Week 11: Sequencers and Drum machines

This week we got the opportunity to play with sequencers and drum machines. For those like myself that needed a Google clarification:

Sequencer: "a programmable electronic device for storing sequences of musical notes, chords, or rhythms and transmitting them to an electronic musical instrument."

Drum Machine: "musical hardware built to imitate the sound of electronic drums and other percussive instruments."

In other words, push a button on a sequencer and you can get whole phrases of sound, just one sound, or record your own phrases to be available the next time you boop a button. You can create loops and improvise over the top, program sets of loops and create bigger structures from there.

Push a button on a drum machine and you can get a drum-kit sound of some description to either play or not play. Program a set of those buttons, loop it and let it go wild. Not really room for improvisation over the top like some sequencers, but sets of loops can still be made so that you can create A B and C grooves to switch between also.

The 808

To introduce us to the Drum Machine world, Humbo showed us a virtual version of the first-ever drum machine - the 808. The 808 ultimately failed at its intended purpose: to replace the drummer - because its sounds were so far off from the real thing, however a new genre of European techno music emerged out of high-speed drum machine sounds. We were let loose on the virtual machines to figure out how they worked. Essentially the bottom 16 red/orange/yellow tabs are the 16 semiquavers of a 4/4 bar. Each percussion sound can be programmed to sound on any of those divisions, and these ostinati can be layered on top of each other. The machine can store two drum patterns of 16 semiquavers, A and B. The "Basic Variation" shows that you can set your drum machine to loop your A pattern endlessly, your B pattern endlessly, or alternating AB endlessly. I definitely would have found this exercise easier with an analog version as the knobs were a bit fiddly on a virtual instrument, however we were advised the purchase of an 808 would likely not be a wise use of a school music budget.

Time for a food break

We also took a look at Groove Pizza: valuable because of its cyclical representation of rhythm, which is unique to Western music but the norm for other cultures' music such as Balinese gamelan. Groove Pizza has the added advantage of being able to visually represent swing very well, and allows the user to change the number of subdivisions with the number of "slices" - most drum machines are stuck on a 16 semiquaver subdivision. Groove Pizza allows the user to program a loop for each sound like other sequencers and drum machines, and additionally connects them all up into shapes - something that's only possible because of its circular design. This is cool as symmetrical shapes come out sounding symmetrical also, with its sounds evenly distributed across the loop. This unique perspective of rhythm makes it an excellent tool for experimentation even for experienced musicians. For those who like the linear life, Groove Pizza also has a "translation" under the pizza if people need help to transitioning from more traditionally mapped out drum machines and/or sequencers.

Groove Pizza alongside a diagram by Harnish,1991: "This diagram illustrates the conceptual bipartite dimension of the cosmos...This configuration also maps the form structure of [Balinese] musical compositions".

Grooves created in Groove Pizza can also be transported to Soundtrap or downloaded as MIDI - this growing collection of transferrable information can allow students to start housing musical information in a preferred format and join ideas and software skills across classes.

iPad: DM1

After this we had a play with the DM1 app on the iPads - a small digital sequencer that works on a similar vein to the drum machine and a good opener into the world of sequencing in general. The DM1 is more flexible than the 808 and allows for different time signatures and subdivisions, and has at its disposal multiple libraries of sounds that aren't just limited to drums. The DM1 has two modes of input, the usual button on-off style as well as a "tap the rhythm" system more akin to a looping machine setup. This is nice for people that want to input a rhythm in their head but aren't sure how to "notate" it. They then get to see the "notated" version of what they've played on the button-style page.

The DM1 allows you to save multiple preset sequences and toggle between them - Humbo says this is how professional music producers work: for example they may save a "normal beat", "half time beat" and "build up/fill bar", and move between them during a track as they see fit.

The DM1 also works with Ableton Link, which uses Wifi to connect devices and play things at the same time. Humbo showed us how we could all write one sequence each and have them play simultaneously, turning a generally solitary activity into a group one if we wanted. I like the idea, but I think it is best used as a transitionary activity into locking into each others' rhythms with actual instruments. Perhaps Ableton Link could be used as an analogy for ensemble skills? "Connect" with each other? Maybe that sounds lame.

Playtime: Ableton Push

In the final bit of class we got the opportunity to play with different sequencers all around the room. Enchanted and imitated by the grandeur of the Ableton Push, I spent my time trying to understand it. I ended up spending too much time trying to figure out how to escape the setup menu, but eventually got the hang of it (significantly assisted by Humbo). I recall a conversation with a friend in 4th year who had a prac supervisor who seemed terrified of technology! I definitely felt that fear working with the Push, because I know that computers are always set up logically and it felt a bit scary not knowing my way around something so simple as the setup screen. I suppose with music tech it's going to be as big a learning curve as one would have learning their first acoustic instrument.