The result of #MusicEveryday, the megalomanic project where I deliver a piece of music every day of the week for the month of July 2021. Keep up with all the different stuff I cook up. Maybe something will click!

July 2021 - #MusicEveryday

The results of my challenge to spend 30 days on creating music, images and video. One complete set, one day, every time.

#ThirthyDaysOfMusic

Thursdays are true. Old fashioned music that starts with nice guitars and has multiple chords and everything. I have written lyrics, but no singing yet. 

No loops, but nice use of the great Acoustic Guitar Strummed 2 and Acoustic Guitar Picked by Native Instruments, featuring the Hollywood Backup Singers by EastWest.

The harmonica you think you hear is a Tea Kettle fluit, by Decent Samples:
https://www.decentsamples.com/product/tea-kettle-kontakt-free/

Video version

#MusicEveryday - July 01 - Thursday True

OMG.. just in time. I made the mistake to start with work today. Not music. On weekdays that is not the right way I think.

This is not finished. But that was not the original point of the challenge..

#MusicEveryday - July 02 - Friday Vocal

First I made a short disco track to sample from (with a construction kit from Zero-G, when you have to work fast, it is nice to cut corners sometimes, also: no problems with copyrights). I added (extra) drums, a synth bass, piano, an old school Juno synth and the excellent Studio Strings that come with Logic. 
I made two sample instruments with that part, one that has phrases of four bars, and one that is totally chopped up in small pieces, so you can create something with small fragments of the music. 
WIth ReGroover Pro I also took apart the original loop that came with the construction kit, to have the hats and a little clap fit neatly. 

The vocal sample is from good old Splice, that offers a bridge so you can find something that fits your track pretty fast, in the context of the music you are playing in.

Lift Your Spirits Up - #MusicEveryday - July 03

Put on your headphones, close your eyes and chill out for over six minutes. Easy and soft for a sweet Sunday afternoon, with a slow low end you can rest your head on.

Wonderful sounds from some fantastic Kontakt instruments and simple melodies that flowed out of my hands because I was also very relaxed.

Chill, It's A Trap - #MusicEveryday -July  04

On Monday a lot of people feel the blues But you can dance with that! Lightly inspired by the music Moby made with old gospel samples. These are from the blues. And then some! 

I feel better already!

I Got The Blues - #MusicEveryday - July 05

This track started as - #MusicEveryday July 13, I decided to use it in the upcoming trailer for a movie adaptation I am working on. That is why it has a new title and new artwork! 

I meant to make some kind of horror movie soundtrack thing, so I wrote a creepy text about the voice in your head, that tells you you are bad and all. Again via Speechelo, I had it spoken by ai. When repitching the intonation and the cadence, it seemed like a good idea to use a loop. And then it became a minimal tech house track. Or something like that.

There is also tension every time the beat stops and you are waiting to start dancing again. Hands in the air, you know the drill. Again another sound in the #MusicEveryday series. SO much fun..

In Your Head

Most of the #MusicEveryday series tracks are based on harmony, melody and are nice to most ears. On a tense Tuesday, it is allowed to be a little uneasy. Hear the blazing sun. See the sounds distort by the rising heat of the desert. What are those people up to? And are they even people?

A little trip through Death Valley, or somewhere else where you can hear the tension.

Dry Spell - #MusicEveryday July 20

Back to the roots on a lazy Sunday afternoon in the city. Where somebody is slowly fooling around with an old record, a 909 drum machine, and a guitar.

First I made the music for the sample you hear, for which I used the Mellotron that preceded the sampler, when playing a key, the sound was played from tape, which were actual recordings of say strings and a boys choir. It already has a pretty lo-fi sound, because of the effect of using tape. 
Then I sampled the result of the Mellotron, a dude playing the drums with brushes, an upright bass and a piano. And added a super low bass (do not blow your speakers!), and my favorite organic instruments.

Low Vibe - #MusicEveryday July 25

This track should be titled "Chase the Sun", but I decided on numeric system for this month of daily music. The vocal is from a pack called "emo vocals", it does have some kind of punk aesthetic I think. And the rest is the cross-over hodgepodge I tend to make when I am associating freely with whatever comes to mind. This piece of music also has potential to be worked on after this pretty hefty month is over.

#MusicEveryday July 30 - Friday Vocal ("Chase the Sun")

Just playing around with loads of new tools (hello Komplete 9 Ultimate). Better try to make something instead of just banging on keys and buttons. Somebody brought up Baker man by Laidback. I mashed it up a little by adding a hint of Chris Isaac. Played and recorded in a short evening.

Wicked man (Bakerman - Laid Back / Wicked Game - Chris Isaak Mashup)feat. Hoof

First day of #ThirthyDaysOfMusic 2023. Starting it on a new laptop was not the best idea ever. I spent at least half of the day reinstalling plugins, updating to Apple Silicon versions, looking for serial numbers, searching forums for why suddenly this or that did not work.

And oh yes. I made the first montage of an abstract piece of expressive dance. For which I incidentally also make this sound. There is a fragment of Comfortably Numb in the first part, but the rest of it is ambient sound that gets soothing in the end. But without images not something you will ever put on a playlist.

30DOM2301 Frizz

Many hours later than I anticipated I started this Retro Revival themed tune. There was an idea I had in my head for quite some time. I used Suno to generate a couple of "Seventies Disco" style tunes, with the input of this special piece of lyrics writing (#NoChatGPT):

I wish I could go back in time
And stroll into the disco
The moves and floor, all mine
All I ever need to know!
All I ever need to show!

DISCO!!
DISCO!!
Da-da-da-DISCO!!

And then used Lalal.ai to split the vocal from the music. It is like sampling from an old mp3 that was made from an old lp, but then in a scenario where none of the sound ever existed before. Like crate digging without the crates. And the digging.

I also used a break from one of the versions. And added some loops and original parts. Not creating a rift in the time-/space continuum in the meantime. So I still had three hours.

The experiment did make me smile. And this could be the seed of something way more polished in the future. The process is interesting though. Writing lyrics and coming up with a genre prompt that delivers you low-tech vocals that could live as original samples.

I am re-discovery the fun of making things that sound like music-ish stuff in this #MusicEveryDay pressure cooker environment.

MED2302 - Go Back In Time

Not called Oopsy for nothing. My internet disappeared, so I had to do this improvising. Some instruments could not be licensed (still having "fun" with the transfer of software and licenses to the new laptop), lots of things i wanted to reference or try out for the video are not possible. It is a bit of improvisation, and I did feel the spark, adding percussion tracks by hand and being inspired to use certain sounds or combinations. And asking myself why I wasn't using Infinity EQ by Slate DIgital earlier.

Slowly getting back in the music creation space!

30DOM2304 - Oopsy

I visited Amsterdam today. It was raining. Also I had a lot of fun with my brother and visited the excelling Salvador Dali presentation in Fabrique de Lumieres. But I wanted to do something with the rain.. So I did!

30DOM2305 - City Rain

This was fun! Yesterday would have been "Urban Pulse", I did keep some of the early hip-hop vibe in this track. I also did a reasonable amount of sampling. The vocals are from old radio plays. I split the voices from the background music or noise with Lalal.ai and enhanced the quality of the vocals with the free podcast.adobe.com site. And after that I played a little with some of the new features I now can use in Logic (because of using the M2Pro chips).

The suggestion of the text and soundscape is that this is really about something. War, fascism, something, something, to be free!

It is mostly suggestion. And mostly a sonic adventure, which is the theme for Tuesdays.

30DOM2307 - To Be Free

I saw an Instagram ad for a collection of acapella's, I heard a great track in the car that had a nice nineties bass, I knew my harmonic whisper themed track would be something along that way.

30MOD23 - Move Your Feet

This was not really primarily a music track, but after I did a montage of my voice-clone in different languages, I wanted to have a kind of musical background. Which turned out nice.
 
I had to change the #MusicEveryDay to #ThirtyDaysOfMusic, because it was causing stress instead of pleasure. But spontaneously coming up with a piece of music is more like that.

The languages are Dutch, Afrikaans, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Japanese and Russian and Flemish.

30DOM07 - Languages

I wrote this music to accompany a dance performance, where the dancer was expressing his life story through movement. The subject is pretty heavy handed, but the larger arc is a path to hope, to connection. 

So also the music goes from troubled to opening up. It actually has a musical quote from Comfortably Numb at the start, and ends up positive, open.

Hoof - Frits Danst

The mix of an older track I made in a couple of hours in 2021. Turns out I made it with a couple of instruments that are not compatible with my current setup.

I had to replace them with alternatives, which is a nuisance. Even though I chose the original sounds under time pressure, they are part of the original track that lives in my head.

This 2024 version is a try to capture what made the original sound cool, with a good amount of common sense, because people will never hear those details you keep obsessing about, ever.

Air Music Tech should be updating their instruments faster though.

What?

What?!? '24

Waarschijnlijk al een jaar of 20 oud. Maar een klassieker in mijn boek!

Diervoeding

Je Kat is geen Puntenslijper

I used AI to remix my own 'Infinity' track, and added several parts after that, with the same AI. A cool way to rediscover your own music again. The melodies and instruments are roughly the same, but in a new version.

Original 2021 version: https://soundcloud.com/hoof/infinity

Inifinity 2024 remix

Infinity 2024 Remix

I was playing around a couple of days with this track. I have forbidden myself to use a piano on this one. I wanted to focus on rhythm. I also wanted a female voice in there. I found her at Soundiron. Francesca Genco is now part of my instruments and can be heard in this.

And here's the precious video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCOoBvo_huc

My Precious

Tonight I was remixing the first track I put on Soundcloud, it was great. The first time I discovered I had a studio, right there under my hands, resulted in the original track 'US'. 

Originally made in 2012, it now sounded like I was stumbling in a dim-lit cardboard box back then. I had to lift the lid and open up the windows. Dust off the old instruments, and shine a new light on something that has become stronger over the past few years.

US is still here, and it feels better than ever. I kept most of the original spirit, but it feels way stronger and deeper, with all that I have learned since then.

I originally made this track in Garageband, today I have so much more tools in my hands. But what matters most: I still know what I was feeling when I was trying to make the best of it, back then. And it only grew stronger.

US (2015 remaster)

I have listened to my father's classical lp's all my early years. After discovering Jean-Michel Jarre I imagined that classical music could be combined with synthesizers and beats. But looking at the studio he had, this looked like a dream that would take a lot of time and money.

Well.. That proved to be true. But these days there is a studio right under my fingertips. A MIDI-keyboard within reach, and a lot of ideas and desires in my head.

Somehow I suddenly had the 'Mondschein Sonate' in my head and decided this was a great piece to mangle in modern electronics and beats. 

I took the piano piece as a starting point and wrote all other parts from scratch. So all additional string parts (and of course the bouncing bases) can not be blamed on poor old Beethoven. And asking him for permission is beyond impossible (he is dead, and was deaf at the time).

I had so much fun making this. It might not be the last track that is inspired by dead composers.

16th of october I listen to this track in my car and I freak out, gently, but deep enough to get my hands on this track as soon as I was near my hardware.. I almost can't believe I thought it was finished earlier. Oh well, there was a lot of hard work in it, but in hindsight it sounded weak. Tonight I did a new mix and replaced it here. After doing lots of other things and attending quite a few gigs (and speaking to some dj's and producers) I heard that it was missing some edge, some punch. So I tried to make it better. 

And waking up the next day, I again started fiddling knobs, tweaking stuff and what have you. Think it is now even punchier and, well. We'll see.. 

Moonlight (Moonlight Sonate Beathoof version)

A tune I made five years ago, upon listening, I thought it was not bad at all! I think it is important to acknowledge the past. This has a nice atmosphere and I would not mind making something like this currently. Of course it would be different, and I have a better grasp on mixing, mastering, arrangement. But this was something from the heart, I feel the enthusiasm I felt when I made it.

Peace of us

On a given thursday I heard a so-so remix of this great forbidden pleasure by AC/DC. And spent some time to create one myself. As with all the tracks I upload with a sketched cover, it is just fun in between other undertakings. But I can imagine this getting a live audience jumping around and singing along in a nice 140 bpm trance set.

I found a multitrack soundalike cover version of this song on Song Galaxy, to have some material to work with. There does exist a live recording of AC/DC performing this song, that has been used for remixes, but that takes ages to get to fit an electronic beat. This sounds very much alike, and it's just for good fun..

Just spending a friday and saturday stamping my feet with my headphones on fire.

Highway To Hell (Cloven Hoof Remix)

While playing with a nostalgic soundpack, I suddenly found myself creating an eighties type of track. And a couple of hours later I was even singing to it so it became a song!

Buy license

Spaceship (featuring Hoof)

Thanks to Psychique and James Dymond (@ Sonic Academy), I made my first Psy Trance track. Here it is. 
From banging bass to Chicago house, including stuttered vocals, the first track that got signed under the Hoof moniker.

--

Composition & production: Ruud van Wijngaarden & Lique Angel
Mastering: Arjan Rietvink
Release: January 27 on Destinesia Records.
(High quality wav download for whoever gets this private link)

Psykick

A one day production with a break that just materialized and was beautiful. With a new mix on Christmas Eve 2016.

There was an excellent deal on UVI's Digital Synsations (for free, via the wonderful KVR newsletter), which has my first synth, more or less, the Yamaha SY77. That is where the first 'house' tracks were made, 25 years ago. 

Of course I did not have a classic singer at hand in those days, that is the sound of the excellent Vocalise that was recently added to the tools. And a kick like this was unthinkable back then.

Synthdrome

My remix for the competition to make the great song Wer sind wir by Loewenhertz better. Or at least different.

Glad we got to be part of this release!

Wer sind wir

Löwenhertz - Wer Sind Wir - (Hoof Dark Electro Trance Remix)

A happy blend of uplifting summery sounds, with a hint of disco, a break that enters the deep house territory of yesteryear and a second break that could be mistaken for a piece of trap.

Just something to make you dance on the beach or just drive around in the sun.

(And here is the Extend Mix: https://soundcloud.com/hoof/hoof-witnessday-extendedmix)

Witnessday

Witnessday (Original Mix) - ReState Records

The Extended Version of this happy blend of uplifting summery sounds, with a hint of disco, a break that enters some deep house territory of yesteryear and a second break that could be mistaken for a piece of trap.

This mix is a little more suited for the club, but you can still dance to it on the beach or just drive around in the sun.

(Here is the Original Mix: https://soundcloud.com/hoof/hoof-witnessday-originalmix)

Witnessday (Extended Mix) - ReState Records

Here is the full remix of Jon Sines' Fall featuring Calum Venice. 

https://splice.com/Hoof/fall-hoof-remix

Fall

Splice

Jon Sine - Fall (Hoof Remix)

There is a genre of electronic dance music that brings forth cool stuff. Alive and kicking, releasing wonderful music all over the place. This wonderful track by Project Ich, with singer Mick L Angelo is a great example of that.

The label asked us kindly to add a remix to the international rooster of artists, and the track kind of stuck, and it really is a nice addition to the catalogue.

Where Are The Angels feat. s Mick L. Angelo (5TimesZero) - Hoof remix

Where Are The Angels

Project Ich feat. Mick L. Angelo - Where Are The Angels (Hoof Remix)

OUT NOW! Available on all platforms for downloading or streaming.

Named after the daughter of Ruud, this is an uplifting track with an old school trance feel, so emotional chords and melodie, but still a lot of dancing!

This is the Original Mix, with plenty of room for the dj to blend it in the set and a nice long break.

Noor

Download/stream

Noor (Original Mix)

To celebrate my birthday, love and dancing, this track mashes together all kinds of music to make you move. Thanks everybody for the birthday wishes. It was the best birthday I can remember (and I got plenty of them).

Follow the links for a free download!

My heart belongs to you

Download

My Heart Belongs To You

OUT NOW! Check out the full release at https://echozone.bandcamp.com/album/this-time-im-over-you

This Time I'm Over You

Buy on Bandcamp

Projekt Ich Feat. Erik Stein (Cult With No Name) - This Time I'm Over You (Hoof Remix)

This is our version of the track by Broken Ego. A club mix that is true to the original track, but now ready for the club. The clubs that do appreciate a bit of guitar in there. And vocals as well. Check out the original versions and alternate mixes, as well other great remixes by other producers!

Get Away

Broken Ego - Get Away (Hoof Club Remix)

Maybe a little crazy: a rework of Tony's theme that Giorgio Moroder used for the Scarface soundtrack, based upon The Cold Song from act three of the opera King Arthur by Henri Purcell. 

I have been trying to get this cleared with Universal, just to be sure (the original copyright is in the public domain), but to no avail. And it has been way too long for me to really go after it. But when I made it, I really thought this was going to be a smashing orchestral/trance/edm tune man.. 

So now after two years I yank it off of private.  This could be a grand opening for my trance set at any party. But oh well.. Covid-19 and all.. 

By the way, no samples or anything, this is all played by me. A long time ago, but still. 

Wait for the choir to kick in!

Tony's Theme (Hoof rework)

Scarface (Tony's Theme/The Cold Song from  "King Arthur" by Henry Purcell)- Hoof rework

Last sunday an old friend came by (@neems_nl). He used to be guitarist in a band we played in, so that should bring a different taste to the electronic sound you will normally expect (though I always try to introduce "different" instruments or sounds in the mix). 

After some dead ends, we just started to improvise. I laid down a simple drum track and some bass. He played parts on his acoustic guitar, we put it through digital amps and effects, sliced, looped and added some extra parts (hello choir!). We bounced ideas off each other, and the result is a track that brings a smile to our faces.

Also the result is that we will be doing this every month, not shying away from doing vocal tracks as well. It was great fun, let's hope you can hear that. For now it is kind of "digital punk". No plan, no ambitions, but ready to make some noise!

Go Strings Attached

NeemS & Hoof - Go strings attached

After recording a fairly old school bluesy sounding track, we concluded it had a kind of american feel. And some cinematic potential. So the next version was much more cinematic. For the third version we found found a vocal on splice.com that fitted really well. Suddenly there was a story!

So a video that reflects that was next (https://vimeo.com/334734070). So here is 6 minutes of buildup, melancholic singing, booming sounds, subtle percussion, strings, a lot of guitar and.. crickets.

Ben Pa Aka (come here boy)

Neems & Hoof - Ben Pa Aka (come here boy)

Derived from the track "Bicker", this is a new take on that. New production, changed voices, added parts. Still a strange chimera of different sounds and genres. But those acoustic guitars did make into mainstream dance music after 2014.

Noclious

Bigger 2020

The full version ot the remix that could  only be submitted as a one minute Instagram video. This is the whole thing, not just the part where the brass  comes in.

Time Machine (Hoof remix)

Alicia Keys - Time Machine (Hoof remix)

The remix of the track by Projekt Ich, vind the original and all remixes on Bandcamp!

Sexy Silly Girl

Projekt Ich feat. Stereo in Solo (Thierry Noritop) - Sexy Silly Girl (Hoof Electrodisco Remix)

The future has been broken down into pieces. Will it ever come back?

This is the second track for the Abandom EP, the project where I put together songs for an imaginary movie. This vocal track is built around the main theme, but this time it is an emo-rock song that mixes orchestral, electronica, and guitars. 

The video is a painted version that incorporates images from the video for the main theme (https://youtu.be/BwSNwRMQ1gc) processed in Studio Artist and EbSynth. Watch it here: http://bit.ly/Hoof-DFvid

I have recorded myself and projected those images on posters, murals, and pieces of graffiti that appear on the walls and buildings from the original clip. So learning a lot about motion tracking and rotoscoping along the way. Good fun!

Watch the video

Defining Future (from OST Abandom)

Wrong-wired brain. Playful child. Renaissance man.

Support by Andrew Rayel, Cosmic Gate, Stoneface & Terminal, Artento Divini, Patrick Dreama, Frank Watson, Alex John, DJ Bluefire, Rubster, Victor Lobanov, Dj Feel, Druce, Simon McCann, Jesus Sifres and Dj Okkie.

Hoof

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