I started the Minutia Remix Project already in October, that’s over half a year ago (where did the time go?) So I decided it might be time to set a deadline for it. Don’t fret… it’s not tomorrow.
Deadline: July 31, 2010.
That’s 12 weeks from now. It should give you plenty of time to work on the remixes and/or the artwork, methinks. Of course the project is still open until then. So if you’d like to contribute to it with a remix or artwork, you can read up on it and get in touch with me.
I want to give a big shoutout to all the contributors. You’ve done an amazing job. Thank you so so much! You have no idea how often you’ve saved my day when I was feeling down.
The remixes that are finished at this point can be downloaded at bandcamp. The artwork contributions are up on flickr.
Those of you who follow this blog already know about Mingle – the Minutia Remix Project. The first 6 remixes are fantastic and waiting to be downloaded for free at bandcamp. About as many are still in the making and I can’t wait to hear them. I’m well chuffed how an @reply from Twitter sparked such a wonderful virtual collaboration.
The whole thing didn’t go unnoticed and I was asked today if an online store could carry Mingle – meaning – sell it. For you who follow my doings Mingle would stay available for free at bandcamp where so far I’ve only set it up that donations can be made. In addition Mingle could be sold at this online store for those who just happen to stumble upon it there.
Now, the remixers gave me their contributions for free so the thought of monetising their work makes me queasy. Then again, I’ve barely recouped the production expenses for Minutia not counting any equipment bought.
I haven’t been feeling much like blogging for some time, because tweeting seemed the perfect form for what I wanted to express. Lately I’ve gotten a lot of very positive and uplifting tweets, emails and facebook posts. They’ve given me so much to think about as well as new ideas I feel the need to share in a longer format again. Thanks to all you guys (you know who you are I hope!) for that! You’re the fuel that keeps me going.
It seems most of the people that have discovered my music are very creative in various ways and art forms.
I’ve recently received the first remix of one of my songs. Bobby Starrr made his little dub version of ‘A Little’. I’ll let you hear it in a little while (Puns intended). There’s a couple of people working on remixes and more and more seem to get interested. So why not start a proper remix project?
Anyone can participate and I’m gonna choose my favourites (6-20?) and offer them as a free download on bandcamp. I’m gonna design a nice PDF booklet to go with it. Maybe with artwork contributions from as many (hobby)designers/artists as remixers. How about that?
So if you would like to join in… drop me an email… to be found on my website. You can listen to 6 of the 12 songs that will be on my debut album ‘Minutia. on myspace or my website.Choose a song and tell me if you only want vocal tracks or also bits from the instruments, beats, sounds. If you can’t wait till November 27 to hear the rest and don’t mind spoiling the surprise… then go ahead and listen to it on last.fm (spoiler alert).
Or if you would like to contribute something visual for the artwork, drop me a line, too. I’ve opened a group on flickr where you can post your stuff after joining it. If it’s photos, sketches, drawings, paintings, graphic design… just get inspired!
Back soon,
Madeleine
*Update March 8, 2010*
By now I’ve received 5 finished remixes and roughly about as many are in the making. So I thought it was time to give the baby a proper name. I’ve decided to call – what’s now shaping up to be an album – Mingle. Mingle because my musical ideas are getting remixed or mixed up with those of other people’s and I also closeness to Minutia letterwise. Today another remix will come out and so forth each Monday when I’ve got a new one waiting to be released.
I’ve also made a cover design because sadly no one seems to be interested in providing visuals of any kind for the project. In case you are interested it’s not too late. The same goes for remixes. Visual entries are open indefintely for now. The files should preferably be best quality JPEGs of at least 12 x 12cm at 300 dpi… that’s 1417 x 1417 pixels.
Songs not yet remixed:
Hearts First
Unspoken
Paperheart
Breathing Underwater
Scaredy Cat’s Lullaby
Finally there’s time for a day off and an update of all things bloomy.
As planned I recorded some mbira for ‘A Little’. I came up with some really nice melodies, but they made such a huge difference to the whole feel of the song that I ended up having to change the bass line and parts of the vocals. The end part has a new vocal melody and I sampled my voice and played it as chords in the choruses. Very happy with the song now.
I finished the rough mix for the remaining songs: ‘A Little’, ‘Breathing Underwater’, ‘Euphoria’, ‘Hearts First’ and ‘Unspoken’. After that I made rounds at friends’ who are either sound engineers or music producers and had a good listen to the album on proper studio monitors to figure out the weaknesses in the mix. Aaron, a friend of mine, also gave me a quick crash course on how to EQ my songs to make them sound professionally and well balanced. Luckily there’s not that much to do. Just some polishing!
Next up (musically speaking) was a remix of my friend Mr. Bobby Starrr’s house track ‘Loaded Up On Pluto’. My first remix ever, but it was surprisingly easy. You can listen to the longer version on his myspace page. It’s gonna come out on vinyl sometime early next year and he will do a remix of ‘A Little’ for me in return.
As you have probably already read, I took part in the Hobnox Evolution 2 competition. At the moment you can listen to 10 of my new songs in the rough mix there. In the last two weeks I made to no. 2. Close, but no cigar! But there’s still the jury picks so there’s still hope. Thanks to all of you who voted for me, by the way! Anyway, no matter if I make it into the finals or not, taking part has brought about new and exciting prospects. I was asked if I wanted to write a score for a short film, got tons of nice comments and got to know interesting people. It really shows I’m on the right track with my music. And maybe even best of all, I found musicians who will play on my album. Cello, violin and upright bass. Brilliant! I will record them in the next week or so.
Yesterday I played and recorded the grand piano in Kino Babylon, a movie theatre here in Berlin. A friend of mine organised it for me and Aaron did the microphoning and recording. He used 5 mics and it took two and a half hours to properly set up which left just an hour to record all the piano parts. Quite exhausting! Tomorrow I will mix the parts in. Really curious how it’ll sound in the end. I just hope the sound of the U-Bahn passing underneath the theatre won’t be a problem.
I might have found a booking agent. He’ll come to my next gig and check out what I do live. And last but not least, the planning of the booklet design and accompanying photo shoot is making progress, too. More on that soon (erm, really!)
