Name: Hardware Jams - Fluffy White Beads (DAWfull Jam) @captainbleep
Uploaded: 2026-09-22T08:17:00-05:00
Duration: 8 min 17 s
Description: Hardware Jams - Fluffy White Beads (DAWfull Jam)

Hardware Jams - Fluffy White Beads (DAWfull Jam)

Captain Bleep 2026-09-22 | Hardware Jams - Fluffy White Beads (DAWfull Jam)

The Craft of Techno

Captain Bleep 2025-02-28 | In 2021 the team I worked on put together a Pecha Kucha event. If you're not familiar with this style of presenting, you've got 20 slides that each display for 20 seconds and they auto advance. That day, the presentations were on all sorts of things.

This presentation is about how a techno track is more a crafted creation than a traditionally written song. In the presentation, I narrated over it. Here I've just added some text. Also? Each slide displays for 15 seconds because 15 seconds at 128 BPM is exactly 8 bars. :)

The music in the background is a track I created to demonstrate whatever element of craft each slide happens to be talking about. So it's not quite a song itself... anyway... I hope you enjoy.

#popcornnight

Outdoor Ambient - Prototype 01 (MC-707, Torso T-1)

Captain Bleep 2025-02-09 | The forest is calling me. And I'm having ideas. These ideas revolve around melodic ambient performances that integrate the real-time sounds of the forest. This video... is not that. But I used some of my planned techniques and I think it worked. Now... I just need to get out there...

Forest Sounds: YouTube video thru Zoom H5 into 707 and ring modulated etc.
Synth Sounds: Roland MC-707
Sequencing: Mostly Torso T-1, but the 707 was playing one clip as well

HWJ-040 :: Noise

Captain Bleep 2024-11-10 | Another ambient piece. This time integrating the ambient noise (and imagery, kind of) of an anime convention I took my daughter and her friends to. So I guess you could call this a live field recording? Anyway, enjoy @HardwareJams crew.

T-1 was used only as a MIDI controller in this jam, although I did record some T-1 percussion into MIDI clips triggered in Ableton. But yeah, 100% native Ableton for this one.

Remembered to turn Sonarworks off this time too!

HWJ-039 :: Darkness

Captain Bleep 2024-10-28 | Wasn't planning on doing a challenge this week... wanted to just experiment with some ambient stuff, which I usually don't do. Welp. Turns out what I did matched this week's @HardwareJams challenge theme... Darkness

This video was shot entirely in the dark. The only light sources were my instruments. And that damn clock.

All Ableton native except... shite... the recording printed my Sonarworks profile. Well... That'll be interesting.

HWJ-038 :: LHFS

Captain Bleep 2024-10-14 | Loud. Hard. Fast. Strong. How about some 155 BPM powernoise in your face? Thanks for the challenge @HardwareJams

Sequencing: Torso T-1
Drums: Roland TR-8S
Drum Distortion: Roar (multi-band, high feedback goodness)
Drone: MC-707
High twinkly bit: MC-707
Arp: System-8 (using a vowel filter model)
Shrieking resonance: UNO Synth Pro X

Mixed and mastered using stock Ableton tools (including the brand new Ableton 12.1 limiter which is sooooo much nicer).

HWJ-037 :: Fallwinterspring

Captain Bleep 2024-09-16 | Four seasons. Five minutes. So three will have to do. Essentially created 3 separate jams and transitioned between them live to represent fall (chilled lo-fi), winter (cold brutal powernoise), and spring (poppy eurodance). Thanks for the challenging challenge @HardwareJams

Sequencing: Torso T-1
Various Ableton instruments for everything else.

Special shout-out to the good person who created the Rack Variation Launcher that powered this whole thing. Why Ableton wasn't able to make rack variations automatable when you can do it with Max4Live I'll never know.

Mixed and mastered using stock Ableton tools. Nothin' fancy this time.

HWJ-036 :: Electric Sheep Orchestra

Captain Bleep 2024-09-09 | Do electric sheep dream of androids? Presumably. Is this track what it sounds like? Almost certainly not. But hey. It was a fun @HardwareJams challenge!

Every sound in this track was originally made by sheep.

Melodic Sequencing: Torso T-1
Pluck: Sheep baa-ing in a minor third played through Sampler
Lead: Super weird bleat used as a wavetable in, erm, Wavetable
Loops: PitchHack, TransGate, other things.

Mixed and mastered using stock Ableton tools. Nothin' fancy this time.

HWJ-035 :: Road Trip

Captain Bleep 2024-09-02 | This is my first @HardwareJams challenge in... way too long. Dealing with Stuff. Massive creative blocks. Good friends passing away... This is no masterpiece, but it exists. And it was fun.

Road trips are one of my favorite things. Every year, my daughter and I go on some epic road adventure or other for her spring break. (The photo is us at the WNDR museum in Chicago.) It's my favorite part of every year. So here's the soundtrack to trucking west through Colorado on I-70 during avalanche season, twisting through Trinity National Forest on highway 299 in northern California, and speeding across the Utah desert on deserted two-lane roads.

Sequencing: Torso T-1
Drums: TR-8S
Acid: TT-303 through Pack Rat
Stereo glitch thing: Uno Synth Pro
Bass: System-8
Melody: MC-707
Trippy spinny thing: MC-707

Mixed and mastered using stock Ableton tools. Nothin' fancy this time.

HWJ-034 :: Fire

Captain Bleep 2024-06-03 | For this week's @HardwareJams challenge on the theme of "fire" I whipped out a 148 BPM hard industrial acid techno stomper. Drive on everything. Two distortion pedals on the 303, and loud as f*ck. Enjoy!

(Disclaimer: Messed up the timing of the individual tracks against one another and it would take too long to fix so what you hear is a mastered version of the two-track recording... not as clean as I'd like.)

Sequencing: Torso T-1
Atmo: Hydrasynth
Drums: TR-8S
Acid: TT-303 through MXR then Pack Rat
FM Lead: Uno Synth Pro
Bass: Typhon
Slow melodics: MC-707
Bad supersaw playing: System-8

Mixed.... well, I gave it a shot
Mastered with Ozone 11

Omnipolyous (Torso T-1 & Push 2)

Captain Bleep 2024-04-28 | Is it polyrhythmic? Is it polymetric? Thanks to @HardwareJams , now I know! And the answer is... yes. T-1 makes polymeter ridiculously easy, but to achieve true polyrhythm, I had to turn to Ableton Live. While this is a pretty straightforward techno beat, I've got poly everything going on to help create some groove. This was definitely challenging, entertaining, and educational. Also fun. Yes. Fun.

Sequencing: Torso T-1 & Push 2
Drums: Riemann Kollektiv samples
Lead: Arturia MS-20
Bass: Arturia SEM
Melodic Atmo: Pigments

Mixed using stock Live processing.
Mastered with stock Live processing and Ozone 11

Arps & Breaks (MC-707, Hydrasynth, System-8, TR-8S, Nymphes, Uno Synth Pro X, Typhon, Torso T-1)

Captain Bleep 2024-04-22 | I'm not huge into breakbeats but I used this as an excuse to get even deeper into the MC-707's Scatter features for this week's @HardwareJams challenge. Scatter allows me to do fun things with panning, which is also part of the challenge. All the synth parts except the bass are arped. There's a splash of huge reverb here and there.

Sequencing: Torso T-1
Stereo Arp: Hydrasynth
Bass: Nymphes
Drums: TR-8S
Breaks & Slop: MC-707
Dreamy Lead: Typhon
Pluck: Uno Synth Pro X
Creepy Arp: System-8

Mixed using stock Live processing.
Mastered with stock Live processing and Ozone 11

Fake Out (Push 2 & TT-303)

Captain Bleep 2024-04-15 | This week's @HardwareJams challenge was to not sound like yourself. What better way to not sound like yourself than consciously trying to sound like someone else? So I tried my hand at a cheerful little progressive trance tune somewhat in the style of @MariaTD3 I hope you like it!

Sequencing: Live 12 & Push 2
Drums: Samples from Mars MPC-2000 kit
Bass: Operator
Pads: Zenology
303: TT-303
Lead: System-8

Mixed using stock Live processing.
Mastered with stock Live processing and Ozone 11

Eclipsed (Hydrasynth, System-8, TR-8S, Nymphes, Uno Synth Pro X, Torso T-1)

Captain Bleep 2024-04-07 | As the moon moves in front of the sun, daylight darkness settles down around you. You marvel at the eerie apocalyptic gloom for a moment as it slips away just as softly as it came. I attempted to represent this in this week's @HardwareJams challenge with song structure and, naturally, lots of filter shenanigans.

Sequencing: Torso T-1
Plinky Chords: System-8
Drums: TR-8S
Bass: Hydrasynth
Slippery Lead: Nymphes
Smooth Lead: Uno Synth Pro X

Mixed using stock Live processing.
Mastered with stock Live processing and Ozone 11

Neptune (Hydrasynth, System-8, TR-8S, Nymphes, Typhon, Planet Neptune)

Captain Bleep 2024-03-18 | This weekend's @HardwareJams challenge was about a place that inspires you... well... I've always been obsessed with isolated environments. The deep sea, deep space... and what is more isolated than Neptune? It's not the furthest planet out, but there's something exceptionally lonely about that planet.

Sequencing: Torso T-1
Atmo: The Planet Neptune
Chords: Hydrasynth
Drums: TR-8S
Sonar Ping: Typhon
Bassy slurps & gurgles: Nymphes (with an assist from the EC-4 controller)
Lead: System-8 (System 100 Plug Out)

Mixed using stock Live processing.
Mastered with stock Live processing and Ozone 11

3x303 - An Homage to Acid (TT-303, T-8, Uno Synth Pro X, System-8, TR-8S, Hydrasynth)

Captain Bleep 2024-03-03 | Happy 303 day @HardwareJams family! Given the challenge's choice between Acid and no Acid I chooooooose.... THREE TIMES THE ACID! The lovely sequencer on the TT-303 is controlling the Roland T-8 and the astonishing Uno Synth Pro X (a new acquisition). All this makes for a big, layered, acidic monstrosity that was a blast to put together.

Sequencing: Torso T-1, TT-303, TR-8S
Drums: TR-8S
Bass: System-8 (SH-101 Plug Out)
Acid: TT-303
Acid: Roland T-8
More Acid: Uno Synth Pro X
Pad: Hydrasynth (also a new acquisition!)

Mixed using stock Live processing.
Mastered with stock Live processing and Ozone 11

Jamuary 2024-24 :: Colorful (Torso T-1, Pigments)

Captain Bleep 2024-01-25 | Welcome to Jamuary 2024 from @HardwareJams & @petitevictorycollective

Episode 24 - Colorful Synthesis

I am not inspired by color, but I AM inspired by Arturia's Pigments synthesizer! So this track is 100% Pigments, yes even the drums. This is Pigments 5 too, where one of the key new features is low CPU usage. I had 12 instances going using 10% CPU as reported by Ableton. Amazing.

This was fully improvised from scratch except the kick, hat, and choosing sounds. One take. No practice. MInimal mixing using stock Ableton plugins. Minimal mastering using Ozone 11. Almost no time at all to jam tonight heh.

#jamuary2024 #hardware_jams #petitevictorycollective

Cast of Characters:
Sequencing & composition: Torso T-1
Drums: Pigments
Bass: Pigments
Pads: Pigments
Plonks: Pigments
Lead: Pigments

Jamuary 2024-20 :: Synthwave (Torso T-1, Ableton Live 12)

Captain Bleep 2024-01-21 | Welcome to Jamuary 2024 from @HardwareJams & @petitevictorycollective

Episode 20 - Synthwave Saturday AND....
HWJ Weekend Challenge - EMOM

The challenge was to share the first 5 minutes of your minimally-geared EMOM set (Electronic Music Open Mic). Sooooo.... there are no EMOMs in Minnesota. So I started one. EMOM Bleep's Basement. Tried to recreate EMOM multi-camera setups and really did this as a performance rather than just a jam.

#jamuary2024 #hardware_jams #petitevictorycollective

Cast of Characters:
Sequencing & composition: Torso T-1
Drums: Ableton
Bass: Ableton Drift through Roar
Chords: Ableton Operator
Main Melody: Ableton Meld
Fill Melody: Ableton Wavetable
Burble FX: Drift
Whoosh FX: Operator

Jamuary 2024-18 :: Throwback (Torso T-1, MC-707, TR-8S, System 8, Microfreak)

Captain Bleep 2024-01-19 | Welcome to Jamuary 2024 from @HardwareJams & @petitevictorycollective

Episode 18 - Throwback Thursday

Synthesizers were my first love. Punk was my second. And when I heard bands like Ministry and Front Line Assembly for the first time i was like OMG PUNK ROCK BUT WITH SYNTHESIZERS and from then on my course was set. So I'm reliving those days with a half-assed little EBM track. Even used samples of the Kawai XD-5 drum module, used extensively by industrial bands of the late 80s early 90s.

#jamuary2024 #hardware_jams #petitevictorycollective

Cast of Characters:
Sequencing & composition: Torso T-1
Drums: TR-8S (XD-5 samples)
Metallic Thonks: MC-707
Bass: System-8
SFX: Microfreak

Jamuary 2024-17 :: Showcase (Torso T-1, MC-707, TR-8S)

Captain Bleep 2024-01-18 | Welcome to Jamuary 2024 from @HardwareJams & @petitevictorycollective

Episode 17 - Showcase one instrument

None of my instruments are particularly unique or mysterious... except the Torso T-1. I showcased its capabilities by improvising a reasonable melodic techno track in five minutes. There's just no way that kind of thing would be feasible for me without the T-1. I tried to make it clear what I was doing, so I added a bunch of text explainers.

* "Random" means something different in T-1-land than it does elsewhere. T-1 creates random modulation sequences that you can either lock in or change over time. It's WAAAAAY quicker than, say, sequencing parameter changes manually. Just twist "Random" until you get something you like!

#jamuary2024 #hardware_jams #petitevictorycollective

Cast of Characters:
Sequencing & composition: Torso T-1
Drums: TR-8S
Melodics: MC-707

Jamuary 2024-15 :: Electronic (Torso T-1, Typhon, MC-707, TR-8S, Microfreak)

Captain Bleep 2024-01-16 | Welcome to Jamuary 2024 from @HardwareJams & @petitevictorycollective

Episode 15 - Electronic Synthesis

Seeing as every instrument I own is an electronic synthesizer, I had to find a clever way to meet this challenge. So I used no samples. All the sounds are analog or VA, and the entire drum kit is made from FM models. Trying out some new camera angles, seeing as I just put up a couple of permanent camera mounts.

#jamuary2024 #hardware_jams #petitevictorycollective

Cast of Characters:
Sequencing & composition: Torso T-1
Drums: TR-8S (Entirely FM generated)
Bass: Typhon
Drone: MC-707
Twinkles: System-8
Pluck Melody: Microfreak

Jamuary 2024-14 :: Minimal (Torso T-1, Typhon, MC-707, TR-8S, TT-303, Microfreak)

Captain Bleep 2024-01-15 | Welcome to Jamuary 2024 from @HardwareJams & @petitevictorycollective

Episode 14 - Minimalist Approach

Yes I've missed... Several. Shush. Dealing with tech issues and exhaustion. But I'm back with an all-hardware jam! Ableton is just mixing and providing FX. Lots of space in this one... lots of call and response. Lots of things that come in sixes and threes via T-1 that create an ever-shifting landscape.

#jamuary2024 #hardware_jams #petitevictorycollective

Cast of Characters:
Sequencing & composition: Torso T-1
Drums: TR-8S (626 kit, tweaked)
Bass: Typhon (earning its paycheck on this jam!)
Drone: MC-707 (707 also provided FX for 303 & MF)
Basic Plucks: System-8
Acid: Ummmm...
Big Plucks: Microfreak

Jamuary 2024-07 :: Cinematic (Push 2, Ableton 12)

Captain Bleep 2024-01-08 | Welcome to Jamuary 2024 from @HardwareJams & @petitevictorycollective

Episode 07 - Cinematic Soundtrack

Okay starting to lose a little bit of steam. Plus... so much on my plate today. It's not much, but it's kind of pretty. And yes, I could've sequenced it to make it not so sloppy but hey it's a jam, yeah?

#jamuary2024 #hardware_jams #petitevictorycollective

Cast of Characters:
Sequencing & composition: Push 2
Sound Sources: Roland Zenology

Jamuary 2024-06 :: Bleep Unplugged (Torso T-1, Ableton 12)

Captain Bleep 2024-01-07 | Welcome to Jamuary 2024 from @HardwareJams & @petitevictorycollective

Episode 06 - Acoustic Harmony

Erm. I'm as electronic an electronic musician as you'll ever find. So acoustic? Hmmm. Guess I'm gonna have to sample all my instruments... _their physical sound._ Man it took a long time to cut all those up and get 'em in drum racks. I hope I have occasion to use them again.

Made great use of Live 12's new Round Robin feature within Sampler. Where I had lots of mostly similar samples of the same thing, I turned this feature on for some variability. The rest of them were multisampled into Sampler and put onto velocity layers, which the T-1 then took advantage of using Accent and Groove.

#jamuary2024 #hardware_jams #petitevictorycollective

Cast of Characters:
Sequencing & composition: Torso T-1
Percussion: Literally everything in my room

Jamuary 2024-05 :: Chill (Ableton Push 2)

Captain Bleep 2024-01-06 | Welcome to Jamuary 2024 from @HardwareJams & @petitevictorycollective

Episode 05 - Chill Friday

Create a relaxing chill-out jam to start the weekend on a mellow note. Tried some stuff I don't usually do, like chopping up samples and writing my own melodies (my T-1 normally does that for me lol). I used some of the new MIDI transform features in Live 12 (I'm using the beta) to expand beyond the initial 8-bar melody. Messed around with the results and ended up happy.

The grit and distortion on the drums is like three instances of Ableton's new Roar distortion effect. It's aMAZing. It was fun. And now I need a nap.

#jamuary2024 #hardware_jams #petitevictorycollective

Cast of Characters:
Sequencing & composition: Ableton Live
Drums: Chopped up loop from some Ableton pack or other
Chords: Arturia Pigments
Bass: Arturia SQ-80
Melody: Arturia SQ-80 (same patch!)

Jamuary 2024-04 :: Upbeat (Torso T-1, TR-8S, MC-707, System-8, Microfreak, Typhon, TT-303)

Captain Bleep 2024-01-05 | Welcome to Jamuary 2024 from @HardwareJams & @petitevictorycollective

Episode 04 - Upbeat Thursday

Create a high-energy jam that brings positivity. I am soooo exhausted right now. This was every last ounce of energy I had and then some. Sorry about in the break that goes on too long where I was fighting with the 707 about what sound I wanted it to play vs what sound IT wanted to play.

#jamuary2024 #hardware_jams #petitevictorycollective

Cast of Characters:
Sequencing & composition: Torso T-1
Drums: TR-8S (using XD-5 samples I believe)
Bass: Typhon. Obv.
Broken Melody: Microfreak
Happy Chords: System-8
Ploinks: 707

Jamuary 2024-03 :: Experimental (Torso T-1, Ableton)

Captain Bleep 2024-01-04 | Welcome to Jamuary 2024 from @HardwareJams & @petitevictorycollective

Episode 03 - Experimental Wednesday

Experiment with unconventional sounds and structures. Because I have about four hours to do these things, I relied on a WHOOOOLE bunch of stuff from @subsocials . The clap sound that goes into triplets sometimes? Apparently that's actual butt cheeks being slapped. Odd steps and odd numbers of cycles all held together by a hi-hat made from a sample of paper to make it groove.

The best part tho is the bass. It's a meticulously sampled and tuned rubber band. You should really check them out if you like these sounds. subsocials.com

#jamuary2024 #hardware_jams #petitevictorycollective

Cast of Characters:
Sequencing & composition: Torso T-1
All sounds: Various Subsocial Studios packs

Jamuary 2024-02 :: Melody (Torso T-1, Roland MC-707)

Captain Bleep 2024-01-03 | Welcome to Jamuary 2024 from @HardwareJams & @petitevictorycollective

Episode 02 - Melodic Tuesday

Create a melody driven jam. Trust me, it gets to a nice melody. Eventually. #jamuary2024 #hardware_jams #petitevictorycollective

Cast of Characters:
Sequencing & composition: Torso T-1
All sounds: Roland MC-707

Jamuary 2024-01 :: Get Moving! (Torso T-1, Roland MC-707)

Captain Bleep 2024-01-02 | Welcome to Jamuary 2024 from @HardwareJams & @petitevictorycollective

Episode 01 - Groovy Monday

Create a jam that gets people moving. Well... if this doesn't get you at least chair dancing, please find your way to the nearest hospital because you are clearly just done with ALL THE THINGS. #jamuary2024 #hardware_jams #petitevictorycollective

Cast of Characters:
Sequencing & composition: Torso T-1
All sounds: Roland MC-707

Hardware Jam for Simon Greatbatch - HWJ Secret Santa 2024

Captain Bleep 2024-01-01 | The @HardwareJams Secret Santa is my favorite part of Christmas. This year I got to do a jam for @simongreatbatch Simon is an astonishingly good musician and weirdly low on GAS... he performs LIVE house music with a single piece of gear... A Roland Fantom! In this video, my 707 stands in for his Fantom and my T-1 stands in for his musicianship and talent.

Happy Synthmas Simon!

All Sequencing & Automation: Torso T-1
Track 1: Drums
Track 2: Acid Blurps
Track 3: Atmo Loop
Track 4: Melodic Twinkles
Track 5: Baaaaasssss
Track 6: Atmo whoooshes
Track 7: Supersaw Twinkles
Track 8: House Piano thingy

Mixed entirely within the MC-707!
Mastered with a dash of Ozone 11 Imager & Limiter

Last thing in 2023 first in 2024 - Improvised Techno (Torso T-1, Roland MC-707)

Captain Bleep 2024-01-01 | Music is my favorite thing in the world. So I figured I'd wrap up 2023 and kick off 2024 by doing my favorite thing in the world, improvising some techno. Basically from scratch.

(I have a template I use in T-1 for this, and I used my 707 improv template to select sounds. The only pre-made components are the atmo loop and kick & open hat.)

For the T-1 family (or even the T-1 curious), there's a bit of a tutorial aspect to this too.

All sequencing: Torso T-1
All sounds: Roland MC-707

Dream Destroyed - A HWJ Challenge (Torso T-1, Ableton)

Captain Bleep 2023-11-05 | Disclaimer: Video recorded at a different speed than the music and I'm not sure why. I did my best to sync it back up, but my patience with video editing is... limited. :) Sorry!

This week's @HardwareJams challenge was to layer lush, hopeful pads over brutal beats. OMG YES PLEASE! This inspired me to explore the more melodic side of T-1 for the pads while remaining squarely in my default mode for T-1 rhythm, broken and evolving.

The time I had to jam this weekend was while my daughter was at an anime con with her friends, so it was recorded there. This also necessitated a minimalist setup.

All Sequencing & Automation: Torso T-1
Drums: Riemann Kollektion samples
Distortion: d16 Redoptor 2
Pad 1: Roland Zenology
Bass: Arturia SEM
Melodic Pop: Spire
Pad 2: Arturia SQ-80
Twinkles: Arturia MS-20

Mixed using stock Live processing.
Mastered with stock Live processing and Ozone 10 Imager & Limiter

Psystep - A HWJ Challenge (Torso T-1, TT-303, Ableton Push)

Captain Bleep 2023-10-23 | This week's @HardwareJams challenge was to fuse two genres together, stretching yourself into new realms. Well, I've always loved psytrance but never made any. And I never particularly liked dubstep and also have never made any. Guess I can't say those two things anymore!

I did this all in Ableton with Push, T-1, and other controllers... I've got my eye squarely on a Push 3, and this was an experiment to see how much I enjoy working with just Live's native instruments. Wait... that sounds weird... : )

Sequencing: Torso T-1
Drums: Riemann Kollektion samples
Bass: Operator
Dubstep Craziness: Wavetable
Twinkles: Analog
Swoopy Thing: Operator
Rice Krispies: ALSO Operator

Psychedelic oil bath by Pixelwhip: youtu.be/vy0g2bK4NE0
Mixed using stock Live processing.
Mastered with stock Live processing and Ozone 10 Imager & Limiter

Not Alone - A HWJ Challenge (Torso T-1, MC-707, SQ-80V, MicroFreak, System-8, TR-8S, TT-303)

Captain Bleep 2023-10-16 | Humanity collectively suffers from delusions of grandeur. This makes us... dangerous. But... we are not alone. We may not have an interstellar post office, but to think that in all the vastness of time and space there are no other civilizations is pure hubris.

For me, the idea of not being alone is a comforting one. Because there is something more than just... us.

Sequencing: Torso T-1
Drums: TR-8S
Bass: Microfreak
Pads: Arturia SQ-80v
Twinkles: MC-707
Percussion FX: System-8
Hopeful Message: Jodi Foster & Carl Sagan

Mixed using stock Live processing.
Mastered with stock Live processing & a dash of Ozone 10

Fluid - An Off-Grid Challenge (Torso T-1, MC-707, Typhon, MicroFreak, System-8, TR-8S)

Captain Bleep 2023-10-01 | Okay so all of my machines literally sit on a physical grid, repurposed wire shelving for closets. I'm high concept, but not high concept enough to completely reconfigure my studio for one jam lol.

This off-grid @HardwareJams challenge encouraged me to play with the "free" division setting on the T-1 I've been meaning to explore. You can hear it in the bass line. You'll also hear assorted skittery, ratchety percussion speeding up and slowing down thanks to the Pace and Offset parameters associated with the Repeats function on the T-1

Sequencing: Torso T-1
Drone: Typhon
Drums: TR-8S
Bass: MC-707
Digital Lead: Microfreak
Unison Lead: System-8
Bad playing: Me

Mixed using stock Live processing.
Mastered in Ozone 10

Detroit - A Hardware Jams Weekend Challenge (Typhon, TR-8S, MC-707, Microfreak)

Captain Bleep 2023-07-23 | Spent a couple of weeks in Detroit, so it was a natural choice for a @HardwareJams challenge about a city that inspires you. The first time I went to Detroit over 20 years ago, it was a burnt out wasteland. And that's not an exaggeration. It's coming back to life and is once again a city of creativity and joy.

This is my 20th jam! So I think I'm gonna take a break from jamming for a month or so and actually write 1-2 fully composed tracks. I'm sure I'll get them up here somehow.

Drone: Typhon
Drums: TR-8S
Bass: MC-707
Chords: Microfreak
Vox: Stock (!!!) sounds from MC-707

Mixed using stock Live processing.
Mastered in Ozone 10

PANDEMONIUM! A Hardware Jams Weekend Challenge (MC-707, Volca FM2, Sub Phatty, Juno 6, TD-3, Beer)

Captain Bleep 2023-07-15 | I'm the birthplace of techno for a couple weeks, so I figured I'd go visit my friend Charles Preset and kick out a @HardwareJams challenge. We interpreted the Pandemonium challenge as a call to do things we never would normally.

The tempo (140) was decided upon by three 10-sided dice and some math. The key is Am which neither of us ever use. The kicks fill every third bar. The hats are shuffled. And the pattern is bidirectional. So yeah, it was fun.

Find Charles Preset at: equalrecordings.bandcamp.com

Multitracked into Live via USB.
Mixed using stock Live processing.
Mastered in Ozone 10

Hardware Jams Tuning Challenge - MC-707 & Torso T-1

Captain Bleep 2023-07-10 | Technically this @HardwareJams challenge was about alternate tunings... which I know absolutely zippo about. So I took three multi-oscillator sounds and changed the keyboard tracking slightly for each oscillator. Won't win any awards, but it was an interesting experiment!

Sequencing: Torso T-1
All sounds: Roland MC-707
FX: Valhalla Vintage Verb & Delay

Multitracked into Live via USB.
Mixed using stock Live processing.
Mastered in Ozone 10

T-1 & MC-707 Improvised Techno Jam #1 (& T-1 Tutorial)

Captain Bleep 2023-07-09 | This jam is very much from scratch. Mistakes left in. Only thing pre-set was a bunch of pre-selected sounds I like in my 707 template as well as the scale for the melodic tracks on the T-1. If you want to know what it's like to make techno with the T-1, this shows you all the gory details.

MC-707
Track 1: Kick kit
Track 2: Snare kit
Track 3: Clap, toms, & percussion kit
Track 4: Cymbals kit
Track 5: Bass
Track 6: Lead 1
Track 7: Lead 2 (not used)
Track 8: Pad

All sequencing: Torso T-1

FX: Valhalla Vintage Verb & Delay

Mixing: Ableton (707 tracks directly into Live via USB)

Mastering: iZotope Ozone 10

Hardware Jams - Jam from Scratch in 5 Minutes (Torso T-1, Faderfox EC-4, Ableton)

Captain Bleep 2023-06-25 | Against the Clock, @HardwareJams style! Which means we only get FIVE minutes to make a track rather than ten. I've been spending a lot of time setting up MIDI CCs within Ableton, my T-1, and my EC-4 to support live improv like this, so now this is the pressure test!

What you're seeing is the first complete take. Warts and all. Or repetitive basslines and missing leads anyway. Nothing has been pre-sequenced. 100% improvised.

Sequencing: Torso T-1
Pad: Arturia Pigments
Bass: Arturia Mini V
Lead: Arturia SEM
Drum Samples: Riemann Kollektion
Realtime Sample Flipping: Faderfox EC-4

No additional mixing work. A splash of mastering in Ozone 10.

Captain Bleep - INVASION - Hardware Jams Festival 2023

Captain Bleep 2023-06-10 | Ten minutes of ambient, industrial, trnance and really, REALLY cheesy sci-fi samples celebrating a 2023 full of @HardwareJams and joy.

Sequencing: Torso T-1
Drums: TR-8S
String drone: MC-707
Slidey pitch drone: Microfreak
Bleeps 'n Squeaks: Typhon
Arp: MC-707
Other melodies: Pigments

Hardware Jams - Beets & Drones (Torso T-1, MC-707, Microfreak, Typhon, TR-8S)

Captain Bleep 2023-05-28 | For the the @HardwareJams Beats n' Drones challenge I intended to start with simple drones on the Typhon and Microfreak and make them go bonkers with CC modulation from the T-1. Vaaaaguely successful? I'd do this again, but maybe choose different parameters to modulate.

As far as the beat side goes... This is another track-length build as the percussion coalesces more and more until I mute it altogether.

Micro-timing, micro-decay, micro-freaking... it all gets bigger the further down you go.

Sequencing: Torso T-1
Low Drone Dreadbox Typhon (CC modulation from T-1)
High Drone: Roland MC-707
Mid Drone: Microfreak (CC modulation from T-1)
Drums: TR-8S.
FX: All glory to Valhalla (DSP that is)

Mixed in Ableton and mastered in Ozone 10.

Hardware Jams - pH 3.03 (Torso T-1, T-8, MC-707, TT-303, TR-8S, System-8)

Captain Bleep 2023-05-12 | Soooo... Life happens and you end up finishing your @HardwareJams Star Wars acid breaks challenge a full week late. Oh well. I'd wanted to dig into the MC-707's Scatter function for a long time. It's... kind of a pain to set up, but fun to play with. All the scatters in this track are ones I made.

Sequencing: Torso T-1
Breakbeat Loops: Roland MC-707
Other Drums: TR-8S
303: TT-303 through JHS Pack Rat, T-8 through MXR Distortion+
Space Twinkles: System-8 with the 101 Plug out loaded

Mixed in Ableton and mastered in Ozone 10.

Hardware Jams - Into the Microverse (Torso T-1, MC-707, Microfreak, TT-303, Typhon)

Captain Bleep 2023-04-23 | When you first peer into a microscope, all you see is light. But as you zoom in an entire world emerges. My take on the @HardwareJams challenge of "microscopic" charts that journey into inner space.

Micro-timing, micro-decay, micro-freaking... it all gets bigger the further down you go.

Sequencing: Torso T-1
Drone: Roland MC-707
Click/screech: Microfreak through MXR Distortion+
Cotton wool: TT-303 through JHS Pack Rat
Vaguely melodic bit: Dreadbox Typhon
Drums: Assorted samples from Riemann Kollektion, heavily manupulated by CCs from T-1.

Mixed in Ableton and mastered in Ozone 10.

Experimental Improvised Techno with Torso T-1 and Roland MC-707

Captain Bleep 2023-04-15 | I kept thinking that the 707 and T-1 might make a good, compact improv setup. But I use my 707 so differently that I never did it until now because it'd take a lot of work to set up. It did, but I'm glad I finally got around to it!

This is an excerpt from a longer jam I did. This one shows transitions and how this setup allows me to create two tracks on the fly.

Sequencing: Torso T-1
Sounds : Roland MC-707

Hardware Jams - Over It (Torso T-1)

Captain Bleep 2023-04-09 | WIth the exception of slicing and triggering the vocal loops, this was composed entirely on the Torso T-1 sequencer, which was controlling a slew of samplers and softsynths in Ableton. All Arturia V Collection because they handle program changes nicely, and this is the first track I've done with my new jam template that relies on program changes.

This was supposed to be a remix of Rome in Reverse's "Here It's Al Over," but a jam and a remix are very different things. So it's a jam with some manipulated vocal samples. That counts, right?

Anyway, I'm over it.

Sequencing: Torso T-1
Analog Bass: Mini V
Pad: Pigments
Popcorn: 2600 V
Lead: SEM V
Digital Bass: SQ-80 V
Drums: Assorted samples from Riemann Kollektion

Endless Winter - Improvised Torso T-1 Techno (DAWfull) Jam

Captain Bleep 2023-04-01 | 99.5% fully improvised. I set up the kick ahead of time, as well as selected the sounds and initial pitches. I very much enjoy improvising with my @torsoelectronics T-1.

Did this in my standard tutorial style. You might learn a thing or two about improvising with the T-1!

There's so much more I COULD have done. As I get better with this thing, it will flow more easily I'm sure.

Mixed in Live with a touch of Ozone 10 for mastering

Cast of Characters:
Sequencing: Torso T-1 (duh)
Drum sounds: Kit from Ableton Live Suite (Sunday Morning)
Bassline: Roland Cloud SH-101
HPF Sweep: Roland Zenology
Pluck: Spire
Other pluck: Arturia SEM

Hardware Jams - T1mewinder (Torso T-1, Typhon, Microfreak, TR-8S, System-8)

Captain Bleep 2023-03-26 | This weekend's @HardwareJams theme was simply, "Time." I've always been a very on the grid kind of guy, but since bonding with my Torso T-1 sequencer I've learned the joy of of making that grid more fluid. Ironically, time is what I did not have this weekend, so this is... kind of a mess.

Here are all the elements of time I manipulated:

* Individual track timing
* Note repeats slow down or speed up
* Manuplating division & number of steps per track/pattern
* Double timing rhythm & half-timing melodics (and vice versa)
* Modulating cloud delay on Typhon
* Had an LFO modulating delay time on the effects bus

Unrelated... I've removed the MX-1, which I may sell. I'm now sending everything directly into Ableton. Kind of a hacked together solution for now. Hopefully I'll be able to expand my MOTU AVB setup in the near future.

Sequencing: Torso T-1
Bass: Microfreak
Lead: System-8
Weird shrieking & burbling: Typhon

Hardware Jams - XDrop 5 (Typhon, MC-707, TT-303, TR-8S, MX-1, System-8, Ableton Push)

Captain Bleep 2023-03-19 | Manipulating tension with a techno industrial @HardwareJams based on samples of the Kawai XD-5, a forgotten drum synth from the 90s that is basically the sound of industrial music from that era. It's been astonishingly hard to find good samples of that machine, but some lovely person has finally done it!

websynths.com/samples

Melodic Sequencing: Ableton & Push
Rhythmic Sequencing: TR-8S

Drums: TR-8S
Bass: Dreadbox Typhon
String pad: System-8 (Jupiter 8 plug-out)
Lead: MC-707
Pluck: Spire
303: TT-303

H0m3w4rd - Live Techno Jam on a Train (Roland T-8, Dreadbox Typhon)

Captain Bleep 2023-03-16 | This track was written, performed, and recorded while on the return leg of a train trip out east with my daughter. At 36 hours, it left me with some time to make music. Unfortunately I couldn't record video and audio at the same time, so the accompanying visuals come from the area around the town I grew up in

Special cameo: The street I grew up on flashes by at 4:20

Synth lead: Dreadbox Typhon
Everything else: Roland T-8

Outward - Live Techno Jam on a Train (Roland T-8, Dreadbox Typhon)

Captain Bleep 2023-03-15 | This track was written, performed, and recorded while on a train trip out east with my daughter. At 34 hours, it left me with some time to make music. Unfortunately I couldn't record video and audio at the same time, so the accompanying visuals come from a particularly beautiful portion of western Massachusetts.

Special cameo: My daughter's reflection

Creaky metal sound: Dreadbox Typhon
Everything else: Roland T-8