If you read my blog entry on music, you know that music has been a part of my life since I was in the womb, literally. My parents always had music playing in the house so I was exposed to it early on. If you haven’t read it, may I suggest reading it before you dive into this one.
If you know me, you know I did (still do occasionally) music mixing/editing and you know when & how I started. If you don’t know me, let me share my journey with you…
Around 2006 or so (when I was still dancing/teaching) I started to dabble in music editing. In the dance world, there is always a high demand in music edits/mixes for your dance creations. Years prior to stepping into this world, a good friend of mine introduced me to a dancer/choreographer and music editor. I went to him for my music edits for years, it was always a fun experience. I was instantly intrigued when watching him mix & edit during our sessions. Year after year my interest became stronger until one day I said to myself “I want to learn this”
So I bought my first MAC computer and explored Garage Band. I immersed myself for months learning the program and doing small simple edits/mixes for practice. I looooooved it!! (I might actually have those edits in a backup drive somewhere) hmmmm…
I experimented with mixes for myself first. I remember doing this ambitious (well, at the time) 12min. mix for fun to test my skills. I was really into the band The Prodigy (still am) specifically the album The Fat of the Land (such a solid album) I began with brainstorming of which songs I would use and how I would weave them together. I started putting it together piece by piece. I would spend hours each session (it took many sessions) changing, rearranging, listening, etc…
I don’t remember how long it took me exactly but once I was happy with it, I knew I was finished. I remember feeling so excited that I wanted to share it. So, I uploaded it to MySpace (haha) I’m not sure if anyone actually listened to it but it didn’t matter, I was happy of my accomplishment.
After a few months of experimenting and practicing, I started making mixes for my dance classes. Some of my students would curiously ask what version of the songs I was using and I would let them know that I mixed them. Soon after, I began editing for friends and fellow dance teachers. I slowly built a small clientele through word of mouth. As with any new skill you acquire, you get better and better with practice. Once I felt comfortable enough, I started doing more mixes and uploading them to Sound Cloud (is that still around?) I had now officially added “music editor” to my list of skills.
SIDE NOTE: As I’m writing this, I tried logging into my Sound Cloud account and it worked! So, here is the link to the 12min Prodigy mix if you would like to listen. https://soundcloud.com/muzikrthmz/prodigy-12min-mix
Visiting my Sound Cloud account took me down memory lane. I also realized that some of my mixes/edits were flagged for copyright infringement and were taken down, booo! I guess I won’t be able to share those, they’ll just sit in my back up drive, unless I try to upload them again. I also noticed I uploaded some of my production, yes production. That brings me to the next chapter in my musical journey.
I was first introduced to music production in 2011. A producer friend of mine invited me to sit in on his sessions. I instantly became intrigued and wanted to learn. After sitting in on a few sessions he slowly began to teach me. At the time he mainly worked with hardware and he had 1 or 2 beat machines. The first beat machine I worked with was an AKAI MPC 2000 (old school)
I learned how to load the sounds/instrument samples onto the machine. Each individual pad had one sound/instrument/note. Than I would begin building the beat, from the 1st layer, then the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc… I love multi-layered music! I’m a huge fan of Timbaland’s production and used that as an inspiration. If you’re not familiar with his production go and listen to one of his songs from Missy Elliott, Aaliyah or Justin Timberlake (just to name a few) and try to count how many layers his songs have. Can you hear them all? It’s insane!! And if you’re familiar with his production, you know what I’m talking about.
SIDE NOTE: My ear for music is insane, it scares me sometimes. I tend to hear the smallest/subtle sounds in music, every damn layer! I guess being a dancer and choreographing to music for so many years, trained and fined tuned my ears.
I became obsessed with this music production thing. Every time I heard a sound in my head I had to go create it (or attempt to create it) Sometimes the sounds in my head would not turn out the same once I started building the beat. Most of the time it would turn out completely different and better than I thought it would. We hear sounds all day every day, but when I hear those sounds they have a rhythm to them (I know, crazy) rhythm rules me.
After using the MPC 2000 for awhile, I started to use a MIDI Keyboard along with Pro Tools. Now I was learning how to produce with another tool and actual software. This was easier for me to learn because I was already familiar with mixing/editing music and it felt familiar. After a few months of this, I started to utilize all 3 tools together and just created, created, created. Some productions were never really finished but it didn’t matter, sometimes it was just about getting those sounds out of my system.
Then came another tool that I really liked. It was a beat machine called “Beat Thang” from Beat Kangz. It was small, portable, chunky and amazing! It also came with software so you can produce on your computer if you preferred. I would use this one constantly, it was definitely my favorite. A lot of good creations came out of this machine.
After about 1 year of learning, practicing and creating, my friend and I put our heads together and thought about collaborating on a pretty ambitious project. We said “Why don’t we produce an instrumental LP” So, we agreed and started the process. We decided to release it under K.O.R.E. MeDiA.
SIDE NOTE: We both co-founded a media business (2011-2017) it was called K.O.R.E. MeDiA (Kreators Of Real Entertainment Media) We provided tools and services for artists and or businesses (Production, recording, photography, video, artist development)
The brainstorming for the LP began in September of 2012…
What are we going to call it? Is there a theme/concept? Are we producing new tracks or can we use what we already have? Cover art? Can we actually pull this off? etc… The brainstorming took awhile, then came the beginning of the musical creations. We never put a time frame or deadline on the project, we decided we would take our time and let things flow naturally.
For the actual production we used the Beat Thang, both hardware and software. We came up with the plan of doing individual tracks and also collaborating on a few. On our collaboration tracks, one of us would start with one sound, then we would take turns adding one layer at a time until we felt it was finished. On our individual tracks, we would create them ourselves but would give each other feedback on how they were sounding. We realized we had created way too many songs for an LP so we had to narrow it down and really decide which ones we would include. (it was the hardest part)
Once we had our solid 10 tracks, the next step was to come up with a name for the project. Ohhhhh the name…I can’t remember how long this took, I just know it took way to long! We eventually decided on “Amplified Thoughts & Distorted Dreams” We wrote quotes for each song that incorporated the titles of the songs, thoughts and dreams, it just tied everything together.
The artwork came next, that was a whole other project in itself. For the front cover, it started with a simple basic photo, sort of a blank canvas. From there, the rest of the creation took shape on Photoshop. Adding, deleting, re-adding, re-arranging and constantly thinking: This is awesome, this is tricky, this is shit, I am shit, this might be ok, this is awesome! This was just for the front cover, we still had to figure out the rest of the digital booklet. Oh, the creative process.
Once we were both happy with it, we began the process of releasing it on iTunes & Spotify. We also made some actual hard copies (limited edition) for anyone that preferred that, we gave some away and sold the others. I remember the excitement we felt when we saw it go live on iTunes and Spotify, it felt surreal. (Released May 2013) Years later we added it to our Sound Cloud.
If you would like to stop by and take listen, I have provided the link below: https://soundcloud.com/k-o-r-e-media/sets/amplified-thoughts-distorted-dreams
This was a pretty ambitious project for both of us but we managed to pull it off. Yes, there were many speed bumps along the way. Yes, we felt defeated at times but we never gave up and pulled through. The whole process for me was a learning experience and it tested my creativity, patience and my newly acquired skills.
It’s been years since I’ve produced any music but I know if I jumped back into it I can squeeze out some tracks. It might be bumpy in the beginning but once I get in the zone… Maybe I should give it a shot, hmmmm…
If there is a new skill you want to acquire because it interests you, go for it!! If you want to take that skill and crank out an ambitious project(s) no matter how big or small, what’s stopping you? You might come out the other end with a new passion that takes you to another level.
Creatively Crazy 