Now here’s something I’ve missed over the past years: collaboration! This is a short remix of one of my recent live sketches by Alpha Mound and I am really happy with what he did with it. I hope this kicks off a chapter for me in getting back to being remixed and remixing and collaborating on tracks again. It has been a while. I’ve got #jamuary2019 to thank for this kick into action.
I took a couple weeks off from firing up my equipment to clear my head. I worked on a website redesign and got plenty of rest and relaxation over the holidays.
Feels like my batteries are recharged. Just dipping my toes in the water here….
State Charger live jam (2019.01.16) w/ guitar loop, Moog Mother 32, Roland TR-08, Korg volca fm and effects
Pedals featured:
Strymon El Capistan
Electro Harmonix Mel9
Montreal Assembly Count to Five
Dr Scientist Bitquest
Red Panda Tensor
I’d been wanting to add a second voice to my tabeltop set up in the form of a synth that could cover a lot of different jobs. The Korg Volca FM seemed like a no-brainer: polyphonic, built in sequencer and arpeggiator, and, well, FM synthesis allows you to craft a crazy amount of sounds. A tweaker’s dream for cheap.
State Charger live jam (2018.12.26) w/ Tape loop, Moog Mother 32, Roland TR-08, Korg volca fm and effects
Pedals featured:
Strymon El Capistan
Strymon Mobius
Montreal Assembly Count to Five
EHX 8-Step Program
Dr Scientist Bitquest
Pigtronix Infinity Looper
Starting with a 5 second cassette tape loop recorded into the Red Panda Tensor. Pitching down the Tensor’s sample made for the soundbed. The TR-08 bopping a beat and sending a trigger out to the Mother 32.
Next on my list of things to do is to make a tape loop which is a bit longer than what we are hearing here. Besides that I’ve been unsuccessful in getting my tape loops to play in my 4-track machine. It’s all about the tension of the tape and I haven’t put in the time yet to work it out. We’ll get there. Tape loops have definitely felt like the missing link lately. There’s a whole lot I am excited about at the moment.
State Charger live jam (2018.12.12) w/ Tape loop, Moog Mother 32, Roland TR-08 and effects
Pedals featured:
Red Panda Tensor
Red Panda Particle
Strymon El Capistan
Strymon Mobius
Strymon Blue Sky
Montreal Assembly Count to Five
EHX 8-Step Program
Dr Scientist Bitquest
Pigtronix Infinity Looper
I’ve got the EHX 8-Step controlling the Count to Five on some of the Mother 32 notes which is making for an unpredictable delay. The more things I can automate in the background the better. No, I don’t have the cash to get into Eurorack. The Red Panda Particle is a secret weapon on drums. That slight glitch you hear on the beat is all Particle. And the Strymon El Capistan is holding everything together; it’s super essential in what I’m doing.
Points of interest:
– I want to start adding guitar back into my set up.
– I have a Volca FM on the way (happy xmas)
– 2019 should be interesting music-wise.
State Charger live jam (2018.12.09) w/ Moog Mother 32, Roland TR-08, Casio SK-1 and effects
Pedals featured:
Red Panda Tensor
Red Panda Particle
Strymon El Capistan
Strymon Blue Sky
Montreal Assembly Count to Five
EHX 8-Step Program
Pigtronix Infinity Looper
This is sort of an everything at once jam. For better or worse it’s busy and a bit all over the map. I am considering this as Source Materials; a learning experience.
State Charger live jam (2018.11.29) w/ Moog Mother 32, Roland TR-08, Casio SK-1 samples and effects
Pedals featured:
Red Panda Tensor
Red Panda Particle
Strymon El Capistan
Strymon Blue Sky
Montreal Assembly Count to Five
Pigtronix Infinity Looper
Between 2012-2016 I recorded a batch of Guided By Voices covers. A lot of these were done as a tool to teach myself how to play drums, and doing covers is a great way to take a break from the usual writing and clear your head.
As far as GBV is concerned, they’ve been at the top of my list of bands I always return to. I followed them religiously from the second I first heard Alien Lanes in 1995. I haven’t kept up as fanatically as I have in the past but I know what I like and there’s a group of their albums I respect as much as a guy can.
These have now been lying in wait for a couple years as I wasn’t too sure if I’d let these out into the public, but you know me. Why not?