The Weekly Music Mission!
Prompts to help you make more music!

Join the Music Production Club to participate in Weekly Music Missions! https://brianfunk.com

Weekly Music Mission

Weekly Music Mission #1
Use a few household items as instruments.
Theme: Resourceful

Join the Music Production Club to participate in Weekly Music Missions! https://brianfunk.com

This track was made with my Meld Ableton Live Presets - https://brianfunk.com/meld

I recorded some banging on paint cans and ran that through XLN's Live plug-in to get the percussion. Then I played the Meld preset, followed by acoustic drums, Fender Bass VI, and Fender Telecaster. All were completed in an hour during a Music Production Club Live Meeting.

WMM1 Resourceful

The Prey

MPC Weekly Music Mission - Week1.  
Prompt: Use a few household items as instruments.  
Theme: Resourceful.  
I used a book as my kick sound, two cd cases as my snare sound, and metal measuring cups as my hats.  I also used a sequence from the MiniFreak titled "thinker slide" and my Gibson Les Paul.

On the Phryng

Music Production Club - Weekly Music Mission Week 1
Brief: Use a few household items as instruments.
Theme: Resourceful

Created using samples captured in my kitchen (sink drain, coffee grinder, chopsticks, coffee thermos, etc.)

Samples mangled using Ableton Live's Simpler. Snare and Kick drums from Soniccouture's AC-DR drum machine.

Overflow

Ken Chase - WMM1: Backflow

The Weekly MPC Music Mission is a challenge led by New York-based musician, producer, podcaster and Ableton Certified Trainer Brian Funk.

Weekly Music Mission #01
Use a few household items as instruments. 
Theme: Resourceful

chip acid house / weekly mpc #01
synths / jupiter-8 + TB-303 + plogue cheepsounds
drums / TR-707 + juno-6 generated white noise
vocals / 10yo Jackmaster Jookz
sounds / my daughter toy piano + chewed gum + pen on paper + XLN life

WEEKLY MPC / ACIDE MAISON FEAT. JACKMASTER JOOKZ

MPC Weekly Music Mission #2 - Mission: A little bit faster.  Make music with a faster tempo than usual.

Fist Pumpin' At DJais

Music Production Club - Weekly Music Mission Week 2
Brief: Make music with a faster tempo than usual.

Although this may not sound fast, the original idea came from the bassline which is rather fast by my standards (170bpm). This is my take on a dissonant and discordant freakout. It's meant to be jarring; That's where I hear beauty.

Ken Chase - WMM2: The Panda Collective Free Jazz Freakout

'Best' part of my am session, prepping for a short set tonight. Keeping it mellow as I am opening for an acoustic singer songwriter. Chill for sure. No backbeat helps a ton (which only recently occurred to me). The idea is to be long an subtle. 

Melodics are op1 tape loops brought back into ableton. All manner of everything used. Samples, the mic, fx, synths etc. 

op1 (field in this case) does not get enough credit as a live machine. Using it for live keys, tempo matched but not synced (adds a bit of movement-never perfect). So many ways you can go with it, and as this set is largely improvised via clip and loop launching. It's perfect for this situation.

20240324 set jam_am session

The Weekly MPC Music Mission is a challenge led by New York-based musician, producer, podcaster and Ableton Certified Trainer Brian Funk.

Weekly Music Mission #02
A little bit faster.
Theme: Make music with a faster tempo than usual.

tech house / weekly mpc #02
synths / emulator II + random
drums / minipops + 7deadlysnares + juno-6 generated white noise
vocals / vintage recordings
sounds / tin can pen pot + XLN life

WEEKLY MPC 02 TOO LATE TO TRANSLATE

Week 3 prompt :
Drastic Dynamics. Emphasize contrast in your music.

Mutato (MPC Weekly Mission No 3)

©2024 alpha juno llc + jd torian
Live studio take of a track en progress

20240327 Live Take 2

MPC Weekly Music Mission #3 - Drastic Dynamics.  Emphasize contrast in your music.

Sunrise Hills

The Machine II

©2024 alpha juno llc + jd torian
#april2024
**********
This one started as a 1 or 2 bar op1 loop on top of another op1 loop. Then I threw the kitchen sink at it, including my kind-of booger make noise micro tape machine. A lot of the pieces and bits were done so long ago I have no idea where they came from! Anyhoo, love this one and look forward to seeing how it changes over time.

Files On Files live_take 1

MPC Weekly Music Mission Week #4 - Prompt: Don't be so serious

Space Cowboy

©2024 alphajuno llc + jd torian
******
Recorded acoustic guitar and dulcimer (in d) into the op1 tape loop with some other reverb. Then fed that thru the morphagene > mimeophon--looooong loop. Played bass over this. And then went outside and recorded some nice birds with computer mic. Had a nice fader jam. Fairly minimal processing.

am Birds Take 1

Pretty much laid down the bass line to a click, then created this wobbly beat behind it. Pieces dropped into place after that, just a part here and there where it was needed.

Weekly Beats #15 - Lowkey

Amici Finem (MPC Weekly Mission No 5)

Track entirely made from the audio channel of 2001 - A Space Odyssey,  from drums to synths and FXs, everything is sound design from sampling.

Synthiens

TakeHold

Musician, Producer, and Educator from New York. 
Host of the Music Production Podcast. 
Author of 5-Minute Music Producer. 
Berklee Online teacher. 
Ableton Certified Trainer.