Raymond Abril

On the topic of my Sapphire Mix from my previous post, I have always wanted to dive into the thought processes and the difficulty in finally accomplishing my first Promo CD. It was so well received that to this day I still get compliments from friends and strangers. When I finally completed this mix, after my 7th or 8th try, I felt that I had reached a barrier that kept me behind what my dreams were capable of.

The idea of Sapphire Mix came about from the feelings I wanted to convey through the use of Progressive House, specific styles of Trance such as deep vocal, as well as integrating solidly and fluidly harder sounds such as near-Techno and breakbeats. I wanted to create a mix that would take you from one point of being along an emotional roller-coaster that through my physical vinyl record collection, I could prove myself. To this day, I am still pleased with the result especially considering the technical challenges I faced.

My Sapphire Mix, as I declared earlier, was recorded using 2 Technics SL-1200 MK-IIs I had borrowed from a good friend of mine, Ben Sparrow. My mixer was an ill-fated Numark with one advantage - predictable kill switches that did not cut the frequencies in the cue monitoring. This let me anticipate what more expensive meters call a PFL - Pre Fader Level. The downside - extensive use of the faders meant that I could only use %50-%60 of their levels before succumbing to mix ruining disruption. Recording to my computer with a 3.5mm cable at 16bit, 44khz was the least of my worries should the noise of using my faders become recorded and ruin the mix.

I had a distinct advantage that came about as a brilliant idea - Why not use the gain knobs in conjunction with the bass kill switches. At this time, I still prefer to mix in headphones in stereo to make my beats match up solidly, and the degradation of audio along with the tiny delay between the cue and the master out made the only real way of obtaining true BPM sync by playing both records through my headphone cue. Easier said than done as you have to pick out the transient patterns and adjust accordingly.

Recorded with Ortofon Blue needles, which today remain my favorite for use on Vinyl, the Vinyl records themselves have a story that I have always wanted to told. Of the tracklist, perhaps 6 records were found in bargin bins at music stores that had no idea the value of the second hand record they were sold. It was a steal to get Dave Seaman - My Worst Enemy and U.N.K.L.E. - In A State for perhaps $1.99 each. The rest of the records I had picked up from the local store London West. It was actually the discovery of Kilowatt’s Grasiento Remix of DPP - M3X1CO that was the turning point of what I could accomplish with the records I had in my collection.

I have spent a great deal of time listening to the great DJ/Producer masters that I have come to respect for a decade now. Sasha, Dave Seaman, Nick Warren, John Digweed, Danny T… just to name a few. On paper, being able to express a ‘perfect’  mix through the mixing of ‘imperfect’ records sounds great, but the work of getting them to fit together just right using timing, holding my breath during fades, and having to be dead on accurate because there is no un-do in mixing Vinyl records.

I always felt that I followed the Spacey style with quirky vocal interludes that Dave Seaman masterfully programmed into his mixes, the emotional rollercoaster that is the work of Sasha, and the skilled transistions of John Digweed. (Is it any wonder that I am a huge fan of the Global Underground series?)

Still, my Sapphire Mix was never intended to be an exact copy. There exists a live mixing style that is very unique to the Southwest United States, created from a culture that rewards DJs with little to no monetary gain and so in order to continue the party culture, DJs themselves had to fork out the money for new records on their own. By watching our top-notch Arizona DJs like CL McSpadden, DJ Diosa, and certain Hardstyle/Hardcore fanatics as well as and other DJs from California such a Christopher Lawrence, I endeavoured to give a specific touch to the mix by mixing timing with intense EQ shifts based on delayed, and extremely lengthly transition times. Some may contribute this to DJ Tiesto, however I have never seen his live sets and the recordings I have of his live sets do not include what I’ve been told.

With the stage set that I wanted to program my set in a way that other local DJ Demos did not partake in, I had to painstakingly learn the cue points off of counting beats. I would hold my breath and tell myself that the beat-matching was spot on and touching the records, being a bad habit of mine, would ruin it. I’m glad I trusted my instincts. The hardest, yet perhaps the coolest transition is between Nubreed – Depth, Dave Seaman Presents Group Therapy featuring Nat Leonard – My Own Worst Enemy, and DPP – M3X1CO – KiloWatt’s Grasiento Remix. These songs were definately not meant to easily mix into eachother and I had to scrap my recording and start over several times. I can still hear a slight nudge somewhere in there, but after so many takes I was just going to live with it.

The last song, U.N.K.L.E. – In A State – Sasha Remix, was actually decided at the last minute. I always loved how Sasha and Dave Seaman would end their mix CDs with a closing song that you wish would never end. This record had been picked up used and had a considerable amount of dust in it. I was able to digitally remove some pops and clicks, but opted to leave the noise produced from the needle on the record as a statement that I accomplished this mix with real records. To this day I dislike the CD version of this song because there is a moment of silence that in my mix is filled with a low hum and some crackles that elevate the complexity of the track.

I lucked out in that Steve Frederick of LP/Project Argo was around to help me master it. Although I had recorded it as close to baseline as possible, he introduced me to multi-band dynamic compression and really brought out the progressive experience.

Happily and hastily, I printed out as many blue Sapphire Mix CD Labels as I could, but the mix was so close to a full 80 minutes that half of the CDs that I burned were ruined in the last few minutes.

I had a label on them to share them with your friends, and ever since then it has been shared around the scene. I brought some copies to the first Anizona in order to give out as prizes. The first party I could attend to pass them out was one called Enchantment, located in a warehouse across the street from my day job. I had spent so much time away from the party scene that I thought people would have forgotten me… and I was dead wrong. I gave out all of the copies. I had run out of blue ink and created a second edition with red and yellow ink (since that was all that was left in my printer) and passed them out to friends hoping to get some real feedback.

And I was really pleased.

So here is the download link and the full track-listing of the mix. Although this is 1/2 of episode 1 of TranceDesign, the quality is not as great as this direct download.

RayRay – Sapphire Mix Tracklisting Progressive House, Trance, and Breaks [right click-save as]
1. Pole Folder Feat. Sandra Ferretti – Protected – M.A.S. Collective black curtain dub mix – Modo Records
2. Steve Porter – Definite form – Remy & Roland Remix – Little Moutain Recordings
3. Subsky – Discollective E.P. – Do you want to play – Focus
4. U & K – Atmosphere – Panoptic’s Cold Depth Remix – Confi-Danace
5. Koala – Imagine – Disc 2 – U & K’s “V+T” Remix – Cuba
6. Nubreed – Depth – Bonzai Limited
7. Dave Seaman Presents Group Therapy featuring Nat Leonard – My Own Worst Enemy – Audio Therapy
8. DPP – M3X1CO – KiloWatt’s Grasiento Remix – Sunkissed Records
9. Descent – Projection – Original Mix – 3Beat/Release Records
10. Chris Domingo – Darklight – Thomas Penton Remix – BozBoz
11. U.N.K.L.E. – In A State – Sasha Remix – Cha Chat Records

[CUE FILE]

I still hope to make a true follow-up, however I have yet to find songs that I could once again create a real emotional journey. Someday I will, and I will be quite proud then. Since this mix was recorded in March of 2005, I’ve come a long way. I still refuse to compromise on the songs and perhaps I can get vinyl records instead of MP3s so I can continue a trend. MP3 downloads from Beatport just can not replace the tactile sensation of handling real vinyl. This could just be an excuse, but maybe I’m just appreciative of an older style where difficulty meant something spectacular.

For those of you who have heard it, what do you think of my Sapphire Mix?