Settings...

Machine settings

If you read the chapters before, you know that I lost all the settings of the machine and all the loops and samples I had uploaded to the software before, so I had to recreate everything from scratch. However, this time I approached it differently.

I did (again) new tracks on Ableton to work in a machine as sound support, but this is all about evolution, so I have made things different now.

Instead, I made background sounds (sound textures) in Ableton and uploaded them into the software. This time, I started to create proper music styles and produce tracks with spaces in between, so I could use the Kaossilator sounds without them crashing.

I still need to make the new drum patterns in the machine. The first row is already made because I was producing some Dubstep last time and I wanted to listen to how it would sound, so I made some changes in the drum patterns on the machine in the first row, the other ones will come with time ;)

This setting will be changed, but for now, this is how I have the machine set up:

These are the styles I have decided to make...

1- DUBSTEP ----  (I can do 30 tracks of each music style, and I can do 6 different drum patterns for the 30  music styles in the machine only. ) Still, the only ones I have worked a bit with are the drum patterns of the machine

2- INDUSTRIAL

 Most parts of these samples and loops are taken from the first textures I did in Ableton on the first experiments with the machine ;)

3- PSY TRANCE

 Thanks, Mark Grey (Soundmagus), my friend, for the samples and QPA Qubensis psy audio. You guys are brilliant, but I have work, and I know now that I have a very unique psy trance sound thanks to your loops and samples.
This is a process ongoing ;) Thank you ;)

4- FSOL

 This sample was taken from some EPs. I cut the samples from the tracks and uploaded the best parts.

 ( for me)In the machine to loop and work on top.
HAA, Yes, you can call remix ;)
Samples were taken from various sources.

5- TRAX

This is experimental, industrial, mental, etc, and something more ;)
All the tracks I have uploaded (approximately 6) are my original compositions, produced using Ableton and intended to be part of a live mix with the machine. (You will know more in the video.)

6- AMBIENT

This is what I'm still working on, and I am not sure what I will do, but time will tell me... will he?




******************************************************************

1 * DUBSTEP

1-PUMPING-  125BPM
2-VACUM-    120BPM
3-COOL-     140BPM
4-FOOTSTEPS-140BPM
5-VOCUSTEP- 140BPM
6-RINGRING- 140BPM

******************************************************************

2 *INDUSTRIAL

1-IND18- 110BPM
2-IND16- 110BPM
3-IND21- 110BPM
4-IND9-  110BPM
5-IND8-  110BPM
6-IND10- 100BPM


******************************************************************

3 *PSY TRANCE

1-PSY-BASIC-2-       148BPM
2-PSY-FRED-            148BPM
3-PSY-FREDBNK2- 148BPM
4-PSY-FREDBNK3- 148BPM
5-PSY-FREDBNK4- 148BPM
6-PSY-FREDBNK5- 148BPM
7-PSY-FREDBNK-  145BPM

******************************************************************

4 *FSOL

1-FSOL- 120BPM
2-FSOL- 120BPM
3-FSOL- 120BPM - MOVE 2 DRUM 5
4-FSOL- 120BPM
(REMOVE)
5-FSOL- 119BPM
6-FSOL- 120BPM-EXP
7-FSOL- 120BPM-EXP

******************************************************************

5*TRAX

1-COMUNICACA-        110BPM
2-FIRE PLACE-              110BPM
3-HOSPITALMENT-      110BPM
4-LIQUID MORPHINE- 110BPM
5-TICK TOCK-              110BPM
6-DEAD INDUSTRY-   100BPM
7-CHRISNAS-             100BPM - PLAY W DRUM 6
8-KIKA-                      120BPM - PLAY W DRUM 5 (SPEED UP)
9-TRANSMISSION MISSION- 120BPM - PLAY W DRUM 5 (SPEED UP)

******************************************************************

11*AMBIENT

1- AMB1- 128bpm
2- AMB2- 120bpm
3- AMB3- 120bpm
4- DRON1-116bpm
5- DRON2- 86bpm


 Ok, next I will start the video chapters.

Chapter 18 - Resume

 Track Structure Resume

Expanding on this, it is challenging for some people to understand what I am really talking about.
That's why I like resumes!
It's where you read the important things at once and dont need to go into the whole story.

This is the resume of the Track Structure.

1- Drums
2- Background
3- Kaossilator

Drums

1 drum loop (64 or 128 bars)
These drum loops all include percussion and were created using the software program.
* Read more about the drums here
http://wavdj.blogspot.com/2009/12/chapter-4-drum-loops.html

Background

This consists of a sound or noise looping at the same tempo as the drums.
This background is totally independent of the drums and can be used with other drums (how far the drums are from the exact bpm)
Because this part of the WAVDJ machine does not loop, I have to import the sounds into Ableton and then place them at the same BPM, include more sounds, add voices, and loop the sound for around 10 minutes to provide enough space for improvisations.
* Read more about the FX part of the WAVDJ here, where the background loops are stored
http://wavdj.blogspot.com/2009/12/chapter-8-sound-fx.html

* Read about the backgrounds here
http://wavdj.blogspot.com/2010/01/chapter-14-background-sounds.html

Kaossilator

I pre-choose a group of 6-7 sounds that are similar to the background music playing.
Now I just start creating :)

Having the 2 parts of the wavdj (drums & FX - background sounds) and the kaossilator working at the same time, I  can take sounds off and put them on again, through the mixer of the wavdj

Many things have changed, and new ideas have emerged since I started writing this blog.
I created two tracks in Ableton with no drums and imported them to WavDJ. Then, I made two drum loops to accompany the tracks, but this time, I used the WavDJ software to produce the drums.

Questions ??

Next, I will post a detailed Zoom of these three elements and explain exactly how I am working and what I am doing with the WaveDJ and the Kaossilator.

Chapter 17 - Track structure (part 2)

Track structure (part 2)

NO BASS !
After some experiments with bass in the tracks, I decided that bass is not very good to be included in this type of track.
The track's structure is minimal, when I drop the bass in the track, most part of the other small sounds are inaudible. I don't know why, but this could be due to the frequency of the sound.
Another thing that put me off the bass was the minimal feeling of the tracks changing totally, and I was forced to have a melody; I wish to change all the direction I want to take on this project.

Currently, I am selecting the appropriate sounds for the Kaossilator for each background sound and drum loop. More updates soooooooon :)

Hello Friends

 Hi Friends

The reason I am contacting you now is that I have some tracks nearly ready, and I would like to show them to you and listen to your opinions.
Who's best to do that ?? YOU!

I know it can be painful, but I can handle some earplugs just in case :)

Meanwhile, this was intended to draw your attention and keep you involved in the project's progress.
Until then, please keep reading, as I am close to the end of the first round of tracks.

Speak soon and thank you for paying some attention to the weird shit I do :)

Chapter 15 - Add Instruments

New Instruments Experiments.

I had a friend visit me during a weekend, he is a shy musician but has a lot of instruments, including lots of drums (as it is a drummer:)

My friend brought me a Micro Korg.

The Micro Korg
It's perfect, but too limited to work.
It's nice to take some sounds, but just that!
It's a vocoder too, which is beneficial for voices as well as specific sounds. It can make a very original effect in the music.
It's perfect equipment for live performances, but not in the style of the music I try to make here.
It's more of a (techno-minded) music machine.

a Mixer

The Mixer
Here we connected everything.

and a Kaoss Pad

The Kaoss pad
It can be beneficial to add some final effects to the overall music or make slight variations in the final sound played. He can make some extra sounds on top and other special effects.
With Kaoss pad, I think it's good just to make some minimal changes in the total sound, but it's the only one I can see included as 1 more instrument.

For now, my friend has left me the Kaoss Pad for me to have a try, but he will take it back in some months' time.
I end up not using this much.

Chapter 14 - Loops VS Kaossilator

Him and Her !!

Kaossilator and WAVDJ.
Now I have the background sounds in the buttons (by now I have 18 backgrounds)
I have six different drum loops assigned to the six drum buttons. This makes:
18 background sounds
6 drum loops
= 3 background sounds for each drum loop, so that I can change the background sound 3 times in 1 track.
They are all at the same 110BPM.

Putting all together and start to play....

After I have both playing at the same time, I start the kaossilator at the exact BPM and I make some sound effects; by now, the drums and the background are looping at the same time and the kaossilator sounds are giving a colour to the music as I add many other effects.

As I go along with the sounds and loops, I can adjust the mixer on the machine (WavDJ) and toggle the drum loop, background sound, or Kaossilator on and off.
This helps prevent the same sounds from looping for too long.

The kaossilator is a very nice complement for the wavdj.
I have been constructing this track with a vision of an Industrial Ambient style, so I have been looking for Industrial sound loops for the background. I made the Drum Loops sound Industrial, too, but the sounds of the Kaossilator make the track much softer and more Ambient.

My Drum loops are a bit too (breaks) even at 110BPM.
(Later I will write about the Track structure)

This explanation of the track construction is the result of my first experience; I will likely modify aspects such as the structure of the tracks, tempo, or other elements.

2- Drum Loops

Project Start - Drum Loops

Drum Loops
Part of the WAV file used to change the drums in the program.

I can change all the patterns in the drums, including percussions.
This feature is minimal (as with all), with the only changeable elements being the BPMs and loop patterns; however, the instrument sounds will remain the same.

This is the loop part of the wavdj machine.
(Here are the drum loops buttons on the machine. 6 different drum loops for each style)

Here is where things get complicated, as this loop machine is not synchronised with anything.
For this reason, the background sounds and drum loops must be precisely at the same BPM and started at exactly the right time..

The next mission is to get these two parts playing at the same time (drums & Background sound). This requires a lot of precision to click the effects button at the same time as the first kick of the drum. Let's see !!

Go well :)
How I started the tracks before:

1- I have to start with the drums
2- Then, I can start the background sound at the same tempo as the beat.
(This is because there is no synchronisation in the machine, but the sounds are at the exact BPM, and I start at the right beat.)

But now I do like this: 
1- I will use the KAOSSILATOR to make some noises at the start.
2- I start the drums,
3- I start the background sound.
4- I take off the KAOSSILATOR sounds and delete the first sounds to start new ones while the first drum loop and background sound is playing...
YES !!

Track is on ;)

Chapter 13 - Project Start

 Project Start - The Intro

After all the story and all the WaveDJ and Kaossilator presentations, I will now be more specific about the project and what I am doing.

First, I need to make:
1 - Background sounds
2- Drum loops
3- Ad 3 background sounds for each drum loop
4- Make short keyboard melodies
5- Make the background sounds at the same tempo as the drum loops in Ableton
(No sounds synchronised here.)
6- Found the best sounds in the kaossilator to use in each track.
(I will specify all this later)

This sounds easy, but it is not!
The wavdj software has too many bugs and dont work as a professional music program.
The wavdj (machine = console) makes a delay in the sounds.
(NOTE)  Delay is the time it takes for the sound to actually be heard on the speakers after I press the buttons of the wavdj (machine)

For a delay example:
If I press the keyboard, the sound takes about 2 seconds to be heard in the speakers. (delay)
If I press the FX buttons, the sound takes about 1 second to be heard in the speakers. (delay)
If  I press the drum loop button, the sound takes about 3 seconds to be heard in the speakers (delay)
This makes it a hard job to get the music all synchronised (drums + background sounds + keyboard)
In this case, I have to know precisely the tricks of this machine, but the most important thing is to have the sounds and drum loops at the same tempo.
IF I press the FX button (background sound) just 1 second before or after the beat of the drum loop, the sound will start out of tempo... I really need to be precise here or all the music will go into a mess!
Luckily, I can stop the sound if I press the button at the wrong time and restart again, which plays a sound intro while the drum loop continues to play.

Experiments to start.
My first experiment was to create Minimal Ambient music, but I soon realised that the drums of the wavetable don't allow me to make much, as the sounds are the same and only the loops can be changed (as I mentioned earlier). However, I did give it a try anyway.

My second experiment (still ongoing) is to make Minimal Industrial. A'm a bit more satisfy with the results but still a long way to go as I have to search a lot in the web to find some good free sound loops and after that, I have to put the loops on Ableton to make some arrangements and get the background sounds at the same tempo (bpm) of the drum loops of the wavdj.

My last experiment will be minimal Ambient, but this time without drum loops, just sounds.

I would never have got into this if I hadn't found the Kaossilator to be a good supplement for the WaveDJ.
One time, I had the WAVDJ looping the sounds and the drums at the same tempo, I would have time to go into the Kaossilator and add more sounds.
After I have enough sounds playing in both machines, I can return to the wavdj and adjust the background sounds, create short melodies, pause the drum loop, and drop in another sound or any other playing sound, because the wavdj features a 6-channel mixer where the sound can be turned on and off.

In fact, I can go mad and connect all this to my CD decks mixer, which has a surround button and will give me the possibility to equalise the sound while I am playing (low, med, high).
But I am not that mad... am I !?
If so, it's just a music issue! :)

Chapter 12 - Kaossilator

Kaossilator - The other off

After all the explanations about WAVDJ, I'd like to move on to this little Korg.
Kaossilator is a Dynamic Phaser Synthesizer.

Specifications

• Programs: 100 sounds
  
• Program Categories: “NOTE” Sound = LEAD: 20, ACOUSTIC: 10, BASS: 20, CHORD: 10
  “SE” Sound = SE: 20
  “DRUM” Sound = DRUM: 10, DRUM PATTERN: 10
  
  
• Musical Scale Patterns: 31
• Key Range: ±12
• Types of Gate Arpeggiator: 50
• Connectors: LINE OUT jacks (RCA phono jacks), PHONES jack (Stereo mini phone jacks)
• Sampling Frequency: 48kHz
• DA Conversion: 24-bit Linear
• Power Supply: four alkaline AA (LR6) batteries (6 V) / AC Adaptor?Sold Separately?
• Battery Life: approximately five hours (with alkaline batteries)
• Included Items: Owner`s Manual, parameter sheet, four AA “test” batteries
• Dimensions: 106 mm (W) x 129 mm (D) x 29 mm (H) / 4.17" (W) x 5.08" (D) x 1.14" (H)
• Weight: 154 g / 5.43 oz. (without batteries)
  

Options

AC adapter ( DC4.5V )

I took a look at YouTube and chose this video to show how the Kaossilator works.

 

Later, I will make a video of all that is happening and post it on YouTube.
For now, my mission is to get background sounds to add to the wavdj and make drum loops.

Kaossilator already has drum loops, but I'm creating them directly in the WaveDJ software. This way, I can drop the drums and background sounds in and out at any time, and they don't need to repeat all the time.

I obtain background sounds from websites that offer free loops and samples, and I select the most suitable ones to create this music project.
These background sounds (loops) I create with the help of Ableton software before adding them to the machine.
Like that, I can make the loops as long as I like, and I can add different patterns and other sounds.

Back to Kaossilator
As part of all the technical explanations above, I have to specify something for people who dont know about this techy stuff:

The kaossilator has 
7 sound categories
1- Leads
2- Acoustic
3- Bass
4- Chords
5- Se (FX)
6- Drum (single beats)
7- Drum (Patterns)
This is the basic 100 sounds.

Scales (key)
Kaossilator have 31 different keys, like C / C#/ D / E #/ E# / G/ G# etc...
Some examples are:
Chromatic
Ionian
Dorian
Majore Blues
Major Pentatonic
Gypsy scale
Arabian scale
spanish scale
Egyptian Scale
Octave interval
And go on, and on, and on..........

Gate Arpeggio Patterns
Some effects can be added to the sounds apart from the typical effects, which cut the sound into short beats.
The kaossilator has 49 different arpeggio patterns.

More can be said about the kaossilator, but for now, I have explained it to the best of my knowledge.


More about this in the next chapter ;)

Chapter 2

THE OTHER OFF...

One month later, I visit some friends, and one of them shows me this little Korg (Kaossilator).
I've never heard of this new toy! When my friend connects the Kaos into the Amplifier and starts making sounds and loops, I connect 2 x 2 = 4.
Better than 1 1-loop machine is 2 2-loop machine working together :) And the Kaossilator makes everything that WAVDJ doesn't do... better. The WAVDJ has things that the Kaossilator doesn't have.
I through ... they are the perfect partner!

Sure, I started to look on the web for this new gadget (kaossilator), people say it's good fun and the price is not that high, so I wait for my birthday to get it (Girlfriend did:)

Intro

 WAVDJ (The Machine)

Hello.
I started this blog to document my experience with WAVDJ -VM-108.
This machine (as I like to call it) is discontinued from the market and not much information is found on the web.

This wavdj is a (Oregon Scientific) product and was released in 2001 as a console to make music with WAV files + .sty and .osm files.


It is a minimal machine to work with, but on the other hand, can be very fun to change things around, altering sounds and creating something different.
You can read more about WAVDJ  here:
Jornal Article

http://amplifiers.annonz.co.uk/amplifiers/wav-dj--74896

 http://www.trademe.co.nz/nz/auction-177550236.htm

http://www.positive1.com/reviews/toys/osci/dj/index.html

If you like to download the manuals, you can find them here:
http://safemanuals.com/user-guide-instructions-owner-manual/OREGON%20SCIENTIFIC/WAV%20DJ



Now... Why get a thing like this to make music?
I have two PCs at home, and one is dedicated to making music, as I work with Ableton music software. I have also used other music programs.
The problem I found (if it is a problem) with this software music program is the numerous options it provides, which can be beneficial, but can also be detrimental.
Sometimes, I get no feeling to make a musical track and I start to work automatically, as I get no vibe making music just by putting all the sounds together and clicking a button to synchronise beats or spending hours searching for a sound or making a sound.
It's good, it's professional, but sometimes really takes my vibe away !!
It's ok to do music with software, it's like playing a game where you have to put the images in the right places, but I much prefer to feel the music and play with the sounds :)
Yes, I can make the same in Ableton, but again, all is synchronised.

I am undertaking this project for fun, and I am not looking to make a professional career out of it. As a result, I am free to experiment and explore without the constraints of being tied to a specific music style.
We all have a shelf, don't we??
DADA DO ;)

So, here and there, some of the reasons I set up this machine and why....

1- I can set up specific sounds and know where they are when I press a button,
2- Is lots of  fun = work?
3- I can make something really different,
4- I will not need to click a mouse,
5- I can have just the sounds I made or need in each of the buttons of the machine,
6- I don't need to look at 1000 sounds to find a sound to make a track,
7- I can improvise with all the sounds,
8- Any track is a new creation and never the same.
9- It's all in real time ... live,
10- No synchronizers, just my fingers,
11- All the sounds are made individual and put together.
12- I can fade sounds in and out as the machine has a mixer with 6 channels,
13- I can improvise sounds or melodies with the keyboard instruments, while I can make some FX with the FX wheel, doing scratch and pitch bend,
14- I can regulate the BPMs in real time,
15- I can jam on a 6-pad drum,
16- PLUS.... I can add 992 sounds to the WAV effect buttons panel, which I'm using to store samples and sounds. On this wav effects part of the machine, I can have more than 1 hour of a sound or a sample in each button and it will keep playing.

This will take me a long time to set up, but it will be a 1 time job.
The main problem (for now) is that I cannot change the drum sounds... I can change the drum loops, but not the sounds of the drums. To make this, I will need .sty files or .osm files (still available with these ones... grrrr). If you know something about them, just let me know.

But what do I really want to do?
I want to create a Psychedelic, ambient, experimental music project with this machine, and I also want to incorporate a Kaossilator to add some spice to the music.
This machine and the Kaossilator are loop machines, which can create hypnotic ambient music capable of entering the mind and providing a truly psychedelic experience, as I have noticed.
For that same reason, I started this blog.

I am late on this intro and chapters as I started some weeks ago working on this machine, but I will update regularly and hope by the end, I can leave you some tracks for your experience.)

02/12/2009