Posts Tagged ‘breaks’

3_11

Posted 06 Jul 2009 — by karl
Category Music

This track has been “cooking” for a while now.  The melody came to me spontaneously while on a trip a while ago.  Luckily I had my laptop so I was able to sequence the basics of this track right away.  Since then, the buzzy electric noises have been added, along with the old school 808 drums, and the trancey pad near the end(which has become my favorite part).

This track turned out great, and it’s a strong end to the 3rd volume of the random beats series.

As usual, now that the volume is complete, all of the tracks are available as a ZIP file of MP3s in the Downloads section.  While you’re there, you can check out some of the other free downloads!

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3_09

Posted 25 Jun 2009 — by karl
Category Music

If you’re paying very close attention to recent posts, you may notice that the string sound in the background of this random beat are the same as the one in 3_06.  This sound comes from a patch that I created/modified for the “Crystal” soft synth that I have affectionately referred to as “Shitty Strings”.  I like the glitchy, rotten sound that this pad produces – it’s created lots of atmosphere in these two tracks so far.  Because of this, I expect to use this a lot more in future breaks/trip-hop productions.

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Old Tracks: Embracing the Darkness

Posted 20 May 2009 — by karl
Category Music

Today, I dig into the archives to bring you a song that is very different in contrast to the body of work presented thus far.  I expect, that because of this, it might be more appealing and maybe more mainstream to those familiar with nu-breaks artists like Hyper and Evil Nine.

This was a focused and uncharacteristically angry song. Like most songs, this comes with a story:

I remember writing this shortly after the US invaded Iraq in 2003.  I remember seeing Bush on TV repeating that God was on our side and that He told him that invading Iraq was the right thing to do.  I don’t want to get into politics too much on this site, but I remember thinking that if that’s what America considered sound moral judgment and embracing what was considered “the light”, then I would rather embrace the darkness.

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3_04

Posted 15 May 2009 — by karl
Category Music

Chopped up pads are what give this random beat it’s character.  I wasn’t convinced with the melody at first(I originally meant it for a more trance-oriented tune), but I think the free form of the beats and general instrumentation brought it together.  A straight ahead, highly structured trance song would not have been as effective.

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Karl D – A Feeling of Power

Posted 15 Mar 2009 — by karl
Category Music

This is the 2nd new song from the Existential Funk Remixes and B-Sides EP.  It will be posted in the Downloads section as a zip file as soon as it is completed.

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2_09

Posted 23 Feb 2009 — by karl
Category Music

If you’re a frequenter of this site, you may have noticed my fascination with all things dubstep.

I discovered dubstep last year and it gave me a renewed excitement for electronic music(not to say that it’s ever faded).  Being a huge fan of D&B and dub, I instantly fell in love with it.  It seems slow enough to chill out to, and yet fast and tough enough to dance to.  It all depends on the producer’s intent.

For more on all things dubstep, visit my favorite dubstep site, Bassfaced.  Meanwhile enjoy this tough dubstep track.

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1_14

Posted 02 Jan 2009 — by karl
Category Music

This track started as an experimental track, along the lines of a warp records/Aphex Twin bit.  Somewhere along the lines I decided it would work better as a dubstep track.  I didn’t mean it, honest!  I guess I’m not destined for the IDM scene.

The track is glitchy, minimal and persistent, and I think it turned out nicely.  If you like this, you might also be interested in an artist called Boxcutter.

This is the last random beat post for volume 1 – meaning that all the “1_” posts will be available for download here.  Subsequent finished volumes(defined as 30 minutes of music) will be posted in the same place in ZIP files for you to download.

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1_09

Posted 22 Nov 2008 — by karl
Category Music

I was thinking the other day about the idea of “jazz standards” and how the idea fits into electronic music.  I’ve heard turtablists talk about the idea of certain scratches being so common it’s kind of like a standard.  I think electronica has ushered in the remix culture in place of the jazz standard.

On the other hand, I think there’s classics sounds and soundsets which lend themselves to being so common that they are immediately recognizable.  I think when they’re used, it, like a jazz standard, makes us think about the first time we heard it.  When I think about the idea of “techno standards”, I think that using keyboard sounds like this one is the closest thing we have.  In this track, the lead keyboard sound is one of my favorites of all time.  I think the first time I heard it was in Outlander’s “Vamp”.

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