RepostExchange

Ok, I have been on Soundcloud for about a year and a half now. I have tried Facebook Ads, posting on Twitter, trying to get playlisted, etc etc etc, but so far what has worked best for me is RepostExchange.

The concept is quite simple, but it is also well done and more importantly, it works... I am surprised Soundcloud hasn't actually bought them yet.

When you repost someone's track, you get credits. With those credits, you can start a campaign or you can request someone repost one of your tracks in exchange for credits too.

How many credits do you get? Well it depends on how many followers you have. The more followers, the more credits you get per repost. Also, a repost from someone with a lot of followers costs more. This helps you target your reposts. You can also view the genres of the users to make sure your music will appeal to their fans.

Believe it or not, I have also come across some tracks that I like that I would not have discovered otherwise. There are times I have been tempted to repost solely for credits, but for the most part I keep it honest. I won't repost something I genuinely don't like. 

RepostExchange also sets some reasonable limits to prevent spamming (only a certain number of campaigns and requested reposts at once, only a certain number of reposts per day). For the most part though it incentivises in a good way. Need more followers? Try requesting a repost from a smaller artists. The more followers you have, the more credits you will get. Need to reach a wide audience? Request a repost from a bigger artist.

Also, you are incentivised to actually make good music. Good music will get reposted more often and the faster you are reposted, the faster you can actually spend your points. You cannot simply buy your way to popularity with credits because you can only have so many campaigns and repost requests at once.

Want to earn some credits? Well, you actually have to listen to music, but you might actually find something decent and help support and up and coming new artist at the same time. You can also buy credits, but you are limited on spending unless you make really good music that gets reposted quickly...

Oh, and BTW here is my referral link! 

repostexchange.com/hi?r=JFPYE

Water Life Loop

This is one from the vaults.

One of my first Spotify releases, this was an EP where I was experimenting a lot with Minimal House. When I started making music with Logic Pro I was adding layer after layer of tracks to give my songs depth, but I always admired people who could do more with less. With Water Life Loop, I literally just did less and I liked how the sound was a little more in your face and a lot clearer. 

There is also concept that "repetition legitimises". Sometimes you have to set a precedent by repeating something a few times and then you make it interesting by taking things out.

I decided to use a simple photo without any writing on it, but I probably won't do that again until I am better known. I do think it's quite distinctive in its own way though (I was thinking of some of the classic Hypygnosis covers from the 70s).

You Bring Light

The main loop for this track I don't even remember making, but one day I was reviewing all my old ideas and sketches and this one stuck out. It's one of those tracks which I could not reproduce now if I wanted to. I almost feel like someone else came up with the original melody, but I ran with it.

Meditation

Meditation is a track which I came up with while at Berowra Waters staying in a house you could only get to by water. It was nice to spend a few days cut off from the rest of the world and hanging out with family. 

Anyways, enjoy one of my more ambient works.

 Alchemy

Breck · Alchemy

I called this track Alchemy because apart from the drums, all the instruments are from the Alchemy synth in Logic Pro.

I was also experimenting with mapping parameters to the knobs on my Akai MPK Mini so I could control them manually. I have to say it was good fun and leads to quite a dynamic sound.

I wasn't sure about it at first and it felt like a weird cross between Depeche Mode and Boney M. However I played it to a friend of mine and he really liked it. It was also the first track I did to get 1000 plays.

The cover art was from a painting done by a talented young artist called Carla Uriarte. You can buy some of her stuff over here. https://www.carlauriarte.com/. She gave me access to a bunch of old pictures of hers and for a while I was naming all my songs after her paintings. This was one of the few that didn't actually have any writing in it so I named the track after the main synth.

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En Casa

Breck · En Casa

Not only is En Casa the name of a Spanish delicatessen in Sydney, it was also one of my first songs to get more than 100 listens. I did this back in the days when I was still using Garage Band instead of Logic Pro.

It was written back in the early days of the pandemic and En Casa basically means "at home" in Spanish (because we were all at home at the time. Who knew we would still be at home now?). Also a synonym for home is house and this was my first foray into House music. I was originally trying to be more of a funk/disco artist, but lack of resources led to more of a makeshift garage approach. I have never even heard of sidechain compression or bitcrusher when I put this together, but I instinctively knew I was going for a rougher sound.

Even the cover photo was taken in an alley near the house...

From a chord and key change perspective, it was also my first foray into minimalism. House music is more about timbre than fancy chords (most popular music is to be honest). Basically you have to use sound textures to keep things interesting. The basic rule of House is keep it interesting (and it doesn't have to make sense from a musical theory perspective). 

I never ended up publishing this on Spotify or anywhere other than Soundcloud as I never really found it polished enough, but I hope you will enjoy this diamond in the rough.

Re Entry

Re Entry

Breck · Re-Entry

This track is called Re Entry for a number of reasons. It was the first track I did after shoulder surgery so it was kind of my Re Entry into music. Also it represents an astronaut re entering the Earth's atmosphere.

I started this track with the 808 bass line and it took a lot of work to make it listenable on various devices. I ended up putting some distortion and tons of compresson to make sure it worked everywhere from laptops to hi end systems without blowing up your speakers (you're welcome). It only sounds like your speakers are blown, heh heh...

It definitely has a zero gravity feel in spite of the heavy bass. Drums are using a certain amount of delay which adds to the syncopated head spinning feeling. Sometimes you don't know which was is up and which is down, but it's all good as there is no up or down in space.

In space, nobody can see you dance...

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Apple Music

Without Orange

Breck · Without Orange

This is one of the first tracks I put together that I feel is complete. Even now though it could probably do with a remaster (maybe one day when I have some time...).

The artwork of the song represents the Rainbow Flag without the colour Orange and the lack of orange represents when a certain country lost their orange president. Of course I forgot at that time that Soundcloud's main accent colour was orange...

I wanted to do a really kicking house track with a funky synth bass, but everything else on the track is somewhat organic (clavs, electric piano, organ etc...) and with a 70s funk feel. 

The doubled hi hats were inspired by Boz Scagg's Lowdown

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Apple Music

Planetes

 I was watching a recent production of Brave New World, and while I did read the book many many years ago, I could not really remember the details. In any case, while they took a lot of liberties with the story, it did have an overall vibe that I liked and I felt like writing a song that was a little more ethereal. 

So I ended up with Planetes...

The word for planet comes from the Greek planetes which means traveller (because unlike the stars which appear stationary in the sky, the planets constantly change position). It was many centuries before we discovered that the Earth actually rotates around the sun and not the otherway around (and that planets are in fact our siblings who also rotate around the sun).

There is one main chord progression in this song, but it constantly evolves through instrumentation and arpeggiators. I mainly wanted to evoke a feeling of lush movement and a feeling of richness and space.

Also, while we cannot travel physically right now, at least we can travel with our minds.

Breck · Planetes

Kick It

 One, two, three... Hit it!

Breck · Kick It

Ok, I will admit, this song has a great beat!

Funnily enough, there is no snare with the snare parts being taken with snaps and claps. However there are a lot of kick drums in this song (and a lot of different drum parts). This song came together more from a feeling than a traditional song structure, but it does definitely have a beginning, middle and end and takes you on a musical journey.

Ole, ole, ole, ole...

I am not even a particularly big footy fan, though I admit I do miss the roar of crowds. Funnily enough, the instrumentation apart from the drums is fairly traditional with electric piano and a fairly chunky Hammond organ played almost like a percussion instrument. This song is definitely not awash with synths. This is one of the first songs that I wrote that I actually like (not THE first song, but one of them).

There were also some happy accidents where some elements ended up being pasted in wrong, but I decided I liked them better where they were. Most of my songs have some element of happy accidents in them.

Prince famously said that he had the whole song composed in his head before he even went into the studio. I tend to work the other way around. I have no idea what I am going to make when I sit down. I just play with things until they sound good. I just kind of kick ideas around...

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Pop

Bubble Gum Music

Breck · Pop

For the longest time I was trying to be as "House" as I could be, but at one point I decided I just wanted to have some fun and write something "Pop" and throwaway. I will admit this tune would be helped immensely with a singer, however I possess neither the talent nor the ability to sing (happy to collab if you want to get in touch with me), not to mention the fact that I only just recently got a mic for my birthday (thank you Praxis, Carla, Miguel and Dave!).

As well as being Pop, I decided I wanted to recall a time when things were less serious (2020 and 2021, I am looking at you!). I used a lot of classic synth sounds from the 80s on this track (Fizzy Synth and Funky Bass). The drums are 100% programmed machines (no loops).

Maybe the throwaway culture has led to the problems we face today (lots of trash), but rest assured, this song is 100% biodegradeable and will break down completely in about 1000 years or so.

Pop!

Shin'Ya (深夜)

So I haven't been able to travel to Tokyo for a while. I haven't been able to leave the house for a while to be honest (nor leave the country in which I reside). 

Tokyo is truly a city that never sleeps.

It's also a city of contradictions. Old and new exist side by side with women in geisha costumes walking through the neon drenched streets. It's a city of familiarity and excitement.

Breck · Shin'ya

In the same way, not only does Shin'Ya (深夜) evoke the feeling of being in a busy city late at night, but it mixes in modern beats with classical instruments (French Horn, Tympani, Violins). It is old and new, busy, yet calming.

Oh yeah, Shin'Ya (深夜) means "Late night" in Japanese BTW...

One day I will go back

UPDATE

This is now available on Spotify

Spotify Link: https://open.spotify.com/track/3PBv6MiViDooLOa1QYHX0h?si=4d62f65be17948d0