xaqary's forum posts 444

Of late I don't think that kinda thing can grow long enough unnoticed to become scary. New scenes & trends get memed into your grandparents hands with in a year & loose something.

The "what the fuck is this & where did it come from?!" that an established scene could do but remain unknown to the "ol folks" thing of the past- just don't happen like that anymore. It's widely known early on & maybe before a new scene can gird itself & dismiss the incoming meme-ification.

Trippy new landscape...

A new name for soft syths?

Synthes1z0r

That whole article made me nostalgic for a time when an underground music scene existed that scared the shit outta the elderly.

Lil' story on the FBI files on The Fugs (as well as The Doors, John Lennon & Yoko Ono)

https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/bj7x85/fbi-foia-the-fugs-the-doors-v24n8

Anyone else start using Ableton Live 10 Beta yet?

Looks like just about every link is from his own website or YouTube channel.

If I'm mistaken, just let us know.

Currently it just looks like you'd like to get a pro account becuase... actually, I've no idea why.

Why?

That sick Equipboard cred with the ladies?

Oh yeah, gchiaren-

If you got any wishlists ideas of your own I can try and push them along with my requests while they're still tweaking the beta

FACT mag article on Ableton Live 10 features:

http://www.factmag.com/2017/11/02/ableton-live-10-features-release-date-price/

They checked a ton of boxes on my wishlist & even tho the Push updates weren't on that list- they absolutely kick all the butts. Crazy useful & so much better than mouse clicks

Only review copies currently. last i spoke with them about it the plan is to formally release it early 2018 (maaaaybe sooner?)

more & more:

https://youtu.be/wJYRIFVR7Hs

new PUSH features at a glance:

https://youtu.be/RzWDaroO2LY

workin my way thru it all but here's a quick look at some of the updates (including wavetables, etc)

https://youtu.be/EArBGLrqzE4

did u get time to check it out?

Margaret Thatcher’s Briefing on Punk for a 1987 Interview:

https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/zm3jz4/margaret-thatcher-briefing-punk-pop-smash-hits-1987-interview

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/apr/09/margaret-thatcher-smash-hits-interview

Tempest. Tempest is the 1st & the last word.

Anyone built one o' these?

juuust curious-

http://www.e-licktronic.com/en/content/25-yocto-tr808-clone-tr-808

better? that's a matter of taste & application.

I had a Big Sky- fantastic as it was I sold it to fund an OTO Bam but that was a matter of personal taste.

Though I do plan on adding a Digitech Polara when I can- it sounds absolutely fantastic (bassed on the legendary Lexicon reverb algos) and at the price point is a killer deal.

What did you have in mind to use it on? Guitar/vox/synth/etc?

Desolation Center:

"Featuring the likes of the Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Savage Republic, Einstürzende Neubauten and, most famously, Sonic Youth, these events were the work of Stuart Swezey, an LA post-punk promoter previously famous for putting on a series of concerts in galleries and rehearsal spaces under the Desolation Center banner."

http://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2017/10/stuart-swezey-the-desolation-center?linkId=43587381

I love reading, etc. about the restrictions video game composers worked with. That stuff is way inspiring

Programing FM on the Sega...

Tangental to this thread but....

https://youtu.be/WEvnZRCW_qc

Took the words outta my own amature mouth:

"Digital Revolution Fosters More Hurried, Less Skillful Creative Process"

http://www.socanblog.ca/en/digital-revolution-fosters-more-hurried-less-skillful-creative-process/?utm_content=buffere781e&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

"True tastemakers are becoming endangered. There has been a vast and exponential growth in output and content in the last 20 years. While reviewers and consumers are drowning in choice, paid arbiters of taste are being laid off and replaced by amateurs."

"Why Califonias Musical Road Sounds Terrible"

https://youtu.be/Ef93WmlEho0

The story of one mans quest for/restoring of a Juipter 8 while waiting for tostadas-

https://jup8restoration.wordpress.com

the story of the Big Muff:

http://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2017/10/instrumental-instruments-big-muff

Wake up & time allowing I like to put in some tunes & read while I suck back some caffeine.

Usually find stuff from FB groups, Twitter, music biz publishers, etc.

Figured I'd try starting a repository here & if you got anything interesting to share- by all means-please do

This morning it's been-

100 sine wave synthisizers:

http://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2017/10/ikeda-tech-feature

Well I'm not sure what Ableton Live Light comes with-

when you get it installed check the browser on the right hand side->

open the Instruments & you should find at least a few of Ableton's stock instruments (vsts)

i.e.

Analog Operator Sampler Simpler etc.

(and several presets under each)

I suggest that since I think (?) you’re on a tight budget and this is the quickest way to get your hands on something to get your sound design feet wet. With some time you should be able to get sounds fairly close to what I think you're after. Zero cash required. LOADS of tutorials in every direction- YouTube, etc.

A solid investment of time will get you much further than cash can. I can't remeber how many people I’ve seen with thousands and thousands of dollars worth of gear making the most bland sounds & usually nothing at all soon as they get bored when things don't come quick. Instruments don't make music, musicians do (not trying to be a jerk, just addressing the pervasive idea you can somehow buy your way into playing good music by buying the right kit).

I've been watching the feverish revival of the stuff you mentioned as it's a genre close to my heart but 80% of what I've heard lately is nothing complicated.

So to get a better idea beyond that:

are you looking to invest in a hardware piece?

Soft synth advice?

a 101 on patch building?

Was this a reply? did i miss something?

reeeaaaal cute Mr.

Was this a reply? did i miss something?

I can't get Dexed to install for the life of me.

We seem to be watching a but of a revolution in new synths.

So many it's taken me a bit just sorting out what's a good fit.

I'm still very green to programming & a knob rich panel is nice to get a very wee bit of an idea but for most of my research when I'm looking at the options on offer I'm left watching demos on YouTube, patch samples on SoundCloud, etc. & lord most of them suck.

Even hands on at a shop isn't really enough sometimes with the deep routing options, fx, etc. a load of these new builds offer.

So help me if I see another #Ambient synth review...

and don't get me wrong- I LOVE ambient & generative music and all...but more often it's shorthand for "I have no idea how to use this thing pass me the reverb/delay/etc pedal."

That's all well & good I guess (is there really a large group of people out there who really need tutorials on how to make ambient music of this caliber?!?! Debussy must be turning in his grave)

Anyhoo-

What Jim did here blew all that shit outta the water!

Not only do I have a excelent idea of the sounds the Peak is capable of I've been slowly working my way thru his COMPREHENSIVE AS ALL HELL patch info in the review that now serves as a study guide for exploring the synths I already have as well (along with some deep Peak lust).

I checked out the Peak breifly before James got his Peak for review & was blown away with the sound & playability tho I had no idea just how capable it was. The other reviews I saw/read/heard did very little to inform on it as a musical instrument- mostly what I got where a handful of timbre examples, a very quick pass at the more obvious functions (please. tell me. What does VCO mean again? ugh...)& a whole lot of skipping around for something useful (without much luck).

To say nothing of building a whole jam outta one box (OP-1 and the like excluded)! It's a TON of work & it's a kick ass tune! What a killer way to really be introduced to a synth! It packs into a few minutes more than a series of 30 minute YouTube function by function scroll thru and goddamn those can be dull.

That said even if it's not your taste there's still so much here- heavy synth patch builds, arrangement, etc. Jim went hella deep here with his full skill set.

Check it out- Jim went way over the top here.

Hats off sir. Hell of a job.

Linn Drum is on my list of classic drum machines.

Sideman too.

Totally been there- it's not like it hasn't been said before but this always seems to help:

I start something, anything-a little bass line, a coulpe chord chages, any fragment of a thought I've been mulling over, etc but then commit to finishing it no matter how shit it might be. Just finish the song. By round 2 or 3 I'm usually cured. Some of my favorites got written this way. Some borrow the good bits from previous attempts but not necessarily.

for whatever that's worth

I'm not sure if I could completely endorse my methods here but this is what I do...

I try and train all of the algorithms on YouTube, Spotify, SoundCloud, etc. to force them to suggest new music every day.

About 98% is usually crap. Some days I have more patience and can listen through for the jems amongst the turds, sometimes not.

I go to record stores with people I trust and instead of picking out an album myself well ask them to pick three things they don't think I've heard of that I would find interesting and buy them without listening first.

I join groups on Facebook, topics on YouTube, follow tons of boards, subscribe to TONS of email lists, and every other kind of media aggregator/community you can think of hunting for something that bends my year in a way that's exciting.

This often means that I won't listen to a lot of my favorites for a week or more. There are only so many hours in the day. That part can really suck sometimes honestly. sometimes its amazing.

Unless I have decided to study a particular genre or it's lineage I pay no attention to what genre while I do this stuff.

I am out right greedy for new sounds and music that turn me on.

Periodically I will come up with a collection of favorites that I will compile in a playlist or maybe just written on a piece of paper. When I don't feel like I can stand trudging through the muck anymore I go back and study all of the pieces that I did like and try to figure out what draws me in – composition, arrangement, texture, rhythmically, you name it.

This sometimes means I end up writing something inspired by Bartok, Desmond Decker, Bach, Cashmere Cat, Stravinski, Miles Davis, Wire, Square Pusher, Steve Reich, "insert top 10 pop star here" (yes, really) & i dunno, let's say John Cale.

I may borrow something harmonically here, a rhythmic idea from there, and aesthetic or texture from somewhere else & see what works.

I'm not gonna tell you this is an exhausting at times and frustrating most of the time. However, when I do find those jams. Those tunes that make me so excited it's always worth everything that came before it.

Hopefully this isn't too boring of a read. If any of you have a creative ways to get new music randomly in front of you I'd love to hear it.

Let us know what ya think!

As is usually the case Jim leave little left to cover but I would add this:

"Play exciting, not excited." Hal Gelper

You often cover things you feel emotional moved by, Like very moved. That's fantastic however you appear to get lost in it. You perform like you are performing for yourself, not for an audience.

Why would that matter?

Well if you want others to feel inspired with your music as you are with the songs that inspired you you'll need to remain focused on what your playing, the audience who will listen to your work, & not lost in your own rapture at the expense of the performance.

An exaple might be how i LOVE singing at the top of my lungs along to a favotire song in the car but if you stripped away everything but my voice I'd sound AWFUL. I'm not thinking of my performace 1st, I'm lost in how good it feels & hell with the details of a solid performance.

That doesn't mean there isnt a place to cut loose playing music- There are tons.

To use the same example of singing in the car-the vocalist i work with all the time is well trained. She's put in the work, the restraint needed to become a very talented singer. If she's singing she could be singing along in that same car & her shit would be hella close to on point.

In sessions she drifts back & forth from a form of abandon & control. She sings exciting, not excited.

Apollonian and the Dionysian need to be in balance.

Make any sense?

Howard Goddall's Beatles video is so awesome! I just watched it again the other day but I had to pause to write a song. Not the 1st time that's happened! It's that inspiring.

Super fun place to start thinking about music theory & expanding your emotional vocablulary musically. It's absolutely A+! Can't recommend it enough!

I'd hazard that no matter how skeptical you might be about music theory that video will leave you so psyched to play.

Everything he's done is fantastic but that one in particular is just such a great place to jump in.

Anyone concerned that learning theory might lead to loosing your creative honest expression I promise you that if you're a creative person who loves music that it's not that fragile, it's baked into you. If it can be taken away by learning a few chord names, concepts, whatever? You've got bigger problems!

Those people we all meet who make just the worst music but act superior for understanding the language of music yet have no grasp on the aesthetic are just people with crappy taste. They just happen to know some musical terms, etc. We all know the hugely accomplished players that nobody wants to listen to. Meh, blow 'em off. They never got it to begin with-the theory isn't at fault. Theory can't fix bad taste any more than it can take away good instincts!

Hopefully be back over in Europe soon maybe we'll run into eachother-

Keep me posted on new projects/releases!

Yeah, as my board on here likely tipped you off I'm broke! Only a mater of time till I get into modular tho.

Ah, i saw Hienback posted a quadraphonic video but I forgot to check it out & I just found the live footage of another quadraphonic video on your page. nice!

There's an old quadrophonic mixing console up the road in Olyimpia, Washington at Evergreen Uni. & I was lucky enough to check out ages ago. Loved it. Loved it, loved it, loved it.

Where are you located?

I'm slowly coming around on modular if only because I know it'll try & swollow me whole...I'm running outta fight tho. It just looks too fun. I started on a Serge 20 or so years ago but haven't thought about getting back in until lately.

This pushed me over the edge tho:

https://youtu.be/kvRTkJ7Qx2o

Nice! Liz is awesome. She's from my area-Oregon/Portland. We've also got Smegma in addition to a bunch of killer talent out this way.

Guess I missed Genesis P Orridge last night. Fuckin' Bummer but i was too dead tired to make it.

Haha, nice. Small world! Hainbach does great stuffs I found him a while back on YouTube.

Mylar Melodies did a video on the Morphogene that was fuckin' sick too. Might have been the last domino to fall before I join in on the Modular fun.

Grouper does some killer stuff as well.

I've stepped back from generative music lately but it's baked into me. 1st instrument i fell in love with was tape. Just came across my tape concrete pieces from school from nearly 20 years ago while re-organizing the studio.