charliehiphop's blog

Be amazed as I roll a funky-ass beat before your very eyes using free open-source software.

I'm not going to get too specific since there are so many configurations and I don't want to confuse anyone. This is what I did before the video started rolling:

1) Fired up JACK (for me it was version 0.3.4)
2) Fired up seq24 (version 0.8.7)
3) Made seq24 the master of JACK (and therefore the universe) [file-->options-->jack sync--> "Transport Master"]
4) Fire up Hydrogen (0.9.4). It connects to JACK automatically, but check the JACK settings just to make sure you have both MIDI input from seq and audio output to your sound card (you do, but if you don't, make the connections by connecting the wires).
5) Fire up Zyn (4.7.1). Activate a couple of instruments and throw them on separate MIDI channels.

Then I did this:

Will Godfrey, who is referenced in the tutorial, has a lot of free music on his site -- nice mellow instrumental synth grooves, melody-heavy.

(PS -- Making a beat with seq24 is really a three-step process . This tutorial covers the first part -- getting your timings/loops down and into the matrix. The second step is to tweak the instruments to get the sounds you want. The third step is to put it all together in the song editor. I plan on doing videos for the next two steps with this same beat. I guess what I'm saying is that you should check back.)

This is what I have found, anyway. Your mileage may vary.

Bored? No need for that if you've got a guitar. Either learn to play it or play it. Either way, the hours will melt blissfully away.

Feeling down? Pick up the guitar. Strum away. Find a soulful riff. Play a song that fits your mood. Write a song that fits your mood. Soon enough, you'll feel better. Read it all

It has taken weeks to get this post together. It started off like so many others -- disjointed scrawling and doodling in a notebook like some weird extraterrestrial glyph shopping list, seemingly disparate elements being linked together with circles arrows, and comments whose lettering grows smaller to keep them within page margins and other space constraints. Read it all

In poetry form...

This is why it pays to check CharlieHipHop.com on the RG. Read it all

What an interesting night I had. If you know my music, you know that it has nothing to do with hip-hop, much as I like hip-hop. How I acquired the nickname "CharlieHipHop" is a long story, but let's just say that when two people dub you with the same nickname, and those two people are separated by 20 years of time, 2000 miles of space, and galaxies of experience, the nickname takes a significance. Read it all

It's funny how different instruments attract different personalities. Most musicians can play several instruments, some better than others due to the amount of practice. Everybody eventually settles on a favorite, though. It definitely has something to do with personality. Read it all

This really got me groovin'. It only had 101 views on YouTube despite having been there for a year. It deserves a few more.

Check out Sarazino Music.

Meet Ms. Burnz, my trusty Washburn.

It's so easy to perform as a rock star. Seriously, you've got a killer sound system, lights, wardrobe and thousands of people in front of you who already love you and know all your songs. Read it all

Les Paul, the man who perfected the electric guitar (Muddy Waters invented it) and invented multi-track recording died today. He is an incredible inspiration to me. He performed into his '90s. I know there's a special place in heaven for Les Paul (assuming that there is a heaven). Even though he won't get the press that Michael Jackson got, he was far more influential in terms of how he changed music. Can you imagine music without the electric guitar? I can't.

I don't really have anything else to say about it, but it only seemed appropriate to honor this great man on his day of passage to the Great Beyond.

Eternal Peace. Read it all