Great stuff here!
Videos
Clouds
“Particles, grains and birds. Flocks, swarms and clouds. Clouds is a granular audio processor like no other. Clouds is focused on the realtime granularization of incoming audio signals, and their transformation into amorphous textures.”
– Mutable Instruments
I picked up a Mutable Instruments Clouds module over the break and, though I’m only just starting to get to know it, I’ve been completely blown away by the sounds that come out of this thing.
In this video I have an arpeggiated sequence running, VCA out from the Pittsburgh Synthbox running through the Pittsburgh Reverb module, into Clouds, and the stereo pair out of the clouds to my sound card.
The signal starts out dry with the Pittsburgh reverb coming in around 10 seconds and clouds coming in around 40 seconds. Pressing the freeze button (around 1:08 and 1:40) when the root note hits takes a small slice of incoming audio and freezes it into this lush, atmospheric backdrop that I could just sit and listen to forever.
Networked Midi w/ iConnect Midi 4+
This is a video about me being happy that I finally took the time to hook up network midi.
I sort of have this (totally first world) dilemma where I feel like I need to have ALL MY MUSIC gear hooked up and ready to go, but I also have to have a clean and tidy desk. I do web development for a living, I’m often learning new things and occasionally work from home as well, so I just need to not be distracted by a bunch of drum machines and stuff in front of me when I’m trying to work. Clean & tidy desk is a must.
A clean desk and bunch of synths with their endless wires and shit are kind of at odds with one another. So, I have all my synths set up on a table behind me. It’s a completely “out of the box” set up, meaning I can sequence, record, mix and make music without needing a computer. Awesome, but….
I also like using my computer to make tunes and love sequencing with my Ableton Push. But there’s not enough room on the table behind me for my laptop and my Push, without having to move a bunch of crap, which totally kills the creativity.
I was telling my wife this weekend that I wished there were a way I could just control all the crap behind me, from my desk, but only sometimes. Then I realized that I can, because I have an iConnect Midi 4+.
In the end it was just a matter of running an Ethernet cable from my iConnect to my router, then I was able to use my macs network midi utility to send midi over wifi. Click here to see how to set it up. I use a Thunderbolt 2 dock, from OWC, which has an Ethernet port on it, and I just so happened to have a really long Ethernet cable as well, so I now have my Macbook Pro hard wired to the router as well.
All this means I can now sit at my desk and sequence all my hardware on the other side of the room, which makes me really happy. There’s no noticeable latency when I am playing, but I’m a hobbyist. This may not work for a hardcore keyboard player.
Also, I should mention that the Ableton session on my computer is being used solely to sequence the gear on the other side of the room. If I were to, for example, try to run a virtual instrument in the Ableton session and the drum brute on the other side of the room there would definitely be some latency issues.
For now though, I’m going to get a long ass audio cable to run from the mixer, round the room, and into my sound card, so I can multi track instruments into an Ableton session if I want. Also, my mixer, a Behringer UFX1204, has the ability to multi-track record to a USB thumb drive, so I can noodle around, get some ideas, then pop the USB drive out and pull the tracks into my Ableton session.
One day I’ll have a space that allows me to not have to send midi over my network, and in an ideal world I’d be able to have all my gear directly connected to my computer — but for today I’m glad to have these additional options and this makes me pretty happy. 🙂
Random Korg Volca Jam
Just noodling around with Volca Sample, Keys, & Bass. Recorded into Ableton. There’s a little bit of reverb on the Keys & Bass, but aside from that the sounds are raw.
Such cool little machines. 🙂
Whaleians
Last week I ordered a Pittsburgh Modular System 10.1+ to keep my Make Noise 0-Coast company. Make Noise released a patch video last week showing how to set up a Krell Patch on the 0-Coast. I tried it out last night, drenched it in reverb added some delay, and just sat and listened to it for about an hour. There’s something about a synthesizer playing and modulating itself that takes me to my nerdy happy place.
My Pittsburgh was delivered today. 🙂 I’m super new with this modular stuff, but this evening I set up the Krell patch on the 0-Coast again, but this time patched it into the mult section on the Pittsburgh, and was able to get the patch running on both synths. Small thing I’m sure to many, but I thought it was pretty damn cool.
They make beautiful whale noises together.
Sounds are from the 0-Coast and the System 10, recorded into Ableton with Eventide Black Hole reverb on a send/return and a ping pong delay as an insert on each synth.
More 0-Coast
A little more noodling on the 0-coast. This time recorded into Ableton with Convolution Reverb Pro and Surreal Machines Magnetic.
0-coast noodles
Last week I sold my Korg Minilouge and replaced it with this little semi-modular desktop synth called 0-Coast, by Make Noise. It’s awesome, hands down the most inspiring piece of gear I’ve purchased since first picking up my Korg Volcas.
The thing is seriously fun and capable of a huge range of sound. Here’s a short recording of me noodling around with a simple arpeggio. The 0-Coast is being sequenced by my Arturia Keystep, with clock from my Beat Step Pro. Effects chain is a TC Electronic T2 reverb pedal, and delays from my Lexicon MX200. Recorded directly to a Tascam DR-07.
So fun… I’m hooked and am now saving for my first modular rig. No turning back! 🙂
Steppa Dub, by Luss
Luss is a musician from Switzerland. He makes awesome, tripped out, dub electronica with an all hardware setup, runs through his tracks in a live jam style and posts the vids up on YouTube, tracks on SoundCloud, etc. etc.
He just posted up this reggae jam today and it’s soooo fucking killer, brought a huge smile to my face. Great way to end out the week. Hopefully he’ll post it for download or sale soon. 🙂
Tascam DR-07 Test
I’ve moved my music setup completely “out of the box”, (computer free) and I’ve been looking for a way to record without having to move my computer to the other side of the room. I settled on this Tascam DR-07, acquired second hand via eBay, and delivered today.
Sounds are a Korg Volca Beats & a Korg Electribe ER-1, Boss DS-1, Lexicon MX-200, and Alesis Midi Verb. Sequenced via BeatStep Pro, running through my Mackie and into the line input on the Tascam.
This was my first recording and the levels are a little hot, but I’m pretty stoked on the Tascam. Since it’s a field recorder it can also do double duty to collect found sounds for my Volca Sample. 🙂
ClubSmutek
Fun evening at ClubSmutek  🙂
Jimmy Smutek 