[jonnoMember]

Track 8, Sky News Vs top dance/trance track with BBC News in beeps thrown in… Really like it!

[Spoons]

Hi Jonathan – welcome along! I'm also a big fan of (guess what?) the Key package… and was surprised to find it on the Octagon website a long time ago. I also loved The Wolf – and didn't you do the Hallam FM package in 1999?

Really good sound – and it was a surprise to hear Alfa suddenly go down that route. So did you write the Kiss 102/105 package?

[Spoons]

Oh and just to add – I LOVED Gordon's Groove!

[octagon]

I did the Hallam stuff along with Anthony Gay as exec producer. It was a bit of a toughy as I recall. I was never really happy with the logo which I felt sounded like a football chant and I didn't think it sat naturally with the music.

I did the Kiss 105 package as I was doing remixes for lots of companies back then but I was not given full reign like on the Key 103 package. The tracks were chosen by others (not sure who) and I was just asked to program them up. I did mention at the time that I thought some of the examples given were maybe a touch dated and after suggesting something less “ravey”, everyone was happy to go with my alternative examples. I Did 3 cuts for galaxy 101 and if you listen to the 1190107560_1995_galaxy_101.mp3 I downloaded you will hear a massive difference in production quality half way thru !!

For Key 103 I just did my own thing as I had sort of proved myself on the other packages. I worked directly with Tony Morey and it was really successful because both of us got on great and really clicked. the result was a nice mix of contemporary styles which sounded fresh.

Gordons Groove is another story !… It keeps getting rereleased and put on Albums but as Brothers records went bust we don't see any royalties for it and haven't done since 2000 ! Again… Glad you like it though and its really nice to hear appreciation for what I've done.

Being in the background means that you work for the love of it + the money and not the fame and recognition. When the money doesn't come in …….
So its nice to hear that i have fans out there I never knew existed

[octagon]

Galaxy 101 demo

Play Spot the difference

2Unl!m!ted was well and truly own3d !

http://jinglemad.com/e107_files/public/1226543312_12926_FT66865_1190107560_1995_galaxy_101.mp3 filename:1190107560_1995_galaxy_101.mp3

[IainJohnstonMember]

That 2BR track 8 certainly catches the “ambient” style of the era!

What a price a “Personal Cut” re-sing Jonathan? (less the “pips” of course?) :^)

[octagon]

Which station is it for ? FM or Digital or Internet ? If its for just the one cut then it would be more expensive as I need to pay the singers by the hour unless I can tag the sing into an existing session at the studio (I use another studio for recording singers)

[m_hodgeyMember]

Jonathan,

Many thanks for coming on here and sharing the information about the packages you produced for Alfasound. As others have already pointed out, it certainly helps explain why the jingle packages towards the end of Alfasound’s days had an improved sound and feel to them. ALFA CD 12 and 13 contain some of my favourite packages, and it turns out that most of them were produced by youself; although there were some Top Format produced ones in there too.

Two of my favourite of your programmed packages is “Music Is Life” for Kiss 105 and the package you did for The Wolf.

http://jinglemad.com/e107_files/public/1226608189_52_FT66865_kiss105_wolf.mp3 filename:kiss105_wolf.mp3

Octagon Music wrote:
I put alot into that Minster FM Package…. (Edited out the bitter comments as I should have got over it by now !!!)

I’m I correct in thinking that the Minster package was the last project undertaken prior to Alfasound’s demise, and I guess with your comment, Alfasound went into liquidation before you got paid?

Octagon Music wrote:
I did the Hallam stuff along with Anthony Gay as exec producer. It was a bit of a toughy as I recall. I was never really happy with the logo which I felt sounded like a football chant and I didn't think it sat naturally with the music.

I agree about your comments regarding the Hallam package. Please don’t be offended if I say that I think that this is perhaps not one of Hallam’s best packages, particularly becuase of the reasons you mention – I just didn’t think that the Hallam FM sing sounded right.

Thanks again for posting.

[Bigdave]

Octagon Music wrote:
Galaxy 101 demo

Play Spot the difference

2Unl!m!ted was well and truly own3d !

http://jinglemad.com/e107_files/public/1226543312_12926_FT66865_1190107560_1995_galaxy_101.mp3 filename:1190107560_1995_galaxy_101.mp3

And some of these ended up on The Pulse…

http://jinglemad.com/e107_files/public/1226610584_59_FT66865_pulse_95-get_movin_resings.mp3 filename:pulse_95-get_movin_resings.mp3

[m_hodgeyMember]

Bigdave wrote: And some of these ended up on The Pulse…

…although I don't think the full sing versions made it to air, just the ramp versions.

[octagon]

Hi..

Hodgey you're spot on when it came to the Minster package. and as For Hallam… I had no control over the end sing…IT WAS SOOO FRUSTRATING AT THE TIME !!!!!

As for the Wolf. I prgrammed it up and then Alfa got a session guy to put all the GT's on afterwards. I couldn't believe how good it sounded once the real GT's went over all my drums and pads etc. It totally made the package and it became one of my favorites too.

As for the Pulse 95 example… These were not done by me. On the Galaxy demo I posted, the cuts I did were cut 9,10 and 11.

Jonathan

[nostalgie]

Jonathan, Galaxy 101 is a superb package. If I was manager of a radio station, I would hire you tomorrow morning as main producer! Those jingles are impeccable.
Do you know when they were recorded?

Thanks again for sharing, sincerely. “It ends my day beautifully.” (Sounds like a jingle… lol)

[octagon]

Only the last 3 of the Galaxy were mine (not to take credit for anyone elses work)
All the jingles I have done were recorded here at my own studio (currently gathering dust but does get warmed up every now and then for the odd remix)
If any overdubs were done then these were done at Alfa's studios. (no longer there)

As for the first section of jingles on the 101 stuff I think they were programmed up by a guy called Morris Cheatham, Alan may have written them but I'n not sure. I composed, programmed and produced my contribution to the package. The 2BR stuff was all recorded, composed and mixed here by me with Vocals recorded at BKPL and then comp'ed and added here.

Jonathan

[octagon]

Here is an excerpt from a recent remix i did for…. Well nobody except for myself. I just wanted to see if i could do some of the more advanced drum programming/production techniques heard on the breakbeat scene (Which is where the influence came from for the 2BR news cut)

The reason I'm posting this short 1 min excerpt is that for those of you that like jingles/sweepers/graffiti links and the like, this is massively STEREO with out of phase stuff all whizzing about and panning. This short section took the best part of 2 days to do on and off, but it was very rewarding in the end. I chipped away at it slowly sculpturing the beat and pan effect little by little.

Listen on head phones or on a quality System and you may find your self grinning from ear to ear as you chase the sound around your head

Jonathan

http://jinglemad.com/e107_files/public/1226624481_12926_FT66865_octagon_cool_production_example.mp3 filename:octagon_cool_production_example.mp3

[IainJohnstonMember]

Fascinating getting all this “inside track” stuff Jonathan!

I asked about the “Personal Cut” price/situation as a general thing for non-broadcast use
(e.g. collector montages, websites, faffing-about, etc) as many of us buy Personal Cuts
from Jingle Companies large & small, and I wanted to bring your possible side of things
“out there” for other JM'ers to see, as I already see quite a few Posters showing a genuine
interest in your work :^)

[octagon]

I would love to help you on this, but for other companies who are actually “in business” they could just add the sing to the end of a session which has already been paid for by another client. The client wouldn't pay for it as the singers would probably do it for free as they are already there, and the small amount of studio time would be fairly low too as everything is all set up etc. As I am not doing jingles any longer, I would have to arrange the singers and pay for a session at another studio so its probably not very cost effective.

If I got inundated with requests to produce jingles for stations and could charge a reasonable rate, then I would not hessitate in adding a few personal cuts for friends and forum members.

I hope you understand my position

Jonathan

[IainJohnstonMember]

No problem Jonathan – it was a “just in case”! :^)

[Gazza]

m_hodgey wrote:

And some of these ended up on The Pulse…

…although I don't think the full sing versions made it to air, just the ramp versions.

Could be the fading memory here gents, but I can't recall these being aired in any form at all.

[Barras]

Octagon Music wrote:
Here is an excerpt from a recent remix i did for…. Well nobody except for myself. I just wanted to see if i could do some of the more advanced drum programming/production techniques heard on the breakbeat scene (Which is where the influence came from for the 2BR news cut)

The reason I'm posting this short 1 min excerpt is that for those of you that like jingles/sweepers/graffiti links and the like, this is massively STEREO with out of phase stuff all whizzing about and panning. This short section took the best part of 2 days to do on and off, but it was very rewarding in the end. I chipped away at it slowly sculpturing the beat and pan effect little by little.

Listen on head phones or on a quality System and you may find your self grinning from ear to ear as you chase the sound around your head

Jonathan

http://jinglemad.com/e107_files/public/1226624481_12926_FT66865_octagon_cool_production_example.mp3 filename:octagon_cool_production_example.mp3

Excellent use of the stereo seperation Jonathan, love the drum production too. I appreciate the amount of “time” you`ve put into that track as I used to be in band several years ago (I play keyboards) – me and the singer did some tracks using keyboards and a drum machine. Boy ! was that drum machine difficult to programme – this is going back about 15 years ago and obviously things will have advanced nowadays but it was easier working with a “real” drummer, although he could be temperamental too (sorry if you`re reading this Terry !) – BTW I posted a JAM jingle recently which uses the “stereo” seperation on the call-letters for a radio station in Tampa Bay called WWRM. You don`t hear that technique (stereo seperation) used that often on jingles but i think the WWRM cut is a great example, here it is in case you didn`t hear it…

http://jinglemad.com/e107_files/public/1226349892_3680_FT66873_jam_wwrm_tampa_bay_kost_toh.mp3

Barras

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