“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.