Welcome to the Course

Hi, I'm John. Welcome to the course!

Setup Overview

I'd like to talk a little bit about the setup that I've got before I delve into sampling. As you can see, I've got:

• a Mac
• a MIDI controller: This is where I'm going to be playing in a lot of the samples, trying to figure out what's going to work musically.

I'm working with a collection of:

• Field recordings
• Vinyl samples
• Bits and pieces from charity shops

Additionally, I'll be sampling an electrified drum machine and a Korg Microcorg for extra sounds. My aim is to pull in influences from various sources to create a broad musical palette.

Detailed Setup

Let's go through the setup:

• USB MIDI Keyboard
• Dark Energy Synth: A great modular synth that can create some crazy and deep bass sounds.
• Microcorg: A slightly underrated polyphonic synth that can produce fantastic sounds, including sets of chords that will work nicely musically.
• Korg Electride Drum Machine: I have a variety of different samples that I'll be modulating through a Korg Monotron Delay, which will provide me with percussive sounds and generate some unique effects.

Using Effects in Music

I'll utilize these effect sounds to work with the transitions in the music I'm going to create. Now, let's focus on the Microcorg.

I'll just plug this in quickly.

1. Stereo Output: I'm going into a sound card with left and right inputs.
2. I am sampling some chords directly, which gives me a really good sonic palette.

Sound Card Details

Now, let's discuss the sound card I'm using:

• Alesis io2: A reasonably priced sound card that you could find on eBay, but it does the job beautifully.
• Inputs/Outputs:
  • Two inputs
  • Left and right outputs
  • USB connection to my Mac

Additionally, I've got an old-school MIDI setup that allows in and out connections to the Microcorg or any other synth that uses traditional MIDI. The sound card can also handle digital signals in and out, along with Micro one and Mic two.

This setup offers a great, portable solution for recording, even if I'm out somewhere.

Conclusion

I've tried to keep everything quite condensed for easy portability, perfect for live sets. The small synths, drum machines, and the nice little modular synth are all easily manageable through the USB keyboard.

So, let's move on to the template in Ableton!