Pick Me Apart!

One of the fascinating blogs that I have been following for a while now is Bobby Owsinski's Big Picture Blog.  This wonderful site is devoted to all things related to music production, and one of the real gems that can be found here - at least on ocassion - are some deconstructed mixes of some classic tunes.  You can find here takes of Mick Jagger's vocals from the Rolling Stones' classic Brown Sugar, never-before-heard (by too many people) outtakes of Beatles sessions, vocal-only parts of Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer, and a host of other wonderful, illuminating pieces.  The whole site is like an continuous online Classic Albums trip.  Check it out.

Mr Owsinski, himself an accomplished musician and producer, has inspired me to chuck up my own version of the isolated tracks song.  Here's the link to Sweet Execution, featuring isolated vocals and drums.

This tune came together very quickly, with all of the writing and recording for the 'band' done in an afternoon.  The vocals were all completed in three takes for each part (that is, three attempts at each of the parts for verse, verse double, chorus, chorus double, outro and outro double), excepting the chorus harmony which was done in one take, with the third take of each track being the final version used.  Vocals took around half and hour.

For the vocals sound I used TRacks clipping, the awesome Jack Joseph Puig vocals compression, and TRacks EQ, all recorded with a lovely Rhode SM6 microphone.  The vocals for the chorus were tweaked just a little with Da Tube distortion.  The vocals at the outro were sweetened with just a touch of CSR Hall reverb.

The drum track is a sequence of Addictive Drums samples cut up by moi.

It's possible to hear a little background noise at times, but as this is all done with a bit of DIY, fuck cleaning that shit up!!!

I hope you get something out of it.

ATTAXAS Music

Since I have had a fair amount of sedentary time to myself the last week, and have been quite frustrated by my lack of 'proper' mobility, my angst and boredom have fuelled the creative process.  Blah blah blah - I have written a new little ditty.

You can check out the latest ATTAXAS song here.  It's called Sweet Execution, and it goes something like this...

Don't be afraid of following on twitter @attaxas.

New ATTAXAS Song on Myspace

There is a new song up on my ATTAXAS site, the final version of "In The Trees".  I have previously posted two other versions for your critical and listening pleasure - the original demo version, then the basic instrumental version, to show how the idea has developed, and my general take on song evolution.

Check out ATTAXAS

Comments and abuse are most welcome.

More Attaxas Music

I've gone and put another little ditty up on my Myspace page.  This song is called InTheTrees.  I am continuing with the facade of it all being a collaborative effort, just for kicks, to see who I might fool.  Haven't done any vocals yet as I'm enjoying writing the music too much!  My plan is to continue with a couple more tracks, finish up the remaining 18-odd songs and then concentrate on vocals only.  Hopefully all done by September (I know, I know, it's getting pushed back further all the time!  Hey, I got kids, man.).

You can check it out here at the Attaxas Myspace site.

First Attaxas Song Up!

I have finally thrown caution (and my ego) to the wind, and put up the first of my ATTAXAS songs up on Myspace.  The title is a little long-winded and pompous (it's Latin, after all!), but it seems to suit the song (what?  am I saying that this song is pompous and long-winded?  Shit, maybe I am...).  Stigmata Tantum Recubo, an instrumental piece, and the one that will open the album.  You can check it out here at http://www.myspace.com/attaxas  If you want a translation, then look it up yourself!

Coming Soon To A Theatre Near You - Rated NRC.

A   T   T   A   X   A   S

Work on my ATTAXAS project continues.  So far I have 3 songs fully tracked and ready for vocals, with a further 14 songs in development (half finished).

ATTAXAS is an electronic-based project, a bit of a first for me, with a lot of hip-hop, pop and 'techno' influences mixed with my love of stoner and metal.  It will be interesting to hear how it all sounds once it's finished!  I have also been developing a number of tracks based around the "Shit Raps" concept, with some terrible and turbo-charged loops, which is proving to be awesome fun!  In fact some of the "Shit Raps" tracks are so good that I have 'stolen' some of these ideas and used them for ATTAXAS songs...

Hopefully the ATTAXAS material will be ready for outing by the end of June.  Otherwise, if you make it over to my joint I am happy to play you a quick selection...