Case study - Zeroes and Ones

1981 in Music

Ali Jamieson| 08/12/2021

Continuing with the series, today we take a look at the year that was 1981. Here’s a playlist of some interesting tracks:

A lot of fantastic albums released in 1981, including Prince’s Controversy, Chaka Khan’s What Cha’ Gonna Do for Me, Kraftwerk’s Computer World, Nightclubbing (Grace Jones), an eponymous album from The Time (also Prince produced), Devo’s New Traditionalists, Kool & The Gang’s Something Special, Ghost in the Machine by The Police, For Those About to Rock We Salute You by AC/DC and the much sampled Tom Tom Club.

Examples of Songs in Different Time Signatures

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Ali Jamieson| 06/12/2021

As part of a module I’m teaching at the moment I’m compiling Spotify playlists for a range of different time signatures. As the vast majority of popular music including dance/EDM, hip hop, rock, pop, soul, country etc is in 4/4 time, it can often be tricky for people to compile examples of a range of different time signatures.

The 8 Most Important Synths in the Development of Hip Hop

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Ali Jamieson| 01/12/2021

Nothing is more synonymous with Hip Hop than the sampler – a cornerstone on which Hip Hop is built. Without Kool Herc’s beat juggling of “breaks” from Soul, Disco, Jazz and Funk records there would be no Hip Hop and none of the countless breakbeat inspired genres that spawned off the back off its legacy.

1980 in Music

Ali Jamieson| 26/09/2021

It’s not controversial to say that the 1980s was an utterly transformative decade in music. Over the next how-ever-long it takes me I want to chronicle some of the music, year by year, that means something to me from a truly iconic decade.

The Prodigy: Climbatize (Always Outnumbered Never Outpunned)

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Ali Jamieson| 14/08/2021

The Fat of the Land was the Prodigy’s third album, and a huge commercial success. Released in 1997, I still remember buying it on cassette and taking it home to listen to for the first time (there were no leaks or previews in those days!)

Reese’s Pieces: How to Create Kevin Saunderson’s Legendary Bass Patch

4 comments

Ali Jamieson| 14/08/2021

Reese bass is an often-confused term that crops up in dance music production usually within the jungle and Drum’n’Bass communities, but can be found in glitch hop, bass-house, dubstep and virtually any genre that is obsessed with bass.

Aphex Twin: Xtal (Ableton Recreation)

28 comments

Ali Jamieson| 11/08/2021

Aphex Twin is the moniker of Richard D. James, a Cornwall native whose output spans three decades, releasing on such labels as Apollo (R&S’s ambient sister label), his own imprint, Replhex and of course British indie Warp.

Examples of Famous Drum Machines in Music

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Ali Jamieson| 28/08/2019

When searching for this topic recently I was disappointed that well written articles had missed out one or two notable drum machines, or more thorough lists lacked examples, so here’s my short but sweet list of examples of the drum machines I think are worthy of inclusion.

What is the Funkiest Tempo?

Ali Jamieson| 12/09/2018

I’ve been categorising my breakbeats folder by tempo for an upcoming project (more on this another time). The process involves selecting certain breaks, importing them to Logic, cropping them to exactly one, two, four or eights bars and detecting the tempo.

Queens of the Stone Age in your DAW

Ali Jamieson| 04/09/2018

Queen of the Stone Age is the brainchild of guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer Josh Homme. Few bands have left such a lasting impression on the rock idiom since the 90s as Queens of the Stone Age, and it could be argued a lot of that is down to this man and the musicians and producers he surrounds himself with.