ELEKTRON DIGITAKT | My first Remix with this device.
Happy New Year everyone! 2020 is finally over and what a year it was right? - I honestly don’t know what to say about it. I can only imagine everyone else has felt as beaten down on many levels as must of us have. The hits just kept coming. And coming. Time to close a chapter and get back on track the best we can while keeping the creativity going.
This year I decided to take a little more care about my website. I really enjoyed writing my first blogspot last month - “Digitakt In The Dark #1” - So here we go! I’ll do my best to keep the blogposts coming and share deeper insights of my process and musical journey with you over here. 2021, here I come…
“What's one thing you can't live without?”
This little beast of a Digitakt clearly won the game over here. This machine is still really new to me, but the learning curve is really inspiring. When I started researching “How to make electronic music without a computer?”, the results were really overwhelming. I was suddenly introduced to a world of new vocabulary that made clearly no sense to me. Subtractive Synthesis, Polyphony, Multitimbrality, LFO's... (the list is still long and unmastered xD).
Trial and error, research, and most importantly, persistence are definitely leading my current musical process. My first approach to the Digitakt was: “How to keep things interesting during a live performance within one pattern”… It's a new workflow that I still need to master.
“Keep It Simple!”
This is definitely one of my first approach concerning the Digitakt. I found out while building up my set, that the whole progression could become really technical. There’s so much to do if you want to keep yourself busy with this engine. But at some point, if you struggle with your performances because of too much technics in your safe environment, imagine how you will be struggling with a room full of people listening to you? I’m slowly but surely stripping down my patterns and transitions.
How do you approach your live setup in general?
“My first Remix project with the Digitakt.”
My synthesist friend from Pittsburgh @prole.volt recently started a remix project of his album "Spoilers: We All Live, We All Die". Including remixes and collaborations from I/O “International Oscillator’s” members, including myself.
Prole Volt original album “… is a modular synth exploration of the expectations of growing up in a world that's manufactured to prepare you to produce and die. Fear and hope abound, this album prepares you for your ambient and droney death bed." - Do you feel the vibe already?
“Let’s get started!”
I started the process by selecting samples from 3 different songs. Next step was to upload them on the Electron Digitakt and start jamming my way out. I wanted to bring the listeners on a dark, raw, industrial & minimalistic journey - all Digitakt based - with many voices whispering all along. I'm super proud about the outcomes and I'm very much looking forward to hear your thoughts.
“Pollination Of A Gasping Colonialism” is as well my very first release not mixed and mastered on my own. I decided to just focus on the music and songwriting process this time. I teamed up with my mate @fercomusic, who clearly took really good care of the production part of it (Mix & Mastering).
I hope you’ll enjoy this new single.