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Jabun
Nick Standing AKA Jabun: Multi-instrumentalist, Composer & Mastering Specialist at JabunAudio making dynamic, clean and punchy masters to encourage people to turn up your music, rather than turn it down! Creator of the Skapunk project Better Than The Book

Nick Standing @Jabun

Age 33, Male

Freelance Audio Guy

Burgess Hill, England

Joined on 9/13/05

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Jabun's News

Posted by Jabun - May 3rd, 2023


May 2023 Patreon & News post: BTTB Recording updates, pedals, pedalboards and birthday gifts, a branding change, new YouTube guitar video series and more!


Hi everyone and hope you had a great April and start to May! It's back to the usual Patreon rewards schedule this month, but with a big twist of sorts as I've done an overhaul of various things since last time. More on that in a second, but first some updates for the month!


Production and recording for the upcoming Better Then The Book album is coming slowly but surely. Hayfever hit me hard this month, but with some nasal spray and anti-histamines I've been powering through as best I can, with some worn out throats which I've had to adjust pace for. Having said that, all the screaming vocals are recorded now and I only have 1 gang vocal track left to go. All the horn parts are now finished again too, so it's really just the main sung/rapped vocals + that last gang vocal left to record! I'll be aiming to get all the rap stuff and that gang vocal finished in the coming month, and hopefully I'll get to some actual singing again before the next Patreon post!


Next this month, I finally got around to modifying / optimising my homemade Superfuzz pedal! A volume jump issue when switching modes and an overall lack of volume in general had been bugging me for ages but it was a relatively easy albeit fiddly fix, and it's now sounding better (and more controlled) than ever! You can hear it in action on bass in the  A P O T H E O S I S  soundtrack below. Level 02 and the Final Boss themes have the best examples. I need to get back to some orchestral stuff at some point:


https://soundcloud.com/jabun/sets/apotheosis-soundtrack-demos


Onto a fun little feature, Jabun's Rebirth from the June22 EP was featured in @TheTankTribune No.79 on Newgrounds! Thanks peeps for sharing the music and the love as always!


https://thetanktribune.newgrounds.com/news/post/1352598


Next, and back to that shake-up I mentioned earlier, after over a decade of being HurpADervish online and on social media, I've decided to rebrand to just Nick Standing and JabunAudio (and Better Than The Book where appropriate). It was a big decision but I want things to be less confusing for people and I feel like JabunAudio is what I'd like to be know as and for from now on. As such, I've changed up the HurpADervish Twitter and YouTube, which were basically JabunAudio anyway to reflect the new branding, cleared out some of my older less, musically relevant/popular videos, and updated the websites as such. Check out the updated links below:


YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JabunAudio

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JabunAudio


The change of branding came after a point of reflection, as last month I turned 33. I realised that despite my efforts and output in some areas, I've not been progressing as much as I wanted to in others, and specifically, when I turned 30, I wrote down a few goals / places I wanted to be which I don't feel I've got any closer to in the last 3 years... I'm sure much of that has been due to the worldwide pandemic as well as other difficulties, but I also know that I've not actively taken enough steps in the right direction too. As such one big and new thing I'll be trying to do is be more active posting videos on YouTube. Not just the new music with the artwork in the background, but ACTUAL videos of myself, playing guitar, showing my face and (hopefully) inspiring more people on the instrument. Even if it's just short videos of my practice and experiments, I'll be aiming to release 2 videos a week from now on and see how it goes. The Patreon page/rewards may change to reflect these new videos, but I'll be playing it by ear. It's going to be a brand new challenge, but I'm excited to see where it could lead, and maybe one day I'll finally be able to get my name on the back of an Ernie Ball string packet, or have a Yamaha Pacifica signature model guitar made like I've always dreamed. Who knows and wish me luck! Here's some new videos for the month:


Restoring a Leslie Speaker: Guitar Test (3-4-2022) (OLD but unreleased):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe17fbmwkwY


Pick-up switch experiments on a Fender Squier Jaguar Guitar (OLD but unreleased): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miGfR4YkaGg


The Offspring - The Kids Aren't Alright (2 Parts on 1 Guitar Intro Cover): https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ee24sS0h4Vc


A John 5 inspired guitar lick:  

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/fxqO68zI0R4


More to come very soon!


Finally this month, and following from me turning 33, some Birthday funtimes! While I was actually on a double night shift on the weekend of my birthday (ergh...), the following week was a super busy but mostly fun one catching up with peeps and sorting stuff out for Eva and I's wedding in August! As with birthdays, I received some super cool gifts this year, and as usual many of them were music related too! My twin Eamon got me something I've been needing for years, a (BOSS) pedalboard (+ cables) for quick set-up and convenience! I remember back when gigging with Lights Camera Attraction, Andy the guitarist had a similar one so he'd be set up in no time while I'd be fumbling with a handful of bass pedals and cables. The new modern version has foam cutouts to hold in pedals of whatever size you could think of! Check out some builds below and thanks Eamon:


iu_962222_1338520.webp


iu_962223_1338520.webp


iu_962224_1338520.webp


In that last picture you'll notice the FS-5L footswitch as well which I saw in the window of one of Brighton's second hand guitar shops for a too-good-to-resist price. I'd been meaning to build an equivalent for a while but this was super economical and convenient! If you're wondering, it switches the "Turbo" mode on for the BOSS Turbo Overdrive above, taking the tone from a lovely crunch to a full on Marshall-esq distortion. Very good!


Next, my parents have been on a long trip visiting Ma's home in Thailand, but also Malaysia where I was born and Japan while they were in the area too! Along with a TONNE of snacks, they bought back the latest Ellegarden album and a BOSS Tremolo pedal which came with a special Japanese spring festival gift bag too! Super cool, and no doubt you'll be hearing that at some point soon!


iu_962225_1338520.webp


(My Blues Driver pedal is currently in that pedalboard alongside the Tremolo!)


Finally, not music related, but I'm super excited about it, Eva got me some new PJs, pens, and a preorder for the new Legend of Zelda game (you should know already now that I'm a huge fan)! It's gonna bring a great distraction for the evenings, but there's still a few weeks to wait! Best keep productive until then! Thanks for the gifts everyone!


That wraps things up for this month, unless you're a $10 patron in which case you have another Better Than The Book WIP studio demo to look forward to! More guitar videos to come next time while I continue working on the upcoming Better Than The Book album, and I'm sure there'll be other unexpected things happening in May too. Who knows! Until then, I hope you enjoy the new content, let me know if you have any suggestions or requests and thanks as always for supporting me however you can. Take care and all the best!


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Posted by Jabun - April 3rd, 2023


April 2023 Patreon post: The Reward Archive has been updated (4th October 2018 -> 16th March 2023) + monthly news including a new collaboration with Cyberdevil, ChordC & Hania "Ripples of Time (Reduce)" (Free download), starting BTTB Vocal recording and more!


Hi everyone and hope you've had a great March. It's the beginning of another month and so it's time for the usual Patreon update! With the release of Jabun's June22 EP last time, I'm taking a break from music rewards including DEMOlition Pigeon rewards this month, but there's lots of updates and news to share so let's get to that today and I'll be back to the usual schedule come May!


Firstly for the month, with a new album out it seemed like a great time to update the Reward Archives for quick access to all past music rewards and DEMOlition Pigeon articles! As of now, the Rewards Archive is complete from 4th October 2018 -> 16th March 2023! Check it out and read more below:


https://www.patreon.com/posts/50344842


With almost 5 years on Patreon now, there's a whole lot in the back catalogue so I'll leave you to explore if you wish on the Reward Archive post itself. For a quick summary of the changes though, here's a list of the new additions since last time:


$1+ Music rewards:

  • Cyberdevil and Jabun - A Lemon Leaf Breeze {Free download + Patreon Exclusive Instrumental}
  • Jabun - June22 EP


$10 Demolition Pigeon Rewards

  • An exclusive off-vocal studio demo from Better Than The Book's upcoming projects!
  • An exclusive Jabun ambient live jam!
  • Another exclusive Jabun ambient live jam!
  • A WIP studio demo from Better Than The Book!
  • Another WIP Better Than The Book demo!
  • A sneak peek at Jabun's new June22 EP album artwork!
  • An orchestral BTTB sneak peek!


Hope you enjoy exploring if you've missed any and thanks for being a patron!


Onto other news updates for the month, after quite a while of disrepair, I've finally fixed my Jaguar guitar which had some truly messed up controls (to the point of unusable). Not only is it all fixed and sounding better than ever now, but I also finally managed to do some mods I've been meaning to implement since last year! For those interested, these are treble bleed mods on the volume control on both the rhythm and lead circuits (tuned to bring out the best for both circuits). It basically means that things done get dull when you turn the volume down now, which really makes for an even more versatile instrument! Good times!


Next it's been a super busy month for work on Better Than The Book's upcoming album. After a VERY scary moment of panic where I'd accidentally deleted/lost the master session of the opening track (over 2 years in the works...) and thankfully recovered it in full from my back-ups, I was first busy with cello recording (now complete) and now it's onto vocal recording! I decided to start with gang vocals and as of now it's 7 tracks done, 3 to go (and 4 without any), but gang vocals are strenuous so I'm trying not to overdo it on my voice (which I may have done already....). Gotta take it easy as to keep vocally healthy. Going through the final lyric sheets though, there was one track which I wasn't quite happy with (but an easy fix) and one track I REALLY wasn't happy with, and after some long thinking I decided to completely scrap the lyrics and rewrite the vocals (lyrics and melody) from the ground up for that one. It took a little while, but the new lyrics are now complete (which I'm MUCH happier with), and I've already recorded the gang vocals for it too! Unfortunately the change in melody meant that all the horns (and some of the drums) I'd painstakingly programmed for it no longer worked at all, and while I have managed to redo the drums, there's still a long way to go before the horns are finalised again. That said, it's just that 1 track of horns and then all the vocals left to go so it's really coming on well! Not sure how long all these vocals will take but I'm sure the time will fly by and recording will be complete in the next few months!


Finally this month, it's been a little longer than expected in the making but today I'm super excited to reveal my latest collaboration with the one and only @Cyberdevil and few new exciting people! I'm sure you already know by now that Cyberdevil and I go waaaay back to 2013 (dang... has it been almost 10 years already?!) with on the whole regular collaborations and frequent chats. Earlier this year, CD invited me to provide some "quick" help with the production on some music he was working on for an animated series on Newgrounds, "Reduce" by @Mejson. CD's vocals were already tracked and @ChordC provided an excellent orchestral/nu-metal-esq instrumental so it was my job to polish up the mix/master from stems, add a little of my own production flair, and "if I had time" maybe provide some vocals for the chorus. At the same time, CD had also contacted the one and only @Hania (of Newgrounds vocal fame) to provide vocals in the chorus too, and while I wasn't originally intending to sing on the track due to work and busy times, when Hania said she was on board, I just couldn't miss the opportunity to sing alongside her! I remember first hearing Hania back when I was 17 and playing and singing her stuff while playing piano. Never would I have thought I'd be singing alongside her 15 years later! Thanks for setting that up CD! Anyways, fanboying aside, a quick mixing request turned into a fully fledged production project and I hope you enjoy our latest collaboration "Ripples of Time (Reduce)"! Check it out on Newgrounds, get a free download, and here are the credits below:


  • ChordC - Original Instrumental and Idea.
  • Cyberdevil - Lyrics, Main Vocals and Coordination.
  • Nick Standing (Jabun) - Backing Vocals, Additional Mixing/Production, Mastering and More!
  • Hania - Choruses and Backing Vocals.


Listen/download on Newgrounds:



That about wraps things up for this month! We'll be back to the usual monthly news and DEMOlition Pigeon rewards in May though the rewards may be a little later than usual as I'm away for some Birthday (hopefully) fun times. Until then, I hope you have an excellent April to come and thanks as always for supporting my music! Take care and I'll see you in the next one!


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Posted by Jabun - March 3rd, 2023


March 2023 blog post: Jabun's new "June22" EP has been released! Join me for the listening party at 8pm GMT tonight on YouTube + Patreon rewards & monthly updates including BTTB recording progress, organ bass pedals, guitar repairs and wedding invites!


Hi everyone and hope you're having a great start to March! The time has come and today I'm super happy to finally release Jabun's "June22" EP! Check it out now on Bandcamp and I hope you enjoy it:



​Purchase the June22 EP now on Bandcamp:

https://jabun.bandcamp.com/album/june22


After releasing my live and ambient 4th Jabun album Tides in May 2022, I really thought I’d be taking a break from electronic and ambient music to concentrate on my ska-punk project Better Than The Book which between night shifts working retail and other things was slowly but surely working through making its 3rd full-length album. Before even May had come to an end though, I was back to recording some evening electronic ambient jams, and although some of them weren’t great at all, June would bring forth some of my most inspired electronic performances yet!


I already raved about the modular synthesizer performances of Suzanne Ciani in the “about” section of the Tides album on Bandcamp, and to my luck and surprise Ciani was coming to Leeds in June (to my knowledge for the first time ever) to perform with her Buchla Modular System live in quadraphonic! Knowing I’d kick myself if I didn’t go, I bought a ticket and eagerly awaited the evening I’d get to see one of my synth heroes shine on stage on June 22nd! At the time I was still very much listening and researching and experimenting with my own KORG Volca Modular synth, and Decay was the result of some pre-concert excitement and experimentation in the weeks leading up to the big night. Come June 22nd I stepped into the venue to an amazing live and quadraphonic ambient DJ set by Kessie which was a simply incredible experience. As opposed to just the 2 speakers at the front of the stage, there were 2 speakers behind you too, so you really were surrounded by sound as you walked around the small venue hall. Mindblowing! The opening act was an amazing local ambient musician Jake Mehew who played a fantastic set on Modular Synthesiser, Arp Odyssey, and hand-pumped reed organ. After another Kessie accompanied ambient interlude, Suzanne Ciani was ushered to the stage with a grand Leeds welcome and proceeded to conjure her signature incredible electronic soundscapes on her treasured Buchla Modular System. The next 45 minutes or so were a trip out of this world followed by a fun talk with the audience and some further synth jamming, and after an amazing night out, I knew that I’d be setting up my own modular system as soon as I possibly could to release the collected inspiration. Rebirth was the result of a jam the following night.


It’s not always obvious to me whether a random spur of the moment live jam will be released as something more in the future, but as the weeks passed and turned to months while I continued work on Better Than The Book’s 3rd album (along with other things), I found myself revisiting these 2 live performances often and soon realised that they’d become Jabun’s next collective release. After some prep work and subtle mastering, the result was the June22 EP.


June22 is a 16+ minute collection of 2 electronic live performances inspired by the modular synthesizer works of Suzanne Ciani. Both tracks from June22 were performed live and recorded as a single take in June 2022 with only the lightest of further processing to bring the EP together in mastering. The system used in both performances consisted of a KORG Volca Modular Synthesizer running into a KORG Nu:Tekt NTS-1 Digital Synthesizer, and was captured on an Akai MPC 1000 Sampler before being mastered in Ableton Live 8.


Decay recorded on June 8th 2022 

Rebirth recorded on June 23rd 2022


Despite being my shortest collective release as Jabun so far both in terms of runtime and track count, and being a bit rough and ready around the edges due to the spur of the moment live nature of the recordings, I’m super pleased with how June22 turned out and really believe it showcases 2 of my most inspired live electronic performances to date. When I close my eyes and let my mind wander, Decay conjures images of walking through a desolate radioactive landscape, alone, a hazy fuzziness clouding your mind and senses as you explore the distorted broken world around you. Rebirth brings images of recovery from such destruction, a time-lapse of plants springing up again from the burnt soil, life and nature reclaiming the land once more. I wonder why my mind wanders to such places when I listen to these tracks? I wonder what images they conjure for you? Whether you sit down to listen intently, have them on in the background while doing something else, or simply immerse yourself in the sounds, I hope you enjoy these uncut live electronic performances from a particularly inspiring month in summer 2022.


This is going to sound silly, but the photo for the album artwork is actually just a pot lid from Eva and I’s kitchen. I recall seeing it one day and noticing how the light bent and reflected off it and thought to myself “What a wonderful texture and image, I should use this for an album cover”! With the metallic nature of some of the sounds from the KORG Volca Modular’s inbuilt reverb, as well as my own imagined narrative of nuclear decay/recovery, I thought this scratched up shiny metal pot lid somehow fit perfectly with the vibe I was going for with June22. Interesting to note too that this is the first Jabun collective release which doesn’t feature any sky and/or sea imagery. I wonder what the next Jabun album will have in store.


All tracks written, performed and produced by Nick Standing [Jabun] 

Recorded, mixed and mastered at JabunAudio by Nick Standing [Jabun] 

Album artwork, images and photography by Nick Standing [Jabun]


A full credits and special thanks section is available now on Bandcamp, but here I'd like to extend a special thanks to Vlad from World Beyond for acting as my 2nd set of ears and helping sharpen up the images in the album artwork! Cheers Vlad! I'd also like to extend my sincerest thanks as always to everyone on Patreon who helps keep my music going each month, with special mention to the current $10 patrons Nathan Puray and Michael White. Thank you all so much for your help and support in making my musical dreams a reality! You folks are amazing!


Read more on Bandcamp: https://jabun.bandcamp.com/album/june22


To celebrate the release launch I'll be hosting a listening party "premier" for June22 on YouTube at 8pm (GMT) tonight! Check out the link below and come hang, ask questions, and let's enjoy June22 together! I look forward to seeing you there:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j3V6wifdh8

Of course my supporters on Patreon are celebrating today with the full download package of the June22 EP which includes Mp3s (+ WAVs for the $10 patrons), full sized album art + cover photo + alternative cover, and a photo from the recording sessions of track 01 "Decay"! As usual the $10 patrons are getting a sneak peek at what I'm working on currently, and this month I'll be sharing another WIP studio demo from the upcoming Better Than The Book album with them! If any of that sounds good to you, then consider becoming a patron for as little as $1 today, and remember you'll be getting the full back-catalogue of rewards for your tier when you join, including the full BTTB, Jabun and Nick Standing discographies, bonus Patreon exclusives and much more! Find out more below:


$1 Rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/78068528​

$10 Rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/78068526​

Reward Archives: https://www.patreon.com/posts/50344842

Find out more: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding


June22 will be arriving on all the usual streaming services/stores, YouTube and more shortly, but in the mean time you can listen to the full EP on Bandcamp, or here on Newgrounds! Enjoy:





​Onto updates and news for the month, it's been a SUPER busy and exciting one this time, although not without its frustrations along with the good times as well. Starting with some studio updates, you may recall last month's report of my long time music production laptop finally having to call it a day, and with the relatively smooth migration to my desktop set-up I thought things would be perfect to start recording again early this month. Oh how wrong I was... With the new set-up came a huge problem, long story short, a ground loop noise issue which meant I was unable to record into the desktop without an insane and basically unusable amount of electrical noise / interference corrupting my signal... After a few devices bought and returned, I finally managed to fix the problem with a £20 Behringer Ground Loop Isolator (the HD400), and HOLY MOLEY, I should have got one of these years ago... I've been used to having a small but workable amount of noise in the signal in the past, but this things kills ALL that interference. It is SILENT. I honestly didn't realise getting recordings THIS clear was possible! Feels great!

And with that, I ended up finally recording some melodica, synth and some other stuff to add in some production extras for Better Than The Book's new album (see the $10 DEMOlition Pigeon rewards for further details)! After a rocky start, it's been a very productive month in that department and now there's just 2 tracks left to do before it's ONLY vocals left to record! I'll be hoping to tackle both of those in this coming month, mainly some cello recording + some other stuff. Hopefully it all goes smoothly! I've also had some exciting collaborative work on the cards too in the last week or so, so I'm hoping to share that with you next time. Busy busy!


Next on the news this month, some SUPER exciting updates on gear! After (no exaggeration) almost 2 and half years of searching pretty much daily for them online, including a few near misses, I FINALLY managed to get my hands on some bass pedals for my Yamaha Organ, which means apart from some extra potential effects pedals, the organ rig of my teenage dreams is finally complete! Check it out below:


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​Considering the extortionate asking prices of some of the pedals I'd seen previously, I managed to get my own BP-1 bass pedals for a great deal, mainly since it was missing the "lid" to fold it up into its own suitcase for transportation. From experience, the main organ's lid just sits on the corner of the room behind my cello anyway, so it wasn't a dealbreaker for me. The Bass Pedals on the other hand now allow me to play basslines with my feet, also freeing up my hands to change settings and tweak effects while still playing, or even play guitar while playing organ with my feet if need be too! With the fully fixed up YC-25D combo organ + BP-1 bass pedals + my home-made rotary speaker, some effects pedals and the amp, and a box of spare parts I picked up earlier, touch wood this should be all my electronic organ related dreams sorted for life! It's been a long time in the works, and I can't wait to put the full thing into some tracks and jams soon (though you'll hear it without bass pedals a tonne in the new BTTB record)!


With the great times comes the not so great though, and shortly after setting up the full organ rig, my Jaguar guitar (pictured above on the left) has been put (half) out of commission... I'd been experimenting with some modifications for it and whether it be due to out of date contact cleaner or just already worn out parts, I've managed to mess up a few components to an unusable level so much so that they'll need replacing... a pain in the backside. I'll be hoping to fix that (and maybe finish the mods?) in the coming month, and hopefully it all goes smoothly. On the bright side, the Jaguar is basically 2 guitars in one electronically, and it's only one of those guitars (The "Rhythm Circuit") which is messed up, so I still have the "Lead" side to play with. Such is the way of luck I guess...


Finally this month, I thought it'd be cool to share with you an update from my personal life. If you're not aware already, I'll be getting married in August, and the invites that I made were sent out earlier this month! I'm super happy with the design I made (and Eva approved) for them, so I thought it'd be a shame not to share it around! Check it out below and hope you enjoy the oldschool and personal vibes!


iu_911655_1338520.png


​That about wraps things up for this time! With such a big release, I'll be taking a break from any audio / project rewards in April to update the archives and such, but I'll be sure to check in with monthly updates nonetheless. We shall return to our usual schedule come May! Until then, I hope you have a grand March ahead and enjoy the new June22 EP and I hope to see you tonight at the listening party on YouTube! Thanks as always for supporting my music and take care!


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Posted by Jabun - February 27th, 2023


Jabun's June22 EP releases this Friday on March 3rd! Join me for the listening party at 8pm GMT on YouTube!


Hi again everyone and hope you're having a great February so far! In case you haven't heard already I'll be releasing my latest EP as Jabun "June22" on Friday March 3rd at midnight (GMT)! While there won't be a pre-order period for this EP, I will be hosting a listening party "premier" for June22 on YouTube at 8pm on Friday! Check out the link below and come hang, ask questions, and let's enjoy June22 together! I look forward to seeing you there:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j3V6wifdh8


June22 is a 16+ minute collection of 2 electronic live performances inspired by the modular synthesizer works of Suzanne Ciani. Both tracks from June22 were performed live and recorded as a single take in June 2022 with only the lightest of further processing to bring the EP together in mastering. The system used in both performances consisted of a KORG Volca Modular Synthesizer running into a KORG Nu:Tekt NTS-1 Digital Synthesizer, and was captured on an Akai MPC 1000 Sampler before being mastered in Ableton Live 8.


June22 Tracklist:


01 Decay (Recorded on June 8th 2022)

02 Rebirth (Recorded on June 23rd 2022)


All tracks written, performed and produced by Nick Standing [Jabun]

Recorded, mixed and mastered at JabunAudio by Nick Standing [Jabun]

Album artwork, images and photography by Nick Standing [Jabun]


A full credits and special thanks section will be available on Bandcamp when the album goes live on March 3rd at midnight, but for now I'd like to extend an immediate special thanks to Vlad from World Beyond for acting as my 2nd set of ears and helping sharpen up the images in the album artwork! Cheers Vlad! I'd also like to extend my sincerest thanks as always to everyone on Patreon who helps keep my music going each month, with special mention to the current $10 patrons Nathan Puray and Michael White. Thank you all so much for your help and support in making my musical dreams a reality! You folks are amazing!


In the mean time, FULL early access to the June22 EP has been granted to the $10 patrons including Mp3s, WAVs, full sized album art + cover photo + alternative cover + a photo from the recording sessions of track 01 "Decay", and the story behind how the EP came together! If that sounds good to you then become a $10 patron and experience June22 in full now (and remember that you'll receive all past rewards for your tier as well when you do):


$10 Reward: https://www.patreon.com/posts/78068518

Reward Archives: https://www.patreon.com/posts/50344842

Become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding


Until March 3rd and the next post (when I'll also have the usual monthly updates and Patreon rewards), I really hope you're hyped for these latest live jams from Jabun and thanks as always for supporting my music however you can! Take care, all the best and see you on Friday!


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Posted by Jabun - February 6th, 2023


Announcing Jabun's brand new "June22" EP & full early access to the $10 Patreon Supporters! June22 releases on March 3rd 2023!


Hi everyone and hope you're having a great February so far! The time has finally come and today I'm super happy to announce that following my ambient and experimental live 4th album as Jabun – Tides (released May 2022), on March 3rd 2023, I will be releasing another live Jabun EP – June22.


June22 is a 16+ minute collection of 2 electronic live performances inspired by the modular synthesizer works of Suzanne Ciani. Both tracks from June22 were performed live and recorded as a single take in June 2022 with only the lightest of further processing to bring the EP together in mastering. The system used in both performances consisted of a KORG Volca Modular Synthesizer running into a KORG Nu:Tekt NTS-1 Digital Synthesizer, and was captured on an Akai MPC 1000 Sampler before being mastered in Ableton Live 8.


June22 Tracklist:


01 Decay (Recorded on June 8th 2022)

02 Rebirth (Recorded on June 23rd 2022)


All tracks written, performed and produced by Nick Standing [Jabun]

Recorded, mixed and mastered at JabunAudio by Nick Standing [Jabun]

Album artwork, images and photography by Nick Standing [Jabun]


A full about, credits and special thanks section will be available on Bandcamp when the album goes live on March 3rd at midnight, but for now I'd like to extend an immediate special thanks to Vlad from World Beyond for acting as my 2nd set of ears and helping sharpen up the images in the album artwork! Cheers Vlad! I'd also like to extend my sincerest thanks as always to everyone on Patreon who helps keep my music going each month, with special mention to the current $10 patrons Nathan Puray and Michael White. Thank you all so much for your help and support in making my musical dreams a reality! You folks are amazing!


While there won't be a pre-order period for this EP, I will be announcing later and hosting a listening party "premier" for the EP on YouTube on the day of the release. In the mean time, FULL early access to the June22 EP has been granted to the $10 patrons including Mp3s, WAVs, full sized album art + cover photo + alternative cover + a photo from the recording sessions of track 01 "Decay", and the story behind how the EP came together! If that sounds good to you then become a $10 patron and experience June22 in full now (and remember that you'll recieve all past rewards for your tier as well when you do):


$10 Reward: https://www.patreon.com/posts/78068518

Reward Archives: https://www.patreon.com/posts/50344842

Become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding


Until the next post and the release date (when I'll also have the usual monthly updates and Patreon rewards), I really hope you're hyped for these latest live jams from Jabun and thanks as always for supporting my music however you can and especially on Patreon! Take care, all the best and see you on March 3rd!


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Posted by Jabun - February 1st, 2023


February 2023 blog and Patreon post: Computer breakdown, BTTB and Jabun project updates, Christmas fun and new gear, music/videos and podcasts to share, reflecting on 2022 and more goals + a sneak peek at Jabun's June22 EP album artwork for the $10 patrons & more!


Hi everyone and hope you've had a great start to 2023!


​It's been a while since the last proper update what with the computer breakdown and everything (see the Patreon post here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/77232796) but while my old laptop of 14+ years is sadly now completely out of commission, all data has been recovered and transferred to my desktop and all project files (with some tweaking as necessary) have been put into a fulling working state again which is a huge relief! In other personal update news, on top of the computer troubles I've been quite unwell recently too for various reasons and in and out of hospital but don't worry I'm on the mend or at least getting there to figuring out exactly what the problem is! There's lots of cool updates and things to share this month building up from the lack of update last month too so let's get to things!


First of all, some project updates! After a longer than expected break from things, I'm back to working on the upcoming Better Than The Book album, and now that the projects on my more powerful desktop, I've been taking the time (while less physically well enough for intensive recording) to work on adding some production extras to these 14 tracks I've been working on the past few years! 5 tracks are now just awaiting vocals, while the other 9 still have just a few little production extras left to go as well. It's slowly but certainly shaping up and I'm really pleased with how this album is sounding so far! Hopefully not too long until I can start sharing the tracks with you but it's still quite the road to go!


Meanwhile I've been busy with the last bits of prep work for the upcoming Jabun EP which if I haven't revealed before is going to be called "June22" and will consist of 2 live ambient performances from June 2022! As it currently stands (as I write this), all artwork for the release is finalised and complete (more on that in a moment), and a set of master track exports has been made but still needs final checking and finalising. Admin prep work is going well too and I'm hoping for a tentative March 2023 release date so hopefully it'll be in the next set of Patreon rewards! We shall see!


Onto other updates, at the end of last year I was busy fixing up any troublesome studio equipment ready for a New Year of working gear and after some troubleshooting and time with a soldering iron amongst other things, everything is in full working order again, including my now-no-sticky-buttons MPC1000, a Monotron Duo synth with a working resonant filter again, a very (mechanically) quiet homemade Leslie cab, and I even got to do a mod on my Jaguar I've been meaning to for a while! There's still a little more I'd like to play around with on that Jaguar, but it's dealing some delicious new tones and functionality now. Horray!


And moving onto more updates from the end of last year, I recieved some amazing music related gifts this year for Christmas! From Eva, a custom water bottle with the Jabun logo on it which looks super cool, and from my twin Eamon, a super cool synth from Roland, the Aira Compact J-6! One of my favourite synth of all time is the Roland Juno-6 (or Juno-60) and I use a plugin emulator of it in much of my work as both BTTB and Jabun. If the Juno-60 is a full set of all the oil paints you could want, then the J-6 is like the super compact 64 colouring pencil set with included sketchpad and stencils/stationary. It's a lovely more condensed synth engine with a super powerful chord library + sequencer + extra pattern/arpeggio generator, something I wasn't even aware existed in hardware! No doubt it'll be making it into some new music soon! On top of that Eamon made me ANOTHER amazing mash-up EP and holy moly it's a fantastic one. 6 tracks, around 16 minutes and it's coming to YouTube week by week now! Check it out on Eamon's channel as it comes out (should be 3 out so far): 


https://www.youtube.com/@TallismanRogue/videos  


And check out the opening track now: 



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWODZcriQ-A


Track #5 I think is some of Eamon's best work ever (especially if you've seen the Cyberpunk Edgerunners anime) so be sure to check that out in Feburary! Thanks so much for the amazing and thoughtful gifts Eamon and Eva!


In other news, Tales of Zale now has an animated music video for the credits music to the Flickering Lights short film I did the sound mixing for last year! Check it out below and a huge congrats to Sif, Marquette, and Matthew on the release:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jxnlcbRP-A


Meanwhile a brand new season of my friend David Klein's FanScape Podcast has just started and the first episode featured Better Than The Book's Meteor Shower playing on the radio in a Slenderman horror story! 2 episodes are out as I type this and things are getting super tense! Check out episode 1 below and support the podcast on Patreon if it's your jam:


https://www.patreon.com/FanScapePod


Episode 01: 



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE9RgjnwYcw


Finally I thought it'd be cool to set some New Years music goals and reflect on the year just gone! Although I didn't manage to finish recording the upcoming Better Than The Book album, progress has been made (Horns are finished) and I think things are slowly but surely getting there! BTTB gigs are still on hold unfortunately too, but we'll see if things can change in 2023. Life is tricky to work around these days... 


Achievements-wise though, since the start of 2022, despite the craziness in both the world and my personal life, it's been a super productive year seeing the release of the 3 track single "Revolt" with World Beyond, the Patreon exclusive "Mouth (Season's) Greetings" mash-up EP which I made for Eamon last Christmas, Cyberdevil's "INK20" mixtape, Jabun's "Tides" album, Sif Savery's "Tales of Zale: Flickering Lights" animation (and more), another INKtober collaboration with Cyberdevil "A Lemon Leaf Breeze", and finally World Beyond's "Blindsight" album! Phew!


On top of that, it's been a super fun year with studio updates too, with the aquisition and modding of a vintage BOSS OD-2r Turbo Overdrive pedal, the building of my very own Leslie rotary speaker cabinet, a Fender Mini Twin amp (as cute as it is functional) from Eamon, and the recently gifted Roland J-6 synth (also from Eamon)! I'm really starting to run out of room here, though I'm still on a lookout for those elusive Yamaha BP-1 Bass Pedals to go with my YC-25d organ. I wonder what the new year will have in store! 


Setting goals-wise, I'm not sure that the new BTTB album is going to be released by the end of the year but I'd like to set: 


1) Finish recording the upcoming BTTB album (at the very least)

2) Release the Jabun June22 EP

3) Get a BTTB live performance done


We'll see how it all goes and wish me luck!


That about wraps things up for this post unless you're a $10 patron in which case you have a sneek peek at the album art for Jabun's upcoming June22 EP to look forward to! I hope you have a grand February to come and I'm super looking forward to sharing with you the new Jabun EP soon as well as any fun updates in the next post! Until then, thanks as always for supporting my projects however you can, enjoy all the music and take care! All the best and wishing you a happy, healthy and amazing 2023 to come!


All Patreon supporters will receive all past rewards for your tier when you sign up so check out the archives to see everything you can catch up on and hope to see you there!

$1 Rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/77771132​

$10 Rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/76914972​

Reward Archives: https://www.patreon.com/posts/50344842

Find out more: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding


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Posted by Jabun - December 1st, 2022


December 2022 Blog and Patreon post: Another WIP Better Than The Book demo for the $10 patrons, World Beyond's new album "Blindsight" is out, Tales of Zale: "Flickering Lights" gets multiple awards on Newgrounds and a Spanish Dub + more updates!


Hi everyone and hope you've had a good November since the last post. It's been another tough and busy month over here and apart from some progress mastering the upcoming Jabun EP I've unfortunately not been able to get to any of my personal projects since last time. That being said, it has been a very exciting month for collaborative projects so let's share the good news there:


First up, I'm super pleased to announce that World Beyond's new album "Blindsight" is now out and available on all the usual platforms! Check out the link below for all the options:


https://fanlink.to/blindsight  


And read more about it on the World Beyond blog below as well!


https://www.worldbeyond.net/2022/11/new-album-blindsight-available-111122.html


This'll be my 5th multi-track release with World Beyond (including the Revolt 3 track single, but not including other single releases), and this time I played cello on 2 tracks as well as put in countless hours of proof-listening and non-hands-on production assistance! On top of a wonderful album, Vlad's been busy putting together some amazingly animated music videos for each track as well which seem to be coming out weekly on the World Beyond YouTube channel! Check out the videos for the tracks I played on below and subscribe to keep up to date with the new videos as they arrive! Welcome again to our World Beyond and hope you enjoy the adventure!



Bewitched: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaG-3w3ZkrU



Land of Serenity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofUgLd-w9fg


Onto other projects, Sif Savery's Tales of Zale: "Flickering Lights" has finaly come home to Newgrounds and was greeted with big praise! Not only did it receive a Front Page feature award before it even passed judgment(?!), but it also went on to receive the Daily Feature (1st Place) Award and the Weekly 2nd Place Award too! A huge congrats to the team and thanks to the Newgrounds community for their warm welcome and check it out on Newgrounds below:



On top of that, Flickering Lights has also received a complete Spanish dub as well! My role this time was mainly just to strip the English voices from my English language mix to prepare it for dubbing, but apart from any Spanish speaking parts, it's still me on the mixing desk as usual, and I must say that the voice cast sounded on point to me too! Check it out below on YouTube and hope you enjoy it!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rExh3EZQ2_0


That's it for this month's post unless you're a $10 Patron in which case you have another Better Than The Book WIP studio demo to listen to as well. It's looking to be a very busy and difficult few months ahead so I'm not sure how much I'll be able to work on my own projects for a while unfortunatley, but I'll try to keep up with the monthly updates as best I can, and expect to hear more updates about the upcoming Jabun EP soon. Until next time I hope you have a good December, Christmas and other Winter Festivities, New Years and beyond to come and thanks as always for supporting my music and projects. The next update will likely be a bit late as I hope to be away for New Years, but I shouldn't be gone too long. Take care, enjoy all the new music, and all the best!


P.S. Would you believe that Better Than The Book's One Small Step EP celebrates it's 10th anniversary since release at the end of December!? Crazy how time flies and thanks for supporting Better Than The Book for all these years! Hope to have some more tunes to you soon!


All Patreon supporters will receive all past rewards for your tier when you sign up so check out the archives to see everything you can catch up on and hope to see you there!


$1 Rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/74132961

$10 Rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/74132974

Reward Archives: https://www.patreon.com/posts/50344842

Find out more: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding


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Posted by Jabun - November 1st, 2022


November 2022 Blog and Patreon post: An exclusive Inktober Instrumental Jabun beat download for all Patreon supporters, a WIP studio demo from Better Than The Book for the $10 patrons + big updates from World Beyond, Cyberdevil and more!


Hi everyone and hope you've had a good October, Halloween and everything. Truth be told it's been a very difficult and turbulant month on my end, and with all that's been going on I've had to put all personal projects on hold for the moment, hopefully not for too long. I wasn't sure whether I'd be writing a post this month at all, but as it so happens it's been a very eventful month with collaboration news AND for the first time in a while I have a related new music download reward for my supporters on Patreon (exclusive too)! Let's get started with the monthly updates:


Firstly, as has become tradition, for the 4th year in a row, my pal @Cyberdevil has been doing his yearly Inktober challenge, writing and recording a new rap every day for the whole of October! As usual, I was invited to submit a beat to lend some inspiration, and although tough finding the time/headspace, I just about managed to get one to him which I'm really pleased with! Check out Cyberdevil's Inktober 2022 adventure below (there's also a doodle a day in the art tab):


https://cyberdevil.newgrounds.com/audio/


And check out our collaboration for day 26 below "A Lemon Leaf Breeze" which was also awarded a Front Page feature! Thanks Newgrounds:



Lyrics: https://cyberd.org/inktober-26-a-lemon-leaf-breeze-lyrics.html


AND as an extra exclusive treat, I'll be sharing downloads for the instrumental beat with all my supporters on Patreon! Hope to see you there (see the end of the post for details)!


This instrumental was a really cool one for music production "firsts" for me as it was my first time recording with my homemade spring reverb and Fender Mini-Twin amp (for the guitar), and also the first time recording with my homemade Leslie Vibratone style rotary cabinet (on the organ). I think this is also the first publically released track with that vintage Yamaha YC25d combo organ on it too which is pretty cool. Overall I'm really pleased with the way it turned out, and for those wondering (because I've been asked about it a few times already), that glitchy "synth" scratching sound is actually an electric piano being run through an analog modelled delay feeding back on itself and then playing with the delay time (courtessy of the Yamaha Reface CP's CP80 sound and the onboard analog delay effect). It's much too fun. I need to do it more often!


Onto other collaborators, World Beyond has been cooking up an amazing new cinematic orchestral album "Blindsight" which I've been helping put the final touches on (as a second set of ears) over the last few weeks! As far as I know, after careful considerations and hours or prooflistening, it's just about ready to be released and should be out in the next week or so! Expect to hear me on cello for a few tracks and check out the amazingly animated teaser below:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAWlvB8-PLU


More on the following link when the album's out!


https://fanlink.to/blindsight


Finally this month, I'm super proud to say that Sif Savery's Tales of Zale "Flickering Lights" animated film that I did the sound mix (and some sound design) for has been awarded "Best Nordic-Baltic Children's Film" by the Fredrikstad Animation Festival 2022, by the jury of children too apparently! Amazing news, a huge congrats to Sif and the rest of the team and check out the trophy below. Super cool!


https://twitter.com/Sifps/status/1583847952237273090


That about wraps things up for this month, unless you're a $10 patron in which case, I have another sneak peek WIP studio demo from Better Than The Book to share with you, a track I was supposed to be recording cellos for last month and which seems lyrically appropriate given the current times. I'm really not sure how much I'll be able to do music-wise in the coming month(s) but at the very least, I'll be back in December to share with you a link to World Beyond's brand new album "Blindsight" so I hope you're looking forward to it. Until then I hope you have a good November to come and thanks as always for supporting my music, collaborations and more however you can and especially on Patreon. All the best, take care and I hope to be sharing more new music with you soon.


All Patreon supporters will receive all past rewards for your tier when you sign up so check out the archives to see everything you can catch up on and hope to see you there!


$1 Rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/73367978

$10 Rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/73367977

Reward Archives: https://www.patreon.com/posts/50344842

Find out more: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding


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Posted by Jabun - October 1st, 2022


October 2022 blog and Patreon post: Monthly updates including Sif Savery's Tales of Zale - Flickering Lights (which I did the audio mixing for), a feature celerating Roland's 50th anniversary, BTTB horns finished + Another exclusive Jabun ambient live jam for the $10 patrons and more!


Hi everyone and hope you've been having a good September. It's been another busy month here, and I'm so stoked to finally be able to share this with you (the video below) so let's get straight to that!


Following last month's trailer and after a tonne of hard work from a plethora of people, I'm super pleased to finally be able to share with you Sif Savery's Tales of Zale - Flickering Lights, an animated short film! I've been working on the audio mixing (and some sound design) for this for a few months now, but when Sif says that we were working on it right up until the release time, she REALLY means it! I think I sent off the final cut of the audio about 6 hours before the release, and it was approved less than 5 hours before the premier too! Crazy work schedules, but I think you'll be able to appreciate how much went into it! A huge thanks to Sif for having me on the project again, and a big shoutout to Matthew (the composer) and Patrick (the foley artist / sound designer) who I've been working with closely over the last few months! Check out Tales of Zale - Flickering Lights!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DLbgOeE2_w


Also, Sif's got some cool merch on sale if you're interested too! The link's in the video description on YouTube, and I just had to pick up the production artbook as a memento. Go check it out!


Another cool little bit of news following from last month, in celebration of their 50th Anniversary, the music tech company Roland asked for people to send in their stories of how Roland products have enriched their musical journey, and this month they've published the story I sent in! The editing is a little janky, but it tells the story of how my twin (after already gifting me my trusty Tr-08 a Christmas or two prior) gifted me a vintage Tr-505 drum machine for my 29th birthday: my first piece of gear older than I am! The article also features links to music by Better Than The Book and Jabun and it's an honour to be featured on among the greats on the Roland site! Check out "Nick Standing -  Welcome to the Club" below:  

Roland & Me feature: https://articles.roland.com/roland-and-me/


As a token of their thanks for sending in a story (and it being picked), I also have an awesome 808 hat and 50th anniversary T-shirt waiting for me too! Thanks so much for all the inspiration and the fun gifts Roland!


Onto other updates for the month, after such a busy and important project, it finally felt like a good (and safe) time to replace the cable on my main studio headphones. I've been using these since before I was recording Two Years On waaay back in 2015 and they've been run over by chairs, caught on stands etc... so much that they were very much in need of dire repairing. All good now though and hopefully this new cable holds for a long time. Onto more musical updates, I'm super happy to announce that horns have finally been completed for the upcoming Better Than The Book album (and more). It's just some extra acoustic stuff (including cello) left to do hopefully in the coming month, then it's finally (hopefully) time to start laying down vocals! It's been a long time working on this, and there's still much more to do. Meanwhile I've been busy prepping some new stuff with World Beyond, as well as another Jabun EP coming soon, so it's not going to be too long until the next project reaches the end of the pipeline! Exciting and busy times ahead!


That about wraps things up for this time, unless you're a $10 patron in which case you have another exclusive Jabun live ambient synth jam to look forward to. I'm hoping next month will be a bit more relaxed and restful, but we shall see what it brings! Until then, I hope you have a great October to come and thanks as always for supporting my music however you can and especially on Patreon! Take care and all the best!


All Patreon supporters will recieve all past rewards for your tier when you sign up so check out the archives to see everything you can catch up on and hope to see you there!


$1 Rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/71688981

$10 Rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/71688980

Reward Archives: https://www.patreon.com/posts/50344842

Find out more: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding


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Posted by Jabun - September 1st, 2022


September 2022 blog and Patreon post: Monthly updates including a trailer for Sif Savery's Tales of Zale Episode 3 (which I'm doing sound for), a feature celerating Roland's 50th anniversary, more BTTB horn updates + An exclusive Jabun ambient live jam for the $10 patrons!


Hi everyone and hope you're having a good summer! It's been turbo busy over here working on the amazing thing in the title so let's get on with the updates and get straight to that!


After much hard work from a tonne of talented people, the time has almost come and I'm super pleased to finally be able to announce that I'll be mixing audio again for the latest episode of Tales of Zale!


Check out the trailer and mark September 7th on your calendars because this is one you won't want to miss! A huge thanks to Sif Perlt Savery for having me on the team! It's been undoubtly the most challanging and ambitious animation I've been a part of to date! 



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpXKM8wMdb0


Onto other updates, despite such a busy month, I still managed to get a full 3 more horn parts finished for the upcoming Better Than The Book projects (as well as playing around with some other stuff)! Just one more horn part to go, and it's SOOO close, but not quite done yet so I'll be aiming to finish that off in September!


Meanwhile and lastly for the news this time, the synth/music-tech company Roland is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and to celebrate they asked people to send in their stories of how Roland has changed and enriched their lives! Among the countless stories, it looks like they've chose not just mine but also my twin Eamon (who used to work for the company)'s stories to publish! Super cool! They're staggering the posts, so mine's not up just yet, but you can read the story of how Eamon got me my trusty Tr-08 drum machine for Christmas while working as the Roland rep in Andertons! They've even featured "Waves" from the Tides album on their blog too. That's pretty darn cool! I hope you enjoy the read and look forward to sharing with you my own drum machine related story (again another present from Eamon) when it's up!


Roland & Me feature: https://articles.roland.com/roland-and-me/


That about wraps up the post for this time. If you're a $10 patron you have new exclusive Jabun live ambient modular synth jam to look forward to, but until next month I hope you have a great September to come and thanks as always for supporting my work however you can! Take care and enjoy the new episode of Tales of Zale on September 7th!


All Patreon supporters will recieve all past rewards for your tier when you sign up so check out the archives to see everything you can catch up on and hope to see you there!


$1 Rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/70045307

$10 Rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/70045312

Reward Archives: https://www.patreon.com/posts/50344842

Find out more: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding


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