Device Records...

A lot has happened. Getting my new pass to port was an awful experience, and reminded me of being in Argos. Not sure I was aloud to take photos in there...the place was all bugged and that. I brought a new jet ski prior though, and I think I'm still pumped about that, which neutralised the mood. Anyway, its my annual holiday soon which only means one thing...

My second year university life draws to a close, and the sun came out to congratulate me, that's what I like to think anyway. I've refurbished a wheel and done some other shit that would bore anyone but me. But most of the time, I've just been enjoying the sun and doing fuck all. Playing with a gramophone and having a barbecue was an enjoyable and somewhat nostalgic way to end this lazy period. Back to work.

I went camping last weekend. It was civilised camping though, electric hook up and that. It gave me a chance to test out summer and my trailer tent. Quite a nice alternative to tents and caravans. Anyway, time lapse is still low quality as I refuse to pay for apps, but I still feel the iPhone is outperforming most point and shoot cameras at the moment. The track is a tune I made years ago that I finally found a use for.

I've taken to this home clubbing, I can drink tea and I wont have a hangover. It was a live stream DJ set by Mike Skinner, provided by boilerroom.tv. I was transfixed by the people in the background though, interesting moves.

Slight editing on the photo, don't think i'll do it again. It would seem the best time to write on this blog is before work. The period that is not really long enough to do anything significant, however long enough to make a small meal, and gets various emails sent. I am in a time of opportunity...I think.

Sorry about the low quality, only using the free version of the app at the moment so I'm stuck with 480p. Not bad for an iPhone though i thought.

After a night of celebrations, it was to the dentist this morn. Not me gladly. I've been playing around with time-lapsing on my iPhone, I took some last night that ill upload later.

Drove to the O2 arena with my girlfriend. She went to watch Beyoncé; I didn't go in but wondering the arena was interesting. Expensive looking places and mad rushes of people. Also driving out of that place is crazy. So much aggro in the air.

To my friends

My work is done -

Why wait?

Creator of Kodak George Eastman's final thoughts. Apparently he named the company with his mother, and it began with 'k' because it seemed astrong, incisive sort of letter. I can see where he is coming from; i've always thought cunt should begin with 'k'.

Couple of indoor photos. iPhone camera struggling a little with the low light. Me struggling to update things regularly. I took some photos of people in a club over the weekend. If i can be bothered ill upload them later. Its was interesting seeing how many people didn't mind me taking pictures of them. Got a few weird looks though.

Ive tried to get back into producing records regularly. I may have something ready by the end of the month, but im regarding most of these beats improbable. They sound good to my ear when I'm creating them, but i know there shit. I can not produce for three months, then make a track. When i listen back the following morning i know where my mistakes are, but its too late a new thing has to be done. For the moment my structuring is bad. Ill be revising some old tracks, and some others for structural advancement. At the same time i want to make another video.

There's definite snobberish satisfaction when arriving at a reserved table. I wonder if she knew i was taking a picture, it was quite hard...

My annual holiday is over. It was a bit surreal; sometimes i was on holiday and sometimes i wasn't, overall though an overtly boom holiday. I placed many bets and went on a RHIB. Its was the first time ive ever seen sprite in a glass bottle, which made the surreality more intense. I think i may distance myself from drinking larger, i found that drinking it on a regular basis, daily on this occasion, makes me feel sick; only if its even just one after a night of five. The place was rammed, caravans everywhere, i was staying in a caravan which was nice as it rained nearly every night, i was tempted to record the rain on the roof but it seemed a bit cliche when i came to doing it. I took a picture of a street in Weymouth which came out pretty nice...

Im going on holiday for a few days. First time I have ever taken my laptop...more surprisingly not for social reasons; I don't have mobile internet. Creating...

My home town. Ive never seen the water this still before; its a nice place to relax when its like this...

Drinks with a long lost mate Felix in a familiar bar...

Back from holiday and cyberspace sleep...

It seems like i always forget to update this page; well its not so much that i forget. I know i should do it, but there is only so many hours in the day...

Anyways, ive recently come back from holiday which i feel was much needed. I've said this before, but i think the benefits of taking a break from the day-to-day norm can really help to improve quality of life, and is often dismissed in the depths of life.

My mind is lost...

Ive recently been trying to grasp the concept of fame, and putting this brutally its fucking hard...

Its completely random. Anyone or anything could become famous at any time. This is mainly becuase trending and people's opinions can also, in theory, be completely random. For example, during the last 3 years bass music has had a massive explosion in the UK, however this isnt because bass music has changed or become more likeable, its largely due to people's opinions and views of the music have adapted. I use the word adapted, as this is where it will become a bit more stratagised in terms of coming to fame.

Although predicting what is going to be the next famous or big thing is impractical, it is possible for people's views to change on certain genres or trends. Its like in religion trying to contact a higher power. For example asking God dircetly (through means of a prey etc..) may not give many answers back directly. However, there are many middle men who are closer to the higher power, such as priests, vicars, cardinals etc. Its largely comparable to the process of coming to fame. Try to do it soley on own,and wont find yourself getting to far, however with the help of promotion companys, managers, organisers and distrubtors (ie.middle men) the process will become alot more acheivable.

This is NOT however the only way, it is possible to do it on your own, even the biggest djs and producers are looking to the next possibilty of further fame through their own means. It is important to keep that in mind, as i feel that delving too far into commercialising your productions can cause a lack of originality and creativity...

As ever dont forget follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/DeviceRecords
and Youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/DeviceandKaos
and Souncloud http://soundcloud.com/device_records

where am I?

I'm going to start this with an apology for neglecting this blog for a few months; there is no excuse really, but i'm going to try and justify it due to a lack of time. If i am ever to give-one-tip in the time that i am making music its, do not try to rebuild your car at the same time. I have literally spent every minute of spare time on the car, which although satisfying as it is, can be quite tedious AND time consuming. But enough of that, lets get down to the nitty gritty.

Lets get down to the nitty gritty

In the last few months i have become increasingly interested in film and graphics with music. Not in the sense of making music videos with an unnecessary amount of clips and fast moving images, more in the direction of tranferring emotion more effectively. What i'm talking about, really, is the film telling a story; even if its only with a flash of sense. I will be going more in depth with this in the coming months (yes i know i said this last time), but this time i wont have too much of a car left to build.

Whilst most of my free time has been soaked up by other things, i have had some time to appreciate amount of new music cropping up on the Soundcloud pages/groups and in the South East. I have been amazed by the passion for new music in this area, particularly concerning drum and bass and dubstep. If you're reading this its well worth taking some time to have a look into the community of producers and MCs in the South East especially Kent. (links below)

http://soundcloud.com/groups/no-pidgeonhole-just-good-drum-and-bass
http://soundcloud.com/dr-doom-1
http://soundcloud.com/dj_si89

On a final note i would like to mention Mike Skinnner. As most of my friends will know i am an avid fan of Mike, and i think his work is truly amazing. He has recently revived "The Beats" label, with the first release being Elro's BAD NEWS. He has also started a new project with Rob Harvey named "The D.O.T" but i will let you discover that one yourselves as i think its the best way. I am really looking forward to seeing what Mike will have in store for us for the future, and will no doubt be rambling on about how good it is in these blogs.

And on one final note just in case you haven't heard this yet heres my latest!

http://soundcloud.com/device_records/device-cry-away

As ever dont forget follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/DeviceRecords
and Youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/DeviceandKaos
and Souncloud http://soundcloud.com/device_records

A change for Device and Kaos

Hello and happy new year!

A lot has been changing already for Device and Kaos in the new year, firstly being the change of name. "Device and Kaos is no longer....but instead has been changed to "Device Records". This change may seem a bit random, but it does have some substance to it.

Anyway, most of the media will stay the same, but some had to be changed so here are the URL's:

Soundcloud: www.soundcloud.com/device_records
Twitter: www.twitter.com/DeviceRecords
Youtube: www.youtube.com/DeviceandKaos
Last.fm: www.last.fm/music/device+and+kaos
Blog: http://www.deviceandkaos.blogspot.com/

The change came as part of a mutual parting of the duo. Unfortunately Device and Kaos became a solo production after a lack of time concluded in working efficiently and smoothly impractical as a duet production. Although Device and kaos have parted ways, by no means on bad terms.

Device Records will see a new focus on electric dubstep and electronica, with a whole new image and ambition. Imagery, photography and video will be a new aspect of Device Records implicating whole new level of a musical experience!

As ever dont forget follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/DeviceRecords
and Youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/DeviceandKaos
and Souncloud http://soundcloud.com/device_records

How it can all come crumbling down...

So you might have noticed that i have missed a month from updating. This is because that during this period of time i have had, probably, the most stressful time of my life. Ahhhhhhhhhh.

So all was going well in the month of October and pretty much the majority of November. I celebrated my 18th Birthday on the 5th and the New music Mix was going down well on Soundcloud. However, what the future had in store was not so pretty.

23rd November rolls on......I crash my beloved 1989 Mini Mayfair and cave the roof in. This hugely upset me as i have spent sooooo much time and money on the car.

25th November - 8th December........ My internet connection dies; this caused a huge delay in updating various different aspects of Device and Koas and put me a month out of date!

Although, these events may seem relatively small in comparison to world events such as war and poverty, they changed the way i think about doing day to day activites all together. Next time your crossing a road, driving your car, or even just brousing the interenet, take a moment to think....what would you do without these everyday necessities. Most of the people reading this will completely ignore what i am saying and carry on with there day to day lifes, however a small majority will take this into consideration and be a little more grateful and appreciative of what we have.

Ive had my moan now.

Although this past month has quite frankly been shite, life does go on and here is the good news. There are some brand new tracks on the way which are very experimental and different, and something i have named "oneminute.thirty" is well underway :D Stay tuned to find out more!

Thanks for reading this post, please leave your thoughts and comments.

As ever dont forget follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/DeviceandKaos
and Youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/DeviceandKaos
and Souncloud http://soundcloud.com/device_and_kaos

All sorts of things

Its been a while since i was last here ( i think), with various different things going on on such as my car dieing and juggling around favours for friends, i havent had much time to update here!

So it may be late here goes!

I want to dedicate this "Slog!" to something that is going on that has caught my interest, being http://www.futurebreed.co.uk/. This is a website that lets new up-and-coming producers get heard and reviewed by the general public and other producers in the same ship. At first glance this may look like another attempt to gain publicity for producers and lables. However when you look at the details of the site it is really much more than that entirely!

The site was created and is run by hardcore producer Pathogen (Stacy Leith). He has spent hours, weeks and months preparing the site to make it as easy to use and helpful as possible; including features such as a "tutorials" and "music theory".

This makes the site more that just a publicity venue or general forum, it provides knowledge, and help that before producers may of found hard to find. Although the site is realtively new, it is already seeing new members join everyday and the community is growing. I think the site is a real inspiration to other producers of what can actually be done with the just the power of internet access and a computer.

This is a up-coming-producer, that has independantly with no financial or professional help at all created a place that ALL producers are welcome! A place where ideas can be shared, new music discovered, knowledge can be gained and lots more! Get yourself signed up to Futurebreed, and be part of the community!

Thanks for reading this post, please leave your thoughts and comments.

As ever dont forget follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/DeviceandKaos
and Youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/DeviceandKaos

Wondering mind, do we take live music for granted?

Its that time again for me to come and ramble my findings from the preceeding month!

So i have been feeling a bit under the weather recently, with coldsores the size of apples and headaches that could kill cows!(maybe i need more cola?) Nevertheless they havnt stopped my mind wondering the endless opportunities of music production.

Here comes the rambling!

I started working on a project around a fortnight ago, where i was only going to use instruments avoiding synthesisers and effects. This thought sparked, as i peered in the making of my favourite artist Mike Skinners creation of his 4th album "Everthing is borrowed" (including "we all have our runnings" otherwise 3rd album for all you Streets fans reading this). When he created the album he wanted to use as many live instruments as possible to create an authentic sounding album. Which he did, with his outstanding performance at the BBC Proms in 2008. But what im trying to get at is i, really, do think that we take live performances for granted these days. Just trying to sequence sampled instruments was hard enough!

Think; next time you are watching a live performance, even if it is just a local pub band, think of the work that has actually gone into creating what they are performing. Each member of the band (even if its only one) has to remember the exact sequence of their insturment for the enitire length of the song! It may seem like just learning a sequence of notes, but its much more than that keeping in time, fighting nerves, contributing to solos, helping cover others mistakes. There is alot to think about, and even more if you have actually produced the song.

I hope i have made some people realise how much effort has actually gone into creating live performances, and how much patience is needed!

Thanks for reading this post, please leave your thoughts and comments.

As ever dont forget follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/DeviceandKaos
and Youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/DeviceandKaos

Holiday....

So i have been on a holiday for two weeks now completely deprived of musical production, other then a ipod app drum machine :P

But as im sitting on the beach in Dorset, with the blazing hot sun, clear waters and an ice cold cola (the amount of cola i consumed was inhumane), i should be relaxing and stress free right? No. All i can think of is masses of new tune ideas, and the tapping of drum machine rhythms. I found myself craving musical production 70% of the time i should have been relaxing! Anyway, although i spent most of the time fantasizing about new music ideas, i did enjoy my holiday and it has made me look at music production from a different perspective.

By this i mean, usually i just think practice, practice, practice and i will inevitably end up with a nice sounding tune. However, this was not the case....I had been on holiday for two weeks with no musical software, not even a laptop! Yet now im back in the studio and im producing the best sounding music i think i ever had o_0

I think the problem is how different things around us can influence our ways of working so much. People are always saying, just keep at it, keep practicing dont give up etc.., but maybe we do need to just take it easy for a while. Im not saying give up, just if your finding it hard, or stuck in a rut take some time out and relax it did wonders for me! Although im relating this to music production, i dont see why this cant apply to everything!

Thanks for reading this post, please leave your thoughts and comments.

As ever dont forget follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/DeviceandKaos
and Youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/DeviceandKaos

Hello and welcome! (theres a first for everything)

Hello and welcome to the first ever blog from me (Device).

Im going to jump straight in with something that has bothered me ever since i became more interested in music production, and funnily enough its the actual software that surrounds it! By this i mean the constant battles between Propellor Head, FL, Acid, Cubase etc. It is fair to say that all of these pieces of software all have their advantages and disadvatages....isnt it? With the recent release of FL10 and even more recently Propellor Head Reason 6, this seems to have only amplified the tension between the various different software manufacturers.

I mean lets step back and take a think.....Does it really matter what software producers use?

Are we ever going to know the difference in the final outcome? Some will argue the point that Reason cannot harness VST's, others will argue that FL has a predictable sounding interface? The are endless amounts of picking and digging at the different softwares availible, but some how it all seems a bit pointless; dosent it? If one producer chooses to use Reason and another to use FL, who are we to judge? If the music is good, who really cares?, and the people that can tell what software they are using, good for you! But its not logical or fair to judge a producers creativity purely on what software they are using?