first thing that I wrote. And, like most dance music producers, I gave it a try as a four-four beat. All the elements work together to give the North African vibe. That wasn’t the intention and this track was produced without use of any “Tunisian Vibes” sample CDs or similar. Once the first instrument had been selected, everything else that fit went in. It’s pretty long but as I no longer have access to the individual audio files (PC hard drive failure 5 years ago) I’ts a tough task to cut down. So here it is in all its glory;

Download audio file (Moroccan Morning.mp3)

Jinxed

jay — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:17:26 +0000

A faster house track. A little bit minimal in terms of instrumentation as the development comes from the percussion. Throughout the track bits drop in and out adding to the sense of urgency. Deep it may be and there are no strings or harmonies of any kind and deliberately so. You can’t put everything in all of the time!

Download audio file (Jinxed.mp3)

Awakening

jay — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 14:03:58 +0000

Trawling through old tracks is great for someone like me. I’m good at starting things and rubbish at finishing them. Awakening is the first track that I wrote and recorded on my first Mac (a Powerbook G4 if you’re a Mac geek) about, um, 4 or 5 years ago. It’s quite haunting even though it fits in the house bracket. With three parts, the final chords don’t come in ’til 4 minutes. Suitable for a soundtrack to a dark movie; something that requires the moodiness of the breakdown and the pace of the beats.

Download audio file (Awakening.mp3)

Robotic

jay — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:31:07 +0000

Hard, pounding percussion? Check. A dirty bass line? That comes in after 15 seconds and if you like that, just wait for the extra grittiness after 30 seconds! For the main part of the piece though, the breakdown is at 1′15″ and over the next 45 seconds, the chord stabs expand before full release. It’s an expansive and full sound and works as an instrumental (though a vocal would by no means be a bad thing) which took ages to get the balance right. The breakbeat marks the final section of the track after 4 and a half minutes and there’s a bit of development before the drums breakdown with plenty of time for a smooth mix to the next track. . .

Download audio file (Robotic.mp3)

Soul Music

jay — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:22:16 +0000

With a skipping hi-hat, a disco sample, some tight drums, hand claps and a funky bass line this is what some call disco house, though that label seems to have fallen out of favour recently. Verse, chorus and bridge structure are here and some higher instruments lend the colour to the bass refrain on which the track relies. There’s some strings (wait ’til the end) and all manner of other things adding interest. Groovy?

Download audio file (Soul Music.mp3)

I Don’t Know with Lavida

jay — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:02:35 +0000

I spend some time on community sites for musicians and I found some audio files by Lavida on her page on SectionZ. The vocal was just her and a basic heartbeat sound which I EQ’d out. All the other parts were written around the vocal in the original tempo. It has a pounding beat which is quite hypnotic and her vocal floats about the track. One reviewer on Garageband commented that it would be good if the vocal was more prominent (with less reverb) but as I only have access to the audio file with reverb on already, it can’t be done until someone gives her a deal/pays for studio time! Though it is a sparse mix, there’s a nice piano around 3′36″, the chords of which could be expanded for a more harmonically rich song.

Download audio file (I Don't Know.mp3)

Constance

jay — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 18:57:14 +0000

A dirty, gritty electro number this one. The essential groove is insistent but with sweeps and some delayed guitars, it moves along nicely. The drums are overdriven (consciously so) and compressed within an inch of their life. This give the acoustic sound the power needed to compete with the other powerful parts.

Like many of my tracks, it is essentially in a traditional song structure and has plenty of space in the mix for a vocal. Really, this would be essential for it to be anything other than a reasonable instrumental. Vocalists; form a disorderly queue.

Download audio file (Constance.mp3)

Lucky Number 9

jay — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 18:55:56 +0000

Where’s that from? Ooh, it sounds so familiar this guitar riff. The clue is in the title for those struggling. This track is based around a sample from one of the greatest bands to come from the Motown label. If, by some cruel twist of fate you are a lawyer for said label, I’d just like to point out that I’m just a struggling musician which perhaps even the Temptations were once. Oh balls, that’s let the cat out of the bag hasn’t it? Well, in the interest of artistic transparency it’s Cloud Nine; go and buy it, listen to the differences and feel free to post a comment.

Personally, the upright bass felt right from the beginning. There is no over reliance on the sample with plenty of original added parts and although I’ve got a version without it, I feel it is another track entirely to the original. In order to keep the listener from getting tired of the sample, there’s a question and answer structure: The question being the Temptations riff, the answer being my own delayed acoustic guitar part. The part that I am particularly proud of is the breakdown at 2′20″. The insistent chords that come in just seem to wash over you with the samples plus the chopped up drums it’s an understated but effective 16 bar build up. No machine gun snares here just a fusion of the old and new.

So, Mr (or Mrs) Lawyer send me an email and let’s do a deal.

Download audio file (Lucky Number 9.mp3)

4am Taxi Home

jay — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 18:31:32 +0000

Once, when I was feeling frivolous and was too young to realise the value of money, I took a taxi home through West London just as dawn was breaking. I’d love to say I got home, fired up the old PC I was using at the time and wrote this track but unfortunately I got home lay down and thought; “wow! That taxi ride was really, really zzzzz…” Months later, this tune came together and before anyone calls me tone deaf, the slight dissonance is deliberate. It’s pretty timely with the Chemical Brothers using a it on The Salmon Song. Theirs feels a bit too much for me, but that’s a difference of musical opinion. I wanted to encapsulate that slightly wrong feeling you get going home after a big night out and for some reason the two step beat and old school bass did it for me. It’s not something you’d dance to nor is it full on chill-out; it’s in between the two.

Download audio file (4am Taxi Home.mp3)

Dust To Dust - A Breakaway Into Breakbeat

jay — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 18:01:42 +0000

As a producer of a lot of four-to-the-floor material, breaks can be a welcome relief and a creative challenge. This track has a special appeal for me as it is the sole survivor of a fatal hard drive failure a few years ago. The drums were custom as were the synth stabs used to underpin the whole track. It put me off doing so much work for a while after it happened; pain in the arse, computers. It’s pretty hard, tempered by some strings both legato and pizzicato in the bridge. Could be a tough edged film soundtrack piece, coming at the end when the credits roll. Much like Extreme Ways by Moby at the end of the Bourne films. Play it from the first time the drums drop 8 seconds in and see what I mean. . .

Download audio file (Dust To Dust.mp3)