This Aira Compact Setup is Pure Fun!

This Aira Compact Setup is Pure Fun!
Today I'm using the J-6 as a MIDI controller for the E-4, to see what kind of crazy vocal sounds I can make! I'm not sure why I hadn't thought of this setup before, as it works really well! I'm very much looking forward to exploring this setup in the future, and hopefully even using it on a track! Enjoy the video :)
My favorite gear in one list, courtesy of zZounds.com:
www.zzounds.co...
GEAR IN THIS VIDEO
Roland J-6 Chord Synthesizer: amzn.to/40YiUKX
Roland E-4 Voice Tweaker: amzn.to/3UnFcmR
Shure SM57 (microphone): amzn.to/3Mx1JvA
Zoom Livetrak L-12 (audio recorder): amzn.to/3zGTtl6
Questions? Ask them below!
Support the Channel: / freebeat
Bandcamp: free-beat.band...
Follow me on Instagram: / freethebeat. .
If you enjoy this video, considering subscribing to the channel! It's free, and I upload new content every single day!
All links in this description are Amazon affiliate links, the gear is the same price to you, but I get a small kickback when you use these links! It's an easy way to support the channel at no extra cost.

[@david_pilkington_music]

I've actually just recently paired these two up and it's great fun. Your remark about the 'Barbershop Quartet' is a cut above the rest 🤪😁. Nice demo.

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks so much!

[@gcfddddfhhhhhhfrre]

fun fior days with this little roland

[@FreeBeat]

Definitely!

[@maniacos2801]

This reminds me very much of Shpongle - Divine Moments of Truth. Could do some pretty trippy stuff with this! Now I see through DMT...

[@RandomButtonPusher]

Shpongle!

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks so much!

[@MichaMaschiene-jd8wd]

Great little Boxes 🎉 Aira 🎹🎚️🔈🔉🔊🔊💯

[@FreeBeat]

Absolutely!

[@carolinehusky]

One nice trick you can do with vocoders is turn your monophonic synth into a cheesy mellotron-style paraphonic synth. You need to exaggerate the settings a bit, but it can be fun to experiment with.

[@FreeBeat]

Definitely, it's pretty fun!

[@david_pilkington_music]

The more cheesy synth sounds, the better !

[@Mtsepana]

too nice

[@EchoKraft]

Wow ! Very cool Didn’t even think of doing this. Thank you so much.

[@FreeBeat]

Thank you!

[@EchoKraft]

Playing around with what you showed on the video. I cannot get this thing to sync. It will not do what you did at all and I’m very frustrated because what you did in the video was awesome.

[@quinnsd13]

Now I wanna see it setup to actually fake a barbershop quartet! Also, around the 7:20 mark you sounded vaguely Daft Punk-ish.

[@FreeBeat]

Futuristic Barbershop Quartet sounds like a great band name hahaha

[@floyd101954]

Once again you’ve given me some additional inspiration

[@RaverOperatorGeeza]

Something I learned from the mobile app you lead me to: koala Sampler, and using that I made my track "think, can I get an amen (brother)?": I learned you can use the sample key scale in a mad way: (coming from someone who got into music production and had mpc one at the same time as you got yours and new to it all)... The siren sound that goes through the track is just a vocal of me test recording "whoo-oo-oooo" into the mic (after watching again your video and testing it a proper mix into my phone using some special cables) and then I progressively moved that sample up the scales. It changed the sound so much already - I can only imagine the extra fun you've not already demonstrated with the E-4 and J-6 here!! Truly inspired, thank you, only I don't need more GAS! 😂😂😂

[@andrewstanworth529]

Can i really just use a stereo lead from midi out to midi in? I have both units, & this video has blown my tiny mind!! Wonderful!

[@ItsReezun]

Now I have to this piece of gear 😀

[@FreeBeat]

They are both so fun!

[@wiggesobk]

This is so cool! 👍

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks!

[@peffken8834]

Till 4:00 it just sounds like my old (lovley) Korg DVP-1 Vocoder harmonizer and also without no really special benefits for using a Roland J-6 with the E-4. But then it's gonna be interresting... 👍

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks so much for watching!

[@gcfddddfhhhhhhfrre]

hi wondering what kind of mic are you using? as i bought a cheap kareoke mic. but its not very good. lovin the e4 tho. ourchased after watching your review👍

[@FreeBeat]

I'm just using a Shure SM57 (linked in the description)

[@dannjeffer]

and you didn`t manipulate the filter envelope delay and reverb on th J6

[@MrGeoffashley]

I've had an E-4 for a while now and finally have a J-6 on its way in the mail...this will be happening the day it arrives

[@FreeBeat]

Right on, have fun!

[@rexcellencemagee6729]

I’m into a lot of a jazz metal style so with my tc electronics voice 2 plugged into the PSR S770, same exact thing you’re doing just different gear. Now since I don’t have a J6 I use the Orba in chord mode for a cool Lydian scale doo daa type thing. Roland and Korg have some great patches and mixed with mine in harmony on chords can become quite extensive and interesting! Peace! If you still have the orba give it a shot!

[@FreeBeat]

I no longer have the Orba haha, but thanks for watching!

[@Cysubtor_8vb]

Don't know if I'd ever want to, but, I guess I could do similar if I sequence an E-4 with my SQ-64. Probably won't be getting a J-6, however, as, right after getting the Liven XFM, my original Volca FM2 order suddenly came in stock months ahead of schedule. Guess the store lumped it with all the other Volca models which are still MIA, but the FM2s are back before I could cancel, so now I'll have 2 poly FM synths 🤣

[@FreeBeat]

Yeah honestly if you've got any sort of sequencer with fun or wacky features it'll probably work great with the E-4!

[@jahovahjira]

Now THIS is W I L D ! Great video!!!! Thanks!

[@FreeBeat]

Glad you liked this one :)

[@agustinbernal2760]

Very interesting! Cheers!

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks!

[@Eatcrow]

Amazing! ❤ More content on these here

[@dudeseriously79]

Lol I do agree with you! 😂

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks for watching!

[@Martin-mb7yb]

Love freebeat. Appreciate you bro!

[@scottholton11]

Beginner question: for this to work, are the MIDI channels set to the same or are they different? how about AIRA link settings? thank you!

[@povertyofphilosophy1788]

Wow these two together are amazing! I only wish I had an extra $400 laying around to buy them😅, I’ll just watch the video again lol

[@FreeBeat]

You can probably emulate this in a DAW with a few inexpensive plugins :)

[@povertyofphilosophy1788]

@@FreeBeat yeah true, but hardware is so much funner

[@SexyNinjaMonkey]

This was the last thing I wanted to see tried with the j6, though now I have seen it I can write it off. I can see the benefit but I just don't see me making use of it.

[@FreeBeat]

Fair enough! If you've got great chord theory there's not a lot of reason to pick it up.

[@SexyNinjaMonkey]

@@FreeBeat My chord theory is shite... I mostly mess with glitchy noise so chords haven't been entirely necessary. When I do need something more Deluge helps a bit with it's isomorphic keyboard and I know a few basic chords on keys but I want to improve on that, I think I'd be less motivated to learn if I had one of these.

[@tomhurst8307]

Question, can you just connect the midi in/out via a trs cable or are those 2 seperate 3.5/midi cables going to a midi hub?

[@avikam80]

I don't know if you've ever done a video about it (if you have, I couldn't find it), but I'm looking for some stand-alone machine (that doesn't necessarily require DAW or MIDI) for finger drumming. Except for it being stand-alone, my other requirement is that it ca produce acoustic (rather than electronic) drum sounds, so it could "simulate" a real drum set, and preferably a budget device. If you've ever done a similar video, I'd be happy to get a link. If not, well - here's an idea for you. :)

[@Arkansya]

sp404 mk2 with appropriate samples

[@FreeBeat]

Any sampler or sample player with pads on it can do that. Just load in your acoustic drum sounds and you're good to go!

[@jonathanscaffidi351]

Can be work with t8 or s1 too with e4?

[@ilovecatsandsynths9702]

You don’t even need a J-6, any midi sequencer with the E-4 could do similar things.

[@FreeBeat]

Yup! This video is specifically about the J-6 though :)

[@Eatcrow]

Unfortunately my J-6 and E-4 won’t do this any ideas? My midi plugs are stereo not mono is that a problem ? I can see that the E-4 is being controlled because the LED just defaults to 4 dashes just like yours

[@davidcassidy602]

Check that the SYNC setting in the menu of both boxes is set to “Auto”. And definitely use TRS cables for the MIDI-in and -out. (Disclaimer: I only have a T-8 in my hands right now, the other 3 are in the mail. But I am an electrical engineer by trade, if that counts…)

[@Eatcrow]

@@davidcassidy602 what is a “TRS” cable? Is that the 3 way stereo type or the 2 way mono type?

[@davidcassidy602]

@@Eatcrow “Tip-Ring-Shield”, yes it’s the stereo audio cable. Look at the prong itself, it has a metal tip, then a black insulator, then a metal ring, another insulator, then the rest of the prong is metal. Mono cables are TS “Tip-Shield”, they’re the ones that Eurorack modular synths use for CV and mono audio.

[@Eatcrow]

@@davidcassidy602 thank you for teaching me about that, however I did try the stereo cable first and it still didn’t work, so I bought the mono cable and tried that and it was no different

[@davidcassidy602]

@Eatcrow Aha. In order to get the E-4 to listen to MIDI Chords, you have to enable “Key In” in the E-4 menu. 1) long press the AUTO PITCH, HARMONY, and VOCODER buttons together, to enter the menu 2) press the VOCODER button to display “keY.I” aka Key.Input 3) use the SCATTER dial to choose the MIDI channel of the J-6. I think that’s Channel 1. 4) long press the AUTO PITCH, HARMONY, and VOCODER buttons together, to exit the menu 5) ensure the J-6 is sending chords, and the E-4 is in HARMONY mode. Good luck!