Posted 05 Jun 2010 — by karl
Category Music
The latest focus for my efforts has been another Nine Inch Nails song. Of the material available for producers on the NIN site, the two songs I was most interested in remixing were “Lights in the Sky“, and “The Beginning of the End”. “Lights in the Sky” was a pretty experimental project and took some time to develop, but “The Beginning” I knew almost right away how I wanted it to sound. It’s taken a while to get my vision tracked accurately, but this is pretty representative of how I originally thought about my remix. The ghostly sounding pads’ melody for the chorus is an element I knew I would add right away, and it sounds almost exactly the way it did in my head.
The tempo is maintained at the original 140 BPM in this mix, replacing guitars for a glitchy, persistent bassline which I think adds a “marchy” quality to the song. I really like the breakdown near the end which then tears back in to the main chorus’ melody, without Trent’s vocals on the second round. Short and sweet, but not short on excitement.
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NIN – The Beginning Of The End(Karl D mix)
Update: This remix is now also live on the NIN official remix site here: http://remix.nin.com/play/mix?id=20407
Posted 10 May 2010 — by karl
Category Music
An early experiment with jungle, using a well-known Redman sample. I love the big bass hits in here, and the keyboard gives a really old-school feel. Lots of complex amen breaks, from a time when I thought it was important to make them that complex.
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Karl D – Funk Phenomena
Posted 20 Apr 2010 — by karl
Category Music
“Finally”, you shout at the computer, “Some new content on randombeats.com!”
I’ve been working on this for quite some time now, probably since the last piece of music that was posted here. I wanted to start doing more remixes of other artists’ work, and with NIN having some of the most accessible source material around, I decided to start there.
I wanted to start with “Lights in the Sky” because it was my favorite track from The Slip. “Lights in the Sky” is an incredibly challenging piece of music to work with, firstly because of the slow 55 BPM tempo, and because of the dull chords throughout the track. I’ve heard one or two other really neat mixes of this song, but my mix adds(rather than subtracts) to the track in very subtle ways. I added some bass effects throughout the track, with some extra-deep bass during the chorus. Trent’s vocals also have a slight glitch effect applied to them, which gives the song a much more synthetic feel to it.
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NIN – Lights in the Sky(Karl D mix)
Update: This remix is now also live on the NIN official remix site here: http://remix.nin.com/play/mix?id=19799
I am working on another NIN remix, but I won’t say what or when it’s coming! Be on the lookout!
Posted 31 Mar 2010 — by karl
Category Music
Yes, it’s been a while since the last update here. That dosen’t mean I’m not working hard on bringing you some more fresh new music!
In the meantime, I thought I’d sum up our journey together so far. It’s pretty amazing to me what has happened with this site; it’s been through a total of 3 iterations over the years, including a music-news centric site, to a dj-mix focused site, to this. This current version of the site, focusing on production, has been the most comfortable for me.
So far, I have published 61 individual random beats spread among 5 volumes. This alone counts for about 2 and a half hours of free music. When you count all the EPs that have been released(both as standalones, like Red Time, as well as the 2 remix EPs for Existential Funk), the total amount of music on this site is over 4 hours. That’s not even counting the Old Tracks or any of the other material.
I hope you’ve enjoyed all of the content so far. It is my intention to broadcast as much free material as I can for as long as possible, so be on the lookout for some new audio soon!
P.S. Got something you’re looking forward to hearing more of? Remixes, random beats, specific genres? Let me know in the comments!
Posted 26 Feb 2010 — by karl
Category Music
This tech-trance random beat started simply enough, with the rhythm section and the grumbling bass. It took an interesting turn as I continued to work on it. Frankly, I didn’t mean for it to be quite as melodically uplifting(yet melancholy) as it came to be in the end. Once I got the lead synth created, it all seemed to quickly come together.
Bear with me as you listen to this track. Yes, they’ve been getting longer, but more rewarding in their dramatic progression.
This latest beat brings Vol. 5 to 29 minutes, 42 seconds, just short of the guideline of 30 minutes per volume. This will therefore bring Vol. 5 to a close. That being said, the whole volume is now available for download in the Free Downloads section.
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Posted 12 Feb 2010 — by karl
Category Music
I’ve been pondering the direction I wanted to take random beats vol. 5 since the last update. After careful consideration, I have selected the following for 5_10.
Much more straightforward(not to mention mellow) than the last several posts, this one combines few elements to make something I find quite pleasant.
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Posted 28 Jan 2010 — by karl
Category Music
This is one EPIC-sized random beat! Sometimes a track needs the extra time to evolve properly. Lots of big sound in here, but I feel like I’m not sure everyone will appreciate the complexity. Admittedly, there’s a lot going on.
I kept thinking about how very Hybrid-esque it sounded to me while I was making it. Of course, I’m a huge fan, so it’s certain they’ve become a significant influence.
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Posted 23 Jan 2010 — by karl
Category Music
This track is like a random beats 2-for-1 sale. Starting out as a uniform techno stomper, the tempo is modulated midway through to transform this minimal caterpillar into a paranoid dubstep butterfly. There is sharp contrast between the two parts, despite using the same bass instrument.
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