dnldr year in music 2018 - part 1 January 2018

Its been a great year for dnldr in 2018, releasing many new singles and an album in conjunction with our partners. In this article, founder Mark N Hopgood gives an account of the path dnldr online music club followed in 2018.

dnldr - online music club
https://facebook.com/dnldr

The music year started on 5th Jan 2018 when Mark went to Cardiff to work with Richard on their @FadeFiles project with a Welsh single to be released later in the year. Dyddiau Dyfodol ( code name French Jam ) had the tune and arrangement constructed in that session.

Mark and Richard combined disco beats and retro synths to make a nostalgic upbeat track that was played weekly on national radio show BBC Radio Cymru.



Dyddiau Dyfodol - the first track worked on in January 2018 - release in July 2018.

Getting ready to record and demo "Wasn't Love at First Sight"

Following on from our post outlining the process Rachel and Mark go through in preparation for the recording studio, we now arrive at track 2 from the new album.

Here Mark has recorded a demo which will soon go off to our wonderful vocalist who will hopefully approve and then we'll get the rest done in the studio.

Here's the original lyrics from Rachel with just a few handwritten tweaks by Mark.

And here's the pre studio vocal guide.



Follow us on dnldr ( https://facebook.com/dnldr ) for latest info on progress of the new album.

How Mark & Rachel prepare a new musical track for their client

Rachel M Starr and Mark N Hopgood are working on a new album. This post takes you through the process of making the new track happen.

The stages of creating the track:

1. Lyrics
2. Tune / Melody
3. Arrangement
4. Demo Track
5. Vocal Guide
6. Vocals
7. Production
8. Mastering

They're currently putting this process into practice for track two off the upcoming album "The Only One".

For this piece Rachel structured the lyrics Verse, Pre-Chorus, Chorus, Bridge...

This week Rachel sent an album of lyrics to Mark with review track.

Here's a "The Only One" in its original form.

On Friday, Mark started listening to the reference track and while listening to the credits music at the end of "Children Of Men" had a musical idea for a melody line and quickly popped into the studio to record a melody. Saturday, Mark shaped up a demo and started with athe melody and verse 1. By the end of the day, the lyric sheet looked like this - a couple of tweeks that make the words easier for Mark to sing the demo / vocal guide.

Its a bit battered having been handled, written on and various crumbs from buttered hot cross buns and tea spilled on it through stolen moments in the day.

And here's what the demo sounds like after 3 hours work. This is now ready for sending to our vocalist.

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Mairk - Breaking Forty

We're gonna party!

1st June 2018 Mairk releases a new single, Breaking Forty inspired by Kylie Minogues recent landmark birthday. This dance pop track was co-written with Rachel M Starr from Brisbane, Australia.

Hi-Q edition of Things Improve with Time

28th May 2018, London, UK
Mairk has released a new mix of Things Improve With time. According to the YouTube video text.

Mairk produced this version of Things Improve With Time for audiophiles, music producers and DJs who want to set their own limits to what they listen to. Following on from Oncle Gilbert's House Of Marley Smile Jamaica edition, Mairk felt that he needed a version of the track that would be as close to what he was hearing in the studio. Read more ...

The result is an unmastered, non loud version which can be listened to at reasonable volume and also at high volume / high gain situations such as audiophile room or club, with no additional artifacts getting in the way.

Mairk has termed the mix - Hi-Q - with the phrase choose your limits, so that the appropriate level of loudness can be chosen.

To truly hear this 24-bit stereo WAV file in all its glory, please email mairk@dnldr.com A copy will be furnished to you.

Other ways to listen:

Lower quality via the youtube above.
On the move - House Of Marley mix via bandcamp - https://mairk.bandcamp.com/track/things-improve-with-time-marley-headphones-mix

House of Marley Smile Jamaica Earphones - Exclusive Mix from Mairk

Artist at dnldr, Mairk has just released a new mix of Things Improve With Time, mastered especially for Marley Sound Earphones.

Mairk says, "I'm on my second pair of these wonderful earbuds. I travel into London daily and these come with me. I decided to make my mix really shine using these earbuds as a reference for mastering, so I selected Rachel M Starr's lyrics and set to work on a retro house feel track."

Mairk also uses a pair of Sennheiser headphones when at home for listening, "I really enjoy the sound of these, especially in the bass department. If you use these to listen to my track you'll be getting what I call an out of room experience. It really makes me feel like something powerful is approaching and gets my hear racing."

Mairk


Marley Smile Jamaica
https://amzn.to/2LxmPrM


Sennheiser HD 598SR
https://amzn.to/2ITavR1

Artist Focus - Kirine

Kirine

dnldr producer Oncle Gilbert has worked with Kirine on a number of occasions, this post highlights a track recently sung by Kirine. Original track '4th of July' by Mark N Hopgood and Rachel M Starr.

dnldr: What makes you tick?
Kirine: I'm a linguist by my head, singer by my heart

dnldr: Where are you from?
Kirine: I was born in the early 80s, in Romania. I currently live in Germany.

dnldr: You translated and sand La fin de la nuit, do you have any other talents?
Kirine: I speak six languages (Romanian, English, German, Italian, French and Spanish) and I even have a BA in translating and interpreting for the first three. Over the years, I've worked as an interpreter, workshop organizer and preschool teacher.

dnldr: Wow, do you find translating easy?
Kirine: Learning foreign languages has always come easy to me. In addition I have an ear for singing in tongues, whichever they may be; I have even sung in Finnish, Japanese, Afrikaans and African, although I don't speak them, as well as various fantasy languages.

dnldr: What about music, when did you learn to sing?
Kirine: Music and singing have been in my heart for as long as I know. They slowly turned from a hobby into my profession when their voices became too loud for me to ignore anymore. And they were singing in harmony, in all the languages I know... and many others!

dnldr: How did you start professionally?
Kirine: I started singing officially on the Bandhub musician collaboration platform, with people from all around the world (that is where I also met my husband, who is often my instrumentalist). In 2015 I was recommended the Fiverr freelancer platform, which has enabled me to turn music into a profession and really develop as an artist. And this is an ongoing process.

I sing a lot of educational children songs and work with many language schools, translating and tweaking lyrics, a talent that I discovered I also have. However, my soft and often cute vocals go well with a lot of music styles and thus I've lent them to steampunk songs, electronic pop, EDM, affirmation songs, lots of ballads and even to musicals. Again, in all the languages I speak and also others. The list just goes on.

dnldr: Where do you record?
Kirine: I'm recording from my little home studio, and sometimes composing and arranging whole songs, together with my husband. 

dnldr: What are your favourite tracks on dnldr?
Kirine: I love La fin de la nuit, but my all time favourite is You Help Me Show My Love - it's usually on my playlist at home.

dnldr: Where can we find out more about your work?
Kirine: https://www.spektralfarben-music.com/kirine/

dnldr: Thank you Kirine, we look forward to hearing more of your wonderful voice, soon.


You Help Me Show My Love will be released in 2018 as part of Mairk's album Fairlights and Fantasies.