Musicians today use audio effects for literally everything. Guitarists, keyboardists, vocalists, saxophonists, you name it. Effects play a huge role in defining your personal sound to achieve the exact, desired impact no matter what instrument or genre you play. Yet, in my experience, drummers tend to be wariest of using effects processing in a live setting.…
By Jhoni Jackson Identifying as femme is a revolt against the patriarchy in itself; it is an inherently political act. The prevailing cisgender white heteronormative world in which we’re all prisoners tells us that femininity equals weakness, that no matter your gender, femininity as a quality means you’re less than. Even within the LGBTQIA community…
Everyone knows that Jeff Mills shreds on a TR-909, that Egyptian Lover shakes up a room with his TR-808, and that legendary percussionist Sheila E (who worked with Prince, Marvin Gaye, Beyoncé, Diana Ross, and more) makes magic happen with a Linn LM-1. There’s no doubt that these drum machines — and the artists that made them iconic — changed…
If your onstage MO includes a backing track or other electronic support, follow these steps to still give a live performance your fans will love.
We’ve all felt it before: four-on-the-floor fatigue. That feeling when you’ve listened to too much music with the same square beat. 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4… Don’t get me wrong — I’m a technohead, so 4/4 is my jam. Lots of music is built on 4/4 rhythm for a reason: It’s familiar and easy to dance to. Sometimes you might…
+ Master the processes and techniques for programming professional-grade electronic drum beats in Ableton Live with Soundfly’s acclaimed online course. By Dan Freeman In 2013, I had the fortune of receiving one of the first ever Ableton Push sequencers before the model went to market. I was chosen to be the Certified Trainer who demoed the…
+ Master the tools and techniques of producing pro-level electronic music and audio in Ableton Live with Soundfly’s course, Intro to Music Production in Ableton Live. There’s no other way to put it: computers have become a central component of all recorded music, as well as most composed music. Especially when taking on more projects with tighter deadlines,…
One of the best ways to explore complete drumming versatility when using a percussion pad is to combine it with your Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), such as Ableton Live, Pro Tools, Logic Pro, or Reason. In this article, I’m going to break down the steps to connect your percussion pad to Ableton Live. One thing to note:…
Becoming comfortable with playing electronic percussion is a vital skill for the modern drummer, especially when playing contemporary, digital-heavy genres such as trap, neo-soul, and pop-rock. Contemporary music production has a tendency to involve a combination of very specific drum sounds and completely electronic sounds that cannot be easily emulated by acoustic drums, and as a…
