Reverse Engineering

If you've been following the DJing trends in recent years, it's been flowing from the mere playing of 2 turntables in succession or together to advancing to things like Traktor where you have remix decks, sample decks integrating loops, and samples into ones DJ set. Some call it a hybrid DJ-live set. A lot of DJs have also jumped into this to "spice" up their set. 

However, as a music producer and live performing artist, I found myself stepping back into its most basic: 2 deck mixing. I dunno. I think that because I've come from doing live sets that cover 8-16 tracks, composing on the fly, layering, etc, I felt that in my DJing, I think I want to simplify and enjoy the music others have made (and sometimes my own). I feel like taking off the pressure that I usually put on myself when I do live sets and just let the tracks flow as they're supposed to. Plus the fact that it gives me more time to enjoy myself and to dance to it :)

Now, I don't know if this will work to my advantage seeing it's a step backward in terms of the progress in today's DJing world but at the same time, I feel that I can't go wrong with a DJing standard that's lasted decades before all the "added" stuff thrown in the mix came in.

This is not to say that I'll be sticking with this format. But for now, I'm happy with it. Once I add on to it, I'd go the Maschine route and add on to the material live. That for sure would be a nice DJ-live hybrid set. For now, I'm really happy working with my very basic setup and just enjoying the groove.

Cy

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After Thinking Things Through... Hello Again DJing.

To be honest, I can't remember how many times I've heard my DJ friends tell me, "Mag DJ sets ka na kasi Cy." It's not because I didn't want to but I was struggling inside of me with the current state of clubbing and electronic music appreciation in our country. 

Imagine: I wanna share the music that I dig to give people a good time on the dancefloor, however, only a few clubs would allow me to play the music that I prefer since a lot of the local clubs are pretty mainstream. It's a serious decision for me to say I'm getting into DJing again because it's been so many years since I jumped in. With the current state, it's been harder to decide to do it again. Going back, I can only think of a handful of clubs that would "get" my sound because there are still clubs who are still about the music and not simply about making DJs jukeboxes because that's what some DJs have been in a lot of clubs especially recently when the whole EDM craze peaked... hiphop electro tracks played left and right... I remember reading something how some so-called clubber would get mad at a DJ for not playing a song he was listening to in his car on the way to the club. hahaha Some may not find it funny because they may relate to that so-called clubber but still brings me back to my point of how DJs have become jukebox players. It's unfortunate but that's the reality. So what are we left to do? I mean there are tons of us into the music but if we can't play the stuff that we like for people to discover, then how can we enjoy playing out? I don't want to get into something only to play stuff I don't like to play. I'd end up hating DJing. Cuz honestly, it's pretty easy to be a DJ these days especially if you were to play the ultramegasuper mainstream stuff. Just go to your suking pirated store and you'll get all the music you need and you can finally call yourself a DJ because the goal was to simply please the listener/crowd even if in reality, the so-called DJ had the music in the bottom of his priority list for getting into DJing and had fame or money on top of it. I'm not saying those who are into the music are better or someone is worse because it's really a matter of perspective. To a bar/club owner wanting to simply make a killing in sales would simply just go to the safe route and get a mainstream guy who would play all his and the patron's requests or whatever's in the charts. In this case, that DJ is "better" because he fit the needs and profile of the market and the club. We who would rather be a little bit more adventurous to take people for a ride from our music selection would be then the "worse" choice for that club. It's really a matter of perspective. 

My personal dillema was, how can I build a thriving DJ career if I can't find places to play in? Being a producer and live performer is different because I get to play my tunes and we also cater to a smaller market here in the Philippines in a culture where people would rather hear something they know than groove to something unknown. Another major dillema of mine was I wanted to do this right especially being a producer as well, so I didn't want to go the "google download" route if you know what I mean. I wanted to support the artists. But if you think about it, with the measly pay DJ's get, how then can people expect them to be able to update their collection thru doing it right when they don't have enough to get proper records? I just feel uncomfortable if I get into DJing and I get paid playing records that I stole online, robbing the very people who made the tunes that people dance to. In fact, DJs should really make it a point to support the artists because you get jobs and you get paid because of music someone spent time and money making... and to be honest, they spent more to make that tune than their asking price for the track.

Anyway, I've silenced all the questions and troubles in my head and I'm finally giving in. It's the right thing to do because if I also want to promote myself as a producer, I need to be visible and right smack in the scene and simply releasing tunes won't cut it locally. Unfortunately, I can't rely on my live shows to get regular bookings locally. I'm just also excited on how my productions would improve more from digging deeper into DJing again. But I'll of course be doing a hybrid live-DJ set because I don't want to lose that live aspect of mine where I play in my own tunes and sounds. "Silverfilter" was born and have survived because of the live aspect. I don't want to remove it to still have that identity I've worked hard to develop over a decade now. 

I guess I'll just see you in the clubs :) 

Cy

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Always Expect From God

God's goodness of course still and will always surprise us. But if you think about it, it shouldn't be much of a surprise because he is always GOOD and all that's left of us is to expect that good to come our way. It's just a matter of time.

I just finished a "nice" project for a foreign client and with a nice project comes a nice pay, and with a nice pay comes an even better amount of money to be set aside for tithing. Now, if I didn't believe in the promise of God, I would say, "I'd just keep this money since it can buy me that new DJ system I've always wanted to try out." But the tithe is my seed and I don't want to eat my seed because I know I can get "trees" from it with more fruit. 

So I finally gave my tithes to church the other day. But this time, I KNEW that money was coming my way because that is how God's system works. God's proven himself faithful countless times already. The whole time, I knew. My feeling was that I was just waiting for God's response to my giving. True enough, in Godly fashion, in less than a week, a new project came in that will pay me 4-5 times of that amount that I sowed to the kingdom. Now THAT is how God works. If I decided to keep and spend the money, God wouldn't have anything to multiply.

At this point in my life as a Christian, there is zero doubt on my end about how effective tithing really is, and I would like to encourage anyone reading this that if you don't have that "habit" yet, try it... try God. He won't disappoint AT ALL. The key is to hold on to His promises just like how my spirit gave me that assurance that all is well in my finances and all I had to do was expect the blessing and wait for it. 

I always have good stories after tithing... especially after giving something big where if we doubted tithing, we would not give at all because it's quite a significant amount. But I know my God and I know He is faithful and true to his word and it is just so refreshing that this week, even before anything came my way, I knew in my heart that ANYTIME now, God will deliver.

And He did indeed deliver.

Cy

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A Time To Be Thankful

I am glad that this Christmas season, when I look around to think of what I want for Christmas, I can say that I have a hard time thinking of what to ask for because God has given me the things that I need to live, work, and function properly. Ultimately though, I thank God for the spirit of contentment that rests in me, that I am happy with what I have and I can make do with what I have. 

Before I leave that thought, I just wanted to clarify that it doesn't mean that I don't have dreams for a better life. God puts the dreams in our minds of course and He will equip you to reach for that step by step but again, with a spirit of contentment and patience, that while you don't have it yet, you don't feel that you are at a disadvantage because you haven't reached it. 

As I look back on how I started, I can't help but just thank God for where I am today. He has really proven himself faithful countless times in my life ever since I focused on music. He has generously provided me with more than enough and not just my needs but also some of my wants. This is not to say that I have everything and everything that I ever wanted. But I'm the type of person who can live with what I have and be content with it until such time that it stops working or gets damaged, etc. You get the picture I'm sure. I'm really not the type who keeps on letting go of stuff while searching for an elusive "the one" for any particular item. I usually just set my sights to something and then I go for it and once I have it, I'm a happy man. I don't think much of always upgrading to the next "better" thing. I think partly this is also due to how I grew up not always having the best things in life but just enough to get me by. This in turn also helped me to live a no-excuses kind of life. If I had to do or get something, I tried to find and make ways. I rarely found myself having to make an excuse that I "can't" because I "don't have." There are a some people who have difficulty moving forward in life because they always have an excuse for everything when all they had to do was be thankful for their little blessings, that they usually brush aside just because they always think that they can only be the best they can be if they have the best.

What are the things that you should be thankful for? Look around you and take time to think about even the small things that seem mundane. Remember that as simple as those things are, you have those because God made a way for you to be able to afford or enjoy those things. Remember that a lot of other people have it really bad especially with the recent storm that hit Davao. Be thankful and spend time to pray for our brothers and sisters who were affected by the storm.

Lastly... do you know how being content can also help others? Well, once you are, you'll be able to see the bigger picture and be a blessing to others because you yourself have been blessed. Instead of buying that expensive watch, you can set aside some money to give to charity, etc. Again, you may not have your dream house yet... but you have a house. You may not have a car yet... but you always have money for the daily commute. You may be eating the 50 peso mcdo meal but you're eating in Mcdo... etc. Count your blessings.

There really are so many things to be thankful for so as you finish this entry of mine, take the time to look around and thank God for being faithful and loving to you as He always makes sure that your needs are always met. 

Be a blessing to others this Christmas!

God bless!

Cy

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Three of my Goals for 2013

In Habakuk 2:2, it reads

And the LORD answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.

I decided to write this down and share it with everyone so that anyone who reads this, may it be my family, friends or other relatives, can run with and pray for me as I take on this task claiming for the best outcome :)

1. BREAKS

Since I love producing breakbeat tracks, I'm gunning to get in the best Breaks labels in the world. I'm targeting the top 15 labels housing the best of the best out there. As it is, it's already a blessing to have released under Kick It Recordings, which has Access Denied releasing with them as well, who is one of the major players in the breaks scene. The goal for me now is to get in on the top labels and to be recognized as a breaks producer who can deliver. If I can even get a mention at the annual Breakspoll then that would really make my year!

Right now, i'm finishing mixing and mastering, during my free time, my recent 3 best breaks tracks to be submitted for consideration. Once that's done, I blast it off to the labels and see who responds :)

I'm pretty excited. Really excited. 

2. SCORING

I'm planning to prepare a major demo reel of mine for scoring. This is the bigger task since I am starting everything from zero. I plan to make fresh ones and really take my time to produce, mix, and master all of them to pretty high standards to be able to present myself to filmmakers locally and abroad. Of course I want to channel local filmmakers first since I also want to be a player in bringing the quality of local music scoring up. I want to at least, to the best of my abilities, be able to produce scores that can deliver. It may not be as grand as "hollywood" sounding because I don't have a full orchestra in my studio, but that is the target. To get as close to that within my capabilities.

I'm starting over with new ones because I want to really nail things down. I have a pretty good bank of works done in the past decade but this is also a challenge that I put on myself to do new and better ones... Music scoring that I've NEVER done before. That is the challenge for me.

3. TRIKE RECORDS

Lastly, I am now finally going to focus on regular releases for my label, Trike Records. I hope to release monthly at least and twice a month if I can. I'll primarily be releasing silverfilter material of course but will be including releases from other local producers as well. I can't commit now though to regular names because it's also hard to get consistent commitments from other producers so we may just feature some people from time to time if they are able to submit anything for release. So lately I've been looking around for local remixers for my tracks to feature them instead. It's less pressure this way. This is to also help them get their name out so let's see how this goes!

Here's hoping for the best and to fulfilling dreams and achieving our goals in 2013!

 

Cy

 

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Time Can Help Your Mixes

I've just finished mastering my latest EP and to some extent, I can say I'm pretty happy with the outcome. Now how is it related to my title? Well, if I look back to the tunes I've mixed and mastered yeeeeaaarsss back, I can definitely say I've come a long way. Time does indeed help you out improve your sound.

How? Spend time with it. It took me years to be able to ge the sound that I'm getting now from my final output.

If you want to improve your mixes, then mix a lot. Practice practice practice. Spend time listening closely to your tracks and learn to listen critically on how your favorite tunes were mixed. Pick out some nice reference tracks that you want to study and listen to not to enjoy but to dissect. Don't try to go through it too quick and expect to get a nice polished sound. At first, you may think or feel that you're not getting there at all but my advice is to be patient and keep at it. We all go through it and those who come out after are the ones who come up with decent mixes all ready for mastering and release.

Also try to read up on mixing and how each mixing device works and how it can improve (or destroy) your sound. Not knowing what to do will take up a lot of your time trying to tweak things because you rely more on trial and error. Of course in the beginning, that's how it is so you can train your ears on what each knob does to the sound. Don't stop at just knowing that "this knob that says threshold does this to my sound." Understand what the knob's function is and why it's there. 

Don't always rely on "what they say" because people have different approaches to mixing. There are of course guidelines to follow to help you through, but don't hold on to what you may hear from someone as "the right way" all the time. Some may prefer compressing every track on his project and some may just rely on automation.

Also try to understand arrangement and dynamics. This can definitely help your mixes as it can help you tell a story not just with your music elements but also with how you mixed it. How you pull down or pull up volumes or automate things add to the story of your final track.

You may have heard and read this a lot of times already but it's worth reminding... try to listen to your mix in different listening environments like your car, a pair of headphones, hifi components, and even your laptop speakers. You'll be surprised how this can help you fine tune your mix.

Rest your ears. Don't go mixing a whole album in one day and then be surprised the next day why it didn't sound as it did the day before. Give your ears some rest between mixes. If you want to master it also then do it another day.

Now, I'm not trying to say I'm an expert because I don't think I am. I'm just here to share what I've learned along the way having time and practice behind me so that all of you guys who are new at this can at least get there quicker. 

At the end of the day, trust your ears. You may read a lot about mixing, hear a lot about "how to do it" but just arm yourself with the knowledge and always trust your ears in the end. 

Have fun!

Cy

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First 25 Will Get My Latest Album For Free and MORE :)

Promo time once again! This time, I'm giving away my latest album, Manila Electronica to 25 helpful souls.

Mechanics is easy :)

1. Click on http://silverfilter.bandcamp.com/

2. Preview all the tracks from my latest album, Manila Electronica. Great thing about it is it has full track previews! :)

3. Write your own album review and include your favorite from the lot (feel free to give a reason) and post it on my wall http://www.facebook.com/silverfilterofficial 
*I'll just ask everyone to make it a proper album review and not just leave one word like "nice" 

4. While you're on my FB page, It'd be great to get your support with a LIKE as well :)

It's that easy. Really. 

First 25 reviews will receive the album for free PLUS any album in addition to Manila Electronica from my bandcamp. I shall of course get in touch with you to send you the download details as well as to ask for your preferred additional album :)

Looking forward to finding out your favorites and reading your reviews. 

God bless!

Cy

 

Posted via email from silverfilter living

Lookin' for silverfilter Roadie/PA :)

When I first posted the announcement, I received an email asking about the description and qualifications so I decided to post it here on my blog as well to make things straightforward :)

Well, I'm basically looking for a roadie/PA: someone I can train for setup, help carry stuff, assist with whatever's needed during gigs. I'm hoping to find and stick to one who is willing to take on the task for the fun and experience and who's in it for the long haul. Of course for paid shows, then he will definitely be compensated for as well.

I'm looking for a commited one so that I can stick with that one whether it be for local manila gigs as well as for out of towners as I plan to be busy this 2013.

Qualifications: Just someone with a heart willing to learn and someone who would be fun to hang with as well. 

Cy

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It's About Time

I dunno why it took me so long but I guess it's better late than never :)

For the past days (and in the coming ones), I have started to consolidate all of my releases and I've just been uploading most of the time and tagging everything. I realized it's about time I put together my releases and start letting people know that there have been a few already over the years and I need to draw people to what was on offer before. 

So mainly, I've been loading it up heavily on my bandcamp site http://silverfilter.bandcamp.com so everyone who plans to buy my albums and releases may also do so there. I figured it would also be easier on my end to maintain and have more focus on a site like that as a host then into my official site.

Also, I am slowly preparing my back catalog that were just once released independently, to be uploaded and released into the digital stores we all love like iTunes, Beatport, Juno, Amazon, and tons more. So expect that before the year ends, hopefully all my stuff are up on those stores. 

That's it! That's what's been happening lately. It's not much but these are the small things I failed to do before, that in reality, were the most important :/

I've also sent a proposal to get my new chillout album sponsored so help me pray for that! :)

See you in the next one.

Cy

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November Update

Moving forward after a stressful work month in October, I've come to realize a lot of things... seriously. 

One thing I learned is that it's better to release the material and learn as I go than to just keep all my tunes locked up in my hard disc for literally years. That is why from now on, I shall aim to be consistent in my releases and stop being too critical of myself thinking a tune isn't good enough yet that is stays dormant until I forget about it. Believe me, I've got tons of tunes that are sleeping here :/

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Anyway, I just finished a few minutes ago, sending my latest single to Deeper Manila. As some of you know, I also am part of the artist roster releasing on that label as I am in full support of our local dance labels. From now on though, I guess it'll be twice the work because I also have my own label, Trike Records, to look after. So it'll be quite a busy one on both camps. 

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And in other news, while I was searching for my tunes on Beatport, I happened to find out that one of my most recent releases Hangin On is included in the Breaks and Beats Essentials Vol. 1 compilation released over on Beatport. Hope you can check it out and support the release!

http://www.beatport.com/release/breaks-and-beats-essentials-vol-1/970712

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I'll be making time to get back on my "artist" feet with the label and the releases in the coming weeks. Slowly but surely. I'll really make it a point to get to it now.

Hope you guys are still around :)

Cy

Posted via email from silverfilter living