Here is an entry I have just put in. I saw another forum member (Kev I think) who had an entry and it got me thinking. It is remix of Galatic's Ha Di Ka on the Indaba Music website.

http://www.indabamusic.co...est/submissions/146994 
 
Anyway here is some info for those interested.

Stems were all OK and I used most of them but not all. (no horns)

I stuck to the basic arrangement. I left the call and response thing in tact. I did alter the beginning extensively though adding in hand drums and synth pads. I re did a lot of the bass playing, kept some of the original bass line too. 

Slowed it down from 120 to 116 BPM

Added in synth solo. That guitar solo is basically as it was. Pretty weird solo.

Altered the end quite a bit too. Overall I have added a lot in but retained a lot too.

I love big boom sounds!

Mastered with the Pultec EQ (Plug-in), Smart C2 (Real Deal!) and the all mighty PSP Xenon.

When Galactic plays live around here the bass bins are straining to keep up with all the low and low-mid freq energy the dancers seem to crave and come out for.

This mix seems much more cerebral than the carnal experience I am accustomed too.


Nice and clean!


best regards,
mike

Nice mix, Jeff.  It's a very interesting song to begin with, and you did well.

Thanks guys. I think the mix is a bit cleaner now than the original in some ways. But the new hand drum parts help there. Spent lots of time in front of the little mono speaker down low to get everything in balance and in context. I just love using that thing. It really helps setting vocal levels.

There was so much bottom end in that mix. I have carved out masses of it in the first mastering EQ stage and yet it still sounds pretty deep in spots. Mike I am after a balance across the spectrum and not drive the bottom end too much. The bass line around the synth solo is the original one and I turned it up. I think it is a bit loud and I will pull it down there.

Yet another mix. The rest of the bass line is me playing a Kurzweil K2000 bass sound which is gut rumbling in power at times. I have not even converted that track to audio yet. The Kurz is playing live (from a midi track) direct into the final mix. (I use a digital mixer to bring everything together at the last minute. Handy for dropping synths into a mix at any time) But I might print it to audio and use a steep HPF and just take some of the boom off it. The kick from the drum stem should be the driving force I think around the solo or all the way through. The car tells me where the bass is most excessive. 

Mike the PSP Xenon is getting a bit of a workout too and notice how clean it can still sound. I am aiming for about -8 dB rms on average rather than push it harder up to - 7dB FS.

It was a large session too, many tracks. The vocals were a bit distorted sounding on the original stem. I would have liked a clean version of them. There is quite a bit of distortion in the guitars as well.

The hand drum 1/16 th groove is about 20 tracks of jembe and congas and floor toms all played very lightly by hand. I played the shaker as well to liven things up a little. The groove is live totally over 16 bars as well and not looped anywhere. There is a definite phrased accent inside the 16th note groove too.

Not sure what format the audio is streaming off Indaba but the wave file sounds pretty good. That is what I uploaded anyway.

I looked at your picture before the song started and it sent me for a loop. I guess like a character in a movie I was prepared for something else. Different and I certainly enjoyed the listen. All sounds very good to me. The vocals sounded like they might be distorting in places. But that might be what you wanted. 

Thanks to all for the kind words. Much appreciated. I have remixed it as well for slightly less bottom end and I think it sounds better now. The link is not the same though due to the fact I have pulled down the original mix and put up another one:

http://www.indabamusic.co...est/submissions/146994

I'm sure it's great, but the link takes me to a page that says 'Hey, what are you doing here?'  Now what?  :)

Hi Janet. Sorry the first link was wrong because I remixed it again and uploaded it again and hence it has a new link. I would be keen on your opinion too.

http://www.indabamusic.co...est/submissions/146994

Wow--that's GREAT!  It reminds me of Aboriginal music...what little I know of it, anyway.

Really nice Jeff!  

Thanks a lot Janet. Aboriginal well yes there are similarities. Some of the vocal chanting could sound a bit similar and also the synth pad conjures up the didgeridoo concept as well.

I have produced production library music for EMI combining Aboriginal vocal chants, didges (didgeridoo) and clapsticks with modern contemporary grooves etc. I had to study it back then. The vocal styles are a bit different with our native indigenous culture. There are many areas of Australia where the didges are not present so it is all about clapstick and vocal things going on. That music is just so unique it is incredible. You can pick it in a second. 
 
I think with Ha Di Ka it is American Indian the inspiration there perhaps. I like the call and response thing. They have amazing chants and group chants too. One could just sample or record all the native chants from every country in the world and create a set of Kontakt presets say! 

I have a long term distant dream to one day go out and stay in an aboriginal reserve up in the very north of our country. But take a solar/battery/inverter setup and a full DAW and everything and power it up day and night. Record all the native music in the area but also work with the younger ones and produce some music based around their native cultural performances. Show them how to use a DAW. One could do a series of concerts out there too. You would come back with some serious resources.

I really enjoyed your piece 'Indecision' as well. You have created the melody and chords there so the tune is strong, but the drums and percussion part is very important in your piece for sure. I heard some middle eastern percussion grooves in my head in a few places in your piece. Or is that about as strange as aboriginal sounds maybe.