Another day, another Stepic track. Seriously, this thing is amazing. I’m obviously in that new love phase, but the more I learn, the more capable and deep I realize this thing really is. One of the features I mentioned when I first got it a few days ago is the ability to sequence MIDI control change messages. I was really excited about that, except I could never get it to work. After an email exchange with the author, I determined that the problem lies with Digital Performer. Apparently it doesn’t support “legacy” MIDI messages for VST3 plugins.1If you don’t know what any of those words mean, don’t worry about it – they’re not really important. He sent me a VST2 version of the plug and it works perfectly. I submitted a tech ticket to MOTU, so hopefully they’ll fix the problem in an update or the next major version.
Ok, so here’s what makes this track interesting as far as step sequencers are concerned: everything you hear is being played by Stepic. Everything. The chords, the leads, the kick drum… every one is a step sequence.
- Agile Gossip Ray Toler 5:30
That seems radical, but it really shouldn’t be. Most formulaic2I say “formulaic” as an accurate descriptor, not as a perjorative accusation music consists of repeatable patterns. Let’s take the very beginning of the track as an example. You’ve got that high synth sound playing 8th notes and the chords in the background. The chords are the most repetitive thing in the entire track. Stepic is set up with a four-step sequence and a four-bar length for each step. Because Stepic is polyphonic, it’s just as happy to play chords as single notes, which gives us access to enormous possibilities. For these chords, however, they simply repeat the same pattern over and over forever.
In contrast, the high part is an eight step sequence with an 8th note length for each step. The notes are prescribed – they will always play the same thing, just like the chords, but with one exception: there’s a 12.5% chance on any given note that it will jump up an octave. Additionally, the loudness of each note is somewhat randomized. In MIDI, this is called “velocity” and it’s expressed as a number between 0 (silent) and 127 (as loud as it can be). In this case, most of the steps are somewhere between 30 and 50, so pretty quiet, but there are two accent steps that are over 100. On average, we should hear an loud note about 25% of the time.
But wait! There’s more! Now that I have a version of Stepic that can successfully send Midi CC information, I have two step lanes that are pointed at the sound’s cutoff and resonance values. If you put your hand over your mouth while saying “Oooooooo” and then move your hand away from your mouth slowly, that’s similar to what the filter cutoff is doing. And if you say “Ooooooooo” again starting with the sound at the back of your throat and then moving the sound so it’s mostly coming out of your nose, that’s similar to resonance. Now quickly look around and make sure nobody heard you and thinks you’re crazy.
Ok, so cutoff and resonance are automated, but you may not really even hear it on this part. This time, I randomly set each value by dragging my mouse across the controls, but didn’t enable any additional randomization. So these patterns will repeat, just like the chords. But there are 16 steps, and each step is set to be a full measure long. So it takes a full 16 measures to hear the pattern, and it’s likely to be a fairly subtle change most of the time. Over the length of the piece, though, it provides some motion and variety that you feel even if you don’t notice it.
There’s similar configuration for everything you hear in the track, making different use of randomization, division, velocity, panning, and so on. Once I had things sounding the way I liked across all nine instruments, I recorded the output of every Stepic instance to a MIDI track, then played those MIDI tracks and recorded the audio from the nine instruments. Recordinthe MIDI may seem like an unnecessary extra step, but it’s actually quite important.
Why? Because random means random! If I’d recorded the audio directly from the Stepic-controlled instruments, I would have captured a random performance that could never be created again. By recording the MIDI, I can guarantee that every randomized thing can be played back the same way in the future.
Again, why do I need this? Well, let’s say that a miracle happens and I release this track and it becomes really successful. Now it’s time to go on tour and play it for all of those people who have been listening to it on repeat and know every little detail. If I don’t have that captured performance, I’ll never be able to play the version they’re expecting. We can argue if that’s important, but recording the MIDI is a fast and easy way to avoid the potential future problem.
Well, and there’s another reason to do it this way. Sometimes random stuff is just too weird. Or there’s a single note that jumps out and distracts from everything else. Since I have the MIDI recorded, I can go in and edit that single note before recording the audio. Pragmatically speaking, this is what I should consider the main reason, but I still have this fantasy of playing some of this stuff live some day.
With the audio recorded, I did my normal mix tricks, automating volume and panning things and sending stuff through delays or other cool effects. The star of this track, though, is absolutely Stepic. I know it’s good, because when I use it I almost feel like I’m cheating.
Almost.
Colophon
Instruments & Samples
Omnisphere, Serum, Diva, Hive2
Effects, Mixing, & Mastering
Stepic, FabFilter, Gullfoss, PanMan, Valhalla VintageVerb and Delay, Portal, PhaseMistress
Source Image Credit: Pixabay
Notes
- 1If you don’t know what any of those words mean, don’t worry about it – they’re not really important.
- 2I say “formulaic” as an accurate descriptor, not as a perjorative accusation