Live Techno Series #4 - MC-909 & Virus - Simon Stokes

YouTube via siedgey
"Thanks for checking this out!

This is part 4 of my new series of live techno videos. For this one, the track ended up being quite a bit harder and faster, but keeping the funk!

This is the same setup as the last video, with the 909 providing all the sequencing and percussion and the Virus providing all the sounds (created from scratch, of course!). The mad IDM type noise you can hear from the start of the track is created by setting the decay of a sound right down while it runs on the 16ths. This is then fed through the Virus' awesome tape delay, and the feedback amount is set to above 100% so it feeds into itself. Tweaking the delay time then makes everything go mental, as you can hear!

Hope you like it, all comments are warmly received. Please rate this video if you enjoy it - the last video quickly soared to the 35th top rated / most discussed music video on YouTube - so thank you to everyone who rated / commented!

If you have any questions, I'm always glad to help out.

Thanks,

Simon"

TR-909 + Monotron Delay = Elbows Out

YouTube Published on Jul 12, 2012 by siedgey

"Today has been a good day. Just have a listen to this and you'll see why. In this video the mighty TR-909 goes head to head with Korg's £34.99 Monotron Delay. Firstly, let me say this: go out and buy a Monotron Delay right now. Go on.

It's an amazing little box - it can make great little spacey sound effects etc if you use the ribbon pad, but its best feature by a mile is the delay. It really is an amazing sounding analog-style delay! It feeds back into itself like you would feed back into a tape delay and it has such a great tone that I have been using it as an aux send from my mixer rather alongside some much bigger, more expensive delays...

But then it goes a stage further, as it has an input into which you can plug anything. Hence the natural machine to plug in was the 909, and when you crank up the volume shit goes crazy.

Go and buy one immediately.

http://www.facebook.com/mrsimonstokes
http://www.soundcloud.com/simonstokes
http://www.twitter.com/mrsimonstokes"

TR-909s on eBay
monotrons on eBay

Live Techno Series 2 - MC-909 & Virus - SImon Stokes

YouTube via siedgey. follow-up to this post.
"Part 2 of a new little techno series getting back to my hardware roots! Like part 1, this track was made today in a few hours using only the 909 and my sexy new Virus TI2 Desktop. You'll see it's a bit more bangin' - hope you like it!

Thanks to everyone who bought the Lapse EP on vinyl - incredibly, almost every store worldwide that it was shipped to has sold out in under a week! It featured in the Juno minimal/tech-house charts when it was in stock and has got into the top 10 best sellers on various shops..!

There are still a couple of places online that you can pick up a copy - try www.plastic-music.co.uk if you can't find one. :-)

The digital release is out on Thursday on Beatport and all major MP3 stores...thanks for watching, commenting, supporting..it means a whole lot to me.

Cheers,

Simon

www.myspace.com/mrsimonstokes
Add me on Facebook! Simon Stokes from Glasgow.."

[iPhone Beats] ir-909

YouTube via siedgey
"Here's a 606/707/808/909 application in action - you program the beats in the familiar TR-style, there is 4 patterns for each kit and all parts can be muted / solo'd just by touching the screen.

My favourite part, though, is that you can alter the pitch / decay / attack / volume by holding a button and tilting the phone. I just can't get enough of making little beats on the bus... ;-)

Anyways, here's a little pattern I made just to show it off. It was kinda hard to play with the camera in front of it so apologies for the slight shitness of it. I have another app which has 2 synths and a drum kit which I will maybe show off soon! Before getting back to making proper tunes. Ahem."

You find IR-909 on iTunes here:

Live Techno Series 1 - Simon Stokes - MC-909 / Virus TI

YouTube via siedgey
"**Apologies for the crappy sound quality - YouTube doesn't like sub bass!**

Thanks for checking this out! I had time today to record a new live techno jam - this on is basically a test of my shiny new Virus TI2 desktop. This beast is providing all the synthy noises, bassline etc, while the good ol' 909 provides the percussion.

All comments are welcomed, hope you have a sub woofer... ;)

Cheers,

Simon"

BeatMachine Fun!

YouTube via siedgey
"Hi guys,

There was a feature on the Youtube front page today of a video of a guy using "BeatMachine". It's a smart piece of software that uses your webcam to make a virtual drum machine on pretty much anything!

I set it up in about 15 mins for a laugh, it's pretty good fun! With a bit of fiddling you could import your own samples into it too.

This is a video of the first thing I did with it, sorry it's pretty dull but it shows what you can do with a large amount of geekiness and a small amount of time. :)

Simon

Original Site: http://mw.boo.pl/beatmachine/

Google Translated Site: http://translate.google.com/translate..."

Live Techno Series #5 - Virus TI2 & Ableton - Simon Stokes

YouTube via siedgey | October 30, 2010

"**PLEASE WATCH IN 720p HD!**
**The sound quality is still ravaged (especially the subs), but it is marginally better..**

Thanks for checking this out!

I can't believe it's actually been 10 months since I lasted posted a video of me making some live techno - thanks to anyone who has forgiven me and is still watching.. :]

All sorts of great things have happened this year - I have been playing more around the UK and internationally, putting out some tracks with some really nice labels and generally just enjoying myself.

This track is inspired by a recent visit to the Warehouse Project to see an epic set by Ricardo Villalobos & Raresh - he tore the place a new one and I think this track captures how it felt for me. This time round it's a thudding techno track - very stripped, but chunky as well. The Virus is creating all the sounds in realtime as I play it, and Ableton is providing the percussion, controlled by my UC-33e.

I love making music, but I really get my kicks when other people enjoy listening to it. Please leave a comment or any feedback that you have for me, it will be warmly appreciated.

If you have any questions, I'm always happy to answer them so post a comment or send me a message.

Cheers,

Simon

http://www.facebook.com/mrsimonstokes
http://www.beatport.com/artist/simon%...
http://www.soundcloud.com/simonstokes"

Acoustic, meet digital.

YouTube Uploaded by siedgey on Jun 8, 2011

"Thanks for watching!

This is a video that I made today down the studio showing what you can achieve by running a piano through Ableton and a few effects in realtime. What you can't see (or hear unfortunately!) is the MC909 which is sitting on the chair in front of the camera for dropping beats. I was enjoying just playing with the piano so much that I never got around to pressing play on it.. :]

Hope you like the video - any questions or comments then just let me know! For the record, this video isn't intended to show off my piano skills (or lack of) so try to be gentle with comments about my dodgy playing. All the music is just improvised on the spot.

Thanks,

Simon"

Live Techno Series #8 - Simon Stokes [Virus, Blofeld, Ableton]

YouTube Uploaded by siedgey on Jan 8, 2012

"Thanks for watching. As always, it's been an age since my last live video. Well tonight I have rectified that with an overnight stay in the studio resulting in 2 new tracks and a shiny new video for you...

In this track the drums and percussion are programmed straight into Ableton Live. The main synth part is being played from the Virus which is sequenced by Ableton and tweaked live. The Blofeld is used to add some keys and the UC33e is used to control various parameters in Ableton Suite 8.

All comments are warmly received. Things are looking good for 2012 with a new European tour in the planning stages (get in touch if you are a promoter!) and various other goodness to come over the year. I will also be putting out a good few releases this year on some great labels so stay tuned for that.

For those in Glasgow who would like Ableton lessons, I am running them full time from my studio. Get in touch through Facebook for more information.

Thanks for watching!"

Techno - MC-909 LIVE (Part 11)

YouTube via siedgey
"Evening all!
Thanks for stopping by. Here's a little track that I made in a spare couple of hours today. It's a rolling techno number with a bit of melody chucked in for good measure.

The setup is as follows: all sequencing is done on the 909 (no computer is used in this track apart from compression/recording), the Virus is running into the audio-in of the 909 for effecting and the whole output is running into my soundcard for DSP compression.

Everything non-percussive is from the Virus, everything percussive is from the 909. Hope you like it...as always it's just for fun. :-)

Thanks for watching!

ps My camera's battery died half way through shooting the video, so I decided to fill the rest of the video with the artwork from my first single, to be released in October! Woo!"

Live Techno Series #7 [Electribe ER-1, MC-909, Virus TI, Waldorf Blofeld]

YouTube Uploaded by siedgey on Jul 28, 2011

"Thanks for watching! The time has come again to add to the ever increasing number of videos in my Live Techno Series collection. For those who don't know, this is all about producing techno using hardware.

This time around I have made a dark, loopy techno track. Setup-wise, my new Electribe ER-1 is the master clock, sending MIDI to the 909, which passes it on to the Virus. The Blofeld isn't using MIDI, it's just playing some sustained notes through the audio in on the ER-1 which is ring modulating them against a kick drum, producing a nice tweakable noise (you can hear it best at the end of the track).

The ER-1 is playing the kick drum, clap and a couple of hi hats as well, the Virus is providing the synth parts and the 909 is playing a few extra percussion parts.

As always, your comments are greatly appreciated. If you have any questions then let me know and I'll be happy to answer them!

Thanks again,

Simon"

Concept Techno #1 - Sine + Noise - Simon Stokes

YouTube Uploaded by siedgey on Mar 5, 2011

"**Please watch in the highest available quality and get that sub turned up - most of this track is down at those frequencies! Although YouTube has ravaged the sound as always.**

Thanks for watching!

It's been ages since my last live video so I thought I would post up a little jam I was playing with for an hour or two today. This is a concept track really - every sound that is in this track is made from with a sine wave or white noise. The track itself is a super-stripped techno track, using 13 parts all playing live on the Virus Ti2 which is being sequenced by Ableton Live.

Some of the parts are brought in and out using the UC-33 controller, and the rest I am just selecting clips in Ableton using the mouse. It's nothing special really - just a techno groove that I was bobbing about to!

As a bit of an update on me, things are going great just now - I've got a lot of gigs these days including a European tour in April / May and also getting the chance to warm up for my hero Alex Under at the Sub Club in Glasgow in April - amazing. If you like my YouTube videos then add me on Facebook (link at the bottom) - it would be great to hear from you. As always, thank you to the YouTube community for your generous words and support over the years - it has been a great help to me and there will be plenty more to come on this channel in the future..

Thanks again for watching and please comment with your thoughts.

Cheers,

Simon"

Smooth Electech - MC-909 LIVE (Part 6)

YouTube via siedgey.
"Hi everyone,

Thanks a lot for continuing to watch and enjoy my videos on Youtube, brings a tear to my (incredibly manly) eye.

I don't really know what genre this track is - if anyone has any ideas then comment! It was made in 1 night, recorded the next night. Smooth, rolling, melodic, highly compressed, slightly French...I could go on...

For some reason, the sound quality is far worse on the upload than the recorded video - apologies for that. Kinda makes it sound quite bass-heavy...ach well!

If you have any comments or questions, I'd love to hear them. Thanks again for watching...enjoy." Access Virus Classic.

Live Techno Series #3 - MC-909 & Virus - Simon Stokes

YouTube via siedgey

"Hi ho folks!

At last, it is time once again for another live techno video! I've bought myself a shiny new digital camera, and today I set up my old setup, keeping it all hardware for sound mangling. The MC-909 is sequencing everything, with parts 1-8 playing from the Virus TI2 and parts 9-16 playing off the 909 itself. All of that is then running into the Behringer Tweakalizer for some more knob twiddling fun, then into the Alesis 3630 compressor to be squashed. Finally, it is recorded in Ableton Live.

It's a bit rough around the edges - a combination of too many sounds to tweak / mute and too few hands to do it with...so you'll have to excuse the arrangement. All comments are warmly appreciated..

Things have been going well recently - I was Djing with Matthias Tanzmann at New Year in Glasgow, which was excellent; Carl Cox has become my number one fan(!!), dropping tracks from the Rekluse EP all over the place including on his radio show twice; and I am in the process of signing up a load more tracks with some rather awesome labels...watch this space!

Thanks for all the support, it means a whole lot to me. For any bookings, please get in touch with me through the links below.

Cheers!

Simon

www.myspace.com/mrsimonstokes
www.beatport.com/artist/simon%20stokes
Join me on Facebook - Simon Stokes (Glasgow)"

MC-909 // Virus // Equipment test: Electro Stylee

YouTube via siedgey (click for more after this one). via Nusonica. This one takes a while to pick up but it does.
"Hi guys,

Well...I finally bought the synth of my dreams. I got the old Access Virus Classic for an amazing price. Hooked it up, wired all my gear through a mixer and my Behringer Tweakalizer, hit a few buttons and this is what came out.

It's not really a tune - more me messing about with a two bar loop, but hey, thought I'd upload it anyways.

Comments welcome. Thanks for watching. :)"

Live Techno Jam 3

YouTube via siedgey
"Evening all! Here's a wee jam that Mr Copy and I had earlier today - we decided to dodge the minimal for a bit and make something harder...this is what came out.

It only took us 1.5 hours so keep your words kind - it was just for a laugh! As always, thanks for watching - check out Mr Copy's new release "Minerva" on Soma Records on June 16th - it's a belter!

I have produced versions of my latest videos (and one other that's not a video yet) on Myspace and they have been attracting some nice attention...I'll let you know if anything comes of it all. ;)

Simon"

MC-909 // Virus // Equipment test 2: Mindless Techno ;)

YouTube via siedgey.
"Evening all...here's another wee video I made today in a couple of hours. I managed to beat the last video's record of a 2 bar loop. Yup, this is 1 bar. It's created with 909 on drums, CS6x on sub bass, Virus on bleeps, bloops, bass stab and pad. Tweakalizer is used to fun things up a bit. No samples.

I also cock it all up royally in the middle somewhere, but it's only a test track so it doesn't matter to me. Thanks all for watching again. Hope you're not getting bored of these test vids - once I've got to grips with the Virus fully I'll start producing proper again!"

Live Techno Series #6 [TR-909, MC-909, Virus TI2, MPC2500]

YouTube Uploaded by siedgey on Mar 30, 2011

"Thanks for checking this out!

I have just moved into a new recording studio in Glasgow and finally have a place to set up all of my equipment permanently and build the room of my dreams! In this video, I teamed up with Mr Copy and Vakama to have the first live jam in the studio - a techno monster running completely live on hardware - the computer was only used to record the session.

The setup is as follows: MC-909 is sequencing the Virus TI2 and providing MIDI clock to the Virus, MPC and TR-909. The bassline, the clicks and the pad in the breakdown is coming from the Virus (controlled by me and played using the Waldorf Blofeld keyboard via MIDI), the 909 sounds are coming live from the TR-909 through the MC-909 audio input (controlled by Vakama) and the MPC is playing the kick drum and some percussion, as well as the chopped dub vocal throughout the track (controlled by Mr Copy).

Let me know your thoughts on the session - we had a great time recording it, it only took 3 takes to get something that sounded really nice but I could've kept going all night... :]

In other news, here are a list of places I will be playing in the next couple of months. If a show is near you then come down and say hello! Or else if you would like to make a booking for a free date then please get in touch"

[iPhone Beats] Technobox

YouTube via siedgey

"Thanks for watching!

Here's a wee track I made this morning in bed! Ah...the joys of technology. The app is called Technobox and features emulators of a TB-303, and a switchable TR-808 / 909. The latest update also includes various effects.

Of course, this is just a wee noodle but I reckon you could probably make something pretty decent if you put your mind to it! I've used the bit crusher effect on the 303 here, hence why it sounds really crunchy - without any effects the 303 reproduction is none too shabby for a phone!

Cheers,

Simon"

Technobox on iTunes:

Simon Stokes & Mr Copy - Live Techno Jam 1

YouTube via siedgey
"Hi everyone, thanks for watching! This is a track that me and my mate Mr Copy have made in the last couple of evenings...it's our first ever track together, what do you think?

We have MPC2500 on beats (Mr Copy) and the 909 / Virus on all other noises (me). Look out for Mr Copy's debut EP "Minerva" which is out on Soma records on May 12th as a 12"/MP3 - he's shit hot.

Thanks for watching, as always please leave a comment if you liked it / hated it / have a muscle spasm that means you can't avoid it."