Tag: Jim Mason

July 2021

THIS MONTH’S AUDIO UPLOADS:

Victorious (Anlg) – SKETCH – 1996:

Victorious gets us underway this month. It’s a rough sketch of what I’d imagined to be a celebratory theme to open a Winter Olympics or something along those lines. It’s just an old analogue cassette recording with a couple of glitches in it, and only an incomplete rough sketch of an idea! So, do excuse the lack of polish.

Always Be There (Mason Techno Remix) (Anlg) – 1995:

My old University mate, Jim Mason, was the second person to add their own special colour to my Always Be There track, with this high-energy German-style Techno Remix. Jim was very much the king of the synths and electronica back then and probably still is to this day. It’s sadly just an old analogue cassette recording as the original digital master has yet to be found. Still love this rendition to this day.

Sassy Queen (Alternative Mellow Mix) – 2008:

Another, slightly less in-your-face mix of this exotic theme that the eagle eyed/eared amongst you will already recognise from a couple of different mixes that have been uploaded to this site in previous months.

The Moon The Stars & The Planet Mars (Late Version – 2021 Edit) – FINAL DEMO – 2012:

The full story behind The Moon The Stars & The Planet Mars (MSPM) can be found in the A-Z Section of this site, so I’ll save repeating myself here. South African/Swedish singer Linnea Södahl provided the vocals. This particular demo mix was tweaked a little in 2021. There still is no definitive mix in existence of MSPM. It remains to this day the classic abandoned track with any number of demo takes clogging up Gigabytes worth of hard drive space.

Bluebird – 1991:

I remember as clear as day programming the backing track (on my trusty Yamaha QY10) for this piece, in a common area of a Youth Hostel I was staying in, somewhere on the West Coast of the USA. Probably Seattle, come to think of it. It was only once I got to the studio at Dartington College of Arts in 1992 that it fully came to life thanks to the guitar playing of Jim ‘Pasty’ Thomas. Another cut from that first ‘album’ Just Enough. Absolute frantic bedlam. Enjoy!

Incidental Music For Animation (Karma 4 Beginners) – 2010:

Here’s one I’d almost forgotten about. A project that came up on the now defunct site, Humtoo. It was requesting incidental music to accompany an in-progress animation. This was my submission which, admittedly, clearly borrows heavily from Henry Mancini’s theme and incidental music to the Pink Panther cartoons. I thought that this choice of inspiration might work against me, but lo and behold, the music that was ultimately used for the animation not only miraculously used exactly the same source of inspiration, but was a version that appeared to have been composed by a deaf three year old. It was properly shit. Can’t help but feel that my idea(s) were taken on board and then the animator had badly re-worked them via whatever means, so as not to pay me a commission fee. Perhaps I’m wrong. Not that I’m bitter or anything!

Hardest Part – 1992:

Written for an ex-girlfriend of mine, Hardest Part, is the slow cut from the Just Enough album. It’s a production mess owing to its roots being a busy Yamaha QY10 backing track, which has subsequently then been swamped by Korg M1 overdubs, but I like to think that the emotion and sentiment still shines through.

Flexible Films (Customer Care Theme) – 2010:

Another main theme to accompany one of Sybil and Russ’s excellent mental health initiative films for the NHS.

Unrepenting Heart – SKETCH – 1997:

This early set of ideas gives us an insight into the creative process that ultimately led to the track, Unrelenting Heart. One for the HughCarsonMusic anoraks out there, if anyone, I suspect.

Upbeat Song Backing (Anlg) – SECTIONS – 1994:

I could hum you the melody if you like, but Lord alone knows what the lyrics were or even the name of this song. Fortunately, the backing track, though a little warped in places, stands up fairly well on its own as an instrumental. All composed on my old Yamaha SY85 workstation linked to an old Atari 1040 STE.

March 2021

This Month’s Audio Uploads:

Vortex of Despair – 2010:

Vortex of Despair was an attempt at something of a ‘Film Noir’ theme. It’s always very tricky to make anything predominantly orchestral sound in any way convincing in a studio, particularly when you’re not in possession of prohibitively expensive orchestral libraries. And even then, it’s very easy to distinguish between the real thing and the synthetically created. That said, I’m fairly pleased with what I’ve achieved here.

Yeah Me, Yeah You – 2009:

Another from the CGN Songs catalogue, Yeah Me, Yeah You, is a commercial teen punk-ish theme written by myself and Peter Godfrey as a commission for some project or other, I forget, but it was most notably used in a scene from a Brit-flick starring a whole host of A-list actors and celebrities (ahem), including: John Altman (Nasty Nick Cotton, son of Dot Cotton in the long-running English soap, East Enders), Kerry Ingram (of Game of Thrones and Matilda fame), and even a cameo from snooker legend, Jimmy White, himself. I’ve never seen the film in full, but I’m reliably informed that it is Oscar-worthy stuff, yet it was somehow overlooked in that year’s awards ceremony. Ain’t that always the way?! NB: The above clip also features Red Hot, another track plucked from the CGN Songs catalogue.

Emergencia – 1996:

In my mid-90s quest to write as many theme tunes in as many TV styles as possible, I wrote ‘Emergencia’. I’m pretty sure that this track was my own version of a ‘Casualty’ or ‘Holby Central’ type of theme. It was all thrown together using a Yamaha SY85 synth and an Atari 1040 STE-powered Cubase sequencer. And I’m fairly certain you’ll sleep better for knowing that.

Night Driving (Anlg) – 1995:

Although I sang on this track and helped out a little with some melody and harmony vocal line writing, Night Driving is in fact a Jim Mason composition. Jim is an old mate from my University days. This track was Jim’s excellent SY85 programming synced to some vocal lines that we recorded on my old cassette-based Tascam 644 Midistudio. Sadly there are some syncing issues here which have thrown my vocals a little out of sync with the backing during the middle phase of this song. Trust me on this one, not even I could sing that far out of time.

Deadly Funk Shade (Anlg) – 1994:

This track was created using literally just one sound source, the ‘tschh’ sound of a can of fizzy drink being opened. This was a University project involving a few of us – Jacqui Attwood (Rose) and Phil Mayers included? – to take the aforementioned can-opening sound and process it through an Akai sampler and come up with an entire composition. And voila, Deadly Funk Shade was created. It’s amazing what you can do with a little technology and a rudimentary understanding of what constitutes sound.

4/4 SY85 Song Backing (Anlg) – SKETCH – 1996:

Normally, even if I’ve forgotten a song that I was working on, when I once again listen to the backing track the vocal melody / lyrics etc. usually all suddenly re-materialise in my head. But no matter how many times I listen to this old mid-90s song backing sketch, I cannot for the life of me fathom what the melody was, nor the lyrics, nor the song’s title. So, for now, it’ll have to remain a mystery. Thankfully, this backing track kind of stands up on its own.

Time To Die (Anlg) – 1993:

Whilst this song wasn’t actually inspired by any personal memories of “attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion,” Time To Die was, however, loosely inspired by Rutger Hauer’s closing lines in Ridley Scott’s brilliant film, Blade Runner. If you can see past the track’s appalling ever present feedback buzz, Time To Die will hopefully come across as being a calm but mournful lament, and an acceptance of death. You know, the sort of thing that most twenty-one year old songwriters tend to have high on their priority lists.

Ramon – SECTION – DEMO – 2012:

I believe that this track began life as an attempt to create a theme tune for a fictional TV detective series. I’ll leave it up to your own ears as to whether it succeed in its intentions.

NHS Seven Role Plays Main Theme (Flexible Films) – 2009:

This very basic theme was the first that I threw together for Sybil and Russ of Flexible Films. It served a purpose, but it’s hard to get enthusiastic about something so elementary.

Where Does My Heart Go Now – SKETCH – 2012:

Without recourse to any suitable female singers at the time, I had to resort to pitch-shifting my own vocals up an octave in order to get a rough idea of how this song would work within the required vocal register. Alvin & the Chipmunks impression-aside, I rather like this very basic sketch of a song idea, and it’s one that I intend to do something with in the hopefully not too distant future. Don’t hold your breath though.