Hello EM411,
It's been a while since I've been on the site and just wanted to post a couple music-related things... I've been busy with TV stuff (that's my day job, and what a lot of my side projects are), and doing some music for a new MuchMusic ID.. it's an animated series of 1-minute spots called "Pop Riders", and it's a tribute to Speed Racer, the 60s japanese show, and a little bit of Spidey too (at least musically) It's not on the internet yet, but if it shows up somewhere I'll post about it.
The other thing was a great musical experience. In april I visited an old pal of mine, Andrew, who now lives in England with his wife. We have jammed in the past, but that was really before I started getting back into music. Anyway the first night he drags out this thing he bought in a garage sale for two pounds... the Yamaha DJX-IIB
link
He had barely used it! So we just start fucking with it and before we know it four hours have passed. That thing is fun... it basically a toy, with the fake 'record' you can scratch, and it's only got a certain amount of loops you can play, but still... it was a blast. Especially the effects.
The next day we got hardcore. Andrew went in to work to pick up some gear (filter, delay, guitar) and grabbed a couple of unused 80s synths from his aunt. I cracked out my computer and we did a Live looping session. We might start with a beat from the DJX, then we'd each play different instruments and record it all into Live. Andrew would play something on the guitar, and after a bit I'd have it in Live, say "got it", and play it back as he started layering in something new. I threw in a few samples I had on my computer as well. I guess as a solo-style bedroom musician it was really inspiring to collaborate like that. Again, time flew by but by the end of the night we had four different possible tracks.
So we've just finished them... finished as much as I can with my crap mixing skills, that is. But I'm happy with them - a bit ticked that it took so long to get them done, but happy with the sound and how great the experience was. Anyway I'm a start posting them up in here.
It's good to get back to EM! I want to do another mixit..
Update: started posting the tracks
link
link
 Toronto, Ontario, Canada
About me
Can't stop the body rock!
Currently interested in baroque music, counterpoint, polyrhythm, early 90s rap, film soundtracks. Learning more about / playing around with sampling. Snake Eyes MySpace homepage My Gear
Live, Reason, X-station, PadKontrol, MacBook Pro
+Most Recent Blogs
|
Electronic Music other: The DJX blew my mind
Store
Written June 13 2007 , Tags: kickass, live, groove box, djx, music
Comments
so you say u can only do beats that come on the machine?
u should post the audio for sure tho! Yeah, it has a bunch of preset loops, grouped into genres. I think most of the fun of the thing is in the effects really. Yeah, I'll start posting the tracks soon.
I bought the keyboard version when i was 17. I really thought I was pro then. It was fun though, even had a 6 track sequencer.
ive seen one of these before - maybe not the IIB
i think it had a pedal socket for tap tempo i wonder if it functions while its playing- does it output midi clock? I think I saw a MIDI port on there, but I can't really remember. Might have only been audio.
i just checked the yamaha website
yes it outputs midi clock and has an audio bpm counter it can sync to that is a good thing -well worth a few quid just for that £20-£40 on ebay it seems
dont think id want to pay that much seeing as id only use it for the audio-midi clock sync but i dont know of any other audio pulse to midi clock converters- so maybe one day when ive got money again I picked up a DJX2-b several years ago with a broken FX switch and a broken crossfader.
It has a great speaker system and makes a great battery-powered module for street performing. (busker) The audio to midi clock in helpful. It's a lot of fun once you program your own patterns using the DJX editing program. You can program your own patterns?! DAMN! I had no idea.
Signup to comment
|