More experimenting with drone versions of tracks that I love have led me to taking the first 45 seconds of a David Byrne song from his 1981 release ‘The Catherine Wheel’. Given that he co-wrote this with Brian Eno, it feels like an appropriate work to stretch out into something densely ethereal.

I have had a few odd emails berating me for my use of some simple free software in the making of these drones. The idea/technique may be a simple one, but finding the right passage of sound on which to use these tools, is the main skill of these works. Thankfully, the general response is a positive one. :)

Once again, only available as a stream for copyright reasons.

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As you may know I am a fan of @mapmap on Twitter. His work and collaborations at Dust Breeding are a constant source of pleasure. So much so, that one piece he has made in an Unrecnow/oo-ray recording session, was so gorgeous that I had to extend it. Seven minutes have become 56 and I think it’s a beautiful soundscape.

The original can be found here.

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Sun Spots.mp3

After the great feedback and the most visitors in one day from yesterday’s track, I have decided to create some more of these.

This is the rather sombre and brooding track ‘Faust Arp’ from Radiohead’s ‘In Rainbows’ album.

Lots of stretching and a thick cloud of Reaktor reverberation make this sound totally immersive. At 33 minutes long, you’ll need to take a little time out with a pair of headphones and a comfortable prone position. I used it to get back into REM sleep in the early hours of this morning, it seems ideal for this. It took me underwater, swimming with seahorses. Where will it take you?

This piece can, once again, only be offered up as a 320kbps stream as I don’t have copyright clearance.

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I am having immense fun using the netbook to create vastly stretched out soundscapes from just a few minutes of music. This is a beautiful Talk Talk track called ‘ I Believe In You’. It is essentially just the track pulled out into a vast 50 minute piece. To get the most out of this, it requires a late night, a tired mind and comfortable listening position. If I get good feedback I will explore creating more of these.

This piece will only be offered up as a 320kbps stream as I don’t have copyright clearance.

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Whilst refurbishing a PC for my little boy, I decided to install my old Ableton Live 6 onto it so that he can play around with some sounds. To check that it was all working properly, I decided to play around with a ten second sample from Talk Talk’s track New Grass. All I did was create four instances of Simpler and manipulated the playback of each of them using a few of Ableton’s built in effects and a some free VST filters.

It’s melancholic and repetitive, which is just how I like it.

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Grass.mp3
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Another remix for you. This is a take on the fourth track from my ambient audio diary, Ennio.

The rather talented James Lowery, aka Swaying Smoke, has reworked it into a brooding dark ambient piece that I really like. The track called ‘O Nine’ is available to download for free here. Whilst at his site, take a listen to some of his other work. I particularly recommend that you check out his latest release ‘Hidden Beneath the Soil’. In his own words ‘This album describes the dark things hidden underground, lurking in forgotten passages and tunnels, mixed into the very ground that we walk.’

It is available for free download from the Public Spaces Lab netlabel website.

Thank you James for taking the time to rework something of mine.

Just want to share a couple of remixes made by a couple of Twitter pals.

First up it’s @Sync24 with his take on ‘Grey Space’, you can grab that from here. His site can be found at http://sync24.com.

The next two are from @nitrowheels who has taken ‘Blue Shift’ and given it a jazz vibe. You can hear this track here. He also took a sample of ‘Almost Beige’ and made a sound all of his own. You can here that one here.

My thanks to them both for taking the time to play with the sounds I am making. It’s always interesting to see how others interpret things.

Keep an eye out for a remix project that my netlabel are planning. Can’t say when it’s happening, but I’ll let you know more soon.

One of things that is great about not being shackled by contracts and copywrite issues when freely sharing is that your creations are picked up and made anew by others. Jonathan Scary, a twitter pal has taken one such piece and made it his own.

Please grab a copy of the original and then take the time to go to http://www.jonathanscary.com/2009/04/grey-space/ and hear his version.

Whilst we have vastly differents styles, it’s a lovely reworking. It’s no longer a sombre moody piece, more silver lining than grey clouds. Sounds a little ‘Lemon Jelly’ like to my ears. Thanks Jonathan. :)

As you may know, the idea behind this blog is that it is a kind of audio diary. Each piece is rarely worked on for more than an hour or two. It’s a love thing not a work thing and all I hope is that occasionally I manage to create something that people really like.

Yesterday brought a great surprise of a very unexpected nature. The rather talented JCLemay at http://deepsound.net/ sent me a tweet telling me and others on Twitter that he’d taken one of my small pieces (048-Seed Green) and remixed it!

His tweet said ‘carried on today’s @ambienteer stellar trip with Seed Green remixed. From inside, seed is rising toward the sun now. ;)’.

I’m thrilled and I love it.

Please grab a copy of the original here and then visit his site to listen to what he has created from it. My thanks to him. Hope you enjoy it as much as I!