ICJ's Abelton and Synth Thread

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

Lemme write down everything I did to get this stuff working.

With the Korg Minilogue xd:
1. Power, obviously, needed to be connected.
2. I have a MIDI in and out to USB cable. The MIDI in and out to USB cable goes from the Korg to my computer. I matched MIDI in with the "MIDI in" jack and the same for out.
3. There is a Korg USB to USB cable. That went from the Korg to the computer.
4. Two patch cables, going from the Korg to the Empress Reverb pedal.

With the Empress Reverb pedal:
1. Power. Using the Jaguar power supply, but I need to buy the right power cable for it, so I not using the Jaguar's.
2. There are two patch cables from from the output of the Korg to the input of the Empress. If I just use one, I get a lot of distortion and feedback.
3. I have to get 2 six foot patch cables without weird shit on the end of them. The ones I have in bulk are like ... one foot, maybe, and they have this stupid cap on the end. These devices are not made with enough room to allow for the caps.
4. I have a Y splitter. The Y splitter takes the two output ports of the Reverb, and brings it down to one port, which has a patch cable going into the Behinger U-Phoria audio interface device.

The Behringer U-Phoria UMC22 device:
1. It's got a USB cord providing power that goes straight into the computer.
2. It has headphones that lets me hear what is going on with it.
3. It's got one port next to the one for the microphone that seems to work, and that is connected to the Y splitter on the Empress.

So I think I have the Korg -> Empress -> U-Phoria -> Computer -> Abelton 11 working correctly.

I did go to the arrangement view, because this guy said to do so. It was the only way I was able to get shit working.

I'll add his video at the end.

And then I grabbed a drum loop for starters.

You have to "arm" the tracks in order to record anything.

The Korg is set to be MIDI 2.
When the Korg is connected via USB, it shows up as an option in Abelton. It took me an hour to realize/remember that.

[AArdvark]

Shouldn't midi IN on the keyboard be connected to midi OUT on the din cable?


It's how my Poly800 is hooked up to the pc with the Yamaha UX something-something midi interface

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

You do seem to have the facts on your side. Switching!

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/use-mid ... 49492.html

Plug the MIDI cable labeled "Out" into the keyboard MIDI port labeled "In."

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

I switched and it had no effect, so who knows. But Vark and the internet was right, so maybe I saved myself some future horror.

This was the first productive session I have had in forever. How I think my workflow needs to go is this:

1. Lay down as much percussion to use as a metronome as possible. Abelton LOVES getting itself into a state where one track is 10 bars long and the other 80 and another 64. Which is the stupidest thing for what I am trying to do - I would like to be able to say, hey, I want four minutes of space here and don't "wrap" anything, Jesus. Wrapping should not be the default. Extend everything by the longest track. DUH. (I am sure lots of DJs do loops or whatever for percussion.)

2. Put in the synth lead for the actual song.

3. Add the bass line.

4. Go back and make the percussion line interesting.

Then I just have to get it to three other people and a song is done.

[AArdvark]

Is there a place, a private place, where the audience can hear it?

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

Is there a place, a private place, where the audience can hear it?

Yes, I want to get it to be halfway presentable and then I will do that with just my parts.

I went through 200+ voices with the Korg tonight. I needed a sound that has no "warm up." I gotta find the right term for this. A sound that instantly, bam, is there when I press the keys. I think it might be "attack" on the synth, but I am not sure. None of them were perfect, which can't be. It's gotta be how I have the dials. Abelton came with a synth lead that does seem to be pretty good for this, so I am just going to use that for this song.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

This helped me understand, really, what attack, sustain, release and delay are.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

Ok, this thread will be about how I get audio stuff to work!

I bought a microphone last year to make music with. I just opened it, 7 months later, and ... no cable. Ya need a cable. But I guess that is why the sale was so good for it on Amazon.

We didn't renew Amazon Prime because Bezos is a Nazi bootlicker, Amazon crushes unions and Amazon got multiple people killed when they threatened their jobs during tornados. I still went there to see if they had the cable for it and so I could see what search term to use - Amazon is good about taking the search term you enter and showing you stuff around it.

Well, the total price came to $20 and change. $7 for shipping and $13 for the item. I went to eBay to look, and ... well, same item was $10.11 shipped. Better than the same item! Amazon's price was for a six-foot cord, and this one had a minimum length of 10.

This is all made up in my head: eBay sellers kind of had to roll shipping prices into the cost of their items. Whether it was to "compete" with Amazon or other sellers on eBay, they are rolling shipping into the item, and I also get that something like a 10 foot audio cable can be made very cheaply.

But this is good. I will assume that the vendor I used may be a corporation, but is the acceptable kind at the moment. And it was ten bucks cheaper.

It will show up when it shows up and by the time that it does, I will try to make arrangements to have Beaver's saxophonist over to record a track.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

Nothing in the future has hever been more certain than knowing that the mic I bought won't work the first time in Ableton.

Here we go.

[AArdvark]

Mixcraft 10 is out....

Free trial.....

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

I can't use it unless they have a Mac version because my guitar guy has a Mac.

So! 58 minutes to get audio recorded. Sounds like absolute shit because there is crackling or interference coming from somewhere. Had to install a specific driver for the Behringer UMC22 for it to work, which was never mentioned anywhere by anyone until I was 5 YouTube videos deep.

[AArdvark]

Windows 11 is out...

Free downloads...

[AArdvark]

Hey RobB, are you using a mixing board when recording?

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

I am not! What do they do?

[AArdvark]

I have one I can send you. You plug your mic into it and any other instruments then you can...

Wait, pix.




It has a built-in audio interface, gain control and a bunch of other stuff that you could use. I got it a while ago but don't use it as it wont do overdubs properly. Yours for the asking

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

That is insanely nice of you. I can't adequately express how nice this is and how you have made me feel.

I would be honored. Do you need my address? Please let me send you money to cover shipping.

Thank you, Aardvark.

[AArdvark]

It's really a magnanimous gift on my part

Reason one: A way to make your life just a smidgen happier, if only for a couple minutes

Reason two: A shameless maneuver on my part to get more Beaver content

Reason three: It's part of my Swedish Death Cleaning program so the kids won't have to donate it to Goodwill after I kick.

If you got a Christmas card last December then I have your address in the book

Edit: all packed. Mailing tomorrow

[Casual Observer]

Hey Vark, whatever happened to Straws modded original Xbox I sold you? Actually loved your house, too bad it wasn't a "good neighborhood" anymore. So glad you have a great place now!

(Mostly posting to make a point of responding to every base above the line (IDK about the below ones)

[AArdvark]

That died a while ago with the red rings of death. I still have Jonseys Xbox, although that's also dead. I'm keeping all the hardware in a tote bin, hoping someday to figure out a use for it.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

We got a SECOND!!! follower on Bandcamp.

It's happening!!