I AM STILL getting over the passing of Burt Bacharach. (I know I know… GET OVER IT CHAD!!!)
This has always been one of my top Burt songs done over by Herb Alpert. Today I found that the original, which I love so much, he had redone in the past few years. It’s such a yummy song, that I like them both. Here they are for comparison.
This is the first time he did it. This is off my favorite Herb Alpert and the TJB album, SRO from 1966.
From Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, SRO (1966)
Here is the re-do from his 2016 album Human Nature.
From Herb Alpert, Human Nature (2016)
Which do you prefer? Vote below in this crappy old poll plug-in I’ve had in WordPress for a million years.
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).
Still messing with the Arturia Keystep 37 and learning new stuff. I find it amazing how the on-board arpeggiator and sequencer can work independently of Ableton, so you can pre-plan, audition, and rehearse stuff before you trigger and record it into Ableton as MIDI files. It is SUPER nifty. The delicious ingredients list follows:
Arturia Keystep 37
A bunch of stock Ableton 9 gadgets and samples
Addictive Keys plugin (for dinkly piano)
Lounge Lizard plugin (for the Rhodes Electric Piano bit)
Yamaha Reface CS (for the screechy mono synth bit)
Novation Launchpad Pro (for various drum patterns and cymbal fills)
Audacity software (to record Bird noises found on YouTube)
This project started last weekend when my friend Keith was here. I was demonstrating the crazy stuff the Keystep does and just started laying out tracks. I finished the rest of it today.
As always none of this is perfect or etched in stone, but I had fun doing it and I like to listen to it. As always USE HEADPHONES!!!
(*As a special afterthought note: I just renewed my CtrlZStudio account. I noticed it started in May of 2010 (for those of you scoring at home)).
Got some fancy new colored buttons for the Korg Minilogue XD (in the back there with the colored buttons). The original buttons were black with black lines so you couldn’t tell where anything was set. It sucked. Most owners of the Korg Minilogue XD replace their buttons with brightly colored buttons with clearly visible lines, so you can see where stuff is actually set.
Well since I replaced the buttons, I had to test it. So I set about playing some “latched arpeggios” washed in too many effects. I recorded that. Then, because I don’t know when to quit (because I am not a real “artist”), I went back into the recording with the Yamaha Reface CS (in white in the foreground) and did a layer of noodling on top. This is how it sounds.
XD new buttons + CS
It’s not too long and is kind of a mess, but this means EVERYTHING WORKS! HOORAY FOR ME !
Today I got tired of my bass guitar being all dusty and junk. I haven’t played it in so long, I started to feel guilty. As many know, I do not know how to play bass guitar at all so once again, Ableton and looping come to my rescue. I ASSURE YOU THE BASS IS IN TUNE (even if my E sting is STILL strung backwards).
I simply played a couple of bits and chopped and looped the good. I used this chorus effect that makes the bass sound like it’s fretless (as I love the sound of a fretless bass even though I do not have one).
The drum pattern has been dormant on my computer now for a few months and I didn’t do anything with it, so I figured this would be of good use. It’s a Roland 606 plug in. I created the pattern a long time ago when I first acquired the plug in.
I added a little Yamaha Reface CS two chord loop to make it less boring (although it is still boring). The Mod and Texture sliders on the CS are AMAZING. I slide those up slowly for the duration of each chord. Powerful stuff.
I figured this is yet ANOTHER WORK IN PROGRESS laying around on my hard drive but I figured I’d post it just to see what people think.
No EXTERNAL HARDWARE effects (which really is a shame) but that could change in the future.
Thanks for listening/commenting and using headphones (they always help).
The looper on the Yamaha Reface CS is a strange beast. I found myself amused by just cramming as many notes in it as I can, and just leaving the REC turned on so its recording anything I do with the keyboard while it’s looping. Although while it is looping, I’m doodling more with the sound itself and the effects.
This sounded better in my headphones than I thought. I just love sustain, delay, reverb,… anything with a tail. This is so fun!
NOTE:
Around just before 1 minute mark it gets crazy. It’s amazing how something cute and pretty can just fall apart on this thing. I think the ability to get full rich sound quickly on it, is the charm. Then, with one jiggle of a knob it screams like a demon and just crumbles. Go ahead, call it a toy. I don’t care. The track has a Fripp & Eno-Swastika Girls kind of vibe to it.
The “Yamaha CS 2 project Project” has interesting bits in it too, but I need to chop it down a bit. But this above? Only 5 minutes? Good enough!
Bob and I did a track with samples from Diamond & Silk. The reference source for this is a monologue they had about how “Socialist Cubans only get 5 eggs a month.”
This was too funny so we made a song.
Diamond & Silk
Bitchin Bob’s birthday gift was used for this. He got a groovy drum pad. It’s a Kat Percussion KTMP1 Electronic Drum and Percussion Pad Sound Module. We were breaking it in and came up with this track. The timing is off and its very sloppy but MAN did we have fun and laugh while making it.
Bob’s new drum pad thingy.
5 Mystic Eggs
Click the play thingy and give it a listen. The orchestra hit at the very beginning was left in intentionally. It was triggered by Bob on the drum pad.
Scott Walker (the singer not the politician) is one of my favorite musicians. He passed away yesterday (March 25, 2019) to very little fanfare. This is typical for my musical taste. The people I laud as ground breaking and genre bending get relegated to the small print in most websites. The people that they have influenced get the big headlines. If you don’t know who Scott Walker is, click here.
Scott Walker’s music has had an influence on my taste and music production experience. He comes off as smug and arrogant but he makes a lot of sense. Most know of my frustration with the overrated deification of singers in modern music. It is not to say that there is no talent required to be a singer, it is just that there is too much emphasis on the human voice as an instrument in modern “pop” music. I captured an interview snippet of him talking about what it is like to work with singers. I COULDN’T AGREE MORE.
Scott Walker on singers
Added the video because I love the song. Listen in headphones or speakers with vast separation.
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