As a musical experiment (and just an idea off the top of my head one night) I attempted to turn my first dubstep track into a Latin-house track! While I'll admit, I kinda rushed the ending, this was yet-another unfinished project in my queue with a lot of good elements. A few notable things: I turned the original lead into horns - they really brought the work to life. And the bassline? Has that Basement Jaxx kinda feel to it, no? Overall, this experiment wasn't too difficult to do, however, I haven't put my usual amount of OCD into it, lol.

Anyways, would you call this experiment a success or no?

Ciencia Ficcion

Here it is! My brand new(ish) brainchild, Impulses! Truth be told, this was a project I started 3 years ago, then called "Shatterproof Heart", if anyone possibly remembers that track. Well, somehow, the original project got messed up somehow, so I saw opportunity to revisit it and rebuild anew, and I think it turned out pretty well.

The most notable change is the rather reggae-like beat with some standard-fare drum & bass "amens" in it. I stumbled upon it while trying to create something else and thought it'd be great for this one. At the end of the song, before the fade, I decided to try to mimic something I heard while playing Tekken (as most people know I'm a big fan of, and find a lot of musical inspiration from the artists that create the game's music). I ended on a high pass filter, as if you're no longer right there in the mix, but simply listening from afar. I think it turned out okay, do you?

I'm not necessarily breaking new ground with this one (unless somehow I can say I combined drum & bass, reggae, and minimal into one track?), and I'll admit that my perfectionism is keeping me not 100% satisfied with my final mix. But regardless, I am still proud and happy to have taken an old work and done something even better with it years later. Listen and enjoy :D

Impulses (The 90% Mix)

Well, I do admit I fought my ADD to sit down and finish this song at a decent hour than extremely late at night (when I usually work), and as a result, I can’t shake my own personal feeling that “Create Utopia” might have ended up a bit rushed. . . Still, I’m happy to share it today, in what I’d call a near-complete form.

Initially, the drums and bassline are slightly distorted through harsh compression – intentionally. I was aiming for a more harsh, old-school, not-quite-80’s electronic sound without going completely 8-bit. The signature phrase heard throughout the song was a sample from old time radio broadcasts. Which one, I couldn’t tell you, but it was catch enough (I hope) thus it became an integral part of the mix. The lead sounds were mostly unchanged from the years-old project “Utopia” originated from, and the rhythmic synth heard off and on in the song is probably the newest addition.

Now then, this song was originally 92 bpm, but as I began to work on the break and the end portion of the song, I had to bump it up to 105 bpm. And I STILL feel it’s a bit slow. Shifting into somewhat of a breakbeat, I felt I ought to try and shake things up, and while I did, I feel that even I kinda got lost in it all and just started enjoying the process – letting the mix do what it wanted to do, lol. Once again, I attempted unorthodox dubstep, and ended up creating something entirely different. What would I call this? Dubstep? Breakbeat? You decide. And please, do enjoy and leave comments!

P.S. Chopping that sample was a PAIN! I hate doing that. . . Mostly out of laziness, I admit <3

(UPDATE: I ninja'd this track in the middle of the night and replaced it with what I feel is a better and slightly different mix. The difference is mostly in the vocal chopping.)

Create Utopia

Here it is, folks. The full and complete "Passion (Dreamcatcher Remix)," OCD'd to perfection and submitted for your approval!

Many things have changed since I originally began work on this (2 days ago as of writing this). Most notably, the keys that make up the main melody of Passion were remixed and combined with part of Dreamcatcher's melody, also backed by DC's signature detuned bells. The bassline of Passion was mostly done away with, save for a small part, kept in as color and punctuation here and there, while Dreamcatcher's R&B-ish bassline remains a powerful force throughout the song. The very last thing to be changed was the beat, simply for feel and appeal. At the second drop (Passion's signature "Do you like it when I do that?" part), I decided to kick things up into a more 4-on-the-floor style to really make the song (and hopefully people) start jumping. To be honest, this was a mistake while moving notes, but I ended up really liking the change! It didn't feel right without it anymore after that.

I had a lot of fun with this mix, especially since the idea came out of nowhere when I was enjoying/reviewing my work on Passion. I hope you all enjoy this mix as much as I have. As always, I encourage you to not just like, but comment on the mix! Any compliments or constructive criticisms will help me continue to grow and improve! <3

Passion (Dreamcatcher Remix)

Born out of an idea in my head 3 days ago, but inspired by one of my long-time musical desires, I set to work on this project, combining the classical piano/organ sound with electronic music, and I like how far I've come in just 3 days! I've always loved the idea of live, orchestral sound mixed with EDM, so this project has a special place in my heart, both affectionately and flatly earning its name as my "First Symphony".

Having no classical music training, this was all done meticulously by ear, and thus the organs you hear were a PAIN! But they're definitely the backbone of the song, and the strings - while sometimes a bit too powerful - really add to the overall mix. Interesting Fact: The second and third phrases of the song had their latter halves switched after I'd made them, and overall it's better for it. I admit, I was never completely satisfied with the third phrase's latter half (the part with the chords, you know it when you hear it), but I was burnt out by then and decided not to obsess over it.

Altogether, for an idea out of nowhere, this came together very well, and it's inspired me to try to do more work that combines orchestral elements and electronic music. Listen and enjoy!

"First Symphony"

Pardon the lengthy name, that was just some bad gamer humor on my part. Anyways, this is yet another reworking of an old track of mine - literally the second one I ever made - that I threw together this morning. I had been working on a very percussive, house-y version of it for some time and left it stuck while life and lack of motivation kept me busy with other things. Then, today this idea just came to me. An hour or so of tweaks, and absolutely no refinement or editing whatsoever and you've got this! Please tell me what you think, what can be better (I'm aware the hi hats are like, REALLY high), or anything that can help the overall final mix. Thank you in advance! Enjoy!

Nocturna (Super Turbo Championship HD Preview Mix)

After having revised this track and let it sit for a year, I'm finally reposting it. I apologize for the long wait, but as you all know, this song's story is a bit bittersweet. It was a song I wrote to mend a broken heart, then later dedicated it to someone else that (surprise!) broke my heart again. After that, I decided to dedicate the song to myself and let that be that, lol. With some distortion to the overall beat, and a very unorthodox, slow jam feel for a dubstep track, "Dreamcatcher" is a track as deep as the story behind its origin. I hope you like it! It means a lot to me (and ONLY me now, lol). As always leave a comment if you like, and enjoy!

P.S. Give the previously posted "Passion (Dreamcatcher Remix)" a litsten to fully get the effect of the mashup now!

Dreamcatcher

This is yet another phoenix rising from past works, the original track 2 of my "Beast of Legend" album (that's essentially stalled if not defunct now, lol). The more I listened to the preview I had posted earlier, the more I grew to like it, so I didn't try to rock the boat too much. The "guitar" lead you hear, as well as the pad are both taken from yet another DnB track of mine that was never finished, and while not without growing pains, both tracks' elements play well together!

Toward the end, I decided to utilize one of the scrapped beat ideas I had to turn the song up a notch for a good 32 bars, and I'm glad I did. It really creates a climactic point for the mix altogether! Other notable changes, I took it back down from 150 bpm to 145 bpm, and the LFO'd bassline (the "thump-thump-thumping" one) was tweaked just a little for sharper sound. Enjoy and leave comments and advice! <3

Reach In The Sky

This is an improved and slightly edited version of "Passion", now officially a part of my second album, "Elevate"!

What I've changed: The kick pattern at the beginning was changed just a bit for better flow, and to really make the mix pop as it kicks up, just before the drop. Also, the basses were cleaned up a bit, and the leads turned up/down accordingly.

Not much new ground broken here, but I chose to put this track on "Elevate" because I feel it represents another step in my evolution as an electronic musician (which is the overall idea behind "Elevate" anyways.) As always, listen, enjoy, and leave me comments/advice!

Passion

I had just realized today that I'd forgotten to upload the most up to date revision of Rise Above, and I deeply apologize for that. There are a few changes, most notably to the more upbeat portion of the song once again. It's been extended, I took one of my favorite little effect parts of Monochrome and added it back into the mix, and lastly, the end of that part ends differently (I'm not sure how to explain it).

All in all, it's a great mix, and I simply wanted to share the proper, final product with you all. Listen and enjoy!

Rise Above

This project has been stuck unfinished for about 3 years, until today! Back then, I threw it all together rather quickly, but exhausted the limits of what I could do then. But because it was a fun project through and through (mainly for the comical video I would love to shoot for it), I kept coming back to it.

The chords are the backbone of the song, as well as the bassline, which didn't need much tuning from me. The initial hip hop beat sets a relaxed yet powerful pace for the song, which then gives way to some good ol' fashioned amen-powered drum & bass! I love the dual nature of this track almost for that alone. The rest is the simple but fun tricks/variations I applied to both beats periodically throughout the song. And the static. . . Man, that makes me smile every time!

I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did making it! This WILL be added to my second album, "Elevate", and who knows? Maybe I'll shoot that video sometime! Listen and enjoy!

ZKI

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