Last Saturday I got to walk-through how I set up and connect the Teenage Engineering OP-Z, Faderfox UC-4, iPad and Ableton Live
Big thanks to Yarra Libraries, Ben Willis, Saddiva and Innovative Music for all helping to make a great arvo.
đź“·Ben Willis
I began using the name Winterpark in 2005 for a collaborative studio project that then evolved into a wonderful band featuring myself, Jordy and Karl. As a duo with Jordy we toured internationally, and then as a band with Jordy, Kate and Alice we toured nationally.
After that, I spent some time as a solo project, then started collaborating with Susannah and Dan, did some more collaborations, including an awesome art show to release my Sunday Morning album, so some shows and released more music.
My most recent EP releases have been very much a solo project, and with 2020 and a new decade, it’s time to formalize that change. It’s time to stop making music under the name Winterpark (…for now?!). Watch this space for more music and projects to come out under my actual name.
For posterity, here’s a picture of the first-ever Winterpark show, at a friend’s backyard in Fitzroy.
Last month I ran a Process Lab workshop at Arts Centre Melbourne as part of Melbourne Music Week focusing on Mobile Music Making. I am pretty obsessed with mobile music-making devices and enjoy the unique workflows that these sort of devices provide you.
There were a number of focuses on this workshop including Sampling in iOS using Koala Sampler, the teenage engineering PO30-KO! and OP-Z, and I went through workflows and techniques on how to integrate these portable devices into your Ableton Live studio setup.
I also showed some of my favourite iOS apps for iPad including AUM, Fugue Machine, Spacecraft, Patterning 2, Eos 2, Enso and Samplr, how you can create a digital connection to route audio directly into Live without the need for an audio interface, and how you can sync it all up using Ableton Link.
Big thanks to The Channel at Arts Centre Melbourne and MMW.
Some of the workshops I’ve been doing lately have been focused on the unique workflows of Teenage Engineering’s awesome portable devices, the OP-1, OP-Z and Pocket Operator series.
I’ve been a huge fan of Teenage Engineering products for a long time since I first bought my OP-1 seven or so years ago.
So, I’m really excited to now be featured on the Teenage Engineering website as one of their mentors of #ems.
Expect some more Ableton Live x Teenage Engineering things from me soon, including the next Process Lab – Mobile Music Making event on November 15.
Changes Festival has been a fantastic addition to Melbourne’s musical landscape over the last two years. The focus is on getting a snapshot at what the music industry currently looks like, and is all about having a conversation about where to next… In terms of technology, inclusivity, the environment and basically a big ‘where to?’ for the music industry.
I was lucky enough to be able to check out a bunch of talks, as well as run two Ableton Live workshops with Memphis LK and The Push.
I am always keen to share my knowledge and passion for creative workflows and music making, so I was super stoked to be able to put on an event the amazing Bargoonga Nganjin community space to run a workshop focusing on Teenage Engineering x Ableton Live workflows called Electronic Music Processes.
This event was supported by Teenage Engineering’s #EMS program and had some serious giveaway courtesy of Ableton and Innovative Music.
It was great to be able to talk in about the workflows of Teenage Engineering’s Pocket Operators, OP-Z and OP-1, and how you can integrate them into Ableton Live.
Photos via @callummis
Throughout May and June, I ran a series of free Audio Manipulation Workshops at some of the City of Yarra Libraries.
The focus was on techniques that you can use within Ableton Live to work with and manipulate audio.
