DSF Q&A Sessions 4: Jack Sparrow (closed)

[jack sparrow1]

how dare you? djake doesn't smoke DRUGS when he makes music. stickly baccy

how much time do you reckon you spend on each release-worthy tune?

+ edit: could we see a screenshot of one of your tunes in the sequencer? that's always interesting!

yeah man gimme 2 secs ill sort it out

[djake]

how dare you? djake doesn't smoke DRUGS when he makes music. stickly baccy

[jack sparrow1]

this it what my sequencer looks like.
i give each tune the same amount of time around 3 days.
anything over that it gets shelved and archived on to the hd as ''hhhm''

[Disco Nutter]

How did you get your first official release?

[jack sparrow1]

How did you get your first official release?

some people in leeds started a label called ''senseless'' in around 05.
At that point i was making grime and pretty new to making music,i had heard some stuff the lads had been doing with warrior queen and local mc's dialect etc.

i sent some stuff on cd to them and they liked it then a few months later it was out. blackout got some good ratings so it gave me a confidence boost to write some more stuff and get into djing.

[legend4ry]

How did you get your first official release?

some people in leeds started a label called ''senseless'' in around 05.
At that point i was making grime and pretty new to making music,i had heard some stuff the lads had been doing with warrior queen and local mc's dialect etc.

i sent some stuff on cd to them and they liked it then a few months later it was out. blackout got some good ratings so it gave me a confidence boost to write some more stuff and get into djing.

I am interested to hear about the flip to Blackout, Spam Purse, this track will always be at the front my bag, not because its a BIG tune, that it is- its just its a great tune to disect and listen too. If you remember could you go through the first initial ideas of this track and how you went about making it? Its a good 6-7 minutes long I do feel a few techno influences in there!

[boy_arena]

Have you got a phobia of playing in Leicester?

[Disco Nutter]

How do you push yourself to finish a tune in three days?

And also... how did you make the bassline in Predator?

[pdomino]

lmao @ XXXY

Whats your favourite piece of hardware and favourite gadget? ... you look like a gadgety type of bloke ..... all fingers and that ha !

I have got to say that space designer in logic 8 is mega nothing touches it for quality the reverbs are best quality ive ever heard.

the korg ms2000 i have has a vocoder and that can produce some really interesting stuff when you put bass guitars through it or rhodes etc.

i fiddle lots

Big up, Man of my own heart, sold mine a year ago, wish I hadnt now, oh well.

[thetaco]

How many hours do you spend on a tune in a single session?

Where do most of your drums come from? Sample CD's? Sampling other tunes? Breaks?

[jack sparrow1]

How did you get your first official release?

some people in leeds started a label called ''senseless'' in around 05.
At that point i was making grime and pretty new to making music,i had heard some stuff the lads had been doing with warrior queen and local mc's dialect etc.

i sent some stuff on cd to them and they liked it then a few months later it was out. blackout got some good ratings so it gave me a confidence boost to write some more stuff and get into djing.

I am interested to hear about the flip to Blackout, Spam Purse, this track will always be at the front my bag, not because its a BIG tune, that it is- its just its a great tune to disect and listen too. If you remember could you go through the first initial ideas of this track and how you went about making it? Its a good 6-7 minutes long I do feel a few techno influences in there!

It was the first proper production that was sounding half decent and finished,i guess thats what dubstep meant to me back then with a litle bit of grime thrown in and a bit of techno .

There was a batch of tunes that all used the same drums sounds and bass which brings me back to my point about not rushing production,spam/blackout must have 2 tunes in a batch of 8 that i did.

I started with the synth line the apreg which was albino 2 and i still use albino 2 today i will never upgrade or change it for anything else i love it.

the bass is a single shot which i made with albino,then i rendered it and pitched up and down and chopped up accordingly,i found i could manipulate the sound better that way.

drums are hip hop drums from a dj tools vinyl called ''never ending breaktbeat''.

then of course the vocal is ''apollo 440 raw power''.

i have to cut most of my tracks down because i get carried away with drops and switch up sometimes.

[jack sparrow1]

Have you got a phobia of playing in Leicester?

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaa

I was diagnosed with a serious health problem last year and have been recieving treatment which is still ongoing.

I missed a few gigs last year which i was gutted about,but im on the way to recovery and fighting fit these days.

[jack sparrow1]

How do you push yourself to finish a tune in three days?

And also... how did you make the bassline in Predator?

ok so after a few years you get to know how you work in the studio.
It's about comfort at the end of the day,i need a tidy studio,cup of tea and some toast then i know ill be at my best.

I give things 3 days because thats a day for building and a day for listening to it about 400 times lol and a day for testing on various systems and adding changes.

becomes routine for me now so anything over the 3 days mark isnt going to work or will get saved until i have more time.

[jack sparrow1]

How do you push yourself to finish a tune in three days?

And also... how did you make the bassline in Predator?

The bassline in predator is albino 2 .

I dont use the filter cutoff to manipulate bass but only the velocity layer

Can get some mad talking bass effects with that style.

its single hits of bass (no wobble) just each note has diff velocity

[jack sparrow1]

lmao @ XXXY

Whats your favourite piece of hardware and favourite gadget? ... you look like a gadgety type of bloke ..... all fingers and that ha !

I have got to say that space designer in logic 8 is mega nothing touches it for quality the reverbs are best quality ive ever heard.

the korg ms2000 i have has a vocoder and that can produce some really interesting stuff when you put bass guitars through it or rhodes etc.

i fiddle lots

Big up, Man of my own heart, sold mine a year ago, wish I hadnt now, oh well.

Its just really retro and warm and a good starter synth aswell,before that i had a roland sh101 which was very cold and harsh but great at make arps.
I do love analog and wish i had more cash to get more because there are so many synths i neeeeeeeeed!

[jack sparrow1]

How many hours do you spend on a tune in a single session?

Where do most of your drums come from? Sample CD's? Sampling other tunes? Breaks?

I can spend up to 12 hours or more on a single tune depending on the work rate and how much im feeling the track.

Sometimes the tunes manifest really quickly and others take time to happen.

I use house drums more often these days because they have power like no other and are really clean. I collect samples on a regular basis from old dj tools,synths,magazines etc

I have a very 'hip hop' way of production because i make atmospheres and little snippets from old vinyl that could be 15 years old.

[ruckspin]

now that you've had a bit of time on logic, which do u reckon is better, logic or acid?

also...

i give each tune the same amount of time around 3 days.
anything over that it gets shelved and archived on to the hd as ''hhhm''

what does hhhm mean?

and why are you called jack sparrow?

[jack sparrow1]

now that you've had a bit of time on logic, which do u reckon is better, logic or acid?

also...

i give each tune the same amount of time around 3 days.
anything over that it gets shelved and archived on to the hd as ''hhhm''

what does hhhm mean?

and why are you called jack sparrow?

Logic is better sound quality for the long run i wanna produce in that program full time because nothing touches it for end results.

but....

I know acid 6 inside out and it's quick for ideas and uses very little cpu even with 40-50 tracks with effects.

''hhhm'' means that i may go back to it one day or it may just stay shelved. Some tunes just need a few days rest and then you go back to them....but you know that ruckspin

I have no idea why i am called that it started as a alias and i regret it everyday.

Its all fun though.

[lowpass]

You mention that you can run 50 or so tracks without running out of cpu power, i run acid with about 15-20 tracks and my cpu is really tight, what are your specs on your desktop pc?

Also what type of screen are you using for your pc?, I find it hard operating my work through my small screen im using atm

[jack sparrow1]

You mention that you can run 50 or so tracks without running out of cpu power, i run acid with about 15-20 tracks and my cpu is really tight, what are your specs on your desktop pc?

Also what type of screen are you using for your pc?, I find it hard operating my work through my small screen im using atm

The desktop is 2gb of ram

athlon 64 x2

running xp pro

Good to find another acid user,i use ultrafunk fx package they work quite well with build of acid.

turn all the windows effects of so it look really 80's and it should work fine