Hello everyone and I hope you've been having a great week since the last post! I was away last weekend, but apart from that I've been busy working on the final mix tweaks for the upcoming Better Than The Book - Hopes and Dreams album (more on that later) as well as working on the various projects and updates I'll be sharing with you today! It's going to be a longer post this time, so let's get straight into it!

Let's start with something a little different, a game! I'm super excited to finally be able to announce that my track "Dreaming (Parts I - III)" by Jabun, has been featured in the latest game by Alex Clay: Ballet of Pain, which in their own words is "A bittersweet story about growth and leaving bad relationships at home." When Alex got in touch about wanting to use Dreaming (Parts I - III) as the soundtrack I was of course delighted as we've worked together before with high and fun spirits, but when I played the finished game for the first time, I was completely blown away. It was short sweet, and an incredibly beautiful and moving adventure, and the music fit perfectly to my ears too. I feel honored to be a part of such a project and thanks so much to Alex for letting me lend my music to it. The game is free to play in English or Arabic on Alex's website as well as on Newgrounds, so please go check it out by clicking the picture below and support Alex's projects by visiting their Website and Newgrounds page or following them on Twitter. I hope you enjoy Ballet of Pain:

You can also check out and pick up a copy "Dreaming (Parts I - III)" and the rest of the Daydream album by Jabun on Bandcamp: https://jabun.bandcamp.com/album/daydream

Next this week I have another video from World Beyond to share with you, and this time it's "Revolt" which is the only track on the recent album which has any lyrical vocals on it (and some fine vocals they are)! I'm on bass and lead guitar again for this one, and I hope you enjoy the epic visualiser for this latest track! I have a feeling I know what's coming next, and if that's the case I'm super excited for the next video! It's going to be epic! You can check out the rest of the Nobody Asked For this So I Did It album on World Beyond's Bandcamp page, and be sure to subscribe to the World Beyond YouTube channel to see the videos as the come out! Enjoy!

Next this week, yesterday was the final Wednesday of the month which means I've just sent out rewards to the Early Pigeons and $5+ patrons on Patreon! This time I'm sharing another batch of Patreon exclusive downloads: a handful of demos from late 2011 / early 2012 for Better Than The Book songs before Better Than The Book was even a thing, which would later become tracks on the 2016 Two Year On album!
          If that sounds all good to you then become a $5+ patron to access these demos and the rest of the Better Than The Book discography (including the One Small Step EP, Two Years On album and more) instantly! This latest set of rewards will also be sent out to the $2 Hi-Fi Pigeons (everything) and $1 Pigeons (Mp3s and Artwork only) next week on Wednesday 6th March, and if you aren't already a patron, remember that you'll also get instant access to all the previous downloads for your tier too when you sign up. For those of you who decide to join (or have already joined) the $10 DEMOlition Pigeon tier or higher, this month I'll be sharing some work in progress draft artwork for the upcoming Hopes and Dreams album as well as a demo master for track 06 Get A Haircut! Enjoy the exclusive sneak peek! Exciting times!

Sign up and get instant rewards on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

Another bit of super exciting news this week, I've added yet another instrument to my arsenal: a melodica! For those of you who don't know, the melodica is a free reed instrument like a harmonica and is essentially a reed organ played with (in my case) piano style keys and powered by the user's breath. You can play it with a hose-like mouthpiece for playing with two hands, or with a short mouthpiece for playing with one hand while holding with the other in a trumpet or clarinet type position. There are a number of different kinds of melodica's and mine is a fairly basic 32 note alto (I think) model, but I've been meaning to get one for some time and it has not disappointed my expectations; I love it! The breathe control makes it an incredibly expressive instrument despite its almost toy-like appearance and unlike other traditional woodwind instruments, it is fully polyphonic. The tone is somewhat like a more mellow harmonica, less chorusy accordion, covering a tonal pallet similar to a clarinet when played softly to a less bright trumpet when blowing hard. Tuning it was quite the adventure too as I've never tuned a free reed instrument before, but it's sounding better than ever after some TLC on the reeds. I'm certainly looking forward to putting it to good use in my future music work, so be on the lookout for it in the next Jabun and Better Than The Book albums (as well as my client composition work)! Fun times!

Finally for this post, let's conclude with some updates on the upcoming Better Than The Book - Hopes and Dreams album. I didn't have quite as much time as I expected this week to work on it, but as it currently stands, 8/10 tracks have been tweaked to perfection (by my ears anyway), with the 9th almost done too. Once those 2 final tracks are done, it'll be time for the final mastering tweaks, then I'll be sending it off to some fresh ears for feedback, while I freshen my own ears and take a little break to work on the album art. It's almost there, but there's still some more work to do!

And that about wraps things up for this week! It's the start of the month which means some admin work for me to do over the following week, but between all that I aim to have those final 2 BTTB tracks done before next weekend! Other than that, we'll see where the wind takes me, and until next time I hope you have a great week whatever you're up to and thanks as always thanks for supporting JabunAudio and my various music projects. See you in the next one, and take care!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great week so far. It's been another busy one here at JabunAudio mainly working on the final mix tweaks on the upcoming Better Than The Book - Hopes and Dreams album, but before we get into that, there's some big celebrations and more videos to share so let's get straight into it!

Firstly this week, it's time for a big celebration! As I'm sure you all know by now, when I'm not making music I'm often assisting super talented animators around the world by doing the audio post-production for their projects, and one of these such people is Sif Perlt Savery AKA Hikarian Animations. We've been working together since 2014, and my first project with her "Tales of Zale Episode 1" just hit an incredible 100,000 views on YouTube! A huge congrats to Sif and the team and if you like what you see, you can support Tales of Zale on Sif's Patreon page here: 

https://www.patreon.com/Hikarian

Check out the celebrated 6 figure video below, and if you enjoy it, go watch the rest of the Tales of Zale series (most of which I'm heavily involved in) on Sif's YouTube channel. Episode 3 I'm told is in the works so be on the lookout for that in the hopefully not to distant future.

Next this week I have another track / visualiser to share from the recent World Beyond "Nobody Asked For This So I Did It" album, and this time it's the motivational alternative metal track "Because We Can"! Once again I'm on lead guitar and bass for this one, and I hope you enjoy the visualiser music video that Vlad put together. Not many of these left I think, but I'm looking forward to the grand finale soon! Be sure to subscribe to the World Beyond YouTube channel to be first to see it, and enjoy "Because We Can" below!

Finally this week, just another couple of updates on the Better Than The Book - Hopes and Dreams album. As I mentioned before, it's been a busy week going through and doing the final polishing for the mixes prior to mastering, and as of yesterday 6/10 mixes are sitting in the mastering session waiting to be trimmed and exported with a final layer of polish! I'm just about on schedule to finish the final mixing tweaks by the end of the month, though due to the various trips away, I think I'm about a week behind where I'd currently like to me. I'll be working hard to get back on track, and aim to have all the mixes done by the next blog post, ready for mastering in the first week of March. Sounds just about doable, but I'll take the time needed to get it sounding the best it can be. More updates as and when I have them, but it's nearly there!

And that about wraps things up for this week. I'll actually be away again for some of next week, but I'll be working on finishing up these BTTB mixes in all the time I have available in the studio! I'm sure there'll be more stuff to share in the next blog post, and until then, thanks as always for supporting JabunAudio, and my various projects, and I hope you have a great weekend and beyond whatever you're up to. See you in the next one, and take care!

Hello everyone and hope you've all had a great week since the last blog post. I have pretty much not been here for most of it (Friday to Tuesday evening), so there's not a whole lot to report about in terms of my work, but there is some new music to share and a few little updates which we'll get onto in a moment. First though, I thought it'd be cool once again to share with you what I was up to this past weekend, and even without seeing Ozzy Osbourne (get well soon sir), boy was it a busy one! Let's get started!

Saturday commenced with the traditional family coffee morning which was as usual a great start to the weekend, before myself, twin Eamon and girlfriend Eva headed to London for a late Christmas present: a trip to the Marvel Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. exhibition/experience! Unfortunately for us, it was rail replacement bus services all this weekend, which meant a much longer journey than usual and so no time to explore London (and Denmark Street) before going to the exhibit, and even at our speediest we arrived at 3:20 pm for what should have been a 3:00 - 3:30 pm entry. Cutting the time a little short there!
          The exhibition was simply fantastic though if you're a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe! With props all the way back to the Iron Man suit that Robert Downey Jr wore back in 2008 (the chunky one in the cave), to Captain America's WWII uniform and shield, to even scale models of how HUGE the Hulk's hands are, as well as tonnes of articles about the science (both factual and only slightly fantasy) behind many of the characters and event during the franchise, it was a fantastic display and step into the world of the Avengers! I shan't give too much away here in case you go and see it for yourself but here's some pictures of me pulling a silly face on Captain America's Harley Davidson, and trying to pick up a replica of Thor's Hammer Mjölnir!

There were also many interactive experiences including a motion tracked Hulkbuster Armour game, and a strength test in which somehow I managed to consistently register as just about stronger than Natasha Romanov (AKA Black Widow), which I'm pretty chuffed about considering I'd describe my build as "a bunch or twigs held together by string", and neither Eamon nor Eva could figure out how I managed it. Perhaps all those years of playing doubleneck? We shall never know... Thanks so much to Eva for the fantastic day out once again (and for taking the pictures too), and I wonder what our next adventure will be!
          Sunday was another day out too, again rushed because of the lack of trains, so not much time to explore Brighton this trip either. The trip's main purpose though was to see the new Battle Angel: Alita live action film, based off the 90's manga/anime of the same name, and overall, fantastic execution, especially the visuals, acting and story. I won't spoil anything here, but the one thing I would say is DUDE BBFC, you really messed up with the age rating on this... 12A?! More like 15 (even the animated version was a 15). Children should not be watching this level or gore and dystopia even if accompanied by a parent, I have no idea what you were thinking with that... Very well done film though. I'd highly recommend to any fan of the franchise!
          Finally for the long weekend, Monday (with the Ozzy gig being postponed) was spent chilling and catching up with friends instead which was great. Tuesday morning was exciting too as my brother won an auction last month for some props used in another live action 90's anime adaptation, 2017's Ghost In The Shell film, and the items finally arrived in the post which was super cool. After that, it was a long day of travelling back to reality which included a headphones synth jam on the train. Overall another great action packed weekend!
  
​Onto the audio news for this week, I've another great track to share with you from last years World Beyond album, a groovy heavy metal tune "Nickel and Dime"! I'm on bass and lead guitar as usual for this one, and I hope you enjoy the vizualiser music video that Vlad put together for it. More music to come soon, and if you can't wait, be sure to check out the full "Nobody Asked For This So I Did It" album on Bandcamp via the link below. Enjoy!

https://worldbeyond.bandcamp.com/album/nobody-asked-for-this-so-i-did-it

Lastly for this blog post, a couple of updates on how the upcoming Better Than The Book - Hopes and Dreams album is coming along! Although I haven't had much time to work on it this week, as of yesterday 2/10 mixes have been tweaked to perfection (to my ears at least) and have been exported ready for mastering when they're all done. The mastering session has been set up too with a solid processing chain set up ready for the final tweaks and polishing when the mixes are done. It's slowly but surely coming along, and hopefully I should be at least halfway through the album by the next blog post (if all goes well). The finish line (audio-wise at least) is well within sight, and I'll keep you updated with the progress as and when there are things to report!

That about wraps things up for this post. Apart from working on the upcoming Better Than The Book album, I have a couple of other things to take care of this week which'll hopefully make an appearance in the next blog post. We'll see how it all goes and I'm sure there'll be another World Beyond visualiser to share too! Until then, I hope you have a great and productive week and thanks as always for supporting JabunAudio and my various music projects. Have a good one and take care!

Hi everyone! Hope you've had a great week whatever you've been up to, and for those who have been celebrating it, Happy Chinese New Year from JabunAudio! Although I've not been here for most of this week, it's somehow been as if more than a week's worth of stuff has been crammed into the few days I have been in the studio, and as such, it's going to be a long blog post this time, so I hope you enjoy it. My studio time this week has mainly been spent working on the final audio tweaks for the upcoming Better Than The Book - Hopes and Dreams album, as well as drafting up the cover artwork, both of which are going well so far. Before we get onto the main news for the week, I thought it'd be cool to share with you what I was up to this weekend past, as it really was a spectacular time! Let's get started:

So amongst the tasty food, red envelopes and chill time with loved ones this weekend, I also went on a pilgrimage of sorts on Saturday and finally took a trip down to Drum One, the drum shop that Iron Maiden's drummer Nicko McBrain opened last April in Manchester! I've been meaning to go since it opened (for those don't know yet, I've been a HUGE Maiden fan since my teen years), and the cards lined up perfectly this weekend for a trip there and it was simply awesome! Not only was there tonnes of cool drum stuff there, but by the entrance was Nicko's touring kit from when I saw Iron Maiden for the 2nd time back in 2008 with a tonne of my family and friends (last year was the 5th time seeing them and they're always a blast!). I asked whether I could take a picture with the the kit, and the guy at the counter asked whether I wanted to take a picture IN the kit instead! Mind -> blown! Of course!
          And so I the rest of the pictures speak for themselves! I didn't get a chance to play, as there wasn't a snare set up (I did manage a hi-hat stomp though), but it was simply awe inspiring, and frankly intimidating being inside such a large drum set (see the panorama below to get an idea) that I'd seen played by one of my biggest drumming heroes! 9 toms (ranging from a TINY 6" to much bigger than I thought existed too (18" apparently)), 11 cymbals plus the hi-hats minus the usual gong at the back, snare stand set up but no snare, and a single kick bass drum (I have no idea how that guy does what he does with a single kick!). Amazing! Thanks so much to Eva for the detoured trip and for taking the outside drum pictures! It was an amazing day out! 

Onto the first of the main news for this week, it's the beginning of another month which means another JabunAudio music production newsletter has been sent out! This time, I’ll be continuing with the topic of vocal production, discussing various methods for creating artificial vocal double tracks before sharing my own technique for achieving tight and naturally varied doubles for you own vocals (without having to pick up the mic a second time)! If that sounds interesting to you, sign up for free on the JabunAudio home page, I hope you enjoy it, and be sure to share with anyone you think would be interested!

Next, and continuing with more beginning of the month usual content, yesterday was the first Wednesday of February which means I've just sent out another batch of rewards to the $1 / $2+ patrons over on Patreon! This time I'm sharing the final piece of the publicly available Better Than The Book discography, a bonus instrumental version of BTTB's debut album: "Two Years On [Instrumentals]" and yesterday just so happened to also be the 2 year anniversary for that album, as well as the 3 year anniversary since BTTB dropped it's debut album Two Years On! How time flies, and it's been an incredible 3 years since then. Thanks so much to everyone who's supported the project over the years and I really can't wait to share the upcoming Hopes and Dreams album with you soon!
          With all that said you can now get everything BTTB has currently released (including many exclusive bonus tracks) when you subscribe to my Patreon page (+ even more good stuff if you go for the higher tiers)! If that sounds good to you, then become a patron for as little as $1 a month to download all this music and all previous rewards for your tier including the One Small Step EP, Two Years On album and the last few months' collection of tracks too! I look forward to sharing the journey with you!

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

Next this week, some awesome and epic animated fun from World Beyond, as Vlad releases a music video for the first track on the recent "Nobody Asked For This So I Did It" album, "Not The Beginning", set as a teaser to the climax of the album "Awaken The Giant", which I'm sure will be coming soon! I think I'm just on bass for this track (possibly guitar too? I can't actually remember), but whatever the case, I hope you enjoy the epic visualizer! Be sure to subscribe to World Beyond on YouTube via the video below to be the first to see the latest videos. I can't wait to see what's next!

Lastly this week, another beginning of the month tradition as we look back at January's goals and see how I did! Here's what was set:

​1) Have all 10 mixes done for the new BTTB album ready for final tweaks and mastering
2) Set up a new archiving / back-up system for projects
3) Update my ISRC records for the new (and old) World Beyond tracks

All successes for last month! All 10 mixes at least have their first draft completed and I've already started on the final tweaks and setting up a mastering session for the album! The new archiving / back-up system was off to a shaky start (some corrupted files on one of the copies, but is all set up and rectified now, and my ISRC records are as updated as ever with the World Beyond tracks. Horray! So what shall I set myself this month?

1) Finish a first draft master of the album ready to send out for feedback before any final edits
2) Draft up the album art for the Hopes and Dreams BTTB album
3) Set aside ISRCs for the new Hopes and Dreams album and fill in all the information I can in my records (apart from the stuff I'll need to sort just before and after the release).

It's both a busy and short month with really only 3 weeks to get all this done, while not even being here for a lot of it, so I'm really not sure if I'll be able to make all these targets this time. Thankfully, 3) is already done as I managed that earlier this week, and I've made a good start with the album artwork and tweaks too, so hopefully things should be nearly done by the end of the month. I'll make finishing the audio for the album top priority with the artwork being a bonus if I can get that fully drafted too. We'll see how I get on! Any goals you'd like to share for the month? Feel free to comment below so we can keep each other accountable!

And that about wraps things up for this post! Phew, that was a long one. What does my coming week look like? Well I'll be away again for another extended weekend, though unfortunately Ozzy Osbourne has postponed his UK gigs due to poor health so I'll not be moshing my heart out on Monday night. Hope you get well soon Ozzy and looking forward to seeing you again in September (hopefully) for the re-scheduled dates. Thankfully I still have a Marvel Exhibition to look forward to as well as possibly seeing new new Battle Angel: Alita film which I'm super looking forward to for the best part of the last decade. Other than that, and working hard on the new album when I can, we shall see where the week takes me! Until the next post, I hope you have a great time whatever you're up to and thanks as always for supporting JabunAudio and my various music project! Take care and have a good one!