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A live, semi-improvised jam, performed entirely on the Akai Force, with the OTO Boum adding compression and a little "colour".

The Force is an instrument I've been meaning to give a proper spin for a long time. On paper it sounded like the perfect groovebox to me, especially with recent updates emphasizing performance macros on the knobs, pads, crossfader, and screen, all at once! In combination with its full array of sound design types (synths, drum machines, samplers, effects) it seemed to have all the bases covered. Plus I'm already quite fond of the modern MPC line and it obviously has a lot of overlap with those devices.

Quite honestly, the Force didn't make a very good first impression for me: the device feels too big on the table, simple things on the MPC were more complicated on the Force, and I couldn't get synth sounds I really liked. With more exploration, the Force started to make more sense, and when I got to the stage where I was setting macros for a live performance, the device really started to shine. While I didn't like some of the early steps, I'm super happy with the end results, and had a lot of fun performing on it, so much so that I'm looking forward to doing it again.

I'd also like to thank Justin de Vesine for the inspiration. This track was part of a collaboration on my Patreon this month. Members of my Patreon community each sent a "starting point" to another member, and then we each created songs with those starting points. Justin was gracious enough to send me some cool drums and guitar, which you can hear filtered/reversed/otherwise altered off the top of the song. Plus, Justin's samples inspired me to write the piece in 6/4, a time signature I haven't used in a while. Thanks, Justin!

Performed and recorded live via a stereo output through the OTO Boum, with additional EQ, compression, and limiting on the master.

https://jayhosking.bandcamp.com