Captain Pikant

Status Update

Hello everyone! We wanted to say "thank you" to all of you :) To be honest we were a little overwhelmed by the support that followed the release of the "1000 Days of Patterns" video. We're so happy to hear that it actually helped a lot of people.

Right now we're in the midst of filming the next video - the review of the Donner B1 mono bass synth (there will be a few things in there you haven't seen in other reviews). After that's done we will focus more on Patreon content - like putting...

1000 Days of Drum Patterns

Hello everyone! In our newest video I show a few things I've learned from transcribing drum beats for the last few years. As you know I honestly think it's a great way to improve your own drum patterns, so I can wholeheartedly recommend doing this yourself :)

Stu Phillips - Knight Rider (Drum Pattern No. 78)

Well... this started as a joke, but it's actually a pretty good drum pattern. Plus I'm a sucker for classic 80s TV show intros. I simplified it a little and adapted it for drum machines with individual + total accent like the TR-909 or RD-9, but you can of course also use velocities to achieve the same effect. Watch out for this in one of the next videos :)

Difficulty rating: 🐇🐇
Listen to the origin...

Massive Attack - Teardrop (Drum Pattern No. 77)

Here's one of my all time favourites. So simple, yet so effective - it only uses 8 steps! We're going to reference it in one of the next videos to make a point about simple drum patterns. Did you ever notice the fancy delay on the Rimshot during the break? The shaker varies a lot during the later part of the song which you could imitate by using an LFO or parameter automation. I did a quick LinnDrum-based rendition of the pattern as a sound sample. Hey, this is pattern number 77 and it has a ...

Pattern Poll

Hello everyone! Welcome to our second pattern poll. All the entries consist of your recommendations. Which of these drum patterns would you like to see a transcription of? Cast your vote until the end of the year :)

For a better overview here's a list of all entries with links to YouTube:

• Autechre - Flutter
<...
2022-12-17 19:24:54 +0000 UTC View Post

Submit your entries for the next drum pattern poll

Here's how to do it: Until the 16th of December add a comment with one single suggestion:

Artist Name - Track Title
(optionally add a link to a YouTube video of the song)

This could be any of your favourite tracks, a beat you think everyone could learn something from (maybe also a candidate for "Drum Patterns Explained") or just an Aphex Twin song if you feel the need to torture me.

Drum Machines and Synths through various audio interfaces

We've recently been on the quest for a portable second audio interface that doesn't break the bank. We narrowed it down to 3 choices ranging from 80$ to 300$. Since we put a lot of time into comparing these, we thought we'd make a short video about it and share our findings with you :)

These audio interfaces each have bigger siblings with nearly identical performance, so there are more options in case you require more inputs.

We've attached the recordings featured in the video as ...

Prince - When Doves Cry (Drum Pattern No. 76)

Who could say no to a classic Prince Linn LM-1 pattern? This was the second runner up to our first ever drum pattern poll. Stay tuned, we'll collect your suggestions for the next poll soon :)

I have to admit it took me a while to find that damn Tambourine 😆 It's tuned very high so you don't necessarily recognize it as an individual instrument, but more as a crispy texture accenting the other ...

Quick poll: Should we get a Roland T-8? (Review + Cheat Sheet)

We originally weren't considering buying a Roland T-8, but people keep asking us about that little box. It's your turn to decide: Should we spend the money and make a review plus Cheat Sheet or should we invest our time elsewhere? We'll do it if at least two thirds of the votes say so.

Sound Recipe: 303 Acid

We thought we'd try something new :) Following our How to 303 on a Syntakt video we made this handy condensed overview we call a "sound recipe". Think of this as part of a larger music production cookbook. This one-page recipe describes how to get closer to that 303 acid sound - on any synth that offers the necessary features.

Hope you like it, let us know what you think!

Keep in mind that depending on your synth...

A Guy Called Gerald - Voodoo Ray (Drum Pattern No. 75)

We couldn't leave you hanging! Here's the runner-up of the last pattern poll: A Guy Called Gerald's 808 classic "Voodoo Ray". This beat has a really nice polymeter feeling to it thanks to the odd Rimshot pattern that spans over two bars of a repeating Kick & Conga combo.

Difficulty rating: 🐇
Listen to the original 🎧...

Charanjit Singh - Raga Bhairav (Drum Pattern No. 74)

Charanjit Singh could be called the Grandfather of Acid. This is the drum pattern of the opening track from his 1982 album "Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat". It's amazing that the origins of Acid can be found so early on the other side of the world :)

Difficulty rating: 🐇
Listen to the original 🎧

Project file from "How to 303 on a Syntakt"

Here's the Syntakt project file from the video. You can import it using the Elektron Transfer app. Remember to upgrade to firmware 1.10 because these patterns make use of the new portamento feature :)

• Pattern 1: The starting pattern with just the note values and a raw analog sawtooth oscillator. Ideal if you want to follow the steps in the video.
• Pattern 2: The finished pattern including slides and accents.
• Pattern 3: An alternate version with slightly different ...
  2022-11-10 16:40:29 +0000 UTC View Post

How to 303 on a Syntakt

Hello everyone! In this video we cook up a classic 303 sound on the Syntakt. We also showcase the new portamento feature that was added in firmware 1.10. This guide is also helpful for most other synthesizers that support a few basic sound shaping parameters. We'll upload the Syntakt project file to Patreon in the next few days :)

Björk - Hunter (Drum Pattern No. 73)

This is my drum pattern transcription in the style of "Björk - Hunter".

Update 2024/05/13: Part 4 reworked along with some minor adjustments in parts 2, 3 and 5.

Update 2023/07/14: To accompany our Drum Patterns Explained episode on the song we created an entirely new transcription that includes all patterns. The difficulty rating has been increased to four bunnies (five if you us...