Making Music

I started playing around with some of my Dad's musical gadgets recently to see what I could create. He has a cool effects pedal called the JamMan which records a sequence and plays it back as a loop. You can then record as many layers on top of that as you want. He also has a device called the iMultiMix8 USB that can mix together a bunch of different audio signals, apply effects, and record them all to an iPod. I started by making a simple two layer loop on the JamMan with my tenor and alto recorders and then did some improvisation along with that loop using my soprano recorder (Loop Test.mp3). I then made a more ambitious loop, where I tested how much I could play on a single breath on my alto recorder. It turned out to be about 22 seconds, in which I fit 20 measures containing 115 notes. I then made an accompanying layer with my tenor, and played along to the loop while alternating between my soprano and tenor recorders. In this piece (Asian Melody.mp3) I went with a pentatonic scale that is commonly used in Chinese music. I really enjoy the simple chords that are formed in this type of scale. For these pieces, I was using a poor microphone which resulted in a super quiet recording which I had to amplify and filter a bit to make it audible.

Last night my dad and I played around with these gadgets a bit more using a better microphone for my recorders while my dad used his electric guitars. We started with a simple loop that my dad played, and then I played over it. Then we did some improv along to it (Happy Jam.mp3). then we jammed along to one of the presets on the JamMan, which contained a simple bass line and rhythm track (Bassy Jam.mp3). I think the recording quality was much better on this set, but the levels weren't adjusted too well. It would be nice if the recording was multi-track so that I could adjust the level balance afterwards. I'm sure we'll figure it out eventually.

After our jam session I played around with the various digital effects on the iMultiMix trying to find one that would allow me to sound like Darth Vader. I did find one that worked pretty well. Then we laughed hysterically while I tried to sing in tune with the effect that made your voice come out at a different pitch. So basically I had to sing out of tune to sound in tune. It was incredibly difficult, and sounded horrible for the most part. But it was pretty dang fun.