Music, Music, Music – My Life The Past Couple Of Weeks.

Music, Music, Music – My Life The Past Couple Of Weeks.

June 25, 2023

There’s been no video this weekend, even though I did film one. I’ve been working on my Polyend Tracker and Amiga Soundtracker Pro 2 video alongside music creation this past month, hence why I haven’t had the chance to edit it and release. This includes A LOT of sampling going on.

I have set myself a goal to finish my upcoming album and release it in the summer and it’s very close to completion. I have 9 tracks done , almost 10 and I’m aiming for 12.

Of course I got right onto sampling the Yamaha PSS-51 the first chance I could.

Meanwhile, this was going on next to me ;-))

I have to say though, I was loving the atmosphere when I was doing this. Everyone was just chill.

So each synthesizer and keyboard I own, I’ve been sampling all the voices, even the ones I’d not normally use because, well, you just never know.

I recently did the video on the Yamaha SY22 Synthesizer and I’ve now sampled all the voices on that.

Even the little Casio SA Keyboards didn’t escape my sampling spree.

I’ve given this little dude back to it’s rightful owner now. Wayne/Electronscape. However I still have my beloved Casio SA-8 which basically has the same voices, its just a cut down version basically.

I’ve also sampled all the tones and rhythms from the Casio SK-1 too, not to mention sounds created from the basic synthesizer on it.

The next thing to experience my sampling spree is Rich’s Yamaha DD75 drum kit. I am in need of some good drum samples.

As you can see now I’m starting to get a good collection.

Another thing I enquired about back in March was the Therapsid. I had put in an order and I’ve been waiting since, I even have the 6581 and 8580 SID chips patiently waiting for it to arrive.

I’m very excited to say that It will arrive tomorrow and just in time for my latest album. So not only will there be Polyend Tracker and Amiga goodness, not to mention the Modal Cobalt8, Yamaha SY22, DX7 and PSS-51 goodness, there will also be Commodore 64 SID in the mix. So you can imagine how excited I am right now about releasing this!

So just a little update on the quiet weekend outwardly, but behind the scenes there is a LOT going on 😀

I hope you all had a lovely weekend <3

Amiga, Audio, MIDI, Music, SID, Synthesizers

7 responses to “Music, Music, Music – My Life The Past Couple Of Weeks.”

Jason Marrison
June 25, 2023
Hiya Maddi ☺️ Wow…that’s some music studio level of recording, sampling and creation going on right there!
I am very happy to hear that the latest album is coming together nicely and l will all over that once it gets its release on Bandcamp. Your last album is the one l drive around listening to which is most excellent.
It’s so cool to see that creative/chill vibe you all have going on there and that must help massively and it’s great to hear that the C64 is part of the mix as well, fabulous stuff.
My headphones are so ready for all this when it releases and it will be my sound track to the summer and for many months to come!
All the best to you, Rich, Mr Neelix and everyone there ☺️👍🏼
Reply
1. Maddi
  June 26, 2023
  Hiya Jason,
  Thank you, i’ve been so busy, i’ve still got your blog to catch up on as well as comments and messages around lol But yes for sure i’m enjoying myself and excited about the album release.
  By the way I’ve edited and updated this post since you posted as I forgot to put a few things in.. my blog posts are literally “off the cuff” as they say. You get to see your brother from another mother after the edit lol.
  That’s the thing, the chill vibe is what i’m enjoying, when we’re in the same room doing our own thing, but being present is just, there’s something special about that, and i’ve found you cannot be like that with just anyone. Having friends and family you can do this with, for sure keep hold of these people as they’re precious 🙂
  Thanks as always for your lovely comments and support. All the best to you and Fi! I hope you had a lovely weekend enjoying the gorgeous summer we’re having 🙂
  Reply
Paul Jackson
June 26, 2023
Wow. So much sampling from such a wide range of sources! You can never have too many samples. I just hope your cataloguing/naming of samples is better than mine!
Fantastic still of Rich being sampled there! I wonder if, along with the Yamaha DD75 samples, there will be a collection of Rich’s beatbox repertoire? Oh, and such a lovely chill picture of you working away with each of you so relaxed. Nice to see the whiskered chap curled up, keeping out of mischief, and Mr Neelix is there too! Haha. 😁
You have certainly inspired me to spend time with Soundtracker/Protracker again. So, I dusted off my old Amiga 500 in an attempt to kinda replicate your coffee table/vintage music setup.
Power on…. red flashing power light and green screen.
Some days the supply of available curse words is insufficient to meet my needs. A sad moment indeed. Farewell old friend.
“When one door closes, another one opens…”
On a positive note it has motivated me to purchase a GreaseWeazle floppy drive controller to read Amiga disks on my PC. So now I’m on a new path, and I’m excited to see where it takes me.
Plus there are plenty of working Amigas for sale and also repair options. Maybe it’s time for an upgrade after… (does quick calculation)… 35 years!
Inspirational as always Maddi. Thank you.
Reply
1. Maddi
  June 26, 2023
  Hahah yeah if i’m sampling this much, i’ll definitely be naming them properly. Its the sounds from random places which I struggle to find names for, things like ‘Bottle Tink’ or ‘Wooosh” or ‘Tisss’ (The latter before I knew a hihat was called a hihat :-)) )
  “Nice to see the whiskered chap curled up, keeping out of mischief, and Mr Neelix is there too! Haha”
  😀 Lol!
  Oh freak sake! I hate the stupid green screen. Please dont throw it or anything like that. 35 years it’s been with you. It can be a simple fix if you’re lucky. Try re-seating the ICs, sometimes it can be just as simple as that.
  I do hope you manage to get it working though and mess around with soundtracker/protracker again!
  I’ve actually been curious about the greaseWheazle floppy drive controller, And looked at it a few times, hoping it would somehow jump out of the screen and end up amongst my retro stuff lol. It’s not the highest priority for me right now but do let me know how you find using it.
  It’s a pleasure and im looking forward to one day hearing your Amiga creations 🙂
  Reply
  1. Paul Jackson
    June 27, 2023
    Do you know, I think you may be on to something there. I’ve purchased drumkit sample sets where the names give no hint at what the sound is. You have to load it up and play it. I much prefer “Tisss”. Infinitely better if you ask me! Hehe. 😁
    Thank you for the Amiga suggestions I’ll give it another look. Don’t worry, I won’t throw it out.
    The GreaseWeazle disk controller has been surprisingly straightforward. I used an old PC 3.5″ floppy drive I had already. Other drives should work just as well e.g. Amiga which was my backup plan if the PC drive didn’t work out.
    The only challenges were:
    1. Orientation of the power/drive cables and convincing myself to use enough force to get them to snap into place!
    2. Everything I’d read suggested my setup would identify the drive as drive A. The GreaseWeazle command line has taken a different view on the matter and decided drive B is a better name.
    Pop a disk in the drive:
    “gw read –drive b MusicDisk1.adf”
    Creates a disk image in .adf format on the PC. Simple as that!
    Then use them with any .adf reader or Amiga emulator. I now have Protracker running in WinUAE as DF0 with access to my Protracker modules as DF1. Alternatively you can get WinUAE to read direct from the floppy drive. Just like the olden days!
    So much nostalgia contained in those little disks. It’s the little things in life I guess.
    Reply
Duncan Woodward
June 26, 2023
That’s awesome.
I see you mention about an album coming soon …… which platforms do you intend to release it on?
Reply
1. Maddi
  June 26, 2023
  Hey Duncan, I plan to release it on my bandcamp. Possibly a summary/preview of the album on Soundcloud also. I’m not sure if i’ll do the latter yet. I’ll be announcing it once I’ve done.
  Reply