If you’re in the eastern Pennsylvania area, there’s a good chance you’ve already heard of Blake Dannen - or more precisely, you’ve probably heard his voice. A radio personality in the Lehigh Valley area for over a decade, Blake currently resides on 99.9FM “The Hawk”, a classic hits station (check out his host page here) at 2-7PM, as well as 93.3FM (WMMR) in Philadelphia.

I first met Blake (online, that is) via MySpace, where I saw he was a fan of BT and The Crystal Method, two of my own favorite artists, as well as a myriad of other bands from Led Zeppelin to The Clash. On his MySpace page, he has a blog with a monthly feature called “Music of the Month” where he features and interviews musicians from a wide range of genres. I was honored to hear that he wanted to have me as the featured artist for March!

So, the interview is now up: just click here to get to Blake’s page, and then go to the blog. It’s pretty in-depth - if you’re curious about how I ended up producing music and remixing, I think you’ll find it interesting! You can also read entries for previous months as well as lots of other great content. You’ll notice “Mindbender” is his profile song, too… this guy is a class act So, definitely check out his page, tune into “The Hawk” if you’re in the area, and show your support for a great DJ!

As an avid reader of Electronic Musician (EM) magazine, I was happy to see OverClocked ReMix getting some attention in the March 2008 issue (page 24) after I contacted an editor, Tracy Katz, to tell them about the site. She hadn’t heard of it before, but became interested after hearing and reading what OCR was all about.

It was another pleasant surprise to see that I was personally mentioned in one of the Electronic Musician digital newsletters, eMusician Xtra, last week! Check it out here. You can subscribe to that newsletter, as well as a number of others, at the Subscriptions section of the EM site.

A little over a month ago I saw a contest posted at Squaresound.com, an unofficial hub for all music Square-related. Contestants were invited to remix any Nobuo Uematsu track for the chance at winning some nice concert tickets. I went through and scrapped three sketches before I finally arrived on an idea I liked, and submitted it twenty minutes before the contest deadline. So, seeing this post on the front page of Squaresound was definitely a pleasant surprise:

“All the judging reports are in, and we have a winner of our Tribute to Nobuo Uematsu Arrangement Competition! With an impressive combined score of 96.22% from our judges for his Final Fantasy VI medley entitled “Dirt Devil,” Andrew Aversa is our winner! Congratulations Andrew!

For his efforts, Andrew will receive two free VIP tickets to the upcoming Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy concert in Chicago, Illinois on March 1, 2008. These tickets include prime seats at the concert, a free program and concert CD, and the ability to attend an exclusive meet-and-greet with Nobuo Uematsu following the performance. He’ll also receive a copy of the OverClocked ReMix fan album Final Fantasy VII: Voices of the Lifestream.“

OK, so getting a copy of my own album is pretty funny, but this contest has turned out to be an awesome experience. With 52 other contestants, I’m sure things were really close - I loved the runner-up entries, personally. Kenley Kristofferson of the Into the Score podcast had the second place spot
with an awesome Final Fantasy VI big band arrangement, which I was happy to see since he’s a great guy and a real champion of video game music as legitimate art.

Anyway, despite the distance, I’ll be heading to the Distant Worlds concert in two weeks with Jillian Goldin and I think we’re both going to be reduced to fanboy and fangirl (respectively) when we get to meet Uematsu after the show. I’ll let y’all know how it goes!

(Oh, and you can download the winning remix right here.)

I’ve been on a lot of social networking and music sites, but one I’ve discovered recently has caught my attention. It’s called OurStage and it revolves around a monthly contest system where fans vote on music and videos to see which songs and videos are best in their respective categories, and best overall for the month.

So how does it work, exactly? There are a number of categories and artists can submit up to two songs per category per month. Then, as a listener, you simply click the “Judge” button, select a category, and listen to a pair of songs at a time. Once you’ve listened to at least 15 seconds of each (the more, the better - to be fair) you decide which of the two you like more, and by how much. There’s an option if you think they are just as good, too. It’s a really simple process that works well; because you are presented with randomized song pairs it’s hard for artists to unfairly “game” the system.

If you’re interested in checking out the Electronic category, where I’ve entered some music, check out the banner below. Judging is actually really fun.. I spent awhile in the “World” category, myself.

I received lots of awesome submissions for my remix contest (see previous post) and believe me, it was very difficult to pick the winners! However, after some careful thought, I’ve decided. They are…

* Big Giant Circles (Jimmy Hinson) from the USA, remixing Mindbender
* Ellywu2 (Carpet Monster) from the UK, remixing Warhead

Congratulations to both of them! However there were so many great tracks that I felt it necessary to pick some honorable mentions as well.

* AnotherSoundscape (Sweden) - Mindbender
* Phrakture (Canada) - Mindbender
* Sidel (Russia) - Warhead
* Skrypnyk (Canada) - Warhead

You can check out the winning entries right here.

Thanks to everyone that entered - remember, you’re free to share your tracks and continue using the remix components as long as I’m credited.

You may have already heard, as word of this contest is spreading from forum posts and my newsletter mailing, but here’s the lowdown for anyone that missed it; I’m holding a remix contest for two tracks off Antigravity, “Mindbender” and “Warhead”. Remixes containing all the audio elements are available to the public, and the best two remixes sent to me (admin at zirconstudios dot com) by Feb 1, 2008 will be featured on my next album, and the winning producer(s) will get a cut of the sales. You can pick up the packs and original songs here:

Warhead (original ver)
Warhead Remix Pack
Mindbender (original ver)
Mindbender Remix Pack

You can use as much or as little of the audio content from the packs as you want. You can change the style, tempo, key signature, rhythms, melodies, chords, add your own material, etc… provided that the end result still sounds like a remix of either of these two songs! If a layperson can’t make out any real connection between your mix and the original, then you’ve probably gone a bit too far, but you still have a lot of creative leeway.

Please note that ANYONE can use the remix packs and create their own tracks to release to the public, even outside the contest. As long as there’s no commercial interest involved (w/o my explicit permission) and I’m credited as the original artist, you are welcome to distribute your own mixes and arrangements as you please.

In addition, I also have over $500 in prizes available to winning producer(s)! They include the awesome Zebra 2 soft synth, by u-he, as well as my mastering tool of choice T-Racks (boxed plugin edition)! The latter is produced by IK Multimedia and distributed by eSoundz, two excellent companies. I wouldn’t have these tools available if I didn’t absolutely love ‘em so even if you don’t win the contest, check out the plugs regardless.

All the latest information and further details are available here: OCReMix contest thread. The contest is also posted at:

KVRAudio
Nu Skool Breaks
Reeemix
Laptop Rockers

Have fun, and happy remixing!

Yo! If you check the video game remixes section you’ll find that three tracks I was involved in for the Final Fantasy 7 ReMix project are available for download now. They are: “Deliverance of the Heart”, “Lunatic Moon”, and “Nomura Limit”. They’re available at OCR too, but in case you like getting all your zircon MP3s in one place, I figured I’d put ‘em up here too.

I’d also like to announce the addition of a new EP to my studio album page. Titled “The World Circuit”, it’s an 8-song, 20-minute adventure through a range of electronic and ethnic styles. Within the next few days you will be able to hear previews and pick up an MP3 version at CD Baby - it is also available in my shop as a digital WAV download. I don’t have any plans to print it up at this time. If you’re looking for a CD full of progressive breaks this might not be your thing, but if you’re at all interested in world music, soundtrack music, or interesting combinations of melody, harmony, and rare instruments, check it out.

So, this post is actually a little late, but things have been very busy and I’ve barely had any free time to sit down and write a news post. You’ve undoubtedly heard of this if you visit OC ReMix; for the last 20 months I’ve been directing a remix project called “Voices of the Lifestream”, a collaborative effort between over 40 musicians that spans 45 songs from the soundtrack Final Fantasy VII. On September 14th, it was finally released to the public and very quickly became the most downloaded and heavily-trafficked torrent on OCR.

VotL has been a ton of work - besides coordinating nearly everything, I contributed in varying amounts to five arrangements on the project and edited/mastered about a dozen more. However, it has been well worth it. A review at Music4Games summarized the album as being “one of the most impressive and encompassing listening experiences in the world of video game music.” The music is not grounded in any one style; there are hard trance remixes, solo piano, acoustic guitar, jazz, j-pop, metal, new age, and everything in between. Some have criticized it for this reason, but I contend that FFVII’s soundtrack is so diverse, that trying to pigeonhole it into one genre, or even three or five, would be doing it a disservice. I feel that by letting talented musicians collaborate and create their own unique interpretations, with no guidelines other than the basic standards of quality on OCR, the best result is achieved.

So, if you’re a fan of zircon, FFVII, OC ReMix, or just good music in general, you have nothing to lose by checking out the VotL website and downloading it. Remember, all the music is FREE!

One more time for good measure: “Voices of the Lifestream” Project Website (ff7.ocremix.org)

Enjoy!

ps. I will be posting some collaborations I was involved in, as well as a solo track I did for the project, shortly.

Have you been to Pandora.com yet? If not, you gotta check it out today. It’s essentially a personalized, 24/7 internet radio station with up to 100 custom channels you can listen to anytime. Simply go to the site, type in a song or artist, and the system will play things that it thinks you would like. You can give each track a thumbs up or thumbs down to help the system determine your exact preferences.

So, if you like BT, for example, this site is a great way to discover lots of new artists. It catalogues all kinds of artists, from unsigned indies all the way to the majors.

I’m posting because Antigravity was just added into their “Music Genome” system. This means that if you like my music, you can simply type in “zircon” - or a specific song, like “Mindbender” - and you’ll be presented with an endless stream of other artists that you’ll probably like also. I tried it myself, and I gotta say, I found some cool stuff on there! What’s even nicer is that electronic music fans that haven’t heard of me might be presented with songs from Antigravity while listening to other artists they already like. Everyone wins.

The 24 hour $5 sale of Antigravity I ran on August 1st was so popular that I’ve decided to do something similar. This time, you can pick up Antigravity AND two other CDs for a mere $15 total! Initially, fellow electronic artist sgx offered up two CDs to the deal, but they sold so fast that he only has one participating now. Taking advantage of the deal is simple. Just add these CDs to your cart:

Antigravity
Better Than Sliced Beats (the sgx remix album)

Then choose one more from the following list:

CD Baby Special Sale

Once you have ‘em all in your cart, the price will drop to $5 a CD. Really an incredible deal, and a great way to try out some new artists without hurting your wallet too much.

Additionally, I’ve also instituted a referral program for anyone who gets three people to purchase *any* of my albums through this website OR CD Baby. Buyers can note who referred them on both CD Baby as they check out, or by emailing me after making the Paypal purchase. If you refer three people, you’ll get a digital download of any one of my albums for free. You can apply this towards the future release of my upcoming ethnic/electronic side project, as well.

Once you’ve referred three people that actually make the purchase, just email me and provide me with their info so I can double-check, along with the CD that you want. I’ll get you the link ASAP.