Korg Monologue, MicroFreak, Novation Circuit, Volca FM, NTS-1, Lone Rider part 3

Waveformer

All parts here.

"Third and final part of a three-part jam, featuring the Korg Monologue, Arturia MicroFreak, Novation Circuit, Volca FM, and with Zoom MS-70CDR and Korg NTS-1 on effects.

My music on Bandcamp: http://waveformer42.bandcamp.com/

See the two previous videos for part 1 and 2. The tree jams use the same instruments and effects, but with different themes.

The Monologue is used for 3 solo parts - one bright synth-y lead in the beginning, one grumpy distorted lead sound in the middle, and one theremin-like sound at the end. All based on the same custom patch, but with modified envelope, oscillator mix and filter to give each solo a unique character.

The MicroFreak is doing chords with a simple super saw patch and lots of chorus, delays and reverb from the MS70. In the section from 7:30 to 9:30, I'm using a nice "trick" to get from a C minor to a Eb minor in a smooth way. I go from Eb to G7, and then to B diminished 7 (just move the low G note a half step up to a G sharp), and then on to Bb7 (move the B one half step down to a Bb). The Bb7 is the dominant chord for an Eb minor, so the transition to Eb minor feels very natural. To my ear, all these transitions feel very smooth, and still we end up on a Eb minor chord three half steps from the C minor root. And the G minor note in the Eb minor chord is definitely not in the C minor scale. It's even a tritone. The diminished 7th chord of a scale is a very nice gateway to other scales. If you're in C (major or minor) scale, you can use the B diminished chord to go to Eb, to Gb and to A - minor or major. All of these are just a half step up from a note in the diminished chord, so the tension in the diminished chord resolves nicely to any of these.

After that smooth ascent from Cm to Ebm, I choose an abrupt descent from Eb minor to C minor, because I like the feeling of "falling" :-).

The outro played on the MicroFreak consists of the same notes/intervals as the intro to part 1 of the jam. https://youtu.be/T--CvlEU2DU

The Zoom MS-70CDR effects are the same as in part 1 of the jam. https://youtu.be/T--CvlEU2DU. Check the description for how to download.

Gear:
- Korg Monologue
- Korg NTS-1
- Korg Volca FM
- Arturia MicroFreak
- Novation Circuit x 2
- 2 x Zoom MS-70CDR
- Korg Mini Kaoss Pad 2S (for recording)

Connections:
- Monologue - NTS-1 - Mintbox Mixer
- MicroFreak - MS-70CDR #1 - Mintbox Mixer
- Volca FM - MS-70CDR #2 - Mintbox Mixer
- Circuit 1 - Mintbox Mixer
- Circuit 2 - Mintbox Mixer
- Mintbox Mixer (2 in series) - KP2S
- Midi: Circuit 1, Circuit 2, Monologue, MicroFreak split midi out to Volca FM and to NTS-1

Effects:
- Zoom MS-70CDR (MicroFreak): Vintage CE (Comp: 2, Rate: 25, Mix: 50) - Stereo Delay (TimeL: 8th note, TimeR: dotted 8th note, Mix: 97, LchFB: 28, RChFB: 31, LchLv: 100, RchLv: 89) - HD Hall (PreD: 34, Decay: 83, Mix: 38, LoDmp: 32, HiDmp: 70)
- Zoom MS-70CDR (Volca FM): Vibrato (Depth: 28, Rate: 29, Bal:100, Tone: 7, Level: 120) - Autopan (Rate: 28 quarter notes, With: R19, Depth: 4) - SlapBackDelay (SubDv: dotted eigth note, Fb: 32, FxLvl: 55, Mode: Str) - Delay (Time: 536ms, FB: 0, Mix: 54, Ping-Pong) - HD Hall (Pred: 26, Decay: 100, Mix: 37, LoDmp: 0, HiDmp: 100)
- NTS-1 (Monologue): Delay (Type: High, Time: 60%, Depth: 70%, Mix: D-60 ) - Reverb (Type: Plate, Time: Max, Depth: Max, Mix: D-35)

Misc:
- Tempo: 56 on Circuit and 112 on MS-70s
- Volca FM patch: Old Korg W

Chords:
- Theme 1&2: Cm
- Theme 3: Cm - Cm - Cm - Cm | Cm - Cm - Cm -Cm | Cm - G7 - Bdim7 - Bb7 | Ebm Ebm Ebm Ebm
- Theme 4: Cm - Fm - Cm -Bb
- Outro (notes/intervals): C - [C-Eb] - [Eb - G] - [Ab - C] - [F - Ab] - [G - Bb] - [Bb - F] - [G - D - G] - [G - D - F] - [C - Eb] - [Bb - F] - [Ab - Eb - G] - [C - G - C] - C"