this is the first song off my album made entirely with drum samples, a couple breaks, an op-1 and a toni braxton acapella – hope you enjoy it!
Looking forward to checking this out @Austin_Edward.
I did and still do love Garage music. My first album was shown to me in a record shop. It was called ‘Twice as Nice in Agia Napa’ in 1999. I lived in Agia Napa once, purely for the music, I was a Garage MC.
Anyway… Hahaha I’ve ranted… I love Garage and I’m excited about hearing your track. Your other stuff is very nicely produced.
just found this mix on youtube, it’s super smooth @HisMostDarxxxellent. my first garage record was sincere by mj cole - I imagine a lot of people have memories with that record. & thanks for the kind words! I’ll post the album link once it’s on spotify/etc. on friday - there’s a couple uk garage inspired tracks on there. I’m definitely not a purist - I think I take most inspiration from the latter incarnations of garage (mid-00’s) but I really love everything that has spawned from rave & ardkore in the uk.
What mix would that be @Austin_Edward?
Oh that record is just a classic! I did a mix with that and Morgue by Wiley - they sound super sick together. Garage in its own very form isn’t pure - pioneers even state that they just took R’n’B and sped it up. What I really like about the 2-Step sounds is the multiple directions it took after its birth; or spawned as you so deftly put it. Grime, Funky House, and Dubstep all owe there existence to the Garage movement. Have you seen Skream’s Alter Ego set for Mixmag? It’s sick man.
I’m going to comment about the technical aspects of your track if I may. I thought the layout was brilliant and it did exactly what it said in the tin - Post Club. The kick was basically non-existent and the rolling drums were masked. Clever. I wanted to hear them so bad and in the final part of the song I got to hear them - this was my favourite part - simply because I like my tracks hard and heavy. I couldn’t help but hear some muddiness for the lead at about 600Hz and down. I think you chose not to filter the low end off because the kick drum wasn’t pumping away therefore that part of the frequency spectrum was free. You nailed the vocals pal. They were exceptional throughout and carried the track from start to finish.
Do you listen to Rinse FM at all? There’s an app for their live stream and podcasts are downloadable almost straight after a show has finished. You should check out Uncle Duggs’s show and definitely DJ Cartier’s show (you should also send Carts your tunes, he is in the loop and constantly spins new Garage tracks). Cartier’s YouTube Boiler a Room Garage Nation is off the hook!!!
Looking forward to hearing your album man, keep up the good work!
For the love of UKG and all its derivatives I finished a track last weekend. It’s called Darxxxillionaire. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it 
https://m.soundcloud.com/hismostdarxxxellent/darxxxillionaire
If you have the time then great! If not, I understand
here’s the mix @hismostdarxxxellent
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5x23q31fWY
definitely agree that garage is less of a purists genre - which is why so many of those genres came about quickly, people weren’t discouraged to experiment as opposed to certain other sub-genres in the underground dance world. I really love grime & how it came from people rapping at super fast bpms - garage is so evident in it’s DNA. like whenever anyone is rapping over a grime beat their body is moving as if there djing garage haha.
thanks for the critique! post-club & buried drums is definitely what I was going for (inspired by 2011 era zomby) & yeah there was some mud in there, didn’t notice until I got the masters back & it was too late. I think it’s from the pad - it’s deceptively low (which is basically the Smooth preset on the Cluster engine). I’m learning after all these years that working a vocal is one of my strong suites - maybe I should seek out some more vocalists. also I love Rinse FM, been on it for ages! Their releases are so good too, one of my favorites has to be Palmistry - really loving dancehall & everything Mixpak is doing.
anyway thanks again for listening - I’ve posted the album below. there are some garage elements throughout & Thierry’s Place has s strong 2-step vibe, hope you enjoy! I listened to your tune on my way home last night it goes hard & nice choice with the voguing Ha Dance!! I’ll give it a critique once I give it a couple proper listens!
anyway thanks again for listening - I’ve posted the album below. there are some garage elements throughout & Thierry’s Place has s strong 2-step vibe, hope you enjoy! I listened to your tune on my way home last night it goes hard & nice choice with the voguing Ha Dance!! I’ll give it a critique once I give it a couple proper listens!
spotify: http://sptfy.com/Uod
apple: https://itun.es/us/fuumbb
For the love of UKG and all its derivatives I finished a track last weekend. It's called Darxxxillionaire. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it :) https://m.soundcloud.com/hismostdarxxxellent/darxxxillionaire If you have the time then great! If not, I understand :)
@hismostdarxxxellent sorry for taking so long! I played a show last weekend and was swamped with finals this week. Anyway I gave it another listen and I gotta say it’s pretty intense! I really enjoyed the break in the middle of the track how it had a loose futuristic musique concrete feel there. As far as the beat, I like how syncopated/groovy it is, to me it somehow conveys very robotic & mechanical drum programming with some swing maybe? There are also a lot of rich digital textures in there that I like (like in beginning and middle). I feel like the track could have benefited by a bass boost, I cranked the bass on my outboard mixer and it seemed to balance it out a bit - however I was listening on a7x’s & no sub - so if there’s more sub frequencies that I’m not getting then I could be mistaken! Also the claps and kicks are quite dominating & a little harsh (in my opinion) in the mid-range. These two things could strictly be left up to you though as a mixing choice. Again I loved hearing the ha dance sample and it brings it all together for a solid banger, was definitely feelin it!
Oh wow! Very busy indeed my friend, but stimulatingly so it appears.
Thanks so much for your detailed response @Austin_Edward. It’s nice to hear similar things from others that I’ve given my track too. One friend told me that it’s a little wonky for him and he would line things up on the grid but again it was a conscious choice of mine. There is some swing but for the most part I played the hits in live. I like it like that, that human feel is an essential imprint - I feel more connected to the tune.
You said about a ‘ha’ sample, I don’t know what that was exactly but if you can point it out and explain further I’d love to know.
The bass part is an interesting point - I have the Adam A8X’s and I can hear it, but on my Yamaha NS-10’s and my laptop speakers, I couldn’t. My Sennheiser HD700’s and my in-ear headphones played the sub sounds nicely but I think I will be definitely giving the low-end a boost when the time comes. Who did you use for mastering? Thanks for the advice regarding the other aspects too.
Going back to your music mate I followed the link to iTunes. Nice work! I see your album is self released, was that difficult to do? I love the idea and I think it is wonderful to have creative control from start to finish. How long did the album take to make? Do you have anything else lined up?
(No worries if you can’t respond straight away, it’s nion impossible with life doing what it does 
EDIT: Mate, I know exactly what you are talking about now with that ‘Ah’ scream sound. I was thrown because you said sample and I’ve never sampled anything in my life (apart from drum hit samples). I can’t remember exactly how I got that sound but I know I used the LFO and when I stumbled upon it during my experimentations I was like “Ra, that’s sick!”
yeah I can hear the hits being played by hand - that’s always gives things a nice human touch in electronic music. & for the bass I can see the a8’s making a difference as i use a7’s & couldn’t catch much of it in comparison to the level of bass in other songs in the genre & I think similar mixes could benefit from a good boost. & like I said it could be to taste also - I typically prefer things on the “softer” & more “balanced” side but if you’re going for a certain level of intensity I think it can definitely work in your favor.
For this album I used a friend of mine, Alex Santilli at Spice House Sound here in Philadelphia. He’s a really brilliant engineer with solid pricing for a world class studio. I’ve also recently learned ozone which is great for mastering as well.
For self-releasing it took a decent amount of time to compile the artwork & get the cassettes in - but other than that I’d say it was really no different than uploading things to soundcloud - they just have to be uploaded to a few different places & it was more or less a compilation of my best work over the last 2 years. I just up & decided one day to compile them & put them out on cassette - they were never written for the specific purpose of being an album. & nothing lined up with a deadline or anything but for the first time I’m working on a collection of songs now WITH a specific sound in mind for an album and I definitely want it out by the end of the year.
as far as the ha dance, I thought I heard a sample from this song in the background at some point. it’s a staple & has a rich history if you have the time to dive into it!
the Ha Dance - YouTube
also the cassettes are finally up at austinedward.bandcamp.com if anyone wants one!
Great advice really. After I listened and posted my response I listened again and didn’t change a thing for the CD I gave to Mumdance last Friday night. It was a good to rethink everything. I decided to take the hit to not change anything for a few reasons but anyway let’s not digress; you made a cassette. Nice! I am excited about the next release also. The aesthetic is one point that I think could be underestimated. This year it’s my best word and I’m treating it like my productions - it’s just as important! Everyone has their own path to get to where they want to be and its nice to hear and see your progress. I’m a teacher and I love seeing people grow - it’s one of the core reasons I do what I do!
Masters at Work - I remember a CD of hardcore that picked up almost two decades ago and it was phenomenal. Not as good as the original tape that got me into this energy rush that can be found in electronic music (https://youtu.be/IZVsBjXjsyA) and the tape wasn’t filled up so my brother thankfully had The Prodigy Experience for the rest of it. I got that after. Those two things are milestones - as is Mumdance’s Twists and Turns mixtape. Completely digressed again. Excuse me. Anyway, what I was going to say is that the tune was never on that MAW CD. You are completely right, the synth work sounds identical. Thanks for the link. It was the work of my JU-06 and their Juno 106
Nice link to your engineer. I will definitely get another pair or ears on something I make public. I was thinking of Terekith and almost emailed him. He has great advice. Audio Mastering – tarekith.com
Good luck on the cassettes. I love it!