As I’ve sort of mentioned before, I’m taking a ‘sabbatical’ from most of my DIY activity next month in order to record an album for the RPM Challenge(my third). It won’t be completely ‘cold turkey’, so don’t worry about me – I will allow myself a little hack time at the project nights popping up with the Cleveland Hackerspace community that’s starting to come to fruition. But no PCB soldering – that’s right out…
Rules for the album that I will be recording:
1) Basically all DIY gear. That means built, repaired, or modified by me. Since I’ve fixed my DR-110 and my MG-1, they’re fair game. The DR202, which has had nothing done to it, isn’t, so I can’t use it.
1a) Non-DIY microphones are allowed this time. Signal Intercept only used a DIY’d contact microphone for bizarre reverb purposes, but I’m going to allow real mics this time, if for no other reason than to use my newly finished PAiA Tube Mic Pres…
1b) I will allow myself the use of one MIDI controller keyboard – the Alpha Juno-1, and only used for MIDI notes – not as a synth.
1c) computer-based patch editing on the MIDIBox SID is allowed, since I don’t have a control surface for that done yet.
1d) computer-based recording is allowed, if for no other reason than digging up blank tapes for the four track is a pain. I’ve also built my own USB interface, so that’s a good reason too. No plugins though. Just use the computer as a straight-ahead multitrack recorder.
2) Since I have a DIY sampler now (the WTPA), in theory I could just sample a non-DIY instrument and call it a day. I think that for non-DIY instruments or samples from somewhere random, that the sample shall have to be captured into the sampler using a microphone, just to add some complexity. Sampling the modular or a DIY instrument can be done direct.
Any other rules I should impose upon myself?
And finally, in other news, the Arduino module I’ve been prototyping for a few weeks is now somewhat operational – in a “still on the breadboard, getting power from the laptop” kind of way – but operational enough to use it next month.