0% buffered00:00Current time00:00

NATIVE SKETCHES

21 // Bamz

I already had a concept in mind for this track, so I knew exactly what sounds I was looking for. I was set on mixing live-sounding orchestral and jazzy elements with bouncy drums and experimental chord progressions. I used three main instruments for the beat – Battery 4, Kontakt 5, and Absynth 5. First, I recorded the electric piano and jazz guitar loop using sounds from Kontakt 5’s Factory Library. I then started programming drums using individual drum sounds from Battery 4. Following the drums, was the bass – again, from the Kontakt Factory Library. I added strings from the String Ensemble library to give the track an orchestral feel, and then added some rhythm and swing by dropping in MIDI loops from Cuba. Finally, I used Absynth 5 for the atmospheric pad. All the sounds you hear are presets. I didn’t want to tamper with the instruments too much, and I also made sure to use the instruments’ built-in effects, dynamic controls, etc. wherever possible. The dedicated effects I used were Driver, Guitar Rig 5, RC 24 and Replika XT.

Biography

Bamz is a programmer, producer, and DJ hailing from South-West London. Her musical journey started at the young age of 6, when she started beatboxing, before beginning to produce her own music at the age of 10. In 2011, she had the honour of performing alongside legendary dub-poet, Linton Kwesi Johnson, and the following year left state schooling to pursue her musical career. Today, she acts as the “right hand producer” and live DJ for rapper Nadia Rose.