How to Make FULL SONGS on the Circuit Tracks

An in-depth tutorial on how to make full songs and live performances on the Novation Circuit Tracks, including scenes that save mute states per the 1.2 firmware update.
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00:00 Intro
00:53 Setup
01:48 Double-duty synths
03:46 Creating variation with shortened patterns and probability
04:36 Building patterns
04:50 Increasing pattern lengths
06:22 Chaining patterns
07:29 Building scenes
09:16 “Song mode”
10:18 Saving mute states
11:56 Live performance
13:01 Project switching
17:45 Outro

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[firekeeper]

Worth mentioning you can do the immediate switching like you showed with projects with patterns as well by holding down shift. You can come up with some interesting pattern compositions this way while live performing or trying to come up with ideas.

Also, it takes up a space, but sometimes I do like keeping an empty 'mute' pattern open this way as you can quickly mute a track using shift from the pattern window and it also does not cut off a note or the FX like the mixer does. This is especially nice with a long delay or if the last note of the pattern is long enough to allow it to play into the next pattern you selected.

[dontspamkoth]

Thanks for this video, Gabe! I have the Circuit Tracks and while I've been able to create a lot of grooves on it, I've been having trouble turning those grooves into full songs. You're showing a lot of tips that I did not know about. Cheers.

[earthtomrlo]

Wow! the mute states addition was mind-blowing. I was trying to find information when I updated my Circuit Tracks to the latest firmware but I couldn't find anything until I saw this video. Thank you so much for explaining

[analog_ape]

You got me totally sold on groove boxes - I've been meaning to get away from the laptop more. Got a Circuit Tracks recently and its super fun - for the first few hours. Now I'm happily going back to my DAW, realizing how great it is 😅 Thanks either way for the journey!

[dartmore]

Thanks for revisiting the Circuit Gabe

[docklandsroad]

This is a great video. Made me completely rethink how to use the Circuit Tracks. I was struggling with creating and playing more complicated songs, and you showed me a new way of thinking about it. Indeed, why not use several projects to create an arrangement? It’s obvious once you explained it! I think the fact that the Circuit keeps playing in tempo and can switch from scenes/projects to other ones without a glitch is one of its most powerful and performance-oriented features. I have this box for 2 weeks now, and it keeps amazing me.

[Innocentdarkness]

Thanks, now a'm of to make WH dude...

[dmanh]

Thank you Gabe, this is the very video tutorial I needed for months! You covered 98.9% of what was holding me back from just tweaking existing patterns; I think I got this finally!

[ooocarneiro]

I'm watching this for the 5th time, maybe... I keep coming back to remember some technique or trick. It's a great guide for reference. Thanks a lot for doing this!

[Mkstr]

I've made a few one hour live sets that have a dozen songs each with the Circuit Tracks project switching and really enjoy the intuitive workflow. It's really nice that you can transition into another track using master filter, reverb and then adjust the tempo during the transition. It takes some work to make the transitions between tracks and practice to perform them, but once you've done them a few times you can get creative with them. I have not yet tried it but making projects for track1 -> transition1 -> track2 might be the best way to do a full set with more interesting transitions than just having the second track intro percussions mixed in with the first track outro.

[deca]

Such a great tutorial!
Got me where I wanted to be, so thumbs up for you, Gabe! 👍

[cursortoxyz]

This is a really good summary, it's just what I needed. I really wish Novation would allow preset per pattern instead of project.

[frikalonite]

Thank you for 10'18", the explanation of the Saving mute states.

[AndrewPRoberts]

Just bought a circuit rhythm, super excited for it

[crizchun]

Novation should be paying you (if they’re not already)
Great work, man. Keep it up

[tcookejr]

Excellent video. Learned a ton. Thank you

[niceheartwhitesuit]

Ah! I wish I would have known this mute state update had dropped before spending 2 hours arranging a song last night 🙂

Just a tip to share (not sure if you have mentioned this on your channel) but I will get extra mileage out of my scenes by reserving one of my midi tracks just as a timing mechanism by reducing or increasing the pattern sync rate as needed. That way I can get it to "loop" a progression multiple times in a scene without needing to take up one of my precious 16 scene slots.

[anthonybfernandez]

If you are still looking for guitar pedals look into preamps. There is a pedal of a neve recording module. Has a warm sound and was used in Abbey Road Studios. Its called JHS Colour Box.

[cornbrains]

Is there a way to queue up the next next project to play after all the scenes of the current one finish so you don't have to coordinate the timing?

[eightsprites]

Oh! Didn’t know about mute state. I need to update my Tracks. Thanks