Now that I’ve got the exported files, it’s time to get back into my performance set and get the my clips organized. Once I’ve dragged the new files into my set, I’ll set up several cue points and loops as described in One Song, Multiple Clips.
In the prior tip, the track Polly was broken down into four clips:
Polly Top – plays from the beginning and loops a basic version of the groove, from bars 17-25.
Polly Break – an 8-bar breakdown loop with bass and other elements, but no kick
Polly Groove1 – a fully developed version of the groove that plays from bar 34 and loops from bars 77-81
Polly Groove2 – an “all in” groove from later in the track
The lead part will be broken down into several clips as well, but they don’t necessarily follow the arrangement created for the backing track. The melody is broken down according to it’s own internal logic: riff 1, riff 1 variations, riff 2, riff 2 variations.
By combining the two parts, I can create something very similar to what I arranged before exporting, but of course I can do much more as well…
A couple of things to bear in mind:
Any effect that I can create using performance techniques will not to be included in the arrangement. For example, it’s easy to remove the kick and bass using a DJ EQ, so I’m not going to waste a clip on having a prearranged section that does this. Notice that the “Break” section contains bass and no kick – something I can’t do with an EQ.
Since this is a pretty raw track, there are parts of it that don’t entirely hold up on their own. In other words, to keep things interesting, I’m going to be using effects as part of the performance. A glitch every 8 bars to create interest, some delay thrown into the mix, a swell of reverb to turn an 8 bar break into a longer one…
