The Oracle of Apollo » Music

Digeum Mix Session 04R

Apollo — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 06:05:24 +0000

I’ve been listening to a lot of tech house and electro lately, so I wanted to reach back into the soulful deep house treasure chest. This one came out nice and mellow with lots of vocal grooves that just make me smile.

In a couple of spots, I got a little carried away with flangers and other effects processors. But, it was all in good fun. I have a great time spinning these mixes.

Digeum Mix Sessions – Volume 04, Session Romeo — Solstice Eve Stepping. Mixed by Apollo Lee in Sunnyvale, California, USA, on Sunday, June 20, 2010. Running time: 1:16:57.

Go give it a listen and leave a comment with your thoughts.

Digeum Mix Session 04Q

Apollo — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 06:07:58 +0000

I upgraded to Traktor Pro the other day. After a couple of fumbled attempts to get started this evening, I stopped trying to mix without sync and tried to get the hang of this new software.

Fortunately, I picked out a small group of tech house and electro tracks that should be pretty easy to mix. There were a few dicey spots that are barely noticeable in the final mix, but the double effects processors are fun to play with. I eventually kicked into my groove. This was fun. I’ll get more confident with Traktor Pro soon.

Digeum Mix Sessions – Volume 04, Session Quebec — Bumpgrade. Mixed by Apollo Lee in Sunnyvale, California, USA, on Tuesday, June 08, 2010. Running time: 2:11:03.

Go give it a listen and leave a comment with your thoughts.

Upgrading to Traktor Pro

Apollo — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 05:05:47 +0000

This month, Native Instruments is running a deal by which I could upgrade Traktor from version 3 to the new Traktor Pro for half price. This made my upgrade less than $45.

Tonight, I took it for a little test spin and noticed immediately how drastically different many of the controls are. For one, my usual looping controls are all out of whack. There are multiple effects processors, which is nifty, but the new controls will take some getting used to. The tempo clock measures to two decimal places now, so I’ll have rely more heavily on sync than I did in recent mixes.

The upgrade was fairly painless. I was happy with Traktor 3, but if I ever finally upgrade OS X to Snow Leopard (which I bought a couple of months ago and haven’t installed yet), I need Pro. I guess we’ll see how the next mix goes.

Digeum Mix Session 04P

Apollo — Mon, 31 May 2010 07:50:33 +0000

Jay Def works up another lip-curling tech house mix, full of filthy basslines and tough beats. This three-hour mix has that underground warehouse party feel, when a new DJ takes over at 2 and inches us closer to dawn. Hell yes, Jay. Nicely done!

Digeum Mix Sessions – Volume 04, Session Pap — Blip Beat BBQ. Mixed by Jay Def in Meridian, Idaho, USA, on Sunday, May 30, 2010. Running time: 2:52:08.

Go give it a listen and leave a comment with your thoughts.

Digeum Mix Session 04O

Apollo — Mon, 24 May 2010 02:25:34 +0000

Today felt like an opportunity to make a friend smile. So, I pulled together some of my favorite vocal house tracks, filled out with artists like Dubtribe Sound System, Jay Tripwire, Lisa Shaw, and Samantha James. This one’s for Amanda, my smiling friend who is always excited about everything.

Keep dancing, Amanda. I hope you like this music.

Digeum Mix Sessions – Volume 04, Session Oscar — Dancing with Amanda. Mixed by Apollo Lee in Sunnyvale, California, USA, on Sunday, May 23, 2010. Running time: 1:16:14.

Go give it a listen and leave a comment with your thoughts.

Digeum Mix Session 04N

Apollo — Sat, 22 May 2010 20:54:29 +0000

Jay Def takes no prisoners in this fist-pumping set of tech house gems. For just over two hours, he delivers twerky synths, gritty basses, and beats that makes you go “UNH.”

Each track is carefully chosen. Some of them are stomping, and some of them are goofy and hilarious. One of them spins into an Irish fiddle tune. This big variety keeps a fun groove going until the very last track.

Digeum Mix Sessions – Volume 04, Session November — Hit It, Brobot. Mixed by Jay Def in Meridian, Idaho, USA, on Friday, May 21, 2010. Running time: 2:08:40.

Go give it a listen and leave a comment with your thoughts.

Digeum Mix Session 04M

Apollo — Sun, 16 May 2010 01:35:15 +0000

I was feeling a little disco today, so I decided to throw together a short little mix. We’ve got soulful grooves and punchy funky tracks. It’s a fun little mix of house music for the middle of May. I hope you like it.

Digeum Mix Sessions – Volume 04, Session Mike — The Ides of May II. Mixed by Apollo Lee in Sunnyvale, California, USA, on Saturday, May 15, 2010. Running time: 1:19:18.

Go give it a listen and leave a comment with your thoughts.

Digeum Mix Session 04L

Apollo — Sun, 09 May 2010 17:05:41 +0000

It was Jay‘s turn to drop a Digeum Mix. He pinged me by email to let me know he was throwing it down. This time, he wandered, for the first time in Volume 04, into house territory. He calls it “Lazy Saturday Afternoon”, but it’s anything but that.

This mix stomps hard, a street-hardened set of tech house that delivers a drubbing that never softens for a second. When Jay Def wants to spin house music, it’s always gritty, tough, and punches you right in the chest. It feels like three in the morning in a warehouse, where everyone’s sweaty and screaming, the DJ pulls out another record with a bassline that comes from nowhere, and the weak have left the dancefloor for the committed.

Don’t believe me. Go listen to it. And close your eyes and picture every underground party you’ve ever been to — every time it’s getting to that hour when you’ve passed the point where you’re worried about getting up and doing stuff tomorrow.

Digeum Mix Sessions – Volume 04, Session Lima — Lazy Saturday Afternoon. Mixed by Jay Def in Meridian, Idaho, USA, on Saturday, May 08, 2010. Running time: 2:03:33.

Go give it a listen and leave a comment with your thoughts.

Digeum Mix Session 04K

Apollo — Sat, 08 May 2010 02:09:31 +0000

Late last week, my landlady decided to send a crew over to replace the roof of the house. After eight days of hammering and sawing, I was craving some beats that were in some kind of tempo. I’ve been downloading quite a few new garage tracks from eMusic. I also recently acquired a gargantuan compilation on 5 CDs. Might as well take them for a spin.

Of course, with all this construction, everyone and their dog had to call me while I was mixing. My phone almost never rings until I’m doing something. My landlady called me and I had to figure out a way to tactfully get off the phone before my track ran out. There were 12 seconds on the track timer when I faded in the next track after several sessions of “Oh, but one more thing…”

A couple of these tracks were tricky to mix. In other places, someone interrupted me, either by ringing my phone or wandering through my studio. Despite all this, the time went by quickly and I discovered a few new artists that I am on the look out for now.

Digeum Mix Sessions – Volume 04, Session Kilo — Roofing the Garage. Mixed by Apollo Lee in Sunnyvale, California, USA, on Friday, May 07, 2010. Running time: 1:19:53.

Go give it a listen and leave a comment with your thoughts.

Digeum Mix Session 04J

Apollo — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 04:08:04 +0000

Today’s Jay Def‘s birthday. So, I decided to warm up the old VCI-100 with a marathon mix as a gift to my best friend. I picked out a bunch of electro tracks, ranging from minimal techno to chunky beats. I decided to deliver one track for each candle on his birthday cake.

At 39 tracks and just over three hours long, this is the longest Digeum Mix Session mix to date. At 128 beats per minute, it’s just right for a hike, a jog, or a really long workout. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed spinning it.

To the birthday boy, I hope this mix finds you in good spirits and marvelous health. I’m privileged to call myself your friend.

Digeum Mix Sessions – Volume 04, Session Juliet — For Jay. Mixed by Apollo Lee in Sunnyvale, California, USA, on Sunday, April 25, 2010. Running time: 3:04:10.

Go give it a listen and leave a comment with your thoughts.