Stephen Houghton

Does anyone know what city is in the picture? Stumped for an idea this month at the moment, but it ain't over till the fat lady sings, que the wife Only kidding, she cant sing

Nice one Skol, Urb and the rest of the crew, great result space chic, give me my software back . You did really well for your first entry, you never know you could bring Skol down from his throne the way you are going 78 members voted, excellent.

Great to see so many entries this month and even better to see so many people have took the time to vote, hope you all come back and repeat the experience. Thanks everyone for listening and for the constructive criticism, after all that's how we (I use the term 'we' loosely in this gathering of talent) get better at this, 12 months ago I had never recorded a thing and now I am totally addicted, I even do my dogs head in never mind the wife's as all my recording is done in the living room with a laptop and software .

[quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1372357384' post='2124851'] For those folks that are not aware, VI Control is a gold mine of great info regarding all stuff related to this thread - Recording at home, Software, MIDI, Composing, back slapping....... I have found it very useful over the years, and there are some very helpful Musicians hanging out. [url="http://www.vi-control.net/"]http://www.vi-control.net/[/url] Going to have another listen to all the tracks tomorrow, then try and vote then. Garry [/quote]Thanks for the link, will explore this site it looks a good one

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1372282968' post='2123928'] Luke's Reviews... (as I listen) faced a dialema... is anything slightly critical allowed? hmm lets just start listening! Stephen H- keys... and glock.... odd vocal pan sweep at about 1.05, I'm hearing "Do let the hater greet blindnees Big L practiced random acts of kindness" it it a song about Big L ? I like the audio clips. [/quote] 'Don't let the hate and greed blind us, rebel practice random acts of kindness' Translation for you there Luke your from Leeds and cant get the Wigan accent, thought you would be used to it from when we come to your town and whack you at rugby on a regular basis

Some great entries and hard to pick a winner for me, went for Lurks in the end as I love blues and I thought it suited the pic well. Skol's/Urb's was the usual awesome quality track, loved the production and mix, loved quite a few this month the standard is getting better each month. I got a vote and I think from the comment above it was from MB1 and I can die a happy man to be even mentioned in the same sentence as Barney and J.C.Clarke. Cheers MB1

[quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1371061905' post='2109404'] I like the Wigan-rap (as you called it!) in this one. Really suits the piece. I'd say you need to pull forward the vocals and also the politician's speech so they sit more at the forefront of the mix. Another nice, chilled-out tune! [/quote] Thanks for the advice Mornats its appreciated, tweaked it a bit and uploaded a new mix.

Basschat competition entry, started of as a music only piece and then the picture got me thinking about how stunning the planet is and how our governments abuse it for their own gain and we allow all this to happen in our names. Also the picture represented a spiritual essence that is beyond all religion, but to me is deep within everyone's own nature, no matter what term we use to describe or name it, be it morals, the Source, Soul level consciousness e.t.c.. Recorded using Sonar x2 Producer, Reason synths and a couple of samples of birds song and political ramblings by politicians. It just happens to be an American politician, but it could be any politician from any country, the message would be similar in my view. I suppose its about the power we give away to the few who make us think they control us, instead of the truth which is the just opposite. Rebel practice random acts of kindness! :-) [url="https://soundcloud.com/9thaspect/random-acts-of-kindness-1"]https://soundcloud.com/9thaspect/random-acts-of-kindness-1[/url]

Really like what I have listened to so far from you guys and girls My track is nearly finished, it started as just music, then developed into something else with a few samples and has now turned into a green planet/self empowerment/anti war rebellion rap song? Don't know how I ended up where I have, but it's turning out different and its a serious track for once. Will post it once I have the mix right, wish I knew a rapper, instead its ended up with a Wigan version of rap, a kind of pie rap

Love the pic it could really bring in some interesting tunes, will deffo have a pop this month, I am going to try the serious approach this month, glad to hear space chick is putting something together cant wait to hear it. We deffo need more female entrants, all this testosterone is no good for anyone. No ideas yet but I am praying to the god of composition, hope he/she is listening Thing is I prayed to the god of football and look where that got me, FA cup win yeah, then relegation. Evil god of football

Cheers for that one I will have a look

[quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1369635491' post='2091000'] Stephen, how are you getting on with Sonar ? is it the X2 version ? Just been watching some [Sonar X2] Youtube stuff, that Pro Channel looks great...... Garry [/quote] Sorry for late reply not seen this one till now, yeah its the Sonar x2 producer version, its a great DAW with some really great effects and stuff, still just learning the basics. One thing that is doing my head in is I cannot figure out how to rewire Reason into it, its the Droctorex drum machine in Reason that's the problem. I will suss it in the end as I really like it as its simple and easy to add fills and stuff where required. Apart from that its great!

[quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1370122881' post='2096795'] I know it's finished but I only just got the time to vote, and I couldn't vote for Paul cos I knew he'd already won. And I knew it didn't count, but I did it anyway. Nice work guys, it's the listens that matter, not the winning. [/quote]I got a vote, thanks Dave if it was you, if it wasn't thanks who ever.

[quote name='SpaceChick' timestamp='1369926726' post='2094559'] There's GAS police!!! Now I'm scared I started one at Christmas with the drunk Santa photo entitled "Santa is a bastard" a lamentable tale of a beaten housewife driven to murder her drunken Santa impersonating husband.... It had jingling bells and sampled ding dong merrily on high! But I didn't finish it in time! Maybe if a photo really grabs me I will have a go.... Although it will be pants.... That said I have had some marvellous help from Stephen on getting set up with recording stuff. [/quote] I await your entry with atisipppppppppation, glad to hear you have got yourself setup now, a pleasure to help a fellow basschater,. P.S. The Santa track sounded like it would of been great, would love to hear it if you ever finish it.

[i]Nice one Skol brilliant track as usual and I have downloaded it and its on my regular playlist at the moment [/i]

[quote name='Myke' timestamp='1369919221' post='2094450'] Possibly? First time voter! Loved listening to all of the different tracks. I found it extremely hard to vote, I thought I'd made my mind up but apparently not Anyway SKOL unfortunately you were just pipped at the post but I wanted to compliment you on that horn line, it just blew me away! I was thinking of entering these but it would just not be up to the same level as everyone elses! All in all everyone did a great job but sadly I could only vote for one! [/quote] Go for it Myke, I have only been doing this for about 12 months and had never done any home recording before, I am now totally addicted and like Skol said, its not the end result, but the taking part that's cool. I have learned everything I know through doing this competition and you only have to ask and people are always willing to give help or advice. I cant sing for peanuts, but I now have no shame and really enjoy having a go (its a great way to develop a lack of caring what anyone thinks) As you do more you learn how to go deeper into the DAW you are using and your ear for mixing improves, don't worry about being up to anyone's level, levels don't come into it, Skol wins and we all try and get closer too him in the comp

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1369893331' post='2093949'] Hey, Stephen. I willvote for you if you vote for me? [/quote] Sounds good it would be the only vote I get this month, note to self do something serious next month and stop messing about

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1369849265' post='2093494'] Cheers! I've still a couple of tracks to listen to, but I should get that done tonight. I agree, the quality of stuff that enters on here is pretty awesome (apart from me messing about on the bass through some effects for 5 mins). [/quote] Think me messing with silly vocals didn't go down too well, but I liked your track.

Great mix of tracks, listened to them all and it was between two in the end, went for the one that I felt suited the pics best. Good luck everyone!

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1369007017' post='2083970'] OK, I'm done. What a month! I decided early on that I couldn't really do jazz any justice - not in its truest sense, anyway. So I just aimed for something "jazzy, urban and upbeat". Sort of trying to replicate the style of artists like Tribe Called Quest, Guru, Ronny Jordan, etc. Trouble was, the vocal - I can't rap So I took a punt and collaborated with a guy via SoundCloud who goes by the name of Donnie Ozone, who was game for working together on something. It ended up being a fun project and definitely something I'd like to try again. Anyway, here it is... [b]NB: this track is hip hop in an old skool, positive sense - so it's 100% cuss-free and family friendly [/b] [url="https://soundcloud.com/skollob/good-day"]https://soundcloud.c...kollob/good-day[/url] I've produced this solely using headphones, so any feedback on the mix itself would be hugely appreciated (especially the low end). Ta. And cheers everyone for another good month of making music! Paul [/quote] Hi Paul, as usual really good track absolutely love it, mix sounds great through quality high fi speakers, great low end cant fault it. Who does the vocal, is it sampled? It sounds great, my kind of funky rap, brilliant

Just checked out the pics, really nice piece of wood, love the grain pattern, this will look the dogs danglies deffo!

Hello, not been on here for a while been trying to get my head around Sonar, just thought I would whack one out when I saw the pics , this is a tongue in cheek take on the pics and me and my missus couldn't record the vocals through giggling. Done with Sonar and some loops that came with it, also found a pitch shifter had some fun with that, a couple of hours fun and here is the result. Nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [url="https://soundcloud.com/9thaspect/dandelion-jazz"]https://soundcloud.com/9thaspect/dandelion-jazz[/url]

Any news on the build, I am eagerly awaiting pics

Great track once again Skol, haven't done anything this month as I have been busy and I found it hard to get inspired by the pic. Was going to have a go at something about angry birds with a Viz (fat slags) type of slant on it, even had two friends who were going to sing it, but got side tracked with another project. May do it anyway for a laugh at some point.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1363275907' post='2010890'] I clearly have no friends AND no gigs. [/quote]