What is MIDI Modulation? How to Make Awe-Inspiring Generative Music!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ก.ย. 2024
- Looking for new musical ideas? Midicake ARP's modulation superpowers will generate original music ideas that stand out and let your creative talents shine.
MIDI Modulation is an incredibly powerful technique that works on the fundamental building blocks of music to uncover an almost unlimited wealth of new musical melodies, rhythms and beats that can drive your inspiration.
Let's take a look at some amazing modulation examples and build a track together.
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As a fingerstyle guitar player, this is the sequencer that "clicked" for me. I tend to think in arpeggios and this has been an amazing lil' buddy for developing counterpoint.
That's awesome to hear!
I see this someday in my toolbox.
I spy wabbit everywhere !
This breakbeat drum example is really inspiring
Thanks, This technique is a lot of fun when used with sliced samples. Make sure to set note and scale locks in ARP to ensure you send the right MIDI notes to your sampler. Have fun!
Too easy for such a fantastic result!
It does produce exciting results with very little effort. The range of possibilities and scope for experimentation are huge!
I'm interested in automating modulations in MIDI according to ideas put forth in the Schillinger System. In particular, I'd like to start with an initial sequence of notes, and then modulate those note pitches by a sequence of intervals. The result could then be quantized to a particular scale, or not. Most importantly, the length of the two sequences can be different-- for example, a 7 step looping base sequence could be modulated by a 5 step looping interval sequence, resulting in an end result that repeats at 35 steps.
A further feature would be the ability to store a collection of these interval sequences to be called up in real-time during performances.
I've constructed and programmed a little MIDI box using an Arduino that facilitates some of this, but uses an Arturia Beatstep Pro for the base sequencer, and an Arturia Keystep as the interval sequencer. My custom box does the modulation, producing the modulated MIDI sequence.
To what extent would the Midicake Arp be able to replace as well as enhance what I'm doing in my current setup?
If I understand your requirement correctly, i think you'll find ARP a very close match for you needs.
The "Notes" would equate to the sequence of steps as constructed in ARP's SET Mode. The "Intervals" would be the "Global Scale", defined in ARP's PLAY Mode (using ARP's chord machine or an external keyboard).
It is the combining of these two sets of data/structures that produce the complex sequences. It is this same separation of the musical components that allow you to change the input notes without changing the rules of the underlying structure.
ARP makes it possible to build almost any polyrhythm or polymeter, using patterns and modulation, that affect not just note intervals but many other musical elements; timing rests, pace, ornament etc.
I'd recomend exploring some of the other videos in the "Exploring ARP" playlist.
ARP has it's own ways and language, yet it's easy to get into and quick to achieve great results. I think you'll find it very interesting, given your current project.
I'd be happy to talk through your approach and requirements in more detail, and answer any quesrions directly. Contact us via the website or post on our forum. I'm always keen to explore this stuff, it's fun!
Definitely an outstanding Midi machine. Intuitive and quick access to all parameters - easy to use and powerful.
Hi. Is the arp able to modulate the pitch of a sequence/arpeggio and keep the notes in a specified key? Thanks.
Yes 100%. All 4 tracks share the same note set (chord or scale) and you can shift the pitch of the sequences individually up and down the scale. You can also lock individual tracks to a specific note and/or chord/scale.
👍👍🏻👍🏼👍🏽👍🏾👍🏿
Beetlecrab Tempera
Looks really interesting and its organic playability would pair well with ARP's complex arpeggios. Worth looking into.
@@midicakemidiI’m getting a Tempera next month. If I keep it I’ll get an Arp to pair with it.
I play drums. I know nothing about midi.. or sythns.. but I think this thing looks brilliant. I've been wanting to grab a synth, and found myself looking at this as a possible "brain" or companion. My question of the day is, could this be used with a sample drum pad ( more specifically the korg mps-10 ) or an edrum module, to create new loops and rythms? Or would I need a synth/groovebox for this to work?
It really depends what you want to do for drums and synths.
If you want to program your own drum patterns, then your best bet will be a groove box. However, if you want to generate new ideas for drum patterns and make breaks that are a little more "out there" , or you just don't want to program, you'll find ARP very interesting.
The same is true for Synths, ARP is brilliant for generating ideas. You're not starting with a blank canvas, it can give you inspiration. If you'd rather record your own patterns a step sequencer would be a better starting option but then you don't have the ability to modulate and evolve those patterns the way ARP can.
Regarding specific drum machines, each have different MIDI Mappings. So matching ARP's note output to the sample pads needs a bit of setup, but the same could be said of any sequencer.
So like I say it depends what you want to achieve and how you want to make music.
I hope that helps.
@@midicakemidi Wow, thank you for the fast response! That's exactly what I'd like to use it for, more of a generative idea machine. My initial thought was that I could send midi notes from a selected kit on the MPS10 to ARP, and then sample something I like back into the pad so I have a funky bassline/ melodic rythm/ drum break/ or whatever, that can be triggered on the pad in a more performance/live type of setting.
I've watched some of you're other videos so I have a very generalized idea of ARPs capabilities with a synth or groovebox. I guess I wasn't sure if Arp needed the device to have a built in sequencer to send program changes, or if it just needed the midi notes from the device and it does the rest of the heavy lifting on its own.
Forgive my ignorance if what I'm saying doesn't make sense. Korg has a midi implementation chart that could help clear the air:
www.korg.com/us/support/download/manual/0/929/5113/
I honestly don't know what any of this means (besides that the chart looks very small and limited compared to others I googled) , but since this thing has a ton of percussive kits/ scalable instruments/ loops/ cc parameters, and onboard effect presets, I'm wondering what these two are capable of together, without having to immediately go out and get a synth to accompany them.
@@seanzies ARP only uses MIDI input to set it's global chord/scale (i.e. the pool of notes from which ARP builds it's sequences). ARP has it's own Note and Chord buttons that can be used for this purpose (in PLAY Mode) so it doesn't need input.
It will output sequences that you can capture in a groovebox, or simply play synths and drum pads live.
The groovebox's MIDI charts will cover all it's pads, and that's all you need. The key is configuring ARP to play exactly those MIDI notes, which is easy to set up.
@@midicakemidi that's fantastic news. thanks so much for this information 🙏
How does it compare with the NDLR?
There's some discussion on this topic on the Elektronauts forum. www.elektronauts.com/t/midicake-arp/177927/40
From my perspective, ARP and NDLR are quite different devices. Although you can achieve similar results with both, they are each quite complex and have a different workflow.
NDLR is a great device, I have one and have explored it a lot. It has a 7 chord interval system that I found very intuitive and rewarding but a little limiting. ARP doesn't limit you when it comes to chord selection, it's easy to create almost any chord progression, including custom chords and scales. The freedom to explore is pretty much unlimited (within western music scales at least).
The other key difference is that ARP will track your incoming MIDI notes and create sequences that follow along. It uses this "note set" as a pool of notes from which all tracks build their sequences. In this way it makes a great accompaniment to keyboard playing. NDLR uses an external keyboard only to trigger the 7 chords of its currently selected key/scale.
As shown in this video, ARP's superpower is in modulating the parameters of its sequence engine. You can create sequences that are virtually impossible using other methods but importantly, it's not random, you don't lose your lovely melodies and it is always repeatable.
ARPs is also in active development. As I say in this video: th-cam.com/video/q2QPXWnFLh4/w-d-xo.htmlsi=VK_RU0YRke4pxzap, ARP is a passion project and was built as a platform to develop new and innovative ideas. There's a long roadmap for firmware updates that are free to existing owners.
The last update, V5, for example, extended the timing functionality to cover Poly Meters (timings that MIDI devices normally cannot achieve). V6 is due for imminent release and brings some amazing new features such as Chops, Ratchets and Modulatable Pattern Sequencing. I think Conductive Labs said they will not be providing future updates for NDLR.
I hope that helps.
@@midicakemidi It does, thanks for all the details and agree with you on the NDLR limitations listed above (the fix chords interval but mostly the limited firmware/features updates perspectives from Conductive Labs). Even tho I'm an avid user of the device, I'll definitely look up for this lovely ARP.
It seems fun, but can it do anything you can't do with an Oxi One?
ARP is a fundamentally different workflow. Rather than step sequencing from a blank canvas or relying on an algorithmic approach, ARP starts making music as soon as you press play. You then modify the sequences by combining the parameters (musical building blocks). Then modulate those parameters to create complex and long-running musical melodies. It's not a random generator, the sequences are always repeatable. You also have complete freedom to explore chord progressions, plus conventional or customizable scales, all while the sequences continue to obey your rules; maintaining your musical idea but letting you change the mood of the music. It's not a step sequencer, it is a fast way to new music.