Hi all
In the live stream I said I'd post some info about my favourite functions and effects and how I approach live performances. For now I'm not going to do too much explanation since @yaxu will be covering everything in his videos, but if you want to find out more you can check out the Tidal documentation. I've divided these into a few rough sections based on what I use them for.
Patterns:
-
fast
/slow
(if you watch any of my videos you'll probably see me usingdensity
sometimes, which is the same asfast
- it used to be called that and I can't quite break the habit of using it!) -
jux
- applies a transformation in one speaker only, creating neat stereo effects -
iter
- starts the pattern on a different foot each cycle -
rev
- plays the pattern in reverse -jux (rev)
is a really easy way to create variety -
{}
- technically part of the mininotation but I use {} and overlapping patterns A LOT -
range
(sine
,tri
andsaw
) - continuous patterns are a really handy way of automating values -
every
- I useevery
a lot to pattern changes and to create structure (using a lot of overlapping patterns can get a bit muddy sometimes, so patterning thingsevery 4
orevery 8
helps add clarity)
Samples:
-
loopAt
- is a good way to manipulate samples (particularly long ones) - Tidal will change the speed of the sample playback to match the number of cycles you specify - e.g.loopAt 4
will stretch or squash a sample to repeat every 4 cycles. Good for happy hardcore and also noise/drone (v versatile function) -
chop
- chops the sample into bits -
striate
- chops the samples into bits and rearranges them
Effects:
-
shape
- waveshape distortion. I use this a lot on drums. -
pan
- pans the sound left and right -
lpf
/hpf
- low pass/high pass filter -
speed
- always fun to manipulate the speed of samples (try using negative numbers to play stuff backwards) -
vowel
- applies a vowel filter
Randomness:
-
randslice
- chops the samples into bits and plays back a random bit each cycle. Good for getting a long sample and using it like a short one (try it withpebbles
for a kindof hi hat sound) -
rand
- generates a random number between 0 and 1 -
irand
- generates a random integer between 0 and the number specified -
sometimes
- randomly applies the transformation. I can't remember the % chance but think it's 50%? You can usesometimesBy
to dictate how often something might happen e.g.sometimesBy 0.2 (slow 2)
will slow the pattern down 20% of the time -
degradeBy
- removes elements of the pattern at a rate of chance you dictate (e.g.degradeBy 0.1
has a 10% chance of removing an element). Good for weird fadeouts. I probably overuse it to be honest.
Bonus:
-
hurry
- hurry is a combination offast
andspeed
so e.g.hurry 2
will play a pattern back twice as fast while also doubling the playback speed of each sample. I'll typically patternhurry
to occur only sometimes - e.g.sometimes (hurry 2)
orevery 4(hurry "0.5 2")
Phew, that's a bit long! Feel free to give me a shout with any questions. In a later post I'll talk about how I prepare for a live performance and some other performance techniques and tools I find helpful