Put Together Music Mixes | Part 1
- Lea Chen
- Oct 2, 2017
- 3 min read
What: [part 1] https://soundcloud.com/blumixes/way-too-many-feels
[In his eyes]
What got you into this project: Towards the end of the spring semester, Amy and I had both gone through pretty frustrating creative dry spells. Whether it was from being too busy or being burnt out from other responsibilities that semester, I wanted to dedicate some time over the summer to exploring something new, and I asked Amy to help me develop the project. Creating mixes was something I actually had wanted to since high school, but I had never been able to take that first step. Then, being in NY over the summer helped inspire me too. Simply put, Amy and I were just looking for something refreshing to get over our creative 'writers' block'
Underrated musical artist you're into: It's honestly crazy how accessible music production has become, for good and for bad. It gives aspiring artists the means to share their creativity and art with the world, but it obviously also saturates all kinds of music genres. Though there are many underrated artists out there, I think one I have always appreciated is Grey. They're an electronic duo who 'came to fame' under Zedd, collaborating with him on "Starving", which may be one of their weaker tracks, in my opinion. There's a negative misconception about the musicality, challenge, and value behind electronic music. Due to its associations with music festivals, viral remix memes, among others reason, people often view electronic as shallow, or easy. And though this may be true for some electronic producers, some quite famous, it's an unfair generalization. Electronic music has so much potential because the options for composition includes sound design as well. There are so many inputs, variables, and philosophies that help artists develop an individualized style and sound design. Grey, I think, embodies this in some of their tracks. One can immediately tell that this duo are trained, both with strong backgrounds in percussion. Just as one could distinguish the voice of Mariah Carey or Kendrick Lamar, I can distinguish the drum sound designs and the synths of Grey. They just released their first EP on September 29th, and I hope as they continue to grow, they stay true to their identity as an artist, rather than compromise that for fame.
Hardest part about creating mixes? The hardest part about making mixes is a different question than what was the hardest part about this project. To address the former first, I think the hardest thing may have been controlling the pace of the mix throughout while varying the types of transitions. One needs to know all of the songs they plan to mix really well in order to develop an impressive mix, and even then there's no guarantee two songs will work together. I wanted to experiment, but never wanted to force something that wasn't there. Now, the hardest part of the project was the extra obstacle of following the central story of the project. As a 3-part project, each mix represented a different aspect of a narrative. Then, within each part, there was an arc too. So, I wasn't just looking for sounds that sonically sounded like they would mix well together, but songs that continued the arc/narrative of the specific mix. It definitely led to me compromising the smoothness of certain transitions, but I definitely learned from the challenge!
Documented by blvd eye while documenting the style of street.
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