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The Top 2 Mistakes That Newbie EDM Producers Make
Someone asked me: “What, in your opinion are most common mistakes that most beginners make when producing electronic music?” The top two mistakes really boil down to: a lack of hearing the big audio picture, and an unbridled desire to make things louder. I explain everything in the post.
Netlabelism Interviewed Me About QED Records
Netlabelism, the (online) Netlabel magazine, contacted me a month ago to ask if I wanted to be interviewed regarding QED Records. Of course I said yes! They were impressed with the sheer number of releases that my humble netlabel seemed to have and wanted some tips on how to effectively curate so much content.
I was quite up front with them that the QED Records catalog number was deceiving since the very first release was qd-4200. So no, we did not have 4,200+ releases just a mere 72. Still, it was a chance for me to take a look at what I could’ve done better to promote and publicize QED Records music to the rest of the world.
Interview with Philippine National Artist Lucio San Pedro
In 1999, as editor of Channels, an entertainment magazine for a cable TV company, I had the privilege of interviewing Philippine national artist Lucio San Pedro. This was a year before he passed away. Little did I know how much impact that afternoon’s conversation would have on how I create music.
I Have 28 Days to Record a New Album
Back in 2010, I joined a month-long music challenge: to produce and record an album within the 28 days of February. The result was my third full-length album, Experimentum Crucis, which I am mighty proud of. I’ve decided to join the fray again this year and align myself with other crazed musicians squeezing their creativity out in a month of quick decisions and quick edits that we call the RPM Challenge 2013.
And Now for Some House Music, Acid42 Style
Looking for a house music album download? Haven’t danced in a while and itching for something to groove to? Then this one’s for you. Presenting my fourth full-length studio album entitled QUATTUOR IN PAVIMENTUM, which is latin for “four on the floor.”
This album is built for dancing. All six tracks are house music tunes with the trademark four-to-the-floor kick drums, but on top of the beats you’ll find: symphonic strings, melodramatic melodies, ethnic vocal chants, robotic voices, electro boogaloo, and all sorts of acid jazz elements that make me feel all tingly inside.
Creativity Lessons from a Nine-Year Old Boy and His Cardboard Arcade
Nine-year old Caine Monroy built an entire game arcade out of cardboard boxes, tape, brown paper bags, calculators and string — because he wanted to own and manage his very own arcade. And that goal pushed him toward a creative endeavour that fulfilled his artistic need. In the end, it brought warmth and happiness to many.
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Cult Of The Amateur and Netlabels: Mediocrity Will Kill Us
For those of us closely interested in the future of internet and culture in general, the book The Cult of the Amateur by Andrew Keen (Random House) is riveting reading most of the way through. Keen tackles how the democratization of the Net is producing tons of crap on a daily basis and slowly killing off the production of meaningful art. He cites digital piracy, the production of meaningless “noise” instead of art, and the corruption of values such as respect for intellectual property rights, as culprits in this age of the amateur cut-n-paste videographer and mash-up remixer.
Use Your PC to Make Music
You like music, you have a PC, and you’ve heard that people use these contraptions nowadays to make music. People are writing and printing sheet music using software. Some put together songs from scratch using only their PC. Some remix other people’s music using software and loops of music. Many music professionals record live instruments onto their computer, incorporating their computers into their private and commercial studios. Others use their computers to spin tunes like a DJ, or to perform live electronic music using software geared towards performance, installed on laptops which are chained to various instruments via USB or MIDI cables.
How exactly they do it all might seem like medieval witchcraft to you, but that’s why FAST FORWARD is here to enlighten with a beginner’s guide to making music on the PC.
“Stars”- My lyrics set to Emorej’s music
I recently dug up the lyrics and thought it might be interesting to get someone else to write and produce a new tune out of it. So I sent out a call to Electronica Manila members for a collaboration. And Emorej volunteered. He took the lyrics, set it to music, and used a vocal software named Miriam to generate the vocals with the French accent. The result is a simple, but catchy downtempo tune complete with a synthetic but sultry French singer: “STARS.” See the lyrics below.
How to Start and Run a Netlabel
I’ve been looking for a good article on how to run a netlabel and couldn’t find one except for this wikihow article that seemed incomplete. That got me thinking: why create a whole new article? Why not contribute to the Wikihow article instead, and add on to the wisdom already presented there? So here you go, below is the most up-to-date edit of the wikihow article after I got through with it. Hope this helps anyone thinking about joining the netlabel world.