Just an update

So I've finely entered the creation process. I've been combining different sounds and effects, making short beast and discovering a song that is growing inside me. I'm unsure how this 1st song will sound or if I should even call it that. It would be more proper to call it "A sample of what it is going to become". The reason for that is the more I do, the more I learn and the more I learn, the more the song becomes. It almost seems like everything I do is awaking and unknown force, a force that whats nothing more then to be heard.
I look forward to meeting this force, hearing it for the 1st time. What will others think about it? What will they say? Will they enjoy it? For I cant really say. I doubt the 1st infant version of it will have a great following. But it is my hope that the final form it is to become will be loved, if only by a few. Who knows, maybe it will be the next big thing, the next chart topper...Or maybe not. It doesn't really matter, just as long as people enjoy it. That's really all I have for now, besides I have sounds to create.

The Tools... Part 2

So yesterday I told you all about the KORG iKaossilator. A wonderfully designed music app, easy to use and very welcoming. Today is another story though, today we open the iPolysix. A full digital synthesizer, so finely made that you could pick up the real thing with out issue. In fact it even a full replica of the Polysix polyphonic synthesizer from the 80 and it lets you know the second you open it.

Once you open the app you're greeted with an image of the original analog Polysix. After a short second you're brought to the 1st screen, knobs, switches, levers and a full keyboard fill the screen. But thats not all, unlike the iKaossilator this app comes with a how to right from that start. As well as a full manual. The 1st tip it gives me is to tap small tab revealing the sub bar. From there I'm given access to another screen, this one full of black and white buttons and a new tip telling me I can drag a key bar on the side to change the zones. (both screens are then repeated) I decide to return to the 1st screen and take heed to the next tip, tapping an LCD screen (or what would be one on the real thing) which opens another screen full of boxes and labels. Upon pressing play (btw there is a 1" bar at the top of the app with a Synth, Drums, Mixer, area full direct up load to soundcloud, file save, play & record, song, and of course settings buttons) the app takes off and play me a prerecord song as if trying to show me what I can do. I then move to the next tip on the previous screen and once again I'm given another screen, this one with kaoss pads. I know find my self wondering... What the hell are kaoss pads and what are they for?
So I let my finger do the learning and to my surprise I'm greeted by a familiar, the pads appear to be smaller versions ( or earlier) of the iKaossilator. Each with its own orange spear that follows my finger and changes a sound that its paired with. But don't be fooled, these pads are different. I quickly learn that the 1st pad and not act unless the 2nd already is and it becomes clear that the 1st is made to affect the sound of the 2nd. For now I decide to back off and return to the original screen once again. Now I tap on what appears to be my last tip (I'll otherwise shortly after) I'm told to hold down a knob and it opens something called the Automation, another screen.
Before I start to explore though, I begin to think about the app more. Just how big is it, what more does it have for me, will I be able to figure it all out on my own or is it to much. I knew from the start this wasn't going to be the same app as yesterday but I was aware of the all round size and complexity. Still I find my self excited to learn and dive into the app.

Now I decide to move to the drum screen. At 1st glance it seems simple but just as complex as the synth screen. Most of it is taken up by rows and rows of buttons, and at the 6 small pads. Labeled drum 1-6 and each with its own sound. A kick, snare, high hat, clap, tom, and disco bass. I play around for a bit, but no matter what I do the only reactions I get are from the 6 pads. Unsure if I can change the drum or not I decide to move on to the mixer.
 At this point I have never been more lost. The screen is simple 8 rows of 3 knows (red, white, and yellow in that order) 2 gray buttons labeled solo and mute, then a lever ranging from 10 down to zero (most likely a volume control) Just like the other screen I play around trying to learn anything I can or make a sound. No matter what I do however I get nothing, no tips, no new screens and no sounds. "So what now?" I ask myself. Whats my next move? Am I doing something wrong? Unsure again as what to do, I move on... Or back in away. Returning to the screen, I dive deeper into it. Something feels right about this area, like I'm supposed to be here. Perhaps this is where I'll create most my work and the other two screens are there for my support. As I probe around I find something new. Next to one of the knobs is a screen (sort of like an old calculator) that opens up to a list once tapped. In the list a find words/names such as slicer, phaser, drive,  EQ, HPF, talking mob and many more.(about 28 in total) Each one of these reveal a new key board of sounds, some very different from other, well others are almost the same as some. I search even deep into the Pandora like device in my hand, flipping switches, turning knobs and just missing around with anything that will let me. More and more new sound flow into my ears and attack my mind. Where before I was unsure, now I feel like Howard Carter peering in King tuts tomb for the 1st time. With ever action I make the device response with a new sound or new form of the previously discovered one. I find it hard to pull myself away now but I have no choice as I suddenly notice the clock as moved forward several hours. Perhaps If I find time I can search the manual for more clues but that's a later task, for now I have sound to create

The Tools...Part 1

Ok so last night marked the start of my journey and with me are two great products made by KORG. My 1st tool is the iKaossilator, a fun user-friendly app. When you 1st open the app your greeted with a quick welcome screen, followed by the main interface. A simple design, A 6" by 4" box with multicolored lights blinking together in each corner. Below that there is a row of 5 circles with arrows at the top, each with its own color (yellow, blue, pink, red, orange and green. Also the color of the lights) beside then on the left a number ranging from 1-50. In the center and stacked on top of each other are a large round record and play button, beside them on the lift a scale and key, then tempo under that. To the right something for the lead (whatever that means) and below something for the note length. Oh, and on the very top a small bar for your setting, picking the loop list (the apps pre-made sounds) a clear button and a new,save,export and export as a wav button.... I have little to no idea what half of this does or how to actually use it. But that is what this blog is for so more on that later... All in all, its a very fun look app, welcoming even. Like its asking me to come outside and play with it, and I do.
The 1st move I make it to hit the play button and see what happens. Instantly the app takes off with a simple dub beat and I start to understand this is much more here then meets the eye. The little cones atop the five circles begin to spin at different rates (I should mention the colors for the circles are yellow, blue, pink, blue and red, in that order) at the same time the 6"by 4" box is lit up with moving spears, each matching one of the circles. Each spear seems to follow a set course that it repeats with out mistake. Some just appear at different points with the box, well others move from side to side or spin around. At this point I notice that the play button is now a count down that repeats its self with the beat, well all other buttons around remain the same. I also note that one of the circles are glowing, and as I tap the one beside it (or any of the others) it begins to glow instead. Clearly this is telling me I've taken control of this circle and its spear, but how?
I decide to touch the box and as I do this I suddenly feel like a child about to touch something in a fine china shop. The very second I make contact the corresponding spear to whatever circle I have control of jumps to my finger, It follows it where ever I wish and the sound changes with it. Depending on where I move the sound speeds up or slows down, sometimes a new element comes in or it pitch changes. The true nature of the app has been revealed to me. Its a multi-beat/sound touch pad and it does what I ask with out question.
The more I poke around the more I learn, everything has a purpose. I touch the tempo and an over lay appears giving me control of the tempo, the same is said about everything else. When I hit record the app remembers whatever my finger made the spear do and the sounds with it. The app is easy to use and yet there is so much about. I soon learn there are 50 preset samples, each with five parts (one for each circle) The samples are each labeled, some are dub, other are chill, a few are trance and so on. I can mix and match every part, I can take a circle from a Reggae and put it into a Nu Disco.
I cant wait to learn more about this, to gain skills and tricks, to make my 1st little sample. But this is not my only tool, there is another. More on that tomorrow though, I have sounds to create for now

Creation of sound

Music, its everywhere. It can be created with or on almost anything. Animals do it, people do it and with modern times even machines and computers do it. It has become increasingly easier to create as well. Once you had to carve a drum body out of maple, then stretch animal hide over the top. Now you can simple tap a screen, download an app and have every sound you ever wanted. Anyone can create anything, and many are. 

So I've decided to do it to. Beside a deep love for all music and playing the sax in high school, I know very little about making a song. But with the use of my iPad and a few hours of free time every night, I plan to teach myself how. I'll be mixing and matching sounds, drum beats, vocals, bass drop and everything else in the hopes of making a song someone can enjoy. I'm not aiming for fame or money. I just want to create something to share my love of music.