seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Brazil
seen from Sweden
seen from United States
seen from Brazil
seen from Canada
seen from Pakistan
seen from Switzerland
seen from Russia
seen from China
seen from China
seen from Saudi Arabia
seen from India
seen from United States
seen from Australia
seen from United States
seen from China
Soundspecies - Balafon Jam [Wolf Müller Deep Dub] (Beauty and the Beat, 2015)
Last May I visited Cuba and it was an amazing experience. An absolute highlight was the Manana Festival in the musically rich city of Santiago. This non-profit festival was all about an inter cultural exchange between the electronic music scene and the deeply rooted and spiritual Afro-Cuban music and culture. Great collaborations have been made in the studio and I can’t wait to hear the outcomes (Nicolas Jaar and Quantic among others)! So I was delighted to hear some material of the partnership between the Soundspecies guys and the Cuban group Ache Meyi. Amazing musicians and the results are stunning. In this episode of the Manana Cuba podcast, Soundspecies shares some of the results, and it also includes a live recording from their amazing live performance at the festival. Big shout to the Manana crew, Soundspecies, Ache Meyi and all the other artists. And of course a big shout to the Cuban people in general. The vibe was amazing and it left me inspired and with great memories that put a smile on my face every time I start reminiscing. Que viva Cuba carajo!
A short clip from the forthcoming album by Kombilesa Mi, Palenque. Recorded and mixed in Palenque, Dec 2015
Another work in progress from my travels in Colombia. Featuring samples from the drummers pictured above. Made using only the iMPC app on my ipad, recordings taken on a Zoom H4.
Back in August, before setting off on this journey, I equipped myself with some new, exciting music making equipment. The intention was to be able to make music as I went, responding to inspirations more immeadiately than on previous trips, where I generally gathered lots of inspiration and then returned home to fashion it into creative products.
I forked out on an Apple Branded tablet device and bought an Apogee One interface, enabling me to record/listen in great quality and plug microphones and instruments in to it. I also splashed out on pretty much every music making 'app' I could buy. I only had about 2 weeks to learn how to use it before setting off and one of the road tests was this track here.
Aside: Although I have been making some bits of music since leaving London, I havent yet shared anything. This highlights an area of personal development I hoped to work on during my trip. Something I have been ruminating on for a long time is my balance between perfectionism and releasing and moving on and sharing the process. I have identified that I do not release/finish things enough, because I percieve them as not finished or not good enough. (I am not alone on that one!). In the end, i’ve got a hard drive full of great tunes that only occasionally get an airing when I DJ. So this blog is my attempt to share more music, share the process, share some of the inspirations and the works in progress. Progress not perfection!
This particular track was started as a Jam in our studio in Camberwell, London back in August. It features my wonderfully talented brothers Nathaniel (on Guitar) and Barnaby (on drums) with myself operating the machinery and tapping the occasional distant woodblock. It was recorded on much more sophisticated equipment than the iPad. The Drums, Guitar and synth drone all recorded multitrack live. Then, using my new Seagate Wifi hard-drive that I also bought, I was able to transfer all the files onto my new tablet and import them into an impressive and reasonably priced 'app' called Auria, which seems to be the best and only proper multitrack recording software for iPad.
Stage 2 of the track happened in the flat of my new friend, the excellent musican and saxophonista Miguel ‘Pinxto’ Villar in Barcelona, where we were staying for a couple of nights on route to Bogota. I set up the Apogee interface for the first time and stuck a mic infront of Pinxto and his Soprano sax and listened happily as he freestyled over the recording I made with my brothers. It was without any preparation, completely spontaneous, first take stuff, all done and dusted in about ten minutes. Apart from sounding beautiful, for me it was a satisfying demonstration of making music quickly anywhere with a plug socket.
I feel I want to apologise at this stage to the three musicians in the story for being unknowingly caught up in my ‘works in progress’ personal development mission! I didnt consult them or concern myself with their own perfectionist thresholds when I posted it. So sorry guys, but to me you all sound wicked. Thanks!
So then I tweaked and twizzled the sounds over the past three months, in various hostel rooms and on bus journeys. It was, in fact on this very bus journey that I am still on as I write, heading south overnight to a festival in Mocoa, Huila, Colombia, that I bounced down this mix, just 20 mins ago. Music on the move, literally.
So here it is. I am offically releasing for the public to hear (if anyones listening) some works in progress. Watch this space for more to come.
(via https://soundcloud.com/soundspecies/palenque-4am-procession?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=tumblr)
Dope Wolf Müller rmx for Soundspecies - Balafon Jam on Beauty & the beat recordings /!party from London! #soundspecies #wolfmueller (hier: OYE Kreuzkoelln)
