Jerome Isma Ae is a German producer who reaches heartbreaking levels of simplicity in his productions. Whilst some producers rejoice in having upwards of 50 tracks in a song, Jerome often deploys less than 10.

I was given the opportunity to remix one of his more recent tracks: Tiger. Here’s the original:

I chose to keep most of the original structure but create a more organic atmosphere to compliment the stricture in the original.

To my ear, producers who use less tracks end up with a cleaner, more satisfying sound. Jerome Isma Ae gets a very clean sound indeed. I tried very hard to keep to the same track sound as him, but I didn’t manage it: I added a couple more. But I loved working in his environment of minimal set up, and peeking behind the curtain of greatness.

This is possibly his most famous work (and that’s him in the photo):

Finally, just as a thought, I am intrigued by whether the country a producer comes from has any effect on the way they produce music (as a distinct question from whether it effects the sound they ultimately achieve).

Do producers from some countries produce in a laid back way, whilst others adopt a more structured approach? This depends entirely on whether country-wide stereo-types even reflect reality in the first place. I won’t comment further on this, other to say that I really don’t think I’m sitting here producing with a stiff upper lip. If anything, seeing the way Jerome pulled things together made me smile nearly the entire way through the week.

Something brand new this week – some deep house.

I love the production quality of my tracks on site variously. I hope they all reach a certain standard. More importantly, I really hope that this standard is increasing over time. (Lots of people provide great feedback about sound I’m getting, and I’m ever so grateful for that.)

Still: some are stronger than others – tighter, more crisp, and more imparting of an emotion.

I really like this week’s one.

This week the circle completes. Having done two quite different mixes of the same track, I wanted to dust off the original version. I first made this around 10 years ago. I’ve done my best this week to improve the overall sound and bring out the best in the music. I’m not perfect, but to my ears the new version sounds much better than the previous one.

I’d love to know whether you agree! Do get in touch.

Here’s the untouched version from a decade ago.

If you’re in the mood but don’t quite know what you’re listening for, consider: 

• Is there more of less separation between the different instruments? Is the bass (for example) now more or less distinct?
• At the same time, do the instruments sit together as a whole? 
• How’s the balance? (The right amount of bass? Treble?) 
• Do you feel close to the music, or is there, for example, a huge layer of mud standing in your way? 
• What about sense of space? 

Mostly, does one sound nicer?

This follows on from last week, and presents an uplifting version of I Want to be Free.

This is much closer in spirit to the original that I made so long ago, with the full melody and ear candy.

The original track holds special memories for me. I created it back in 2006, on a laptop, whilst staying in an empty (and particularly cold) house that belonged to a friend of a friend. . In between writing music, I found some wonderful places to explore. The Lake District has some amazing walks and mountains, and my favourite of these is Helvellyn. You can approach the peak in a few different ways – some easier than others. The hardest and easily the most magical is across the Striding Edge, which you’re looking back out over in the photograph.

It was crisp and cold and beautiful, and as I traversed along the icy ridge, I was haunted by little snippets of the melody in this track.