64 bar goes global with Olympic mix

64 bar music calling on beat-makers from around the world to participate in Olympic sized production project.

With the world’s largest sporting occasion coming up this summer  64 bar music are putting together a soundtrack for the games that reflects the passion of sport and its inherent link with the joy of music.

“We wanted to mark the Olympics with a mix that defined how people were moved by sport, and what the Olympics means to them,” said label head Pete Griffin.

“The music that is made will reflect the feelings we have when we watch sport. It might be joy through victory, or the melancholy taste of defeat.

“There could be the essence of hope in the music, a sense of pride, of determination, or of drive.

The 64 bar music concept began in 2009, and since then, the label has self released seven albums, three EP’s and an album on big-hitting indie label Ninja Tune.

They have released music from artists based in China, Canada, Chilie, The US, Australia, Germany, Belgium, France, the UK and more, and with over 150 countries participating in the games in London and Cardiff this project is their most ambitious yet.

“We’re calling for submissions today,’ said Griffin. “Tunes have to be sent in by the end of the closing ceremony on August 12, 2012.

“There is no restriction on style or tempo, but tracks must be 64 bars in length,” he added.

Use this link http://soundcloud.com/64barmusic/dropbox to submit a track, or get in touch with 64 bar music directly through the website’s contact page http://64barmusic.drupalgardens.com/contact

The mix album will be released on August 19, 2012 via the labels page, http://www.64barmusic.co.uk

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Represents Vol 1 – Cardiff vs Melbourne out now

Click this to listen on Mixcloud

The latest offering from 64 bar music is a mix of tracks produced from artists based in Cardiff and Melbourne and is the first in the Represents series

The first part of the mix comes from the people of Cardiff, with all tracks at the elected tempo of 114. The second half of the mix is 128bpm, the producers from Melbourne choosing the classic techno tempo for their work.

“The Represents concept was born at a Soundcloud meetup last year”, said Kovas from 64 bar music.

“It’s an extension of the 64barchallenge mixes originally completed by the members of the NinjaTune forum. The only differnence is the locations of the producers. “

Rebecca Coates aka Becy10 co-ordinated the project in Australia. The 10 tracks from Melbourne can loosely be described as progressive, dark techno.

The Cardiff mix is also largely electronic, and features tracks from seven different beatmakers.

An EP of selected tracks will be available from http://64barmusic.bandcamp.com/ on May 1.

Thanks to Bobby Corridor and Melbourne’s unknown DJ for mixing this.

Ninja tune forum vs Tahrir Square – Swift loves them both

James Swift takes timeout to chat to 64bar and compares the Ninjatune forum to … wait for it… Tahrir Square.

He  has come a long way, literally a long way. This is a boy with an Irish accent who has lived in Austria, Australia and had to make a sharp exit out of Cairo last week as the troubles kicked off.

And with such a wide range of sights he’s seen, he’s developed a style that comes straight from the imagination – but somehow, he’s managed to get it down on file.

James has been a mainstay of 64bar since the project stated in 2009, when he was based in Australia at a time he claims he needed a lift to get back into writing.

He explains: “The first time I heard about 64barmusic, I was sat in Sydney with no inspiration, and it was like somebody gave me a task with some limits and that gave me the motivation to do something.”

He uses Abelton live, an MPD and a Macbook pro, and works to create “ a melody through the noise.”

He’s modest, and says: “The thing I like the most is that everybody is so surprisingly good and it makes me feel bad about the crap that I put in.

“But then you get feedback from people who really like it and you realise that what you’ve done isn’t too bad.

“My favourite 64barchallenge mix was definitely number four. That was stunning. It was very well mixed and super entertaining and a really nice thing to listen to while I was travelling.”

But what about his influences? Well as every good head will tell you, Dorian Concept, Aphex Twin and Amon Tobin cannot be ignored, but James also has aspirations of unlocking the secret of the mainstream sound.

“Just regular pop can be so fantastic. They are doing something so hard which is to make  something instantly accessible and occasionally great and timeless.

“That is harder than any knob twiddling, showgazing sound that many people who are respected in ‘the scene’ are trying to achieve.

James’ album, Killbots have feelings too is available here

Why user testing is key

The Ninja Tune Forum is without doubt important to alot of people. They are the 100 or so people that use it every day.

And it seems like none of those people were given the chance to test out Ninja’s “upgraded” Forum, judging by some of the comments posted in the first hour.

Universally slated, the new board looks very web 3.0, but feels very web -1. Fail.

Lets go through a checklist.

X-brower testing. No. I’ve tried chrome, FF, IE8, Opera. And NO post button. Oopsy Ninjatune :(

Users identified numerous problems in the first few minutes. Not a good move Ninja. I expect that the good will the NTF has built over the past ten or so years will mean people stick at it, while the bugs are ironed out.

But it’s the classic web blunder.. fixing something that aint broke, and breaking it in the first place.

Click here to try it yourself