PAD Challenge: 5 New Tracks From Nikolai Bonamente

I poked a little fun at Nikolai Bonamente (formerly 1.44 MB) during one of my recent Challenge update posts, because during last year's Challenge he managed to produce two tracks, while everyone else worked feverishly to come up with just one. My joke was that even if no one else creates a track for the challenge, we'd no doubt have a couple of tracks from Nikolai to fill our ears and time.

Well, as it turns out, not only did Nikolai manage to surpass his output from last year, but he completely blew my good-natured prediction out of the water, writing a whopping FIVE tracks during the week. This is what Nikolai had to say about his efforts over the last week:

Each song was put together roughly over the course of a weekday evening after work with a beer (or two) and a cat climbing over everything. The production isn't fabulous but as I usually compose and then try to spend some time away from the track to lose familiarity before going back to calm everything down that wasn't going to happen in the tome allowed. Most tracks were put together with Robb's PADs and standard Reason soundbank patches - with the exception of the beats on a couple of tracks being from the Rebirth 808 / 909 refill.... oh and I used Peff's fantastic square bass (free from his site) on a couple as well. Each track up on the soundcloud site has track notes regarding which PAD's were included.

Nikolai's trick of inserting comments where each patch from Reason Patch A Day appears is actually really clever and makes listening along a lot of fun.

Here's his first track, Nomad....

2011 PAD challenge NOMAD by Nikolai Bonamente

As you can see from his Comment "signposts," Nikolai used the Chimera - Thor, Nomad - subtractor PAD, and Reductio Ad Absurdum - Malstrom patches in Nomad. Nikolai wrote the following about his track:

This is the last one that was put together on Friday and I think is my favorite of the bunch - it achieves the feel I was going for early this year with Thorong-La and Glide-Plane . While both of these tracks headed off into embellishment land Nomad stays fairly minimal with lots of space and has a sort of lazy drifting lilt that it's name suggests.

2011 PAD challenge NERVE AGENT by Nikolai Bonamente

His second track, Nerve Agent, used the following patches: Ironic is Iconic - Subtractor, Newcomer - Malstrom, Peanut Snap - Sample, Rebop HiHat 6 - Kong, Rebop Snare 4 - Kong, Reductio Ad Absurdum - Malstrom, and Starpower - Thor.

Nikolai had this to say about his track:

An attempt to tweak some acid out of Robbs pads - I've been tooling around with the rebirth refills lately so I wanted something in that general area. This track shows examples of Robb's PADs after a fair degree of tweaking, some nice airly reverb layer percussion and my desire to try sounds that grate a little around the edges in otherwise fairly commercial sounding tracks.

2011 PAD challenge COVER PRICE by Nikolai Bonamente

Again, as you can see from Nikolai's carefully placed comments, the patches Brush - Malstrom, Peanut Snap - Sample, Rebop HiHat 6 - Kong, Rebop Snare 4 - Kong, and Secret Door - Thor (processed through the Veiled effects combinator) make an appearance in Cover Price.

This one came out of nowhere - I think I was a little um tipsy when I knocked it up. In the past I've not been a big beat head, but I'm getting closer so this track again shows experimentation with some of Robb's latest Kong patches.

2011 PAD challenge INFINITE RIM SHOT (short cut to sanity remix) by Nikolai Bonamente

Acrimony - Malstrom, Rebop Kick1 - Kong, Rebop Rimshot 3 - Kong, and Rebop Snare 3 - Kong all make an appearance in Infinite Rim Shot (Short Cut to Sanity Remix).

Nikolai had this to say about Infinite Rim Shot:

The result of 20 minutes playing with the rebop rimshot and delay and reverb - I almost did a minimal track with just that oscillating around for 7 minutes. After a while I thought some more percussion and another screeching PAD would go nicely.

2011 PAD challenge MILKWEED KEEPSAKE by Nikolai Bonamente

And lastly, Milkweed Keepsake uses the following patches: Keepsake - Malstrom, Milkweed - Malstrom, and Rebop Tom 2 - Kong, among others.

Of his song Milkweek Keepsake, Nikolai wrote:

This was heading in the direction ambient drum and bass but then took a big swing elsewhere - another attempt to make spooky left field ambient pads dancable.

A truly Herculean effort, Nikolai! The best part is that we all have five new tunes to listen to because of it, so thanks for submitting all of these to the Challenge.

If anyone has any constructive criticism for Nikolai, please be sure to post a comment or two on his tracks via Soundcloud or leave a message for him in the comments section here.

PAD Challenge: "Original Console Generation" by DJ Mad Wax

DJ Mad Wax, fellow Denverite Reason user and blogger, left a message stating that he'd be unable to put together a new track for this year's Challenge, but he wanted to share a song he put together a while back that he felt fit the requirements.

Original Console Generation - 150.4.3.162 by vocoderecords

As DJ Mad Wax explained, "Original Console Generation" uses a number of PAD sounds in his track. If he has a moment to let me know which patches he used, I'll post the list here, but this is what he had to say about the track:

I've had zero time to work on this due to work life and family stuff :/ plus my laptop is on the fritz and Reason 5 kept crashing. so I have an alternative if amenable - I'm submitting a song I did last year, but

1. it was finished and completed in 4 hours, one session
   
2. mastered on another day in a two hour session, no changes to the original
   
3. it uses almost exclusively Reasonpatchaday sounds, except for the drums and the main bass line.
   

As always, be sure to check out what DJ Mad Wax is up to over on the excellent City of Bass blog.

PAD Challenge: "Postprandial Somnolence"

Hopefully it gets better from here. "Postprandial Somnolence" is my entry into this year's PAD Challenge, a dark, beat-heavy tune that gets a decent grove going, but ultimately doesn't really go anywhere.

Postprandial Somnolence by Reason Patch A Day

I have that problem, occasionally. I develop what I think it going to be a good track, then can't figure out what to do with it, once I get it together. Still, despite my disappointment in the track, I am glad to have finished something in time for the Challenge, something I wasn't sure was going to happen. At the very least, I have something I can tweak and polish.

As with most of the tracks I've shared, "Postprandial Somnolence" is comprised almost exclusively of patches and effects that can be found here on Reason Patch A Day. I used the following patches:

Instrument Patches: Bushwhacked, Coiled - Cowbell (not shared here on the blog), Coiled - HiHat 4, Coiled - Wood Block 2, Croup, das Andere, Dull - Bass Drum, Keepsake, Mantis Prayers, Neptune's Rings - Galle Ring, Niche - Snare 4, Norse Gods - Hnoss, Noise FX1 (not shared here on the blog), Rebop - Rim 3, Spectacles, Spectral Winds, Subterranean,
Unguarded

Effect Patches: Atmosphere, Borealis, Drone Chorus, Drum Box - Trip-Hop, Familiar Dream, Interesting, Shimmering, Simple Bass Enhance, Simple Mastering, Simple Pad Enhance, Soulful, Stereo Delay, Subtle Wide

I'm looking forward to hearing what everyone else has come up with, so if you have tracks that you were hoping to share, please get them to me.

The Countdown Has Begun....

The 2nd Annual PAD Challenge has begun! Start those tracks and get them to me. You have have one week!

The deadline is Sunday, September 25th!

2nd Annual PAD Challenge: 2nd Update

We have a couple of additional participants in this year's PAD Challenge who have volunteered:

• Nikolai
  
• DJ Mad Wax
  
• THP808
  
• robbneu (me)
  

Thanks for joining in on the fun, guys. I'm really looking forward to your songs!

I think what we'll do is set the deadline for signing up for this Friday, September 16th. So, if you're reading this now and think you might be interested, you're still welcome to join in. Drop a note in the comments or send me an email. Following that, you'll have one week to create something new, so get me your completed songs by September 23rd.

As I stated, and Nikolai reiterated in his comment, this should be a low stakes, low stress experience, with some good natured encouragement and hopefully some constructive criticism when its all over. At worst, you'll come away from it with a completed song. At best, you'll come away from it with a completed song you're proud of. The goal is just to jump in with both feet and accomplish something.

The 2nd Annual PAD Challenge... Update

So, I originally said the deadline for the PAD Challenge was the weekend, but that deadline has come and gone, with just Nikolai tossing his hat into the ring. While I have no doubt that Nikolai will manage to create enough songs in a week to fill several challenges, I thought I'd leave the window open for a little while longer.

So, check in if you want to join this year's Challenge!

Announcing The 2011 PAD Challenge

It's time. Actually, if you've taken a few minutes to read the rant I posted well over a month ago, its past time. So, with little fanfare, but much expectation (at least from me), I'm announcing the 2011 PAD Challenge.

If you're new to the blog and wasn't able to follow along with last year's PAD Challenge, the concept is pretty simple. Basically, the challenge piece of the PAD Challenge is to write and finish a new song in just one week. Last year, the stipulation was that you needed to try a song in a genre or style you don't normally work in. For example, I choose to put together a straight up dance track, but I thought we'd keep things a little more open this year. So, the goal is just to create a track. That's it.

So, who is with me? You have until this weekend to decide if you want to participate, then after that, one week to put together a new track. Please use at least one patch from the blog, and send me an email with a link to your track, or the track itself, and I'll share the results here on the blog.

This was a lot of fun last year and I for see this year's Challenge being even more successful, so leave a comment if you plan to join in.

Challenge Remix: Ostbanhoff (Thielplatz Imbisstube Remix) and Breaching The Heliopause (Rutherform Appleton Remix)

1.44MB sent me his remixes yesterday to get them in on time, but unfortunately, I got too busy with family stuff to get them posted along with the rest of the remixes I received. As is usually the case, my inability to get them posted should in no way reflect on these remixes. They're awesome:

Ostbanhoff - colorcombination - 124bpm 1.44mbs Thielplatz Imbissstube Remix by 1.44mb

Breaching the Heliopause - 1.44mbs Rutherford Appleton Remix by 1.44mb

Challenge Remix: Drones2 (80's Stallone Remix), by Hydlide

Not content with just providing two remixes to the second phase of the PAD Challenge, Chris Stallone also sent a remix of Hydlide's Drones2 track. This one is a lot of fun.

Drones2 (80's Stallone Remix), by Hydlide by Reason Patch A Day

Challenge Remix: 15728 Remixes, By Chris Stallone

I got these remix files from Chris Stallone last night. What Chris may be lacking in verbosity about his remixes, he's certainly not lacking in ambition. Here are two remixes of the track 15728 by Lewis.72:

15728 (Chris Stallone Remix), By Lewis.72 by Reason Patch A Day

15728 (Chris Stallone Stuttered Mix), By Lewis.72 by Reason Patch A Day

Thanks for participating, Chris!

Challenge Remix: BurnArea (Nociceptor Mix)

So, here's my remix of 1.44MB's track, BurnArea:

BurnArea (Nociceptor Mix) by Reason Patch A Day

I added quite a bit to 1.44MB's original track, hence my previous statement about making the song more mine than his, but if we set aside the issue of "ownership," I have to say I really enjoyed working on this song. It feels more like a collaboration at this point than a remix, but it was a lot of fun, either way.

In adding to BurnArea, I used the following patches from Reason Patch A Day:

Instrument Patches: Darker Dream 2, Dreams of Being A Harpsichord, Snapdragon, The Snickers of Shadows, Tachyon Eddies, Thaw

Effect Patches: A Little Darker, Airport Music, Borealis, Drone Chorus, Elusive, Latent Period, Simple Mastering

Challenge Remix: Heliopause (Mit Vergnügen Mix), by DJ Mad Wax

Here's the first completed remix, DJ Mad Wax's mix of my own song, Breaching The Heliopause. I admitted to Wax in email that I had a hard time recognizing my song in the drum and bass track he built around it, but its definitely in there, under a few additional layers of awesome. Wax had this to say about it:

I took all your remix parts as wavs and made REX files. Rebuilt your original song with the rex files, then began constructing a drum n bass version using breakbeat loops and my own breaks. As I built it, I added some new keyboards for the jazzy feel to complement the sounds I had from the remix, and added the deep bass line.

Heliopause (Mit Vergnügen Mix) by ostbahnoff

Nice work, Wax! Thanks! I really dig this!

The PAD Challenge: Remix Reminder!

How are your PAD Challenge remixes coming? I just wanted to remind everyone that your Pad Challenge remixes are due to me by Saturday, May 8th, at noon.

I spent a huge chunk of today working on my remix of 1.44MB's song BurnArea and I should be done on time, but I'll admit, the task hasn't been an easy one. There are as many theories out there about remixes as there are remixers, but I've always felt that the best remixes highlight the artistic qualities of the original song, while providing just a different enough twist on it that the remix becomes its own, unique thing. I'm not sure if I've achieved that with what I've done to 1.44MB's song. At this point, it sounds more like something I might have done on my own, than what 1.44MB gave me to start with, but I have a few more days to tweak and fine tune.

A couple of points:

• If everyone could send me their RNS file of their remix, once they're done, that would be great. This could be a very powerful learning experience for all of us, but we'll need to see how others have tweaked or manipulated our songs, if we can truly learn anything.
  
• My basic Soundcloud account might be maxed out with the second part of the PAD Challenge, so if you have your own Soundcloud account, and don't mind hosting your remix, that would be a big help to me. Obviously, I'll host what I can, but I was hoping I wouldn't have to start removing songs so soon.
  

The Pad Challenge: Remix Update, Part II

My apologies for the continued delays. I think I have already contacted everyone regarding the files needed for the remixes, but going through everyone stated interests and the comments on the previous challenge post, it looks like most of you had that worked out before I even got on it. Great work!

If you still need files for your remix, please be sure to let me know. I don't think I missed anything or anyone, but if I did, please post a comment so I can get you what you need.

The deadline for the remixes is May 8th. Like the last challenge, let's try to get those in by noon.

The big event at work that has been consuming my time this last week (and more) is tonight, so things should be back to normal here on the blog by tomorrow.

The Pad Challenge: Remix Update

I've been a little slammed at work this week and have fallen behind with getting RNS files and samples out to everyone participating in the remix piece of the PAD Challenge. I apologize for the delay. Things should be back to normal for me starting Monday, but I'll make getting those files out to everyone a priority today and tomorrow. Expect an email from me soon.

And, for those of you concerned about the deadline, please don't be. I'll start the clock after the last files have been collected and distributed to the appropriate people.

Again, sorry about the delay.

The Pad Challenge: Phase Two Is On!

Okay, a few days ago I put up a post asking everyone what they thought of offering up their PAD Challenge songs for remix purposes, and even after I moaned and complained about the possible technical issues with doing so, the response was decidedly positive. So, here's how it's going to work:

I heard back from almost everyone, except V2057, saying that they were fine with their songs being remixed. If you need a refresher, here are all of the available tracks (posted in reverse order):

15728, By Lewis.72 by Reason Patch A Day

2048, By Jeremy by Reason Patch A Day

Ostbahnoff "That's a Great Color Combination," By DJ Mad Wax by Reason Patch A Day

Sunrise, By Chris Stallone by Reason Patch A Day

Space Clouds, By Chris Stallone by Reason Patch A Day

BurnArea, By 1.44MB by Reason Patch A Day

Vathi, By 1.44MB by Reason Patch A Day

Drones2 by Hydlide

Breaching The Heliopause by Reason Patch A Day

There are just a couple of technical hiccups with these tracks:

• DJ Mad Wax's track Ostbahnoff "That's a Great Color Combination" uses the Goldbaby Tape 808 and 909 refills, as well as the Filter Research Refill
  
• Jeremy used a homebrew refill he got from a friend, but also used the Propellerhead Strings refill
  
• My entry, Breaching the Heliopause, uses Propellerhead Record
  

As Jeremy pointed out, we can get around some of this by exporting sub-mixes to WAV, which might result in some pretty big files sizes, making sharing our source files a little more difficult, but certainly not impossible. So, at this point, everyone just needs to lay claim to the track or tracks they want to remix. Lewis.72 mentioned he'd like to take a crack at Jeremy's track 2048. I'm thinking I'd like to see if I can do anything with either 1.44MB's BurnArea or Vathi.

Keep in mind, this isn't musical chairs, so you're not stuck with working on leftover tracks if someone else lays claim to them. If everyone decided they wanted to remix the same track, that would be fine. So, in the comments, please post which track or tracks you would like to work on. I have everyone's email addresses, so I'll try to organize things behind to scenes and make sure that files get to who needs them.

I'm a little hesitant to set a deadline, because I'm not sure how much time it will take for us to get everyone's files passed around. Let's shoot for two weeks and see how things are coming along at the beginning of May.

One last thing. I'm not a lawyer and I certainly don't pretend to have a good understanding of the legal issues surrounding copyright and such, but I'd like us all to adhere to a little "gentleman's agreement" regarding these tracks and their use. Any remixes completed via this second phase of the Challenge belong to their original authors. The name of the track cannot be changed and ownership of the song cannot be disputed. Remixers are, however, allowed a byline with their remixed track, so for example, if Chris Stallone were to remix Hydlide's track it would be "Drones2 (Stallone's Funky House Mix), by Hydlide."

Does that seem fair?

PAD Challenge: 15728, By Lewis.72

Lewis.72 just sent me his entry for the PAD Challenge. It took a little longer than a week, but I think it was worth the wait. He writes:

It uses 5 patches from Reason Patch a Day:

Sleepless+HerschelGap - I love this pad and it's the backbone for the track.
Homemade4 - this Subtractor patch is doubling up an upright jazz bass patch from the FSB for depth.
Solar Bells Callisto and Solar Bells Umbriel - these two patches are the arp sounds. work great together - like chocolate and peanut butter.
Stereo Delay - a great effect being used on the arp sounds above.

The sample in the song, of a woman repeating "15728" was taken from The Conet Project, a web resource of so-called "Numbers Stations" on shortwave radios.

The rhythm and percussion patches come from the Reason Factory Sound Bank. I recently rediscovered the "Machines" folder and have been digging the set-up patches. "Needle Groovah" and "Synthi Drum Machine" are two of my favorites and lay down the beat. I changed up the patterns a bit, but they're similar to stock. "Jenkinson Drum Machine" is there to give it a bit of glitchy goodness. Didn't do anything to the pattern, but set it up to run randomly and played with the "loop edits" button to drop the pattern in and out.

I have one of my own patches in the song as well. "Copy Machine". This is one of my favorite effects patches, great for stutters or in this case, transitions. It's available on my blog.

15728, By Lewis.72 by Reason Patch A Day

I've used samples from The Conet Project in some of my own songs. Its well worth checking out if you're looking for something a little different to add to your tracks.

I thought I had all of Lewis.72's Combinators, but this one slipped past me, so I was glad to have it pointed out. Thanks, Lewis!

Check out Lewis.72's blog at Resonant Filter

The PAD Challenge: Phase Two

If you read the comments here on PAD, you already know what I'm about to announce, but while in the middle of working on my own track for the PAD Challenge, it struck me that since we're using many of the same tools, we should be able to open each other's tracks. And, if we can do that, why not add a second, remix part to the PAD Challenge?

The problem is, we're not all using the same tools. Many of us are using refills, including commercial refills, that others of us might not have. And, others of us might be using additional software via rewire or other tools, that many of us might not have. Even if we had all restricted ourselves to Propellerhead Software, there still might be gaps that make our individual projects less portable. For example, I put my track together in Record, rather than just using Reason, so what seemed like a simple idea might not really be all that practical.

So, I want to hear from you. Are any of you even interested in a remix step to the PAD Challenge? Those of you who submitted tracks, would you be open to making your tracks available for remix? And, if you would be interested in having your fellow readers take a crack at your track (that sounded... wrong), what additional refills or tools did you use? Would it even be possible for others to work with your source file to remix?

I'll start. Breaching The Heliopause was created, as I said, using Record + Reason, using patches that have been posted here on PAD. So, to remix the track, using my original file, you'd need Record and Reason installed on your computer.

Anyone else? Let me know what you think about the remix idea in the comments.

PAD Challenge: 2048, By Jeremy

Here's a late entry to the PAD Challenge from reader Jeremy, a funky kind of track that he humbly describes by saying:

I'm not sure if this is legal or not submission wise, but I don't have Record (need more money!), so the vocals were done in Reaper and the stems ran through Recycle and thereafter Dr R.

I'm not very good about talking about my music and I don't know genres and such it seems, so if anything is to be said about it..

it's goofy?

2048, By Jeremy by Reason Patch A Day

Not goofy at all, Jeremy. Thanks for submitting it, even if you did miss the deadline by a day. I think I've said this before, but this is definitely a case of the more being the merrier, so I'm glad to have your submission.

PAD Challenge: Ostbahnoff "That's a Great Color Combination," By DJ Mad Wax

I got this contribution from DJ Mad Wax yesterday, but unfortunately was too caught up in meetings at my son's school, to do anything with it until now. Sorry about the delay in getting this up, Wax!

Inspired by a chance encounter in Berlin, DJ Mad Wax has this to say about his Ostbahnoff "That's a Great Color Combination" track:

Programmed Drums: Goldbaby's Tape 808 and 909 refills
Drum Loop: Computer Muzik magazine
Reason Patch-a-Day: Thor, Snickers of Shadows; Combi Effect: Airport Music; Maelstron, Fugitive; Maelstrom, Catharis; Subtractor, Rubberband;
Additional: various effects from the Filter Research Refill; various use of patching and standard Reason effect devices

Note: I'm mostly deaf, and this was mixed on headphones as my studio is not set up yet. If its too heavy on a frequency, blame the DJ Magic Mike albums and my bass system when I was a teen, or blame my DJ booth years :)

Thanks: to Robbneu for inspiration and the awesome blog.

Ostbahnoff "That's a Great Color Combination," By DJ Mad Wax by Reason Patch A Day

Read about what DJ Mad Wax is up to at City of Bass.

Thanks Wax! And, thanks to Hydlide, 1.44MB, Chris Stallone, and V2057 for your time and effort in this short challenge. It's been a lot of fun and the results have been really inspiring to me. Thanks for participating.

If you were working on a track, and I think there still might be a couple of you committed to turning one in, you can still get it in to me. Missing the deadline isn't a problem, so send it over and we'll get it posted up here with the rest.