Second entry for BB59 - this time picking up the seasons I left out before. Starts in Spring and ends in Summer - and what could be sunnier than some Latin flavours, woodblocks and shakers? Perhaps it's cutting corners rolling two seasons into one, rather than doing each of the four individually. Fantastic challenge from MSGSaltsweet and Alynne. I really enjoyed putting this together. Comments welcome. Oh - and doing brass with MIDI instruments is tough - sometimes it works and sometimes it does not - I am undecided here!

BB59 April Showers / Summer Rain

Matoma's excellent track, redone for the much older Indy Rock generation. Competition is running on SKIO

Matoma - Sound of Shadows (niCKed Rocky RemiX)

Another Beat Battle. Number 75 feels like an EPIC landmark! So, taking some African style samples from friend HC and arranging them into something more western and casual sounding turned out to be a bit of a challenge. Don't know if I succeeded - there was a lot of de-tuning and melodyne involved! But maybe it works... just.

BB75 Kalanaah

Another chance to explore what I can do with @insanity-samples outstanding Cello One and newly acquired Tilda vocal instrument. Also trying my hand at some ambient guitar here! Vocals purchased on some website somewhere. Comments always welcome!

On a String

Moog synth Challenge on Discord channel MUFO https://discord.com/channels/1080881941160665109/1239115171327246376

So - this song heavily relies on Arturia's Mini Moog Emulation - the Mini V. The only thing that isn't a "mini Moog" are the electronic drums, the vocals and the ocean SFX. Enjoyed doing this one. The Mini V is a LOT more CPU friendly (and I think sounds better, or at least more musical) than the CS80. Lemme know what you think! There are a LOT of synth layers in this one...

Ocean (Sea of Moog miX)

Made for the Repost Exchange remix challenge. And what could be better than flipping this song into more smokey-jazz territory. I even think it works quite well, but am open to criticism and/or roasting! Comments welcome here :)

Big up to Ink Instruments - their "Amateur Orchestra" is just so damn good!

Kisses (feat. bbyclose) niCKed Jazzy miX

Excellent song, but sorry - I just cannot help myself and flipped this into a more folky genre - two genres even, Country AND Western. Hope people like it - I had a lot of fun making it. Thanks to Symmetrik for making their stems available!

Caroline by Symmetrik (niCKed remiX)

So here we are - and only the second time I have attempted a track like this. And boy is this a fun genre to work with. I like it because it is fairly minimal without a ton of layers - which gives you room to breath and try things out - especially with the bass. If it was any more fun I'd probably get myself arrested, or at least have to get naked. And nobody wants that.

Thanks to my friend @onedarksid313 for inspiring me to take part in this beat battle - this won't be the last time I make a Riddim/Dubstep track!

UR So Beautiful (Darkside Tribute Mix)

Remix of M0usewhisperer's superb mix... I went more acoustic for my version, with UJAM Mellow bass, acoustic and electric guitars and, of course, a Hurdy Gurdy.

The original (which I advise you to hear) can be found at this link: 

https://soundcloud.com/random_landscaping/terminal-absolution?si=e5f06bb5da094728a17cb28dfba30171&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

@random_landscaping

Terminal Absolution (niCKed Organic Mix)

Make the soundtrack for a battle with an "end boss". So that's what I did (I thought of the "Murder of Crows" character in Biosphere 3 - that's how long it's been since I played computer games). Apart from the drums (and the crows) - all instruments are from Arturia Pigments version 6. What a fantastic synth.!

The Big Bad Scary Boss Fight Song (Murder of Crows)

Same sort of idea as "Keys of Fate" - but with strings...

Strings of Destiny

First SKIO remix I have done for a while - this one was just BEGGING to be turned into reggae. I think it works, lemme know what YOU think!

Flight Facilities - Crave You (a niCKed remiX)

SKIO Remix of "The One" - seemed an easy transition at first - to go from Afrobeat to Latin beat until I dug into the detail. Sped-up/Slowed down to make everything fit! Enjoy!

The One (feat. Daddy Yankee) Robert Falcon, 3rd Wall, NAK niCKed REMIX

Only human voice in here. 

Something I made a long time ago - a challenge to use only vocal samples provided by friend Ian Collins for a track. 

Vox in Socks (BB10 challenge)

Skio Remix competition entry. My version of Major Lazer "Powerful", turned into Americana pop music.

Major Lazer - Powerful (feat. Ellie Goulding & Tarrus Riley) niCKed remiX

Beat Battle 100 track. What a milestone for the chaps running the Beat Battles on Discord (formerly on Metapop).

Join in here - https://discord.gg/Hb7Rhhb5

My second track for the milestone 100th Beat Battle with my friends - some survivors from Metapop and others new. It has been a real privilege and joy to have a space where we can experiment and share ideas.

This track explores the idea of using "Ostinato" (repeating patterns). This track uses two midi files provided (hence the key change). To make it harder of course I re-jigged everything to work in 5/4 time. But I do think it works! Let me know what you think. 

72 to 125 in 5 over 4 (BB100 miX)

UPDATED Tokimonsta style track - or at least inspired by her. Much better now I switched out the bass from SubLab to Knifonium.

Run (niCKed Tokimonsta Tribute miX)

Another Beat Battle track - an attempt to follow in the footsteps of TokiMonsta, but of course I did something a bit more atmospheric and eerie. Synth Bass and Brass are the star of the show IMO.

BB101 New Emotion

SKIO Music Remix. Haven't made a track like this since the 90s.! Lemme know what you think!

All Over - Asdek, Petit Biscuit (niCKed miX)

Track made entirely from Venus Theory Noctua and presets from Lunacy Audio's Cube and Beam. Drums are from Cameron's wonderful "Drum Shoppe" - which turned out to be really punchy and interesting (I'll def use again).

Roll VT

Beat Battle 102 - make a "Cinematic House Track" - hosted by friend MSGSaltSweet. I have never made a house track in my life - and I think it shows. Had a lot of fun bending the given samples into wierd shapes though!

Grounded (BB102 Cinematic House Thing miX)

So I did a lounge rock cinematic thing...

BB102 Cinematic Lounge

For Beat Battle 103 - make and "intelligent" drum and bass track - which to my mind is a sub-genre of drum and bass from the 90s (when dance music became the intellectual choice and rock, the opposite). I suppose now you might call this Ambient Drum and Bass, or Cinematic Drum and Bass. I think of it as music with breakbeats. Hope you like it and I welcome your comments!

Sunflower Prayer Bowls (BB103 Drum and Bass miX)

BB 1 zero 3

My country version of the excellent "Crash" - by Kennedy Wilde. For In The Mix remixing competition. This version is just for fun - will submit something else as my entry to the competition...

Kennedy Wilde - Crash (niCKed Country remix)

For Sonic Labs! Make a track using predominately free synth plugins. Well alright then. And seeing as UAD's Polymax was recently made FREE - I made this. All instruments are Polymax and all drums are made from synth samples. I think it kinda works - what do you think? Comments expressing love or hate are equally welcome.

Only Synths

NOW UPDATED AND IMPROVED

Tribute to my boy cat, Danté. Still missed and now immortalised in song.

Wrote the lyrics first (inspired by psychedelic folk artists The Incredible String Band) with the thought to sing this myself - but I sound nothing like frontman Mike Heron, so I trained AI to sing my lyrics for me (sorry). The rest are folky instruments as befits the style. No sitars, but maybe next time. For Beat Battle 104...

LYRICS
Danté, oh Danté, lord of the curling tail
You danced on my table, you knocked over the grail
You sleep in the sock drawer, you purr in the void
You scratched at the cosmos till Neptune was annoyed

In the corner of my cottage near the curtain made of dreams
Lives a velvet-footed whisperer who slips through astral seams
He came on the breath of a twilight fog, with an eye like a gypsy flame
And though I named him Danté once, he never spoke his name

Danté, oh Danté, lord of the curling tail
You danced on my table, you knocked over the grail
You sleep in the sock drawer, you purr in the void
You scratched at the cosmos till Neptune was annoyed

He eats only when Jupiter’s high and the moon is feeling shy
And he stares at my shadow like it might learn to fly
I asked him once for wisdom; he blinked a slow reply:
“The birds know more than you do, man, and they never even try.”

Danté, oh Danté, lord of the curling tail
You danced on my table, you knocked over the grail
You sleep in the sock drawer, you purr in the void
You scratched at the cosmos till Neptune was annoyed

He’s written poems in the litter
That only ants can read
He sang a song to the moths last week
And they crowned him forest seed

Danté, oh Danté, lord of the curling tail
You danced on my table, you knocked over the grail
You sleep in the sock drawer, you purr in the void
You scratched at the cosmos till Neptune was annoyed

He walks like a priest in a pagan rite
Through candle wax and starless night
He bit my ear and stole my cheese
Then vanished into the swaying trees

Danté, oh Danté, my fickle furry sage
You’ve shredded the curtain between the world and the stage
You sleep in my teacup, you dream in my shoe
I think I belong to you

Danté of the Moonbeam Paw

Beat Battle 104 - Make a psychedelic track in a 1960s style. Kept it simple and used The Doors for inspiration - with Arturia's Vox Continental, Electric Guitar, Bass and NI's Abbey Road 1960s drum kit.

Continental Psychonauts

Above and Beyond - Start a Fire - for the remix comp on Label Radar.

Start a Fire (niCKed Remix)

For the UJAM "Chromed" Beatmaker challenge!

Praise You (niCKed Moon miX)

Middle aged geezer who has lived in London since Elizabethan times. Understand how to edit and mix, as well as an interest in music theory and a bit of guitar/bass/keyboards. Doing this very much for the fun of it and not really interested in copying anybody else. Love "hybrid" music and sound (or sound design) - meaning I love crossing different genres. Into LoFi and Electronic Folk right now...

n1CKed

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