![]() The creative process was different for every song. How do you write rhythms and melodies when creating a song? The step sequencer is also full of utility features that are useful during the composing/creative process features like copying and pasting a pattern, deleting patterns, etc. In addition, you can set the sensitivity of the step sequencer using the threshold feature (just like in common drum brains for using triggers), you can decide to totally bypass the step sequencer whenever needed (so that it will not react to the MIDI notes sent from the triggers, letting me play drums without generating any electronic sound), etc. Regarding specific features, for each note you can decide whether it should be a "continuous" note (playing until the next note is triggered, just like the NOTE ON feature that many synthesizers have) or decide a fixed length for that specific note and obviously you can set the velocity for every single note. To change from one pattern to the following one, I use a custom pedal which works exactly like a trigger (sending a MIDI note to the step sequencer every time I press it). ![]() The step sequencer is divided into 16 patterns, each pattern can have from 1 to 64 notes. In this way I can do melodies without the use of any backing track or loop – 100% live! Every time I hit a drum, the step sequencer shifts to the next step/note. This step sequencer allows me to control virtual instruments (synths and samplers in Ableton Live) through the MIDI notes generated by the triggers installed on my drum kit. We started from an existing Max for Live object (a step sequencer) and further developed it as per my musical needs. GUP and I spent countless sleepless nights programming and testing the step sequencer. I programmed the KHOMPA step sequencer with my friend GUP Alcaro, a skillful sound designer, and head of the Superbudda creative collective in Turin, Italy. How does your custom Max for Live sequencer work? At some point, it became a challenge with myself, and now I can proudly say that I won that challenge. Doing a solo record means a big amount of work even if you do it in a conventional way, and in my case I also had to spend a lot of time in research, experimenting, finding a way to make this happen. I am not a big fan of the pre-recorded tracks approach that many electronic bands/artists are adopting nowadays. Moreover, this setup allows me to do a live show totally on my own without the use of any backing track or loop. But I've always dreamt about doing a solo record one day, and of course at the beginning I couldn't imagine that I would have done it with this incredible setup. I've been playing with my band STEARICA for almost 20 years now, touring Europe countless times (I am currently on a European tour, writing from a van somewhere between Belgium and France), and I've been in many other bands and worked as a session drummer in several musical contexts. I have been playing with other musicians for all my life and I will certainly continue to do so. Then I discovered a French drummer named Duracell who was experimenting with triggers and 8 bit melodies, and seeing a solo drummer doing melodies with his drum kit inspired me to push drum triggering to a new level. I've always wanted to have fun with my instrument rather than just stick to conventional drumming (but don't get me wrong, I have much respect for the art of drumming and I have studied drums for many years). And from the very beginning I've always been interested in going beyond the rhythm while playing drums, experimenting with different sounds, having fun with dynamics, using loopers, electronic pads, triggering samplers, etc. I've been studying piano and guitar before playing drums, so melodies were already a part of my musical vocabulary. ![]() I started playing drums at the age of 15 and I was interested in electronics from the very beginning. This was something that I had in mind basically since forever. What inspired you to make this album with drum triggered melodies, rather than working with other musicians or overdubs?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |