Totally Keyboard

CHOMP: The $50 Open Source MIDI Controller

2012-02-02T23:25:00.000Z

I was checking my RSS feeds this morning and I came across a fantastic little bit of kit that an American high school student has built. It's called CHOMP (Configurable Hardware Open-source MIDI Platform), and he's currently trying to fund it through kickstarter. The best part about it is that it's only $50 US.

I've pledged $50, because I'd love to see this take off. I'd even consider buying a few of them if the project is a success. I like the idea of being able to build my own MIDI controller easily, and that's what this project offers; custom MIDI controllers without all of the hassle of programming your own Arduino board. That said, the production model will have a programmer header, so if you want to change the code you could do, as it is based on the Arduino standard. For instance, I contacted the project's founder, Max Justicz about using rotary encoders with CHOMP, and he informs me that with a small change to the code it would be possible to use them instead of regular potentiometers.

I just hope he manages to get it off the ground, it'd be a real shame if a piece of technology this useful wasn't a success.

CHOMP on Kickstarter

Minimum donation is $1 US, and $50 will get you the board. If the project doesn't reach its goal of $25k then you won't be charged, which seems fair to me.

This is what I call good parenting

2012-01-29T15:25:00.000Z

I was lucky enough to be encouraged to play music when I was a kid, I always had access to instruments if I wanted them. I always think it's good to encourage kids to play music, and I love to see them enjoying it. Everyone has to start somewhere after all.

I found this video via Synthtopia, and I was very impressed. Apart from the fact that the father is playing xylophone, keyboard, a coke bottle and a tambourine all at the same time, the kids are obviously having a great time, and they remember their cues better than some of the older musicians I've worked with. I couldn't not share it, it made my afternoon.

Together in Electric Dreams

2012-01-22T00:59:00.000Z

Two more Reason patches for you, this time from Philip Oakey's hit song "Together in Electric Dreams". Yes, that song that everyone (including me until about 5 minutes ago) thinks is by the Human League. The two patches I've recreated are the pad from the beginning of the song and the big fat polysynth.

The pad is quite simple, just a filtered square with a short attack and a long decay. I fed this through Thor's chorus to give it the movement that it has in the original track, and also programmed the mod wheel to scale the LFO's effect on the amplifier, effectively creating a tremolo. This isn't a feature of the original patch, but I wanted to add it in to perhaps make the patch a little more versatile for other projects.

Download Patch

The polysynth is a pretty standard 80s sound, and is actually based on an earlier patch I posted called "So Juno". I set Thor up so that oscillator 1 uses a sawtooth wave and oscillator 2 uses a square wave, with pulse-width modulation being controlled by LFO 1, scaled by Rotary 1. Oscillator 3 is also set up as a square wave, but one octave below the other two as a sub oscillator. This configuration was used on Roland's Juno line in the 1980s, as well as the Korg Polysix. This patch only required the sawtooth and sub oscillators, so I turned off oscillator 2.

I assigned the mod wheel to control the filter cutoff, so as it is increased the filter closes, changing the timbre of the sound so that it sounds more like a pad. Once again, this is not a feature of the original patch, nor is this a feature of the original Junos, but I find that it's useful to be able to control the filter cutoff frequency easily.

Download Patch

Breaking Radio Silence

2012-01-21T00:19:00.000Z

Hello! Happy New Year!

I've not posted anything for a while as I've had a fair bit to organise, but I've got some great stuff planned for 2012.

Reason 6

I finally have Reason 6 up and running, so all future project files will no longer be compatible with Reason 5 or below (Sorry folks, that's Propellerhead for you). Fear not however, as the vast majority of the patches I post will still be 100% compatible with Reason 4 and 5, and any patches exclusive to 6 will be marked as such. In the mean time, have a look at some screenshots of a recent session, paying close attention to the n

Drum Recording

Over Christmas I did some work with a good friend of mine Matt Dowson, an absolutely stellar drummer and an all round nice guy. We used my mac and interface and his microphone set to do some drum recordings in a church hall, and I'm quite happy with the results. Some video was taken of the day, so once the audio and video are all nicely synced up I'll pop that up.

In addition to this, in the next couple of weeks I'll be carrying out some recordings for my LinnDrum-style sampled drums. As part of my investigative study I'll be recording some one-shots of different drums and then processing them to sound like early sample-based drum machines, like the Linn LM-2 (LinnDrum) and the E-MU Drumulator.

Refill Review

Aside from my plans to carry on using this blog for my Investigative Study, I'll be talking a lot about my collection of Reason Refills. I want to do a (long overdue) review of Reason Pianos, as well as Abbey Road Keyboards, ElectroMechanical 2.0 and Fairlight Platinum by Bitley.

More Synth Patches

I want to explore different synthesizers, so I'll be doing a couple of tutorials on how to program the same patch across a range of different synths. This will be pretty easy for me, since I have Logic, Pro Tools and Reason to hand, as well as my Microkorg XL. I'll continue to upload patches for the Investigative Study as I create them (I have about 8 new patches for that to go up) and there are a few miscellaneous ones to go up to.

Don't forget to follow the site on Blogger, subscribe to the site feed or follow me on twitter to be notified of new posts!

Microkorg XL Patches

2011-12-27T22:21:00.000Z

The Microkorg XL is a true workhorse synth. It might be small, but of all the hardware synths I own it's the one I always go back to. I often use it with batteries as a portable MIDI controller for Reason or Mainstage, but I don't forget the powerful synthesizer engine that it has. Each timbre has two oscillators, two filters, two LFOs, three envelope generators, six modulation routes, an Equaliser and a noise shaper. There are two timbres, an arpeggiator, two effects units and a 16 band vocoder. Not bad for something that size.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T01:31:00.004Z

Hello everyone

Just a quick message from me to wish you all a Merry Christmas. I'm winding down posts until the new year, but before I go I've got one little surprise project to unveil.

Jingle Bells, Synthpop style!

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Download Jinglepop

I've used LinnDrum samples and my new Simmons tom combinator patch for the drum beat, the "Blue Monday" bass recreation and the pluck and the pad based on those in Visage's "Fade to Grey".

Enjoy the music, enjoy your christmas, and enjoy 2012

Matt

A wee bit of techno

2011-12-21T03:55:00.000Z

It's assignment season again, so aside from the the Investigative Study updates I've not got much to post. I do have other uni-related music to share though, including this piece I put together for my synthesis assignment.

Simmons SDSV

2011-12-16T00:32:00.001Z

This may be a keyboard blog, but right now I'm working on some synth drums. After all, the 1980s was full of them. I've been working on creating an emulation of the Simmons SDSV electronic drum kit in Reason, using the combinator as a virtual front panel for each individual drum module.

From little blogs big projects grow

2011-12-04T01:16:00.000Z

I've been making plans for expansion on the site, and I've laid the groundwork for two pages that I hope to develop over time.

First of all, I've had a few emails asking for download links to music that I've written. I've not put a great deal up, but on the music downloads page there are some pieces I had to hand. I've put my early recordings up because while they're not particularly well played or recorded I'm somewhat fond of them. I've also got a section dedicated to pieces I've written for university, either as past of assignments or based on an idea explored in class. So far there's only one piece up, but I have a couple more in the works. All downloads are free, but if you like them, feel free to make a small donation using the PayPal button in the sidebar.

I've also created a page for sound design. This is separate from the Reason patches page, because I want to explore other means of generating interesting sounds, possibly incorporating Reason as an editing/sampling tool. I don't plan on doing much with the page yet, but I have one sound up at the moment that I'm rather pleased with.

I've got big plans for the site, possibly the biggest overhaul of the site yet. I've been running the site for nearly 2 and a half years, and I'm happy with how far it has progressed, and I have a clear idea of what I want the site to become.

For now, enjoy the music.

What would you like to see?

2011-12-04T00:50:00.001Z

Hello Readers

I've been doing a lot on Reason recently, namely patch programming for my independent project. I have a few more reason-related ideas that I'd like to explore, but I'd like to know what you the readers would like to see. Do you want more reason-related videos? Should I get one of my vintage synths out and do a video about it? Do you want some piano-related content? I could even dust off my music theory knowledge and give some basic theory tips. I shall leave it up to you to decide, leave a comment down below if there is anything you specifically want me to cover, or if you have any questions for me.

Matt

Synth sounds from Visage's Fade to Grey

2011-11-22T18:07:00.001Z

This week I'm focusing on three sounds from the classic synthpop song Fade to Grey by Visage. I've recreated the riff/bass, the string-like pad and the pluck that plays the countermelody.

The main riff/bass part is made up of two detuned sawtooth waveforms with a little bit of the top end filtered out.

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One of the strangest keyboards I've ever seen

2011-11-16T14:04:00.000Z

I've not done this in a while, but here's a video I found while wandering through the internet.

Leonard Soloman is a comedian, juggler and instrument builder who does one man variety shows. His website (link) has some pretty cool videos of him playing an instrument he calls the Bellowphone, but the instrument I find the most interesting is his Oomphalapompatronium, a somewhat steampunk-looking device. I must admit my immediate reaction was "I want one!". I've watched the video about 5 times now, just to get a sense of what each part is doing. Maybe one day I'll build something like this, when I retire...

Video by Gio Gaynor

More Recreations!

2011-11-14T03:00:00.001Z

I've had a pretty productive day today as far as patch programming is concerned, I've recreated sounds from four different synthpop songs using Subtractor. I've been slowly working my way through the list of sounds I want to recreate, and I decided to focus on two artists today.

Depeche Mode:

New Life Pluck (Add chorus and serve)
I Sometimes Wish I Was Dead Riff

OMD

Messages Sequence
Combo Organ (Enola Gay, Electricity etc.)

Patch diagram for "Messages Sequence"

The only one that gave me any real trouble was the sound from the riff of "I Sometimes Wish I Was Dead". I initially tried using too much filter envelope and it sounded all wrong. I backed that off, added vibrato and changed the mix between the two oscillators and it sounded much better. Tricky little patch, but I quite like it.

It's worth noting that in the final refill I probably won't be using these names for the patches, but I'll worry about that closer to the time of completion.

New Order - Blue Monday

2011-11-07T01:09:00.001Z

I've been working a lot in Reason this week on a few sound recreations, and I've had good results so far. I set myself the task of recreating the famous synth sound used on New Order's "Blue Monday", and to demonstrate it I've recreated the first section of the song in Reason using Oberheim DMX samples for the drums.

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Below are links to the sequencer and bass patches, as well as the reason RNS file. The arrangement is just a very quick approximation of the song, but I think the basic elements are all there, although feel free to tell me how you think it could be improved.

Blue Monday Bass

Blue Monday Sequence

Blue Monday RNS

Blast from the Past

2011-10-25T21:29:00.000+01:00

I'd forgotten about this! I did this when I was at college, and I hadn't had the Juno or the MicroKorg very long. The synth and drum sounds aren't very accurate, and my playing was a bit ham handed, but I still quite like this. I'm going to focus on this song and replicate the sounds as part of my ReFill.

New content series coming soon!

2011-10-23T19:07:00.006+01:00

Hello Readers

I’ve been quite lazy with the site lately, but that’s about to change. As part of my degree I’m going to be carrying out an investigative study into synthpop in the early 1980s, and how today’s technology can be used to replicate sounds generated by gear from the time.

Minimalist Piano Music

2011-10-12T03:13:00.000+01:00

University has kicked off with a bang! I'm only in the second week of my second year and already my creative juices are flowing. Today we learned about Steve Reich's approach to Minimalism, specifically how he wrote pieces of music designed to be played at different tempos on different instruments. The effect is stunning, and we were all given the chance to come up with something similar.

After a bit of messing around in Pro Tools and Reason I came up with this, and I'm quite proud of it. No delays effects or time stretch tools were used in this recording; one piano was recorded 0.5 bpm slower than the other.

Drifting Pianos by Matt Harrison

Also related to university, I've got a big project that I'll be announcing soon on here, and I'll be updating the site much more regularly as part of it, so make sure you come back soon.

Steve Jobs

2011-10-06T01:01:00.000+01:00

I just read the sad news that Steve Jobs has passed away.

I've got a lot of respect for anyone who revolutionises technology, but to consistently come up with new, revolutionary devices, ideas and services the way he did is a rarity. He was one in a million.

Rest in Peace Steve

8Tracks Playlists

2011-08-27T18:20:00.000+01:00

Hello Readers!

It's been a bit of a while, and unfortunately I'm still not in a position where I can make videos or tutorials, but all of that will come soon.

In the mean time, I've been using 8tracks.com a lot lately. For those of you who don't know, it's basically a social network based around musical playlists. Users upload tracks to the site and create playlists based on a theme or genre of their choice. They have an iPhone app, and an Android app is coming soon (something I'm looking forward to, being a bit of an Android fan). It's not a replacement for Spotify exactly, but I do enjoy the social aspect of it.

So far I've been pretty eclectic in the music I've uploaded, and feedback has been generally good, and I've also found a fair bit of new music using the service.

Here are a few mixes I've done, the first is probably my favourite, hence the spiffy embedded player.

Good Morning

Tracks I love to listen to first thing on a morning.

Kinda Blue

I listen to these a lot when I'm feeling a little down, or when I'm reflecting on things. There's quite a lot of piano in these songs, so maybe that's why (I love playing the piano when I feel like this).

Head in the Clouds

For those days when you're avoiding reality.

Falling Into Oblivion

Sometimes all you want to do is slip out of consciousness.

The 80s wasn't all bad

Forget cheesy pop tunes and dad rock, there was some fantastic music in the 1980s. Here's a selection of my favourite tracks by some great artists.

No doubt there will be more to come soon, both playlists and musical content.

Independent Labels Hit By London Riots

2011-08-09T20:32:00.000+01:00

Last night the Sony DADC distribution centre in Enfield, North London, was devastated by a blaze started by rioters. The riots began with the shooting of Mark Duggan in Tottenham by armed police, and have since spread throughout London and beyond.

PIAS, a company that distributes media for over 150 independent labels, including Warp, Rough Trade, Sub Pop and Mute, as well as many smaller labels, is among the worst affected. Many labels have lost their entire stock of physical media, save those that were already on sale. Such losses will hit the artists hard, because many of them still rely on the sale of physical media to earn royalties. Many of the artists signed to PIAS distributed labels have had releases delayed, and others will soon run out of physical stock.

Digital distribution has not been affected, so if you are a fan of one of the artists signed to one of these labels, do them a favour, get online and buy an album. The Guardian has a list of the affected labels here

I realise that in the grand scheme of things this is pretty small, especially when people all over London have been made homeless, and local businesses have been torched, but musicians have to make a living too, and many of these labels are too small to just write off losses like this.

Lubuntu Laptop

2011-08-01T02:21:00.001+01:00

Warning: The following post contains information about and links to open source software. It’s pretty geeky stuff, and isn’t really related to anything musical. Those of you of a musical disposition (especially drummers) should be aware that your brain might melt.

I mentioned in a previous post that my laptop had died a gruesome death, and I hadn’t received my new one yet. I’ve been using my PS3 to get online, and using other people’s machines when that wasn’t good enough. Now however, I have the solution; I’ve got a fully functional laptop with a modern, full featured browser, a few useful apps and a decent user interface. Not bad for a 7 year old laptop with a 1.5 GHz Celeron and 384MB of RAM.

Big Stack of Vinyl

2011-07-29T17:09:00.000+01:00

It’s time for me to make more excuses. I’m all moved into my new house, and I’m reasonably well set up. There’s a new problem though; my faithful laptop is dead as a dodo – massive hardware failure. I’m unable to do any recording, screencasts or video editing until I get a new laptop, so in the meantime I’m going to revert to bog standard everyday blogging.

I’m a vinyl nut; I’ve got a huge collection of albums and singles, and I love my turntable (a Thorens TD 280). I’ve not used it much over the last year because it was tucked away in the corner in my old bedroom, but in my new room it’s here beside me at my desk, within easy reach.

Slow Progress and Brass Bands

2011-07-06T03:16:00.000+01:00

Never move house. Just don't do it.

I'm currently in limbo, I haven't been able to move into my new house yet so all of my stuff (including most of the stuff I need to make music) is packed away in storage. I'm hoping to be moved into my new house by the beginning of next week, so I'll be able to resume regular blogging then.

Back to Basics

2011-06-17T00:01:00.000+01:00

I’m in the middle of writing the music for an album, and I have the basic parts written for a good chunk of it. They still need to be arranged, but when that’s done I reckon there will be about 20 minutes of music. I was going through the session files earlier on (I’m converting them all from Cubase SX and Cubase 5 sessions into Pro Tools sessions, because I prefer to work in Pro Tools) and I realised that almost all of the synth parts use Reason as a sound source. There are a couple of little flourishes that use my D-50, and one Juno-106 bass line, but the rest is all done in Reason. What’s more, a good chunk of it was programmed in by mouse, rather than being played in. This has got me thinking; why do I have all of this wonderful vintage gear if I’m just going to use Reason for everything?

And then life caught up...

2011-06-12T21:40:00.001+01:00

My dear readers,

I've had a good run of posting at least once a week (sometimes twice) over the last couple of months, and I still have a few bits to post, but I may have to slow down on posting for a little while. I've torn down a lot of my gear in preparation for moving house, and I'm going away on a trip for a couple of weeks, so between galavanting off down the country and packing my stuff up there might not be a lot of time for blogging.

In other news, my first year grades are slowly trickling in, and so far I've gotten a first in every subject except one, so I'm pretty pleased with myself over that. It's been a good year at uni, and I've learned a lot, but I'm glad to have some time to myself. So far my time off hasn't really been "time off"; I've been keeping busy with recording sessions and reorganising the blog, so I'm looking forward to a nice break.

Follow the blog or subscribe to my RSS feed to keep up with new posts, or follow me on Twitter. Things should be back to normal pretty soon.

Matt =]