I have released a new 4-track mini-EP for free streaming and download on SoundCloud. Check it out below:
Labelled under the genre of “Instrumental Rock”, this EP features three tracks that are upbeat and diverse, featuring pretty traditional rock instrumentation. Written mostly with assorted keyboard parts front and center, they are relatively simple compositions, and the whole thing shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes of your time to listen to, but the individual pieces very much have my heart and soul in them, each one encompassing a “realisation” of my potential as a music producer and creator – potential that may have yet to be fully unleashed, as my studies of music are still ongoing as of this writing, but all the same I feel are worthy of sharing with the world.
This EP was produced throughout the second semester of my third year at the WA Academy of Performing Arts, as part of my “Sound Production” unit. With the support of lecturer Lee Buddle, and that of family and friends, I was able to put this instrumental EP together in a relatively short span of time, as well as complete the mixing and mastering more or less on my own. I pulled most of this off in about 2 weeks, am relatively happy with the result, as I largely had to explore territory that I wasn’t familiar with, and planning for my recital also got in the way for the majority of the time I had to put this together. If I’d had more time to spend on the mastering phase, I would have done so.
These will be songs that no one has heard before, although they are a few years old now. They started life in the form of General MIDI songs which I then souped up with Propellerhead Reason and the help of my father Neil and his friend Steve – both play guitar on this album in tracks 1 and 3. This is, in other words, the first official release I’ve made to feature live recorded instruments, aside from the human voice.
Read below for details on the EP.
Personnel:
- James Paddock – Writing, programming, mixing, mastering, all keyboard parts
- Neil Paddock – Guitar, bass and vocal recording (track 3)
- Steve Webb – Guitar recording (track 1)
Gear:
- Asus F550L laptop, Windows 10
- Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 interface
- RME Fireface 800
- Line6 POD v2
- Focusrite Saffire USB 6 external soundcard
- BOSS BX-600 six-channel stereo mixer
- Vantage VM-10 signal booster
- Korg Krome keyboard (61-key)
- AKG 190 ES vocal mic
- Shure SM-57
- Gibson Les Paul electric guitar
- Fender Telecaster electric guitar
- Fender Stratocaster
- Squier Precision bass guitar
Software:
- Propellerhead Reason 8.3.2
- Logic Pro X
- ProTools 11