https://youtube.com/shorts/Cm16UuN3PiQ?si=9mpes1pJh66htuJN
trying on a metaphor
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Origami Around
Cosmic Funnies
Peter Solarz
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祝日 / Permanent Vacation

JVL

izzy's playlists!

Love Begins
Keni

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ojovivo
2025 on Tumblr: Trends That Defined the Year

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Kiana Khansmith
TVSTRANGERTHINGS

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@georgieartbaker
https://youtube.com/shorts/Cm16UuN3PiQ?si=9mpes1pJh66htuJN
actually quite a nice day for r-rex jogging as there’s a bi-annual cool breeze 😂
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Hey hi ho friends, I'm happy to announce by the good grace of the lovely ppl at Studio Élan & Studio Coattails, you can now buy all the tracks I wrote for the Highway Blossoms soundtrack as a little album from my Bandcamp. Yayyyyyyy! thank youuuuu xxxxxx https://smokethief.bandcamp.com/album/highway-blossoms-o-s-t #vgm #HighwayBlossoms #anime #StudioCoattails #StudioElan #indiedev #gameaudio #gamemusic #visualnovel #lgbtq #romantic #indiegamedev #soundtrack https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv2tT8_jmXu/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=12p18am1px75x
The Batpedalboard (currently a rug w) is finally taking shape #guitar #retro #prisma #ehx #electricguitar #minimal #ambient #guitarpedal #HighwayBlossoms https://www.instagram.com/p/Btu3qfMjLKE/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1s4m75rid12f8
Still improvising those epic RPG-style melodies if anyone wants to hook me up with a dev company or support me staying creative! Any RTs and shares appreciated. Much love 💛 www.patreon.com/smokethief #gamedev #composer #composition #piano #gamemusic #hireme #creatives #improvise #modal #melodiccontinuity #thematic #minimal #classicalmusic https://www.instagram.com/p/BtKBDZ3DxJC/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=byf9g5e9s3sp
I’ve always loved the song ‘Maggot Brain', from Funkadelic’s album of the same name. Unfortunately I got arthritis when I was 30 or so, and it made playing the guitar kind of tough. I never thought I’d be able to jam with this song as freely as I'd dreamed, but the Seaboard RISE 49 really broadened my horizons and let me give it my best. I feel ROLI have delivered an instrument that gives articulatory control back to the player, in a way that feels more organic to me than some separate pitch/vibrato joystick. Also, with so many midi controllable articulatory settings, one has a lot of setup options dynamically that can make it easier to play for people who find traditional keyboards a little challenging from time to time. Being able to slide across notes and articulate in different ways helps me balance my style and rest certain fingers when I have to. The Funkadelic original is truly one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard, legend has it Eddie Hazel was told to play as if his mother had just died. it's an inimitable piece of music, but as other musicians like Flea have been paying tribute of late, I hope it's okay that I've also set foot on this hallowed ground. I would like to dedicate this performance to my late papa, Will, the man who believed in me and my music enough to turn the Earth in such a way it made my dreams come true. Lastly, I would like to thank ROLI for their huge support and for endorsing me as one of their official artists. It’s an honour to be showcasing this instrument and a just few of its billions of possibilities. Thanks so much for listening. If you would like to support more music like this, please visit www.patreon.com/smokethief www.ko-fi.com/smokethief www.paypal.me/smokethief
Praxis
Arthritis is pretty inhibiting today so I just practised a bit of melodic soloing. Still, looks like Nic Cage was loving it 🥰😂
I am trying to keep active, creative, musical and improving every day. This is gonna be a big year for me personally and musically so I plan to make the most of my time. Thanks to all my fans for your support. If you wanna financially invest in my quest, you can via
Buying me a digital coffee @ www.ko-fi.com/smokethief
joining the Smoke Thieves’ Guild @
Patreon.com/smokethief
Or buying me something musical from my wishlist www.wishlistr.com/SmokeThief
Now I’m gonna take a break and walk about 10k!
Thx! Xxx
Smoke Thief is a Tokyo based soundtrack composer, electronica producer and saxophonist. Smoke Thief's music is a nightshade of vocalesque melodies, solid-state grooves, 12-bit love and evocative harmo
Been a rough year, but I've kept going, working, improving. Still making cosmic new music. Hugely thankful to all my fans and especially my Patreon supporters for helping me keep doing this. Any more support would be literally lifechanging! If anyone wants to support I am on these platforms, thank youuuu xxx
https://www.wishlistr.com/smokethief https://www.paypal.me/smokethief http://ko-fi.com/smokethief http://patreon.com/smokethief
Thoughts on the MPC2000XL, its workflow and other drum machines
Introduction:
The MPC 2000xl was one of the most popular tools for hip-hop production in the mid-late nineties and continues to allure beat makers due to its fairly affordable price, big sound and the no-frills workflow it encourages.
Pete Rock and the MPC2000XL
As far as workflow goes, by modern standards it is quite limiting. Due to this I recommend tracking out to a DAW like Logic or Ableton.
I tend to record a basic beat and sample into the MPC, then track out each pad individually into Logic via a midi/audio interface (like a Focusrite Sapphire or Motu Ultralite).
If you use the midi sync option with a low buffer setting in your DAW, the timing will be near perfect. If you hit shift/midi sync. Select midi in to read midi clock. Then you just need to change your project settings in your DAW and make sure you set them so that they are sending midi Time info to the MPC. That way when you press play on your computer, the MPC sequence will launch at the same time. You can track out from the MPC via the individual outputs or simply via the stereo main out. I use the latter. If you track each hit out separately, you will have more control over eq and dynamics when it comes to fine-tuning the beat in your DAW.
Some general notes on operation:
1. OS 1.2 is a must because it lets you import Wavs (both 16bit and 24bit)
2. That said it is a glitchy OS. Save before any big macro-edit as if it hits the RAM ceiling, the unit will freeze. Things like timing correct, clip stretching all risk overloading the RAM so save often
3. Dynamics (varying volume) can play an important role in giving a beat more character. There is no subtle midi compression available, which is the unit’s biggest drawback really - there’s no way to softly limit the dynamic range of the pads. I recommend recording with full dynamics. You can macro edit the recording later if you want completely flat dynamics via the main screen/edit window - at the top select ‘Velocity.’ Then on the right select ‘set to.’ Alternatively you can use the ‘16 levels button, but that will only let you perform one sound at a time. It will allow you to control dynamics very precisely though. If you don’t need dynamics for sure, record with the Full Level button on.
4. A CF card upgrade is recommended for ease of use and data transfer/backup. Floppy disks suck and become increasingly incompatible the older the MPC you’re using. At this point MPC60 floppy disks are unreadable on most modern computers.
5. Step editing is a nightmare as it only shows the event at the exact time stamp you’re looking at, the later MPC 1000 presents the whole roll, but the MPC2000xl is less adept at editing beats. Best play it right the first time or record for longer sessions and select the best moments to form your beat.
6. ‘Timing Correct (MIDI quantization) is ok but permanent. As far as I know, you cannot unquantize something. So save your unquantized take before editing.
MF Doom rocking an MPC3000
It’s been a long time since this hardware came out. It’s easily overloaded and will likely crash if you’re running a lot of samples and running large-scale processes. That said it still has an impactful sound and presence that I have rarely heard in sample packs or through VST audio effects.
The pads while less responsive and balanced than newer models like the digital MPC studio, can take a beating and illustrate why the instrument is still popular on the live Hip-Hop and finger drumming circuits.
Onra playing two MPC1000s live
Personal thoughts:
Ultimately beatmaking comes down to two things for me,
1. Connecting to the rhythm
2. Making the drums sound integral to the song
In a world where most producers are working on laptops with a billion instruments, dongles, adaptors and cables connected, an in-the-box solution to beatmaking is attractive and you get the sense that the rhythm playing back has been precisely recorded as there are no cables involved.
The MPC 2000xl’s quantize doesn’t seem to quite shine like that of the mpc60, but that was Roger Linn’s seminal 1980s creation and this is by all means an instrument AKAI perhaps deliberately made to be an affordable solution.
The lack of midi compression is annoying, as it exists on other mpc’s, including the smaller MPC1000 (running JJOS).
DJ Shadow’s old room complete with epic vinyl library & MPC60II
I find myself using the 2000XL more as a tone modeler these days. I play in a beat, and if I like the timing I’ll track it as is. But with such variant dynamics, I’ll often just quickly single hit each sample and resample those recordings into a VST sampler like Battery or Logic’s in-built one.
Pete Rock is a producer that made a lot of hits on the MPC 2000xl, with a good sense of rhythm and a dope sample, it’s a minimalist solution to basic beatmaking. I personally would rather EQ on a computer as the fx on the MPC are basic at best, but a die-hard bestmaker I’m sure could get some pleasing results in the box.
Nowadays these only sell used. One of the. Cheaper MPCs going, but defo needs that CF upgrade to be user friendly. Floppy disks get lost, get broken, have just like 1meg of memory and are very unpredictable in terms of compatibility.
Honestly, I would rather spend a little more for the slinkier MPC1000, but if the MPC2000XL is what’s in your budget, it’s a fine starter kit for beatmaking.
For more advanced producers, it’s a handy tone modeler and certainly can give drums more personality than simply loading up the same ultra clean/digitally crunched samples that everyone else uses. Running your audio through real circuitry is a great way to put a personal stamp on something soundwise. The pitchshifting and tempo options are good quality and quite artistic, just make sure you save all sounds, programs and sequences prior to using them as this system is so heroic, it will often overdo it trying to meet your requests.
If buying used, a basic model should not cost more than 300 dollars, and I certainly wouldn’t pay more than 500 dollars for a CF equipped model.
Roger Linn and his brainchild, the Akai MPC60 (markII in this picture)
Alternatives:
The MPC3000 is better and more sought after, but is almost always 1000+ dollars. I personally find the MPC1000 with JJOS and an upgraded hard drive has the best workflow but the sound is a little crunchy and perhaps a little hard.
On this note, JJOS is a wonderful operating system that was created by a Japanese software developer. The customer service and functionality are both excellent.
The Mpc 60 and Emu SP1200 are both great machines and sound rich and classic but expensive, have memory limitations and are 12-bit, so they sound kinda retro too.
The original Roland SP404 is another option and has some great retro fx that have been much lauded.
More popular nowadays are the NI Maschine and the MPC Studio, but these do not involve external audio, instead holding their samples within the computer.
If you’re chasing credible hip-hop drum sounds, the MPC2000xl will do it. If you sample drums from vinyl records you’ll get the dirt and artifacts that often can be heard in older Hip-Hop records.
At the end of the day, I feel it’s about spending time with your beats and making a personal drum sound. Sample from records no one else does or process stock beats through amps, fx, rack units and stuff to make them more unique tonally.
The MPC2000xl will add a subtle amount of presence and crunch that will make even stock kits sound a little more integral to the track. That won’t matter to producers who don’t go deep on drums, but if you want to, an MPC can be a great way to enhance your drum sounds in an analog fashion.
Views from the pros
In the nineties a lot of record producers were using the MPCs to sculpt the sample and the beat and really just using that. It was a cheap, effective way to produce beats and was kind of charming in that you could do everything in a no-frills manner on one machine. Producers like DJ Premier, Dr Dre et al saw the benefits of using the MPC in the studio, often syncing it with Logic or other DAW.
DJ Premier used the MPC60 for decades and still rocks hits on the MPC60II. Pete Rock began using the MPC2000 and 2000XL because they had more memory than the MPC2000XL. Here’s an interesting interview about these legendary producers in these changing times. The limitations of MPCs are obvious, but to producers, so are the strengths.
DJ Premier in his epic studio. Note the various samplers and outboard gear and what looks like a modified MPC.
To end with, I thought I’d link a few artists and albums that make use of MPCs.
Users:
MF Doom has used various of machines cluding the 3000, 1000 and SP404 on various recordings and has waxed lyrical about JJOS.
The late Nujabes also apparently used the MPC2000XL alongside various other samplers. It’s possible he just used the 2000XL for his drum sounds as it’s easier to finely chop on other samplers.
Onra created the whole of his ‘Chinoiseries’ using the MPC1000.
DJ Shadow made ‘Endtroducing’ using the MpC 60II.
J Dilla is infamous for his use of the 3000 and the 1000. He DID NOT use quantize. For more information, see this video, with legendary drummer Questlove saying that Dilla’s use of no quantize was incredibly liberating to him.
Anyway, I hope this has been fun or at least informative. I would like to make more content like this if anyone wants to support me.
www.patreon.com/smokethief
I can't play piano so yolo these days, but i still like exploring the instrument and learning more about harmony. Today I got into some of the chords peculiar to the harmonic minor scale, hear are some things I noticed
(i) - interesting min/maj7 chordscale
(ii) - Diminished chord with a leading tone, useful for II/Vs and reinforcing the colour of the chordmode
(biii) Major#5 chordscale, can make a major chord by playing the first, third and seventh, but the augmented fifth sounds pretty yolo w.
(iv) another diminished chord. Could be used as a normal ii chord to move to start a ii+v into a different key(e.g Db major)
(v)bv Phyrgian Dominant chordscale - very colourful dominant sound
(bvi) min/Maj7 chordscale with a minor triad and major sixth. The characteristic first, minor third, 5th and major 6th are found in the dorian mode, however with a #4 and #7 this is a pretty gnarly chordmode lol. A major triad can also be formed here.
(vii) another diminished chord or actually it could also be a major chord with kind of lydian augmented extensions.
notes: full diminished chord (with seventh) available on ii, iv, bvi and viii)
It's possible to stray into some interesting modal territory from the harmonic minor, and utilizing chromatic movement. For example falling chords from Bb,A,G#,G(G# and G both being non-diatonic passing tones) down to a Gb leaves you just one semitone above the Dominant V chord and it's also a tritone from your ii diminished chord.
I am always drawn toward the Gb lydian chord scale, if you leave out the second degree, you're actually inkeeping with the Bb minor harmonic scale's pitches. Also the nearness of the F7 chord is very convenient. I found myself playing a kind of altered dominant sound (treating the flattened 6th as a raised 5th, forming a chord from the notes F,A,Db,Eb.
Cadences: The perfect cadence sounds pretty good in the harmonic minor (iv,v,i) A plagal cadence (i,ii,iv,i) sounds interesting, the diminished chord on iv gives some nice chromatic movement back to the i chord. An imperfect cadence (i, iv, i, v) seems chill. An interrupted cadence sounds hela-interesting, (i,iv,v,bvi)
Anyway, I hope to go through these ideas more methodically at some point, today i was just jazzin around today lol.
I think there are a lot of cool ways to change key. I mainly did ii/vs and using chromatic movement to glide into different keys and modes.
I also noticed, that a sense of melodic continuation really helped make the modulations sound purposeful (at times!), and the old ii/v/i helped to define the sense of the root scale. I'll get more into the cadence action next time.
Some of my experiments were probably more successful than others, but I enjoyed how epic'ly educational my day was!
If you would like to support my music and music theory adventures, you can at
www.patreon.com/smokethief
www.ko-fi.com/smokethief
paypal.me/smokethief
Thank you!
COOL!
www.patreon.com/smokethief
www.ko-fi.com/smokethief
Oops this still means everything 😭🎶💯💕💕😘 Now available to listen to in its entirety on YouTube - https://youtu.be/TZmD_sLrur4 https://www.instagram.com/p/BqR-1FzDHAm/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=r6bd8x3sz4tf
I am pretty LEGEND for getting this far with cfs and arthritis. I walk a lot which is why my time is like 1km in 9 min ww 慢性疲労症候群があるけどゆっくり走ったらなんとなくとこかへ行けるねww一キロメートルは9分だけどねWw https://www.instagram.com/p/BqRag5MDAAZ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=eixo6okxzvh5