Making a sequence (Part 1/2)

YouTube via attorks | July 19, 2010

"This is an attempt to try to show you how a sequence can be made. I found out making an instruction video is not that easy but I just wanted to share this with you. After making the video I noticed my voice was a bit soft so I tried to emphasis it with a little EQing; hope you can understand what I am saying. I did not want to redo the video because it wouldn't be improvised anymore and I think the sequence worked out quite well. Making sequences is not an exact science so this is just an example and I do not always do it as shown. And I am not an expert in sequencing. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. This is part 1 of a 2 part video."

Making a sequence (Part 2/2)

Clouds Forming

Martin Peters

"A couple of weeks ago I got my Oberheim OB-Mx back from repairs after it has been in repair for a year. There are 3 voicecards inside, each containing 2 voices, so it has 6 voices in total. But 1 of these voicecards could not be tuned anymore. The repair-shop could not find the problem so I still have 1 voicecard I cannot use.

Anyways, this video starts with the Oberheim OB-Mx having the VCA's opened playing a G minor chord. The Minimoog solo comes in and there is a sort of 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond' deja-vu. The Polymoog with the Behringer VP1 Phaser accompanies the Minimoog. After that some tones are added from the Synthesizers.com Modular, Oberheim SEM and Korg ARP Odyssey with the VCA's opened. Then the sequences start, adding the Joranalogue Generate 3 and Mutable Instruments Plaits. It all builds up to a climax where the Odyssey plays some notes. And after that it all fades out to nothing.

The track was recorded live to multi-track on the Behringer X32 Compact and mixed in Studio One afterwards. The mix only involves some gain staging, EQ and compression. No track edits where performed and no automation was used.

I hope you will enjoy it

You can download the track from Bandcamp. https://attorks.bandcamp.com/track/cl..."

Reaching a milestone age

YouTube via attorks | August 12, 2010

"Yesterday we were shopping in the supermarket for our groceries and I found myself humming this simple sequence in 6/8. When we got home I first did a simple audio recording so I would not forget. Yesterday evening I programmed the sequence in Ableton Live designating it to the Creamware MiniMax ASB because it has MIDI. I added a simple second 4/4 sequence which is performed by the Waldorf Q Keyboard. This evening I decided to video it with strings from the Roland XP-80 and a solo from the Clavia Nord Lead 1.
Tomorrow (on 8/13) is my 50th birthday. O man, time goes by so fast."

A simple arpeggiated theme

YouTube via attorks
"A simple and short arpeggiated theme this time. Only 3 keyboards are used. The Waldorf Q Keyboard plays note 4 arpeggiated chords. Halfway I use the Xphorm function to morph from one sound to another sound. The melodies are played on the Clavia Nord Lead 1 and the Roland XP-80."

The Longing

YouTube via attorks — June 22, 2010 — "I was fiddling around with the arpeggiator of the Waldorf Q Keyboard. Then I tried to synchronize the Synthesizers.com Q960 sequencer through the Doepfer MAQ16/3 sequencer which more or less succeeded. The Waldorf Q arpeggiator clock is fed via MIDI to the MAQ16/3. The gate output of row 3 of the MAQ16/3 is shifting the Q960 sequencer. The 5-step sequence on row 1 of the Q960 is driving the Synthesizers.com Modular. The 4-step sequence on row 1 of the MAQ16/3 is driving the self-built Modular. The bird sounds comes from voice B of the Clavia Nord Lead 1.The Mellotron flute solo comes from the Roland XP-80 and the synth solo is performed on voice A of the Clavia. I am sometimes kind of lost in the beats and bars but I hope you don't mind."

DotCom, MFM, Doepfer MAQ16/3, Kawai 100F and Nord Lead 1

YouTube via attorks
"Some improvisation I made up this evening. Sequence is played on the 2 Modulars. In the first slow part only steps 1 and 5 of the 2 x 8 sequence on the Doepfer are active. In the second fast part all 2 x 8 sequence steps are active. Chords on the Nord Lead 1 and the solo on the Kawai 100F."

An arpeggiated theme

YouTube via attorks

"The first theme with the Waldorf Q Keyboard. At first you hear the sequence from the Synthesizers.com Modular driven by row 1 of the Doepfer MAQ16/3. After that the volume is raised for the sequence from the self built Modular driven by MAQ's row 2. Then the arpeggiated sound of the Waldorf Q Keyboard, which is MIDI synchronized from the Doepfer MAQ16/3, comes in. This arpeggiated sound reminds me somewhat of the 'Black Noise' album by 'FM' from some 30 years ago, for example the track Aldebaran. The strings are performed by the Clavia Nord Lead 1 and the solo is played on the Korg 900PS. I had to shorten the video somewhat because of the YouTube limit of 10 minutes. The original video can be seen or downloaded from my website after 12 april."

The beauty of it all, part 2

YouTube via attorks — June 08, 2010 — "Like the previous video a simple sensitive 8-step sequence on the Synthesizers.com Q960 sequencer which drives the Synthesizers.com Modular. Notice that the sequence starts on step 6. The passionate solo is performed on the Roland XP-80 and the sentimental strings on the Waldorf Q Keyboard.
I hope the music is not to depressive for you."

Struggle

Published on Oct 20, 2012 by attorks

"Last week I bought a second hand Oberheim OB-Mx with 3 voice cards, so 6 voices. And no, I did not trade my Modular for the OB-Mx. The Modular and some other instruments are at my friends place because of the performance on E-Live on 27 October.
In the beginning you hear the Oberheim OB-Mx 6 voices with the VCA opened. Then some noise from the Waldorf Q Keyboard and notes from the Animoog App on the iPad (my favorite App until now). After some time the sequences from the Doepfer MAQ16/3 start. An 8-step sequence from row 1 is driving the Oberheim OB-Mx, Row 3 has an 16-step sequence with 4 steps active driving the self-built Modular doing the bass tones. Somewhat later row 2 is added driving the Nord Wave doing 2 tones. The Mellotron-like flute sound comes from the Korg PE-1000 doing a solo. After that you can hear strings from the Waldorf Q Keyboard. Anne used my iPhone 4 to film this video.

You can download/see/hear the video and music from my website soon."

A progressive theme

YouTube via attorks — April 09, 2010 — "This sequence developed while I was experimenting with my newly built Ian Fritz Teezer Through-Zero VCO. Also the Buchla LoPass Gate is used to mix various sources. The Doepfer MAQ16/3 has an 8 step sequence on row 1 which is driving the Synthesizers.com, the TZ VCO and the Blacet MiniWave. Row 2 has an 8 step sequence which is driving the self-built Modular. Row 3 has a 16 step sequence driving the Roland XP-80 with a bass sound. The solo is performed on the Clavia Nord Lead 1 and the high string sound come from the Waldorf Q Keyboard."

Exploring the Waldorf Q Keyboard

YouTube via attorks
"This a probably a boring video if you are not interested in the Waldorf Q Keyboard. The Doepfer MAQ16/3 sequencer is driving the Synthesizers.com with a bass sound and the self-built Modular with the accompanying melody. The internal sequencer of the Waldorf Q Keyboard is synchronized with the MAQ16/3 MIDI clock doing a 8 step sequence which I transpose with the keyboard (to make the music a little bit less boring ;-). Fiddling with various dials but mainly the pulse width dials on VCO 1 and 2 to scan through the wave tables of the Alt1 wave selection, with the cutoff, resonance and envelop amount for the 24dB lowpass filter and with the decay for the filter ADSR. At 09:35 I switch to the PPG filter but then the video almost ends. You can see or download the full version from my website in a few days."

A theme for my Muse

YouTube via attorks

"I dedicate this theme to my Muse. I tried to keep the theme modest and subtle like my Muse. At first you hear a sequence from the Synthesizers.com Modular driven by row 1 of the Doepfer MAQ16/3. After that the VCF frequence is raised to hear the sequence from the self built Modular driven by MAQ's row 2. The 3rd sequence comes from the Creamware MiniMax ASB which is driven by MAQ's row 3. The strings are performed by the AKAI AX80 and the solo's are played on the Clavia Nord Lead 1 and the Korg 900PS (Accordion preset with Traveler on 3.5).

I had to shorten the video almost 3 minutes because of the YouTube limit of 10 minutes. The original video is 12:42 long and you can see or download it from my website."

Lockdown

video upload by Martin Peters

"Here is a relative short track that developed yesterday. Yesterday, when in the Netherlands another Lockdown of 3 weeks was proclaimed. Anyways, I hope you are healthy and maybe this track will cheer you up a little. Five sequences are running on the Cirklon. The bass from the Synthesizers.com Modular and sequences from the 4ms Ensemble Oscillator, the Verbos Harmonic Oscillator filtered by the Mutable Instruments Ripples, the Tom Oberheim SEM and the DSI Mopho. The solo is performed of the Waldorf Q Keyboard and the strings on the Roland JD-800.

You can download the track for free from Bandcamp:
https://attorks.bandcamp.com/track/lo..."

The great void

YouTube via attorks | July 27, 2010

"This afternoon I was watching two videos on the MATRIXSYNTH website were John Bowen demonstrates his Solaris prototype on the PNW Synth Gathering 2010 [link]. Seems like a very powerful machine but it is not likely that I can afford one. After seeing that I thought, my Waldorf Q Keyboard can't do all that but it can do some. So I ended up programming this sound and sequence which I liked a lot and I decided to video it. Connected the MIDI out of the Q to the Doepfer MAQ16/3 to be able to add synchronized sequences from the MAQ16/3 and the Synthesizers.com Q960. Row 1 of the MAQ16/3 has a double-time 8-step sequence driving the self-built Modular. The gate output of row 3 of the MAQ16/3 shifts the Q960 which has sequences on row 1 and 3 driving the Synthesizers.com Modular. I use the A, B, C and D slots of the Clavia Nord Lead 1 to vary the sounds of the solo's. Slot D contains a kind of FM'ed strings sound. The Roland XP-80 also does a solo voice.
This video show the first 10 minutes of a 30 minute video. You can see/hear/download the video and music from my website soon."

A smooth theme

YouTube via attorks
"Kind of inspired by DoctorVague and Ian Boddy (when in Red Shift), I am experimenting with Ableton Live to see if it can be a help in analog sequencing. And tonight this lovely sequence came up so I thought, lets make a video. I have 2 MIDI tracks and 1 track with a drum loop. One MIDI track controls the self-built Modular and the 2nd MIDI track the Creamware MiniMax ASB. I couldn't connect the DotCom because I have only 1 MIDI/CV converter. Both MIDI tracks have several clips with looping 8 step sequence in different keys. But I have not found out how to change the clip of the 2 MIDI track at the same time and at the right bar so I click the clip on each track which causes the odd discrepancy in clips/keys and changing too soon; sorry for that. The melody is performed on the Roland XP-80 with a Mellotron voice. The Waldorf is doing what a Waldorf is good at; making these Waldorf sounds. The soloing is done on the Clavia Nord Lead 1 with an organ-type voice."

A borrowed theme

YouTube via attorks
"ouTube user Justwaving made a video in februari 2009 with a theme and sound I like very much. Last night I was looking in my YouTube favourites and played the video again. I decided to program the theme into my sequencer and play around with it but I did not try to reproduce the sounds. Also altered the main sequence a little bit to match the chords. And this is what has become of it. The handcam actions are not to steady but I thought I show you around to see what is happening.
The sequencer clock is from the Waldorf Q keyboard which drives the Doepfer MAQ16/3. The Doepfer has 2 sequences; a 32 step sequence on the first 2 rows with the main theme on the Creamware MiniMax ASB and an 16 step sequence on the 3rd row driving the Synthesizers.com. The 8 step sequence on the Waldorf Q Keyboard does the string sound on the Q with the chords C, Em, F and Am. The solo is performed on the Clavia Nord Lead 1. The choir sound, which is a little bit loud at the beginning, is from the Roland XP-80."

Things2Come

Martin Peters

"I recorded this video on the 3rd of May. But I was not sure if it was good enough to share. Since then, I have grown to like it more and more. The songs is very melancholic and kind of reflects the mood I am in lately. The solo reminds me somewhat of Dave Stewart in his National Health years. The song is very basic with only 5 tracks: the bass from the Synthesizers.com Modular driven by the Cirklon sequencer, 2 sequences generated by the NDLR driving the DSI Mopho and the Korg ARP Odyssey, the strings from the Roland JD-800 also driven by the NDLR and the solo in the Moog Minimoog. The Cirklon clocks the NDLR and also sequences the chord and chord-type changes.

The track was recorded live to multi-track in Studio One and I did some little mixing afterwards. Hope you will enjoy it.

The track is uploaded to Bandcamp. Search for Attorks and you will find it."

An agonizing theme

YouTube via attorks — May 11, 2010

"I am aware of the risk of overfeeding you with video´s but the inspiration is there so let´s take advantage of that. This piece of music is sequenced in Nodal. It started last evening when I hooked up the Zoom RT-323 drum machine to be controlled by Nodal. The bass sequence is performed by the Ian Fritz Teezer Through-Zero VCO from which the sawtooth wave is fed to the Resonant LoPass Gate. Then you hear the tuned-up bass voice from the Zoom RT-323 doing a semi-random sequence. After that the Mellotron sound from the Roland XP-80 is introduced and the high-pitched sequence from the Creamware MiniMax ASB. The chords and occasional bass are performed on the Waldorf Q Keyboard and the solo on the Clavia Nord Lead 1."

The Eagle has landed

YouTube via attorks — May 15, 2010

"Yesterday I received the Synthesizers.com Q960 sequencer and Q962 sequential switch modules. Fitted the modules in the empty cabinet and started playing around: this is awesome! Today I tried shifting the Q960 from the Doepfer MAQ16/3 and it works great; the gate of row 3 of the MAQ16/3 controls id fed to the shift input of the Q960. Row 1 of the MAQ16/3 has an 8-step sequence for the Ian Fritz Teezer Through-Zero VCO which is fed to the Resonant LoPass Gate. Row 2 of the MAQ16/3 has also an 8-step sequence for the self-built Modular. Row 2 of the Q960 controls the Synthesizers.com Modular. The drum sounds are from the Zoom RhythmTrak RT-323 which is synchronized by the MAQ16/3 via MIDI. The VP-330 strings are performed on the Roland XP-80, the bass on the Clavia Nord Lead 1 and some additional chords on the Waldorf Q Keyboard."

Contained

YouTube Uploaded by attorks on Apr 5, 2012

"This video kind of starts where my last video 'Vernal Season' left off. It begins with a 4-step sequence on the Synthesizers.com Q960 with only step 1, 3 and 4 active on the Q963 trigger bus. During the song I alternate between the 3 rows of the Q960 using the Q962 sequential switch. The Q960 drives the Rob Hordijk OSC HRM, one Synthesizers.com Q106 VCO and the Ian Fritz Teezer Through-Zero VCO connected to the Blacet Miniwave. The Mellotron strings, played on the Roland XP-80, joins and after that a 4-step sequence on row one of the Doepfer MAQ16/3 driving the Creamware MiniMax ASB. An 8-step sequence from the MAQ16/3 driving the self-built Modular joins after that. The Klaus Schulze like S&H percussion comes from the Waldorf Q Keyboard. The solo's are performed on the Clavia Nord Lead 1.

The video is filmed by my girlfriend Anne using my iPhone 4.

You can download/see/hear the video and music from my website soon."