Techno Beat Production: Honeysmack How I Make Improvised Acid Techno
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ส.ค. 2024
- This video was made for beat production students at The State University of New York (SUNY Broome County) back in October 2021 during the pandemic. It was recorded in my old studio before it was redesigned in early 2022. Here I discuss my overall approach and philosophy to making and performing live improvised techno. Performing with my "studio instrument" is at the core of what I do as live techno improvisor. There are excerpts from live performances throughout the video, with detailed explanations. This channel is supported by my Patreons, become a member here: / honeysmack and yes I also offer one-on-one tuition/lesson/coaching on making and performing live techno.
00:00 Intro - who am I
00:53 How I begin - pairing machines
02:10 Improvised approach - no saving!
02:46 Programming the 909 + 303 + DFAM
05:59 Using sequences
06:23 Mysteryland 2020 performance (excerpt)
11:07 I am not a DJ, how my approach differs to DJing
12:30 Performing in my studio
13:10 Non-traditional approach to music making
14:05 Exploring textural qualities - dub techno with Buchla Easel and Pulsar23
18:50 How I prepare for a live show
22:00 Awesome Soundwave III December 2020 live (excerpt) from Carl Cox's garage
30:36 Outro
Full performances featured in this video can be found here:
⚡️Honeysmack Live at Mysteryland 2020 • Honeysmack Live at Mys...
⚡️ Experimental Dub Techno Performance with Soma Pulsar 23 and Buchla Music Easel (Make It Up Club) • Improvised Experimenta...
⚡️Honeysmack | Awesome Soundwave Live Online Festival III (performed and recorded at Carl Cox's garage) • Honeysmack | Awesome S...
🕹 Follow me here:
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/ honeysmacked
Thanks to Dr. Ryan Ross Smith at SUNY Broome and his students for having me!
Photo: Richard De Silva, featured in Attack Magazine feature "My Studio" www.attackmagazine.com/featur...
#acidtechno
#techno
#livetechno
#technomusic
#tr909
#tb303
#honeysmack
#djmixer
#propertechno
#modularsynth
#eurorack
#moogdfam
#acidhouse - เพลง
I just found my soulmate or should I say philosophy master. Don´t agree on everything and the spaghetti cabling is tickling my OCD senses, but man, you´re an inspiration of how to set things up and not get lost in the details of this or that machine. I´ve been in the "save everything" camp and got lost in endless automation edits in the DAW - but didn´t get happy with that. Your approach otoh, I´m sure you still save - but in your brain. Rhythms and patterns I´d say, method knowledge, hardware abstraction layer. Because this can then be translated to any "machine of the day" that may add offer feature x only to miss feature y. Definition of a much more resilient path to creativity, very inspirational.
I also admire the coexistence of classic OG machines and new gear, even the "evil B" clone right next to the devilfish. This points to a no BS approach, no prejudices, looking at what a machine can do and then use it. Much, much better than being in one of those bubbles like "analog only", "no vintage crap" or "everything in the box". The results speak for themselves.
Thank you for sharing!
thank you friend, appreciate the honest feedback. In my opinion, "Saving" is not part of the creative process, yet many feel it is as many music technology brands market the feature of "more memory" or more ways to save as an essential quality...pppfft! It all seems like a hangover from traditional music making, with a focus on "memorizing" and "perfecting" ones' technique... which is just so boring, computers have won that game. Limitation is the key to great creative outcomes 😎
The slow track with the Buchla Easel is georgeous - could listen for hours how it's evolving.
...so there is a HoneySmack and Surgeon doing things in their own way:)... music as creative process, no savings!
humbled, thank you
Superb video, so nice to get to get such a clear explanation of your workflow. Loved it!
thank you, much appreciated!
Very cool vid! You're an inspiration man! The VR venue I built is centered around you telling me about how you play in the middle of the floor only. We got hardware guys performing every week for Modular Monday. I've taken a lot of things you shared with me to heart about improvising too. Cheers!
love it and thank you, hope you're well Tom!
What venue is this?! 🤤
Fantastic video. Thanks for ur work.
Keep on feeling and making the groove. Acid house is Jazz through electricity. Sweet.
Great video man! Love the idea of not going back to the past or taking anything into the future and just playing in the moment. Your sets are always great to listen to and watch!
Thank you 🙏🏼
I absolutely love the way you are playing live! An amazing mastery!
Thanks for making this and explaining - loved the dub techno track with the subtle textures and rhythms
Respect for Your DAWless Workflov! Congrats!
Wow! The Mysteryland performance was something unheared, really enjoyed it.
thank you - all done during covid lockdown too!
Amazing, I am a huge fan of your work.
Thanks! Really enjoyed it.
on of the best live performer here !!!
Started getting into drum machines and synths during covid and now I am hooked still not went near a daw and never will I love the way you do it
Really enjoyed this, thank you for the video, I learned a lot.
Awesome time jamming with you!!! Thank you!
Wow friend. Very nice studio and instrument. Great sound
Thank's Honeysmack. You are by far the most inspiring musician to me. I appreciate the attitude you have when performing, there is so much to take from that. The overall philosophy you have towards making music resonates in my head, can't stop thinking how right you are !
oh thanks friend, humbled 🙏🏼
Nice, nice, nice. Great insight in your music making. Inspiring. Love it.
🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
Dream gear I wish I could afford on there lol . Great to see another creator of a similar age to me still producing . I like to dj and jam live together making on the fly remixes live . Which I mostly do from software not hardware . Using launchpads and Tablets routed through my decks .
Thank you for this grate educational video. I used to listen to you at Filter on Wednesdays at the Lounge in the late 90s. I was always using a PC for music production but in the last few years I went crazy acquiring gear. Been able to transition to hardware production over a year of practice or so. Thanks for all the years of grate music. You have been a grate inspiration.
👊🏻🙏🏼
Great breakdown. Exactly how I want to perform with my own gear when I one day get it all imtegrated correctly.
Me three 😍🙏🌌
Awesome
Thank you for sharing this, so very interesting. Lovely to hear from you, how you do it. No headphones either.
I would love to see you live, hope you come to Sydney, and I hear about it
What an absolute talent.
Thanks mate! I’m playing in Sydney on Feb 11 Oxford Art Factory
Inspiring!
Great Video
J'adore !!! ❤
wow much respect, as all my hardware is in boxes now and only working from my laptop... love it, great job, inspiring tbh!
what I never really understand is how the mix always sounds so well balanced, seems back in the days when I jammed live and recorded it, there was always something off
trust your ears!
Yes, this brings me back. Thank you for sharing this and keeping the traditional methods alive. I miss my smoke filled dungeon with 2x303s 909 808 and pro one sessions with nary a daw in sight. We did save to reel to reel and cassette though.
👊🏻
@@Honeysmack 🫵
amazing
Awesome video!!
Thanks for the visit
Woot! Great stuff, mate! 😁👊
Thanks friend ! 😀
This is how it have to be!
Nothing quite like fresh live cultured acid.
Honeysmack stayed with it from back in the day.
Who else was there performing improv blip & fart in Melbourne, TR Storm, Bubble & Squeak now who else was there....
The ye olde shuffle days weren't conducive to the best memory recall.
humbled, thank you
I think voiteck and zen paradox / Steve Law were doing the live thing back in the day. Soulenoid as well. Not sure how improv they were, though.
@@okradokrad Voiteck, that's who I'd forgotten. yep and Zen Paradox, don't know Soulenoid maybe after my time. Cheers.
Awsome! 😁
Walk On Acid is still the greatest fkn track to ever hit the Melbourne club scene. Would kill for it on vinyl in particular one of the cuts, that was on the CD single which is nowhere online. You're a pioneer of acid and a legend Honeysmack
Humbled, thank you
Well done! My biggest challenge sometimes is trying to identify what genre I'm in, let alone how to create the relevant content . . . your video here addresses both with great examples of the concept.
why does genre matter - do what make you happy first!
Wonderful,.just Subbed
great video ! I come from reggae & dub culture and I appreciate your work! great mood!👍
dub and the approach to making and performing are crucial to my practice
One way I try and use preset sequences is as “callbacks” to earlier parts of a set. Like, if I like a groove I came up with, I’ll save the relevant sequences and if I remember to use them, they’re a nice way to add musicality. By then, all the knobs have changed anyways so it’ll be the same groove different style, if that makes any sense.
that's a great label for using sequencers, nice work!
You are awesome 😍😍😍
no, you are awesome 🙏
Enjoyed that. Think you got more gear than me. That Buchla looks amazing. Great vid.
thank you!
more content on "The why". I love my main piece of gear, sometimes because I can shut it off without saving after getting really deep. My music related friends looked at me like I was nuts for just shutting it off without saving.
I like your music, it's really incredible! 🔥 🔥 🔥 God Bless 🙌 🙏
Awesome work! I’m brand new to electronic music, so it’s very interesting to see how other people operate.
and hey I like your videos too!
@@Honeysmack Thanks!
Just discovered you bro, inspirational ❤😊
🙌
Nice Sherman FILTERBANK.
A true techno Artist. Great work.
Many thanks!
You are you ❤
Great video man! I'm by no means dialed in to the techno world. Yeah I produce for fun and occasionally live set but over he last few years I've seen a big shift in more people improvising and I love it. Even though people(thr minority)have been improvising since the beginning, I hope this is the next phase of techno. ✌️
thanks friend. Not sure if this is the next phase, it is the only way I've made techno for almost 3 decades!
@Honeysmack Many of the legends and you most certainly are one of them this was/is the way. It seems like it was lost somewhere along the line and is now gaining momentum from the "younger" producers. I love to see it as well. Nothing more pure! Thanks for the reply.
Man I was not aware about your music until today. I’m also a huge dawless fan and learning to make impros with my gear. I learnt from this video that it is more important to feel and pay attention at what’s coming next than being concerned about the in-tune, in-scale or the 4 or 8 bar loops and variations.
I’d appreciate if you have a quick look at my latests impros in my channel and give me some feedback.
Cheers from Madrid.
Thank you man. You’re an great inspiration. Any chance to see & hear you live somewhere in Europe 2023?
thanks! yes we working on it...see you soon
Hey Man big love from Lukey @ BFG sound system Melb.... That dub tec with the west coast synth is fat n filthy i really dig it id like to chat with you about some gigs in the near future, Uncle Carl is spot on your dedicated and eclectic musician has been an asset, and a staple of the Melbourne sound the Rave and now Doof Culture we are known for all over the world .. Thanks for the memories!
humbled 🙏🏼
BFG sound system ❤
Shizzle 😘
14:44 🤩👍
Thank you so much for your nuts-&-bolts process walkthrough, and even more so for sharing your philosophical approach to your art! As a 30+ years singer & guitar guy (and not much for computers), getting into making dawless electro music has been my Covid project, and fully-improvised live sets have been my goal from the beginning.... IT has been a bit of a struggle, as my initial learnings in this world have shown that most people making electro music absolutely do not have their focus on live improvisation! 😕 Improvising, overall in the community, seems to be regarded as a bit of a bugaboo, something one does mainly at home in preparing for a really polished live set with some aspects of improvisation laid over a very highly-constructed set of prearranged structures 🤷♂️
This sort of focus does not really work well for me, and i scour TH-cam looking for people who are actually making totally live improvised sets with hardware only; the pickings are slim! Juju & Jordash are the only ones that pop into my mind who are pure improvising performers, and i am so thankful to have run across your video here, and gained more awareness for my goals from your techniques and perspectives in your art 🙏🙏🙏
A quick question off the cuff for you: One of my main goals in this improvisational performing is to be able to flow into different feels and genres, as i feel inspired during a set.... Your example musics in this video seem to stay fairly firmly in the acid and techno areas; do you ever find yourself drifting into other styles and genres during a set? And if so, do you find IT feasible to actively construct and deconstruct into a very different genre on the fly? How doable is this to you in your process? 🤷♂️
Thank you again so very much for your inspiration 🙏🙏🙏🌌
Thanks for your kind words and a lengthy comment! Hobbyists seems to be more concerned about what other people think, and tend to primarliy "working" on something that has no end! Whereas pros are driven by finishing and getting the work done. Mixing genres, sure, I guess that's a subjective choice. In my experience teaching people at universities - trying to demonstrate all your technique/genre/creativity into one work is kinda "music school" and rather boring, in my opinion. Colliding styles/genres that merge as one is where the gold is! 😎😎😉
@@Honeysmack Well i just really appreciate everything you're putting out there! i've got enough ideas to chew on just from your video to keep me trying new things for a while.... May the cosmos bring us all health and joy in the new year! 🙏🎉🌌
Such an amazing philosophy, thanks for sharing - it’s like you treat all your gear like a set of African drums, no saving, just playing and using each for the best sound it makes.
Wondering if you ever feel the need to consciously break out of a “comfort zone” or just continually go with the flow? Sounds amazing either way.
Thank you, love your analogy! As an improvisor I thrive on continual exploration of the different gear permutations for each work. Never settling or being comfortable is my comfort zone. I explain this further in my PhD.
@@Honeysmack i would absolutely love to read your PhD 😍🙏🌌
...I do't sav, dont use HP and no cueing:)!! I agree this is the way!, me too, no saving patterns, no HP, ust music going on live....
The texture is really cool at the begginnig of the mix ... how you do that ?
Dawless rulezzzzzz
Noice 😎
🤟🤟🤟🔥
Amazing content and video. I wonder what would be the minimum amount of equipment you would need, or recommend, in order to perform a techno live set. That would actually be super valuable info for people starting and wanted to perform live, and start organising and be aware of minimal needs to. Thanks for sharing!
thank you - I guess you'd need at least one machine. These days there's so much to choose from, all from a variety of music tech brands. Let your imagination and budget guide you, nothing is wasted. Embrace the journey not the destination.
Probably start with a Elektron Digitakt, Elektron RYTM mk1 or Roland TR8S. They all have different trade offs, the digitakt is a sampler and midi sequencer, the rytm does everything but it costs more, the TR8s plays samples and has some FM synthesis but can't sequence other gear with midi, although it's got more controls. They can all sequence drums and basic techno melodies and all cost around $1000. It's an expensive hobby! I started with the TR8S a Behringer TD3 and soon after a Eowave Quadrantid Swarm. I didn't have many limitations at that point.
check my channel, I have very minimal setup for playing live music, nowadays with cheap synths you dont need to break the bank
Thanks for taking the risks Honeysmack. The squeeze is worth the juice...or honey in this case I guess. :)
🍯🍯🍯🐝🐝🐝
❤🎉
Great video. I’m still confused as hell though
Thanks you. Embrace the chaos... I'm forever confused! 😁
How do you use things like the octatrack in improvisational ways. I love elektron but i find the workflow to resist improvising a lot
The OT is an improvisational beast.. along with pretty much every Elektron box. Might I suggest, it is not the specific box or device, rather one's approach 😉😃
what is written on the orange sticky notes, in that picture of your setup
when I set-up my gear for a show, sometimes I need to route audio in different ways than first intended so I write it down so I have it clearly in front of me. Also I sometimes write a bunch new patterns during set-up and I jot down which patterns might be good... but again, not in any prescriptive way.
May I have a question: I understand you don't use headphones, but if you did plug one in the Model 1, and cue-d the channel, turned volume to zero, can you hear a what sounds like an extreme bit-crushed crackle from whatever sound that channel is receiving? I tried a Model 1 and found this bug. Would like to know if it's unique to that mixer, or all Model 1s. Thanks, and super thanks for your "studio tour". ,'-)
I have heard of someone else having possibly a similar issue, although not present on my mixer.
@@Honeysmack Thanks, very helpful.
Great video, in the early 2000's I sold all my gear, the sh-101, tb-303, tr-808. And yes, im sad about it now :/ Been back at it making music since a couple of months now, and filled up my home studio with all kinds of Elektron gear, Digitakt, Tone, Octatrack and the Analog heat. Also own a couple of korg volca's I bought in the past couple of years, just because I thought the were cute :). Question is do you ever see yourself selling or replacing the older retro gear and replace it with something more modern? Or do you still like the sound better, bc workflow wise its a bit of a hassle I think. Im looking for a nice TB-303 still but have to ask myself, do I do it for the sake of times that were... Or am I better off just buying the remake Roland did. Anyways, great video and keep up the great work.
I see all kinds of modern versions of gear while i'm watching it again, how do they compare to the real thing?
@@pythic-nl Appreciate the kind word, thank you 🙏🏼 New gear vs old gear - it doesnt matter! People make music not gear 😉Does a 1968 Fender Strat Customshop guitar sound better than a $200 strat copy - does it matter, no! Only hobbyists or collectors care about such detail. I have vintage gear because it was cheap when I bought it 30+ years ago, there's no way I'd buy a super vintage machine today, they're more like trophies these days. No one bought a 101, 303, 808 or 909 back in the day because it sounded good in the 1980s, we bought them because they were cheap or the only thing available. Producers are immensely lucky that gear is sooooooo cheap, plentiful and accessible these days. Great times!
@@Honeysmack Thank you for your reply. Appreciated :) Subscribed now and keep em coming :)
Don't buy the New Roland 303. I'm lucky enough to have purchased 3 Avalons when they were available. I would set my eyes on the Behringer TD-3 MO. Many that sucks, I regret setting gear. I wish I was rich so I didn't have to sell shit to buy shit. Really pisses me off.
@Pete Testube yep, the simple TD3 is good enough.
Amazing, I wonder if when one is doing improv like this, does counting bars and measures matter to the performance!?! True experienced music can have structure without counting but I wish to what the pros think about counting bars and measures when doing improvised session
Thank you, there's no counting as such, I wouldn't have the brain capacity with everything else going on! Although I think there's always a natural propensity to feel the rhythm and groove when it comes to all forms of dance music.
its much better if you're able to stick to a structure, but its hard to keep it on the long run. you get to feel it... djing helps a lot to develop your "internal clock"
@@Honeysmack I was just playing live today and this exact question came up to my mind couple times. I think with your vast experience it just becomes natural to make transitions to other sounds when it's the best time to do so.
on the other hand, why even bother keeping track of bars? There are no rules in art
@@MSHRadio-dj5zn As an improvisor, I'm not playing back songs/tracks - each performance is a singular work. So there are a number of factors contributing to how the work evolves over a 60mins performance, from the gear (and its limitations), place, environment, audience and so on.
Is your OT doing the sequencing for the moogs etc
no master sequencer, all gear is sequenced from their own sequencer. No DAW, no Octatrack sequencing!
1:14 Why this mixer? I’ve seen some others with it. It’s an Allen&Heath, right?
Looks like the Play Differently 1 or 1.4 to me. They have a great sound output and some unique features.
What do you use as your Master MIDI/Sync Clock?
I would also like to know that 👍🏻
It varies for every performance and recording. Typically it is the Octatrack, although it can be the MachineDrum, TR-909 or TR-808 or something completely different.
@@Honeysmack thanks for that. I've found my TR-909 to be a little loose as MIDI Master. We've moved across to the ERM Multiclock, but need to work around the challenge or the subset of gear for live work, in a similar way that you do. We might experiment with our Elektron stuff or EMX1's.
@@GodlikeAu Elektron boxes are pretty good as the source clock... as for vintage machines embrace all their limitations, its what makes them so special!
How confident would you be replacing your TR909 with a Behringer RD9 for a while if something happened to your TR909 and you had to get it repaired?
Peace
110% confident - the RD-9 sounds great and plays very well. Disclaimer: I was a beta-tester for the RD-9 so naturally I am biased!! 😉
@Honeysmack I know you beta tested the RD9, great to know that my RD9 can be a reliable master clock..my current master clock is a MC909...love the MC.
Thanks for the reply.
✌️
Where does the money for the gear come from?
Just buy a synth or drums machine per year and you will have a lot of gear soon. Speed it up with 2 drum machines or synths per year.
It’s a conspiracy, you buy something then use it to make something amazing, then simply rinse and repeats
Probably from some day job and not spending on money sinks like vacations, cars, watches and needless bling. Focus! Or maybe he is just saving massively by skipping the hairdresser´s appointments.
I am sure Q-ing a synth could help eliminate hick ups. Some times an acid pattern just don’t fit and you need to find another fast
nah, there's no real hick-ups, no mistakes, no errors as such... everything is embraced and tends to fit because nothing is prescriptive - that's why I don;t need to cue anything. It's hard to cue something whilst you're improvising, otherwise you're simply not improvising. The parts that perhaps don;t fit or dont sound right are the moments that change the direction of the performance. (hope that makes sense)
@@Honeysmack I hear why. Okay 👍🏻 good job teacher. I need to push through those and go with it.
Analogue acid
28:48 Hey, isn't that part accidentally sampled from Drumcode 11 or something? 😏🤔 which means isn't yours and totally life really..' 😊
there is a short drum loop in there from the Octatrack, but it would have come from chopping up a jam I did in my studio. Not from drumcode, although I was a big fan in the mid 1990s. Probably similar sounding drum machines such as the 909 and 606!!
Where do you get the energy to do all this? You're an old man!
really, I'm old noooooooooooooooooo - ok I'll consider stopping immediately! Sorry to upset you 😱🤣🤣
@@Honeysmackplease do Not stop! 😢
Always fear the old man in a young man’s game
@@mrgum6y 😉😉😉
@@Honeysmack dont stop be the leading way guys for all us young techno lovers like bird cut air for us so we cude fly eazyer :D
Schmutz
thank u for this video i like old scool techno!!!!!!i like groovebox ROLAND MC series!!!!!!!!!!!!