DYSKINETIC

Radically Inclusive Music Makers.

Category: Music Tech.

  • iPads are NOT Musical Instruments.

    iPads are NOT Musical Instruments.

    I find myself (again) debating the yawnsome “iPads aren’t musical instruments” narrative with a music service.

    But actually, they’re right. iPads aren’t (necessarily) musical instruments. And neither is anything else. Lots of pianos are just pieces of furniture to their owners. Vintage guitars make nice wall art for silicon valley CEOs. It’s what we do with these things that makes them musical.

    What I do believe, informed by 30 years of music making, is that nothing inspires musical engagement, especially for young people and especially for people who face barriers to traditional instruments, like a well designed multi-touch software instruments. Which will need an iPad to run. Which is just another tool. Much like those wooden things with strings on. But it’s a tool that opens up a world of musical engagement for so many, and neatly pokes a hole in age old ideas about what a “proper” instruments are.

    An aside: I’m reminded of a student who saw me use the gloves and said this about me: “Yeah, it’s clever, but he’s not a proper musician…” if I ever believe in a “proper” way of making music, then I hope I have the sense to throw in the towel… 😜

  • GGD + Logic Step Sequencer.

    I’m a big fan of GGD’s Modern & Massive. I use it both on stage and in the studio; it’s my go-to drum kit.

    My live show is powered by Ableton Live, but I often use Logic Pro X when recording. I do find programming drums in Logic’s Piano Roll to be fairly tedious. Thankfully, there’s a better way.

    The relatively recent addition of a Step Sequencer in Logic makes for easier drum programming. When the feature first arrived, I was left still wanting clearer labelling options, but they have improved recently. With that, I’ve been able to create a template for quick programming of Modern & Massive in Logic Pro X.

    This template is labelled up for all the kit parts in Modern & Massive. It’s also routed to multi-outputs. It’s not mixed, but it’s ready to go. I’ve also added a parallel compressor using Logic’s stock compressor for that smaaack.

    It’s free to download, just hit this link: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/g9s56rdihuyn4y1/AAC7YFoJb0fLucrVApj7i05Xa?dl=0

    And if you’re curious to hear me use Modern & Massive with the MiMu Gloves, step this way >>>

  • GGD Modern & Massive Ableton Live Template.

    I love Getgood drums’ Modern & Massive. I love Ableton live. Using the two together is almost perfection. The one feature I always wanted was to have Drum Rack style note naming when programming M and M. And now… I have it! I’ll explain how this was done in another post if people are interested in tweaking it, but for now I’ve provided a template that is set up for Modern and Massive.

    https://www.dropbox.com/sh/z0cygomqlv9a7he/AABz-yhMlPD_dkzflFCgDdS2a?dl=0

    Hopefully that works for you to! And if you’re wondering, this is what it looks like in use:

    Labelled notes, and none you don’t need! I routed the mics too.

    And this is what Modern & Massive sounds like in my music. Drums kick in around 2:15, but I’d love you to check out the whole thing; the man himself did a wonderful job mixing this…

    Enjoy!

  • Trent Reznor on Synth History.

    This is fascinating. TR didn’t get to be synth guru through happenstance; he had a really unique position to witness the development of synths in the late 70s and 80s.

    It’s really interesting to hear him poke at the popularity of the DX7; it’s influenced my use of software synths a lot with my use of Native Instruments FM8. It’s interesting to hear that that ubiquitous 80s has very different connotations at the time…

  • Nine Oh Nine!

    I love love LOVE 909s. I don’t own one obviously, but I’ve used so many hardware and software replications over the years. Something about that snare – punchy AND snappy – that gets me every time.

    Here’s a cool video by Doctor Mix showing some famous 909 patterns. Most are obvious, but at 1:23 – boom – one of my favourite songs. Hunter by Bjork; how she uses the 909 is beautiful. I’ve heard that beat hundreds of times; hadn’t worked out how it was done.

    Of course, Bjork is the master at repurposing EDM tropes. Her chopping up of the classic Amen Break on the outro of Crystalline? Beyond beautiful.

  • Perfume – Fusion: Hi-Tech Live Performance

    This I love. My peeps from the MTF crowd will too, I’m sure. J-Pop band Perfume performing live across 3 continents in a ridiculously tightly edited video. A triumph of art, choreography and technology. And Fusion is my favourite track off the album. YEAH.

  • Quote: How Music Works

    Quote: How Music Works


    I love facts like this. Mainly because they reframe concepts of what is “real” – something many musicians obsess over. There’s a popular idea that old recordings are more real, that modern recordings are full of tricks and cheats and it’s-all-done-with-computers to make them sound better. But of course; there’s nothing new about the thinking, only the technological means…

    “Drums and upright basses posed a big problem for these recording devices. The intermittent low frequencies that they produce made wider or deeper grooves (in the case of the Edison machines), which make the needles jump and skip during playback. So those instruments were also shoved to the rear, and in most cases were intentionally rendered almost inaudible. Blankets were thrown over drums, especially the kick and snares. Drummers were sometimes required to play bells, wood blocks, and the sides of their drums instead of the snares and kick drums—those thinner sounds didn’t make the needles jump, but could still be heard. The double bass was often swapped with a tuba because its low end was less punchy. So early recording technology was limiting not only in terms of what frequencies one heard, but also in terms of which instruments were actually recorded. The music was already being edited and shaped to fit the new medium.”
    ― from “How Music Works”

    It’s a fantastic book, by the way.