Tag: 2006

Alek Biotic Presents: Stereohype

Stereohype a techno house set from 2006, heavily induced with funky and tribal grooves.  It was the last live set recorded with vinyl as the source.  As you probably know, the volume of vinyl records varies from one to the next as does the balance of the (left/right) channels.  To make things even more problematic, turntables, needles, cables, mixers, etc. all join the effort of making sound of mixed sets unbalanced and uneven, and making it that much more difficult for the DJ to achieve a tight blend.  While that’s always a part of the challenge (and the fun), getting an even mix became a central focus of this recording and I did a few takes before getting something I was happy with.  I’ll admit that some volume/balance adjustments were made during mastering and I think they really helped.

The problem described above are main reasons why I switched to DJ products like Traktor Scratch, Serato and Ableton Live – all of which are based on audio files played from the computer which minimizes the stereo problems to some degree and allows for more (visual as well as aural) control over the sound of each track.

On to the mix itself…

Its probably one of my most favorite mixes and the response has been very positive.  Many of the tracks on it were frequently in rotation and got lots of play time at the Frying Pan, Liquids and other NYC venues around this time. Heavily featured is the artist Hertz, whose Alone & By Myself is a classic and comes in around the 19th minute.  Another big-time track from the period is Joris Voorn‘s Incident. (As I look back at the track list, I want to mention each of the tracks as they are all amazing but I’ll highlight just a couple of more here.)  Tobias Van Hofsten‘s Afterhours is one of those massive tracks with a huge driving bassline.  Memory Lane (better knownw as Tomie Nevada) who could do no wrong delivers easily one of my most favorite techno house tracks of all time – Untitled 4a – whose driving raw elements make my head spin (pleasantly, that is) every time I hear it.  Lastly, Stereohype is the only mix I ever recorded which features one of my own productions, Idiom, released on the French label ExtraBall in 2004 (around 48th minute of the mix).

Download: Stereohype (mp3)

Track List:
Blueface – Nan In
Mario Lenzi – The Loop of Love
Memory Lane – 4a
Samuel L. Session – Less
Hertz – Phonk
Memory Lane – 4b2
Hertz – Alone & By Myself
Deetron – Don’t You Know Why? (Edit 9000)
Patrick Dubois – Another Track (Southsoniks Remix)
Joris Voorn – Incident
Frank Biazzi – Reflections
Unknown – Expression Sessions 004
Cave – Paseo (Hertz Remix)
Alek Biotic – Idiom
Marco Carola – Question 7b1
Bad Pimps – Get On Up!
Tobias Van Hofsten – Afterhours
Marco Carola – Question 7b2
Hertz – Work It (remix)
Nico Awtsventin – Aurelon
Hertz – Progress

Atera

Atera is a Techno House track from 2006.  Like many Biotic tracks, it features a driving, tribal beat with lots of percussion, vocal stabs and a thick bass line.  What balances is out is the gentler sound of the Rhodes keys which give it a splash of a down-tempo vibe.  The track took a while to complete and went through a few revisions, partly to fine tune the crowded low-end, but also due to the marriage the softer and harsher elements which also made it difficult to market.  Subsequently, the track wasn’t shopped much and ended up rotting on some disc.

Aside from the drums, the foundation of the track is the simple pulsating bass played by the Photone Synth (see screenshot), a child of the previously mentioned Reaktor software.  Interestingly, the sound used for this part was not a tweaked sound or a preset, but the raw generator tone with no filters or processing applied.  I’ve always liked the basic sound of this synth and have used it on a few occasions. Reaktor and Absynth were used for the remaining synth sounds.  The TubeVST plugin was used to fatten up some of the sounds and give them a more airy tone.  The Focusrite ComPounder was used for this purpose as well.

In addition to the MP3 and WAV versions of the completed track, included is the midi file for the main bass line, if you’d like to use it for something or simply get a kick out of playing it in your midi player.  Lastly, I’ll be adding the BPM field for all tracks shortly.  For now, this one is at 135 beats per minute, a common tempo for Biotic tracks.

Download: Atera (mp3)Download: Atera (wav)Download: Atera Bass Line (midi)

Homage

I’ve never really been a fan of combining electonic sounds with traditional instruments but the blend definitely works in some genres and specific artists do an exceptional job of making it jell.  One of such acts is Massive Attack whose sound was an influence on this track.

The guitar played here is a Steinberger GM which I assembled from various parts 10 years ago and sold just yesterday to a guy in Tuscany.  I was actually a little sad to see it go but I kept the neck and trem and put those into a new guitar.  The strings used on the track are super heavy gauge .13-.68 (baritone gauge, actually) which I had custom made a few years back.  To compensate for the tension the guitar is tuned down to C, which gives it a nice deep sound while not interfering with the bass guitar.  Aside from the guitar all other instruments were either keyboards or samples played through a (midi) keyboard.

The track is pretty long even when you consider that it was cut down from 14+ minutes.  This length works for me, but I will admit that it could probably use some vocals (EJ Sebian, Shane Ali… are you guys reading this?  Whassup?)

On to the track… Listen right here or click the link below to download.  Enjoy.

Download: Homage (mp3)

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