So… what the hell have I been up to…
I’m sure the last year has been an ‘interesting’ one for others as well… so my original plan was shift over to just having the plugin, stop the Kontakt libraries. Focus on that. This was in May last year.
This was a bit stupid, several reasons really - the plugin - I thought was like a month/6 weeks out..
Hint. It wasn’t.
I was rushing things, I was racing to get things done - this wasn’t the right approach, everyone around me kept saying ‘f*ck it, put it out’
- I’ve worked for 7 years on this thing, it would be stupid to half ass the end. I knew that.
I’d taken the site down, so I thought - lets get the website redone. I’d wanted to shift over my way of doing things for a long time, different payment provider, different webstore.
To do this the amazing Bureau de Fatigue has redesigned everything. This has taken A LOT of work! I’m not the most visual dude tbh, I find that stuff difficult, so working with someone who is great at it has been a godsend.
The Plugin -
It is coming, I’m currently in the testing phase on PC & in the final stages of the Mac version, I’m hoping this hard work will make future plugins way quicker to develop. I mean I’ve learned Java & C++ it's been a journey haha!
I’ve gone the long route on some stuff - vector knobs & graphics (so it doesn’t pixelate when you zoom). It’ll be done when its done sort of thing. It’ll be fabulous.
Moving forwards
I think sometimes as creatives you feel an urgency to move forwards at the expense of previous projects “you liked that, but man you’re REALLY going to like the thing I’m working on”, cutting them adrift almost (I hope this isn’t just me!).
From experience, this doesn’t work if you’re running a business, still paying for hosting, upkeep, corporation tax etc etc.
Anyway, I was being a bit silly taking everything down. I’ve made a lot of mistakes with Majetone and it’s a constant journey of hard lessons and learning, that I hope you can understand and forgive. I’m committed to this being my livelihood, which at time of writing - it isn't.
I think there's a mad misconception that you put something on the internet and immediately you're making millions, just know that isn't true.
I’m really pleased to announce my first one shot pack “Dream Kit : One Shots - Volume 1”
This first pack is my take on a modern rock sound, punchy drums, recorded in the great room at Otterhead Studios.
For the occasion I rented a Tama Bell Brass - the sound of modern rock. You can check out the library here.
I’ve also made one tuning of the Bell Brass available for free
What a great snare. I’m such a nerd for drums, especially all those sorts of things that get blown up as being made of unobtanium. The Bell Brass was it’s own thing, it recorded like nothing else - there’s this mid range to it, I have a Ludwig Bronze snare that gets close but doesn’t have the shell mass… I could nerd out on it for ages!
To try and make this as flexible as possible I’ve included Mixed, Stems and Tracks. Mixed are my bounce (through the majetone mix chain!), Stems (Close, Ohs & Rooms), Tracks are 8 separate mics. I’ve also included (in the main library) Slate Trigger Samples
I’ve got loads more One Shot packs planned, keep an eye out for the pre-order for the plugin as well. I really cannot wait to be back making samples, hearing all the music people make with them.
Thanks for getting this far, the last year has probably been the hardest of my life, I appreciate everyone who supports me and Majetone. If you’re going through a tough time, keep going.
Best wishes,
James