Live Looping: Not Just for Breakfast Anymore

A few years ago I created a technique for live looping in Ableton Live. I wanted to record and stop recording a clip in the session view without using a bulky MIDI foot controller. So, I came up with the idea of modding a mouse by connecting a simple sustain pedal into the left button. This way I could keep playing my instrument with both hands and record to any clip that the mouse cursor was resting on.

I found that I could do lots of other things while continuing to play two handed, like start a scene, stop a clip, mute a track, etc. Usually I reserve setting up my modded mouse for shows, but it’s a very useful tool in the studio for capturing two handed keyboard parts, like the Rhodes in this segment from a new track.

Live Looped Studio Rhodes

Ring Modulated Rhodes Line Out of Context

While sorting through dusty clips from live performances I came across an angular Rhodes line that sounded quite odd removed from the context of the original set.

I decided to loop the line to create a forty second phrase. Afterward I ran it through distortion, ring modulation, reverb and delay. I also automated the fine tuning setting on the ring modulator to create a sweeping pitch shift.

Rhodes Line Out of Context

 

Happy Anniversary Audio Cookbook

I registered the AudioCookbook.org domain in December 2007, but the first few entries on the site happened on January 14, 2008, which I am hereby declaring as the birthday of ACB making it one year old as of Wednesday. It has been an interesting year. In July, 2008 I started the One Sound Every Day project. Creating at least seven sounds a week with written accompaniment has been at times exhausting and exhilarating. Regular readers, commentary and contributions from around the globe have kept it fun and inspiring for me along the way. Thanks to sponsorship from Unearthed Music, who provide the hosting for ACB, we are non-profit and free of advertisements.

I would like to thank all the readers / listeners who have set their eyes / ears on ACB. A special thanks goes out to everyone who has commented, either with words or sound, keeping the discussions alive. A very special thanks goes out to the contributors including Simone Giuliani, Michael Koppelman, Nils Westdal, Leafcutter John, and Tom Player. I’d also like to thank Peter Kirn for helping to legitimizing ACB on his site Create Digital Music. Here’s a link to one of Keston and Westdal’s most popular tracks from the late nineties, Sonny’s Cut, off of our first album, Super Structure Baby.

Sonny’s Cut from Super Structure Baby (2004, Unearthed Music).

Warbled Delay Trails on Korg MS2000

I came across this sample from a performance on July 13, 2006. It is a delayed synthesizer line that I played and captured as a clip in Ableton Live during the show. What’s interesting to me about this clip is the obvious modulation in pitch on the delay trails. This is not something that I programmed into the patch and I suspect is actually caused by a bug in the Korg MS2000. It’s possible to recreate this bug by enabling tempo delay then sending external sync to the instrument. I rarely experience this glitch anymore because rather than using the delay on the Korg, I usually run it through tempo delay in the software. However, I kind of like the ghostly quality it creates in this short passage.

Warbled Synth Delay

Reverberated Metal Scraping

Today has been a busy day on ACB with new contributor Tom Player’s lovely yacht recording and Nils Westdal’s Christopher Willits remix. So, all I have for you is a quick sound to fulfill my One Sound Every Day duties. I created this diffused noise montage by pitching down a metal wheel scraping sound and then running it through a very long reverb.

Reverberated Metal Scraping

 

Full Length Original Version of Onikoroshi

In order to put the last entry in context I thought I would share the original track that the Clavinet recording was made in. As I said before it is called Onikoroshi and it is the ninth piece on the album Super Structure Baby, re-released electronically in 2004 on Unearthed Music. I think the piece dates back to 1998 or 1999. Perhaps Saronni (Nils Westdal) will have some input on that.

Onikoroshi from Super Structure Baby (2004, Unearthed Music).

Chopped Up Clavinet Through Wah Wah

I just recycled this ten year old recording made on my Hohner E7 Clavinet. It was originally a track in the piece Onikoroshi on the album Super Structure Baby (2004, Unearthed Music), which I think was recorded in 1999.

Unfortunately the rubber hammers on my clav have deteriorated so it is no longer playable. I have been meaning to restore it when I can find the time, but it is apparently a time consuming and arduous undertaking as you can tell from this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZXYU48P90Q

Robot Clavinet

Froth and Bothered

I recently recorded loads of bits and pieces of melodies and bass lines with my Maxi-Korg. This is an example of one of the ways I have attempted to assemble the parts into a musical form.

In this piece I have layered a synth bass line with dry analog drums. Soon afterward a duo-phonic melody is introduced running through reverberation. I really fancy the gritty texture of the Maxi-Korg bass.

Maxi-Korg Experiment

Laundry Day

From the content of my last entry you can probably guess why I am slightly behind on my On Sound Every Day project. Fortunately I have sounds for the missing days and will be adding them soon.

A combination of time spent during the holidays on family visits, parties, keyboard desk building, and studio reorganization has left me trying to catch up on several things including a massive pile of laundry. This gave me an excuse to record my old squeaky clothes drier.

Squeaky Drier

 

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