TC-11 & Tabla Improvisation

Sunday Synth Jam: This video captures an improvisation by Hindole Majumdar and Kevin Schlei, from a concert held August 19th, 2012.

This piece, Idiom, is a fully improvised, on-the-spot composition by Schlei on iPad and Hindole on tabla.

Technical details, via Schlei:

A basic rhythmic pattern forms that he and I use to ground ourselves, and we play off of each other’s accents and phrases.

I am using my iPad instrument TC-11 with three iPads, and Hindole is playing his D tabla set with an extra E dayan.

via Kevin Schlei

9 thoughts on “TC-11 & Tabla Improvisation

  1. just want to tell anyone who says the ipad isn’t a real instrument, to shut up and watch this, before they even open their mouths!

    i’ve been using tc-11 for months now and after being a synth programer for over 30+ years, i think i can say with a fair amount of confidence that tc-11 and the ipad kick butt!

    just a reminder to all the kids here who may not get it, synths were about looking forward and not back, not about trying to be or sound vintage or retro.

    1. Chiptune would like to have a talk with you.

      But I agree with everything else you said. I find it funny how some people don’t consider the ipad as an instrument, while they consider other digital machines with touch surfaces as instrument.

      A touch screen can have a similar sensibility as fretless instruments.

  2. sadly, ipad audio level is too low in this video

    but TC-11 is rly GREAT example of what ipad software for music/sound design should be – expressive instrument with deep synth engine and attachable controls

  3. Love that TC-11 preset. It’s amazing he plays it in tune. I have a hard time making tonal music in TC-11. The two approaches that I’ve used are: incorporating a sequencer module or restricting the frequency range to a large degree.

  4. Tc-11 is very awesome and flexible….but not everyone is a sound designer.
    Some of us do want to use it as a instrument and would love some great sounds and presets.
    I would love to see some sampling inbuilt so you can have other ” familiar sounds” imported and mangled up in the same fashion.
    Possibly combine megacurtis ( the original one ) like feature with tc?

  5. the tabla player has most likely been practicing daily 20+ years to get to the level displayed here. the ipad player has probably been playing for less than one year. furthermore every 2 months something new comes out, so how does the ipad artist continue to evolve skills and approach oneness with the ipad instrument?

  6. Interesting how in this piece the iPad basically becomes the drone while the percussion is everything that drives the song and leads the listener. Heard in isolation I’m not sure I would enjoy the iPad part at all, but it mostly worked in this context. The levels were kind of low on the iPad so I can’t speak more specifically to it’s part.

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