Let's See What's Going On - MRDRCAT - WeeklyBeats.com

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WeeklyBeats.com / Music / MRDRCAT's music / Let's See What's Going On

Let's See What's Going On

By MRDRCAT on April 5, 2026 8:37 pm

The base for this one is a jam I did on Xynthesizr years ago. I discovered the WAV, which was WAY too long, and imported it into the M8 for chopping and accompaniment. I had the bones sketched out and started noodling with it some more in January, figuring if I needed a last-minute track I could have this one in my back pocket. Well, I'm not done fiddling with it, but this past week has been hectic...

We got our seasonal ice storm on Thursday. Last year we lost 2 trees, a huge branch punched a hole in our garage roof, and another hit the power line going into the house. This year, TWO holes punched into the garage roof and another branch narrowly missed our power line. We are down 6 trees and the whole place is a mess. Then Friday night I discovered that the flashing around our chimney has dissolved, so water was leaking into the attic. At midnight. And it's just been days of yard and roof work, continuing after I hit Submit on this one.

I really liked how the Xynthesizr part is a little wonky, time-wise. The original tempo is 118bpm, which I matched on the M8, but using the app without regard to a normal beat or any plans to do more with it meant some of the "hero" notes are not where they should go, which to me makes it more interesting - it's stuff I would 100% shy away from when deliberately writing something. This is a longer one for me, and more traditionally dance/club-ish, so I tried to include a bunch of stuff to keep the variations coming and make stuff interesting.

For some reason, this one took a lot of tweaking and fiddling to get sounds right, make room for stuff, keep things moving and balanced, and generally make it as clean as possible. Lots of track juggling to fit parts in, and my bass patch needed some TLC after one of the firmware updates because the oscillator got weird after 8 steps and needed to be synced. I've been poking at it every single week since January. The vocal sample is from a 1940 film short/advertisement for eyeglasses called "Fitting Faces" (in the public domain). So, if it's okay, we'll butt in for a minute and see what's going on!

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

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Tags: dat bass, expanded jam, fitting faces, m8tracker, week 14 2026, xynthesizr, View by:MRDRCAT

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April 6, 2026 12:20 am

Love the controlled chaos here. Seems fitting with everything you've got going on at home

Hope this is the last of the bad luck for this year!

April 6, 2026 12:23 am

Chaos is right, as Dad Boy mentioned, but there's so many nice little layers going on here! Good work.

April 6, 2026 10:27 am

MMm the echoes on that synth are tasty.

Great shuffle on the hihats.

April 6, 2026 3:36 pm

This sounds way more fun and playful than having to deal with home repair! Hahahaha... Sorry to hear you've been dealt a really crappy hand these past few winters.

April 6, 2026 6:29 pm

This has a joyful and positive feel to it. The vocal sample is a lot of fun, too.

April 6, 2026 6:42 pm

this song is swell
- Ebrit

April 7, 2026 6:58 pm

Perfect use of samples and controlled chaos. It makes me feel like the mess that I am is somehow all going to be alright. I hope your home issues get under control soon. All the best to you!

April 8, 2026 2:44 am

This reminds me to get my hands on some pre-WWII era stuff to sample. The voices are so animated, and it fits the 'jollyness' of the song well. Feels like positive progress that benefits us all. Loved this one a lot.

April 8, 2026 11:06 am

this is fun and different!

April 9, 2026 12:59 am

dadboy wrote:

Love the controlled chaos here. Seems fitting with everything you've got going on at home
Hope this is the last of the bad luck for this year!

Ha ha I do love some controlled chaos, even if I'm hanging on by my fingernails! Yard cleanup is going well, and I have a plan for re-sealing the chimney and all the supplies to repair the garage roof...again. Now if only I had a start on Week 15...

0x_colt wrote:

Chaos is right, as Dad Boy mentioned, but there's so many nice little layers going on here! Good work.

Thanks! The base Xynthesizr jam had a lot going on, so I had to be careful adding more to it. I hope I got it dialled in.

NickLong wrote:

MMm the echoes on that synth are tasty.
Great shuffle on the hihats.

Honestly I think the hi hat shuffle is one of my favourite things in this one. That, and the bassline. Do I remember how I came up with either one so I can replicate that another time? Nope!

jegasus wrote:

This sounds way more fun and playful than having to deal with home repair! Hahahaha... Sorry to hear you've been dealt a really crappy hand these past few winters.

That's climate change for ya. But hey, there's nothing to do but weather it. Luckily, the M8 is battery powered for when the electricity goes out!

Cosmic Cairns wrote:

This has a joyful and positive feel to it. The vocal sample is a lot of fun, too.

Thanks! I wanted to keep a bouncy sort of movement to it since the rhtythm from the original jam is a little off kilter anyway.

DESLRV wrote:

this song is swell
- Ebrit

You are also swell! Thank you for listening!

formalprocess wrote:

Perfect use of samples and controlled chaos. It makes me feel like the mess that I am is somehow all going to be alright. I hope your home issues get under control soon. All the best to you!

I appreciate the well wishes and you taking the time to listen! I'm okay with chaos as long as I can control it!

endojo wrote:

This reminds me to get my hands on some pre-WWII era stuff to sample. The voices are so animated, and it fits the 'jollyness' of the song well. Feels like positive progress that benefits us all. Loved this one a lot.

Thank you! Some of the old voiceovers can be a little stilted, but Fitting Faces (this one), Cindy Goes to a Party, and the movie Tanned Legs all have great snippets to farm for samples, and they're all in the public domain so have at 'em! Check archive.org for more stuff - most government-produced videos are automatically public domain, as are a lot of educational shorts, newsreels, and more. Oh! Don't forget the famous Duck and Cover short!

monstret wrote:

this is fun and different!

I usually have my head buried in the M8, but adding the Xynthesizr jam really gave this one something new!

[quote=dadboy]Love the controlled chaos here. Seems fitting with everything you've got going on at home <3 Hope this is the last of the bad luck for this year![/quote] Ha ha I do love some controlled chaos, even if I'm hanging on by my fingernails! Yard cleanup is going well, and I have a plan for re-sealing the chimney and all the supplies to repair the garage roof...again. Now if only I had a start on Week 15... [quote=0x_colt]Chaos is right, as Dad Boy mentioned, but there's so many nice little layers going on here! Good work.[/quote] Thanks! The base Xynthesizr jam had a lot going on, so I had to be careful adding more to it. I hope I got it dialled in. [quote=NickLong]MMm the echoes on that synth are tasty. Great shuffle on the hihats. [/quote] Honestly I think the hi hat shuffle is one of my favourite things in this one. That, and the bassline. Do I remember how I came up with either one so I can replicate that another time? Nope! [quote=jegasus]This sounds way more fun and playful than having to deal with home repair! Hahahaha... Sorry to hear you've been dealt a really crappy hand these past few winters. [/quote] That's climate change for ya. But hey, there's nothing to do but weather it. Luckily, the M8 is battery powered for when the electricity goes out! [quote=Cosmic Cairns]This has a joyful and positive feel to it. The vocal sample is a lot of fun, too.[/quote] Thanks! I wanted to keep a bouncy sort of movement to it since the rhtythm from the original jam is a little off kilter anyway. [quote=DESLRV]this song is swell - Ebrit[/quote] You are also swell! Thank you for listening! [quote=formalprocess]Perfect use of samples and controlled chaos. It makes me feel like the mess that I am is somehow all going to be alright. I hope your home issues get under control soon. All the best to you![/quote] I appreciate the well wishes and you taking the time to listen! I'm okay with chaos as long as I can control it! [quote=endojo]This reminds me to get my hands on some pre-WWII era stuff to sample. The voices are so animated, and it fits the 'jollyness' of the song well. Feels like positive progress that benefits us all. Loved this one a lot.[/quote] Thank you! Some of the old voiceovers can be a little stilted, but [url=https://archive.org/details/FittingF1940]Fitting Faces[/url] (this one), [url=https://archive.org/details/CindyGoe1955]Cindy Goes to a Party[/url], and the movie [url=https://archive.org/details/tanned-legs-1929-colorized]Tanned Legs[/url] all have great snippets to farm for samples, and they're all in the public domain so have at 'em! Check archive.org for more stuff - most government-produced videos are automatically public domain, as are a lot of educational shorts, newsreels, and more. Oh! Don't forget the famous [url=https://archive.org/details/gov.ntis.ava11109vnb1]Duck and Cover[/url] short! [quote=monstret]this is fun and different![/quote] <3 I usually have my head buried in the M8, but adding the Xynthesizr jam really gave this one something new!

April 9, 2026 9:18 pm

jegasus wrote:

This sounds way more fun and playful than having to deal with home repair! Hahahaha...

My thoughts exactly..

I hope it all resolves quickly!

Nice track

April 10, 2026 3:40 am

so determined and oddly funky (complimentary). love how that stuttering beat comes in. i immediately hit play again after it ended!
hope you have some clear skies ahead...

April 10, 2026 5:42 pm

Love the feels of the drums with the warm arps. Had me boppin along in my chair especially with all the extra ear candy, vocals chops and slick fills.

April 12, 2026 3:35 am

this is so funky and fun!

April 12, 2026 6:26 pm

Wonky and sweet!

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