Making Beats!

Many many moons ago a friend of mine gave me a copy of Reason (music production studio software) to try out.  I was so overwhelmed and quickly realized that I would need to dedicate waaaay too much time learning the software to be somewhat competent in creating music.  When Native Instruments, a few months ago, dropped the price of their Maschine - Groove Production Studio I started thinking...do I want to give music production another go??  Let's just say there was months of deliberation until I decided to go for it on the last weekend of the sale.  BTW little did I know it was nearly sold out everywhere!

NI's - Maschine (picture curtesy of djworx.com)

If you've never heard of Maschine you can read about it here... http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/?category=1773 But basically it is a combination of software and hardware used in the creation of mainly four on the floor dance and urban music.

Reading about Maschine and how it works and using Native Instruments Traktor DJ software as my DJ software solution it only made sense to give it a go.  The producer and DJ these days are becoming one entity so why not come up with my own remixes or songs for that matter?  Perhaps I could be the next Deadmau5 or Avicii?  Well scratch Avicii, I'm not Scandinavian but I did go to Ryerson....

Now I am not going to say that with Maschine I am not overwhelmed!  The software comes with over 6,000 samples with all sorts of snare hits, bass kicks, piano sounds, bleeps...bloops and countless other instrument sounds.  Just going through and seeing what you like is a task in itself...and that is before learning all the ins and outs of the software/hardware itself.  Luckily I found a wicked website: www.maschinetools.com  - lots of tutorial videos at a very reasonable price.

Native Instruments also just released the 1.8 upgrade to the software which adds even more sounds as well as "Massive" NI's synthesizer solution creating even more possibilities.... infinite really.  I watched some guy on youtube creating a nice deep house sound from scratch and realized you could dedicate your life fooling around with Massive.  On a side note  I really need Tasha to start teaching ME how to play piano....

Anyhow last night I wanted to play around with making a remix...instead of learning how to use the software. I looked to find an acapella online and the first one that came to mind was "Been a Long Time" by The Fog, a classic house track from the early 1990s.  Not sure why that came to mind but I love the vocal. I loaded it up into Maschine and assigned sections of the acapella on the drum pads, added some effects, drum beats, chords and a baseline and voila...a new track.  Well an idea anyhow....

"Got to Have It" arranged in Maschine

Listening to it in the car this morning put a smile on my face.  It was something that I could throw down in my next DJ gig.  If people moved and grooved to the track how cool would that be??  Instant gratification.  That would take DJing to a whole new level watching people get off on your remixes or even own productions.  Of course this concept is not new...but it wasn't until last night when playing with this software that I realized that hey I could do that!  I think...well that and it is just fun as hell.

So for now check out this track I made last night.  It is a work in progress...my first test so to speak in the world of music production / remixing.  It will probably change 50 times over until I am happy with it and move on to something new but in the meantime I can pretend it has gone platinum!





Enough writing...I am going back to Maschine and making Test 2!!

I Love House Music

Well what a summer!  I can't remember the last time being so busy... August was insane and September proved to be just as crazy.  No wonder I haven't posted a blog in long while.

Well hopefully I am back at it.   Gonna be lots to talk about in the coming months...  Lots of upcoming parties... starting a new weekly gig at Jakes on Main in Unionville, some new gear, making beats with NI's Maschine, concerts and of course a whole wack load of music to talk about. 

In the meantime I leave you with a cool little graphic I saw on a pair of sun glasses worn by DJ Murse C.  I think they make T-shirts too...

Yes I Do!

BTW...this is my 50th post!  Not so informative I know...but just wanted to kick start soundspin.ca up again after a 2 month hiatus.  Been getting lots of hits over the months and have had fun writing stuff for the blog.  So got to keep on going!

Talk soon...

DJ Marathon!

This past weekend I was asked to come into the Dragon Bistro on a Saturday afternoon a lot earlier then normal to play tunes on the patio.  Markham was holding its first annual...wait... know one seems to know...Unity Festival.  Mainstreet Unionville was closed down...food sold on the streets and bands playing at the band shelter. 

Mike at the Dragon Bistro thought it would be good to come in and play some good patio tunes and get some people into his restaraunt...or he just wanted to here some good music while he manned the bbq on the street for several hours!

Dj Booth with a View!

I was vacationing at the time at my cottage...well still am as I write this.  So after 4 days of beautiful sunny weather lake side I headed into Unionville to hang out on the patio with a full bar at my disposal, good food and of course great staff down at the Dragon.  Sounded good to me!

I started playing at 2pm and by 9:00pm...7 hours later I had played 115 songs with only three tracks played twice...by request I might add!

It was actually a bit of a challenge since it is not a dancefloor.  It's a patio where people are eating and drinking and enjoying themselves...and singing along very loud on occasion.  So what do you play?  A whole wack load of stuff I guess but let me share with you some of fav patio tunes...on a nice hot summer day and a cold beer in hand...

1. Patio Lanterns - Kim Mitchell
2. Three Little Birds - Bob Marley
3. Bobcaygeon - Tragically Hip
4. Every Morning - Sugar Ray
5. No Rain - Blind Melon
6. Wheat Kings - Tragically Hip
7. Stuck in the Middle with You - Stealers Wheel
8. Listen to the Music - Doobie Brothers
9. Cherry Bomb - John Cougar Meloncamp
10. Angel - Shaggy
11. Peace Frog - The Doors
12. Chicken Fried - Zac Brown Band.
13. I Love This Bar - Toby Keith
14. Mustang Sally - The Commitments
15. Love Me Do - The Beatles
16. The Joker - The Steve Miller Band
17. Just A Gigalo - David Lee Roth
18. All Summer Long - Kid Rock
19. Toes - Zac Brown Band
20. New Orleans is Sinking - The Tragically Hip

Everyone seemed to have so much fun so will look to do this more often come this August!!

I've Died and Gone to Vinyl Heaven!

Way way way back when I was a teenager I used to spend every last penny I made at my part time job on vinyl.  DJing in my teens was an insanely expensive hobby...especially since the returns playing at local parties and roller skating rinks gave back very little.  Even when me and my partner Marlon got a gig at Club 404 in Brampton I think we did it for free.  Kind of crazy since every record (back in the early to mid 90s) cost around $10-15!  And that was for one song!!! Kids these days are so spoiled....

Unfortunately, at the end of my high school years and into University somehow or another my vinyl disappeared.  Mostly sold by my DJ partner at the time I think...but I was not really bothered about it at all since I stopped spinning.  Sad.

About 6 years ago I met a friend of my wife she went to high school with.  One day at his home while taking a tour I stumbled across a pile of old milk crates filled with musical joy.  They were filled with classic house, hip hop and top40 tunes from the late 80s to late 90s... I drooled ever since.  

Then...out of the blue last week I received a call from him and surprisingly he asked me if I was interested in taking his vinyl.  I almost fell off my chair.  He came across a facebook picture of me and my 1.5 yr old son playing with the "DJay" app in which I captioned "gonna upgrade him to the 1200s soon..." or something to that effect.  He thought about selling them... but seeing that picture made him think that it would serve a better purpose in my hands (yes they would....)  Plus he just moved around the corner this way they are still within reach for some future jam sessions!

For a DJ like myself who has moved away from CDs and is completely digital it was like finding a gold mine.  I still have my 1200s and use them to play some house music records that I purchased after my university years b4 digital downloading became the norm.  But to go thru that collection and find many of the records that I purchased back in the day brought back so many memories!  I was giddy as I went thru each crate one by one sampling the tunes.

His one stipulation was that I could not sell the records.  Well...have no fear since they have instantly made family heirloom status to be past down from generation to generation of little Moerman DJs.  If not I will come back from the dead...collect them...and take them back upstairs to rock the heavens...

It looks like I am forever in his debt (my wife thinks I'm nuts) and I am super grateful for his generosity.   

This is going to make for some fun 'Vinyl Recycle" segments on the blog and I will also def have to play some future parties spinning the wheels of steel again :)

Another Brick in the Wall...literally

Back in November I secured two seats for Roger Waters - The Wall Live at the Rogers Center for $285.70!!  My wife thought I was nuts (she despises Floyd) and these were not even the most expensive seats....but what I was witness to on Saturday was worth double may be even triple what I paid.  For the majority of the night I was speechless...

On the way down to Toronto my buddy Sven was playing Pink Floyd's "Is There Anybody Out There?" a live recording of Pink Floyd from back in 1980 to prime us for the concert we were about to see.  The first track on the album "In The Flesh" blasted out interrupting the MC as he was introducing the band...the hair on my arms immediately stood on end as the Goosebumps appeared and a shiver went down my spine...

The Huge Set-Up!

I wonder why though?  Why am I at a Roger Waters concert in the first place? My father loved Pink Floyd.  He purchased all the LPs, and I, curious, would check out the album artwork which was always filled with weird visuals...pigs flying...men on fire shaking hands...a brick wall with some very weird cartoon characters on them.  When the wall came out I was 5.  When the movie came out I was 7.  I remember watching it.  Probably bad parenting on my dad's part.  In my late teens early 20s I appreciated them a lot more.  I remember purchasing the Division Bell at the HMV on Yonge St when I was in university and not long after seeing them in concert at the CNE to promote that album.  Even that concert was an awesome production. 

Thec concert starts with a bang!

I was more drawn to their older work with "Animals" and "The Dark Side of the Moon" but rarely listened to "The Wall."  But throughout the concert I rarely missed a lyric...singing along as if I've been listening to the album my whole life.  I turned to Sven at least two or three times and with my jaw dropped.....my only words were "wow....wtf???....wow..." He then turned to me at one point and said "you're telling me...I'm almost in tears..."  I was just in complete awe.

Man-oh-man...what a concert!!!  The beginning had more pyrotechnics then the Symphony of Fire (look that up if you don't know what I am talking about) ending with a world war II fighter plane soaring over our heads and crashing in behind a gigantic wall (the span of Rogers Center outfield) in a ball of flames.

The screen goes Red during Another Brick in the Wall Pt1.

A massive circular screen over top of the band and the wall built up on both sides served as a backdrop for a stunning visual spectacle including footage from current events around the world, animations from the movie and even footage of Roger Waters at a concert in Earl's Court in 1980 in which he sang "Mother" in a duet with himself!  When he sang the lyric "Mother should I trust the government?" the words no, fucking, way appeared on the wall resulting in a massive cheer from the crowd...well done....

The point In between "Another Brick in the Wall" and "Happiest Days of our Lives" where you hear the sound of a helicopter approaching...a huge spotlight blinded sections of the crowd...moving about looking like it was searching for someone.  The roaring sound of the engine and the blades cutting through the air was so loud I thought the stadium was going to crumble.  It totally took your attention away from the massive inflatable school master being formed to stage right which was accompanied by the Regent Park School of Music Choir to sing those famous lyrics "we don't need no...education!"

Kids from Regent Park Music School yelling at their school teacher!

Roger Waters performing Mother in a duet with his
formal self from a concert back in 1980!

A fully bricked up wall...

As the first half of the concert came to an end the wall was completely built up isolating Roger Waters from the Band behind it...a sort of metaphor for Rogers Waters himself being isolated after the death of his father in World War II by his abusive schoolmaster and overprotective mother when he was a child. The remainder of the concert the wall remained and from time to time performers would appear at the top of the wall to join in with Waters who remained by himself in front.  During "Run Like Hell" a massive pig appeared from behind the Wall and made its way overhead floating above the crowd with red eyes glaring.  The later half of the second set was filled with animations from the movie itself...pretty demented stuff...those famous walking hammers, the judge and other sickly creatures all bearing down on "pink" a character from the movie supposedly representing Waters.

Roger Waters decides to take us all out!!

Walking hammers?  What does it mean??

The concert  pretty much came to a close with Rogers chanting, and getting the crowd to do so as well, "bring down the wall" and sure enough with a loud explosion...the center portion of wall crumbled to the ground in what was probably the coolest ending to a concert I have ever witnessed. 

With the lights on the band played appeared on stage left and sang the last song of the night "Outside The Wall"  Sven asked...."hey isn't that the guitarist from SNL??" Sure did look like him...and after some quick poking around the internet it was in fact G.E. Smith...former guitarist from SNL!

Anyhow...the concert was simply awesome.  The 67 year old lead singer was on form....and I truly hope this concert makes it onto DVD since it is definitely one to remember.  Yes Mr. Rogers...just for one day... they built that "Rogers" center just for you...

My concert partner Sven...yeah buddy rock on!

At the end as I was leaving, I thought to myself...man I wish my dad were alive.  To see this with him would have been a real treat.

For some more pictures from the concert check out tmakworlds review of the concert.  His camera was a lot better then mine.  He makes the claim that this was the best concert ever...PERIOD.  I have to agree with him...

Vinyl Recycle - "Gentle Rain"

So the other day I figured I should give my Technic 1200s some luv so I opened the old vinyl record case and was browsing some of the tunes I purchased a very long time ago.   Suprisingly some of the tracks sounded like they could have been released yesterday.

Thought I would share with you some long lost gems that are definitely worth the listen too...

"Gentle Rain" playing on my Technic 1200

Back in 2003 I picked up a promo copy of Blackwatch & Greed's "Gentle Rain" with two new remixes on the Release Elements label.  Side A featured Blackwatches own "Jacked Hi Mix" which was described by Resident Advisor as "a deep atmospheric breakbeat" which features the voice of Leslie who's voice "draws you deeper...[and is] very magnetic and spelling binding..."

The voice on the track is truly mesmerizing.  It reminds me a lot of Everything But The Girl's Tracey Thorn...a topic for another day.

The Jacked Hi Mix is what made me part with $15 to purchase the vinyl way back when.  Lucky for you it is available on iTunes for $0.99.  Definitely worth the loonie.  Drop it in your itunes account and do your ears a favour by listening to this track.

Blackwatch & Greed - Gentle Rain
Label: Release Elements - ELE005
Released: 2003
Style: Progressive House / Breaks

Here it is on youtube:

Unionville Festival - Dragon Bistro

This weekend the quaint town of Unionville, nestled inside the town of Markham, held their annual street festival and as usual Mother nature did not seem to cooperate.  Friday saw record rainfalls and Saturday with a brief moment of sun quickly changed back to heavy rainfall as I got to the bar.  The weather did not seem to stop people from coming out though and the bar on the night was packed! 

Busy night!

Unfortunately the Festival seems to bring out the worst in some of the local young adults who seem to use the festival as an excuse to drink above and beyond what is reasonable.  Lucky for us at the Dragon, Mike the owner was able to keep local drunktards out sans security and the night went without any serious incidents. 

The rain subsided enough for a lot of patrons to use the patio and even though the furniture was still pretty soaked most seemed not to mind.  I brought an extra speaker and had sound outside as well as in.  I also connected to the house system so everyone had the chance to feel what I was playing.

I mixed it up starting out with some good bar/drinking tunes.  We got a makeshift dance floor going with a long set of top40 dance music and then I totally mixed it up with some hiphop, reggae and some classic 90s hits including "Informer" by Snow and Maestro Fresh Wes' "Let Your Backbone Slide".  I was having a little fun....:)

Myself with Dan & Tiffany

Here is the set-list on the night.  Special thanks to Tiffany for being my DJ equipment body guard... ;)

1 - Bright Lights Bigger City - CeeLo Green
2 - Payphone  - Maroon 5 ft. Wiz Khalifa
3 - Just The Way You Are - Bruno Mars
4 - Blow at High Dough - The Tragically Hip
5 - Hard To Handle - Black Crows
6 - Peace Frog - Doors
7 - Fly - Sugar Ray
8 - How Bizzare - Omc
9 - Praise You - Fatboy Slim
10 - Cherry Bomb - John Cougar Mellencamp
11 - It's The End Of The World As We Know It - Great Big Sea
12 - Home For A Rest - Spirit Of The West
13 - 500 Miles - Proclaimers
14 - New Orleans Is Sinking - The Tragically Hip
15 - Sweet Child O' Mine - Guns N' Roses
16 - California Gurls  - Katy Perry
17 - Do You Remember - Jay Sean
18 - Give Me Everything  - Pitbull;
19 - Feel So Close  - Calvin Harris
20 - Dance Again - Jennifer Lopez ft. Pitbull
21 - We Found Love  - Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris
22 - Without You - David Guetta ft. Usher
23 - Sexy And I Know It  - LMFAO
24 - Give Me All Your Luvin  - Madonna
25 - Only Girl (In The World)  - Rihanna
26 - I Like How It Feels  - Enrique Iglesias ft. Pitbull
27 - Danza Kuduro - Don Omar ft. Lucenzo
28 - Shake Senora  - Pitbull ft. T-Pain
29 - Good Feeling  - Flo Rida
30 - Firework (Radio) - Katy Perry
31 - Club Can't Handle Me  - Flo Rida
32 - Dirty Talks (Single) - Wynter Gordon
33 - Memories  - David Guetta ft. Kid Cudi
34 - Call on Me - Eric Prydz
35 - One More Time - Daft Punk
36 - Moves Like Jagger - Maroon 5
37 - I Got That Feeling - Black Eyed Peas
38 - Back in Time  - Pitbull
39 - I Know You Want Me - Pitbull
40 - Bon, Bon  - Pitbull
41 - Somebody That I Used To Know - Gotye
42 - S & M Remix (Main) - Rihanna
43 - Mr. Saxobeat  - Alexandra Stan
44 - Rise Up - Yves Larock
45 - If We Ever Meet Again  - Timbaland ft Katy Perry
46 - Cheers - Rihanna
47 - Work Out - J. Cole
48 - Big Hoops - Nelly Furtado
49 - Young, Wild & Free  - Wiz Khalifa & Snoop Dogg
50 - Jamboree - Naughty By Nature
51 - People Everyday - arrested development
52 - No Diggity - blackstreet feat dr dre
53 - Just Can't Get Enough (Main) - The Black Eyed Peas
54 - Suavemente (Kiss Me)  - Nayer ft. Mohombi & Pitbull
55 - Suavemente - Elvis Crespo
56 - Life (Is What You Make It) - Colonel Lite and Frighty
57 - Murder She Wrote - Chaka Demus
58 - Twice My Age - Shabba Ranks
59 - Punkie - Sean Paul
60 - Long Time - Tanto Metro & Devonte
61 - Action - Nadine Suntherland
62 - Who Am I - Beenie Man
63 - Pass the Dutchie - Musical Youth
64 - Informer - Snow
65 - It Takes Two - rob base and dj ez rock
66 - Funky Cold Medina - Tone-Loc
67 - Let Your Backbone Slide - Maestro Fresh Wes
68 - Niggas In Paris - Jay-Z & Kanye West
69 - Look at Me Now  - Chris Brown ft. Lil Wayne & Busta Rhymes
70 - Crank That (Remix)  - Souljah Boy ft Lord Kossity
71 - Titanium  - David Guetta ft. Sia
72 - Beautiful People - Chris Brown ft. Benny Benassi
73 - Ghosts N Stuff - Deadmau5 ft. Rob Swire
74 - Levels  - Acivii
75 - Feel So Close - Calvin Harris
76 - Hello  - Martin Solveig ft. Dragonette
77 - Gin And Juice - Snoop Doggy Dogg
78 - C.R.E.A.M. - Wu-Tang Clan
79 - Return of the Crooklyn Dodgers - Crooklyn Dodgers '95
80 - Jockin' My Style - Craig Mack
81 - Keep on Movin - Soul II Soul
82 - Flashing Lights - Kanye West ft. Dwele
83 - Coming Home - Diddy & Dirty Money
84 - We Are Young - Fun ft. Janelle Monáe
85 - Cant Believe It - T Pain ft. Lil Wayne
86 - Never Gonna Be The Same - Sean Paul