RELEASE2016

Every Monday we each release a song based on the same sample. The goal of this is to produce content on a regular basis and showcase personal progress.

Chris' take

I really don't feel like writing anything about this because it isn't really anything. But it made us switch things up. Also, we were done in time but forgot about posting these because we don't feel particularily excited about our results.

Jannik's take

Every Monday we each release a song based on the same sample. The goal of this is to produce content on a regular basis and showcase personal progress.

Chris' take

I made this in a day and had a lot of fun doing so. At first I didn’t think I’d use this sample at all but it quickly provided me with all I needed. My favourite part is at the beginning when the keyboard sets in. For this song I tried to listen to the sample loop to hear what needs to be added. When you listen to something loop for a while your hearing starts to focus on different details of the loop, often making it sound way different than what it sounded like at first. That’s one of the many interesting things regarding perception. Those keyboard notes are what I heard first. Those notes made me hear something resembling vocals. So I tried to find words to match the vocal melody. I then used the google translate voice to have those words read to me, recorded them in Ableton and then warped them to match the rhythm. I also put effects on them, for good measure. The Dedotated Wam part was originally a lead instrument but I felt like a speech sample would work better. I then started looking at the original sample again and found the end part to be useful. Very simple but it sounds nice. Using a dolphin sample for the last third of the song was something I came up with when doing laundry because one of my clothes made a squeaky dolphin sound. It wasn’t easy to find a decent fake dolphin noise sample. Real dolphins don’t make the sound I needed. Adding cheering kids after that was something I came up with the instant I added the dolphin sounds. That sample was very easy to find. I think the humor in this song made it so fun to produce.

Jannik's take

Every Monday we each release a song based on the same sample. The goal of this is to produce content on a regular basis and showcase personal progress.

Chris' take

These past few weeks haven’t been great which makes it very hard for me to properly work on music. I’m glad I haven’t given up yet. I’m determined to get through this. I’m hoping it’ll be better one day. This week’s song is more of an ambience piece. It originally inspired me to make something but the need to incorporate the sample in some way put a stop to my inspiration. That led me to question our rules. I talked about that with Jannik and he has been experiencing similiar issues. So we’ve decided to allow for songs which don’t contain the sample, but are still based on it. Inspired by it. I feel good about that decision and I think it’s gonna allow for a more natural approach.

Jannik's take

Every Monday we each release a song based on the same sample. The goal of this is to produce content on a regular basis and showcase personal progress.

Chris' take

Lemme be real here for a second. I tried this sample out for about 10 minutes on Sunday. Somehow I instantly ended up with it sounding the way it sounds in the song. I listened to the modified sample again on Tuesday. Then I listened to it yet another time on Friday. On Saturday I tried to work on it, became instantly frustrated, and decided to do it differently. I gave that up half an hour later. And kinda gave up altogether which led to the song being the way it is. I like the way it turned out. Especially considering I was crippled all week. The intro sample pretty much describes my state of being for this week (in a more comedic though). The lack of structure and the struggle to maintain a clear rhythm fits, too. It was a tough week. Yet I still delivered something I can stand behind, which goes to show how well this project works for people like me. Also, I ended up making something true to the way I felt, just like Jannik did last week. That’s kind of the goal of making music, right?

Jannik's take

Every Monday we each release a song based on the same sample. The goal of this is to produce content on a regular basis and showcase personal progress.

Chris' take

One month, baby! This song solely consists of the sample, no outside instruments/sound sources. That alone was a fun way to work. Also, I made real drums for the first time, which was hard. I’m looking forward to making better ones next time, and the time after that, and the time after that.. The progress is real. I think this is the first time in my life that I’m truly accepting the pace. Not wanting to jump from 1 to 10. It feels good. Some tech talk? Envelopes, man. Love ‘em. Drums are gonna be a tough one for me. But I’m looking forward to conquering that beast. What else to even say. I’m in a good mood. This project is working its magic.

Jannik's take

Every Monday we each release a song based on the same sample. The goal of this is to produce content on a regular basis and showcase personal progress.

Chris' take

This sample was also rather poopy but I did make a nice sounding synth out of it. Unfortunately I didn't make a nice sounding song with that nice sounding synth. Buuut I'm still learning as you might be able to tell. It was fun. Next one's gonna be even more fun, I think. I don't really wanna get into any tech talk with this since there ain't much tech to it. Envelopes. That's all I got. I'm still having a hard time managing the time I spend working on these songs but I feel like it's getting better. This whole project, for me, is a lot about learning to go the way, take your time, and adjust your expectations properly.

Jannik's take

Every Monday we each release a song based on the same sample. The goal of this is to produce content on a regular basis and showcase personal progress.

Chris' take

Alright. Choosing this sample was a mistake. I tried all week to make this work but I just couldn’t come up with something I liked. The only attempts I liked were the ones where the sample wasn’t recognizable, which technically works but it wasn’t what I wanted to do. That is why yesterday afternoon I decided to call it quits and have fun with it (aka make noise). I loaded the sample onto my iPod and ran it through a Digidelay and a DL4 which I recorded via Ableton. I only removed the beginning because I deemed it too boring. Aside from that it’s pure unaltered Umaru-noise.

Jannik's take

Every Monday we each release a song based on the same sample. The goal of this is to produce content on a regular basis and showcase personal progress.

Chris' take

This song is a first for me in several ways. It’s also the first of our weekly sample project and the first song of the infamous RELEASE2016 undertaking. I made it kind of progressive-y because that’s what I mostly listened to last week and it was easy. I hope you enjoy parts of it. I like the ending because it sounds like waves to me. Tune in next monday for hopefully audible progress!

Jannik's take