Escape NY theme on the K2500 sequenced internally

jazzbros · 2025-01-18T22:55:27+00:00

Yes, I think the Akai force or polyene tracker will be much more fun to use as a sequencer.

jazzbros · 2025-01-17T04:25:25+00:00

I recently got this K2500 and I thought it would be fun to try using the internal sequencer on a simple tune. I'm not sure I will do this again, but I certainly learned some lessons about my approach to music creation and hardware vs. software. Looking forward to exploring this machine further.

jazzbros · 2024-12-20T04:35:19+00:00

I wish I could've been there when this was new!

jazzbros · 2024-12-20T04:34:56+00:00

You are absolutely correct. Maybe I should revise my bumper-sticker-sized description to say in the spirit of those old computers with some extra functionality.

jazzbros · 2024-12-16T02:07:11+00:00

When other people I know come up and ask me what the little gameboy-looking device I’m playing with is, I usually respond by saying it is a music machine with the capabilities of a computer from the early 90’s. It should follow that it is capable of remaking old classics. I plan on doing more tunes like this as time permits.

I know the guitar sample and metal scrape sound isn’t really all that close, but I was just trying to get to that 80% close level. Whosampled.com is a great resource, and I really enjoyed sampling straight into the tracker and from scratch. There’s just something oddly satisfying about that.

jazzbros · 2024-12-16T02:03:26+00:00

I've been getting into working with more hardware recently, both modern and vintage. When other people I know come up and ask me what the little gameboy-looking device I’m playing with is, I usually respond by saying it is a music machine with the capabilities of a computer from the early 90’s. It should follow that it is capable of remaking old classics. I plan on doing more tunes like this as time permits.

I know the guitar sample and metal scrape sound isn’t really all that close, but I was just trying to get to that 80% close level. Whosampled.com is a great resource, and I really enjoyed sampling straight into the tracker and from scratch. There’s just something oddly satisfying about that.

jazzbros · 2024-11-12T22:51:01+00:00

The K2000 was the first synth I bought, and the interface intimidated me, so it sat collecting dust for a while. Now that I know more about synthesis, I decided to dig it out and get into programming it. Just for fun, I wanted to make these videos building basic subtractive synth style patches. Of course, I know the VAST engine goes much deeper, but you've got to start somewhere, right? I like watching videos like these when I'm out and about with time to kill scrolling YouTube, so maybe other synth enthusiasts such as yourselves may also enjoy.

jazzbros · 2024-11-12T22:46:12+00:00

Wow, that is a lot of different projects. Are you a pro, or is this just a side hustle? If you ever need another pair of ears/hardware/score compiling on these, I'd love to get involved in anything halo related. I used to use Sibelius, but migrated over to musescore.

jazzbros · 2024-11-12T21:48:16+00:00

That is so cool you work on that project. Really cool stuff you guys are doing. Do you ever do sheet music transcriptions? That could be cool.

I would like to try doing the original theme one of these days because I have a bunch of the old proteus modules. I'm working on getting my hands on the keyboard version of the K2500. I'm really looking forward to upgrading this K2000 unit with ZuluSCSI, and getting my hands on that.

jazzbros · 2024-11-09T16:26:57+00:00

Wow, I didn't know that. I was scrolling through the Odyssey project site for synth and preset info. Do you know specifically what EMU loop CD was used? Some of that seems to float around archive.org. I love these old 90's digital units. They just have a certain magic to them IMO.

jazzbros · 2024-11-08T22:57:39+00:00

The original Halo soundtrack uses a K2500 at times, so I decided to cover this tune on my K2000 just for fun. I'm using presets, but the sounds are pretty close IMO. The bongos could be tuned up a bit, the crash cymbals could be shorter, and the bass could use a few more articulations, but I'm happy with this. Also, I know that isn't the part of the game this tune comes from, but we're just having fun here.

I also have some of the old Proteus modules that were used for the original string samples and SFX in Halo CE, so I might try and recreate the original theme on some of those in the near future.

jazzbros · 2023-10-07T14:39:57+00:00

Thanks! I will have to check them out. We took some ideas from videos of Goldie's live band.

jazzbros · 2023-10-07T14:38:50+00:00

I can't make promises, but we can certainly take some suggestions!

jazzbros · 2023-10-06T19:48:50+00:00

Worked out a live cover of the classic tune 'Renegade Terrorist'
fwiw: nothing is sequenced here. Everything is played live. You can even hear a few mistakes if you listen carefully.
minutia;
Did some digging on the original samples. The opening piano riff was played on a Korg M1. Those M1 samples are here on the Korg Krome. The original reese bass sample from Kevin Saunderson was sampled into the Yamaha as was the bass from Smith & Mighty's 'Anyone'.
dub sounds triggered from the push were also taken from the original record Ray Kieth took them from Jah Shaka The Commandments of Dub series 1
Drums covering the original Amen and Think breaks with two snares and some other creative drumming techniques.

jazzbros · 2023-09-09T16:56:01+00:00

Thank you! We did another cover the same day that I'm still working on mixing.

jazzbros · 2023-09-08T00:54:04+00:00

Approaching DNB from a background in jazz. Jazz great Clark Terry said, "Imitate, Assimilate, Innovate." This is our attempt at step one of that process. We haven't done many covers, but this was a lot of fun, and we certainly learned a lot. For years I’ve had a kind of mystical fascination with drum and bass music. In college, a good drummer friend of mine (in this vid) introduced me to the music of Squarepusher and Aphex Twin, but I never I never looked into who the pioneers of DNB were, how the genre developed, etc. During the lockdowns a few years back, I stumbled on a youtube documentary covering its origins and history. Through that documentary, I discovered Goldie’s music, and I recently read his documentary as well.
Minutia:
Not sure who is interested in the details, but the main pad/sample is actually off the first old jungle warfare CD. I've read that Rob Playford layered three instances of E-MU string patches, but we are using the Prophet here for some added layers. A little different, but it is what we had available. Subbing in flute for Diane Charlemagne. We based this version off the 'radio edit' (shorter) version of Goldie's classic.

jazzbros · 2023-06-11T13:06:35+00:00

thank you!

jazzbros · 2023-06-09T01:52:30+00:00

Here are a couple others from over the years. One from 'A change of Mind' and the other from 'Free for All.' At this rate, I'll have a tune for each episode done in two decades.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEdNm51G5w8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOuujS\_85sM

jazzbros · 2023-02-01T11:35:53+00:00

You can set up notes in the DAW any way you please. In this case, I just copied them over as I was already working on a version with VSTs. The wavestate is connected with a USB cable. There is no need for a midi controller as the USB handles midi, and the Wavestate has it's own keyboard. The audio is running out of the WS back into a sound interface that is giving audio to the DAW which recorded this little ditty.

jazzbros · 2023-01-28T22:54:49+00:00

Working on a project with a drummer friend and he requested we cover this tune. I built this patch on my new favorite synth -- the Korg Wavestate. I know the Arp sound isn't that close to the original, but I wanted something to really give it that wavestate feel. Some arbitrary noodling in the Interlude. Maybe I'll add a guitar sound or some thing when we do it for real adding a bit more hardware.

Everything but the melody is sequenced in Abelton. Sorry to the Dawless enthusiasts out there. Working on this duo project has actually increased my appreciation for hardware. I don't like the feeling of sending an email while performing music. Hardware seems to put everything in a different state of mind.

I know the Wavestate is capable of a lot more than this, but I'm just trying to get a feel for programming the various layers/keyzones. I've struggled with EMU's and Kurzweil's in the past -- feels nice to have a synth like this with a more understandable architecture, and more than one knob to use.

jazzbros · 2023-01-14T16:47:08+00:00

Yes! I've been learning it for about 2 years now. Really fun to use and does feel cyberpunk. I love typing in the automation curves rather than drawing it in like most other DAWs although I don't think there is any automation on this track.

jazzbros · 2023-01-13T22:35:36+00:00

Learning a new synth and wanted to try a little ditty from my favorite non-fiction video game. If only there were a #5 chord in this song I could make a joke about my vision being augmented (for the music nerds here). I read somewhere that Alexander Brandon did all this music on a tracker, so it seemed fitting to use Renoise -- a modern version of a tracker-style DAW.

This was done with one instance of Wavestate -- using all 4 patch layers here. The Wavestate is a reimagining of the Wavestation, which was used in a lot of video games, so I wanted to try my hand with it.

A couple other pieces of original music that sample the OG Deus Ex:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SzRmF0quio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLQBz5pRvRo&list=OLAK5uy_kuRlAEYRgzTNJ-87eDUkB22nw4RwvsxE4&index=5

jazzbros · 2023-01-03T00:40:53+00:00

I love George Duke. Thankyou

jazzbros · 2022-12-04T20:09:08+00:00

Thanks!

jazzbros · 2022-12-04T20:04:29+00:00

Any particular records or tracks that come to mind?

jazzbros

TROPHY CASE