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This started with a 5/4 saxophone groove that came into my head. I was imagining a more traditional jazz sound and then when I came to lay down the drums it developed an underlying R&B/hip hop/neo-soul rhythm. Then I added a synthy part for a bit more of a dance/electronic feel. Interesting.

It took me a while to work out the arrangement of the different parts - the saxophone was annoying me at first, but shifting its introduction a little later seemed to make the whole thing jam together a little better. I also played around a lot with the end - I don't love how it ends now, but it's fine. As always, it's just a rough sketch...
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This was also the first time in a long while - maybe years - that I've clicked in all the beats/notes (with a trackpad), as opposed to playing them in (with a MIDI/electronic instrument). I think you can hear the difference - this sounds a bit more programmed. There's less natural variation in dynamics and while I usually quantise beats (snap the beginning of beats to a grid, fixing timing input issues) there's also more regularity to the note lengths.

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I think I had Gorillaz' "Dare" in my head.

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A bit of a "drunken beat", or a Dilla-style rhythm.

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Partly inspired by the Quelle Chris and Chris Keys track "Sudden Death", incorporating keys and a bonafide jazz chord progression (major ii-V-I) and speech samples from The Wire.

0054: You Can't Even Call This Shit a (Rigged) War

At the start, a simple but nonstandard drum pattern fades in featuring open hi hat, ride cymbal, maybe a rim shot and closed hi hat. Soon after a warped simple bass pattern fades in. More gradually a fast bell pattern fades in, and the same pattern comes in slightly behind on a more electronic-sounding instrument. Reverb and delay are slowly added to the bell sound. The instruments stop suddenly after a few repetitions, then the reverberations play out.

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Various electronic drum sounds including a motif from The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Party and Bullshit", plus flute melodies including a motif from Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing", and major ii-V-I jazz chords on the piano very faintly in the background. Synthesised audio speaks the lyrics "party and bullshit, get up get up get up get up, and..." first in a deeper voice then a higher one, both with a USA accent.

Synthesised speech generated from Notevibes

0056: Sexual Party and Bullshit Healing

Ineptly singing and rapping along to 'The Truth' by Handsome Boy Modeling School (featuring J-Live & Róisín Murphy).

Handsome Boy Modeling School - The Truth (vocal-along)

Singing along to 'You Do Something To Me' by Paul Weller (the 'Later... with Jools Holland' version).

Paul Weller - You Do Something To Me (sing-along)

Rapping (and other stuff) along to 'Drop' by Pharcyde.

The Pharcyde - Drop (rap-along)

I'm a hip hop aficionado and lover of jazz and R&B. I played the drums from January 2005 until around January 2011; I was in a (rock-oriented) band for the final year of that period. I briefly returned to drumming with an electronic kit before moving to London in July 2016. I sing and rap in the privacy of my room; my technique is improving, but I'm inconsistent with pitch and melody. I've started getting into beatmaking/production in Ableton Live and have a few MIDI controllers: Novation Launchpad Pro; Novation Launch Control XL; AKAI APC Key 25; AKAI MPD218.

yndajas

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