Minidisc - Techniques for Ambient/Experimental Music Production

[@LaboratoryGrey]

"Could I do this with a laptop? Of course. Do I want to do it with a laptop? No." 🤣 Great video.

[@insideTheMirror_]

Fookin hipsters we are...

[@xNachos]

Best "no DAW" quote ever x')

[@janwlaaa]

I deeply respect your lack of prejudice towards equipment as well as your sheer drive for experimentation, this is extremeley refreshing, thanks!

[@Ellotus13]

This is so ridiculously cool! "Could I do this on a computer? Yes. Do I want to? No" gave me a good chuckle, the humor in your videos is so weirdly appropriate. It's very honest and holistic, like your music.

[@Hainbach]

Thank you! I recorded that line in response to the criticism I get that we talked about on the podcast. That I am "too extra and could just use a laptop".

[@DanFingermanOctopus]

I think it's more along the lines of 'would you do this on a computer'. And I don't think so. Also, hi Eppu!

[@Ellotus13]

Hi Dan! Good to see you here.

[@CalamityHillMusic]

You could do it digitally but it wouldn't be analog.

[@N8_Z3R0]

More videos on using Minidisc players in creative ways? Yes please!!!

[@wozlaser]

+1 huge nostalgia for minidisk, mine was my closest buddy in highschool

[@User-wq9ri]

I love minidisc recorders. It so easy to edit your music by using track markers and delete. It's also nice to be able to move the tracks around on the discs.

[@lepistanuda]

the voice splicing at the beginning weirdly reminded me of Phil Elverum's rougher recordings on the second side of the Glow pt.2 special edition

[@richiemontero3880]

Danke Herr Hainbach, the vocal recording is absolutely beautiful and I feel incredibly inspired to do the same

[@Brdo666]

This is a great tip, I’ve had an old minidisc player and a stack of blank discs sat around for ages. I’ve not really used it at all bar doing some lo-fi digital field recording, but always felt that there was probably a creative use for it that was waiting to be discovered. Looking forward to digging it out now!

[@russellzauner]

Me, age 9: *banging on guitar* Them: isn't that cute Me, age 19: *mindless riffing* Them: that's pretty good, what is that Me, age 19: i dunno it just sounds cool i make it up Me, age 26: *harmonizing in fundamental molecular resonant quartertones* Them: neat but nobody cares, nobody will listen, and you'll never make a living at that *A WILD HAINBACH APPEARS*

[@Hainbach]

I want to hear fundamental molecular resonant quartertones.

[@russellzauner]

One of my friend/teachers and I had a crazy conversation about that during one "lesson" I got crippled and fired from my 25+ year career as an eng tech a week before last xmas. I've got time when I am lucid (pain management), I have long been interested in connecting global music back into our DNA intrinsic natural response curves, among things, but that's the sum of it. We are all connected somehow and I believe that our manipulation and models of stimulus on the audio (and expanded, including a cognitive and regenerative spectra models) frequencies can demonstrate this connectedness in practice. Most people don't understand that real discovery is mostly practice, *then* theory. I used to think weirder shit than this but it was way less plausible and tools were not really available.

[@russellzauner]

It's not clear from that minibraindump but yeah, I'd like to see that too. Anyone who says "golden cowbell" understands. Gold is not the metal or the color of the bell, its a gold *sound*

[@pinkglow2402]

russell zauner Is there a way you can private message me and tell me what you’ve been thinking about that? Im interested in hearing what you have to say

[@justindrakecroft]

Incredibly cool.

[@MartinYamMoller]

Shuffle mode...sweetly generative, great idea. Just need to find a minidisc that does shuffle live recording👍 looking forward to the glitchy videos

[@bobpercy]

aha - got my old minidisk out just the other day!! perfect timing!!

[@raysrcsandtech]

Got here because of MiniDisc search.... magical, now you need to release this on MiniDisc for us all to enjoy :)

[@tjwalkup7155]

That’s a cool idea.

[@BrunoWiebelt]

nice to see, makes me smile ... you literally uninvent and reinvent the sampler ...happy you share your world

[@BrunoWiebelt]

und die musik einfach klasse

[@Hainbach]

Danke dir, Bruno! Gerade ist mir wieder bewußt geworden, dass wir schon seit Beginn hier schreiben. Freut mich!

[@ChanseMacabre]

Great explanation and demo! Your videos always inspire me to try something new with something I've already got gathering dust, rather than convincing me to buy a new toy. What a rare gift in the electronic music scene. :)

[@Hainbach]

That is awesome to hear!

[@dimitri4004]

I don't share your productions technique but your videos always give me a lot of inspiration. They even had me looking at DDR tape recorders on Ebay Kleinanzeigen more than once.

[@aurora3655]

Ah! The spaces between sounds on the minidisc, with delay, do sound cool!

[@ouchcubic]

we find you a kindred spirit in waves, by frequency, and form... pleasente accorda. thank you

[@tjwalkup7155]

Yeah! I have been thinking of a way to incorporate my mini disk. You just set my project on fire!

[@Atzensindkacke]

Finally someone found usage of minidisc

[@d.u.o.digitalunitoperated5256]

Great tip!

[@Hyper5nic]

I came here via your hate-loops video and can't say I regret it! Ambient and glitchy music is much more fun and interesting.

[@martinwhile1607]

I tune in to your channel typically on a Sunday morning. Hot coffee nearby. You conduct some fabulous sermons, guidance and enlightenment. This is my church.

[@Hainbach]

Love the image, thank you!

[@buckrogez87]

Your music and videos are like a push for all my experimental juices to just explode. I need to step up my game.

[@teenageoperator7246]

oml, Hainbach, you’re killing me... there was something about that zoom in that tickled my funny bone deeeply. please make these little interludes an ongoing thing 😂. good grief, a bonus track at the end? you spoil us...

[@Hainbach]

Ha, these little things make the editing more fun, so they will appear when appropriate.

[@Fedor_Tkachev_Music]

Great, great, looking forward to the part 2!

[@_soraku]

One of my favorite artists on the planet.

[@Hainbach]

Wow, thank you Nik!

[@AlexeyFilippenkoPlummet]

This stare with no blinks creeped me out lol. It's like Hainbach is trying to look right into my soul, like he's not entirely human anymore. Add to that the fact that I took a strong sleep pill yesterday, slept for 13 hours and after waking up feel like I'm not entirely human anymore too lol, with all this ambient hypnotizing me way deeper on top of that.

[@Hainbach]

Yeah, in these earlier videos I had to concentrate a lot to not mess up, which results in no blinking. I have gotten more relaxed now.

[@TheIntentionStudios]

i wish hainbach was my dad

[@franbone]

maybe a sort of ambient guru that helps you when you're trapped in the desert with a tascam fourtrack recorder powered by your own thoughts - I'd settle for that.

[@russellzauner]

The internet makes everyone your daddy lol

[@aarondiver4693]

ME TOO signed your father

[@JoshuaDb_The_Witness]

ChristI was in music school in New York in 2002, and I desperately wanted one of these ,searched all over Manhattan and shelled out 250. Now, As with so many of your videos, I wish I’d kept the damn thing! I think I just threw it out, because I have no foresight. In retrospect I have given away and thrown up so much shit over the years that I could be using right now… I only hold your mildy responsible of course, But I am adult enough to admit that my frustrations are missed placed. By the way, I started using my handheld cassette recorders as microphones, And amplifiers! Thanks again for The inspiration. Perhaps I will post a video of some of the Sounds I’m working on.

[@paullawson6749]

You got me hunting for a mini disk player /recorder and some mini disks of course

[@lazarusmoment4682]

I LOVE YOUR VIDEOS!!! its some of the most inspiring stuff on all of KZbin. Also, your personality and vibe is absolutely wonderful.

[@Nomo_Popo]

I am interested in Part II. And Part III. And Part IV... Thank you.

[@micahnye7784]

Very inspiring and on my wavelength, thank you!

[@tallon3925]

Hainbach, you are so awesome

[@kriskeyser6691]

Wow, this is brilliant. When I saw you were working with minidiscs, I had no clue how you'd be able to use them in a creative, non-linear manner. This technique is really clever! I immediately asked my friend to borrow his minidisc player :)

[@Hainbach]

Nice! Have fun!

[@zochbuppet448]

Iv always wanted start producing my own music, I used to do field recordings and tape cut ups using just cassette recorders when I was a teenager but never got past that due to school and then soul destroying jobs. Ièm a bit slow on learning technology and never even got into basic stuff like fruity loops etc. There was never anyone who could teach me the basics of putting together- wiring a few pieces of equipment . My year long university course in Sound Synthesis was the worst of the worthless. I never learned everything because the instructor never taught us how to use the equipment, you had to teach your self the equipment. Thanks for you videos. I still have my minidisc from 2002 before everything went totally digital.

[@Hainbach]

Glad these videos help you create!

[@daneguitarist1]

god damn it hainbach, this sounds awesome!

[@robertmarshall72]

Your bloody bonkers, and bloody brilliant. MAGIC stuff 😎👍

[@davelewis6289]

Just dug out my Sony MD and tried shuffle with some vocals and piano chords. What a great tip!

[@Hainbach]

Piano + Vocals + Shuffle = magic

[@phosfiend]

Awesome, I've been trying to think of how to get my minidisc players into my setup. I think I was over thinking it, this is great!

[@KeltyVince]

Yes, it could be done with a laptop, but as well as your not wanting to use a laptop for the task, a laptop it quite large, and in some cases, less dependable, Minidisc is a very very reliable medium, from my experience using it over the years, so great for doing what you do in a live situation. I have the exact same Minidisc recorder you are using in this video, as well as others, they are also very good recorders, if you get a decent stereo microphone connected to it, great for low noise, high dynamic range field recording, if you like to do such things, and far better than a laptop in that kind of situation !. Oh, and Great video you made !.

[@coco805]

Your video inspired my to dig out my old Sony MD player, and oh boy! I had forgotten how great the MZ-R55 is, it has an amazing feature where you can add track markers live while it records/plays, as many as you want!

[@TheMinimalGamer]

mini discs were dope

[@locksh]

This video is pure gold, thank you so much.

[@Hainbach]

Thanks you locksh!

[@benjamingood-elliott5150]

This stuff would work so well as music for Simon Stålenhag’s books! I hope the show producers ask you for your music because it would fit the atmosphere so well.

[@am5790]

don't know how I missed it...revelatory technics ( both hardware and the mind)...beautiful closing track ...recollective-tone is how my imagination draws from the track. fantastic

[@pongtrometer]

they are great i have a portable one....and make multiple edits on recorded material....and put on the random setting too...a new sonic palette from the familiar into a new language....i had fun at sound design school with this technique....i love how you make use of empty space...excellent

[@matthewlucas7797]

I just bought your Cassette on Bandcamp!! Super excited to give it a listen once it comes in!! Your videos are wildly entertaining and informational, plus... Your music is incredible. Keep up all the great work Hainbach!

[@Hainbach]

Thank you very much Matthew! Enjoy the music!

[@marcuszc3172]

Im so very happy with this video.i have a than very expensive md player laying around that has not have seen much work..ever .. Im going to use it directly !! Thanks

[@hamsp2ls888]

Very inspiring video! Please keep on making those. Cheers from Gdańsk!

[@Hainbach]

I might do something on CD next, if the players I found are as fun and cheap as imagined.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

This works amazingly well on my Sony MZ-N710 as it adds no gap during shuffled playback and has a face button to divide tracks. It has stereo mic, line and optical inputs too :)

[@Hainbach]

Cool! I am getting a Sony for no-gap shuffling. THREE MINIDISC cut up shuffle to follow! :-)

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

HAINBACH Excellent! I thought you’d like that :)

[@Povilaz]

Sounds awesome!

[@pongtrometer]

great track

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Ooh yes clever stuff, part 2 please. Subscribed after this anyway. Must dig out my extra minidisc player from the attic and all my most knackered discs for some glitch sources :)

[@Hainbach]

Nice! I had planned to go all out but the second MD was DOA.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

HAINBACH Shame that. Hope you find a replacement soon. Retrieved my spare after quite a bit of rummaging and it’s working luckily so that’ll be fun to try!

[@gctechs]

There are also minidisc deck with pitch control. You can also degrade sound by recording the sound over and over by the analog input.

[@Kurrent.]

This is sooo fire man! Very nice blend of textures.

[@oturgator]

Rediscovery of Dadaism. Nice!

[@photoexpert3771]

WOW!!! You have just blown up my D/A audio interface..............but my god it was worth it. Great unique man. Thank you.

[@Hainbach]

You are welcome!

[@garvinkelly]

I used to use a minidisc player to live sample into a KP3. I am currently using a minidisc deck to record my live sessions

[@stemshade3108]

Very cool. Thanks for this.

[@zenpylon]

Amazing music and very inspirational. You've given me lots of ideas, and thank you for sharing your knowledge.

[@Hainbach]

Thank you! Glad you enjoy it.

[@zenpylon]

Thanks for replying. You've got me rooting around old draws full of discarded tech with new ideas in mind. I'm really enjoying all your videos as I steadily get through them. By the way, have you heard of the aFrame drum by ATV corporation? [www.aframe.jp/movies/performance/]. I work with the company and I'd love to see/hear what you would do with the instrument, it's very unique.

[@anythingbox]

You gave me an amazing idea for my own experiment in this video! I have an Edirol R05 which is a 24bit SD recorder I use for ambient / live recording. Quality is amazing! It too splits up the .wav file much in the same way you demonstrated here (I had just never used the function)... But!!! It can playback shuffle/repeat without gaps (when using .wav files) and an internal 24bit reverb can be applied as well. I will need to experiment now. And no need for a MD recorder (not that I have anything against them).

[@Hainbach]

Embracing chance is an lovely tool for composition on any medium! I love that you translated it to gear you already have.

[@anythingbox]

I owe you a beer now! :) Incidentally... I have been watching your vids for a while now, and love what you do!

[@Hainbach]

Thank you! I have a lot of more ideas for videos, looking forward to realizing them. Also posting a lot of bonus stuff to Patreon now, which is turning out to be fun, too.

[@montxsuz]

LOL I still have 2 Minidisc players, both a Sony rack-mount and a Sharp portable. Better get it out of the drawer and charge the battery :) Actually I did use it back in the 90s for recording samples for compositions. Even still has cassette recorders. Sounds ready for a new life. Beautiful. I am bookmarking this.

[@somaticjet2717]

You are on a roll. Love your techniques x

[@Hainbach]

Thank you! Yeah, I have a bunch of ideas and finally my voice is back so I can realise them.

[@1710000huh]

this is very cool and inspiring! Like your own Boards of Canada shop or something

[@1710000huh]

sorry for BOC cliche

[@aurora3655]

Actually, I loved the minidisc. The sound was amazing on them.

[@taylorzanke8263]

Wow, the piece you showed at the end from your album is beautiful. Very inspiring. Would love also to see the video you were planning to upload! The many cassette recorders looks fascinating.

[@Hainbach]

Thank you Taylor! The video I had planned will go up next week, once I return from holiday and can get the missing files.

[@taylorzanke8263]

Sounds great! Have a great rest of your holiday.

[@werdranth]

this is such a cool video! i love seeing your process and would love to see more of the minidisk stuff. i also like how you walked us through your set up at the start. and the song at the end is so beautiful! an awesome surprise i wasn't expecting. and that piano at the beginning with all the tape recorders looked interesting. bummer you lost the file!

[@Hainbach]

Thank you! Luckily the file is on another hard disc at home, so I can finish the edit once I am back. Should be up next week!

[@deathbysonar]

I love your style. So many great tips in your videos.

[@gregvittore5004]

Savant fou 👾I love it!

[@peterb7435]

Another amazing video!

[@marcusphoenixish]

I got two portable mini disc recorders they’re great for making on the go recordings. I like MP3 players or even my phone as a recording device. But minidiscs are hands on retro devices with moving parts. And very well built. My original device came from Japan over 20 years ago and is still working and my other device is a hi md unit they’re both Sony love them...

[@moldythoughts4765]

genial, ich wollte schon seit längerem meinen MD wieder herausgramen... jetzt weiß ich wieso... dank dir! Big Up Hainbach!

[@Hainbach]

Dankeschön! Viel Spaß dabei!

[@kostantinosmag2986]

O yes nice one YEAH 🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃🍃🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🍃🎶🍃🎶🍃🎶👌🎧

[@98mvlice]

This exactly the sort of stuff I’ve been looking for after recently falling in love with the mini disc format. I know I’m late to the discussion, but I wonder is there any way guitar fix pedals could be used in conjunction with a minidisc player for some cool results?

[@powerkor]

great recording!

[@adrienm8242]

Magical !

[@SoundCodex]

Great ambient music as always :)

[@tapestapes0]

What are those patch cables you have? Very clean

[@devtank]

I had the Gescom album, the one with no title, people called it MD. Anyway, setting that to play on FF through the whole album was a different take on how the album could be listened to.

[@axis_8]

An incongruous assembly of instruments made coherent by a great composition. Btw, your Ambient Piano Works on Seil Records, cassette versions are all sold out, will there be another batch? Thank you for the music!

[@Hainbach]

Maybe? So far every batch has sold out, so I think it is feasible

[@axis_8]

@@Hainbach Potentially good news, it is!

[@KentuckyMusic]

Really cool idea, sounds terrific.

[@eldepleto289]

Great video! I am wondering if you could tell me what the filter device is that you are using in the Triangle Waves video.

[@Hainbach]

That is a minijam filter from patchblox

[@RanKirlian]

That’s so inspiring! Awesome job

[@alphabetdust8682]

Doh! Track markers and shuffle play - why didn't I think of that?!

[@SyncdAlien]

Enjoyed very much. Thanks. 👍

[@horssujet21]

Too bad about the edit loss... But Triangle waves is absolutely stunning. Have a wonderful day man, congrats on the album !

[@Hainbach]

It's luckily bon another harddisc, can edit when I come home.

[@foot_music]

Awesome stuff Hainbach! Would love more info on how to use these as I may or may not have just ordered one on eBay due to this video =).

[@Hainbach]

Ahaha I know I should have started a tape/minidisc player shop! I have a second working one incoming, looking forward to explore!

[@themadsamplist]

I've edited a whole hip hop album once on one of these. Didn't have any other option at the time. It was not bad at all. A whole lot of work though. For that a laptop is better :-D We recorded in a radio studio to minidisc.

[@heckler73]

It definitely was a popular way for DJs/EDM producers to get a "master" track together. I still have one that I used for field recording. Never thought to try using it _as an instrument_ though. Hainbach comes up with some strange (but good) ideas to recycle and repurpose what would otherwise be junk.

[@dairylandbogurt]

Much interest on my end Hainbach

[@HereComesPopoBawa]

Plumbutter is the ultimate drum machine!

[@Hainbach]

It's amazing! The most soulful synth I know.

[@essex1181]

Whats that Cassette you hold up @1:25? It looks pretty fancy.

[@lo-fitronics]

very inspiring! thanks for your generosity, very clear and artistic~ ~ ~

[@aeonhorizonmusic8130]

I love the length of the video too ;-)

[@aurora3655]

Do a part two!!!

[@Hainbach]

There already is!

[@iceblink555]

Thanks so much for making this video! I've been thinking/dreaming of doing similar experimentation with minidisc players since they first came out. Never got around to it though. Now I'm on the hunt to find myself a used one and make up for lost time! Are they hard to find these days?

[@Hainbach]

Not relay, but since my first buying spree when I made this video I did not check. There are a lot of broken ones though

[@АртемКлыков-ь6б]

Minidisk random sample. Good.

[@JJJJ-bs1sr]

I've been on the lookout for a multitrack tape recorder for quite a while now. The quest proved to be quite hard and most of all expensive, hence the reason why I've been having a look at minidisc multitrack recorders. Besides the tape character im missing out on is there anything that I should look out for? I'd like to use it the way Cortini does, playing chord progressions with the faders.

[@JJJJ-bs1sr]

Oh yeah maybe the fact I can't play out tape loops then?

[@Hainbach]

Afaik Sonys do seamless looping, but I have no idea if that applies to their multitrack minidisc, or if they even have those.

[@JJJJ-bs1sr]

Thanks! will just have to get stuck into it and try:)

[@thisisMRJAMES]

You are amazing