Thursday, April 1, 2010

The PAD Challenge!

Most of what I do in Reason, and now Record, could best be defined as "ambient." The few songs I've posted on Soundcloud, using patches from Patch A Day, certainly fit that mold, but as much as I like making music to fall asleep to (humor fully intended), I have other musical interests as well. I really dig trip-hop, which is a genre that has probably already seen its day, and I really like a lot of the minimal house and deep house music I've been downloading from various netlabels. The problem is that as much as I enjoy these other genres, I'm terrible at creating songs in them. Everything sounds dated or flat and I eventually just give up, crawling back to the comforting drones and sparse soundscapes of ambient music... but, not this week!

Thanks to the patches I received from Ruurd, and a few offers I've received from other readers, I feel like I'm getting a little break from the blog so I can focus on making music. So, just as Patch A Day is the result of a challenge I made to myself over a year and a half ago, I'm going to challenge myself again. One week from today, I'll post a new dance track for your comments.

I don't expect it to be good, but rather than get halfway into it and then give up like I usually do, I'm going to finish this one. I'm hoping all of you will hold me to this deadline, because if I don't have anyone to be accountable to, I probably won't do it.

So, anyone care to join me? It's just one song. You can do it! Sign up in the comments and start working on a new track. Next week we can all share what we've come up with and offer each other feedback.

You have one week!

7 comments:

Lewis.72 said...

Great idea! I'm terribly busy this week with stuff, but I'm going to see if I can come up with something during break time. Can't wait to check out the tune you come up with ;-).

Hydlide said...

any specific genre you are aiming for? or only dance related?

I wouldn't mind making some combination of both... droning with a dance :D would be unique for a chance.

I'll see what I can come up with. Love the challenge here ;)

Patch-A-Day Robbneu said...

Hey, guys! Thanks for your interest in this new, impromptu challenge! :)

Hydlide/Edwin... no genre requirements. I just thought it would be fun to work in a genre you don't normally work in, to see where it leads, but just putting together a new track is the real focus.

Really looking forward to what you guys come up with. Be sure to let me know if you've used any PAD patches in your new track, when you finish. And, for anyone else reading this, keep in mind... the goal is to complete a track in a week. It doesn't necessarily have to be polished or good. I certainly don't expect mine to be, so you don't have to be the next Deadmau5 to play along.

BenDarkFox said...

Looks like a fun challenge, I'm limited to using my laptop and touchpad but lets see what I can make out of this thing. Count me in!

up with the PADS!

Patch-A-Day Robbneu said...

Great! Thanks for joining in, BenDarkFox! So, the deadline is Wednesday. I'm sure I'll post more about this as we get closer to the due date.

Madden Wachsenhoff said...

I'm in as well

Patch-A-Day Robbneu said...

Awesome, Wax! Looking forward to your contribution!