I finally forked over some hard-earned cash and treated myself to the Novation SL MKIII, an incredible MIDI controller and sequencer. My studio now has two ‘sequencer brains’, the Model:Samples still reigns supreme in sequencer depth and complexity, but the SL MK3 fills in a lot of the remaining void, such as polyphonic sequencing.
This jam actually started around the Volca Sample, I was watching some Bob Ross with my kid and came up with a fun beat, and some variations on it. I also stumbled upon a ‘performance technique’ in which you rapidly change the memory slot the Volca Sample is playing from, thereby ‘remixing’ your beats on the fly. Super cool! So that’s why the Volca Sample takes center stage here, as it was the starting point for everything else.
At present, I have the SL MK3 connected via MIDI to the Minilogue XD, Model:Samples, Volca FM, and Volca Bass. It is not currently connected to the NTS-1 or Volca Sample, as I haven’t built my MIDI splitter kit yet (it just arrived today!). So the SL MK3 sends out sequences to the 3 synths. The Minilogue XD and Volca Bass play the same sequence, and the Volca FM plays an alternate one.
When it comes to the Model:Samples, I’ve chosen to still use the internal sequencer there, as it is overall better than the sequencer in the SL MK3, at least better for the glitchy weird drum patterns I like to play with (not so much in this session). So I developed two different MIDI templates from the M:S, differing only in the mapping of the drum pads. One template lets me play the drum pads as a chromatic keyboard (same as the M:S 1-16 trig buttons), and the other lets me play the pads as velocity-sensitive drum pads, same as the T1-T6 pads on the M:S, but much better. I also added a second layer of pads that are pitched one octave up, for a bit more variety in finger drumming options. So you’ll see me using that a bit here. So ultimately I’m using the SL MK3 purely as a MIDI controller with the M:S, and I use the M:S internal sequencer to actually record the notes and play them back.
I’m enjoying the Novation SL MKIII immensely…no buyer’s remorse here!
Holy cow! This is easily some of your best, grooviest rhythm work. All of the swing seems to gel and the core bass drum / snare rhythm has a great syncopated groove, appropriately forward in the mix (vs the secondary percussive elements), and does a great job of grounding / rooting the listener to the core beat.
The melody at 7:42 isn’t working for me; the key / scale is clashing with the other instruments. Feels like it wants to be part of its own chiptune song.
However, I really loved when that instrument was introduced as a sparse pitched percussive element at 7:30, that’s something I wanna incorporate into my own work.
Loooove the memory slot glitch technique you describe!
Belibat, a tremendous live performer, does a similar thing here by rapidly switching through effects.
https://youtu.be/O8gFmlGqfuU
Wonder if you could do that with the nts1?