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28 Oct 2021

Album Progress Report

Hola mi gente! (I wonder if I should make that a regular greeting?) I’m back again with a quick update on what I’ve been working on lately. As mentioned in my previous post, I am working on an album to be released next year on Triplicate Records. I’m so excited for this opportunity, but seeing as this process isn’t something that can be done quickly (for me, at least), I want to keep a journal of my progress to not only have something to look back on, but also as a way to help keep the excitement and momentum up.

Well, so much for that, now that it’s 4 days later and I’m just now coming back to finishing this blog post. Anyway, Let’s do this.

Start at the Start

I have a track recorded. It has potential, but I want to keep pushing to be better. The reality is that I think I just needed to complete something in hopes that it will open the floodgates of creativity. I don’t know about floodgates, but I do think the ideas are starting flow more easily now. Here are some of the inspirations for this album I’m working on:

  • Mux Mool
  • Chaircrusher - Soft Ice Cream (who also happens to be another artist on Triplicate Records)
  • Aphex Twin - Girl/Boy Song (RDJ himself)
  • Boards of Canada - An Eagle In Your Mind

Of the above-mentioned tunes, I think the one I want to focus on next is to make something like the Girl/Boy Song by Aphex Twin. I’ve been in a very AFX mood lately – not just in terms of listening, but also as far as the kind of music I want to be making right now. What are some aspects of the song that grab me and inspire me? Let’s see:

  • Subtle, chill intro with strings sounds
  • fast-ish breakbeats (~170 bpm, as far as I can tell)

Really, it’s those two things that captured me. The juxtaposition of the calm and the chaotic. The real trick to pulling this off is being able to interweave these two disparate themes effectively. I’m not sure yet which bits of gear I can use to pull this off, but I should start with the MPC. Maybe what I need to do is create some breakbeats on the A4 and OT and then sample those into the MPC for further processing and chopping. I’m not sure what elements to use as the calm, subtle parts, but I’m sure I will figure it out. Sprinkle in some accents from the modular, or one of the other pieces and I think I’m on to something. I hope that by the next time I update the blog, I can report success in capturing this idea.