truly incredible jam session with Nick (Draft34) yesterday afternoon. Over the course of about 2 hours we ran through 3 or so permutations of a really wild techno set. Nick brings the groovy ambiance, creating very cool textures from sound he captures on the go from his kalimba, harmonica, and voice, and I bring the percussion and tension. we’re ironing things out, and next time this set up will likely see Nick’s beautiful Line 6 delay pedal. it’s amazing how all this gear and this cable salad fit onto my desk along with all the tea and tea packets, books, camera stuff and other junk.
I think we will definitely try and record this set when the big performance happens. Dec. 1st!
the poster says “quit smoking!”
Gear, bottom right to upper left:
Maschine Mikro MKI, Boss DS-1 distortion pedal, MXR distorion pedal, APC 40, Komplete Audio 6 interface, MPK mini, QuNeo, harmonica, Zoom H4n, Kalimba, SM58 mic.
APC 80, yes please, do want.
and goddamn! The wood looks so nice on the side of the APCs. One thing that I really do dislike about the APCs is the ridiculous design of the sides, with the unwieldy, pointy, space-consuming… wings? what else can you call them. another complaint I guess I have are the buttons. I would absolutely love them if they clicked, the way the kontrol X1 buttons click, despite being of a similar soft rubber. I mean, the clip launch buttons don’t have to be velocity sensitive anyway, and it’s really nice getting extra tactile feedback. It makes it more comfortable experience.
/my silly thoughts on controllers
(Source: tecnosaurusrex)
arranging a track earlier today using the APC 40, and using Maschine to add more life to the drum track. For the tracks currently in the works, I have been lovingly crafting intricate drum racks, but have often found there to be a lack of motion or diversity in the percussion once the track has been arranged. I’ve been using Maschine to patch more “life” into the drum track after arrangement. I like working in stages and layers like that. It gives everything a chance to settle in the track and in my head so that I can really feel where what is and if it sits well, and lets me find where it does and doesn’t.
I honestly think this is one the best controllers that has ever been produced. It might not be as flashy or stylish as the other Ableton controllers like the CNTRL:R or Ohm64/RGB, and lacks the extra three rows of the launchpad’s 8x8 grid, but it’s incredibly well integrated with Ableton. and LED rings?! You can’t even say no to that! Only thing I would change is make the pads “click,” like the buttons on the Kontrol X1 do. I find the APC’s buttons are a bit… shaky.
What I like about the APC40 is that I can put together a track on the fly and be able to tweak exactly what I need, when I need it. I dont like putting together tracks in the arrangement view, I like to play them and put them together based on feelings. the APC40 lets me do that.
