Beasts

video upload by MIDI IN

"Spoken word with atmospheric music. I recently rewatched American Werewolf in London [great movie!] and the moon happened to be full and bright. This all put me in the mood to read some werewolf-based poetry. For atmosphere I used my Noisferatu which I talked about in a recent video [posted here]. And some sound effects made using e-ther.

Supported by patrons who receive exclusive content and early access. / midi_in"

Note: comments in brackets are matrix. :)

Music for falling asleep: The seventh planet

video upload by MIDI IN

"This is the music-only version for the falling asleep playlist. I'll be making a 'behind the scenes' video for Patrons.

patreon.com/midi_in"

New phase of MIDI IN

video upload by MIDI IN

"An open and honest discussion of my working life and plans for change.
As discussed, the new Patreon page:
/ midi_in"

an e-theremin through guitar effects sounds wicked!

video upload by MIDI IN

"I'm really happy with this piece and I've tried a different way of presenting it. I kept a diary as it progressed and I've put together a montage of the development. Feel free to skip straight to the music if you don't need any of that.

The instruments I make:
https://peacockmedia.software/hardwar...

0:00 intro and concepts
0:52 adding more ideas
1:04 developing the handpan ostinato
1:27 bass
1:37 arranging
1:55 using e-ther through guitar effects
3:07 the music"

8 new preset sounds for MIDISID

video upload by MIDI IN

"When I designed the control surface, I intended to use it to find a bunch of sounds and provide more presets for the mono and duo modes. And here we are.

In this video I demo Synth Strings 1 and 2, Percussive Organ, Sweep Pad, Tuba, Bowed Glass, Seashore and Breath"

Music for falling asleep 9: Europa

video upload by MIDI IN

"This is the 'music only' version of this. For a demonstration of how I created the whalesong and other sounds, see • Creating whalesong using an e-theremin" [posted here]

Red or green LED?

video upload by MIDI IN

"MIDISID's LED has always been green and I haven't given it much consideration until the Control Surface came along, which I gave red lights for the retro look. Maybe MIDISID should follow suit."

Creating whalesong using an e-theremin

video upload by MIDI IN

"I've mostly posted my 'falling asleep' music without any commentary but here I'd like to give demonstration of how I played the music and the sounds I used. Instruments used:

e-ther:
https://peacockmedia.software/e-ther/
MIDIPan:
https://peacockmedia.software/drum/

0:00 teaser
0:09 intro
0:42 lower pad
2:17 upper pad
2:34 bells
2:48 the whalesong
4:05 editing
4:18 the music

Europa image courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill"

Designing a bowed glass sound using the MIDISID control surface

video upload by MIDI IN

"The SID chip is a versatile 8-bit sound chip and has many features. The control surface allows you to tinker with these settings very easily."

https://peacockmedia.software/midisid

MIDIPan enhancements and purple special edition

video upload by MIDI IN

"Additional touch pads and the centre pad no longer tied to the root note. And it's purple! In this video I talk about these enhancements to MIDIPan and make some music using the built-in looper.

More info / purchase:
https://peacockmedia.software/drum/"

Physical control surface for MIDISID : demonstration

video upload by MIDI IN

"When I pitched this recently for pre-orders, I talked about the controls but didn't really demonstrate it, so here I'll use it to dial in some interesting sounds and make a tune.

Control Surface product page:
https://lectronz.com/products/midisid..."

Follow-up to this post.

Some pics and additional details via the Control Surface product page.

"I've long wanted to have the controls for the 3 voices of the SID laid out like this, MiniMoog style. MIDISID can do many things, but you're working with a screen and four buttons/knobs. As people have told me, "no-one likes menu diving".

I'm calling this the physical control surface. It gives accessible physical controls for most if not all of the things that you can do using MIDISID.

Note:

This doens't contain the SIDs or drive them directly. It doesn't include the MIDISID It is a separate control panel.

There's nothing here that you can't do on the MIDISID already but it makes it so much easier to design sounds when you have knobs and swithes in easy reach.

There's nothing here that you can't do already with a configurable MIDI controller of your choice. MIDISID has long had a list of CC numbers.

Communication is one-way. So this won't necessarily reflect changes that you make on the MIDISID itself

With all of that said, it gives you easy access to the filter, waveforms, envelope, pulse width modulation and advanced features like ring modulation, waveform sync, portamento, arpeggiation. Designing sounds has never been easier."

CLICK FOR MORE »

A haunting love theme played using the Haxocorder

video upload by MIDI IN

"The title is a little tongue in cheek but I felt the urge to write a nice melody. The original plan was to write something that I could play on my e-ther, which would sound truly haunting, but after using a flute as a placeholder (and writing in some fast embelishments and articulation) I decided to play it using my Haxocorder and a flute software instrument.

Is D minor really the saddest of all keys?
• Which key is the saddest?"

MIDIPan improvisation using sounds from Alchemy

video upload by MIDI IN

"Originally inspired by thinking about what sounds certain silent things might make, this turned into a MIDIPan looping exercise and then a more fleshed-out production.

MIDIPan:
https://peacockmedia.software/drum
Kale's channel:
‪@musicalmiscellany‬

Photo by Pavel Storchilov from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/focus-ph...

0:00 teaser
0:24 intro
2:10 the music"

New product reveal: A physical control surface for MIDISID.

video upload by MIDI IN

"Nobody likes menu-diving, right? This is an add-on for MIDISID which gives you physical controls (analogue pots and sliders plus prophet-style buttons) for most of MIDISID's functionality.
This is an expensive thing to build, and I don't know how many to plan to make. Therefore, I'll be running a 'threshold pre-order campaign' over the next couple of weeks.

Pre-order campaign:
https://lectronz.com/seller/campaigns...

General MIDISID info:
https://peacockmedia.software/midisid

0:00 Intro
0:22 Nobody likes menu diving
1:32 Presentation
3:34 The tour
8:45 Conclusion"

Walkthrough : creating a chiptune track, rendered by dual SIDs

video upload by MIDI IN

"This week I've made this tune, which I'm very happy with. Rather than just post the music I thought I'd break it down and explain this particular technique for creating this kind of music using my DAW. The music is rendered using two modern replacement SIDs in my MIDISID."

DIY USB MIDI adaptor solves dropped note problems:
• DIY USB MIDI adaptor solves dropped note p... [posted here]

MIDISID:
https://peacockmedia.software/midisid

0:00 teaser
0:13 intro
1:07 using 'external MIDI' tracks
2:32 drums
3:42 bass
6:13 arpeggiation
6:38 embedding MIDI control messages
6:57 pad
7:52 the lead and pitch bend
9:32 the tune

Demonstrating some e-ther Advance features accompanied by MIDIKalimba's looper

video upload by MIDI IN

"The quantisation in e-ther Advance really does make it possible to play more tunefully, particularly when you can see the current note on the display. Here I demonstrate these features using the MIDI output along with a backing provided by MIDIKalimba's looper.

e-ther Advance:
https://peacockmedia.software/e-ther/
MIDIKalimba:
https://peacockmedia.software/kalimba/

0:00 intro
0:24 Moonlight Ark, the synth used with e-ther
0:35 note display and quantisation
0:45 the music"

Building a Haxocorder : part 3 (or possibly 4)

video upload by MIDI IN

You can find additional parts here.

"The haxocorder is now less bodgy, with some updates (including key layout) worked into the pcb. It feels very nice to play.
Some of the instruments I have for sale:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/shieladixon"

MIDIPan Jam and feature reveals

video upload by MIDI IN

"This feature has been a long time coming. I hope I'm getting it right and that others will find it as useful as I will. In this short video I talk about it and demo it with a little improv."

Using the New Public Domain SIDs in MIDISID

video upload by MIDI IN

"This is the new Public Domain SID or PDSID by Matthias. I hope to be able to make and supply these with MIDISID. In the mean time, they're available direct from him and can easily be fitted.

Public Domain SID at uni64.com:
https://uni64.com/shop/index.php?syst...

MIDISID:
https://peacockmedia.software/midisid/"

Music for falling asleep to : 6

video upload by MIDI IN

"This is one of many ideas of this type that I have in progress and it's the first that I feel is ready to use. It has developed from last week's jam using MIDIPan and MIDISID.

I played the marimba part on a keyboard, all other parts are programmed manually.

I've started bat-watching but I haven't seen/heard my first of this year yet. I have enjoyed seeing both our moon and Jupiter in a clear sky though. The mysterioso nature of this piece seems to go well with this image of the moon.

Lie back, close your eyes, let go of the world around you and if you fall asleep them my work is done.

Photo of the moon: NASA nasa, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons"