Walkthrough Chilled Out City

This project is based around the four sets that I constructed for the first eJay Festival. It is not identical for several reasons: Firstly, as it is hoped that we can sell these to the public, any copyrighted material had to be removed. Secondly, copyright permissions had to be gained from artists to use their music and so only those tracks for which I have permission have been used and thirdly, some people wished me to utilise newer material.

However, the ambience of the original sets remains and the structure itself was influenced by the fact I was requested to include at least one track from everyone who wished to submit music.

This is the most ambient of all the sets and is also a tribute album to all those affected by Sept 11th. The opening track by Deek and called Native America sets the trend for the next 75 minutes.

SO LET'S GENTLY BRING UP THE FADERS!

One of the interesting aspects of this project is the mixing of wildly different styles even within supposedly the same genre - perhaps tracks you would not think of mixing in the normal way of things.
Since I am using 7 tracks from the original set, I had to make sure that by the time I reached the first of those tracks by Insane Jane, the tempo matched when I got there!
With 5 tracks preceeding Janes Mysteries Of The Insane Mind, it was a case of working backwards in order to determine what tempo the first track started at.
Like a lot of the tracks on these projects, some have been speeded up and others slowed down and where possible, the original temp maintained. In this case, I was going to mix the first track by DEEK called NATIVE AMERICA which not only sets the pace for the rest of the set, but marks the beginning of the Sept 11th tribute.

NATIVE AMERICA has been speeded up, although being of an ambient nature and not much in the way of drum beats (just a tambourine) this may not be very noticeable other than to Deek himself. This is a very haunting tune which fits in with the overall ambience I have set out to achieve. Deek uses some very low frequencies in his synth along with a Red Indian, and this most certainly brings on a powerful vibe from within the soul. Eerie in flava, being an ex-serviceman I feel as if I should be standing to attention and even saluting!
Blending in the second track by OXYGEN called THE SEA 4 minutes in was pretty straight forward and allows me to keep Deeks quiet isolated tambourines going in the background for about 40 seconds. I'm allowed to give the set a little nudge above the darkness and yield it a little lift.
This is one of those tracks that can stand alone without interference, but since we are in ambient mood, I can get away with it! This track is almost like a good wake up call. Both openers use two of the earths natural elements being air and water - one flowing easily over the other.

Oxygen (aka Simon Edwards) builds up THE SEA and just like the waves on a shoreline, comes crashing in with his own brand of what reminds me of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells. I had to minitor carefully when the crashing waves came in as once or twice through rehearsals, all my sound indicators shot through the red. However, this track does lend the whole beginning of this set some power and from the few tunes that I have heard from Oxygen, believe this to be one of his best so far.
9 1/2 minutes in and it's a fairly swift fade out and fade in with the first of two trax from STEVE GILMORE.
FLAVA'D ATMOSPHERE starts off nice and breezy using some nice piano rifts. I've mixed this with his second tune called FALL IN LOVE AGAIN.
Now I have to say at this point that I considered long and hard about including his second track into this set because it is almost reggae orientated or at least hip-hop flava which would make it an ideal candidate for the hip hop album that follows this one. But hey, both these tunes work perfectly together and again, although speeded up, keep with the pace and general uplifting vibe I am trying to create.

The scene is now set for some more powerful strings courtesy of one of our artists from Finland, Mr MYSTERY. The first of his tracks is called
INTO THE HEART OF DARKNESS and has a very powerful opening. I most certainly felt this when mixing it with Steve Gilmores FALL IN LOVE AGAIN and again, believe this to be one of MM's better musical masterpieces. MM uses a balance of deep synths and violin to capture our hearts here, and you almost feel like you are in Russia? Well that's how I felt anyway!

Now up to this point my work has been fairly easy. Not much beat mixing to contend with other than the last two tracks, but now it gets hard. Whilst all tracks up to this point have been speeded up, INTO THE HEART OF DARKNESS is my linkpin to the small selection of fest tracks I've managed to keep. I'm not sure MM will thank me because I've had to severly speed up his tune in order to gel it with INSANE JANES track MYSTERIES OF THE INSANE MIND. But hey, I do not think it's spoiled his track in any way and for those that know my style of mixing, this is how I do things, gradually speeding things up along the way.

I've changed tack here a little and gone from ambient to a track with a more hip hop flavour - unusual, but it works extremely well. It keeps with the steady pace of things and still retains that strange and sometimes eerie feeling.
MYSTERIES OF THE INSANE MIND is nice and uncluttered, just like the girl herself, although the beat is Hip Hop. The overlying melodies are more ambient in inclination with a hint of whispered vocals which pulls the track along nicely whilst still projecting a fairly dark, laid back tone. I've tweaked this tune just a little by adding a couple of echoes and running the whole thing through Wavelab and splitting the sterio channels a little. This not only spreads the sound out for more sterio effect but lends itself to an even more crispier feel. This song also loops nicely using the same elements and sets me up nicely for the next track.
So, 23 minutes into this set and time to get things movin', building up the pressure and excitement a little more. Introducing SLIPPY T's:
W.O (SEDUCTION MIX) and some definite rhythms. Powerful and emotive in delivery, addictive in content - I want to pick up the pace now, so I'm gonna slide the crossfader to it's midway point as I want to bring in the drums quite noticeably here. I also notch up the bass control to add to the bass line, just a tad, all the time keeping INSANE JANE's masterpiece going in the background for about a minute.
The tune starts off with a heavy bassline which continues throughout and the sexy background female samples are continuing with the commonly used 'wide open spaces' samples, and these compliment the tracks on either side of this one, giving the whole thing a hypnotic vibe. A superbly crafted piece of ambient vibe and had I got 2 versions or copies of this tune, I would have gone in for a long remix!
If your fingers or feet ain't at least tapping by now - there's something wrong. They should be!
It was surprising really that most of the tracks would only gel and mix into a limited number of others. During construction, I had to play many of the tracks several times - a lot in fact and in some cases about 100 times or so. But once I found the perfect track to match and mix, it was easy to see where this set was destined. All the way up to the top!

In fact, W.O served as an amicable host to CYBERJAY's track called
CHILD OF JUPITER and was one of these tunes that only had a limited number of possible pairings. The actual fusion of these two tracks is about a minute long and each tune could have been made for the other. The mix starts at the 25 minutes stage, with the crossfader set low as I gently bring up this track very gradually.
Using acoustic guitars and a blend of some of the more moody sphere samples, this track is both melodic and mystical. Ambient electronica at it's best!

As Ive already stated, when I play sets, I introduce energy into the occasion by building up from a slow start and winding up the tension with each successive track until, hopefully, everyone is on the dancefloor dancing manically and sweating - well thats the general idea! Even with this ambient set, I'm trying to do the same but without the sweat! After all, there's still 3 more sets to go and I always leave the best to last!

So again, gentle is the word here because when we get to MR MYSTERY's
second helping, THE MYSTERIOUS MAN we should be floating on air. This is a quality ambient track which which rises and swirls all around you right from the start. This also lifted me with a nice use of vocal 'choir' sounds and the female vocals work very well too.
Once again, you have to listen very cafefully to where the merging of these two tracks begins, which is at the 28:45 mark. You'll notice first come the high hats followed by an overlay of drums and then what sounds like pan pipes. Pure listening pleasure and we are not even halfway through this track yet!
THE MYSTERIOUS MAN gradually builds the pace with an increasing use of drum loops - the progression is almost imperceptible. Wait for the break at the 29 minute mark, then wow, feel your heart strings getting plucked!
I'm in love with this tune only because I thought I recognised the female sample he's used - wasnt that a girl roadie I once screw ahem, knew?

COMPILATION MIX 1 ENDS HERE

The second dish offered up by DEEK and another from the original fest set is
DREAMS OF LUNARCY comes next and the drums are still evident but fade out after a couple of minutes only to fade purposefully back shortly afterwards . The build up is cool, with a nice bassline, and there are some nice sounding synths and there's a slightly eerie feel to this track - transforming you to a fantasy dreamscape where nothing is at it seems....the drum loops hint at exciting things to come ....but!

I create a calm before the storm by introducing at this point an unusual piece, which is more of a soundscape not meant for the faint hearted. It's called MESSIAH by DARKWOLF and seamlessly fuses with DEEKS track. WOLFs choice of sounds is immaculate and his use of them is masterful. The tune is an easy one to listen to and opens up the imagination which, to my mind, is what ambience is all about! It's full of both beautiful and sinister soundz with a story or theme that is well worth listening to! It contains a tubular bell sample, and subliminal bassline, which one could be forgiven as representing a heartbeat which all helps to take you on a very different voyage.

Since Fest day was a Sunday, it was fitting that within all the tunes submitted, this was the only one that contained material that uses a vocal sample with religious overtones - "Jesus Loves You" and has Gregorian chanting in the background. We are to be disciples of the Messiah and are transported to a churchyard on a rainy, thundery day where the atmosphere is peaceful, though dark as it speaks of killing and dying. This suits my purpose exactly, as I decided to end the ambient section here and inject more pace and energy into the set.
Once awake and feeling refreshed from the rain our ears are treated to the sound of BOSS HOGS: INHABITATION. During the ambience of MESSIAH, I slowly nudged the tempo from 100 bpm to 110bpm to get some serious beat happening. This now sounds like we mean business and gradulally INHABITATION builds both in tension and pace. This is the start of the transition from soothing ambient to a more energetic atmosphere.....see how gently I pull you along?
Now comes some more new tracks submitted since the fest and brings more bounce to the proceedings.

DJ MEZZER comes into play with the first of his two offerings. ARE YOU READY was a good filler track to use and starts the more energitic start to this set. It also gives me a chance to slip and slide at the crossfader, chopping and changing beatz at will. Using familiar eJay samples and some nice strings, this track still contains and eerie flow and is another one of those tunes that make you feel that something good is on it's way. ARE YOU READY made mixing in DJ JOE's THE NOTORIOUS fairly easy. The message with this one is 'Listen To The Beat' and that's exactlty why I've kept Mezzer's track going in the background for quite some time!
Up next comes the second of DJ MEZZER's tracks and it's called CHOPP OFF. Slightly techno, slightly dance orientated, this track gives me the opportunity to raise the temprature a little and keep those feet tapping.
BLUE STORM's THE RIGHT TEMPTATION follows next and again, this track was originaly made for the rave scene which is why the opening bars have been slowed down considerably. There are some nice synths here. In fact there's just a massive string arrangement that uplifts you into trance land. A lone female sample keeps in pace with the ambient nature of this set and also sets me up nicely to slip in
INSANE JANE's, WHEN I FEEL THIS WAY.
. Bongo's along with a party atmosphere are represented within this tune along with whistles and a softly spoken 'Fly Away' which all help to send you on a cosmic journey. Again, I've kept the actual fusion of these two tracks going for some time as both use string arrangments that help with the flow of things.
A nice break and the chance to relax a little comes through at about 54mins, and this signifies that we are not only are we near a creshendo and climax to the set, but the whole thing is yet again about to reach a higher level.
Time then for a little Ibizan vibe courtesy of XTATICA. TOTALITY continues with some nicely chilled out guitar elements, and it's not hard to imagine dancing on a beach somewhere hot. At 132bpm this sounds faster than it actually is. We have definately arrived at the dance level.
I deliberately fade this one through halfway whilst bringing up the next track and the first track from GROUNDI0 as is our second artist from Finland. SEARCHING FOR DA MOON starts where TOTALITY finishes. Quietly! Then BANG! In with some pounding drums and we are off again in the last 10 minutes or so.
I've only used 2 minutes of this track (sorry Pete), as it was the only track I could find that fitted snugly with CYBERJAY's second offering called ORBIT. It was also the only point in these two tracks that I could fuse them together without losing the vibe I am trying to create. Having said that though, the mix itself did allow what is known in the trade simply as a chop mix. This is where you have both tracks playing (one live, the other in the headphones), and hopefully, if your timing is right, by the time you get to where you want your next tune to start, you just quickly bring the fader across from one tune to the next.
Onto the last 3 tracks then and D. EDGE's, Q-GARDENS comes into play. A nice jolly number is this. A nice swinging beat keeps the flow going - it's time to clap those hands before bringing in GROUNDI0's final offering DEAD MAN.
Now I'm told that this tune is actually based on a friend of his dying, although the actual track is nowhere near as gloomy as the title suggests. In fact this is one of my favourites within this whole album. There's a definite dark edge to it but the forefront is quite jolly. There's a nice lift or two to perk things up and it's one of Pete's best tunes to date! 'Remember To Dance - Don't Be So Sad' is the message here...and I have to agree!
So we end this set with KOKOPELLI's REVISION, a nicely chilled out end to a superb set, even if I do say so myself!. I've edited this original 15min track as the second half of it goes into a more danced up edge and it does not keep with the flow of things. Chill Out is ironically the message here and I think it was the best track to end this set with.

All in all I would say it has been a good experience for me as a DJ to mix this kind of genre. It's something I've not tried before, so I dare say I'll have another go in the future. For now though, time has come to start creating the second of these 4 albums, Hip Hop stylie!

It goes without saying, that my thanks go out to all the artists who kindly gave me permission to use their work. A big up to them.

I hope that this album takes you somewhere nice as it did me.

Respect

MuzikAL

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INSANE JANE

CYBERJAY

CHILLED OUT CITY