Weeklybeats is a 52 week long music project in which artists compose and publicly release 1 song a week for the entire year.
Starting December 29th 2025 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.

WB26_01

By sleepunit on January 2, 2026 8:29 pm

my dudes!

I'm approaching wb26 a little differently than I did wb24. rather than agonizing over every tiny sequenced detail, I'm hoping to record a full 52 weeks worth of live played improv. my goal is to end the year closer to being able to confidently play an hour long set--with no preparation.

in wb24, I spent a few weeks trying to build what I was calling the techmo machine. it was essentially a generative techno adjacent vcv rig. the real goal was always what I'm trying now--actual hardware, and me actually playing it--but I could never get past the nerves of it. for some reason turning knobs while that red light is on hurts my brain.

the short version is, I've been trying to build a hardware system that keeps enough guard rails in place that I can create something interesting and evolving without the stress of unending composition. the goal here isn't to spit out Sasha's Xpander every time I turn it on, but just to create something that we can get hypnotically lost in together. I want to bring the joy I felt going to raves in the '90s to people listening, but I selfishly want the experience to take _me_ there too.

since this is week 1, I tried not to go too off the rails in terms of performance. there are some less than perfect transitions in here, and there's one that's... well it's garbage. but rather than continuing to re-record, I thought it would be good to memorialize it. after all, the goal isn't to hit record with this until I can produce perfection. it's to practice, strategize and learn to wield this rack like an instrument, and that includes recovering from mistakes.

this is all recorded straight from the rack itself. no post processing, no magical computer auto-mastering, et cetera. other than hitting record, no computers involved in the whole process.

here's the rack for this patch: https://modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/3024058

if you're into my weird pocket of personal nostalgia, I hope this hits that... music for kids on drugs in a warehouse vibe. if not, forgive me for assaulting you with 303 adjacent sounds for the next 52 weeks, haha.

Hell yeah, I am pursuing pretty similar goals this year! Instant improv techno modular machines lets gooooo!

That's an awesome goal! And man, this track rocks. Love that it's straight out of the rack - it hits HARD. Lots of texture and layers going on.

Approaching electronic music this way is like the complete opposite of how I do it, where I sequence everything - really looking forward to hearing your journey!

Good luck with this year goal! Happy to see you again. Nice jam, I like those synths, the industrial touches are fun.

super good jam my d00d! 303 ftw

This is so tight! 2026, here we go! 😎

Ooh, this has a great late 90's techno vibe to it.
Something you'd find in a Sven Vath sounds of the season set.

Live is the way to go smile

Welcome back. Impressive stuff you're throwing here.
- Devieus

Great sounds and great performance!

Welcome back! Fantastic live set and the 303 nostalgia is working overtime on the drugs lol. Whats doing your drums? I can easily imagine some big 909 open hats really slamming this back to the 90s rave scene on future tracks. This was awesome, brought me back heart

neon liminal wrote:

Welcome back! Fantastic live set and the 303 nostalgia is working overtime on the drugs lol. Whats doing your drums? I can easily imagine some big 909 open hats really slamming this back to the 90s rave scene on future tracks. This was awesome, brought me back heart

thanks man. the core of the drums are both shakmat modules--the battering ram for the kick and the archer's rig for the hats. the hats are a joy because it can self modulate, so you can get some humanization in hardware without all the work.

then the noise engineering BIA is the rest of the perc. it's drums, zips, zaps, pretty sounds... honestly the thing is a chameleon. my favorite module for good reason.

Great goal, and great start towards it... it would definitely bring back memories from the 90's, if the aforementioned kids in warehouse activities didn't mostly preclude the forming of long term memories. (- ‿◦ ) I've been itching to hear the rack since you posted about it on Discord... absolutely sounds great... particularly for no post processing or digital mastering.  Looking forward to hearing you sets evolve over the year. 

such a jam! impressive that there is no post processing. sounds really tight!

sleepunit wrote:

my goal is to end the year closer to being able to confidently play an hour long set--with no preparation.


Damn, man, that's an AWESOME goal! Sounds super daunting, but if there's anything that can help, it's good ol' weekly beat reps.
And you've started off pretty nicely too! It'd be awesome if you also shared a video of you doing one of these live sets that you're using for your submissions, even if only for just one single week. I'm always fascinated by folks who are able to do stuff like that - live improv performances sound so absolutely foreign to me!
May 2026 bring with it more 303 goodness like this! Hahahahaha... Great to hear from you again, man.

excellent groove from the drums and bassline.  Love all the panning on the main bouncing synth line especially. A head nodder for sure that had me chair_dancin.  That is an admirable goal for the live sets.  I agree you have the right mindset for getting it done. WB is great for honing on the particular skills you want to work on.  It's not about perfection week after week smile  well done!

This is absolutely wild - certified banger and you did it live. If this is how you start, your post-WB26 improv set is going to be mind blowing.

Yesss! So good, love your squishy 303s and how you bring it all in for the tight last section. Really exciting to see we’re working in a similar area towards improv techno sets! looking forward to sharing progress this year

Love those rave vibes, keep 'm coming

Clean and energetic. That kick is popping.

you: "I hope this hits that... music for kids on drugs in a warehouse vibe."

kids:

really enjoyed this and really glad this was over 5min

welcome back and I am really excited about you doing live music (that was my 2024 challenge) I really want to come to your show, let me know when and where!

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