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…

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Ploaie.mp3
Ploaie 96kbps.mp3

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

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Valediction.mp3
Valediction 96kbps.mp3

Sleep came and went. The night sky was a blanket, heavy and warm.

This is how it sounded to me.

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Aethereal.mp3
Aethereal 96kbps.mp3

My creative juices feel like they have dried up, but taking advice from some wise Twitter friends, I’m not going to let it get to me.

I wasn’t going to post the results of last night’s noodling, but after giving it a few listens, it doesn’t seem so bad.

Made using a 0.03 second sample of Elgar’s Nimrod as a sound source.

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Esemplastic.mp3
Esemplastic 96kbps.mp3

This is a piece dedicated to Team Himalayas aka @teammera, a group of Tweeters from around the world who are going to take on Mera Peak, Himalayas next year for charity : water.

Please consider supporting them by making a donation?

To find out more… go to http://twitterteamhimalayas.com/index.html

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Mera.mp3
Mera 96kbps.mp3

This is noisy. Sorry about that, but getting a clean and clear recording from a contact mic seems to be a real challenge. That said, I have had a fun afternoon and evening creating sounds from scratch. This is made up of one sample using a contact mic and the Zoom H4n, capturing me singing down a six foot piece of plastic plumbing tube. I made it into an instrument and played it though a myriad of effects.

Why Illetas? Well, my son is there with his Mother on hoilday. It’s where we used to live when he was v.young. The piece sounds a little melancholic…

I miss him, that’s all.

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Illetas.mp3
Illetas 96kbps.mp3

I’m stuck in a dronespace right now and although it’s not the most popular sound I make, it’s a rewarding one to work on. These often fill me an inner peace. I can’t say why, but they seem to be in harmony with my innermost feelings.

I wonder if anyone can spot the excerpt of music that this piece is born from?

Lights out, headphones on, volume at 50% and gently slumber…

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Frith.mp3
Frith 96kbps.mp3

No, nothing to do with a certain tennis match happening later today, as the spelling should give away.

This is a gentle rolling drone that represents a neighbour’s tree that sits in my workday eyeline. It has the most beautiful deep glowing red bark that lights up like fire when the sun catches it.

It’s so bright at times it feels like I can almost hear it singing. To me, it sounds like this. Headphones, a quiet, comfortable space and 8 minutes of tranquility can be yours.

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Murrey.mp3
Murrey 96kbps.mp3

The results of my first foray into using contact mics.

Thanks to the generosity of Oli Bell @groovecriminals on Twitter, I have some new sound gathering methods to play with.

Born from an electric toothbrush spinning upon a few tight layers of cling film over a large bowl, with extra transients from my hot, sticky fingers upon the taut plastic. The short sample I chose to use was then thrown through a complicated effects chain in Ableton Live, layered and then looped to give it a life of its own.

It’s odd and different, but give it a listen? I like it! :)

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First Contact.mp3
First Contact 96kbps.mp3