I’m a little nervous about this one: I’ve finished it whilst away from home, with my folks for Christmas. This makes it the first track I’ve done for the site that’s not mastered on my studio monitors. It sounds ok on the systems I’m using, but as Pooh Bear once said, one never can tell [with bees, in his case].

Still: I love the track. Often by the time I’ve finished writing, I’ve listened to the piece so many times that it’s lost its edge – my brain has adjusted to where the notes go. But for this one, I still can’t get enough of the main hook that, like the rays of the sun soars over the top and makes everything better.

For those who don’t know the ins and outs of what every dance music genre is, this is uplifting trance, and I hope that if uplifts you day as much as it did mine when creating it.

Have a wonderful Christmas – lots more music and fun planned for the site in 2020.

Darjeeling is a wonderful place, but the drive to get to it forms my most abiding memory. There may be other, easier ways, but I did it by jeep. There’s no public transport as such, but the Mahindra Jeeps come close. They’re very distinctive, with their headlights very close together. I did the 4 hour journey very early, and it looked like a long line of ants snaking up the ever-bending hill.

Not mine, but here’s a youtube video of the type of thing.

It was an evocative journey and I can still remember the Deep House music I was listening to. This week’s track is inspired by that journey.

A little something from the 80s this week. Something joyful before I take us in to darker, harder territory next week.

You very, very rarely catch me writing in the major key, and this is no exception. I love the soulful minor keys, and they can still bring joy to the heart. Please enjoy this one!

A huge and warm shout out to the mighty Patrick Fridth from Bitley sounds. He works tirelessly to sample the very best sounds from so many early synthesisers so that producers who don’t have all the fancy hardware can experience just a little of their magic. The sound banks he produces are a source of endless treasure and inspiration. They’re also immaculately produced and my pleasure to work with.

“Melody and harmony to me is a musical language. The more vocabulary you learn the more you can express it.” – Jaytech. 

To celebrate week 10 here’s something special. Last year I made a track called the Jig. At the time it was one of my better productions and I thought it sounded decent. I didn’t know whether it had reached its full potential though. Here’s my original version:

To answer that mystery I asked someone far more accomplished than me to do a second mix and master – to polish it, correct any issues, and bring out the best sound possible. 

I asked Jaytech to work his magic on the Jig. Jaytech is one of the most respected producers in dance music today (and he’s also a really fun and inspiring guy). 

Any secret hopes I had that his version wouldn’t sound too much better than mine were dispelled – decisively – the moment I heard the first cut of his version. After a little back and forth to get everything just right, we ended up with a finished version that sounds quite superb. It’s absolutely crystal clear and sounds both more massive and refined than my version. 

You can see in this picture that he has a few more pieces of gear than I do, but this is utterly beside the point: it was the way he listened; the cumulative small changes he made, and his careful use of a small set of tools that made the difference. 

The experience reminded me how much I have to learn (although I rarely forget…), but it also inspired me greatly. After all, you can’t make a silk purse from a sow’s ear.