Video game mood music with Dirtywave M8 Tracker

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A full performance on the Dirtywave M8 Tracker, using its synths, sampler, sequencer, and effects.

At the end of August, I went on a trip, my first proper holiday in about ten years. I brought two small pieces of gear with me but used only one: the M8. I had expected to find the M8 too static or non-performative to be enjoyable, but I was drawn in by its fantastic sounding synthesizer designs, sampler with lots of editing and control, lush effects (reverb, delay, chorus), and workflow that led to new ideas. The M8 fits well in the hands, feels good to use, and has a great battery life. It's the perfect portable idea machine for me at the moment, easy enough to stash on any outing, and powerful enough that its sounds are inspiring.

This video isn't a "jam" by any means, simply me pressing play and letting the M8 go. This is the M8's biggest drawback, in my opinion: it isn't conducive for live, dynamic performance. But that said, I imagine that I'll be using the M8 to create stems—it has a stem export feature—and then loading the stems into something more performative, like the Octatrack. It's a great little idea machine and gives me fodder for jams later.

If you're looking for a portable device for coming up with musical ideas, the M8 might be a good choice.

Thanks for listening.

The recording has EQ, compression, and limiting on the master.

https://jayhosking.bandcamp.com