French Touch

James Pingel

I got into electronic music production because of artists like Daft Punk and Justice. I don't feel that often shines through in my work, but I wear that influence on my sleeve on occasion, and this is one of those times.

I got into electronic music production because of artists like Daft Punk and Justice. I don't feel that often shines through in my work, but I wear that influence on my sleeve on occasion, and this is one of those times.

French Touch (Original Mix)

Phases of Bases

Another departure from what I've been doing, my recent attempt at some DNB. I got involved with the Dogs on Acid dnb forum at just the right time to get involved in a challenge where they provide me with a bunch of great samples and I provide them with a great track. Call it beginners luck, but I enjoyed working on this, enjoy listening to it, think it sounds great, and already have 2 other tracks in a similar vein finished. Working on a 4th to round it out for an EP, but looking forward to exploring this sound and this side of promotion/industry/labels for a bit.

Another departure from what I've been doing, my recent attempt at some DNB. I got involved with the Dogs on Acid dnb forum at just the right time to get involved in a challenge where they provide me with a bunch of great samples and I provide them with a great track. Call it beginners luck, but I enjoyed working on this, enjoy listening to it, think it sounds great, and already have 2 other tracks in a similar vein finished. Working on a 4th to round it out for an EP, but looking forward to exploring this sound and this side of promotion/industry/labels for a bit.

Phases of Bases (Original Mix)

Farside

Tech house. Or maybe full on dub-techno. This is one of a number of tracks I'm working on that decisively moves away from the house sound I've pursued for the last 4 years or so. More ambient/atmospheric, less afraid to pull back and breathe. I'm having a lot of fun working in this style and could see adding this track into low-key EP.

Tech house. Or maybe full on dub-techno. This is one of a number of tracks I'm working on that decisively moves away from the house sound I've pursued for the last 4 years or so. More ambient/atmospheric, less afraid to pull back and breathe. I'm having a lot of fun working in this style and could see adding this track into low-key EP.

Farside (Original Mix)

Slipstream

This is a nu-disco piece, another nod to Daft Punk on my part. I struggled with this one because the basic sounds were really solid, but I struggled to make the song go somewhere and not be just a loop. So, I used a send going hard into a distortion and delay, and that is controlled by a trance gate. The gate changes patterns throughout the song to drive some change and not just be an endless loop.

This is a nu-disco piece, another nod to Daft Punk on my part. I struggled with this one because the basic sounds were really solid, but I struggled to make the song go somewhere and not be just a loop. So, I used a send going hard into a distortion and delay, and that is controlled by a trance gate. The gate changes patterns throughout the song to drive some change and not just be an endless loop.

Slipstream (Original Mix)

Icarus

This was a plugin test that didn't go anywhere for a long time (about 3 years) but I kept going back to it every few months and adding a bit more because I really liked what was there. Eventually, I knew what needed to happen so I could finish it and move on, and that's kind of what this song sounds like.

This was a plugin test that didn't go anywhere for a long time (about 3 years) but I kept going back to it every few months and adding a bit more because I really liked what was there. Eventually, I knew what needed to happen so I could finish it and move on, and that's kind of what this song sounds like.

Icarus (Original Mix)

Shazam

This is the last track that got written on my Prophet Rev-2 before I sold it to make space for an incoming Moog One. In that sense it's kind of the end of an era because I do most of my writing at hardware synths whether they end up in the final mix or not. This was a case of a preset sounding really great with a certain chord, and then me writing around that chord mode and it's transpositions. The synth solo in the second half was not played live, I'm nowhere near good enough to play that fast over changing chords. Once I had the second half done, I kind of just made a good enough first half to get you there, it really is all about the second "drop" with this one.

This is the last track that got written on my Prophet Rev-2 before I sold it to make space for an incoming Moog One. In that sense it's kind of the end of an era because I do most of my writing at hardware synths whether they end up in the final mix or not. This was a case of a preset sounding really great with a certain chord, and then me writing around that chord mode and it's transpositions. The synth solo in the second half was not played live, I'm nowhere near good enough to play that fast over changing chords. Once I had the second half done, I kind of just made a good enough first half to get you there, it really is all about the second "drop" with this one.

Shazam (Original Mix)

Derandomized Number Generation

House-y track that I started and finished in a few months. I knew what this was going to be fairly quickly, the mix came together pretty fast, and the track is 'aight.

House-y track that I started and finished in a few months. I knew what this was going to be fairly quickly, the mix came together pretty fast, and the track is 'aight.

Derandomized Number Generation by James Pingel

Deramdomized Number Generation (Original Mix)

Deramdomized Number Generation by James Pingel

Deramdomized Number Generation

Icheothropyx

This was another track that started as a soundtest - pretty literally in this case, I had just bought a new hardware synth and was checking recording levels and audio routing. I just happened to play this sound and everything was recording anyways, so I made a quick track from the idea. A Moog One plays the held octaves and modulates while a UDO Super 6 plays the lead/arp sound.

From conception through to recording, mixing, and original release was around half a day. I also took the opportunity to use a new (at the time) AI to generate the album art. It's definitely better than anything I could come up with and took me around one tenth the time.

This was another track that started as a soundtest - pretty literally in this case, I had just bought a new hardware synth and was checking recording levels and audio routing. I just happened to play this sound and everything was recording anyways, so I made a quick track from the idea. A Moog One plays the held octaves and modulates while a UDO Super 6 plays the lead/arp sound.
From conception through to recording, mixing, and original release was around half a day. I also took the opportunity to use a new (at the time) AI to generate the album art. It's definitely better than anything I could come up with and took me around one tenth the time.

Icheothropyx (Original Mix)

Gravity and Spheres

This started out as a sound test for a few new instruments and with a little tweaking I had this track. I'd say this exemplifies the more ambient end of production for me, which comes really naturally. A lot of my work starts out as something like this and evolves into more structured music with more defined rhythms. However, every now and then you get a piece that just doesn't want to have anything added to it, and I occasionally put a different kind of work into those other pieces to make them into a piece that can still stand on its own even though there's not much going on. This is one of those pieces.

This started out as a sound test for a few new instruments and with a little tweaking I had this track. I'd say this exemplifies the more ambient end of production for me, which comes really naturally. A lot of my work starts out as something like this and evolves into more structured music with more defined rhythms. However, every now and then you get a piece that just doesn't want to have anything added to it, and I occasionally put a different kind of work into those other pieces to make them into a piece that can still stand on its own even though there's not much going on. This is one of those pieces.

Gravity and Spheres (Original Mix)

Crossed Wires

This is another tech house number I worked on around the same time as "Late Replies". This one is a simpler, cleaner track that is all about executing well on a simple song, with a little spice from distortion and delays.

This is another tech house number I worked on around the same time as "Late Replies". This one is a simpler, cleaner track that is all about executing well on a simple song, with a little spice from distortion and delays.

Crossed Wires (Original Mix)

Late Replies

A track that started with a simple idea: do a normal house track and instead of putting the open hat on an off-beat, put a chord stab there instead. After a long time working on it the track evolved into this tech-house number.

A track that started with a simple idea: do a normal house track and instead of putting the open hat on an off-beat, put a chord stab there instead. After a long time working on it the track evolved into this tech-house number.