Looking for new ideas on how to get creative with music tech? Check out the video below from bedroom producer, M4SONIC!
Having scored over 500,000 YouTube views in the last week with his original track Virus, created and performed on the Novation Launchpad, there is certainly a parallel between the 21 year old classically trained Australian producer and the French Electronica artist Madeon.
Evoking the sounds and vibes of his Electro-house and Dubstep inspirtions, M4SONIC wields two Novation Launchpads in the live YouTube performance of his latest track, Virus, below:
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After discovering the Novation Launchpad through reading an interview with Deadmau5 (Dance DJs are Glorified Button Pushers), Australian based M4SONIC was inspired by the blunt remarks of his idol to create a truly live DJ performance.
Throughout Virus, M4SONIC uses his right hand to play the track’s melodies while firing off drum rack loaded samples with his left – a playstyle that’s become the hallmark of his tracks and sound.
Is M4SONIC the next Madeon?
Weapon was his first effort at using the Launchpad, sampling 15 tracks from some of his favourite artists, including Deadmau5, Skrillex, Nero, Porter Robinson and Knife Party – the similarities between M4SONIC and Madeon’s tracks and mash-ups such as Pop Culture were unavoidable.
However, unlike Madeon, who generally uses the Launchpad trigger function to cue and launch tracks that sync with each other with each button press, M4SONIC wanted to replicate the experience of producing the music on an instrument.
Loading up his Launchpad’s drum rack with samples shorter than two seconds in length, M4SONIC uses the “user 1″ setting, enabling him to play each sound as the pad is pressed, not unlike keys on a keyboard.
Instead of triggering and syncing samples, this set up relies on M4SONIC’s frantic hand activity, muscle memory, and timing on the fly to perform his tracks live – the pads only produce sound when pressed, turning the Launchpad into a tactile, electronic instrumental in its own right.
Check out Madeon’s own live Launchpad mash up, Pop Culture, below:
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That very first track went on to capture over one million YouTube views in less than three weeks – a viral video success he later repeated with a cumulative total of over 6 million plays so far.
Ableton Australia approached the bedroom producer about tutoring at a series of Ableton Live Schools and, as they say, the rest is history. From the incredible reaction he received at these events, M4SONIC was inspired to step out from behind the YouTube video browser and take his music live onto the stage; a move he hopes to make in 2013.