Pete here and set up Tonverk, looking forward to hearing it in action today. Had curry and my guts are quite confused this morning, almost as if they had forgotten what curry was. Good day Saturday, Pete getting great stuff from Tonverk, MPC misbehaving in that it refused to record MIDI notes while synced to MIDI clock. Some odd shit with the KSP as hitting record on that briefly lit the record on the MPC unlike the MPC itself. Will have to work through that in the week but we'll sort the gig either way. It'll be great. On Sunday Pete sampled a few things to increase his TV collection. He didn't need the Behringer bt played it and it sounded great - just what you'd want for those TD sequences.
And I'm still in love with the Atrium. Wanna keep playing it.
Yeah, a somewhat radical (and quick) decision given how much I've enjoyed playing with Alt - but one of those small, crappy knobs starting to fail already robbed me of confidence in it, plus there's the on/off envelope thing that will always grate. Rather than get a refund, which Signal were happy to do, I decided to try an Atrium instead. Not quite the same in terms of drone/arpeggiation style, filtering or just simplicity of patching and interaction - but with its own moving, grooving thing going on, assuming I can live with the sparkly lights in my darkness. May need to put it in the brighter half of the studio just because of that. Anyway, that's what I went with and, in theory, it's coming tomorrow. You may think me bonkers and, right now, I couldn't disagree. Time will tell how nutty I am and whether I can master the thing before Pete arrives on Friday!
Did a fault report for the MPC about the bloody annoying way long audio clips are handled. If they ask for a video I have a few on the phone ready.
Aye, Colin is now in love with an AI code writer, and has declared that coding is now irrelevant but ideas rule. Golly! So I should expect a revision of the Cirklon history, presumably written by an AI too. Won't hold my breath though.
Oh yes, Colin asked his AI friend to create an image of me looking happy to have playlists in Cirklon. Then added "when stoned". Hoho.
Wednesday was a great day with Atrium, feeling my way around and cocking up a save of a very cool thing (did record it though). It's a real instrument, feels that way already. RND turned up but didn't immediately sync to MIDI clock.Duncan advised analogue clock and that is working - not so easy getting good loops on MPC as it is on BB though.
Hopefully a full-fledged sesh tomorrow. The stuff I've grabbed from RND already useful and once I bring in Atrium, reckon that'll do as my gear for gig.
Well, that's Tuesday and today's still Sunday. I spent a wee while today loading up some of the new P3/MPC songs for further work. Good results by keeping the track count low, building stuff into my base DRM kit then adding suitable effects and learning to work around the bug where you don't see anything visible on a long-playing audio clip which is running its full length before ending.
Got the Real World rough mixes to listen to. Listened through a fair percentage of them.
Went to Glasgow and it were grand. Train was late so got compensation. Drank whisky picked at random, dunno whose instincts got the best but all tasted nice. Took a photo that only caught half the bar but you can see just how many bottles we had to choose from....
Took Izzy back, had a walk with Jan up Jeffrey. On Thursday Rob came and worked on kitchen. He's back tomorrow morning with plumber to finish. May get a Friday as it's supposed to be cooler. As expected the car service light came on. Not sure how many weeks since MOT but it always happens - gonna take it elsewhere for the service to see if cheaper. Didn't hear back from Pascal so he may be upset I missed his call Sunday. Was meant to be Pete here this weekend but we're really not ready and the guest room is still full of shit.
RND is coming although no actual shipping date given, just that they received it. Fancy doing a gig with just that and Octatrack, making shit up against whatever it generates. Then again fancying doing a gig and being bothered to leave the house are so often very different things.
A good friday. Did a new MPC track with some interesting shit going on. In Cm so usable when Pete comes. Will do some work in Logic tomorrow I think, beef it up since I was hearing with the rather good Zoom compressor on.
This arrived. And was well received.
One of the Alt's small filter knobs is crackling. Not a good sign. And I don't think there are any others around to replace it with. Bugger. Oh and since 3.9.1 the MPC has definitely been less stable. Yesterday's thing sounded good but as recorded into Zoom with compressor on, is actually very quiet so I'll maybe need to leave that off. Live and learn.How I wish that were true.
Weather seems to be cooling off at last. Very welcome, had best night's sleep in ages last night.
Don't you think? It's the last month of summer and, in theory, one of berries and apples and the nights drawing in. We've already made jam in July though and our apples are looking pretty good, what with all the sunshine. This week's meant to be hot again so hopefully I'll still get some time to think about preparing some material for when Pete comes. Pascal has been in touch and wants to do some collaborating too, so that'll be good.
It is Monday and I was up early walking the dogs. It's nice cos you then have a better chunk of the day, although Broc was holding his leg and not looking well as we got home, something I've seen once before. Ongoing Margaret saga I won't bother writing here as my blog's been miserable enough lately.
An excellent day. Tim's P3 driving the JD-XA gave me instant sequences - even sent patch changes that worked so I was pretty much ready to start. I remember starting a few things when I thought the other P3 was wonky. Anyway, now have three starter songs in Cm so the Ideation prep done and to be developed and embellished when Pete here Added P2K for MPC to sequence then the MPC can do a few bits on top of all the MIDI and audio loop grabs. P3 fixes everything. I can grab the P2K noises for the gig to save taking it if necessary.
Tuesday felt a bit limp and I trimmed trees until the garden bin was full before having another Alt sesh. For a good while it produced nothing but mulch and I repinned the whole thing a couple of times in search of inspiration. Then, just as I was about to power off, it began producing this sweet and magical melodic flurry. I captured it but it made me realise that it's far less about the connections than it is about making very subtle changes to the movement speeds and depths to stimulate the arpeggiator. Compared to all my other synths, this one stands alone for insisting on the tiniest of changes and listening before doing more - not even the Synthi is this detail-obsessed, although it's the one that comes closest. I did some stuff on the Cric too, just continuing to explore the patch with the envelopes passing on to each other which is still yielding delights.
Wednesday and I got a short MPC sesh in trying out some new P3 patterns along with the same formula of JD-XA and P2K. I also notice pervasive aftertouch between the KSP and Minilogue XD. For the time being I set the XD's init patch not to respond to it but I need to do a proper analysis of the KSP's output and possibly report it as a fault. I really wish they had made it with a better quality keyboard, as I do the XD itself. Cheap shit plagues us all.
Quite pleased with that action shot from this morning.
Also quite pleased with Friday afternoon's creation, again using Logic to refine slightly.
Monday is the day it arrives and I've already sent an update request. All this stuff with the envelopes led me to believe the buttons could trigger the new envelope modes - but the manual says no. For some reason only via MIDI and the arpeggiator do the envelopes kick in. Wtf? So while I was asking for stuff, I requested the LFOs change from square to triangle from saw to triangle, like the MS20. Never liked square waves as modulators. Possibly can't do though as the LFOs are analogue.
Tuesday and hopefully I'll get some time to play with Alt. As out chap didn't come last night getting Tim's help to move settee back into front room. Pat has noticed the hall and front room flooring are different so she wants the hallway one replaced... it never ends. It's EMOM tonight and I did briefly consider playing with Alt but as I have yet to properly have a go, that seems a bit silly, even for me.
Today I explored Alt's MIDI, which was less fun than yesterday's bout of just playing it. Setting envelope values will probably work if I use Cirklon's Track Values and maybe sending a chord on channel 4 will work well too, as well as using channel 3 to transpose. Tested the envelope follower and so-called Buchla modes too but limited appeal for me. Tomorrow back to regular playing as that seems more natural.
Thursday was an excellent day with Alt, recording then starting a Logic song with some arranging to do and overdubs. Added a few gongs and big boomers too and will finish tomorrow before I get stoned. I'll have a longish piece of drones and shifting textures of a very particular type. Already have ideas for what I'll add in the three remaining bridging sections.
Well, I ended the month with this. So I got a couple of decent things in July after all when it seemed like I'd get nothing at all. Used Logic again.
Yeah, I seem to be stuck in a cycle of being unable to do much because of my breaking down of how I do things. Not healthy but also not good to be stuck in the aircond room just because of the fact it's cool enough. Today the Kenton MIDI Thru was randomly powering off and no idea why. Have removed the RD9 as I was really getting tired of its sounds. The TT-606 is simpler and fresher so it's that plus ER-1 at the moment with the Arp and Wavestate still doing backing. The advantage is that both Arp and Wavestate allow per-pattern MIDI channel assignments so I've been playing with that. I do miss having the KSP run the Wavestate but I might assign the Proteus to it at some point, even though I'd prefer the (dead) Morpheus. Oh well. Hopefully it'll get cool and I can use setup 1. If not, I'm going back to MPC and just work on some material.
Things I'm bored with now include the GR-1. I have tried to like it since the revamp of its menu/save system and just pine for how it was. Naming stuff is a PITA and saving stuff seems way more complex than the simple shift and perf combination of before. Navigating to a menu option before you switch off is also annoying so I may sell or swap it. Tested recording the Zoom and transferring files via USB and it does record muted tracks, which seems daft, plus you have no option to gang tracks 1&2, 3&4 as stereo - they're always mono. Doing anything on Ableton with the files is also a drag compared to Logic and its large screen and familiarity. I've tried but don't like Ableton either. Too old for change?
Anyway, that was Wednesday. I filled the garden bin so not entirely wasted the morning but the afternoon faffing in the studio felt like I was searching for something I'm not sure I need to find. My cold still present but has entered what I hope is the final dry cough stage...
Thursday started well, although felt weak after walking Broc. Was gonna make tea, the jambalaya, but Margaret was wailing in her flat about the door and basically lying on the floor making it quite clear she's losing it. Pat brought her home but she's struggling to walk (fall yesterday) and gonna try pain killers. I fear she may be back here again but it's also clear she can't continue where she is. Anyway, abandoned simple MPC sequening JD-XA setup as it wasn't really very inspired. I hope it's cool enough to play the Osmose tomorrow. And I don't get called away for some emergcncy or other.
Yeah, new battery after 4.5 years. Hopefully this is a good one - will check its voltage when I power up later.
Well, I played the Osmose and made this by recording drectly into Logic then editing rather than recording more. Further editing can still happen.
I fired up the video camera also. For some reason it split into two.
Oh, and for reasons (I'm not totally sure why but blame Jez Creek), I ordered a Cyma Forma Alt. I think it was the software update that swayed me as t gives proper envelopes (something I always wanted on the Lyra), plus the fine tuning and scales. I had dithered the day before and lost the slightly cheaper one at Juno but got what seems to be the last available anywhere from Signal. Reasoning was I'd saved money on the Easel.
Saturday and Tim's not here, his lady is with him so I may get a studio day after all.
Well I did and spent some time on setup 3 moaning about Cirklon to Colin. I think he listened and proposed a couple of visusualisation possibilities for my overdubbing into long patterns issue. My recording was shorter than yesterday and I did not go back and sort a few of its issues. Shows me my new idea of how to progress is sound. I will leave this here to remind me of the two paths.
Sunday the guy's meant to be doing plywood ready for floor sorting tomorrow. Really ready for all this to be done. My Alt is arriving tomorrow also so it'll be headphones at first unless guy finishes floor in the morning.
It's the question I've been asking myself since being exposed to a real studio and skilled professionals who played sober, unstoned and note-perfectly whenever called upon to do so. Should I be drawn back into the DAW world in order to raise my game or is there some other way? Does it really matter if I enjoy pootling about as I always have? Half-way houses include things like the Zoom mixer that records all its inputs, all of which eventually takes me back to a screen and mixing and producing. Or maybe I do it that way and only go back and work on the jams that have promise, which yesterday's didn't (now I give them the sober Saturday play). Still not unhappy though because I was working again and the air conditioner made it possible. Using the TT-606 as master clock is probably only a short-term thing though, will probably put Octatrack back or some other simple clock source. Or maybe that's where the DAW belongs...
Yeah went back to OT. Now looking at a mixer solution that will incorporate multitrack recording and therefore replace the current Behringer mixer and the Zoom R24.
Decided on a Zoom L6Max. Even if it doesn't prove my ultimate solution to rule them all, it'll do nicely as a small recordable mixer for live and I'll initially use it in place of the R24 and main Behringer mixer in that room. It wIll free a load of space and give me the power to record as and when I want, even using it as a muti-channel input to the laptop with my Live setup. The R24 can move into the other room and be a mixer/recorder for the small corner setup maybe.
Probably more important though is how much my process changes or indeed can change. A lot of my improv stuff could already be done to Logic and refined yet I rarely do. Gonna have to think a lot about the gains and costs - and even if I want to work more sober/unstoned just to produce music with supposedly fewer obvious flaws and generally better production values. I mean, who am I doing this for?
A quality Monday combining MIDICake Arp with Wavestate. Sending all tracks to global track then splitting each part by velocity of key range proving most excellent.
Tuesday I tried the Zoom - wow it's tiny! And does indeed seem to do its job and all outputs available to Ableton - so I may not even need its own recording but do selections on Live as multitracker. We'll see how it goes.
My tree still looking good
Did quick test of recording direct to card and then to Ableton with the Zoom as audio interface - good in that mode I can easily choose which inputs to use for recording. Haven't tested yet whether the L6Max records muted tracks. Would seem silly but who knows?
I think the L6 Max is gonna work out very well. I dithered before buying but it has freed so much space in the studio it's worth it just for that. Felt a bit rought today though so didn't do more than a few tests. Got poor Becca's cold, so I have.
