2004

This was my music GCSE piece I composed using samples I found about on the web (I think some of the samples were from a BBC Bitesize online course that wasn't even music related, I just liked the sounds). I had a piece of software where I could trigger samples from a qwerty keyboard. To show I was more yet even more technical, I tracked the performance down to a 4 track cassette. Left channel drums, right channel samples (i didn't know how tracks 3/4 worked)! It was a wonky performance as I was battling old tech with my musical inabilities, but it was a first all electronic performance the school ever marked, so I think they were lenient!

After the performance, I discovered my first DAW, Mackie Tracktion, and set to learn that software but also to make this into a finished song. The computers at school wouldn't allow me to install the software onto it and the IT guy refused to install it. None of those computers had CD burners, so I remember scrounging around for floppy disks so I could take the samples home, but sadly I could only manage to acquire 1 floppy disk which wasn't enough to fit the samples on it!

I signed the papers to confirm I had no intention of stealing the 4-track I took home, figured out how to rip the tape to my hunk of shit 486 DX (1GB RAM, wooo), then had to battle with a PC not designed to do anythIng other than generate heat to try and record the tape into the sequencer, and finished off the song by basically running through all the VSTs provided with that software, at home on the world's slowest PC, and then submitted that as my final project.

I thought I'd upload this, as it's the first song/production I actually finished. It's weird too, I don't really compose many things this ambient and broken sounding, and the mix is weird. But I think it goes to show you can create using anything. I went around the houses to get the samples into a DAW on the worst setup ever, but a creative struggle worthwhile (especially considering this finally killed the 486DX and we could finally get a new computer)!