Music produced on the computer, synthesizer, iPad, and iPod Touch.
Korg Module
I’m testing a new sound module from Korg that includes a very nice piano sample. Here’s my first test recording.
I think it sounds very much like a real piano. Keep in mind this is all happening on an iPad.The app has a built-in recorder. It can only output as a M4a file however. I had to import the file into iTunes and convert it to MP3 to use it in this blog.
Jim
I produced this in real time on my iPad using the Mixtikl app. You can record live in the app and then save it to the clipboard and paste it in another application. I pasted it in MultiTrack DAW and added a fade in and fade out.
In 1981 my mother gave me this Casio VL-Tone musical instrument. It was one of the first electronic musical instruments and (drum roll) it was also a calculator. I still have and it works. It has several instrument sounds and rhythms. It also has the ability to shape your own waveform by setting the ADSR (Attack, Delay, Sustain, and Release). You can record melodies up to 100 notes long and play them back automatically as you played them in or you can play them back one note at a time.
In this sample I used the Swing rhythm and I set the ADSR to sound like a banjo. The instrument has a line out which I connected to my iMac. I recorded in Audacity.
Jim
I’m experimenting with NanoStudio on the Mac. It’s a free sequencing program and it comes with an amazing collection of synthesized drum and instrument sounds. I’m still learning to use the program. This is my first sample mix of Happy Birthday.
Jim
My second piece on SoundCloud. Made on the iPad with Mixtikl, Thumbjam, and MultiTrack DAW.
Here’s a bit of music where I did absolutely nothing. None of this is me. I found a PDF of a lead sheet of music for the song “Nobody Does It Better” online which I downloaded and scanned with PhotoScore. I then sent the song file to Sibelius First which is a music notation application. I saved it out as a general MIDI file and imported it into Garageband. This gave me the melody line. I added Garageband loops in other tracks to add drums, bass, and electric piano. Presto, instant music.
Here’s the PDF:
Nobody Does It Better.pdf (76K)
and the resulting MIDI file (saved as AIFF and converted to MP3):
Seeing what happens when I link to a SoundCloud page.
Created this piece on the iPad 3 using Mixtikl, Thumbjam, and MultiTrack DAW apps.
Jim
Jim Blodget
