performance

From Jazz with Love: On Capturing the Moment

I love jazz. It’s no secret at this point. It didn’t use to be that way, though. For the longest time, I was very intimidated by it. The players’ skill and the complexity of the music was scary to a self-taught, alt-rock musician. I was trying to understand the music, but couldn’t. I thought it was show-offy and too complex for no goddamned reason. Then, at some point, it flipped. I started to enjoy it. I understood. I understood there was nothing to understand. Some sub-genres of jazz are quite intellectual and still too complex for my taste. But most… Read More »From Jazz with Love: On Capturing the Moment

Reverb & Dirty Talk: A Short Essay on the Venice Bitch.

Disclaimer: contains swearing and non-PC content. Read at your own peril. Elisabeth “Izzy” Woolridge Grant, better known as the flamboyant Lana Del Rey, has been in the industry for almost 20 years now. Time flies, doesn’t it? While I used to casually enjoy her vibe, I’ve learned to appreciate her work more and more. As the years go by, the absence of stylistic compromises speaks to me. I love her signature sound much more than I used to. I’ve quieted down myself, I guess. I’m not as angry anymore. More sarcastic than before, definitely, but oh well. It’s a defence… Read More »Reverb & Dirty Talk: A Short Essay on the Venice Bitch.

The Only Secret to Writing Hit Songs.

Wow, now that’s the most clickbaity headline I’ve ever written in my short writing career. I apologise for this, but at the same time, I do believe in what I wrote in this title. Let me explain. What makes a hit song? There’s many a theory about that. Years ago, some lads even developed an algorithm to find out if your song was going to be big or not. It was called hitsongscience.com, and it’s not online anymore. The program considered parameters such as key, bpm, chord changes… Then it would compare it to a database of hit tunes. Weird,… Read More »The Only Secret to Writing Hit Songs.

The Music Industry Is Saturated, Right?

Ever heard that uplifting statement? I’m not the first one to get depressed about where things are going, but still, I need to call bullshit where I see it. The music industry, as flawed as it is (and always was, to be fair), is not going anywhere. Is it saturated? I don’t think so. It only seems like it. The advent of social media levelled the playing field, and we all start from the ground up now. Sure, with a hard-working team and a solid PR campaign, you can start climbing pretty fast. Sprinkle it with some of the fairy… Read More »The Music Industry Is Saturated, Right?

On Being Honest. (With Yourself and with Your Audience.)

Hey, it’s me again. My name is Baptiste, I’m a record producer and mixer on the Old Continent. Today I will not be answering the following questions: – How to export your files for mixing? – Which sample rate should you use? – How to write an efficient melody over your beat? – How to double your streams on Spotify in ten minutes? These topics, as interesting and useful as they can be to an aspiring musician making music in their bedroom, do not interest me. I could pretend to care by answering these questions and trying to help the… Read More »On Being Honest. (With Yourself and with Your Audience.)