Music and Other Occasional Creativity
https://www.youtube.com/embed/NGI4zM5Vkwg I have had the Novation Circuit Monostation for about a year now (keep an eye out for nice holiday discounts from Novation!). Unfortunately, I rarely make the time for it. It's not something I will play with on its own. Which means, it is always the extra step in a jam. Not fair to … Continue reading Novembeat 2020 – Day 14
https://www.youtube.com/embed/f0GQ_LfON_s Novembeat 2020 - Day 13 As much as I love grooveboxes, there is one thing that I am not super into: one octave button keyboards. I'm by no means a keyboard player. I've mentioned before that I'm the equivalent of a two-finger typist. But, I like to play around the octaves, see if there … Continue reading Novembeat 2020 – Day 13
https://www.youtube.com/embed/EbTCFmXOhT4 Novembeat 2020 - Day 12 Another rough tech day here. I tried using my iPad to send some loops directly to the Roland MC-101 over usb. The device connected just fine and acted as a sound card and MIDI interface. The problem is, half of my music apps don't seem to send clock consistently, … Continue reading Novembeat 2020 – Day 12
https://www.youtube.com/embed/b9cN2uBrO5k Novembeat 2020 - Day 11 For the next few videos, I have to film at my day job desk in my house instead of in my studio space (also in my house). Long story, but it involves partial quarantining. Stupid covid scares. The MC-101 and the OP-Z are in a similar category of not-cheap, … Continue reading Novembeat 2020 – Day 11
https://www.youtube.com/embed/iBklomj0Z6I Novembeat 2020 - Day 10 Since March, I have been working from home. It's a pretty noisy place with noisy kids, a needy dog, and other people running around. On the one hand, I'm never alone. On the other hand, I'm never alone. During my workday, I have taken to listening to the ChilledCow … Continue reading Novembeat 2020 – Day 10
https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ij2B4uqsF5I Novembeat 2020 - Day 9 I really like the Roland MC-101. It doesn't have a funky sequencer like the Elektron boxes. It only has 4 tracks. And the menu system is kind of a pain. But, it has literally thousands of excellent presets. It handles samples wonderfully (both loops and one shots). Each track can do … Continue reading Novembeat 2020 – Day 9
https://www.youtube.com/embed/O30JsktXRBQ Novembeat 2020 - Day 8 I learned a valuable lesson today: check your levels before hitting record! The first take of this recording, I had the volume too high, and when I started adding reverb, the bass part started horribly clipping. I didn't really hear it in the headphones, but once I dropped the … Continue reading Novembeat 2020 – Day 8
https://www.youtube.com/embed/kTDKNDLYB98 Novembeat 2020 - Day 7 With all the things going on in the world today, I did not have the energy to plan more than one piece of gear's worth of music, or mess around with samples. So, I went with one of my favorite grooveboxes in my arsenal, the Elektron Model:Cycles. I started … Continue reading Novembeat 2020 – Day 7
https://www.youtube.com/embed/AjGY1XAGmnc Tonight, I wanted to do a jam that had a more defined chord progression. So, I made some piano chord samples in Reason's Radical Piano plugin. I know just enough music theory to figure out scales and chords, but my hands aren't so dexterous on a keyboard...I learned note playing on xylophone and marimba … Continue reading Novembeat 2020 – Day 6
https://www.youtube.com/embed/FzjgDWPMj_E Novembeat 2020 - Day 5 I thought this was going to be a quick jam. I set up all the devices and plugged them into each other a few hours before getting to it. And when the time came to sequence the Microfreak from my Digitakt...well, nothing. I went into settings in both devices. … Continue reading Novembeat 2020 – Day 5