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/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/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
https://www.youtube.com/embed/rpRsip_9w5E Novembeat 2020 - Day 4 After the frenetic granular drumming of yesterday's entry, I thought I'd go for something a little more chill today. I think, unfortunately, it also came out a little anemic. The Digitakt is a beautiful sampler. I really love nicely built hardware. It's a pretty close call between this one … Continue reading Novembeat 2020 – Day 4
https://www.youtube.com/embed/pukFyjxjGn0 Novembeat 2020 - Day 2 This was a rough one for me. I used the Polyend Tracker to send two channels of MIDI to the OG Electribe A. The problem I kept running into was that something from the Tracker was causing the notes to hang on synth part 2 of the Electribe, but … Continue reading Novembeat 2020 – Day 2
https://www.youtube.com/embed/TkmD9HhkCRc Novembeat 2020 - Day 1 I thought it might be helpful to write a bit more about what I am trying to do with my Novembeat jams and how I made them. This first jam was made with the Polyend Tracker, which is a delightful sampler/sequencer/groovebox. The sequencer is in the style of a tracker. Notes and other … Continue reading Novembeat 2020 – Day 1