A quick recap of how we recorded and put together the vocals and the music for “The Pianos Were Burning.”
Category: tracks
Track: Aramaic – Space Lounge & Future Jazz
Aramaic is one of the latest musical sketches that I’ve completed from my backlog of musical ideas. This one’s a smooth, groovy space lounge/ future jazz track.
Track: Music for the EverTrue Salon Video
How I assembled a recent project for a client video, from rough project brief and an audio peg to final product.
The Last 4 Tracks from My Dead Workhorse Laptop
My workhorse laptop from 2002 is now dead. Thanks to my stupidity. But it served me well. And much longer than I thought it would. Here are the last 4 tracks I ever made on that machine.
Track: Remix for Bukas Palad’s “All Shall Be Well”
My Ethnic Mix for the Bukas Palad track “All Shall Be Well,” which is a little world music, a little drum & bass, a little acid jazz. And all groovy.
How Synchronicity Delivered Me Projects, But I Dropped the Ball
How once I decided I wanted to create more music, I suddenly got handed two remix projects, but then… I dropped the ball. Epic fail? Nah. I still learned good lessons.
Setting Poetry to Electronic Music: Collaborating with Syke
The title of the poem is Pag-ibig Na Makapangyarihan, which literally translates to “Love So Powerful.” This was a spoken word piece originally performed and written by Filipino hiphop emcee and poet Syke Dolero, known for his machine-gun flow. I ended up composing some jazzy world music around his poetry.
Video for Emorej’s “Stars (Acid42 WorldMix)” and Pray for His Recovery
Emorej (aka Jerome Llama) took my lyrics and set it to a beautiful melody. I then took the vocal track and constructed a mournful worldbeat track with a little drum-n-bass in the chorus. This worldbeat/ethnotronica remix was produced using Acid Pro and some VSTi’s. I posted the track back in 2009. As I recall, Emorej loved it.
Balalaika or: What to Do When You’re Creatively Stuck
Stuck on a musical idea? Here are 2 possible solutions: share it and sit on it. This is the story of how I got stuck on a song idea and how doing those two actions allowed the song to evolve into something much better than its original.
Creative MIDI Sequencing Tips and “Sitsiritsit Alibangbang”
The track was born during the 2005 recording sessions for my EP “Kodomo”, I asked vocalist Yu:Mi Calderon to sing any old Filipino folk song that she knew by heart. She sang the first verse of “Sitsiritsit Alibangbang” into the microphone, acapella — with no backing track, no fixed tempo and no designated key. I figured, I may someday use it. I wasn’t quite sure what I would do with it though.