Category Archives: CHOB

CHOB, Cool stuff, Hozpitality, Music Sound Noise Audio

MicroKorg 2 Version 2 Update = More Ambient

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So Korg put out a firmware version update (v2) of the MicroKorg 2. It was a little painful to install because I learned that not all USB C cables are for data. Some are made just to charge phones. You cannot tell the difference by looking at them. After finding the right USB C cable, I finally connected the keyboard to my computer and the version update applied itself.

This version update added some really amazing stuff to the looper function and allows for third party plug-ins for effects. I used a third party looping effect on this one. It repeats what you play as if it is using two looped recorders, but one of the loops is smaller, so what you play is constantly changing. I made some background loop and then played on top. At one point the loop falls apart because I was messing with the settings but I just played over top of it. It makes a kind of “blap!” or “blurp!” sound that ping-pongs between the speakers. I just let it in there.

AS ALWAYS, SOUNDS BETTER IN HEADPHONES.

CHOB, Hozpitality, Music Sound Noise Audio

Some Ambient

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Today I was inspired to do a little ambient bit for 2 or 3 minutes.

I started with a drone on the microkorg 2. Then I played some far away piano MIDI notes over top. I copied these notes to another track and applied a sampled choir singing the same notes as the piano.

Then I added 2 more bubbly drones from the microkorg 2.

After this was all set, I applied the “around your head” speaker phasing effect to each track but varied the phasing amount and speed on each track so all the sounds seem to be moving around your head at varying depths and speed. The objective was to make the tracks constantly dance around the ears.

THIS IS AMAZING IN HEADPHONES!!! Give it a go and tell me what you think. I love doing stuff like this.

CHOB, Cool stuff, Hozpitality, Music Sound Noise Audio, WMOM

11th Hozpitality Album-After Hours

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FINALLY, the 11th Hozpitality album is now live and available for haves (see?)…

The reason this album is titled “After Hours” is because a lot of it was put together with various talented and creative people who stumbled over to the living room after the bars closed to make crazy attempts at making music.

There are many characters involved in this Hozpitality initiative on this album. They are as follows:

  • CeMeGo (myself, Hozpitality founder, voices, drums, keys, bass, talent wrangling, etc.)
  • Bitchin Bob (Hozpitality founder, voices, drums, keys)
  • Denise/MsNeeBo (Hozpitality founder, samples)
  • Danish (drums, keys)
  • James Cooper (fretted and fretless bass)
  • Dirty Dave (samples, bass, drums and random noises)
  • Tuggy (bass)
  • Mike Ortiz (sample and arrangement inspiration)
  • Richard (production, keys, drums, arrangements)
  • maybe other people… I have to think about this a little and maybe update the list later. After posting all of this to youtube and writing this post, my eyeballs are drying up.

Many devices and instruments were used in the creation of this album. There are too many to list. Ableton version 9 and, later version 12, were used to arrange and record everything.

The reason this album has 23 tracks is because I have been compiling and editing down very long winded jam sessions (some 2 or 3 hours long) for years to remove the corn out of the poop/find the diamonds in the rough. Some of these tracks were recorded as far back as 2020.

The album can be streamed from my youtube home page in the playlist section.

OR you can just jump right to the album’s playlist itself with this link.

CHOB, Cool stuff, Hozpitality, Music Sound Noise Audio

Twinkly Yamaha Reface CS Loop

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So I cropped this looping segment out of the How Not To Be Musical post I made when I first bought the Yamaha Reface CS because I found it to be pretty.

NOTE: This original post is over 30 minutes so it is a hefty undertaking. This is why I segmented this part out.

Someone told me, “way to go, you made wind chimes”. I said, “yeah but wind chimes don’t loop”, so SUCK IT!

CHOB, Cool stuff, Grinds My Gears, Hozpitality, Music Sound Noise Audio, WMOM

MicroKorg 2 aka FedEx Sucks

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Today, FINALLY, my new MicroKorg 2 arrived. I ordered it Saturday January 4, 2025. I BARELY got it on sale before the Trump tariffs kicked in.

The reason for the “Fed Ex Sucks” is because Fed Ex is THE WORST delivery service in America. They promised it would be here Thursday and required a signature. This meant I had to cancel all my plans and remain home for when it arrived and required my signature. I stayed home like an excited child canceling all my evening plans and waited. IT NEVER CAME and was rescheduled for today (Friday). The most annoying part is, the delivery man chucked it on the sidewalk in the snow, lightly tapped on my door, ran away, and NEVER ASKED FOR A SIGNATURE. Fed Ex is a SHIT OPERATION.

This purchase is nothing more than G.A.S. (Gear Acquisition Syndrome), as I had an original MicroKorg for years and it was a very useful part of my music creation arsenal. I was excited about the newer edition and had to have it. It has a full color screen for editing sound.

The original MicroKorg requires the sound architect (me) to fight through a matrix of battleship game like settings with two knobs and it made visualizing the settings rather difficult. Also there are a lot more bells and whistles on this one.

I used:

  • A chopped drum sample from Bill Laswell’s song Cybotron (to jam on).
  • The MicroKorg 2 (obviously).
  • The Korg Mini KP (red box for various audio effects).

The fancy part about this keyboard is its very easy to tie any sort of effect or action to the mod wheel. This made adding all sorts of strange effects in real time quite easy.

Here it is. As always, it’s best in headphones.

CHOB, Hozpitality, Music Sound Noise Audio

Wonderful Spring Day, Saturday, April 20, 2024

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Today my wonderful friend Daanish came by and we took turns moving through the presets of the Korg WaveState Native plug in.

I honestly believe we are pretty good. He is officially inducted into the Hozpitality hall of fame®.

Made a new “quicky” album tonight. It has multiple “suites” of muzak for your enjoyment. THERE ARE THEMES so put on your thinking cap.

The new album is titled:
Are You Ready, I’m Not Ready Yet, OK I’m Ready

Here are a few songs. Title is before the track:

Poop Flingin Serenade

No I’m Not Ready Yet OK I’m Ready

Now You Are Just Being Cocky

Needle Point

All this was shamelessly done with the Korg Wavestate Native plug-in and our own magical musical powers.

The track titles are half the charm:

  1. While You Were In There
  2. I’m Back Now
  3. Now You Are Just Being Cocky
  4. Are You Ready
  5. No I’m Not Ready Yet OK I’m Ready
  6. Makes My Teeth Hurt
  7. Poop Flingin Serenade
  8. Needle Point
  9. Tokyo Nightmare
  10. Al Fine

STAND BACK AND BE AMAZED!!!

OR just click on this thing to download the whole album with the awesome cover in a .zip file you can share with people who like stuff and things.

CHOB, Cool stuff, Hozpitality, Music Sound Noise Audio

Korg Wavestate Native VST

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Korg Wavestate Native

Today I acquired the Korg Wavestate Native plug in. I always thought the Korg Wavestate synthesizer was neat because it allows for these very involved sounds. Everything has a tail that does something crazy. For example, you hold a piano note and a million things happen before the sound releases. The Wavestate is good for sound creation and layering.

Korg does make an actual hardware synthesizer for this but I’m out of room for devices so I bought the software version of it.

IT BLEW ME AWAY!

I recorded myself playing 4 different presets on the thing. There is no overdubbing or layering. This is really a lot of fun. Makes me sound better than I am.

CHOB, Hozpitality, Music Sound Noise Audio

Harold Budd Obsession Hits Hard Today

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Was in the mood for mushy underwater fuzzy lo-fi piano noodling with lots of delay. Added some “Arturia Melo-Fi” tape motor noise and wobbling to give it that “lo-fi” sheen that is all the rage.

It’s all in a major key so all white notes. I may have to do one with all black notes to prove I’m not a note racist.

Either way, enjoy because I enjoyed making it.

CHOB, Chronicles of the Absurd, Cool stuff, Hozpitality, Music Sound Noise Audio, silly, WMOM

Stupid Twiki Shit

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What do Godzilla, Buck Rogers and Twiki, Gloria Estefan, Prince, and the word “Booty” have in common?

This video above is the answer.

This is a song made after a Phillies NLCS game, late night, and drunk.

Concept was by Mike Ortiz. We pressed the buttons, I made the video, and made this miraculous concept a reality.

Things used:

Ableton 9 (too cheap to upgrade it) for the music.
Arturia Keystep 37 (to play godzilla noises).
Novation Launchpad Pro (to trigger the samples).
PowerPoint to make the video.

In summary, “Bidi bidi bidi, booty booty booty, B-b-b-b-buck!”

CHOB, Cool stuff, Hozpitality, Music Sound Noise Audio

Korg Minilogue XD Ambient 1

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Today I took the Korg Minilogue XD out of cold storage and found a way to make instant “music for airports” style ambient music with a tortured twist.

It was really easy to do and fun once its established

I forgot that the arpeggiator on the XD has a randomize feature. If you SEQUENCE the arpeggiated notes that are randomized (randomized within the chord you play) it makes nice random changes. Basically, each of the 16 sequence blocks holds 6 notes (two 3 fingered chords). Every time the sequence moves to the next block it plays those notes in that 6 fingered chord randomly.

So the little sequencer light is like: CA-CHUNK, play 6 random notes in the chord, CA CHUNK play 6 random notes in the next chord…. over and over down all 16 CA CUNKS of sequencer blocks. This creates a long random sequence of chord structures.

Once the sequence is set, then you can just diddle the hell out of the knobs while the sequencer loops with random chord structures that you predesignated. It’s really fun to mess with.

There are THREE oscillators (sound makers): Osc1, Osc2 and the Multi/User Osc.

I started with just the first oscillator. It was set as a triangle wave which makes it mellow. Then I slowly mix in osc2 which is a sawtooth which is a brighter sound. Then I slowly mixed in the multi/user oscillator using the “FAT 2” user oscillator setting to add growl.

The first minute is just the mellow osc 1, then there’s a pause. Then it comes back while slowly mixing in each of the other 2 oscillators adding some body and crunch to the sequence. I mess with various reverbs and low frequency oscillation throughout the piece to keep it freaky.

There is a ping pong reverb and chorus in there so it kills in head phones.

It’s like electronic wind chimes for the talentless (pretty much music for airports).