Havin' a crack at making a rap tune....

First little attempt at a hiphop/rap track for about 15 years. Programmed all the drums and virtual instruments myself which I was quite proud of as I've literally been teaching myself how to do it as I go.

VENTIN' - HIPHOP/RAP EXPERIMENTAL

This is my unfinished cover of Phil Collins classic hit 'In The Air Tonight' from 1981. 

This was the first track that I recorded and played all parts on when I first bought myself my new Fruity Loops Producer Edition DAW software. 

I had previously been using the free DAW called Cakewalk which is surprisingly good for a free DAW, and I was using this track as a way to learn the software and get to know my way around the endless buttons, plugins, virtual instruments and controls. But the end result sounded so good I thought it was worth sharing. This is why it is as yet unfinished as it was never intended to be released for the general public to hear. 

To complete the cover version it needs proper mixing and mastering and there are a few parts missing that were in the original song that I need to add to officially sign it off as a finished track. 

It was just a practice project after all and was never meant to be heard by anyone else's ears but my own.

All music has been played and recorded myself, all electronic parts such as the drums etc have been programmed by myself also. It still needs a bit of work here and there and definately needs a proper good mixdown but I am pleased with my efforts so far and wanted to share it with you all.

I DO NOT OWN THIS MUSIC, THIS IS STRICTLY MY COVER VERSION OF PHIL COLLINS SONG. ALL CREDIT TO PHIL COLLINS FOR THE WRITING OF THIS SONG

IN THE AIR TONIGHT

NEW SONG AS OF FEB 2022 CALLED 'SINKIN DOWN'. 

QUITE A UNIQUE SOUNDING SONG THIS ONE. IT HAS ELEMENTS OF HIP HOP/RAP MIXED WITH BLUESY STYLE GUITAR RIFFS AND FUNKY BASS LINES..... ALSO I'VE EXPERIMENTED WITH BLENDING DIFFERENT VOCAL HARMONIES WHICH I THINK GIVES IT A VERY INDIVIDUAL EDGE.

SINKIN' DOWN - ROUGH MIX

This song is definitely the most requested song out of my own original set list. Destined to be released as my second single in May/June 2022. Newly remixed and produced by my good friend and new collab partner Lexie Doidge. 

She heard the first version I recorded and put up here and felt that the song was that good it needed someone with decent production skills to work on it and give it the attention it needed to show off what a great song it was. Obviously I was humbled and very appreciative that she would take the time, free of charge to help me. And then listening to my vision for the song along with her own creative insight we basically pulled it apart and she produced it into the version you hear now.

Enjoy!!

PLEASE DON'T - New Remastered Version

With all the unplugged acoustic stuff I've been writing or this project I felt the need to get back to my roots and wrote and recorded this track this evening, started at 8pm finished up to this point by 12 midnight... So dont expect anything too polished or amazing but a sterling effort fopr a few hours work methinks....

ONLY WORDS - Early rough demo version

Another song directly from the heart this time its written about my unconditional love I have for my son and how much happiness he brings into my world!

A REASON TO CHANGE

My beloved sister Sophie letting me record her singing for the very first time. Doing a cover of Zombie by The Cranberries.

ZOMBIE

This song just kinda came outta nowhere. I picked up my guitar in the early evening and started to finger pick some chords and before I knew it it was 7am the next morning and I was still sitting in front of my laptop finalising this song...

BREAKDOWN

A catchy tune that lyrically takes you on a journey to look inside the mind and life of a homeless person that lives in the stairwell of a multi-story carpark and goes busking everyday to feed himself. This is written from my own personal experiences of living on the streets. I was that guy living in the carpark for well over a year nearly two. Somehow managing to cling onto the hope that I would pull myself out of it.... 
As the lyrics in one of the verses says 2 of my homeless friends couldn't take it anymore and they both killed themselves within 2 months of each other. Both by jumping in front of a train... hence the line "Two friends gave up hope, used a train for their rope, that's the end of their fight"

I plan on releasing this track for sale around Christmas time and hope to get a national homeless charity like Crisis or Shelter to back it and all profits generated from sales of the single will go to the chosen charity. Hope fully this will not only generate a bit of cash to help the charity but raise awareness of the plight someone without a home faces on a daily basis.

RUFF SLEEPER

This song has a bluesy rock feel to it and I love the tempo change I've made for the guitar solo. Still not sure if it's too much.... What do you guys think? 
During the guitar solo I've tried to emulate that classic 'galloping' bass guitar style that IRON MAIDEN use so well. Perfect example is in their track THE TROOPER. Unfortunately I've not found a decent enough free plugin that really makes the bass guitar pop out of the mix. I've messed around with a few free plugins that I have and have spent a few hours EQing it but I still cant get the sound I want..... Guess I'm gonna have to spend the money to get some decent plugins..... Unless any of you guys can recommend some free options for me to try??

BUTTERFLIES

A simple blues rock tune in E minor. Very basic song this one. No real vocal harmonies or intricate instrumental parts. Just a nice chilled blues jam that I wrote and thought I'd share with you guys.... 

As always let me know what you think.... And thanks for all your continued support, it really does mean a lot to me!!!

FEEL

Making music for the odd one out, the black sheep, the broken and the ones that don't fit in.... Together we are strong!!

I try to write music that you don't just hear but you 'feel'. The kind of music that makes your hair stand on end and invokes those emotions deep in your soul. 
My songs are written from the heart and are lyrically raw, emotional and 'real'. 

I want to show the others out there like me that are fighting a daily battle with their minds or mental health. I suffer from depression, anxiety and have always had this feeling inside of feeling alone and not belonging anywhere. I want to write songs that people can relate to and as my fanbase grows they will realise that they are not alone and there is a whole army of us who are fighting our own daily battle with mental health issues. 

I'm writing songs that I hope will resonate with those unique individuals that don't fit in with the 'cool' crowd at school, the ones who don't conform to fashion or trendy stereotypes. Those among us who have built up an invisible armour or a mask that we hide behind everyday and to stop people seeing how we really feel inside. 

My debut single 'Last Letter' was picked up by BBC RADIO Introducing and playlisted on their Feb 26th 2022 show.  This is massively boosted my confidence that I am doing something right and I'm not just overly confident in something that isn't actually that good to begin with. 

My debut single 'Last Letter' was released worldwide on all digital platforms on 18th March 2022 and I'm planning to release my second single 'Please Don't' on June 17th 2022. 
I have 2 albums worth of material already written waiting to be recorded and I'm writing new songs all the time so there's plenty more to come folks!

Links to social media -
Instagram - www.instagram.com/alastairbrownmusicuk
YouTube - youtube.com/channel/UChOiRx8xUaXYdjqYCHENrmAbb
Soundcloud Official - @alastairbrownuk
Facebook -www.facebook.com/alastairbrownmusicuk

SINKIN' DOWN - ROUGH MIX

Alastair Brown

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