Netlabels are everywhere. There are so many, it's getting tough to stand out in the crowd. And yet, there is some amazing music to be had for free from these organizations that give out free music. This is what prompted me to start an online record label for electronic music by Philippine produc
Read Full StoryI just released an intrumental downtempo album from my electronic duo CLONE, which was recorded in 2004 and lost in the archives till now. The album is entitled CLONE - Live at Brazil Brazil [qd-4261] and is 1.25 hours of impromptu downtempo music created on the fly, and which mixes bossanova rh
Read Full StorySo here finally, is my first music video. This is a track named "Midnight Monologue" which wound up becoming the title track from my 2007 E.P. entitled Logue (download it for free from QED RECORDS). Way back in November 17, 2006, I performed at a gig and listened to a bunch of goth bands wh
Read Full StoryAs a composer and a musical arranger over the years, I've had to use software to create musical pieces. Software is neat, it's archive-able (unlike my yellowed, dilapidated music notebooks), it outputs to PDF, and it's easily editable. The problem is music notation software tends to be huge, blo
Read Full StoryListening to Orbital's music taught me three important things that influenced my electronic music production. The British dance music duo of Phil and Paul Hartnoll, who came to be known as Orbital, were critically and commercially successful in the dance music movement of the 1990s -- and famed fo
Read Full StoryOn May 25, 2010 I posted this on my social media channels: "If the bass doesn't match the key of your melody, what you have is DISCORDANT, DISSONANT, CHAOTIC. And frankly, amateurish. Sorry art rockers." I had been listening to some amateurish Middle Eastern electronic music borrowed
Read Full Story"Everything Will Be OK" is a gloomy little tune that spouts optimistic lyrics -- but has nothing bright or sparkly supporting any of the vocals. Even the melody is in a minor key. The vocal melody line is taken straight from a dream I had back in 2007. I woke up with the tune in my head and
Read Full StoryTributary is basically a house music track done with some jazzy percussion, latin keyboard and bass parts and mixed in with some floating pads and ethnic male chants. Composed using Reason software. I imagine a raindance in the middle of a busy urban area. But that's just me. This track has been
Read Full StoryI've decided to take a look at some of the tracks and music that helped shape my musical taste and style. This category of posts will be called Influences. First up, the melodic new age instrumentals of Suzanne Ciani, which can be summed up in this one track: "Mosaic." Mosaic is one of th
Read Full Story"Bahay Kubo" (Nipa Hut) is one of those Filipino folk songs that every elementary child in the Philippines used to learn early on since it was a lesson in naming your vegetables set to a catchy tune. I'm no longer sure if this is still the case. Nevertheless, I used the folk song as inspiration
Read Full StoryLast February 2010, I joined and completed one of the craziest community challenges the internet has ever conceived: the Record Producing Month also known as the RPM challenge. I've known about it for three years now, and even signed up for it last year, but I never actually pushed myself to complet
Read Full Story[audio: qd-4223-porta-loser_acid42remix.mp3] Back in January 2005, QED Records released a short, alternative rock/industrial EP called "Porta" by the band called Porta -- one half of the band was guitarist-vocalist Rann Golamco and the other was electronic producer Emorej. I decided to try creati
Read Full StoryHere's an '80s-inspired synthpop tune made entirely in Propellerheads Reason which mixes a typical pop beat with some ethnic instrumentation and a lot of soaring synth pads. The result is a bouncy, positive, feel-good theme for a Friday morning. I dug this one out of a backup DVR I created fo
Read Full StoryBack in 2006 (I think), I put together a remix of Christina Aguilera's "Aint No Other Man (Acid42Mix)" The acapella track was well done, inspiring me to sequence some bouncy beats and semi-aggressive synth lines. I put the mp3 up on Imeem a while back but since Imeem's been bought by MySpace, the p
Read Full StoryHere's a remix I made for Jemex's track "Palma." Combining some of the piano melody with a big, booming breakbeat, this remix tried to create a gritty, urban atmosphere to the ambient, melodic parts in the original track. I did this for a remix contest, wanting to flex my muscles on Acid Pro 7, b
Read Full StoryHere's a big beat remix for Kylie Minogue's smash hit of 2005(?) "Slow." Created it using Acid Pro 5, and a whole buncha loops and VSTi's. Always had an affection for her music. Possibly it's the beats in her tracks, but also it's the perky personality of the singer. Gotta love someone with the pana
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This is a remix of a lovely tune entitled “Spacetalk” by the duo My Parasol, (one half of which is Spazzkid). I slowed it down to 100 BPM, and added a whole bunch of dirty, gritty drum loops, distortion, and a few softsynths for bass, electric piano and organ pad. ...
In 2005, I wrote a rough guide on how I use Propellerheads Reason software for live gigs, in response to a growing number of questions from fellow members of Electronica Manila. The rough guide was a PDF document outlining 3 major ways to view the software and included practical tips on setup and personalization for ... ...
Just released the contents of my 2004 EP, Holy Weak, on the Creative Commons music site Jamendo. Which means its freely available for download, and can be embedded in websites, blogs and anywhere on the Net. Happy listening! ...
I wrote some lyrics to a typically jangly pop song back in 1996/1997. The original tune sounded like a Letters To Cleo song (I was listening to a lot of jangly guitar pop rock then). I recently dug up the lyrics and thought it might be interesting to get someone else to write and produce ... ...
A few years back, I wrote a PDF tutorial on how to use the software Reason for live performance. I never got to update it, so it’s circa Reason version 2.5, but it still has some interesting tips on how I personally use Reason in a performance set-up. Download link below. ...
Two exclusive tracks by Acid42 are available for free download at ReverbNation. Sign up for an account and become a fan of Acid42 in order to get the exclusive downloads. ...
In the past few months, whenever I’ve been able to grab a few minutes, I’ve worked on some Filipino songs for Acid42. Things I’ve realized: composing lyrics and music in Filipino is pure gut feel. You create using your gut and the end result usually comes out strangely honest. You can’t hide behind fancy twists ... ...
Here’s an old track – a remix of a track by Moon In The Man. This track was done back in 1999/2000 when I was first learning the Acid Pro software and sound editing tools. ...
[ Acid42 > Artist Links] : BIO : GEAR : MUSIC : PRESS : [ Lionel Valdellon > Personal Links]: BLOG : 1999 BLOG : LINKS : [ Etc ]: QED RECORDS : LITURGICAL MUSIC : ...
For those of us closely interested in the future of internet and culture in general, the book The Cult of the Amateur by Andrew Keen is riveting reading most of the way through. Keen tackles how the democratization of the Net is producing tons of crap on a daily basis and slowly killing off the ... ...
Katorse Shorts poster In 2006, I did the musical score for an independent short film entitled “Puwang” by filmmaker and editor Annabelle “Sunshine” Matutina. It’s a 30-minute short film about a family coming together to take care of their dying father in a hospital. And I was asked to make music that was minimalist and ... ...
“So what kind of computer do I need to make electronic music?” “So what kind of investment do I need to make in gear in order to perform live?” I get asked questions like this all the time. Partly because I’ve been doing this for some time now, (and by this, I mean, create, release ... ...
The beautiful thing about hi-speed internet connectivity and upgraded music-making technology is that, one user working from a compositional tool like Reason, and stationed in Hayward can send his working Reason file to another user in Mandaluyong, based on the former’s composition posted on his own website, and come up with a whole brand-spankin...
I borrowed a live concert DVD of one of my favorite ’80s pop-rock groups Talking Heads. I remember buying the cassette tape of their 1983 album Speaking in Tongues from Glo-Ri Supermarket in Metro Manila back when I was in grade school. I didn’t “get” them right away. Nowadays, their theatrical sense of the absurd ... ...
It’s a relaxing downtempo instrumental — a collaboration between East and West coast-based Filipinos trying to figure out this country. The song is based on a riff and a series of patches proposed by Ariel and expounded on and sequenced by myself. The result is a light, flowing, driving song which is primarily in E-minor. Very west coas...
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