Tag Archives: chillout

Posted on by

Halcyon Sky (debut EP) – Day 6

river

Whew… a long day (sleepless last night for the most part), so this is a quick update. Worked on one of the tracks today that I’ve laid the foundation for. The focus today was only building up and deciding on the percussion for this track. An essential element of chillout tracks, from a percussion standpoint, is a shaker. Between the many types provided in Logic 9’s loops library and those (many) I have in my sample library, it was just a matter of choosing one that sounded good in the track. I chose to start with Logic 9 and after auditioning a few found one that fit in the track nicely. Since it’s an Apple loop software instrument, it will adjust itself to the tempo of the song should I choose to change it in the future – that flexibility is good to have.

I spent some more time working on some drafts of the artwork for the release. In the last post, I mentioned wanting to realize the graphics lettering on the actual photo. I was able to do one draft today and I like it so far. What I like even more is finding another photo from the same artist that I will use for the title track remix. Immediately, this photo became inspirational to the point where I already have an idea on how the remix will be composed. I like that.

Tommorrow I think I’m going begin work on the title track. Details to come soon.

Off to bed, I am mad tired.

::: oceans of rhythm :::

Fresh!

Posted on by

Halcyon Sky (debut EP) – Day 4

Screen shot 2014-02-16 at 7.55.23 PM
Photo Credit: Leland Melvin/Instagram
ND/HS

Greetings…

Sunday evening, sitting in “Studio B”, noticing it’s just about time for the NBA All-Star Game tipoff. Today was pretty quiet in The Lab. Last night, I sent a track, in progress, to two of my partners that we’ll colloborate on. Another track is still with my sax player who, as I previously mentioned, is working on a horn arrangement and possibly additional keyboards, so I’m satisfied with how the development of the EP is going so far. I did start work on a new track (the photo above fits the title and concept of the song). That said, it will be minimal in composition, but I’m finding that I’m going to take some time in programming the drums and percussion. The choice of other elements will be equally as important, as I’m trying to convey to the listener what the title of the song is. Evoking the essence of a song can involve a fair amount of time conceptualizing different things, but in my experience, I’ve found the time taken often brings the success originally hoped for.

Currently I’m deciding on a mix of digital soft synths and the one bit of analog kit I have in the studio – which will require some processing. It’ll be interesting because I first used this piece of equipment back in 1987 :). I -think- I may be also using NI Maschine on this song as well. In any event, I’m hoping this will end up as a mood piece.

As said before, production always starts in Logic. The track is open as I type this, so I think I’ll develop it a bit more, then catch some of the game at some point.

I’ve read, and continue to read, a lot of stories of artists, globally, that compose music (especially electronic) in a myriad of ways, some purely analog, some purely in the box (digital), some a mix of the two, some only with hardware. I get to see their studio setups (anything from a corner of a bedroom to huge control and recording rooms). Either way, it’s always exciting to read about the journeys the take and how descriptive they are along the way. It’s continually inspiration and and is one reason why I’m doing the same.

Enjoy the evening….

::: oceans of rhythm :::

Fresh!

Posted on by

Halcyon Sky (debut EP) – Day 3

halcyonsky_day3_640

1:15PM. Woke up this morning to at least find the sun shining, which means snow removal assistance, so that’s a good thing. After getting the day started, I found some more inspiration for this collaboration track. After listening back, I like how the synth bass sits in the track so far, so I think it’s a keeper.

This particular track is a conceptual in that I’m composing it with certain elements to invoke that conception. One way I like to do that is via the use of samples. Every music composer who does so, via the use of their favorite DAW or sample based instrument, uses samples in various ways. I like to use small samples to insert certain aspects into a track, especially if the samples are vocal based or sound effect based. This particular track is using both. This morning I dug into my vocal samples folder and found a few that work nicely. The key to composing chillout tracks is to remember that often times, “less is more”. A particular song can have a mix of many audio and MIDI (software instrument) tracks, but still end up with a nice minimal feel – this is the approach I specifically plan to take with this track. Being an avid listener of chillout and downtempo, and producing podcasts that reflect those genres makes it even more exciting when composing these tracks.

As mentioned in the last post, I think the project as it stands, is ready to go out to my C3 partners in AL and CA… I’m interested to see what they’ll add to it and how it will drive the final composition. I’m now contemplating what kind of guitar tracks I’l record. If what I’m hearing in my head is pretty much translated to track, I think it’ll work fine….stay tuned.

Ok, once again, it’s time to don the boots, etc. Have a great day.

::: oceans of rhythm :::

F!

Posted on by

Welcome To The Sunday Soundtrack – 05 Jan 14

Screen shot 2014-01-05 at 12.51.56 AM
Photo Courtesy of Flaschi (instagram.com/flaschi)

Greetings Listeners…

Welcome to the first podcast of 2014! It’s great to be back. I appreciate all the requests and glad that you’re taking the time to listen to this edition of The Sunday Soundtrack. Seventy percent of the playlist are new tracks never featured on previous podcasts, so I hope you enjoy them.

Last year was a year of musical collaborations that were (and still are) very satisfying. One such collaboration was on the project entitled “Moods” by Todd “Big La” Kelley. The track, “One Time” is featured on his farewell release, which is available as a FREE download on Bandcamp. The remainder of the playlist is sure to provide tracks ranging from lush to tightly knit smooth grooves, perfect for that chillout timeframe in your day. So, without further adieu…the playlist:

1. ‪Rhythmbreeze‬ – Fresh Moods/Fresh Moods
2, ‪Almost There‬ – Hideo Kobayashi/Om Lounge 10
3. Fantasy (Hideo Kobayashi Deep Vocal Mix) – Afterlife/Fantasy
4 Sentient – MrFijiwiji and Tulpa/Friends EP
5. Want Me – Affelaye/Maybe There
6. Racetracks – Tony Watson/Abstrakt Sampler
7. Loose Tunes – Skipless/Rooftops
8. Francesa – Ricardo Silveira/Storyteller
9. Janeiro (Chiller Twist Blue Line Remix) – Solid Session/Armada Lounge
10. One Time (f/C3) – Todd Kelley/Moods

A big shout out to my entire podcast massive (you know who you ALL are) as well as the listeners. Have a great day, whatever day it is, whatever time it is.

::: oceans of rhythm :::

Fresh!

Posted on by

The Sunday Soundtrack – 07 Aug 11 – featuring Clara Hill

Greetings listeners. Welcome to another edition of The Sunday Soundtrack! It’s been about a nine month hiatus…whew…long time coming, but it’s good to be back once again. It’s been a hot summer this year…all the more better to bring you some CHILLED tracks to offset the heat. This edition of the Sunday Soundtrack features one of the smoothest female vocalists I have ever heard…the inimitable Clara Hill.

From her last.fm page:

Clara started to discover the power of voice in the eighties, when she was singing alongside some tunes by Madonna. At a certain point it was clear to her that she wanted to join and front a band. Aged seventeen, she founded the acid jazz combo Superjuice, together with her friend Funès. In the early nineties, at the height of acid jazz, the band toured through Berlin clubs, gathering a high-profile reputation. During these years, Clara made her first steps in live music. During one of her shows, she met DJ Alex Barck from Jazzanova, who was spinning records as a support DJ. In 1998 he introduced her to the producers of Extended Spirit (2/6 of Jazzanova): Stefan Leisering and Axel Reinemer, that produced a few tracks with Clara. Relaxed and easy, a friendship started with Stefan Leisering and Clara Hill. With him, the song “No Use”

Clara’s thick, lush, harmonies go so very well with the wide chordal arrangements that Jazzanova and other similar artists she’s work with that I have to describe her music by taking the first letter of her first name, and combining it with her full last name: CHill!

Without further adieu, I bring you the playlist:
~~~~~~~~~~
1. Still Here – Aural Float
2. Reel Life (Evolution II) – The Cinematic Orchestra/Man With a Movie Camera
3. Reprise – Clara Hill/Best Of 3
4. Maybe Now – Clara Hill/Restless Times
5. Crush – Chevalier
6. I’m Here – Clara Hill/Restless Times
7. Flawless – Clara Hill/Restless Times
8. Under The Radar – Two Little Satellites
9. No Use – Jazzanova Feat. Clara Hill/In Between
10. Dub In Ya Mind (Blue Water Mix – Afterlife/Simplicity Two Thousand (Disc 1)
~~~~~~~~~~

I hope you’ve enjoyed the tracks as much as I do. Big shout out to my podcast massive for the ID drops in the podcast. Thanks for the encouraging words regarding the return of the podcast. An equally important shout to my regular and new listeners, as well. I appreciate you checking it out.

Clara Hill on last.fm

Official Website

Enjoy the day, night, afternoon, morning, or whenever you are listening to this podcast. For those of you on Twitter, feel free to follow The Sunday Soundtrack there.

::: oceans of rhythm :::

Fresh!

Posted on by

Welcome To The Sunday Soundtrack – 20 Feb 2011

Crew,

Welcome, once again to The Sunday Soundtrack. It’s been a few months, almost four months, since the last podcast and during the necessary hiatus, it was good to rearrange somethings, and get some new tracks to share with you. Officially, I wish you a Happy New Year and hope things are going well for you.

As said above, brand new tracks are on the playlist, representing the essence of what I’ve created The Sunday Soundtrack for years ago – a relaxing, yet no so common mix of laidback music for any day of the week. I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank all who gently poked me in the side to get the podcast back on board. Mad shouts to my entire podcasting crew (see the blogroll) for the encouragement, the ID drops, the whole nine. Keep doin’ it big, you keep me inspired. Special shout to all the fans of the podcast as well, your comments keep me inspired in the same way.


1 – Optymystic-Tom Middleton/Life Tracks
2 – Letcha Letcha-Ten Madison/Travelling
3 – Harissa-Ten Madison/Travelling
4 – Miner’s Son (Aquatic mix)-Beth Hirsch
5 – Another Time, Another Space-Citrus Sun/Another Time Another Space
6 – afterthewoman-rdm
7 – Afternoon in the Park (Orbiting Dream) Ft. Dan Prudian-Inner Light Spectrum/The Path to Reality
8 – A Touch Of Jazz

It’s been a pleasure. I’ll be back with another edition within the month. Big shouts to all my indie musicians who are flowin’ everything from jazzy, downtempo instrumental hip-hop (stay tuned in the coming episodes), to @fave and @toddkelley, my writing partners on the Cross Country Collective (C3) project, my writing and business partner as well as LONG time good friend, Dan McCollum (we are After Six Productions on FB) and to all artists adding to this universal language of of music. One last shout out to @dvsjr and @shaktiirocket, I hope The Sunday Soundtrack continues to provide that musical backdrop for your Sunday brunches. To my fans, I salute you! Follow me here:

Fresh on Twitter
The Sunday Soundtrack on Twitter

::: oceans of rhythm :::

Fresh!

Posted on by

Welcome To The Sunday Soundtrack – 101010

Welcome listeners, to another edition of The Sunday Soundtrack. Here we are in the last quarter of the year, 2010. Seems like a whirlwind of time has past. Sometimes I just wanna stop the world, and hop off, hahah. Hope all is well with you.

All brand new tracks today, thanks to some time spend searching YouTube. Interestingly enough, I can spend hours in this goldmine, gathering tracks for the show, and the last treasure hunt turned up some really nice gems.

Back on this episode, after some time, is an artist I discovered when The Sunday Soundtrack first hit the netwaves, Michael E. I discovered him on myspace, and recently came across his track “Blow” from his latest release, Cafe Tranquillo. A signature track by him, it employs lush movements and laidback rhythms. His music’s always been a favorite of mine.

Returning once again, is Lazybatusu with their track, Keep On Keeping On. This duo produces tracks that range from a large sounding arrangement to, at times, tracks leaning towards a minimalistic sound, while all the time laying in that chillout vibe. This is a nice track, and you’ll be hearing more from this group in future podcasts.

I always say The Sunday Soundtrack is not The Sunday Soundtrack without Afterlife. This time, Dub In Ya Mind (Blue Water Mix), is what I’m featuring. Steve Miller brings the essence of Ibiza chillout in a relaxing track that can always find it’s place in activities where no multitasking is aloud (smile). I always love the way he incorporates the elements of female vocals


1. Viva Cubana (beachhouse mix) – Clublife/Dubai Chillhouse Grooves Vol 2.
2. Keep On Keeping On – Lazybatusu/Supperclub Presents San Francisco Vol. 8 Disc 2
3. People Come, People Go (Chillout Mix) – Arnej/After Hours Anthems
4. Always on my Mind (Bar Lounge Music Mix) – Soul ‘N’ Sound
5. Consequences f/Vanessa Daou (Late Night Mix) – Blank & Jones/Relax-Edition 4
6. Blow – Michael E/Cafe Tranquillo
7. California Sunset (Ambient Lounge Mix) – Various
8. Moon Beat – LTJ – X-Perience/Formetara de Dia Volume 1. Part Two [IMPORT]
9. Dub In Ya Mind (Blue Water Mix) – Afterlife/Simplicity Two Thousand (Disc 1)
10. Sunset Chill Lounge – Various

I was laced with some swag from SomaFM recently, here’s a short video about it. Shout out to Rusty Hodge, DJ at SomaFM,

As always, thanks for listening, it’s much appreciated. I hope the podcast provides the necessary chill(out) you’re looking for when you need it.

::: oceans of rhythm :::

Fresh!

Posted on by

Welcome To The Sunday Soundtrack – 19 Sep 10

Morning Sky
“Morning Sky”- Photo Credit: Hey Kim! 2010

Good day listeners…

Welcome to another edition of The Sunday Soundtrack. I hope your week was (or is) going well. Here we are half way through September and I have to ask the all to well known question: “Where has the time gone?” That question is rhetorical as I think our answers are all pretty similar. In any event, without time passing, I’d never reach this point of bringing you yet another podcast. Amidst the excitement of an oncoming start to the NBA season and football season underway, I hope you incorporate this musical into the time you find to chill.

I’ve been doing some trackhunting over the past week and have discovered a new way of getting new music for the podcast which is pretty exciting. With that, ahead of you is an hour of all brand new tracks that I hope you enjoy. Among the tracks are two from San Francisco based DJ and producer, Kaskade, and two from sought after and finally found artist, Lazybatusu. I’ve featured tracks from Kaskade on the podcast before, but Lazybatusu has been elusive in obtaining via my usual haunts…until I discovered my new source. I really like the flow of Lazybatusu and will be featuring more of their tracks in future SSPs. Their track “8am” I’ve heard numerous times on somafm.com’s Groove Salad and SiriusXM’s Chill, two long time sources of the tracks you hear in the podcast. I hope you enjoy it as well as I do.

In the coming months I hope to be showcasing some more of my own smooth electronica here as well. Stay tuned. With that, let’s tune into this week’s playlist:

1. Tonite f/Amy Michelle – Kaskade/Om Lounge
2. Close – Kaskade/OM Lounge 8
3. R-Evolution – Lazybatusu/Cafe Solaire Vol. 2
4. Mellow – Seductive Souls/Cafe Solaire Vol. 14
5. Can U Feel It? – Marc Antoine/Rendezvous Lounge 2
6. Get It On – Spacefish/Global Psychedelic Chill Out – Compilation Vol. 4
7. 8am – Lazybatusu/Cafe Solaire Vol. 14
8. Nkechi – Konferenz/Kontakt
9. Bay Of Hope – Planet Lounge/Grill Out
10. The Story Of Us – Chevalier

Thought I’d shoot a short video of where The Sunday Soundtrack podcast is created. Insight is always valuable. Thanks to my brother-in-podcasting, DarrenKeith over at My Love For Music for the idea. He’s done an on-location video of where he shot his podcast recently.

Thanks for listening, always appreciated, and a special shout to my entire podcasting massive, especially for the drops. Time for me to send new ones out to you as well.

To download the podcast, just right-click on the “Download” link and save it to your hard drive.

::: oceans of rhythm :::

F!

Posted on by

Welcome To The Sunday Soundtrack – 5 Sep 10


Photo Credit: A.K., 2010

Hello listeners.

Hope this post finds you well. The Labor Day weekend, for those of us in the U.S., is upon us. I, for one, am glad that I’m able to get an extra day to chill out before returning back to the office. In that spirit of relaxedness (is that a word?), I bring you the playlist and flow for this podcast.

I just returned this afternoon, from a wedding in N. Carolina that was quite nice. The weather held up perfectly for an outdoor matrimonial event, and the reception was VERY nice as well. I wish the happy couple (whom I’ve known for some time) a long and love-filled marriage.

Today’s track span the genres of nu-jazz, latin-flavored, downtempo, and chillout, with a bit of ambient mixed in. It’s my hope you enjoy it. This edition includes the lead off track, Reel Life by The Cinematic Orchestra (The Evolution II remix). I especially enjoy this track for it’s orchestral elements and the way it invokes visuals of movement via it’s musical composition. After noticing a tweet earlier this week from Honeysugarwater, mentioning Bebel Gilberto’s original tune “Aganju”, I decided to feature the remix this time around. The apex of the podcast brings Ocean Air by dZihan and Kamien. I first heard of them not on the net or elsewhere, but via a musician, songwriter, and producer who lives not too far from me. I was hanging out in his studio, listening to some tracks he had in his “vault” and we got onto the subject of downtempo and chillout. He had asked if I had heard of them and played a track by the name of which I can’t recall, but after hearing it, I was on a hunt to find everything I could by them. They’ve been featured on many Sunday Soundtrack editions since ’07. Rounding out this edition is a very laidback track by a group entitled Bliss. I discovered them on another website when track hunting last year. They often hinge on ambient compositions, but I happened to like most of what I’ve heard thus far. It’s my wish that you do as well. Without further adieu, I present to you the playlist.


1. Reel Life (Evolution II) – The Cinematic Orchestra/Man With a Movie Camera
2. Instrumentally Yours – Ben Tankard/Instrumentally Yours
3. Aganju (Remix) – Bebel Gilberto/Bring Back The Love (The Remixes)
4. Moment Of Truths (The Morning After) – Big La vs. Todd/Water… Under The Bridge
5. Ocean Air – dZihan & Kamien/Freaks & Icons
6. As Possible (feat. Baschin) – Chris Zippel/Genuine Horizon
7. Life and How to Do It – All India Radio/Permanent Evolutions
8. Kukuma Bazar РJens Buchert/Caf̩ de la Mer
9. Curiosity – Amba/Amba
10. Song for Olabi – Bliss/Quiet Letters

“Ocean Air” – dZihan & Kamien/Freaks and Icons

All the tracks featured in this edition can be found via Amazon, iTunes, and the various sources offered by discogs.com. For those of you on Twitter, feel free to follow The Sunday Soundtrack. I’d appreciate it.

Enjoy all your chilled out moments…

::: oceans of rhythm :::

Fresh!