Oh I almost forgot! ANYTIME you finish a track you're proud of, PLEASE post a link here:  https://aymat.org/community/releases/ I would love for this section to just be filled with releases from all the session producers, regardless of it being released on LF or not. It's the forum I set up specifically for this so please feel to post ANY music you'd like to promote here as well, no need to ask! ️

I had already forgotten about the bandcamp account lol! It's more than OK. As I said, I don't mind not being credited. In fact, I've had different content of mine stolen (not music) that now has more than millions views on YouTube and other places as well Hey, ex GF who's into techno liked the track! I'm going to Italy in less than two weeks. Hope the sessions with the others turn out as good or better than mine!

Hi Aymat, great, thanks. This is the YouTube. Honestly though, I wouldn't even link it since you're already linking the Bandcamp and the label anyway. But you know better than me! So here's the link https://www.youtube.com/@forgottentapesmusic/videos

[quote data-userid="4" data-postid="133"] I didn't even like music when I was a kid to be honest. Growing up, I discovered some very early hands-up tracks and I figured I'd try to understand how they were made. I've always been a very creative person, not only in music, but in many fields. I like to create and share; I usually have lots of ideas. In any case, I found an old disc called "Rave Mission Vol. I" that my brother had in his room. I quickly fell in love and was extremely fascinated with early 90s hard trance, acid and so on and so forth. Since then, I have been "dealing" with music for twenty years now. It was very boring at first because it was very hard for me, somebody with zero musical backgrounds, to understand how to make a proper track. Little by little, I learnt many things, from theory to the technical side of things. Looking back at everything I've made, I am quite proud of myself. I have had several aliases and names all around the web. I used to try to force myself to release in the past, but that never worked. Right now, whenever I feel like I have some inspiration, a burst of energy or an idea, I just make the core of the track (usually in less than a day or two). The rest is just hard work making sure it sounds acceptable. When I'm finished, I try not to go back to it and simply upload to You Tube or whatever project/website. This EP is quite different because of how Joel has been structuring things. It's definitely more professional and I consider myself no more than a hobbyist, so it's a little bit scary. Having weekly talks with Joel was not only inspiring bu also helpful. Working on your own is obviously different and each one has their own process. However, when you have another pair of ears, and in this case quite experienced ears, you'll feel things starting to fall into place. You are more motivated. Not pressured, mind you; it simply felt as if I was with a friend in my bedroom and we were hanging out while working. So, sharing, which is always a positive point. More than a shift, a realisation that what I had been doing in the past was actually the "right way". I agree with most concepts that Joel explained but I could never put them into words. He is quite smart when it comes to this, and he helped me realise a few key things about my own approach. I believe that the sessions might be of incredible value to people that may feel lost or wandering around without a clear goal. Talking with Joel made me believe even more that making music should be a fun process. I think this is the main takeaway. Sure, it sounds simple, laughable even. However, not many people actually realise what this means. When the process is fun and you put feel into it, the rest of the track will follow along, as if the track had a soul of its own. It's very hard to explain and it's been refreshing talking with him about it. Do not discard this aspect of music: while the technical side, arrangement, sounds and so on are extremely important, they all come from the same foundations. To whoever is reading this, well, first of all thanks from me and Latent Forms. Secondly, if you are starting out as a producer, your tracks may be ugly, unfun, uninteresting: but those are the ones that make you learn for the next ones. Starting new tracks without finishing them is not a great habit. If you have fun while creating something, that piece of art will reflect that. My future-self is very unpredictable, maybe I might release some techno, maybe some ambient, who knows. I try to go with the flow, and many aspects of my life influence my creativity and mood! Hope the answers are fine. About the pictures, here's one of me when I was a kid. Pretty rad. The other one is pretty old and it's just my eyes with eyeliners or whatever that's called applied on them.. I try to remain anonymous, you know, no socials, no surnames, nothing. I don't really care about privacy: nowadays, every device is listening or stealing shit, but I try to avoid socials or sharing too much! Choose whatever you feel like  OJOS.png [/quote] This is perfect. Thank you so much Val! I'll start working on this asap and I'll send you a link once its ready just to get a final approval from you. Have a great weekend brotha!

@samuraitracks  Yes absolute you can use the image for the release! Don't worry too much about the promotional part, what you just posted is exactly the right approach. Sharing it with people you know is the perfect way to build an organic following. So literally its just doing that and overtime it compounds. What you dont want to do is just upload and hope for the best, that NEVER works. So you definitely have the right approach already and thats great!

@samuraitrack Val, I'm working on the cover art and want to know what you'd like to have displayed as your producer name and then what you would like to name the EP. Let me know when you have a minute, thanks! - J

@samuraitracks And here is the video breakdown for the master: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CfGpcaGZNO_w-D2Y60T05ni-D3dhL_TV/view?usp=drive_link

@samuraitracks Val thank you so much for the input, it really helps! I'm going to try to approach this from a couple of different ways until I can fine tune it but the daw audio sharing during the session is something i definitely will have fixed. I have a recorded mastering overview I'll shoot your way tomorrow that goes over what I did on the second track which youll be able to hear better. Anyhow man, its late and I gotta go eat but will talk more soon. Thanks again!!!! - J

@samuraitracks HI Val, got it downloaded! Sorry for the radio silence. Had to do server maintenance over the weekend and I'm just wrapping things up. I'll be mixing the tracks down tomorrow and should have the ready by the afternoon. Will let you know as soon as they're ready! - J

@samuraitracks  Val, I have to say, out of the 5 producers I've worked with so far, you are the one that has really REALLY got it. I think part of that is you're letting yourself trust the process. You even said something just now that tells me you're there... "Had to remove a full drone/pad that I thought didn't add much". That's what I'm talking about, you're trusting yourself enough to feel your way through the track, and know when something doesn't feel right or add to it. Its such a tough thing to do for so many producers and you're letting the track tell you what it needs. Pat yourself on the back my man, thats HUGE! ️  As far as naming the tracks, I'll let you decide that. Whatever you feel works best is perfect. Btw, I'm only working on the 134mix today, just want your thoughts on the final mix and make sure you're happy with it before we do the Emergency landing on next. Also, I want to talk to you a bit about the artwork in our next session. I have some thoughts and ideas so we can coordinate with the final release. Dude, I'm so proud of the work you've done. Seriously, it brings absolute joy to me to hear these tracks. You put in the work and I can hear it, they sound AMAZING!

@samuraitracks Man, I didnt even know Samplephonics was still around. I remember they used to release a ton of really great libraries. Big Fish as well... Bill Laswell had a ton of sample libraries released through them that I used to use... sort of leftfield, found sound, tribal percussion stuff that was really different. Spectrasonics as well... check Distorted Reality, it was one that everyone used back in the day and still holds up: https://www.spectrasonics.net/products/legacy/distortedreality1/ All good on the track, send it when youre ready! - J

@samuraitracks This is probably my favorite production video of all time. So much useful information here, well worth a full watch. But specifically, check out what he says starting at 7:24 when he talks about keeping things simple. Also check out what he says at 23:25 regarding mixing, so counterintuitive to what we're used to hearing about eq and mixing but if you've ever heard MJ Cole's work its so incredibly well produced and still sounds fantastic decades later. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUtE3v_Gd8Q MJ Cole - Sincere: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02KRAshCG0w

[quote data-userid="4" data-postid="44"] Hey! We are in luck, as this weekend is quite busy for me. The timetables for my chess tournaments are utter nonsense and I would probably spend the whole day there (it's in a town nearby). I think we will have to do Sunday evening if possible, around six or seven PM. Still not sure though, I'm waiting for a proper list to be shared (which supposedly is going to be shared tomorrow). [/quote] Sounds good, I'll be available all day Sunday so if you have time, just let me know. Talk soon!

@samuraitracks Heres another track to pull from for ideas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sqygs8t1A3E This was one of my favorites from the Platipus label. It's another interesting approach to arranging because essentially the main melodic elements aren't introduced until the breakdown. Its just kick, mid-range bass, arpeggio, and some percussive elements that build and play off each other until 3:12 where the breakdown comes in. Then it gets stripped back with just a percussion loop that follows up with the kick and that acid bass-line before that beautiful pad gets introduced... its almost like two breakdowns in one before the driving elements come back in with that great chant sample. Also notice how that same mid-range bass loop gets reintroduced which is longer than at the beginning of the track. This is what I was talking about.... its a way of repurposing elements in a mix by either extending them or changing them slightly to keep things moving and keep the listener from getting bored.

Hi Val, Just finished listening through the tracks, here are my notes: 127 tlocolan shamans vox The track itself has a good foundation to work from. It could definitely work alongside the other tribal tracks, but I think it might need more to build on, and maybe it feels this way because you mentioned the sounds are placeholders. I do agree the melody is great and I'm interested in talking a little more about how you would approach this track if you plan on developing it further. 134 techno emergency landing My personal favorite. The tension building potential on this one with that acid bassline could be something incredible. It has so much drive... could be kept stripped back as a hard techno track just using the existing sounds but pushing it forward in the arrangement, or even experimenting by adding more elements, but I think as it is now it has a very strong foundation to work from. I would definitely consider this one as a top contender. 138 the call Great energy, I think all of the tribal elements here work really well together as well as the call and response. This one feels pretty fleshed out, enough where it could be as simple as adding a few other elements, maybe some percussion or hard snare, and the missing bass you mentioned, then working out the tension in the arrangement. This one is my third pick for the strongest idea. 142 u make me dance Man you have such a fantastic ear for melody. The melody here is very strong. I think the layered vocal works and the lyrics are fine, yes maybe a little cheesy but that's ok. The vocalist did a nice job following the melody but I feel the vocals need to be mixed better in the mix. It might also be interesting to experiment with other vocalists to see if their vocals are better suited for it. 145 infectious hum primal surge didge LOVE the didgeridoo sample, not something you hear often and I think thats where this track could really stand out. The kick and bass elements doing a lot of the work here, could also be kept stripped back or lean more into the primal aspect by adding additional tribal percussion and elements. Lots of potential here and my second pick for the strongest idea. 161 fmbass house This one is a little different because I feel like it's trying to do a lot as is. The tempo is great and I think even the brass works well here because you have a strong melody. Not entirely sure about the acapella, not because I don't think it works, but because I feel it distracts from the melody. I think they both work, but feel like they're fighting each other for space. Could be interesting to do two versions on their own to see which one is the stronger idea, but as is the case both ideas here are strong even if the direction doesn't feel fully formed yet. Overall, great choice of tracks. Your sound selection is fantastic btw, all of the sound choices felt consistent in each mix, so I feel whichever tracks you choose to work with will make mixing pretty straight forward. Personally, the ones that I feel would work best as either single releases or even as an EP would be the ones with tribal vocals. That underlying theme is an obvious choice, but there's a commonality outside just the vocal samples to make for a very cohesive release. Really enjoyed listening to these and lots of potential here. By the way, keep in mind these notes are just my observations after listening. Normally I do this as a way of helping think through the process for selection. Ultimately it's up to you to decide whichever track or tracks you feel work best or want to finish during the sessions. Let me know your thoughts and looking forward to our next session. If you have any questions feel free to reach out any time. Talk soon! - J On Mon, May 18, 2026 at 11:56 AM Samurai Tracks wrote: Hello Joel, First of all, the feeling is mutual as I've also enjoyed our conversation. I cannot really take credits for the analogy I came up with, since you were the one mentioning the Lego metaphor and I simply thought of the next step. Sure, feel free to use it however you want. About the track by Hybrid, I was not aware of it as it's not a kind of genre I usually listen to (if it does not have a steady kick, I might have missed it :D). I've been listening to it since you shared it with me, and I must say it truly is quite an amazing piece. It's some kind of progressive trance with breaks. I highly enjoy it and it definitely sparked some inspiration! Thanks for sharing! I am uploading six mp3 files. Here are some descriptions. I hope this is the kind of stuff you were looking for. 127 tlocolan shamans vox All sounds are mostly placeholders, except the native vocals. That's what the track is supposed to be about. I like the melody because it has a goa feeling (not really goa, but it uses a minor scale with the semitone below the tonic). 134 techno emergency landing This was supposed to be a techno track with some long intro ambience (the pad/drone you hear at the start). It slowly gets harder and harder. 138 the call I've since lost the bass sound from this one, but that was not the main part. The main "attraction" is the call and response with the same tonality between the girl's call and the horn. 142 u make me dance I've made this melody more than ten years ago now. I hired someone on Fiverr to sing it. It was supposed to be a hands up/eurodance track, kind of cheesy (terrible lyrics, but they are there just to sing something). The melody at the end is just one of the many I tried to fit in the project. Of course the piano and all the sounds are just to hear the melodies. 145 infectious hum primal surge didge I really like the kick and the bass melody in this one. As you can see from the title, the main idea was something with a didgeridoo sample; and I also like the scream/lament of the man. It really sets the tone. 161 fmbass house I remember this one. I was making a house track with the famous singer (sampled in many house records), Loleatta Holloway. I like the bass and that was the first thing I made. For some reasons, I bounced it and I don't even have the original melody or synth anymore. I'm sure it was a preset I modified; in any case, I slowly added the trumpet and the trombone you can hear. I didn't even chop the acapella. I just slapped it below the tracks and it sounded quite good. You can clearly hear there might be something in here that might work, but I don't know what it is. Of course, tempo is very high to become house. I will book the next session now. Thanks, Val

Hi Val, Sorry I missed this post! Not a problem, I'm very flexible so any time in the future you just let me know what time works best and we'll make it work around your schedule.  By the way, wanted to give you a heads up that I use webmail for managing email through the website. I noticed that some email gets sent to spam from the address which I'm working on getting fixed shortly but if you don't mind, please add info@aymat.org to your contacts and mark it as "not spam". That should hopefully keep it from happening in the meantime until I get this resolved. Thanks again Val! - J

Hey Val, @ Thanks again for your time today! Really enjoyed our conversation and I came away buzzing with ideas ... which is exactly what I love about these sessions. That analogy you came up with about focus being like a lego box ... being able to see what's on the box ... I genuinely loved that. I'd love to use it as the basis for an article if you're okay with that? Anyway, looking forward to hearing your track selection. Take your time with it. I'd say pick 5 or 6 that you feel could work, and then we'll narrow it down from there and find the ones that sit well together. One more thing ... I wanted to share this track with you. It's called Finished Symphony by Hybrid. It's one of my all-time favorites. Every time I listen to it, I think ... what if Mozart had been a dance music producer? . Not sure if you've heard it before, but if you haven't, I hope it sparks some ideas and inspires you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60OR68EfvS8 Talk soon! Joel