How I Did It
Samples are used in:
Tools I Used
Pure Data (Pd 0.43.4-extended); 2008 Mac Book w/ OS X 10.6; Evolution UC-33e controller; Roland SC-50; Yamaha S80; Reaper 5.04. Pd and Reaper are the only components not officially obsolete according to their makers.
Samples I Used
All sounds are stock from the Roland and Yamaha.
Process
The UC-33e is used as a control surface for the sequencer: pitch, velocity, duration, etc.
The sequencer is realized in Pd and essentially drives a matrix of eight MIDI channels. Any note in the sequence can be sent to any channel, selectable on-screen (I haven't yet programmed the UC-33e to do this, though it would be pretty easy).
Then I build up layers of slightly modified rhythmic sequences. In this case, there were six passes, yielding 13 tracks in Reaper. I had to align the measures manually, but finally I had about six minutes of dense rhythmic chatter. Then I carved away chunks using mute and solo functions, then pans and fades, like sculpting a block of marble. Only the tail was added, a time-stretch glitch I liked, so I kept it.
Other Notes
The Pd work is a proof-of-concept study for a hybrid analog/digital hardware sequencer concept. I dream of a modular in Eurorack form factor populated with some of the more interesting circuits available out there (Bode frequency shifter, anyone?). It could still happen....
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