I'm writing this post retrospectively, so unfortunately didn't record the process like i did the test tracks 🙁 Its the same for the other few i've written, but i wanted to post them anyway and share what i can remember.
This track had a specific release in mind, and came together really quickly. I wanted to try and simplify the process and concentrate on getting a phat funky glitch hop breaks type track going. As always the acapella came last, and turned the track into a remix of the mighty Ozomatli's hip hop track Saturday Night
I started with the kick and snare, dialling them in at 80 and 200 ish hz, to make sure they cut through and making sure that they compliment each other. I probably added some layering and all the normal equing to phatten it up, and i definitely used a swing groove to add a little funkiness to the beat and hats.
Next up was the bass which was made by combining a couple of instances of massive with a seperate channel for the sub, which was basically a sine wav cut with a 60-80hz low pass turned up as loud as it can. The notes came to mind after putting in the drum groove and i literally sang the notes in, and then used the ableton 9 audio to midi function to help determine the notes. First time id used it, and it worked really well.
The bridge and chorus synths and stuff all came after that and gradually got reduced as the arrangement was worked on. I tend to find i generally come up with stuff really quickly, add too much and then take it away. Hopefully that approach will evolve as i improve, but at the moment its how the process works for me.
The scratches i used were edited from the superstition recording session after deciding that this should be the release instead, the samples were from a summer of love documentary, and the acapella was chosen in line with the theme of getting together for more than just a party. I was thinking very much about doing a mr elephant event again, and how bringing people together for a cause like the haiti fundraiser we did, or the green street awareness stuff i used to go to, and so the samples and acapellas were based around that idea.
The arrangement was pretty straightforward for this one, as i'd tried to keep things simple, and probably spent a fair bit of time on getting the risers and one shots to work as they can often come last and sometimes fight for space.
The mixing and diy mastering was much better this time, learning from the previous track attempts where i gone a bit trigger happy with ozone 🙂 The mixing i was more subtle with, and the mastering i actually used presets for each of the modules and then tweaked them. I never thought to try this, as each track is so different, but it actually worked really well and i made a note of saving the preset for similar projects as a starting point. I played it to the label boss, and figured if it sounds good to him on his setup and me on mine, then i'm going in the right direction.
The track will be released at some point in December 2013 as part of the Beta Birmingham 4th compilation of remixes. Really honoured to be asked and chuffed to have a release out. As i mentioned in a previous post it has changed my approach to my own music and made me a lot less cautious about playing it to anyone. I guess i also feel i've reached a level in the areas i wanted to, both of which have provided a good bedrock on which to start putting stuff up and sharing stuff out.
I'll post the track and download as it becomes available and probably post the stems in line with the remix ideas for next year.