MicroFreak: Episode 3 (Arps and Sequences)

This is the fourth video in my series about the Arturia MicroFreak. The MicroFreak has an interesting arpeggiator+sequencer combo with a lot of features. I cover the basics of using the arpeggiator, the Spice and Dice features, and recording sequences. I also talk a little about syncing the MicroFreak with other gear.

TIMELINE BELOW

CHANNEL UPDATE - I've had the following idea: KEEP the same approximate upload schedule for the standard channel videos [overviews, tutorials, concepts, etc.] and then ADD IN some new content along the way. I've always wanted this channel to be sort of relaxing, enjoyable to listen to, as well as interesting/educational - so I'm planning to start uploading 5-10 minute ambient music/soundscape/videos, alternating with the standard videos. I want my new overall upload schedule to be every 5 days. Why ambient music? Because I really love listening to it and would like to understand more about making it. I've been trying to play it on the piano since before I knew what it was called and now I have quite a bit of electronic music gear for the exploration. Some of this is gear that I haven't really used on the channel yet, so this is a great opportunity to share that, and I want to include other things like tapes, loops, acoustic recordings, etc. - as well as working entirely in a DAW, iOS, PureDate, and more - which I normally don't do for the channel. I intend to put some fairly detailed discussions in these video descriptions (not planning to appear or talk in the ambient videos, btw), and, as always, I hope that this new type of video invites comments and discussion with you. I've decided to just call every one of these new videos Delta_Wave_mmss (where the mmss is the video length), for now at least. Thanks for watching!

TIMELINE

00:00 MicroFreak synced with Korg Volca Beats

00:36 Intro

01:38 Arpeggiator Basics

05:53 Arpeggiator: Pattern Mode (i have found this to be a really interesting feature)

10:35 Spice and Dice (maybe another short MF video down the road just about these settings. i found it kind of hard to accurately and completely explain them in a short segment. being able to SEE their effects within a DAW - via MIDI - is probably the best way to understand them.)

14:52 Mod Matrix Redux (using the key/arp modulation source, with arps and sequences, can give a lot of cool effects. this can be sort of like a filter keyboard tracking feature, but where anything can be the modulation target [not just the cutoff frequency]. note: it is the NOTE, not the pitch. so pitch modulations don't impact this modulation source.)

17:38 Sequencer: Real-Time Recording

20:51 Sequencer: Step Recording

23:33 Modulation Sequences (oh boy, i REALLY fricked up the audio in this part! i had my headphones [left ear only] plugged into a field recorder for the synth sound, as usual, BUT the field recorder line-in cable was apparently just DANGLING. the MicroFreak was going into a tabletop SPEAKER instead of the field recorder, and my brain was like "well, i hear it fine". i'd already broken down the setup, but was able to kind of salvage the segment by using the camera's audio to hear the synth. sorry for the poor quality. FORTUNATELY, you can hear the final result - correct quality - in the last part of the video, along with a PO-32 Tonic adding drums.)

26:51 Outro. Channel update discussion.

28:54 MicroFreak synced with PO-32 Tonic. Discussion of synchronization how-to. The "Spice It Up" card is from a really nice tea and spice shop that I visited while passing through Black Mountain, NC a few weeks ago.

LINKS

www.arturia.com