#easy green

[wouldwind]

Laundry Days | Jours de lessive

Using a clothesline instead of an electric or gas dryer is one of the easiest, pro-environment things you can do. In my experience, your clothes will last longer.

L’utilisation d’une corde à linge au lieu d’un sèche-linge électrique ou à gaz est l’une des choses les plus faciles et les plus environnementales que vous puissiez faire. D’après mon expérience, vos vêtements dureront plus longtemps.

[easythetape]

Week #17 MAY - Final Thoughts

Overall I am happy with the outcome of the project and the recording sessions and collaborations were rewarding and have really inspired me to continue to make music. Hansel Mac, Dodz and RODEL were all people I have known and wanted to work with for quite some time and I’m sure that the work we’ve done together will lead to more collaboration in the future. It was a shame that quite a few of the collaborations I had lined up fell through for various reasons, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, I know this has made I hard for a lot of people, and I am just happy that so far I and my family are okay, my uncle had it but recovered, and even though my girlfriend, and her mum are both key workers, they are healthy and safe. 

Although I didn't get as many collaborations involved with the project as I originally set out to, I think the people that did give their artistic input into ‘The Tape’ really elevated the project. A massive shout out to them all Dodz, Mimi, Hansel, Callum and Laurence. I am also happy with the reaction I have got from my posts on social media, hundreds of likes on instagram with an increase in followers on insta and Facebook; hundreds of plays on SoundCloud and hundreds of views on YouTube its just the beginning but I am happy with the numbers so far. Hopefully they will just increase as I continue to do more press and promotion around the project and try and push it further. Throughout the process I have released singles and promoted the content on my social media channels to create a buzz around the project, this can work effectively at getting things noticed (Rodgers, 2013).

It was also a shame not to be able to release a physical run of cassettes but I decided against this for monetary reasons. I didn't get a chance to include some of the topics that were initially going to be explored. Such as the more political and conscious themes but both Hansel and Dodz did great jobs on the lyrical content and I think they really understood the ideas behind the concepts on The Tape and captured exactly what I was looking for, covering a lot of ground. As did RODEL with her lyrics about love and unfulfilled relationships.

I really liked the idea of a project constantly in flux, Kanye did it with The Life of Pablo. Described the work as “a living breathing changing creative expression.” (Bengtson, 2016). It was finished yet unfinished, a project in flux. It was finally finished four months after the initial release. It is one of the most powerful and introspective of West’s projects to date. (Damico, 2016). Easy The Tape went through many iterations and changes, and unforeseen circumstances did result in lots of tracks having to be cut or rethought. But these tracks will see the light of day and my idea is after the initial release on Bandcamp to keep updating the project for a while - both Bandcamp and SoundCloud allow you to edit releases after the initial drop (Bandcamp, 2020) - so doing this will keep interest in the project and when I'm happy with the track list I will drop the beat tape on Spotify.

My time management hasn't been fantastic with the project, the gantt chart I created at the start of the project completely went out the window. I will be honest and say with some of the things that have been going on this year, it has been very hard to focus and think introspectively about anything and even make music and stay creative, because at times I have wanted to crawl into a dark hole and stay there; Stephen, a dear family friend and father figure, dying and having to see my mum breakdown was not on my bucket list; my girlfriend suddenly turning into a front line key worker, was worrying and still worries me; having to once again move as much as I could back to London after I got stuck living here during Lockdown has all impacted on my mental health and made it difficult to see through the project to the level I would have liked but I am glad I pushed through and handed in the work.

Update: It was cool to get a few of the tracks from The Tape featured on 1020 radio, cheers Joe!

You can now access EA$Y THE TAPE by clicking this link: https://easygreen.bandcamp.com/album/ea-y-the-tape

References:

Rogers, J. (2013). The Death and life of the music industry in the digital age. New York, NY: Bloomsbury Publications.

Bengtson, R. (2016). “The Life of Pablo” and the Death of the Traditional Album. Retrieved October 2019, from Complex website: https://www.complex.com/music/2016/06/kanye-west-life-of-pablo-death-of-traditional-album/

Damico, P. (2019). Kanye West: Understanding The Life of Pablo [YouTube Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7ktpDCTvm4/

Bandcamp. (2020). How do I change the order of an album’s tracks? Retrieved 2020, from Bandcamp Help Center website: https://get.bandcamp.help/hc/en-us/articles/360007902053-How-do-I-change-the-order-of-an-album-s-tracks-

[easythetape]

Journal Update #13 APR - Visuals / Corsa

Due to COVID-19 the and set backs the idea of getting people to make multiple visuals for The Tape had to be seriously re thought so I decided to create a few myself to use for social media promotion and then maybe in the future I can collaborate on some visuals for other beats on The Tape. I did reach out to a few people I knew but they were either finishing off their degrees or unavailable.

My background in film, videography, and photography came in handy here as I already knew how to edit using premier pro and I also had a idea of where I wanted to take the artwork; a style in keeping with the artwork for the tracks. As you can see from the blog posts each track has its own individual artwork... apart from the intro.

The first visual I made for The Tape was for a track called Corsa. Which features one of my favourite Grime MCs of all time D Double E. I came across one of his freestyles based off a track he released quite a few years back called Bodyworkz. But this freestyle was done in DJ Cameo’s garden and had no beat under it, so it was the perfect candidate for a remix, or flip as I like to call it.

The theme behind the rap and all the British cars DDouble name drops, twisting their meanings with clever word play, was a great fit for The Tape and immediately once I heard the freestyle I started constructing the beat and had the idea for a simple visual, which showed all the motors DDouble was rapping about. This beat also has a Latin piano riff at its core, which is another example of my love for Latin American music and culture. The idea of merging Grime, Trap and Latin has been something I’ve experimented with for a while after hearing Mez’s ‘Normal Shoe’ which has production by Diamondz.

[easythetape]

Journal Update #11 APR - Dodz Single Release

I sent a tune called SABOR to Dodz a while back and he was really positive and complimentary about the beat, which was encouraging. I value his opinion and it was a good moment to get the OK from him on the project. He initially called me right after he’d listened to the beat and heaped praise on it. Dodz was the first collaborator to get on board with the project hence why it is the first single released and the second song on The Tape.  

The beat is an original composition of mine that again draws on latin flavours mixed with Trap and Grime. The driving force of the beat is based off a guitar riff for which I used the Native instrument Cuba expansion to get that ‘authentic’ Latin sound. There are also Future Beats influences which can be heard in the use the saw synths for the chords. The concept of fusing Trap and Electronic music, with Hip-Hop, Grime and Latin is not something completely original or new though, “over the last year, trap gained a much-hyped interest in the electronic music world and blogosphere. It’s since evolved into a different beast, one that has a few opposed faces.” (Exarchos, 2016). I like the genre of Trap because of its “few opposed faces” (Exarchos, 2016); you can do a lot with it, fusing your own influences into any “Trap” beat. Southern originated Trap moved a bit further forward in the 2000s and embraced an “EDM sensibility that was pointing to the future” (Exarchos, 2016) eventually influencing every genre from Hip-Hop to Pop and Grime to Future Beats.

I sampled Snoop Dogg vocals for the intro and outro from the track Vato (a Hip-Hop tune with a Latin flavour), which I used to have on repeat when I was younger, on my little hi-fi in my bedroom... Tha Blue Carpet Treatment was one of the first rap albums I remember buying and Snoop will always be a favourite.

This is a mind map of themes and concepts explored in the track (pictured below)

References:

Exarchos, M. (2016). Synth Sonics as Stylistic Signifiers in Sample-Based Hip-Hop: Synthetic Aesthetics from ‘Old-Skool’ to Trap. Synthesisers: Meaning Through Sonics. Presented at the 2nd Annual Synthposium, Melbourne, Australia.

[easythetape]

Journal Update #9 MAR - Hansel Mac Session

During each session I uploaded Instagram stories to create some buzz and mystery around the project which I still haven't officially announced yet. When the project is nearing completion I will post on both Instagram, Tumblr (my website) and Facebook officially announcing the project.

During my week back in London I also completed a session with rapper Hansel Mac. Hansel is an old mate of mine and he was open to talking about lyrical content I gave him some of the themes behind the tape and he created a sweet rap about the trials and tribulations of being a 20 something guy living and growing up in London. I have known Hansel since I was 18, we met through a mutual friend during a stint doing videography for a night that he went to in London. The session was really rewarding and again I learnt valuable lessons, specifically to do with speed, workflow, and quick vocal processing. Hansel came prepared to the session with a rap he’d written for the single The Judge (which I will release via Soundcloud and Spotify in April). This was great for the energy and speed of the session. In particular, his energy was great and he had nice words about the beats I’d sent to him. We had ‘The Judge’ done in four takes and honestly wasn't expecting to get much more done than the single, but once he was happy with the takes and it was arranged I started playing him more beats until we found something that caught his ear. (The mind map for The Judge pictured below)

A beat I had called Dragons Triangle caught his attention and he started reeling off a fast rap with a fairly dark tone, but it instantly fit the sinister feel of the beat. So, we decided to lay down vocals and arrange that. This one took a few more takes but was rewarding and I understood that he wanted the best performance and energy to translate on the record. I didn't have time to mix and master it for The Tape but will put it out at a later date as a single.

Areas to improve on would be there were a few times where maybe focus wandered and we started talking about music and artists that we liked introducing each other to new tracks. However this was also rewarding and helped to break the ice and create a relaxed atmosphere to the session. His positive energy and easy conversation was really helpful and we got along well as well which probably factored into to the chatting. 

Hansel actually texted me after the session to say how inspired he was by the collaboration which was really positive and he gave me some feedback which read: ‘as a producer you’re good at creating a positive and encouraging environment’ and he said that this was important for getting the best out of artists and that he was looking forward to making more music! This was good feedback to hear as it’s important when collaborating, “that everyone is encouraged to speak their minds” (Brown, 2019) and feel comfortable and encouraged, in my experience this is the best way to get positive results.

Collaborative processes can enrich not just art but our own human lives (Booth & Bacharach, 2016) it’s important to note that the session had a resoundingly positive affect on both of us and I think that contributed to the aesthetic of The Judge, I’m really proud of what we produced. Overall we got two tracks completely laid down and arranged, more than I thought would be achieved in a  session.

I also decided on the final artwork (below) for the Judge and sent it off to Distrokid to be the second single released off The Tape!

Update: The single got accepted on some Spotify playlists that I submitted to which was fantastic and Hansel was really happy about that. This was great promotion at this early stage.

References:

Booth, J., & Bacharach, S. (2016). Collaborative Art in the Twenty-First Century. New York, NY: Routledge.

Brown, G. (2019). How to Collaborate Effectively with Other Music Producers. Retrieved 2020, from iZotope website: https://www.izotope.com/en/learn/how-to-collaborate-effectively-with-other-music-producers.html/

[easythetape]

Visit Original Link

This one of the first tracks I ever produced and Laurence did some shredding. As mentioned in my previous Journal post. I made it in Reason at about 13, the style is a bit more downtempo/electronica and it's about 8 minutes long... A lot has changed since then!

[easythetape]

Journal Update #6 MAR - Pre Production, Organisation & Hauntology

Artists in the field of hauntology make no attempt to rid samples of their, format induced, sonic artefacts (Fischer, 2013). A lot of the samples I recorded came from vinyl, cassettes and youtube, none of which had particular clarity but will add to the nostalgic sense of production on The Tape. Artists in the field of hauntology highlight elements such as tape hiss keeping the integrity and originality of the source material. Nostalgia is a critical element of sonic hauntology (Balanzategui, 2016). A concept that will be heavily explored on multiple tracks on The Tape.

I organised the samples and videos I had downloaded so far into a folder and added this folder to my sidebar in Ableton (pictured below), so I can quickly access any samples I need when producing. This should help to maintain a flow state, and make future production sessions more productive as well as helping to create and maintain a sound palette. 

In order for a mix to sound great there needs to be a palette of sound colours that all work together to create a final masterpiece. (Elliott, 2011). The first step in creating a coherent mix is to decide what the final mix should even sound like. If you do not have a clear direction of what you want your final mix to sound like then you might as well be painting in the dark! (Elliott, 2011).

References:

Balanzategui, J. (2016). Haunted nostalgia and the aesthetics of technological decay: Hauntology and Super 8 in Sinister. Horror Studies, 7(2), 235–251. https://doi.org/10.1386/host.7.2.235_1

Fisher, M. (2013). The Metaphysics of Crackle: Afrofuturism and Hauntology. Dancecult, 5(2), 42–55. https://doi.org/10.12801/1947-5403.2013.05.02.03

‌Elliott, M. (2011). How to Create and Maintain a Sound Palette. Retrieved 2020, from Music & Audio Envato Tuts+ website: https://music.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-create-and-maintain-a-sound-palette--audio-11118‌

[easythetape]

Journal Update #5 FEB - ICE TEA and the Sampling Dilemma

One of the main ethical issues I am facing with my project is the extensive use of samples. Sampling has always and will always be a part of my musical process I am a Hip-Hop head and I just love the art. This post will explain my stance on the ethics and the issue, how I intend to combat it and in cases not combat it and ignore the rules. The history of Hip-Hop is rich with examples of high profile sampling lawsuits and sampling troll companies that have negatively effected and sometimes ruined artist's careers, definitely stopping them from gaining any royalties on their releases. As a disciple of Madlib, crowned Complex’s producer of the year 2019 (Skelton & Simpson, 2020), and J Dilla, who both heavily utilised samples in their productions and are integral to their styles it will be hard for me to stay away from this element of my own productions. Madlib has, “after decades of perfecting his sample-based production techniques, worked with everyone from MF Doom to De La Soul to Mos Def to Kanye West.” (Skelton & Simpson, 2020).

Sometimes sampling is viewed as ethically and morally wrong or immoral. On the other hand sampling can be viewed as the highest form of artistic ‘flattery’ and a strong case can be made that supports the fact that sampling in one form or another has existed for centuries. For example, a Diabelli composition named Waltz in C Major was essentially remixed by Beethoven in Diabelli variations, a collected piano works released in 1824 (Read, 2017). Thats a long time ago. Today many of the opinions about copyright law are largely shaped and driven by copyright holders who commonly believe that the purpose of copyright is to protect their works from infringement. But as it’s clearly expressed in the United States Code, that’s not the central purpose of copyright. The a purpose of copyright is “to promote the progress of Science and useful Arts.” The United States Copyright Office even doubles down on this declaration in its own description of the function of the copyright office: “the purpose of the copyright system has always been to promote creativity in society…” Any serious conversation about the role of copyright, creativity, and the arts must begin with this key fact: Copyright was created to promote creativity (Said, 2016).

Mark Ronson argues in his TEDTalk How Sampling Transformed Music, it is not about “hijacking nostalgia wholesale”, but about creating new tapestries of sound. Ronson eloquently explains, “We take the things we love and we build on them. And when we really add something significant and original and we merge our musical journey with this, then we have a chance to be a part of the evolution of that music that we love.” Rather than looking at sampling as a form of disrespect, it is often the case that artists that sample have the utmost reverence for the people who created the music that came before as you’re not going to sample music from a song you hate. Instead it is likely that they heard something in the music which inspired them, and so “they instantly wanted to inject themselves into the narrative of that music.” (Khoo, 2019).

I have to be realistic and understand that at this point in time I am an unknown artist with a small audience, and no commercial backing. I am not looking to release The Tape with any label and therefore I do not expect to make any money off this release. The fact that sample clearance is monetarily prohibitive, and I don’t have the budget, (which I’m mainly reserving for the release itself and marketing) prohibits me from paying for samples. Hank Shocklee of Public Enemy is quoted saying “Jay-Z and Kanye can afford to pay the sample rates, but not the kids starting out in their own little home studio in their house,” Shocklee says. “And that, to me, is what’s holding back creativity,” (Richards, 2012). 

Seeing as Hip-Hop and Trap are largely reliant on samples I am not going to creatively limit myself, with this project because I want it to be my best work, and as a hero of mine Stan Lee says you “do your best work when your doing what you want to do and your doing it the way you think it should be done.” (UCLA Extension, 2018). I am well aware of the legal implications of doing this and not limiting myself to royalty-free and un-copyrighted material or material in the public domain. Although I will make use of as much un-copyrighted material as I will write some of the tracks on ‘The Tape’ completely from scratch, I won't be able to do myself justice if I don’t allow myself free-reign to sample anything that works within the concept of the beat-tape. For example, Led Zeppelins breaks, which have already been heavily recycled in Hip-Hop, are not out of copyright but would be subject to the idea of De-Minimis. Many cartoons, tv shows, and films I wish to sample from will also not be out of copyright because I grew up in the late 90s and early 2000s.

(IF) any track does blow up I will sort it out with PRS and the publishing companies after the fact. There are a few things I can do to minimise the risk of any lawsuit, however, I will sample from family archives, cassette tapes, films, my own vinyl collection and attempt to, following in the footsteps of DJ Shadow, take obscure snippets and manipulate them or transform them in a way which makes them my own. On DJ Shadow’s debut album Endtroducing he sampled more obscure records, making it a sort of rule to avoid popular material; he said: "I've always pushed myself to use obscure things, and if I use something obvious, it's usually only to break my own rules.” (Keyboard, 1997). Also sampling from other Hip-Hop artists usually means you are okay and they won’t sue, so there will be a few samples (mainly vocals) from other Hip-Hop songs in The Tape.

ICE TEA

A beat that I started working on this week is called ICE TEA which is based on a sample from an acapella by Jamaican artists Home T, Cutty Ranks and Cocoa Tea. The rest of the instrumentation is mine but there are other sampled vocal shots from other Reggae tunes in the beat. There are going to be multiple samples taken from some of my favourite Reggae artists throughout ‘The Tape’. This is one example that links to my love of Jamaican music. When I was a teenager I was heavily into Reggae and Bob Marley and became a Mod. For a long period of my youth I identified as a mod/casual it wasn't a particularly popular sub-culture it just fitted with my musical tastes at the time. I love Soul and classic Reggae and Dub, and used to go to Channel One nights at a local venue in Tooting. My mate ‘Skinhead Dean’ is a DJ and runs Good Intentions sound system, he introduced me to loads of great Reggae and Ska and I used to go to their Up their Junction night. Brighton and Carnaby Street were favourites and where I got the gear, I used to have a parka, tonic suits and all swag (I still have my tonic suit).

References:

Skelton, E., & Simpson, P. (2020). A Conversation With Madlib, the Best Hip-Hop Producer of 2019. Retrieved 2020, from Complex website: https://www.complex.com/music/madlib-interview-best-hip-hop-producer-2019

Read, C. (2017). A History of Sampling w/ Chris Read (WhoSampled) at Point Blank London [YouTube Video]. Retrieved 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZGobMX9I48

Said, A. (2016). Hip Hop & Copyright Part 2: You Can Be Sued for Samples on Free Mixtapes. Retrieved 2020, from HipHopDX website: https://hiphopdx.com/editorials/id.3197/title.hip-hop-copyright-part-2-you-can-be-sued-for-samples-on-free-mixtapes

Khoo, Y. (2019). Sampling: Is imitation really the sincerest form of flattery? Retrieved 2020, from PHASER website: https://phasermagazine.com/main/2019/11/29/sampling-is-imitation-really-the-sincerest-form-of-flattery

Richards, C. (2012). The court case that changed hip-hop — from Public Enemy to Kanye — forever. The Washington Post. Retrieved 2020, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-court-case-that-changed-hip-hop--from-public-enemy-to-kanye--forever/2012/07/06/gJQAVWr0RW_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.6cdf1ff6573c

UCLA Extension. (2018). Stan Lee Keynote at the 2017 Graduation Ceremony [YouTube Video]. Retrieved 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMo9Guj5gCc

Keyboard. (1997). WebCite Query Result. Keyboard. Retrieved 2020, from https://www.webcitation.org/6FGMHPpaB?url=http://www.solesides.com/winblad/shadowkeyboard1097.html