it’s been 2 weeks! How’s everybody doing?
Prompt: a little bit of randomness never hurt anyone
BPM: a random number between 60 and 180
Mood: chaotic, erratic, or serendipitous
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Doing good so far, felled a little creative fatigue for a few days but nothing I did not expect to happen and could not handle. Even my broken AF left ear seems to be at peace with the noise it sometimes has to endure.
And then there is the amazing wife who is there to kick my ass to my studio when needed.
It’s fun that even some of my friends now started to notice this yearly trend and ask me HOW I am able to keep on doing that for a whole month!?
Well my personal motivation is that these daily prompts make me do things within 24 hours and not knowing what I will come up with tomorrow while also writing something I probably would not have created otherwise. And it has let to many jams I truly love and am glad I was there when
So yeah, it truly is a creative work-out, and finding the right spirit is not always easy but when that jam works out… It truly feels like another achievement on the list for Jamuary!
Keep on jamming all you awesome people!
I also would love to read how much of a personal challenge this month is for you!
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As I am retired, I have time to do this, so I am good thanks. I hope everyone else is coping, especially if they have young kids and work!
Here’s my next one, which I think fits the prompt for a change!
#Jamuary2024 - CV Sequencer with Volca Modular and Monotron Delay
Sound Madness!
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I’m hanging in there, but the burn out is starting to creep in. The accomplishment and getting to hear other’s awesome jams is keeping me going though! It is interesting seeing the response on youtube. Jams that I enjoyed and have gone back to listen to, don’t get views, and the ones that I am not happy with, have the most views.
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I can’t predict which of mine will get the most love, sometimes it’s something I don’t expect.
Cool jam MM. The Synth guitar thingy looks to be a fun device to play.
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PLEASE READ FIRST: Ok, this is probably going to be weird. I did this “No Listening” method. Yes, that’s right, I haven’t listened to it! This was an idea I came up with years ago one morning wanting to create tracks but not wanting to make any noise in the house, so I thought what if I don’t listen to it? It would end up being random, and quite possibly, horrible. I apologize if it is.
The only variable I knew for certain was the D note, but then it gets weird. All but the Patterning drum tracks and ifretless guitar were looped with an EHX 720 looper. The first one, Tachyon, an old Jordan Rudess app I ran at half speed after making the loop, then Animoog, and Moog Mariana. Patterning is at 72BPM and has one kit going slightly to the left, and on the right I kept changing the kits every few seconds. Both sides are not sync’d, but it’s the same pattern. Well, that’s random for you! Then, I don’t even know what the solo is going to sound like. I did it on ifretless did not see what guitar sound it was on and to run it I chose to have it play via the looper so it would fade after a bit. This was all recorded into the Tascam DP008EX, I added a bit of reverb on the solo. If there’s effects on anything else, it was part of the patch. Then I dropped it into the computer via Soundforge 17 through the headphone/mic jack. A guess the only way I “heard it” was looking at the waveform on the screen.
Forgive me if it’s too bad, it’s an experiment. I’ll listen to it later. As far as how I’m doing: life’s a challenge on several fronts but Jamuary has been a good distraction. Blessings to all of you.
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I’m feeling good. We’ve been having sub-zero temps with crazy wind chill here so I’m trying to stay warm. I did a bunch of randomly-selected sounds for this one and, I gotta say, the super-high BPM that got selected was a tough one!
Careful, it’s kinda loud: Jan 14.mp3
This is the second time I threw the entire mix through the Moog and I’m loving how it turned out. I also tried just sending the marimba (which was randomly selected, both tone and notes) through it and the Soma delay - it ended up sounding pretty awesome on its own and you can hear it cutting through the mix.
Overall, I’m not super impressed by this one… but I think setting my expectations low and finding little things that I like about each Jam as been helping.
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That monotron sounds so cool! Like a little engine malfunctioning.
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Unforeseeable rhythms for unpredictable moments.
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The pad on that midi-guitar thing works really well for this prompt. Do you have it synced to the BPM or is it just serendipitously lining up with the beat? 
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This is surprisingly listen-able! I think it’s just enough layers of rhythm that it lines up occasionally. And the melody lines are sparse enough not to sound dissonant. Could definitely imagine in it in the background of a museum exhibit.
That’s a great description. It does sound great and very raw!
Strangely compelling. You must have had some innate feel for what you you were not listening to.
It sounds like sub zero temperatures to me! Nice contrast to the heat here in Australia. It has a nice cooling effect.
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Thought we might get Fanfare for the Common Man with the Tympani at the start.
So, instead we get cool wonky rhythms. Really like this, well done!
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That was a close one… Just 1 minute before 12 when the upload button was pushed!
Not that I was in any hurry at all but I just had so much fun editing I just got in a rabbit hole of ow a little more of this, ow a little more of that…
Anyways, Jamuween 14! It’s the random spooky event of the month!
Revisiting an event in my hometown of Amstersquare back in 2016!
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Can’t believe we’re almost halfway there! Not so much burnt out, but dealing with other stuff.
I was going to do something angry and annoyed for today’s because I’ve been fighting a burst water pipe this morning, but it turned into something else. Something alien. Perhaps with angry space monkeys in their natural habitat. Terra through Hizumitas & Gamechanger Plasma.
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Starting to pick up steam in some ways. There is a different kind of familiarity I gain when I start working daily like this, looking forward to see how this builds to the end of the month.
I went all the way with the random and chaotic theme today, and learned how to use some of the randomization tools on the Keystep Pro. I soloed in some random drums and then programmed an actual drum pattern at the end. Interesting how all the sounds and notes being random started to sound more cohesive once the drums were in a patterned loop. Probably wouldn’t have looked into those tools without this prompt, and now I am thinking about how they can be used to generate melodic themes…cool!
Made with KSP, OP1, OPZ
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Jamuween. I like it. Fabulous music for the game on the screen. The visuals are great too. Well done!
This is really cool! It does sound like something alien. The space in the music adds to the tension, as does the undercurrent of the bubbling sound.