One Hundred

YouTube Uploaded by attorks on Sep 24, 2011

"Uploaded my first video to YouTube in May 2008. And now 3 years later I upload the hundredth video. I was a little worried after doing video 99 because I wanted video 100 to be something special. And I think it is. Hope you will like it to.

At first you hear a 5-step sequence on row 1 of the Doepfer MAQ16/3 driving the Ian Fritz Teezer Through-Zero VCO and the Blacet Miniwave. The percussive noise sound comes from the self-built Modular and is driven by a 16-step sequence on row 2 of the MAQ16/3.

After that the CS Saw Pad from the Roland XP-80 comes in whereafter the 4 step sequence from the Synthesizers.com Q960 is introduced but only steps 1 and 3 are active on the Q963 at first. The Q960 sequences drives the Synthesizers.com Modular. The Q962 sequential switch is triggered by row 2 of the MAQ16/3 to alter the sequence between the 3 rows of the Q960. Row 1 contains an Em, row 2 an Am and row 3 a Bm sequence. But the chords played on the Roland XP-80 don't follow those chords exactly which gives interesting variations. After that the arppegiated sound on the Waldorf Q Keyboard is added, varying the sound with the modulation wheel. Somewhere along the line steps 2 and 4 on the Q963 are activated so you hear the full 4 step sequence from the Q960. The Sunrizer App on the iPad is used to add some chorded sounds using the Lifeforms [JD] patch. The solo is performed on the Nord Lead 1. The audio is recorded with Pro Tools 9 using the Alesis MultiMix16 FireWire. Again my friend Anne used my iPhone 4G to video this session; thanks for that.

I dedicate this video to you, my dear YouTube friends, subscribers and channel watchers. Your comments and support encouraged me to go on. Thank you.

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

When in Rome

YouTube Uploaded by attorks on Sep 8, 2011

"It has been a few months since my last video. I have been very busy with everything but music. Last evening I had a chance to make some music and this is the result. The sequence origins from a short piece of music I made last week on my iPhone with NanoStudio. I thought it was very nice. But trying to recreate it on my hardware setup was somewhat impossible. So I used the sequence and improvised something else on it. At first you hear the Synthesizers.com Modular driven by the Synthesizers.com Q960 sequencer. The second sequence, performed by the Doepfer MAQ16/3 sequencer, comes from the Ian Fritz Teezer Through-Zero VCO which is driving the Blacet Miniwave. The sequence from the Creamware MiniMax ASB is driven by the MIDI output of the Q172 quantizer aid which I got recently and does the same sequence as the Synthesizers.com Modular. A bass line is played on the Clavia Nord Lead 1, the Roland XP-80 is emulating an Elka Rhapsody string machine (I used to own one). The brass like sound comes from the Waldorf Q Keyboard.

My friend Anne used my iPhone 4G to video this session; thanks for that. The title refers to a short holiday Anne and I had in Rome a few weeks ago. Rome is a wonderful city full of ancient history, beautiful buildings, fountains and churches. The Italian people are also very friendly and helpful. So definitively worth a visit.

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

Choices

YouTube Uploaded by attorks on May 13, 2011

"I was determined to do something different but then this sequence came up and I could not resist. The music begins with a 6-step sequence on row 1 of the Doepfer MAQ16/3 driving the Ian Fritz Teezer Through-Zero VCO which sawtooth output is modulated by the GCS Steiner filter and drives the Blacet Miniwave. This produces a modulated sound on the MiniWave. Then a 6-step sequence on row 2 of the MAQ16/3 driving the self-built Modular joins in. The Synthesizers.com Q960 sequencer is shifted by a 16-step pattern on row 3 of the Doepfer MAQ16/3 where not all steps are active. Then a Mellotron strings bass is played on the Roland XP-80 were after the Waldorf Q Keyboard comes in with a string sound. The solos are performed on the Clavia Nord Lead 1 which output is lead through a Zoom G1 effect device. I noticed a few minor glitches in the audio after I rendered the video which are also in the original audio. I will try to correct that later on for the mp3 file on my website using the multi-track recording.

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

Twoness

YouTube Uploaded by attorks on Apr 12, 2011

"This one I made a few days ago and took some time to mix the multitrack audio from the live recording. And just after I made the recording I noticed that the melody used in this video was somewhat familiar to me. After searching my previous recordings I found out that the video 'Oneness' has a somewhat similar melody. So I named this video 'Twoness'. The music begins with an 8-step sequence on row 1 of the Doepfer MAQ16/3 driving the Ian Fritz Teezer Through-Zero VCO which sawtooth output is modulated by the GCS Steiner filter and drives the Blacet Miniwave. This produces a modulated sound on the MiniWave. Then I use the SoundPrism App on the iPad to generate chords. After that an 8-step sequence from the Synthesizers.com Q960 is added which is driving the Synthesizers.com Modular which output is lead through the Doepfer A-189-1 Voltage Controlled Bit Modifier to give it a crunchy sound. Then some Mellotron strings are played on the Roland XP-80 were after the Waldorf Q Keyboard comes in. The MIDI output of the Q Keyboard is connected to the XP-80's MIDI input so I can play both instruments on the keyboard of the Q. At some point an 8-step random sequence on row 2 of the MAQ16/3 driving the self-built Modular joins in. The solo's are performed on the Clavia Nord Lead 1.

The music in this video tries to express the love and affection I feel for my dear friend Anne. She means the world to me.

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

Traveling by train

YouTube Uploaded by attorks on Apr 5, 2011

"This time some music without using the Modulars. The song starts with the Zoom RhythmTrak RT-323 drummachine. After that the arpeggiated chords on the Waldorf Q Keyboard join in. The arpeggiator of the Q is clocked using MIDI from the drummachine. The solo's are performed on the Clavia Nord Lead 1. The Mellotron choir sound comes from the Roland XP-80 which MIDI input is connected to the MIDI output of the Q so I can play the Q and the XP-80 from the Q's keyboard. All in all a very compact piece of music but I hope you will like it.

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

Behold

YouTube Uploaded by attorks on Mar 16, 2011

"This short video I made last Monday evening (or actually night). I wanted to capture the moment but afterward I noticed the video is somewhat dark.
It begins with an intro played on the Waldorf Q Keyboard with a harp-like sound. After that the three sequences are started. The distinct distorted sound comes from the Synthesizers.com Modular through the Doepfer A-189-1 Voltage Controlled Bit Modifier. This Modular performs two 8-step sequences I alternate manually. The self-built Modular does a 6-step sequence with randomized steps. The Ian Fritz Teezer Through-Zero VCO together with the Blacet Miniwave does an 8-step sequence. The Mellotron strings and choir sound is played on the Roland XP-80 and the bass on the Clavia Nord Lead 1. From 2:23 on a strings sound is played on the Waldorf Q Keyboard and I must admit I overdubbed that strings section with another strings sound of the Q Keyboard afterwards because it sounded very thin.

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

Agony

YouTube via Uploaded by attorks on Mar 10, 2011

"About 2 weeks ago I bought a second hand Doepfer A-189-1 Voltage Controlled Bit Modifier. I build a +/-15V to +/-12V converter to power the module (though not necessary I understood) and now it's working. And yes, I now can reproduce that beautiful Mark Shreeve bass sound with that metal edge to it. Anyway, this is a new improvisation but I heard some elements of the Warriors Theme I did before.

The Synthesizers.com Modular , which is connected to the Doepfer A-189-1 module, initially does a 4-step sequence and after a while I switch that to an 8-step sequence. The sawtooth output Ian Fritz Teezer Through-Zero VCO is modulated by the GCS Steiner filter and drives the Blacet Miniwave. This produces a modulated sound. This procedure is described on the Muff's forum by Volt and is called 'MiniWave Table Tilting'. The self-built Modular does a 4-step sequence. The theme is played on the Roland XP-80 doing the Mellotron strings. The Waldorf Q Keyboard produces some agonizing sounds and the odd solo is performed on the Clavia Nord Lead 1.

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

Intimacy

YouTube via attorks | Feb 28, 2011 |

"Hello my YouTube and Modular synth friends. It's been some weeks since I uploaded my last video. But I was looking for a way to record the music of my video's in multitrack. Multitrack recording allows me to develop the live recorded music later on by adding, altering, removing individual audio tracks for each instrument and mixing the tracks properly. So I was busy investigating the various possibilities to do this. I ended up upgrading my Pro Tools LE 8 software, which I did not use much anymore, to version 9 to be able to broaden the scope for audio interfaces. Then I was lusted for a Mackie Onyx 1220i because this integrates a mixer and an audio interface for each channel. But the remaining budget was to tight for that. So then I bought a second hand Alesis MultiMix 16 FireWire which is capable of more or less the same for a smaller budget. Now I can record up to 16 channels and the stereo main mix in one go. I used the stereo main mix for this YouTube video so this is still a live recording. If I develop this recording further I will upload it to the music section of my website.

This improvisation is in essence somewhat minimal. There a four sequences going on. I manually alternate between rows 1 and 2 of the Synthesizers.com Q960 which is driving the Synthesizers.com Modular. I also use 2 presets on the Doepfer MAQ16/3 to alternate the sequences for the self-built Modular with a 4- and 6-step sequence and the Ian Fritz Teezer Through-Zero VCO with the Blacet MiniWave with two 8-step sequences. The Waldorf Q Keyboard does a 2-step sequence for the bass. Chords are played on the Roland XP-80 and the Waldorf Q Keyboard. The solo is performed on the Clavia Nord Lead 1. The MIDI clock for all this comes from Pro Tools 9 to keep it in sync with the Pro Tools bars and beats. Pro Tools also transposes the sequences on the Synthesizers.com Q960 and the Doepfer MAQ16/3.

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

The making of 'Missing You'

YouTube via attorks | January 20, 2011 |

music comes in at 4:14

"Last Monday evening I made a video with the title 'Missing You'. But for some reason I am not able to upload it to YouTube. I tried 4 times but after a while I get the message 'Failed (upload aborted)'. So this evening I thought, let's make a video explaining the actions I did in that video. I had to keep my voice somewhat low because my daughter was sleeping in a room on the floor below me. The video 'Missing You' and the music of that video are available on my website." http://www.attorks.nl/html/main.html - video link on the left.

Mark my words

YouTube via attorks | December 28, 2010 |

"This improvisation is heavily inspired by the track Floating of the Klaus Schulze album Moondawn. But then again, it also sounds nothing like it but you might recognize some elements. At least the tempo is the same. You hear 3 different sequences, two 8-step sequences from the Doepfer MAQ16/3 driving the self-built Modular and the Ian Fritz Through-Zero VCO together with the Blacet MiniWave and an 8-step sequence from the Synthesizers.com Q960 manually alternated on row 1 and 2 with the Q962 sequential switch driving the Synthesizers.com Modular. I use the Q963 trigger bus to switch on and off individual steps of the Q960 sequencer and use the first four dials on row 3 of the MAQ16/3 to alternate the gates which are used to shift the Q960 sequencer. The notes of the sequences are as follows:

MAQ16/3: Tempo 128
MAQ16/3: Row 1: c4 e4 g3 a3 f4 a3 d4 d3
MAQ16/3: Row 2: a3 d4 d3 a3 d4 a3 e4 d3 (half time of the other sequences, so tempo is 64)
MAQ16/3: Row 3: x x x x (gate is shifting the Q960)

Q960 : Row 1: e3 f3 d3 a3 e3 g3 a3 d4
Q960 : Row 2: d3 e3 a3 e3 e3 a3 a3 c4

I use the grey MIDI keyboard to transpose the sequences. Preset A13 of NanoStudio on the iPad is used to do some tones and chords. The strings are performed on the Roland XP-80. The solo's come from the Creamware MiniMax ASB together with the Clavia Nord Lead 1 and from the Waldorf Q Keyboard. Operating the camera, playing the keyboards and dialing the knobs is difficult so I hope you don't mind that the action sometimes is just outside the viewing range of the camera.

This song is dedicated to my son Mark is going through some heavy times the last couple of months. Mark, please know that I love you and that you are beloved by many others.

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

Oneness

YouTube via attorks | December 13, 2010 |

"It is very hard to be original if you have uploaded so many videos to YouTube. I think this video is more of the same but yet a little different. Like most of my videos, the music in this video is totally improvised on the sequences I pre-programmed; hope you will like it.
Anyway, the video starts with some arpeggiated notes from the Waldorf Q Keyboard after which the sequences from the Ian Fritz Teezer Through-Zero VCO/Blacet MiniWave voice, the self-built Modular and the Synthesizers.com Modular are brought up; these are all 8 step sequences from the Doepfer MAQ16/3 and the Synthesizer.com Q960. Also some noise percussion is added provided by the Formant noise module filtered by the CGS high-pass filter. The Mellotron strings are provided by the Roland XP-80 and the solo is performed on the Clavia Nord Lead 1.

The title refers to the oneness between my friend Anne and I.

You see here the first 15 minutes of a 23 minute video. You can see/hear/download the video and music from my website soon."

Stop the time

YouTube via attorks | November 29, 2010 | 0 likes, 0 dislikes

"This evening I was not that lucky with the recordings. The first take wasn't that good, the second I liked very much but it appeared I forget to start the audio recording and the third take was somehow distorted again. Then I had a webcam meeting with my friend and walked the dog. After that I decided to try one last take because it was getting very late. And the result is a 23 minute video of which you see the first 15 minutes.
The music starts with two 4-step sequences in Dm from the self-built Modular and the Ian Fritz Teezer Through-Zero VCO combined which the Blacet MiniWave. Some chords on the Roland XP-80 are played and after that an arpeggiated chord on the Waldorf Q Keyboard is heared. The volume of the sequence of the Synthesizers.com Modular is turned up which sequence length is varied during the track. Again some chords on the XP-80 where after the length of the first two sequences is altered to 8-steps. Then a bass note is played on the iPad using an Eden synth voice in NanoStudio (preset A02, 7th Heaven). The arpeggiated bass on the Waldorf Q keyboard is introduced accompanied by notes from the NanoStudio voice and the sequences are transposed to Fm, Am and Cm. I use the two X-Y pads in NanoStudio to alter the sound of the voice. After a while the solo is played on the Clavia Nord Lead 1. At the climax the music is brought back to a minimum and the individual synths are heared.
The title refers to a phrase my friend and I sometimes use when we are together."

NanoStudio - Blip Interactive Ltd
iPads on eBay
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iPod Touch on eBay
iPod Touch on Amazon

Incredible

YouTube via attorks | November 11, 2010

"Yesterday evening I was dialing in some sequences and it sounded very nice. But after recording a video it appeared that the sound recording was not alright, very distorted. So this evening I made a new video after first testing the sound recording. Now it is OK and the session is way better that yesterday evening so I guess this was meant to be. The song starts with an 8-step sequence on the Doepfer MAQ16/3 driving the the Ian Fritz Teezer Through-Zero VCO/Blacet MiniWave voice and a bass tone from the Synthesizers.com which is driven by the Q960. The Q963 is used to turn on and off individual stages for the bass tones. After that arpeggiated tones from the Waldorf Q Keyboard are introduced. Then the volume of the 8-step sequence from the MAQ16/3 for the self-built Modular is turned up. Strings are played on the Roland XP-80 and the solo on the Clavia Nord Lead 1.

The title refers to my friend Anne; she is a truly incredible woman.

The whole video is just over 20 minutes long and will be available soon from my website."

Apeldoorn by night

YouTube via attorks | October 29, 2010

"Today my friend Anne and I returned from a short holiday in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands. I had a fantastic time with her but that is not to difficult because she is a very sweet, lovely and beautiful woman. This afternoon I had some time to improvise with the Modulars and make some music. And behold the result.

The first sequence is an 8-step sequence from the Doepfer MAQ16/3 driving the self-built Modular. After that a 7-step sequence from the MAQ16/3 driving the Ian Fritz Teezer Through Zero VCO and MiniWave is activated. I transpose the sequences manual with a MIDI keyboard underneath the Modulars but you can't see that in this video. The Mellotron string/choir sound comes from the Roland XP-80. After that the 6-step sequence from the Synthesizers.com Q960 sequencer is introduced; at first single notes and later on the whole sequence driving the Synthesizers.com Modular doing the bass voice. Solo's and chords are played on the Clavia Nord Lead 1 and Waldorf Q Keyboard. I apologies for the occasional wrong note but hey, it's live and totally improvised. Also at the end the sustain pedal for the Roland XP-80 gave some problems resulting in some hanging notes.

The whole piece is some 33 minutes long and I will upload the video and music to my website soon."

A New Start

YouTube via attorks | October 17, 2010

"Hello, my dear fellow YouTubers,
I have been neglecting you for a while. But I have good reasons for this. A long lasting relation has ended (the video 'The Big Decision' may have given you a hint) and a new very promising relation is arising. So I have been very busy in last weeks but somehow there was not much room for making music. But a few weeks ago I visited a fellow YouTuber Skoulaman because I like the music he makes and lives relatively close by. Last Friday evening he visited me to see and hear my humble setup in the attic. On the videos it may look as if it is a big corner with plenty of room but in fact it is very small and 2 people hardly fit. But we managed to make a short video with an improvisation. Skoulaman is playing the Waldorf Q Keyboard with some pad sounds. I made and operate the sequencers and Modulars. I also played the theme on the Roland XP-80 doing a piano and a synthbass sound on the Nord Lead 1 trying not to push Skoulaman from his seat..."

The Big Decision

YouTube via attorks | August 29, 2010

"The origin of this improvisation is a 16-step sequence I programmed in Nodal. I then programmed that sequence in the Doepfer MAQ16/3 on row 1 which drives the Ian Fritz Teezer Through-Zero VCO which in its turn provides a triangle waveform to the Ian Fritz 5Pulser and a sawtooth waveform to the Blacet MiniWave. The outputs of the 5Pulser and the MiniWave are fed to the Synthesizers.com Q107 filter. The 16-step sequence on row 2 of the MAQ16/3 drives the self-made Modular. Row 3 of the MAQ16/3 is providing the gate signal to shift the Synthesizers.com Q960 which has two 8-step sequences on row 1 and 2 alternated by the Q962 sequential switch. The Q963 trigger bus is used to mute and unmute steps of the Q960. The Roland XP-80 is used for an Oberheim type of sound and the Waldorf Q Keyboard does some string/brass type of sound. On the Clavia Nord Lead 1, four different voices are used for solo's, bass and chords.

In the video I added some photo's I made today of the equipment I use currently.

You can see/hear/download the full 25 minute video and music from my website soon."

In doubt

YouTube via attorks | August 24, 2010

"Made this improvisation last evening. I was in doubt whether to share this video with you because I think the 'magic level' of the music is not that high. But maybe you think otherwise so here it is for you to judge. Row 1 of the Synthesizers.com Q960 sequencer drives the Synthesizers.com Modular. The Q963 trigger bus is used to mute individual steps for row 1. Row 2 drives the self-made Modular which 2 VCO's are set to an interval in the beginning of the video. Row 3 drives the Ian Fritz Teezer Through-Zero VCO which in its turn provides a triangle waveform to the Ian Fritz 5Pulser and a sawtooth waveform to the Blacet MiniWave. The outputs of the 5Pulser and the MiniWave are fed to the Resonant LoPass Gate which is modulated by the Ian Fritz All-In EG. The Roland XP-80 is used for the Mellotron strings sound. The Waldorf Q Keyboard is programmed with 4 different instruments. The solo's are performed on the Clavia Nord Lead 1 with some different voices.
You can see/hear/download the full 22 minute video and music from my website soon."

The reunion

YouTube via attorks | August 17, 2010

"Last Friday I got some new Synthesizers.com modules for my 50th birthday which are used in this video: A Q171 quantizer bank, a Q963 trigger bus, a Q128 switch and a Q109 envelope generator. The Q960 sequencers drives 2 voices on row 1 and 3 using the Q171 quantizer bank the quantize the CV's. Row 1 drives the Synthesizers.com Modular. Row 3 drives the Ian Fritz Teezer Through-Zero VCO which is connected to the Buchla 282c clone Resonant LoPass Gate which is modulated by an Ian Fritz All-In EG. The 8 individual steps of the Q960 are switch on and off with the Q963 trigger bus. In the refrain of the track I switch the scale switch of the Q171 from scale to triad to change the pitch of some steps. The strings are performed on the Roland XP-80 with a CS imitation. The solo is performed on the Clavia Nord Lead 1 and some additional notes are played on the Waldorf Q Keyboard."

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."

Drifting along the Mosel

YouTube via attorks | August 07, 2010

"Yesterday we got back from a holiday that we spent near the river Mosel in Germany. Catching up with my mail and things I saw some videos of John L Rice were he shows COTK and Grove Audio modules using noise. So I thought, let's use some rhythmic noise in this improvisation. I also wanted to make an attempt to make a HD video with the Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000 webcam which I use for all my videos. But that means I have to use the Logitech software to record the video and a sound recorder to record the sound and somehow get that together using Sony Vegas Movie Studio. The result you see is the first 10 minutes of a 20 minute video. I also had to handle the webcam to get some close ups but sometimes the action is just out of the picture and sometimes the auto-focus does not do what it is supposed to do; sorry for that.

The noise rhythm is driven by an 8-step sequence on row 3 of the Doepfer MAQ16/3 sequencer which gate signal is also shifting the Synthesizers.com Q960. The noise comes from the white noise output of the self-built Modular which is lead to the CGS Steiner HP input and which output is lead to the LoPass Gate which is modulated by the Ian Fritz All-In EG and the CV from row 3 of the MAQ16/3. Row 1 of the MAQ16/3 has an 8-step sequence for the self-built Modular and in this voice the Ian Fritz 5Pulser is used to get a more evolving sound. The Q960 has sequences on row 1 and row 3 which is manually switched with the Q962 sequential switch. Some improvised chords and notes are played on the Roland XP-80, the Waldorf Q Keyboard and the Clavia Nord Lead 1.

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