Holocene progress

I'm making slow steps toward a main groove for this song.  So far, I'm assembling this one using existing stems, with some synths and bell sounds added in the Maschine software.  I'm really looking for the one main section to be able to carry the tune on a standalone basis, so it has to be strong.  Although YouTube is full of great remixes from this album, there's really not a lot of Holocene remix attempts that I find really great and original.


Here's the one Justin chose, which really is a creative and well produced take on the song:
Bon Iver Holocene (Kyson Remix) http://awe.sm/aDH4F

And at once I knew....

...that this next song will be incredibly difficult to do justice. To listen to Holocene with headphones on is like a gift. It's a strong contender for my favorite song on the album, and an example of a hit single being a great representation of the rest of the album. It's tempting to grab a sample and run with it, but I'm afraid that I'm going to have to deconstruct this entirely before I build it back into something different.

Minnesota, WI final draft

Happy New Year

You've already heard one of my resolutions for this year.  Stay on task with this project and keep making music.  I rolled out of bed and walked the dog this morning as my New Year's eve was pretty low key.  Everyone must have been recovering because it was quiet out there.  Cold, too.  I actually listened through the album again.  The mood really matches a winter walk.  Just perfect.  I took a few photos.

Long road

Pretty sure I've mentioned it before, but this is a relatively unorthodox style of music to remix.  I'm finding it difficult to tastefully re-imagine these songs.  I feel that if this were a for-on-the-floor type album, this would be far easier.  For lack of a better term, things would "blend" better.  It also doesn't help that these songs are so intricately composed and arranged.  Instruments come in and out, and not necessarily when you'd expect.  This makes things a challenge, as you can't go by the grid.  Still enjoying the process, though it's tougher than I would have thought.  Minnesota, WI is developing with painstaking effort.

Minnesota madness

I'm beginning to think that all the LCD Soundsystem I've been listening to lately is seeping into my thinking when it comes to this project.  I started this one off with a basic kick drum and then added a hi-hat and a few other percussive elements.  I kind of had a central theme down, but then kept tacking on intro ideas and things quickly got convoluted.  Why not share?

Cyber Monday

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  So as much as I make fun of all the Black Friday madness, I splurged today.  It was half off most everything on the Native Instruments site today.  I picked up this package of compressors.  Please drop me a comment if you have experience with any of these, in hardware or software form.  It appeared to be too good of a deal to pass up.