What program is that? I’ve got the signal chains figured out, but I’m unfamiliar with this DAW(?). Is their an internal sequencer and this is just the chaining page?
Nevermind, looked beyond the surface and saw the products name. Haha.
This is definitely the DAW for Excel experts.
Thank you for the video link. Will be nice to see it in action. Seems pretty powerful once you get your head around it.
I wonder if we could create some kind of database outlining the samples that The Field uses? I always enjoy trying to reverse engineer sample flipping as an educational tool and it seems whosampled has some kind of firewall on naming The Field’s samples…
Had a bit of a dig through files and this snippet of a track was the closest I’ve gotten to Field type tunes, specifically at 0:33. I should note this is a demo captured out of a Circuit Rhythm and run through an Ableton mixing chain, so it’s got some basic levels done on it at best. Did I capture the vibe-ish-ish?
Nice. Definitely got that atmospheric vibe to it.
I would say partially. It reminds me of a mix between The Field, Jamie XX and Burial.
Haha. You’ve probs just given me the biggest compliment you could have as that’s exactly what I aim for in the tunes. I’ll take it. Next goal is to try something like this in SW
Well… if you were insulted by my comment that would of been very perplexing.
The sound of vocal sample in the beginning gives me strong Burial vibes and I’m not sure exactly why. Anyways, please share the track if you decide to finish it.
All very well known mega-hits, not obscure crate digger stuff.
I wonder how much of the atmosphere in his tunes comes from the samples being intimately familiar, even if you don’t consciously recognise the chopped snippets.
How does he make such loopy tracks that don’t get boring??
I actually think this is an interesting question because he kinda challenges conventional wisdom on this one. As I’ve been learning the electronic side of production, there are a lot of themes that come up about how you make a track interesting. For example, layering, constantly changing elements throughout a track to create interest etc. I believe (from the interviews others have posted here) that there’s an element of live performance to his productions, to the point that there are mistakes in them.
What’s interesting to me is that The Field doesn’t do much of the changing up of elements, or if he does it’s barely audiable. One thing I have noticed is that changes throughout a passage are often super slow to take place. For example, he might use a phaser or chorus sound on something. Normally the advice would be to resolve that within a 4 bar loop to take you into the next one, but The Field will run it out over maybe 4x 4 bar loops to the point that you barely notice it. For example, take a listen to the snare on Morning. At the start, it sounds ever so slightly different to the later part of the song. Maybe it’s a slight change of pitch or a minute difference in ADSR on the sound, but either my ears are playing up (possible) or there’s a very slight change as the song progresses.
Not sure if this explains anything, but those subtle changes (imagined or otherwise) go some way to creating that hypnotic, trance like state you get into when listening to his stuff.
We would also need a GAS thread, to be honest.
EDIT: not that kind of GAS
Lots of those about hehe.
Cupid’s Head might just be my favourite The Field album, and I listen to his music almost daily.
While I do enjoy Cupid’s Head I’m all about Looping State of Mind and From Here We Go Sublime. I think Everyday has the best transition / escalation ever! I listened to that track all dayeveryday for over a month and never got sick of it…
My intro to Axel was the HANDS record. Which is one of my treasured LPs.
Got to see him in Seattle a few years back. The openers (some local jags) were dogshit. I dont think alot of people were expect The Field to be so LOUD (thats what he was touring as).
What’s the Hands record? I love the field!
This thread sort of sent me down a Field rabbit hole today and I was pretty interested to find out that his first album was made before he got the Octatrack (at least that is what he implies in a few interviews I’ve read). He mainly used Buzz for that one, which shines a lot on the fact that it’s really not the gear but the idea behind it. I always had this idea that he was such an Elektron-focused guy, which he surely did become later, but From Here We Go Sublime was made before he had the Octatrack. I do wonder if the drums from it were also samples or came from the Machinedrum. Anyone have any theories?
Edit: it came out before the OT was even out so he couldn’t have used it on that album!
