"Live sketches" was performed live with the Novation Circuit. Basic sequences were preprogrammed and then arranged live, with solos, mutes, tweaks, effects, and other flourish all performed in real-time. All sounds, samples, and effects were created live using the factory stock sounds from the Novation Circuit, with the final mix being simply the stereo output from this digital groovebox. The only external processing was a compressor and limiter on the mix to bring the volume up to contemporary standards.

The beautiful, messy, improvised quality of music is typically lost in modern recording, especially in electronic music, where a mouse and keyboard often replace the expressiveness of an instrument. Moreover, musicians can become crippled by the sheer volume of great choices out there, be it samples or synthesizers or effects or even performances/takes to splice together. And finally, it can be challenging to create music on the same device where you check your email, or do your work, or otherwise spend the non-music parts of your day.

So when I picked up the Novation Circuit on a whim less than a week before I recorded "Live sketches", I was enormously inspired by the device: by its limitations, by its tactile approach to making electronic music, by its all-in-one-piece-of-hardware philosophy, by its lack of screens or email-checking ability. I found myself tinkering with it in all the free spaces of my life: while cooking, or while taking a ferry, or even during playtime with my two-year-old son (who intuitively understands flashing lights and hitting drum pads in a way that a computer can't compare).

The songs on "Live sketches" truly are sketches, and all are first takes while plugged into my recording software (although I toyed with these sequences many times before recording). And being sketches, I could spend far more time with them, adding more layers using my computer and other hardware, mixing with dedicated channels, and so on, until I had a much more polished EP. But all that feels toilsome and antithetical to the joy I experienced while discovering this little groovebox. I'm sure I'll incorporate the Circuit into my standard way of making music, but for now I'm putting these live performances out as a testament. Breaking the modern laptop workflow can lead to great ideas, great flow, great songs, great productivity, and great fun. I hope you can sense that while listening to these tracks while driving, or studying, or anywhere else.

Thanks kindly for listening.