Today I went swimming and followed Xuan Ni to learn freestyle. I feel like I can learn it by summer. But who knows if today is the only chance to go swimming this year.
I registered for Distrokid and want to try releasing some dance music in the future. I've been practicing how to make rhythmic music live for the past few months, and it's not as simple as I thought. No wonder there are so many professionals who still play pre-recorded tracks or prepare pre-looped segments with specific timing in Ableton.
I've always used Ableton as a post-production tool, except when I used Push to perform live and only adjusted the sound and melody, without involving large-scale projects lasting 20-40 minutes. Since I started performing electronic improvisation live frequently using VCV Rack/MiRack, I've been researching how to use VCV to prepare live projects.
First, I tried pattern mode, but it was too short and difficult to use for longer structures.
Then I tried song mode, but it was still too short.
I initially thought a feasible method would be to use a clock and modulate the clock. This way, I can quickly enable/disable modules by pressing cmd+e, and I can group the modules needed for different "tracks" of different sounds. I can select and enable/disable them simultaneously.
After trying this, I think this method should work, but there is one problem. If the trigger for the envelope of the effects in the sound is the same clock source as the sound, it will cause the rhythm to be too rigid, like a military parade. The solution to this problem is to use a clock to trigger the envelope, and then use the envelope to trigger the sound. A regular single envelope module is definitely not enough. Fortunately, there is a module like this - Befaco Rampage - a Dual ramp generator, also a polyrhythmic gate generator. With both channels synced between each other, it generates several "complex rhythm" gates.
This is the modified patch:
The track created with this patch:
shiny-d(el)ays
It is more diverse than before, but the rhythm is still not quite right, except for the part where the sound changes at 40 and 120 bpm.
Why is the rhythm not right? Upon closer examination, it is because the mapping between the sound effects and the envelope module is not "interesting" enough. So I added another envelope module and used the two outputs of the gravity ball ChUTE as inputs. And the outputs of the two delay modules are sent to the CHOPPING KINKY module, which affects the two CHR ONO BLOB modules using CHOPPING OUT. So any changes in the two delay modules of the HIHAT will change the sound and even the melody of the two sets of sound sources using kickball. The most amazing thing is that by slightly modifying the three parameters of the gravity ball, both the rhythm and the sound will have interesting variations!
This is the screenshot after the modification:
The track created with the modified patch:
hamster wheel
I think this is the closest I've come to being satisfied recently. It has also improved my familiarity with the operation. In a one-take situation, it has a certain coherence, and although there are rough and imprecise parts at the transitions, it doesn't deviate from the overall structure. It also has a high level of playability and can create many variations, so the recording duration can finally be longer...
No more patching today!