Prompt: make a jam using just one instrument
Key: A major
BPM: 136
Jamuary 2025 - Bespoke Teensy Black Groove Box - Single box Jam
The box makes all the sounds through digital synths and drum samples programmed via a Teensy Microcontroller.
I used my usual physical modeled string, this time processed through 5 different effects alternately.
I had started to make this drum pattern early in the day, but at a much slower Bpm. When I saw the prompt, I sped it up & was pleasantly surprised - The rest came easily!
Edit: Forgot to mention the instrument! I made this with the Digitakt II.
I just wanted to go with the raw sound of the acoustic guitar… then I heard a voice saying to add effects
Day 30. I decided to go with Roland S-1, which has only 4 voice paraphonic polyhony, but 4 voices is plenty! Very simple loop and some tweaking on the go. I think it turned out decent. Sorry about my hands blocking the view.
These other Jams are fantastic, mine misses the brief but it’s actually the the drum machine webapp itself I’ve been building for Jamuary. It’s still a WIP and doesn’t have a name, or a site, and by the looks of things won’t be ready until March, but this is it so far:
Put some batteries in the Ambient 0 and did a couch session today.
edit: for people that had some problems listening from google drive I uploaded everything to soundcloud now too:
Did everything on my Moog Grandmother today. I love the way the reverb layers on to provide a strange distance from the original tone.
Hope y’all don’t think it’s too gnarly: Jan 30
It might be a bit of a stretch but I decided to count the PO-20 (arcade) pocket operator as one instrument.
https://on.soundcloud.com/kXWS9LGpkZCiXmBs5
Had to wrap this one up super quick as we have a guest in the studio tonight (not sure how I will do tomorrows jam yet, will cross that bridge when we come to it).
I chose a prepared piano (library) for my instrument. I decided I’d try to use a whole tone scale as I’d not really used it before except to make sound effects. The whole thing sounds frankly weird and begging to be part of a broader production instead of the solo. This is a couple of recorded passages that I tidied up a little bit, but kept mostly as played (including the ‘play the whole scale at once frustration moment) If I’d had more time I would have squeezed some ‘drums’ out of it but I think it works as the music for Phase 1 of some convoluted boss fight.
It was time for some good ol’ chiptune, the sounds that made me fall in love with music/synths and the vibes that never grew old.
#jamuary2025 day 30. Doing the car chase music prompt. Sorry had trouble getting back into it after missing yesterday due to issues at work. Hopefully I will finish off strong tomorrow. #synthstromdeluge
I hesitated for a minute on which instrument to choose…but figured I only have 30 days on the new instrument and I could challenge myself to put the jam together on the fly. So i hit record after only sequencing the drums and bass line, did the rest on the fly. Not a masterpiece, but Jamuary really helped me come a long way in learning to use this.
Made with:
Teenage Engineering OP-XY
Day 30. For this piece, I decided to use my Chompi Sampler as my one instrument. I recorded myself humming into the sampler and created the four different parts of this piece by changing the pitch from low to high and over dubbing to get three different variations which layer over each other after each consecutive repetition. The final piece sounds like a bit of a mishmash of Bach, Pachelbel, Mozart and possibly some Handel…in a more modern, synthy kind of way.
Music created with Chompi Club Sampler and recorded in Logic Pro. AI image by ChatGPT. Video animation made in: https://vizzy.io