Not sure where this one came from. It just sorta wrote itself, and I was along for the ride. Anyway, I find it soothing. The fast solos are me in real time. Just thought I’d throw that out there. 🙂
I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed creating it.
Enjoy Responsibly!
Jay
[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bRc7TU7Qv0[/embedyt]
To badly paraphrase several movies, “We don’t need no stinking Time Signature!” This one kind of got out of hand, and I let it. The groove was there after a few hours, but I’ve spent days trying to play the solo in.
The drums are all programmed by hand (not played in – clicking squares in the MIDI grid… I can’t play drums.)Â The solo “instrument” is a stack of every real synth in my arsenal, meaning my Kawai K3 and K5, the trusty microKorg, and Korg MS-20.
Enjoy Responsibly!
Jay
[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJzqn1HUbHo[/embedyt]
And a completely different take on the same material. Rather glitchy, again True Blue Blazers will recognize much from this tune.
And remember, no matter where you go, there you are. Oh, and Lithium is no longer available on credit…
Enjoy. Â —Jay
[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5UPQaE6UiU[/embedyt]
I cut up the first 30 minutes of the Best. Movie. Ever., “The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, Across the Eighth Dimension“. Peter Weller and John Lithgow’s best work (just ask me, I’ll tell you!), it was scored by Michael Boddiker, I had never thought of sampling it until I listened to the Trance channel on whatever music service I use at work. I realized that people sample EVERYTHING. I ceased feeling guilty and started cutting. I posted this a few minutes ago to YouTube.
Blue Blazers will recognize quite a few sounds from the movie, and I have another one in the works. I haven’t even sampled past the first 30 minutes, so I look forward to remixing some more Buckaroo.
Let me know what you think.
Jay
[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeINcivEZvo[/embedyt]
Apple purchased Camel Audio, a German software company that produced my favorite VST, Alchemy, as well as the infamous CamelSpace and CamelCrusher. Until now, this hasn’t impacted me at all – I knew I wouldn’t be getting any new packs or content for Alchemy, but I never thought Ableton would turn their corporate back on my favorite little VST (a little VST that cost several hundred dollars).
I recently upgraded everything to 64 bit, and I was a little disappointed in how crashy my system became, and how delicate Ableton is now. I had already had some trouble with the installs.
Max still refuses to run for me (Brandon with Ableton assures me that it’s something I’m doing wrong, or a bad download, or something not Ableton’s fault…). The Max install comes as an MSI inside a Zip. That’s two CRC checks that I’m aware of, and neither one failed, so the “bad download” theory is not going to be the answer.
Anyway, Brandon also informed me that Alchemy has reached that point where Ableton won’t support it any longer (you know, because Apple), so if I choose to run it, any problems are, well, my problem. Ableton’s usually better about these things…
So I said all that to say this: I spent a day and a half reloading all of my sound banks into Alchemy, and I remembered why I ponyed up the cash for it – it’s a great sounding synth. Apple customers, you got a gem there.
I cut a trance piece as a kind of proof of concept. It’s in the synthwave arena, I think, but most of the sounds are from Alchemy. Listen, and let me know what you think!
[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAthC3FPL2A[/embedyt]
Ned was inspired after the last few sessions of MIDI basics. The arpeggio / Local Off project wasn’t finished decoding on YouTube when this piece started to take shape.
I did have to solve one technical issue to create this piece. I wanted to sync up my SQ-1, which is playing the MS-20. I’m out of MIDI cables (I used 3 to create the instrument chain for Local Off), so I had to get creative and make what we call a “Ghost Track”. In Ableton, I created a new send that only goes to output 3 and 4 on my 4×4 audio interface. Next I created a new drum track, and set it to “Sends Only”. I cranked the knob to my new send on the ‘silent’ drum channel. I take either of those outputs and run them to Sync In on the SQ-1. Now all I need is a short pulse (like a drum hit) to trigger the sequencer step by step. You’ll hear the SQ1 and MS20 come in at about 2:00. On the drum track I put a cymbal running 16th notes, with a pulse length of about 10 ms. That was enough to make the SQ-1 happy and advance the sequence with each cymbal hit. So it’s not technically voltage control, but it’s close enough.
[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_1HvDaQjvc[/embedyt]
Ned has owned a K5 for awhile now, and it’s had a problem with the patch selection buttons not wanting to be pressed. If you press really hard and rock them back and forth, perhaps you can get “2” selected.
We posted a video that demonstrates a fix we applied to our K5 that seems to be working just fine. Take a look and let us know. There’s got to be a better solution, but mine worked. So far. 🙂
Jay
[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFKZhrUVOtE[/embedyt]
FTP Ops was a work in progress, and I published an early version of it a few days ago. My friend Andy, an accomplished producer in his own right, offered some suggestions (I need suggestions right about now…) and I think the results were pretty good.
Have a listen and let me know what you think.
[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-gimC2vAPA[/embedyt]
This is the beginning of a production experiment. We’re producing a group of related songs and some rough sketches of videos. Our intent is to use the videos and music to create a massive remix that’s unlike anything we’ve ever produced.
The first task, of course, is to get some music out. Have a listen to our first entry.
[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA5gbOl16_k[/embedyt]
This was produced entirely with the microKorg and MS-20, with the MS-20 controlled via midi by the microKorg. The MS-20 has a reverse low pass envelope that’s fun to play with as the filter opens up after you release the note. Assembled in Ableton and then Windows Movie Maker. Comments are welcome, or drop Ned a line on the Contact Us page.
Jay
Our lead producer, Sterling, on his bespoke kitty stairs.
I signed up to participate in a couple of ad programs. Selling out? You betcha. This room is rather expensive (even the old equipment – it needs constant repair…) Since the Capgras Brothers also spend quite a bit of time in “Frankly Studios”, our costs can be higher than you might think. Not to mention Sterling, our lead producer and arguably smartest cat. His parkour techniques are amazing, but his demands can be outrageous.
I’m just saying that when you notice the advertisements, don’t think less of me. Or do think less of me, but be understanding. Or give me a really hard time about them.  I appreciate you just the same. 🙂
Jay
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