LOC NES - Vacation (Akai MPD32, Ableton Live 8 & Anguilla)

For the past week I was vacationing on the beautiful island of Anguilla. Home to some of the best beaches in the world.

It's funny how a simple change in your surroundings can inspire one to create. The pace is so relaxed in Anguilla. By my third day there, I really started to absorb the lifestyle and the mindset. I feel that frame of mind came through in this track.

This is a 100% laptop beat. All the sounds (including the drums) were made in Reason 6 and Ableton Live 8. Instead of doing one of my usual pad-mashing routines I did a live arrangement using Ableton Live's session view (triggering scenes, muting/unmuting tracks, applying effects using my trusty Akai MPD32).

The footage that you see comes from the various beaches that I visited while there. Those include Crocus Bay, Rendezvous, Shoal Bay and Coritot. It was shot using a Canon T3i with a combination of a Tokina 11-16 wide angle lens and a 60mm macro lens.

My only regret is that I didn't get footage of Shoal Bay. Otherwise this was a labour of love.

Hope you enjoy and if you like what you see and hear please subscribe, comment and "like" the video.

Peace and dope beats!

LOC NES - Encased In Amber (Akai MPD32 + Ableton Live 8)

So i'm still in my phase of sampling synths. Last episode I only sampled synths from Reason 6. This time around I sampled sounds from my trusty MicroKORG (except for the vocal sample, that came from a podcast about the human imagination).

The MicroKORG is a little beast. The sounds that come out of it still amaze me, even after having owned it for so long.

I first attempted to make this beat on my MPC 1000, but it's hard to go back to it after being spoiled by Ableton. I ended up abandoning the MPC and put everything together on the computer.

Why can't they make a hardware sampler that has the same power of software. Maybe I'm being naive but I think this should be possible.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy the tune and if you like it please subscribe and comment. Your feedback is always appreciated and as always very encouraging.

Peace and dope beats!

LOC NES - Lunch Break Valentine (Akai MPD32 + Ableton Live 8)

The title of this one explains everything. This beat was made on Valentines Day during my lunch break at work. I usually walk with my laptop because I never know when inspiration will strike.

All the sounds were created in Reason 6 while it was rewired to Ableton Live. I then used Ableton to record samples of the arranged track so I could put the individual sounds into a massive drum rack and then get busy MPC style.

"Lunch Break Valentine" is the result. I hope you enjoy and if you like what you hear please comment and subscribe. Peace and dope beats!

P.S. I've been experimenting with triggering different sounds depending on how hard I hit the pads. For instance the clap sometimes has a tambourine sound layered with it and the kick sometimes has a short hi hat sound layered with it. I've added a few other goodies in there as well (See if you can pick them out).

LOC NES - Doves (Akai MPD32 + Ableton Live 8)

I have good news and bad news.

First the bad news: I apologize for this video being late. I had a nasty sinus infection over the past week that just didn't want to go away.

And now the good news: My health is at 100% and that means new episode of Adventures in Fantastic Land.

For this beat I wanted to a popular song and see if I could put my own spin on it. Steve Nick's "Edge of Seventeen" is a song that I had heard a million times but never though to sample it until now. The whole song is amazing but I sampled my absolute favourite part of it for "Doves".

I added the drums, a baseline and a synth pad. For some reason the synth pad isn't as pronounced as I would have liked. Maybe I'll replace the audio later on.

In the meantime I hope you enjoy. If you like what you hear please comment and subscribe.

Lego Mace Windu

LOC NES - All The Broken Pieces (Akai MPC 1000 & Korg EMX1)

I was feeling in a "hardware mood", so for this beat I fired up my Akai MPC 1000 and my Korg Electribe MX1 and got busy.

I've always had a love/hate relationship with my Electribe. I love how it is capable of generating so many sounds. At the same time I hate that it is so difficult for me to get the sounds that I want out of it. I guess I still have a lot to learn about synthesis.

I've also been getting into music making apps for iOS (iPhone 4S) and recently discovered Camel Audio's Alchemy mobile app. It's easy to get sounds out of this and on top of that they sound awesome. I threw it into the mix as well.

Regardless of the challenges, I'm happy with the way this beat turned out. Enjoy and if you're digging the sounds please subscribe to my youtube channel

Peace and dope beats ...

MPD32 Instagram Test

LOC NES - The Solid (Akai MPD32 + Ableton Live 8)

This was a beat that I had made about a year ago and just left alone. I rediscovered it a few months back while I was organizing/cleaning up the files on my hard drive.

For whatever reason it sounded better to me the second time around so I decided to use it for the first installment of the AIFL Beat Blog.

It consists of a few different samples from vinyl. Those samples were chopped, rearranged processed then placed into drum racks using Ableton Live 8.

The controller I'm using is an Akai MPD32 with modified pads (thick fat pads) from mpcstuff.com

Bangers & Mash (The Pre-Winter Warm-Up Edition)

It might be cold outside but it'll be hot at Bangers & Mash. Make sure you're there on November 25, 2011. House music all night long folks :)

J*DaVeY - WHATCHALOOKIN@?

Love this song :)