Ep-133 K.O. II random notes

EP-133
gear
Practice notes on the 64 MB Sampler Composer by Teenage Engineering
Author

Matt Crump

Published

March 24, 2024

Code 
from diffusers import DiffusionPipeline
from transformers import set_seed
from PIL import Image
import torch
import random
import ssl
import os
ssl._create_default_https_context = ssl._create_unverified_context

#locate library
#model_id = "./stable-diffusion-v1-5"
model_id = "dreamshaper-xl-turbo"

pipeline = DiffusionPipeline.from_pretrained(
    pretrained_model_name_or_path = "../../../../bigFiles/huggingface/dreamshaper-xl-turbo/"
)

pipeline = pipeline.to("mps")

# Recommended if your computer has < 64 GB of RAM
pipeline.enable_attention_slicing("max")

prompt = "practicing synthesizer on a beach. the sunset is a synthesizer. The moon in the sky is a synthesizer. The trees are made of synthesizers. The ocean is music. colorful. 3d."

for s in range(30):
  for n in [5,10]:
    seed = s+21
    num_steps = n+1
    set_seed(seed)
    
    image = pipeline(prompt,height = 1080,width = 1080,num_images_per_prompt = 1,num_inference_steps=num_steps)
    
    image_name = "images/synth_{}_{}.jpeg"
    
    image_save = image.images[0].save(image_name.format(seed,num_steps))

EP-133

This little sampler is loads of fun. The buttons are snappy. The preloaded samples are fantastic. I loved them so much I put them in a soundfont a while back.

This page is just random notes to self about the EP-133. I haven’t spent too much time with it, and hopefully making notes will help with learning it better, and using it more often.

Manual

Official TE online guide:

https://teenage.engineering/guides/ep-133

Firmware

Firmware updates:

https://teenage.engineering/downloads/ep-133

Oops, I’m behind. Need to update the firmware. I get to use the handy web-utility: https://teenage.engineering/apps/update

  • updated to most recent firmware

Online Sample tool

https://teenage.engineering/apps/ep-sample-tool

  • did a factory restore, glad they added that option.

Using it

The fun factor for finger drumming is really high on this one.

  1. Finger drumming straight into a DAW or whatever is close.

Stand-alone

Record with the sequencer, play back and record into DAW later.

Projects 1 - 9

  • Each project has four groups (A-D)
  • 12 samples per group
  • 99 patterns per group (up to 99 bars)
  • 99 scenes per pattern (arrangement of scenes)

Default factory settings - Projects 1-5 are populated - Projects 6-9 are empty

Change Project? HOLD MAIN and HOLD one of the pads (1-9), about 1 second together

  • Hold main, blinking light shows current project

Pattern Length

  • Default is 1 bar
  • Increase length HOLD RECORD then +

Recording

  • Press record then play, metronome plays
  • finger drum
  • erase
  • undo Shift + B

Commit

Things that are annoying

The main thing I find annoying is an unreasonable thing. So, I’m not actually annoyed, but I am annoyed.

I want to start finger drumming and settle into a groove without any nuisance factors, and then have that groove automatically loop with no effort, and be able to export the loop with no effort.

One approach is to set a bar length, set tempo, turn the metronome on, press record, then jam it out and hope it works (and repeat over and over and over, until I get a take that works). The problem is that I hate metronomes. I don’t “feel” in the groove doing this. I can make stuff that is OK, with lot’s of editing and effort, and on the whole it is NOT FUN.

I’ve tried various ways of playing live and recording into Ableton, but this is also NOT FUN, for lots of reasons.

I’m looking for “The timeless way of having fun finger drumming”.

Things I’m actually doing

Record to “tape”, grab loops later

This seems to work pretty well. I like to use the EP-133 as a portable device. It’s too bad that it doesn’t record itself. Instead, I need to record into another portable device. I have a Zoom H6 that works well for this kind of thing.

I run the Ep-133 output to the H6 recorder, press record, then drum it out for 10 minutes or whatever. I like this because it is so fun, and I enjoy the actual playing part. I don’t care about mistakes or timing or anything. Alternatively, if I’m nearby a laptop, I’ll record into the laptop, using Adobe Audition. Or, if I’m in the home studio, I’ll record to an SD card through my mixer.

Bottom line is that there is lot’s of flow, and I enjoy this.

Afterward, I bring the wav file into Adobe Audition, listen through it, and cut out any drum loops that I think work. Then, I load these into Ableton, and the warping feature seems to work pretty well at this point.

Set really long bar lengths on the EP-133, and play live for a long time

This works pretty well too.

Hold record, then +, increases the number of bars. Hold + down and it zooms up to 99 bars. I use free play (no quantize), and drum away. Even if it is a big mess, it’s lots of fun, and I can grab any good parts later. Bonus points for being able to use the FX during playback.