Here’s the result of my late night experimental noodling with Reaktor inside Live.

I’m not usually drawn to beats at night but I was gettting mesmerised by the sound of the rain bouncing of the roof tiles and gutter.

This is how it sounded to me…

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

stream 96kbps

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

or download
Ploaie.mp3
Ploaie 96kbps.mp3

An emotional week, with my son becoming a teenager.

As the fields around here are bursting with their harvest, I am even more aware of the speed with which time is passing. Another Summer is fading as Autumn closes in.

I felt the need to create and share a little piece that shows both my joy and my lament.

stream 320kbps

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

stream 96kbps

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

or download
Harvest.mp3
Harvest 96kbps.mp3

Just a quick update to let you know that all of the albums are now up on Bandcamp and it would mean a lot to me if you could go and download them. You’ll find me here. There is no obligation to pay anything, but if you feel you could offer a small payment, you’d be helping to invest in my ability to keep creating new music.

On Friday, I was blown away by the generousity of the Peter and the crew at Create Digital Music for including me amongst some esteemed company as a new music listening recommendation. I’m very grateful for receiving support from such a terrific site.

I’m beginning to work on some new sounds but combining work, family, school holidays and creative time is not that easy in August. I hope to post something here soon.

Thanks to each and everyone of you that have taken the time to listen so far.

Just letting you know that I am currently uploading all of my pieces in their originally intended album formats. So far, I’ve posted the first few.

Please take a look over at http://ambienteer.bandcamp.com/ and grab whatever you fancy. There really is no obligation to buy anything, but if you feel you can, please do so. It really will help me cover the costs of running this blog and making more for you all.

Thanks… x

On a tight budget, I’ve managed to find something that will hopefully see me being creative again v.soon. Will report back here once I have had some time to see how it performs. Thanks for the sympathetic tweets and emails! :)

Sorry, but there will be a delay in my Bandcamp uploads and just about everything else. My laptop is completely dead this morning. Timing couldn’t be any worse. Will report back here later.

Just thought I would update you on my plans over the rest of the summer.

I am currently beginning to upload my work in its original ‘albums’ format to Bandcamp. 250 tracks will take some time to upload, so bear with me? I’d love it if you could pay just few pounds if you do like what I have made so far? The hope is that I can raise enough money to help cover the basic costs of upgrading my computer hardware/software and running the server that hosts this blog.

I am creating sounds for DJ Chloe Harris, collaborating with another Twitter friend (spoken words over ambient) and I’m also writing, what I would call, my first ‘proper’ release. Until now, due to the nature of the blog and timescales involved, the pieces I have made have not been optimised or mastered, just made and shared.

All of this is having to be squeezed in around my day job. I also have my son with me and he needs plenty of attention, as of course does Nickie!

This will mean that this blog may not be v.busy for a while, but I hope you’ll still use it to listen to one or more of the 250+ tracks I have left here for you.

Thank you ALL for your support this far.

James x

I was recently introduced via @greenwoods to ‘Sleeps with the Fishes‘ a 1987 collaboration between Pieter Nooten and Michael Brook. I’m immensly grateful to her for enlightening me. If you love ambient, this is a must have album.

One track in particular I love is Several Times II, but at just over two minutes, its beauty is all too short for me. To help me sleep last night, I stretched and layered it with a little bit of additional reverb into an 11 minute aid to allow you to drift gently off. Here is the result of that.

Only available as a stream for copyright reasons. That said, there is every chance I might be asked to remove it. I sincerely hope not.

I implore you to track the album down and buy it.

stream 320kbps

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Here is the twenty fifth and the last of my regular zipped compilations for a while.

It’s time for me to try and spend a little more time and effort trying to make something a lot more rewarding for both my ears and hopefully yours.

I am extremely grateful for all the support that you have shown me and please don’t imagine that this blog is dead… far from it. I intend to document and share ideas as I create my next project. Having you along for the journey would be terrific. :)

There are two zip files, one for lower bitrate MP3s and the other for the rather better 320kbps files.

All of the tracks here are free for you to download and distribute.

241 to 250 – 96kbps – zip file (40Mb)
241 to 250 – 320kbps – zip file (130Mb)

So here it is. My 250th piece in 520 days. A reflective, almost ghostly sounding track that takes a while to say farewell.

Although I will continue to post here, the rate at which I do will slow somewhat. I now want to concentrate on creating something a little more complete and polished.

Thank you all for your ears, your tweets and your words of encouragement.

James x

stream 320kbps

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

stream 96kbps

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

or download
Valediction.mp3
Valediction 96kbps.mp3