Music and Other Occasional Creativity
https://www.youtube.com/embed/D71ouaQoc8A Novembeat 2020 - Day 26 I am thankful for a lot of things: my family, my job (despite the world falling apart right now), the ability to make time to create new things. I am incredibly lucky and privileged, and try to remember that even on all the other days of the year. But … Continue reading Novembeat 2020 – Day 26
https://www.youtube.com/embed/93dvqbJv1Ck Novembeat 2020 - Day 24 The Yamaha QY70 was the very first piece of music hardware that I ever owned. I got it way back in 1997 right before going on a boring vacation--or at least it seemed boring at the time. I'd kill for a week alone at a Michigan beach house now. … Continue reading Novembeat 2020 – Day 24
https://www.youtube.com/embed/V7qYt7AZg4k Holy crap. We're halfway through Novembeat already. If this is your first look at a blog post and you don't know what I'm talking about, go back to day one. The short story is that Novembeat is a challenge (not a competition, but a personal one) to make one short jam a day for … Continue reading Novembeat 2020 – Day 15
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/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