Weeklybeats is a 52 week long music project in which artists compose and publicly release 1 song a week for the entire year.
Starting January 1st 2024 GMT each participant will have one week to upload one finished composition. Any style of music or selection of instruments are welcomed and encouraged. Sign up or Login to get started or check our FAQ for any help or questions you may have.

Cold Snap

By mattnida on January 6, 2016 10:39 am

Happy New Year! Having written 52 tunes in 2014, and none in 2015, I concluded that Weeklybeats is good for my productivity. So I'm back for another year.

The two previous times I've done WB it's been a really good way to learn how to do things. 2012 was all about Renoise, and 2014 about Ableton. This year I'm going to try and get to grips with a whole bunch of synths, iOS apps and VSTs I acquired over the last year, but haven't really put to any good use.

To that end, this track is a straight one-take no-edits jam with the three Korg Volca units I bought last year. Here I'm using the Keys, the Bass and the Sample, with a little reverb and EQ in Ableton just to balance everything out. Everything's synced using the Volca analog sync, no MIDI.

The Sample is by far my favourite of three units - the speed with which you can cut up and mangle samples is incredible, and I have a feeling I'll be using it far more to sequence melodic elements than just drums. The other two are utilitarian but characterful, and to be honest I they don't sound much less versatile than the other new budget analog monosynths that are going for three times the price. For basslines and sequences they do the job in a fun tactile way, and I really like using them.

I imagine in the future I'll be using these alongside more expansive, programmable VST synths (I think the Wavestation or Arturia's Matrix 12V would sit great alongside these sounds). My biggest bugbear is the 16-step limit; I think the way forward is to use these alongside an external sequencer to get some more verstaile 4/8 bar patterns to keep things interesting (but tweaking the synths in realtime to let the sounds breathe a bit).

But as a decent start, I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out all told! Looking forward to hearing what everyone else has cooked up.

Audio works licensed by author under:
CC Attribution Noncommercial Share Alike (BY-NC-SA)

It's really cool to see what others are using for these tracks, and tracks like this def inspire me to try new ways of making my own tunes too. Maybe this is a good year for me to learn Ableton or something? Anywho, this is a tight jam!

v. well done, simple jam. excited to see what you cook up with such a wide palette of software this year!

hey welcome back! I hear ya haha I also didn't do much in 2015. That being said, you should at least do the HEXAWE compos! wink (and join us on telegram)

Really like this vibe, I'd like to hear it expanded!

it's beautiful in its simplicity. less is more. dig the beat and the bassline. keep on...

Hey, man!!! Really happy to see you came back for another year!!!

You got me hooked on PSP's Piggy Tracker back in the day with your Metrodub releases, and even inspired me to do this on WB2014.

Track is great, and maybe I guess it shows you're a Londoner in your take on bass music.

Couldn't agree more on the Volcas. Sure you get a little bit more from a Mopho or some of those superexpensive analog boutique boxes like the Amphenol but...that price!

I haven't tried the new Korg analog sequencer, but I personally use my Volca boxes from an external one, be it Ableton or the iPad, since they can always be adressed via individual MIDI channels (configurable at boot) with a MIDI thru box.

Looking forward to your new releases smile

Totally digging the minimalism of this--very compelling beats, melodies, and processing!

Sounding dope!

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