Hip-Hop Archive - Nadine de Macedo

Nuff Said – Everything’s been said

Nadine — Fri, 01 Dec 2023 11:05:00 +0000

Do you like nu metal? In case you thought it’s some old and forgotten music from the 2000s, it’s time to wake up. “Nuff Said” has catchy riffs, new sounds and a meaningful lyric. You have to listen to that song if you enjoyed “Where does it end?”. Some months ago, I felt inspired to write a nu metal song. I started with a riff in a weird scale that is repeated all over the song. Ampersandman helped me to record the instrumental and lend his voice for the chorus. Of course, there are enough topics we’re fed up with, but we didn’t want to push the song into a political direction. We are happy that Brett Anthony joined us as a rapper and brought meaningful lyrics into the collaboration. Fight your inner demons, that are dragging you down! After months of intense work, “Nuff Said” has been finished and is now available on SoundCloud and YouTube. Don’t miss this song if you enjoyed “Where does it end?”. It definitely good the same vibe and style, but the message is positive. Stay strong!

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Monsieur Lovin – Or, how to make things right

Nadine — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 10:04:00 +0000

After working on “Heavy Jam” earlier this year, StevieJ and I decided to work on another song soon. I experimented with a 90s R&B beat. StevieJ wrote the lyrics, rapped and sang about a go-getter, who wants to be in a relationship. Thus, “Monsieur Lovin” was born, a fictional character that is an allusion to a famous American movie of the 2000s. My beat has been inspired by the 90s R&B classics. As I barely have experience with R&B and hip-hop music, it’s been quite challenging to produce a beat, but I am very happy with the result! To avoid interruptions of my album promotion, we decided to upload “Monsieur Lovin” on StevieJ’s SoundCloud first. Now you can listen to the song on my YouTube channel and my SoundCloud account too! Have fun – fresh music will come soon 🙂

This post Monsieur Lovin – Or, how to make things right was published at Nadine de Macedo.

New remixes for electro heads!

Nadine — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 10:00:00 +0000

After half a year, it’s time for showcasing new remixes. This time, remixers worked on songs of my electro album “Event Horizon” and my multi-genre album “Going My Way”. I also remixed something after a long time! Read here where to find the remixes. Invent Animate – Without A Whisper (Nadine de Macedo Remix) If you listen to a lot of metalcore and djent, you may know the band Invent Animate that received a high praise for their album “Heavener”, which has been published via UNFD. I didn’t expect this band to host a remix contest, but I was all in, as this album has been on heavy rotation (pun intended). It’s been fun to mix trance, industrial and metal. You can find my remix here, but unfortunately it’s not in the top 13. However, the song got one of the most clicks on SoundCloud. Check this SoundCloud playlist for more interesting interpretations. Beautiful (ELEKTROPOPS Remix) Some months ago, the synth wave, electro pop and 80s producer asked ELEKTROPOPS asked me to remix the songs “Beautiful” and “Neotokyo”. If you enjoyed my songs on the album “Event Horizon” and are curious how they sound in the 80s, you should check the ELEKTROPOPS remix and his YouTube channel. Neotokyo (ELEKTROPOPS Remix) “Neotokyo” from the same album “Event Horizon” also received a brand-new remix by ELEKTROPOPS, that reminds me of 80s synth wave. You can also find it on his YouTube channel. Neotokyo (CYBTRAXX Remix) If you enjoy trance and progressive, you may love the CYBTRAXX Remix. It’s going into a slightly different direction than my original, and I loved the banging main part. You can find it on the YouTube channel of CYBTRAXX. Weight (Lemon Muzik Remix) If you’re rather into trap and r’n’b music, be sure to check the Lemon Muzik remix of “Weight”. Some of you may remind this trap rock song from my album “Going My Way”, and I’m happy to present an even more trap version on SoundCloud. Where are the other remixes? I usually repost and promote the remixes on my YouTube or SoundCloud playlists. The next promotional blog has to wait for some months, as I lack of capacity. There will be some uplifting news here!

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Deep dive when the dark gets “Darker”

Nadine — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 10:05:00 +0000

A slight departure from my usual genres. Yes, I have been involved in an alternative hip hop collaboration. “Darker” is a 3 way collaboration with an interesting background story you could have never guessed. “Darker” is a not only a 3-way-collaboration across the pond – it’s also a 3-song-merge. One day, I had the funny idea to create a hip hop beat. I never did this before! My working title has been “Sorting Thoughts” cause that’s exactly what I did. I uploaded my beat and only a few minutes later Code Energy sent me the link to a rap a cappella called “Darker” with the same tempo. Downloading his files, I figured that we had the same part length, so his song merged perfectly into mine. At the same time, Spazsquatch has been working on a chorus, that also worked perfectly with my song. We took some time to rerecord everything and extend the arrangement. That’s how it sounds today: Inspired by the water texture beats and the lyrics, I drew the cover image. I’m sorry that I forgot to screen capture the process, as half has been drawn with markers. I hope you enjoy my beats, Code-Energy‘s lyricism rap and Spazsquatch‘s catchy hook. Three songs merged into one – and a wonderful team I have never got to know before.

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How many music genres have I tried?

Nadine — Mon, 16 May 2022 15:00:00 +0000

I have been asked quite a couple of times, in how many music genres I have tried to write songs. I call myself a multi-genre songwriter and composer for a reason, but it has been very hard to give a number. I decided to start a list with different examples that will be maintained regularly. My comfort zone Being a multi-genre songwriter is hard. You find inspiration everywhere, that you’re constantly dropped out of your comfort zone. Let’s talk, what is easy for me in different roles. Please note that some genres are in brackets, because I cannot enjoy them for personal reasons. This list is from May 2024. As a producer / mixing engineer, I love moody, heavy and melancholic music. I enjoy hard drums, heavy guitar riffs and multiple styles of vocals. It’s easy for me to mix a dense arrangement with vocals, guitars, piano, bass and drums. I feel best doing:Alternative Rock, Pop Rock, Progressive Metal, Progressive Rock, Blues Rock, Punk Rock, (Electro House), (Hard Trance), (Epic Trance) As a composer, I have tons of fun with heavy melancholic and complex music. I’m a big fan of weird chord progressions and modulations, which is best in progressive genres. But I also do pop music, when I’m allowed to escape the usual 4 chord scheme. I’m still taking a break from electronic music. I feel best doing:Progressive Metal, Progressive Rock, Alternative Rock, Pop Rock, Pop Ballad, (Progressive Trance), (Epic Trance) As a lyricist, I enjoy writing heavy lyrics and diving into shady characters. I don’t mind strong language or complicated words. Storytelling ain’t my thing, so I have issues with country and singer-songwriter. My way to write is quite straight and direct – I am not a poet! I only write in English. I feel best doing:Alternative Rock, Alternative Metal, Nu Metal, Pop Rock, Progressive Metal, Progressive Rock My skills as an instrumentalist are inferior, so I have to rely on mid-tempo songs with easy progressions. I hope that I can catch up on that soon and try new genres. My playing is heavy, so don’t bother me with soft emotional songs. I feel best doing:Pop Rock, Alternative Rock, Blues Rock As a listener, I love heavy, fast, complex and melancholic music. This could be literally everything, but I don’t enjoy electronic dance music right now. I like listening to:Djent, Metalcore, Progressive Metal, Nu Metal, Symphonic Metal, Folk Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Industrial Metal, Grunge, Stoner Rock, Indie Rock, Swing, (Aggrotech), (Future Pop), (Electro House), (Epic Trance), (Hard Trance), (Dubstep), (Trip Hop) This is NOT for me – neither as listener, musician nor producer: Experimental, Ambient, New Age, Synthwave, Schlager, Humppa, Retrowave, Future Bass, Hardstyle, Rave, Gabber, Future House, Classical (especially baroque), Neoclassical (exept metal), Bossa Nova, Latin, Free Jazz, Neurofunk, Baile Funk, Contemporary R&B (stuff in the 90s is good though), Mumble Rap, Funk, Reggae, Reggaeton, Danceholl, Grindcore, Speed Metal – And I’m not a fan of the 70s! A brief overview My list is very long, because I tried many genres. So I decided to write it down as a table. The left column is filled with an emoji, how I feel about trying this genre again. The digit tells the number of finished songs or remixes. Some songs are not online yet, which is why I wrote the numbers in brackets. The links go to YouTube, Bandcamp or SoundCloud, where you can listen to a sample. How to interpret the emojis:😄 = I love it and want to do more.😊 = I will try again, when I have ideas.😥 = I keep on trying, but I haven’t succeeded yet.😔 = I gave up, because it doesn’t catch me (anymore)😕 = Never again. Electro I started writing electronic music in 1998 and producing in 2003. I have tried over 30 subgenres of electronic music and figured out that my home base is trance. Most trance related genre were easy for me, but I struggled really hard in genres that need sound design or rhythm. Electronic music is in hiatus, because I don’t have fun listening, writing nor producing. Fun Genre Amount Example Experience 😕 Acid Techno 2 Acid Orbit Techno made me shift my focus from melodies to sounddesign and automation. Though succeeding with two songs I don’t feel well in that genre. 😔 Acid Trance 4 Fruchtsäure However, combining acid techno with trance has been easier for me. Adding melodies is a game changer for me, but I won’t produce this genre on my own. 😊 Aggrotech 1 All Hallow’s Eve It has been fun to produce this genre, but it was harder than expected. Whenever I have a simple melody, I will try again. 😕 Ambient 1 Ambience I’m not calm and patient enough to enjoy ambient and chill out. That’s not for me. 😕 Ballearic Trance 1 Yesterday’s Past I never planned to write something in this genre, because I don’t like it. 😕 Big Room (1) tba Today’s edm music is full of festival and big room. You need simple melodies and heavy drops. Both is a challenge for me, and I don’t really like it. But I’m working on a remix. 😔 Chill Out 2 Deep Heart It took a while to produce a chill out song. Same as ambient, the focus lies on sounddesign. I love the result, but I cannot imagine doing this all the time. 😕 Classic Trance 14 World’s Future After producing trance with the sounds of he 90s and 00s for 15 years, it’s getting boring. It has been very simple for me, but not again, please! 😕 Dance 6 Hold Me Tight Starting with dance music, I realized, that I shift towards trance. So I gave up after 3 years. 😕 Deep House / / Major props for sounddesigners. It is very hard to make textures, blips and cuts sound harmonic and cool. I lost my patience. 😕 Dream House 1 Moonlight I often feel like dream house and classic trance a connected. I can produce this, but I don’t like to, because it’s closer to ambient. 😥 Drum & Bass / / Well, I was not able to program the charismatic beat with a simple bass. Maybe I try again someday, but not now. 😥 Dubstep 2 / I like the hard wobble in dubstep, but I didn’t expect the synths to be so hard to program. Rhythmic issues followed. I succeed remixing something, but I am not allowed to upload. 😊 Electro House 5 Neotokyo After leaving trance, electro house became my second home. I can go heavier and go crazy with the bassline. It’s a good style to remix, but songwriting is hard. 😥 Electro Industrial 1 Liminal Spaces Well, I tried it a couple of times, but I had issues in sounddesign. This song definitely has some influence but isn’t pure industrial. 😥 Electro Swing / / Electro swing uses plenty of old samples with house beats. I am not a big fan of sampling, so I want to write the swing arrangement by myself. This is what makes this genre hard. I am still trying! 😄 Epic Trance 11 Adagio of Life I was so glad when I found that niche in trance music. My only possibility to write weird chord progressions and gigantic arrangements in electronic music. It’s still hard for me to write the orchestral part. On hiatus. 😕 Goa Trance / / It’s been okay to program arpeggios and bass, but I don’t feel goa and psy. 😊 House 2 Lost Letter I never expected that house is connected to soul music. If you don’t feel it, you won’t create a cool groove. I need good vocals and loops to help me with the drums, otherwise it won’t groove. 😄 Hard Trance 7 Dream of You Oh yes, I enjoyed rocking out! A genre I like to continue when I have simple melodies. 😊 Indietronica 4 Dystopia It’s never been my aim to connect pop with idm and trance, but I did a couple of these. And it worked. It’s nothing I could do intentionally. 😊 Rock House 2 It Only Takes A Miracle I love rock – I love house – But getting a good riff is harder than expected. This may happen again whenever I have a cool riff – But only with real guitars, please. 😕 Uplifting Trance 25 Breathing Rush Instruments and melodies were just in my dna, but I cannot listen to this genre anymore. 😕 Progressive Trance 9 Lightyears Away Sidechain compression made me produce this genre more often than expected. And I loved it. And now I don’t like it anymore. 😕 Tech House 3 Promenade This has been very hard, because I have no idea of sounddesign. The songs I wrote here were just experimenting with knobs. 😕 Tech Trance 4 Transitional However, combining experimental techno with trance has been easier than house. But it’s nothing I’d do again. 😕 Trap 1 Weight Trap is full of sounddesign. I didn’t succeed in writing a song, and ended up with a hybrid. 😊 Trip Hop 10 Going Nowhere This seems to be my go to genre, when I try downtempo electronic music. Pop & Hip Hop I started composing and writing pop music in 2001, but only around 2005 I was able to collaborate and produce. I need vocalists and guitarists to realize these projects. This is why I see myself as composer, but I also produce and write lyrics. I love big arrangements and acoustic instruments. Fun Genre Amount Example Experience 😕 Art Pop / / What I like about art pop is the openess to weird scales and sounds. I tried it often, but I have trouble with sounddesign. 😊 Ballad Pop 6 A.L.E.X. I usually don’t listen to ballads, but they are easy to write. I have a knack for melodramatic melodies. 😥 Country / / It is very tricky to get the country sound without banjo. I haven’t succeeded yet. 😥 Contemporary RnB / / The modern version of rnb is not my favourite genre, but I just had to try it. I wrote a beat and a chorus… and now I’m stuck. 😕 Dance Pop 2 Dancing In the beginning of the 2000s, I listened to dance pop – but I don’t like to produce it. My melodies and harmonies are not happy enough. I enjoyed it more than pure dance. 😔 Folk 1 I’m not angry Practising fingerpicking on the guitar helped me to understand folk music. It’s not my favourite though. 😔 Future Pop 1 Perpetual Machine I succeeded in writing genre typical lyrics, but sounddesign is still too hard. 😊 Gothic Pop 1 Seven Days To Live Dark, soothing, melancholic pop music with a bit of electro. Just my thing. 😔 Hip-Hop 3 Darker Programming beats has been much harder than I expected. I wrote a couple of raps, but nobody was able to turn them into a song, so I trashed them. I won’t continue unless I have a great idea. 😊 Indie Pop 2 Going My Way I never intended to try this but I liked it. Even more than folk. 😄 Pop 5 Promises Writing pop music is quite easy for me, but my tendencies go to adding a touch of rock. Pop with synthesizers and synthetic beats is hard for me. 😄 Pop Punk 5 When I’m Gone I produced many songs in that direction, and also wrote lyrics, but I’m quite fresh to writing. More to come! 😄 Pop Rock 11 Don’t tell me if it hurts What I like about pop rock is the possibility to use simple hooklines in a rock arrangement. This genre is simple for me. 😊 Trance Pop 3 Daylight Means Endeavour I will continue on this when I have more ideas. Rock & Metal Since 2006, I love writing rock music. After a couple of years, the connection to metal has been given. My guitar playing and singing is not good...

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