Tracks by Chris Beckstrom

The legendary Daft Punk anthem, BECKFUNK-style

Robot Rock (BECKFUNK version)

Common sampled George Duke, I transcribed and arranged  Common sampling George Duke. Circle of life!

Break My Heart (Common cover)

A sneak peak of Beckstrom Holiday Extravaganza Volume 6! Coming soon to music.chrisbeckstrom.com

CLIP: Angels We Have Heard on High

Another sneak peak of Beckstrom Holiday Extravaganza Volume 6! Coming soon to music.chrisbeckstrom.com

CLIP: Midnight Clear

CLIP: Good King Wenceslas (Shake it)

A sneak peak from the upcoming Beckstrom Holiday Extravaganza Volume 6! Coming soon to music.chrisbeckstrom.com

CLIP: We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Charlie Smerglia– drums, glockenspiel, melodica, Hammond Organ, recorder
Chris Beckstrom– alto saxophone, recorder, shaker, production

MONSTER HIT featuring Charlie Smerglia

from "Beckstrom Holiday Extravaganza Volume VI" (2014)
hear more at music.chrisbeckstrom.com


Full track: We Wish You a Merry Christmas (CHIPTUNE MIX)

Trappy Trap Trap

Here is a composition that borrows from bhangra, trap, hip-hop and jazz influences.

I've been thinking a lot about cultural appropriation lately. If you like this, check out these other artists who have greatly influenced me and whose influence I think can be heard in this track:
- Ravi Shankar
- Flying Lotus
- Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
- Martial Solal
- J Dilla
- Robert Glasper
- Skream

I'll Ride With You

The first completed track of the album I've been working on since January. More coming soon!

Instruments used:
Homemade modular analog synthesizer, Korg Volca, Korg Monotron, Hammond M-103 Organ, tenor saxophone, Fender Rhodes, Alesis Microverb II, drum set, Ableton Live

We're Not Done Yet

Spent Saturday at Knobcon 2015! Saw so many instruments I'd only read about. My favorite part was the "Demo Derby"– a room with a handful of "curated systems" where anybody could come in and play with them. I spent a lot of time there as it was my first time playing commercial modular synths!

I loved the WMD system and the Bastl system, but was probably most intrigued by the Verbos System (a "performance system" I believe: http://www.analoguehaven.com/verboselectronics/performancesystem/ although it didn't have a sequencer). It sounded absolutely fantastic and I discovered the usefulness of envelope generators that spit out a trigger when they are done (you can loop them!!). That's what I was exploring when I recorded this little track direct to my edirol recorder.

I certainly can't afford any of this gear anytime soon, but it sure is inspiring to make some sounds with this stuff. The next envelope generators I build will most certainly include "done" triggers so they can be looped. So cool.

Image credit: http://www.analoguehaven.com/verboselectronics/performancesystem/

Knobcon 2015 Demo Derby: Verbos Electronics System

An untitled track from an as yet untitled album I've been working on for months.

Untitled (Slow Jam)

just-mostly-finished mix from an upcoming album
hear more at chrisbeckstrom.bandcamp.com

Mfuatano

A sneak peek from the upcoming Beckstrom Holiday Extravaganza Volume VII dropping December 1!

All profits will be donated to The LGBT Network of West Michigan (http://www.grlgbt.org/)

Join the Facebook event!
https://www.facebook.com/events/164797863873873/164867710533555/

I'm going for Earth, Wind, and Fire get turned into robots, shot into space on a giant rocket filled only with vocoders and modular synthesizers. In space they meet Daft Punk, who are actually robot aliens. To get back to Earth, they have to put on the greatest galactic dance party the universe has ever seen, and for some reason they cover "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?"

SNEAK PEEK: What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? (Space disco)

Short lunchtime track... first track using vinyl samples from our new collection of records

Vinyl Stuff 1

Why Girl

What I Gonna Do

Who's Bad?

A track in celebration of the birthday and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Transcription:
Interviewer: Doesn't this raise the question of tactics though? You say, you use the word "honesty," you feel honesty is important here too... but as a matter of securing for the negro his rights. Do you feel that this aggressiveness, this self-assertiveness, will get him more in the long run than going along with contemporary opinion and biding his time, taking it step by step as he goes?

MLK: I think it's better to be aggressive at this point. It seems to me that it is both historically and sociologically true that privileged classes do not give up their privileges voluntarily, and they do not give them up without strong resistance. And all of the gains that have been made, that we have received in the area of civil rights have come about because the negro stood up courageously for these rights, and he was willing to aggressively press on. So I would think that it would be much better in the long run to stand up and be aggressive, with understanding good will and with a sense of discipline, yet these things should not be substitutes for pressing on. And with this aggressive attitude I believe that we will bring the gains of other civil rights into being much sooner than we would have standing idly by, waiting for these things to be given voluntarily.

More music at chrisbeckstrom.bandcamp.com
New hip-hop album coming soon!