Beat Archive 2019 - 2023
GWENN
I was working my 9-to-5, and life felt pretty straightforward back then... work my ass off and make this annoying job my career. Hence the lack of music from 2023 and most of 2024. I made this beat on the SP-404 after watching Khryo's performance on Le Mellotron. I was astonished by the way he sounded and by the production on his beats. I had so many questions, but most importantly, I felt inspired. This sample was taken from Turn The Lights Out by Gwen Bunn. After producing this song, I let it sit on my PC for around two years before finally uploading it in 2026. At the time, I was trying to move away from making beats and start a new project without using other people's music..
Be Right Back
This was the last beat I made with my Toshiba Satellite laptop. The poor thing only had about 4GB of RAM, and I still don't know how I managed to make Ableton run on that hardware back then. That laptop and I learned together how to produce, sample, use sidechain compression, mix, automate, and much more. Back then, I was dying to produce a female folk song with vocals, something inspired by Linda Perhacs, The Long Lost, and Sea Oleena. I relied on samples because I couldn't record live instruments in my shared room. I used a fragment from Carrying, and I used my SP-404 to add more texture and effects..
Beautiful, Speak
I remember staying up all night producing this beat. Earlier that afternoon, I was listening to some Spotify tunes and came across this beautiful, slow acoustic song called Beautiful, but Bleak by Wilted Flower. The lyrics that stuck in my mind were, ‘The wind is howling at my window, it's beautiful but bleak.’ They kept repeating in my head. I don't remember if I started making this beat that same evening, but this time I wanted it to feel more conceptual and express what I wanted people to get from the song, as well as what I was feeling at the time, hence the name of the track. The original version of this beat was very different from the final version. The sample was pitched much higher, to the point where it almost sounded like a ukulele tune. After some trial and error, I added the Physon plugin to the master track, which gave the sample, kick, and hi-hats that delay effect. I really like the texture of this one, especially the high frequencies. It sounds crisp.
Eusebio
This one's special. Before the pandemic hit, I was listening to Souvlaki by Slowdive non-stop. Back then, the only gear I had was my Toshiba laptop, my Suzuki guitar, a Digitech Whammy IV, and a Boss SD-1. My friend lent me his Fender Mustang I V1, and I used that amp to record my guitars, almost like an interface. While researching online, I found out that one of the main pieces of gear used on Souvlaki was the Yamaha FX500, a small effects unit that had delay, distortion, compression, wah, chorus, and most importantly, reverb. Apparently, this unit was used throughout the whole album, especially on Rachel Goswell's guitar parts. The song Machine Gun made me a fan of this device. That beautiful synth-like guitar lead at the beginning of the song was haunting, yet so soothing. I tried many times to find this unit in my country, but I had no luck until one sunny day in 2019. My mother gave me $100 to keep for myself in case of an emergency, since I was unemployed at the time. As soon as I had the money, I went straight to Marketplace to see what gear I could spend it on... and I found it. The legendary Yamaha FX500 for exactly $100. Immediately, I asked the seller if the unit was still available, and he promptly said yes. But there was one issue: my mother. I had the brilliant idea of asking her if I could spend all of my money on the unit. Guess what? She said no. I tried explaining how important it was to me and how rare it was to find something like that on Facebook Marketplace. She still said no. My stubborn 49-year-old mother wouldn't budge. I asked the seller if he would lower the price. I made an excuse and told him I was short on money. He said that if I could buy it that same night, he would let it go for $80. I told my mother with excitement, hoping she would finally agree... but she still said no. She then started looking on Amazon and other websites, trying to convince me that I would be able to buy another one in the future. I cried that evening. I felt dumb and honestly immature, immature enough to not be able to spend my own money. After hours of thinking, I decided I wasn't going to let the opportunity go to waste. I told my mom I was going out on my bicycle, then I rode straight to where the seller lived and paid $80 for the unit. I snuck back into my house with the unit hidden under my pants and spent the whole night writing music. Even though I sold the Yamaha FX500 in 2025 for $100, I don't regret buying it at all. I don't think my mother ever found out. Anyway, this song was recorded using the reverb and compression from the Yamaha FX500. It also has the Digitech Whammy IV running through the Fender Mustang I V1 straight into my laptop. The track came from a jam session that I arranged in Ableton, and this section was the one that caught my attention the most. The title of the song comes from a special person's mascot.
Blended Whisky
I was listening to a lot of Flying Lotus back then. I cried while listening to Cosmogramma. It amazed me that he managed to sample his mother's respirator in the hospital before she passed away. He's one of the main reasons I started making beats, and one of the reasons I make music in general. I think music is something very intimate and spiritual, something that should be taken seriously. When I produced this song, I kept referring back to Flying Lotus's music. That's why this song has that kind of feeling... I don't really know how to explain it.
Dust In My Laptop!
I was going through a creative block after getting burned out from my first job. I felt stuck in this new chapter of my life, and I thought to myself that I would end up working there for the rest of my life. All of a sudden, I was convinced that I'd never have time to make beats again. I went into my kitchen expecting to write the best song ever, but I felt very frustrated with what I came up with back then. To be honest, this was the first time writing music felt like a letdown.
Keep It Bitterless
So many memories. Back when I was making this beat, I was learning how to sample, use sidechain compression, and record live elements and sounds... just the basics. The only microphone I had back then was a Guitar Hero USB microphone. This song has a snippet from a commercial that was playing in the background while I was recording in my bunk bed. I also sampled Sugarless by Autolux for the main chord melody, using it as an instrument with the help of Ableton's sampler. It's reversed, but still clear enough that you can hear the “Daaaaayy” from Carla Azar in the sample..
Scorpio Satellite (Demo)
I was really proud of this song. Now pay attention: I mic'd my Gorilla 25 amplifier, which was in an awful state both sonically and aesthetically, with my Guitar Hero microphone to record this track. This was before I got my first job, so I was very inspired. I remember the moment I added the little piano to the mix. I broke down crying, lol. I don't know why. I guess I was just happy that I had finally made something I truly enjoyed with the equipment I had at the time. Don't get me wrong, I'm very grateful for everything I had back then. I wanted to dedicate this beat to my mother, hence the name ‘Scorpio's Satellite,’ since she was born in November. This beat also made it onto a compilation of small beats on Bandcamp.
Carrots
I feel that this song marks the beginning of my music journey. It was the first beat I made in Ableton. I plugged my guitar straight through my laptop without any fancy cab simulators or plugins at all. It was all Ableton stock plugins — I didn't even know how to download cracked plugins yet, lol. This song also came around the time I discovered Autolux's discography. I learned how to play a few of their songs back then, and honestly, they opened up a whole new world for me. This beat is special. It marks a beginning for me. I don't think my music journey has an end. It doesn't matter how bad life gets or how great things are going, I'm always going to continue expressing myself through this wonderful art.