Not Breaking Windows to Help the Economy
The last track! I’m normally happy to post anything at this point in the journey and have certainly thrown some “contractual obligation” pieces up. This one, however, is one of those happy times where I not only had a decent idea, but the time and energy to actually produce it. There were a couple of days relatively early in … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
Remember two days ago when I waxed poetic about Stepic, the amazing new step sequencer I got? Remember how I was fawning over those 80s Tangerine Dream soundtrack bass lines? Remember how I said that you’d likely hear more tracks with that kind of thing? Well, here we are. This is darn close (if not massively over the line) into pastiche territory. If I played this without comment for a Tangerine Dream fan, I suspect they’d be trying to figure out which album it didn’t make it on. Now, amazingly, I only used Stepic on two tracks in this piece, … Continue reading
The most notable thing about this track may be that it was my third attempt for the night. I’ve done that several nights this month, but sometimes nothing’s hitting. Or it hits but fizzles almost immediately because there’s nowhere to go. But on this project, that initial sound you hear grabbed me by the neck and shook me around until I agreed that this would be the track. I mean that sound. It’s just… nasty. Ok. So we’re currently at “nasty.” What’s next. Drums, of course. Now this might have gone in an industrial direction, but I heard more of … Continue reading
I bought a new tool. Yes, I buy a lot of tools, and most of them end up gathering digital dust when the newness wears off. In this case, though, I think I may have stumbled upon something that not only isn’t available in any of my other tools, but goes so far beyond what I expect that it could fundamentally change how I write certain tracks. The tool is called Stepic, and it’s a step sequencer. Here’s where it gets fun. Step sequencers aren’t new. They go back to the very beginnings of electronic music and are, in general, … Continue reading