Audio Files

Over the years I've been drawn to and experimented with the concept of live improvised sequencing: beginning a performance with basically a blank slate (no preprogrammed patterns in the sequencers) and building things up on the fly.

Years ago, I did several practice runs using an old Yamaha RX-17 drum machine in pattern-write mode as a simple 2-part MIDI loop sequencer, where each of two banks of pads/sounds was configured to output an octave of MIDI notes on separate channels, driving a bass synth (PAIA Fatman) and a lead synth (Casio VZ8m) over a 16 or 32 step pattern -- drums at the time came from a TR-707 also running in pattern-write mode (and serving as master clock). This setup, combined with a few FX-pedals and a small mixer, was quite basic but rather fun.

The track skoop-live improv jam is an experiment at home with the TR-707 providing drums. Cybrid - Live @ Odyssey Sound 5/20/1999 is a recording of our 2nd-ever show back in 1999, basically a live jam with me on synths programming sequences on the RX-17 driving the Fatman and VZ8m (I'm also manually playing a Korg Poly 800 mk2), and my partner playing beats and samples on an MPC2000xl. The few samples I used on both tracks above came from an Akai s900 that was "gang-sequenced" by the RX-17 also -- the s900 was set to the same MIDI channel as the VZ8m, and both were driven from a pad bank/pattern on the RX-17. I controlled which samples were triggered on the s900 by tweaking the keymap zone on the sampler in realtime -- this is easily done via the big data knob on the sampler.

KORGazm Party is a recent recording of a bunch of synth geeks hooking up several Korg Electribes to a common MIDI clock and wanking...