Greetings Steemit,
'Time' seems to be cyclical, in some sense - hosting a slew of new information situationally flowing for your biological living mind/body/soul to process.
In most occasions we numb to the beat, in whatever ways our individual dredging daily fashions disconnect our focus from 'the now' as we drift along the waves of time, mostly without notice until something PINGS and we pause to consider "Hey wait? I think I've been here before!".
These examples exist in my life all the time, and an easy trigger for a reminiscent proverbial stroll down memory lane in my brain is with the review of old DJ mixes. When doing so I can tell that many things have changed, yet several other things 'stand out' as clear markers of my style that still carries to current day, and its fun to go back and review old projects to both hear the music and let the memories flow.
In doing so one evening I stumbled along this posted mix - 'Modulations V.2'. I remember it being an EARLY mix in my DJ career (2008), when I was mostly just a young pup still scared to play in front of people outside of my immediate friend circle due to the current state of undeniable Noobness behind the decks.
I say 'decks' because speaking of a professional DJ setup available in this 2008 era, everybody used Vinyl Turntables & a Mixer at that time, aside from the very early dinosaur clunky CDJ Turntable technology floating about. Just a few short years later those CDJ components evolved and it literally changed everything in the game as the new digital DJ wave washed ashore. (That's a story for another post)
Thanks to my good buddy Mr. @winstonwolfe being a kick ass professional photographer and my own personal paparazzi for the last decade that has followed me around capturing most of these DJ experiences, I have some shots he kindly provided from that era. Before we get to those for context - here's a picture of Winston & I back in the STP days. He's the pretty one.
Just to give the reader proper visual reference of this ramble's protagonist and his plight, Mr. Wolfe was kind enough to toss some old shots my way upon request. These would have been taken within 3-6 months of the recording the mix.
This one is an early show I did at a local venue called "The Outland Ballroom". I've played there several times, and I'm pretty sure this night was on my birthday, and I was opening for a close friend of mine who was headlining.
This one is an early after party I played a friend's house, after doing a show in a club all night as the 'out of town' talent the promoters booked. The DJ setup at the after party was in the hallway, literally on top of the Washer & Dryer.
Its crazy to look at those pics and think how different the technology is today. For reference : here's a video of my current setup shot a few months ago.
Back then I was buying lots of records (an expensive hobby) & had acquired a healthy portion of Drum & Bass albums ranging from Liquid Funk to Hardstep styles. On this particular mix, I went a different direction, and played the most ambient / airy / melodic / intelligently composed Drum & Bass selections I had in my collection. (You know... the weird shit)
The original name of the mix 'Modulations' was selected in reference to what I felt these types of sounds included in the recording manifested into reality by the story told via my mixing. The 'V.2' was added after rerecording the mix a 2nd time (V.2 = Version 2) adding samples via 1 shot loop banks on the CDJ I had at that time. I even ended the mix with 3 of my all time favorite Intelligent DnB tracks, which I forgot about until I relistened a few nights ago. <3
The vocal heard at the beginning, middle, and very end of the mix is spoken by 'Ram Das' (Dr. Richard Alpert) via a lecture CD I had of his that I was live looping on the spot. I sped the samples up, slowed them down, and chopped up the parts in the order I wanted as I was triggering the samples live.
I also used a Korg KM202 which is a DJ mixer I owned at the time that had an integrated Kaoss pad (effects processor) dead center in the mixer - which was pretty damned slick and hard to keep my hands off of "Swooshy" touch effects.
The Ram Das sample I was looping went perfectly and you'll hear his words spread out through the mix. Like all my mixes, I was trying to 'send a message' with this project. If you happen to listen all the way to the very end of this mix, that 'message' may become far clearer... in some sense. (# WinkyFace)
When version 2 was completed, I handed it out to a few close friends for feedback. Only a handful of people ever heard it, and to this day one of my close friends who has heard all my mixes swears its his favorite mix I've ever done. I'm not certain I personally agree with that statement, based on other works I've completed.. but I suppose this issue isn't for me to decide. There are some mighty fine songs on the recording, really rare records that I'm legitimately proud to own, so perhaps he's onto something.
Unlike my other mixes, there never was any release event for Modulations V.2, and I don't even think I ever uploaded this one to my mixcloud page which is my archive. (Link in my signature, if you need more DnB Love in your life) I suppose in some sense that makes this post the actual public release of this mix - which is being done a decade after recording it.
The tempo correction nudges are noticeable in parts, as I had not refined my craft to peak performance at this juncture 10 years back, however I think its 'ok' to humble yourself from time to time, in this case posting a music performance I'm not 120% pleased with, as well as the fact that this mix really does have some really fun moments that are totally worth sharing.
So lace up your dancing shoes Steemit & prepare to take a trip back in time - when the room smelled like Gruv Glide and you couldn't jump around behind the decks for fear of skipping the record needle. Embrace the fact that every track on this mix is at least 10 years old, and see if any infectious sonic nature survived... cause I solemnly swear to you that there is NO cure if you catch THIS beat!
If you're still with me by this point than I want to say "Thank YOU!" for reading & I sincerely hope you enjoy the music.
Without further ado friends...
dj Phi (aka: giftedgaia)
-proudly presents-
Modulations V.2
-recorded 2008 - released 2018-
Free Stream or Download
Cheers Steemit!
~GiftedGaia
-Who is: GiftedGaia 1 Year Later?
-My Youtube Page (lots of Drone Videos)
-GiftedGaia's Favorite Quotations on Life and Music