TOT//OS

Music

Before most of my time went into code, it went into music. As JOE T. I produced beats, wrote tracks and mixed for other artists — 59 of them are still up on SoundCloud.

Ableton Live was where things got written: fast, loop-first, and happy to be abused. Some of the tracks below were not really "written" at all — I set up follow actions and Max for Live devices and let the rules decide what came next, then kept the best minutes. One of those generated beats ended up sold to a major label.

For mixing I always went back to Pro Tools. Its workflow is still the best I know for that job: the edit window, the mixer that behaves like a console, and clip gain. Writing and mixing are different jobs, and they deserve different tools.

It has been a while. I stopped keeping up, and the field did not wait — stem separation, AI-assisted mastering and full song generation from a text prompt all arrived in the meantime. I want to find out what is actually useful for someone who likes doing the work themselves, and I will write about it here.

Most played

  1. *Sold* beat to major label generated using follow actionsHip-hop & Rap · 2017 · 0:39 · 1,996 plays
  2. Example Mix Nr. 1 - Urban · RnB · PopHip-hop & Rap · 2017 · 0:38 · 191 plays
  3. Production Nr. 21 - "Communist AI" EDM · Techno · DarkDance & EDM · 2017 · 0:38 · 99 plays
  4. Example Mix Nr. 2 - Hip Hop · Urban · PopHip-hop & Rap · 2017 · 0:38 · 95 plays

Productions (25)

Beats and instrumentals, 2017. Hip hop, urban, DnB, techno, a little orchestral.

  1. Production Nr. 1 - Urban · Rap · AnthemicHip-hop & Rap · 2017 · 0:38

Generative experiments (4)

Tracks built from rules instead of by hand: Ableton follow actions and Max for Live devices deciding what plays next.

  1. Generation from vocals <5 minutesHip-hop & Rap · 2019 · 2:07
  2. HEAT (follow action generation)Hip-hop & Rap · 2019 · 4:10
  3. Rap Attack (generation <2 minutes)Hip-hop & Rap · 2019 · 3:04

JOE T. (7)

Full-length tracks under my own name, 2019.

  1. CopacabanaHip-hop & Rap · 2019 · 3:26
  2. Concrete JungleHip-hop & Rap · 2019 · 2:59
  3. No MercyHip-hop & Rap · 2019 · 2:47
  4. Juicy BrazeHip-hop & Rap · 2019 · 2:33
  5. FactsHip-hop & Rap · 2019 · 2:59
  6. VIBESHip-hop & Rap · 2019 · 3:50
  7. RubinHip-hop & Rap · 2019 · 3:06

Artist work (10)

Songs with Julian Michel.

  1. Julian Michel - Love MeHip-hop & Rap · 2017 · 0:38
  2. Julian Michel - You Got ItHip-hop & Rap · 2017 · 0:38
  3. Julian Michel - If You Don't KnowHip-hop & Rap · 2017 · 0:38
  4. Julian Michel - Last NightHip-hop & Rap · 2017 · 0:38
  5. Julian Michel - HomelandHip-hop & Rap · 2017 · 0:38
  6. Julian Michel - Fck Em All (Feat. Cherine)Hip-hop & Rap · 2017 · 0:38
  7. Julian Michel - ShadyHip-hop & Rap · 2017 · 0:38
  8. Julian Michel - Let It GoHip-hop & Rap · 2017 · 0:38
  9. Julian Michel - EASTHip-hop & Rap · 2017 · 0:38

Mixing examples (9)

Mix examples from my engineering work — the part of the craft I enjoyed most.

  1. Example Mix Nr. 11 - Hip Hop · UrbanHip-hop & Rap · 2017 · 0:38
  2. Example Mix Nr. 3 - Hip Hop · Urban · PopHip-hop & Rap · 2017 · 0:38
  3. Example Mix Nr. 6 - Urban · AmbientHip-hop & Rap · 2017 · 0:38
  4. Example Mix Nr. 10 - Hip Hop · RapHip-hop & Rap · 2017 · 0:38
  5. Example Mix Nr. 7 - Urban · Hip HopHip-hop & Rap · 2017 · 0:38
  6. Example Mix Nr. 5 - Hip Hop · Urban · PopHip-hop & Rap · 2017 · 0:38
  7. Example Mix Nr. 4 - Hip Hop · Urban · PopHip-hop & Rap · 2017 · 0:38
  8. Example Mix Nr. 9 - Urban · Hip HopHip-hop & Rap · 2017 · 0:38

Pressing ▶ loads SoundCloud's player for that one track. Until then nothing is requested from SoundCloud — after that, their privacy terms apply. Most uploads from 2017 are 38-second previews.