Tag Archives: CHOB

UPDATED!!! Novation LaunchPad Pro + Ableton + Rush = High Mystic Water Rhythms

Rush Cartoon
So I bought a Novation Launchpad Pro for Christmas (From me to me). This is a controller for digital audio software (mostly Ableton). I have always complained about the learning curve in Ableton and how it does things differently. Well, seeing that it IS an industry standard in an industry I lovingly call my “hobby”, I decided to invest in the software and force myself to learn it. This device helps that learning and makes understanding of it a lot easier.

Novation LaunchPad Pro

I have started stealing drum sounds from Neil Peart (from Rush) and using them as my drum foundations on this project. These drum sounds and the riff are respectfully sampled from the song by Rush titled “High Water” (from the album “Hold Your Fire”). Admittedly, the groove/shuffle of the original drum pattern are lost a bit as I quantized it. It made it more robotic and less human which I think adds to it in an odd way. I called my version “High Water Pants” “High Mystic Water Rhythms”.

This is my first second stab at this, so be gentle. I am amazed at the simplicity and power of all of this technology and my mind has been blown multiple times in the past 48 hours. I’m in love with this stuff.

Check out my first  second shot at a LaunchPad Pro mix with Ableton. Not too shabby. Take special note of the groovy drum solo break in the middle. I’m so nifty! 🙂

UPDATED!!!

I have decided that one Rush song was not enough to destroy, so I also diced up Mystic Rhythms and added a whole new segment mixing the drums from this song along with the song mentioned above (High Water).

I’m sure Neil Peart will be completely pissed, but I am learning a lot and having fun!  Let’s face it.  The man’s drum sounds, sound awesome! I basically sampled each of his drum sounds separately (to a very short wav file), then assigned each drum (wav file) to a button, then wailed away on the pads and tried to make my own drum patterns out of HIS sounds. I  put another nifty drum solo type break near the end.  THIS IS JUST TOO MUCH POWWWWWERRRRR! I’m blowing myself away here!

CHOB III

chob3-cover

This is compiled from sessions recorded in 2016.  Bob and CeMeGo had things scattered all over the hard drives.  It has taken a while to compile all of this together.  Some you may recognize from this blog, others were created and never posted.

Track List

  1. Oh It’s a Harold Budd Start (2:36)
  2. Start The Reactor (3:11)
  3. The Surface (7:07)
  4. Overmodulated M F’er (3:45)
  5. The Big Test (0:52)
  6. A Serious Dialogue (Noise Your Dick Off at 300bpm) (4:24)
  7. Breakfast Project (1:56)
  8. Chob Gives Up (1:14)
  9. Our Own Girls (7:20)
  10. That Darn Delay Thing (4:42)
  11. It Builds to Something Special (3:44)
  12. Chobwahwah (3:57)
  13. Oh It’s a Harold Budd Ending (1:16)

Personnel

Bob & CeMeGo (and occasional Nguyen Chaney).

Tools

Ableton Live (The great learning curve)
Adobe Audition (too useful unfortunately!)
Korg Mini-KP
Korg Kaossilator Pro
Korg MicroKey
Korg MicroKorg
Sony Acid Pro 7
Korg Volca Bass
Korg Volca  Beats
Korg Volca  Keys
Teenage Engineering Pocket Operator PO-12

Click here to download the album in a zip file with cover art (46 megs).

We still don’t make money off of this crap. We do it for fun! The best compensation would be a comment or review right here on this blog again. Chob thanks YOU for your junk!

With or Without Doobies?

Douche
Bob and I took to MicroKorg and Monotron respectively, and improved the Doobie Brothers. The results are just incredible…. MY GOD we’re good.

Here we are WITH the Doobies…

Here we are WITHOUT the Doobies (SUBSTANTIALLY betterrrrr…)

Which is betterrrrrr?

View Results

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Start The Reactor !!

reactor trump-dance

Nguyen Cha’ney came by last nite and we collaborated on this little bit. I’m not sure if I’m done with this song yet. I think there’s more that could be done/added/rearranged. Either way, I wanted to post it so I could hear it in the car.

Things used:

  • Korg MicroKorg
  • Korg Volca Bass
  • Drums from a phone app
  • Random audio bits (the “Start The Reactor” and “Play That Funky Beat” voices).
  • Korg MicroKeys
  • Ableton Live (also known as “the great learning curve”)

That Darned Delay Thing

That Darn Delay Thing
Thought about playing with tons of Ping-Pong delay and chorus today. I hate working to a click or tempo at all. I like letting the spirit move me for timing. This is obviously not a good way to work. Once again, I went for that heaving breathing tempo I love so much because it’s in my head and it’s slow enough that I can follow it.

No drums/percussion here. Just 2 melody lines from the Microkorg ping pong’d delayed. Then crap thrown on top. There is a little odd alias’ing on the first melody as I have it washed in some digital chorus plug in that makes it ‘tinny’. I dont mind this. It may bother some.

Either way, this was fun to make. I’ve stopped making it, and you get to hear it. Enjoy.

The Big Test Audio

thebigtestimage


This is my first attempt at true digital multi-track recording using Ableton Live software with my new digital audio interface (Focusrite Scarlett 18i20). This interface has replaced the hummy, hissy, crackly old analog Behringer Mixer I’ve had for 13 years. I am by no means an expert at this, and I am still not a musician. Here’s what I did:

  1. I played a couple chords using a preset grand piano from Ableton’s instrument selections. (Cranked up the “hardness” and “brightness” of the piano to give it that Tony Banks/Genesis “Heathaze” kinda sound). Then added a bunch of digital reverb (also from Ableton effects racks) to create a ghostly big piano.
  2. I played the root keys of the chord sequence with one finger using the Volca Bass with a little cut off release at the end (a little knob twiddling).
  3. I played the same chord sequence using the MicroKorg on a retro strings synth setting.
  4. I played the same chord sequence using the MicroKorg on some waffle-esque arpeggio setting through the Red Box (Korg Mini-KP) with a stereo channel panner, with digital chorus (from Ableton effects racks) to make it pan a little harder.

This is by no stretch a musical masterpiece. It is, however, something to be heard simply on the basis of clarity. I like how the opening piano just emerges from silence. No hiss, no hum, no crackling, just clean audio like the true black of an HD TV. This makes me EXTREMELY happy.

Hozpitality – EpiPen

EpiPen and Peanut at candle light dinner

CHOB: A Serious Dialogue

serious dialogue


Still at it! You were warned!

It can’t get much better than this at this point. This was seriously considered as a viable song, then we just gave up and moved the BPM up to 300 just to see how it sounded. We went to IHOP for breakfast at 4pm and came back and finished this. I blame IHOP !!

Starring:

    1. North Korean news anchors
    1. A young Arnold Schwarzenegger
    1. Jim Bakker
    1. A Cattle Auctioneer
    1. And a guy teaching Algebra
  •       Anonymous Montgomery County Maryland Police Officer

CHOB: Our Own Girls !!

our own girls

Bob showed up in North Barfthesda and we educated and learn’t each other to make this thing.

Used:  Volcas, MicroKorg, Kaossilator Pro, MiniKP, Phone

We have made and are making more of the best you have ever heard.  You will have so much more you will ask for no more more. Believe me. Stay tuned.

Tired of This Yet? This is The Black Keys Thing 1

bk1

This is a song played on all black keys. I wanted to work a little harder on creating with the MicroKorg and Kaossilator alone.

There are still some minor time issues, but HOLY CRAP THE SOUNDS ON THE mICROkORG ARE AWESOME. So many presets and this is with little to no variation of these stock presets.  The quality and variety of the sounds are amazing.  I went through as many as I could.

Geek Notes:

  • Kaossilator holds the time (at 100  bpm) and handles the loops and some studio sounding drums.
  • MicroKorg plays the initial stomp beat, all the solo sounds, screw ups, arpeggios, and vocoder crap.  ALL ON THE BLACK KEYS of course.
  • MiniKP (red box) added some much needed reverb and absurd delay to anything the MicroKorg put out including loop source material.

Note:  This is terribly long (12 minutes and 23 seconds)…  bump it around if you get bored.  I think the last 2 or 3 minutes sound the best (thanks to a bent, reverb’d, and delayed string chord I liked and it notably ends in this).  There’s a really loud over-modulated bass bit in the middle thats hilarious and may destroy your speakers.

Once again, no sense of time or self control.  This is just too much fun to make!  I couldn’t stop myself. 🙂