I cannot lie to y’all! The past few days have been maaaad for me. I felt like my day job stuff has been the catalyst of my next set of moves. There’s been a lot of podcast episodes alluding to my internal conflicts but after a conference call on Friday, I checked my email to see an offer from Restream for 30% off the first month subscription. At first I didn’t know it was only for the first payment, figured it was for the whole year but still…

Friday was spent creating accounts for all the services that you I can now stream to and go busy. Some of which were a complete failure like a few of the South Korean ones which are owned by the same parent company but all of the other ones I’m pretty straight on. VK I had to delete after signing up and can’t go again until sometime in 2022 as you’ve gotta use something a lot of don’t have multiple of, and there’s also some which I couldn’t understand the language or effectively translate via Google. All in all I paid my first discounted payment at like 2pm-ish but probably didn’t start my first stream until about 8pm and it was probably a disaster out start.

I tried to broadcast a podcast episode recorded of 0800YOFAM – WHTVRINNIT and it weren’t playing the live audio of the podcast during the recording for all who tuned in to hear. It was real amateur night to be honest until I started a stream from the MPC Live 2. For some reason I can’t use my Rode mic to narrate what I’m doing whilst the MPC app is open but now I feel like its kinda minor as I’ve perfected the layout -since changed since these episodes were recorded.

Started out with the drumbeat and followed the line of enquiry to record some vocals a lil hook but rather than do it the lazy way, I broke it down into different tones as if I were recording myself whilst creating the first iteration of the Up In The Ear album. I even started as I meant to go on mixing wise by splitting tones and effects into buses. I know I’m a reformed geezer.

By the second day I was gassed. I think I was amazed at what had happened the night before and spent the whole of my Saturday thinking about what I had achieved whilst enjoying the replay. I was obsessed in fact. I was riding the train to Tottenham Hale for the Sistine Chapel exhibition and started mumbling the bars whilst riding the Victoria line from my interchange to the destination. I said to myself that I should write it down but then apart of me had confidence in my ability, albeit rather my enthusiasm to train my mind to recall and remember the flow. I spent that day doing a lot of other things that I now can’t recall but it’s always fun to spend time with my girlfriend on a Saturday.

When we got home I was ready to get down to business. In recent weeks a lot was on my mind, especially after an interview that felt incredibly frosty and some other work related things so I got busy in OBS with the new layout. I didn’t plan to write bars live and it was the first time doing so using a word processor on the mac rather than phone or paper but it felt incredibly fluid. It made me question why I hadn’t tried it previously. The split screen on the apps too. Man that was dope when I think back to how it went down. I think I just love how the stream captured all of the ideation in real time especially around the hook and the arrangement of it regarding how it evolved.

On a very old hard drive I found a video of me attempting to film myself making beats for YouTube back in 2011. I think my Mac had like 4GB of RAM back then and was hella slow so even if I knew about software to record the screen and edit in the bootleg copy of Final Cut Pro X at the time, I’d be waiting a helluva long time for the renders. I recall waiting about 24hrs one time hence why I didn’t pursue the direction of video when it came to Up In The Ear and the Canon 550D.

Going through my archive in general really reminded me of how far I’ve ventured on my journey and how powerful self belief in your vision is. I literally got up out the mud and worked my ass off, investing in self with no help or handout and practicing on honing my craft for hours on end to get to where I’m at today. I’m still learning all these years later. The secret code is consistency and dispelling any self doubt that one may have. You have believe in yourself and share your passion enough to inspire you to keep going because ultimately that’s how you get better.

This session was the catalyst for putting everything in perspective in regards to my day job and my moonlighting because when my energy had been going in the direction of the day job, I’d lost sight of my passion and hadn’t allocated enough time for it but that stopped when I was reminded of the fact of what my priority has always been. Never lose sight of your path. Keep striving despite the distractions to settle into the mundane, especially if you were never built for that or cut from that particular cloth.

I think the next part of this session will reflect my perspective and reflections expressed in here but until next time, subscribe to me across the socials…

YouTube | Twitch | FaceBook | Instagram | Twitter | Webpage

The post Khalism Live – Ep.008: Noway (AKAI MPC Live 2 x Logic Pro X) first appeared on Where Is KO?.

After a long and pretty arduous day at work I came home, greeted my girl, showered and propped myself up in front of OBS to rearrange the layout to accommodate my Akai MPC Live II. I had this drum pattern in my mind that I wanted to create whilst walking down the hill to home but somehow forgot what it was. I spent ages trying to get the alignment correct with the transport box, there must be a much more straight forward way to do it.

Also I’ve programmed OBS to transmit the whole screen rather than being able to do actual apps which makes it difficult to stream because if I open OBS it does that 20million infinity mirrors of the display. I definitely need to watch some more videos to work it all out. Some considerations need to be made for how much power my peripherals are drawing from my Mac too because when I attempted to use my iPad as an additional camera alongside my iPhone being connected, it couldn’t power both of them plus a machine. That was the moment when I figured that the GoPro Hero10 has to be the next investment alongside a more flexible desktop tripod that can be connected or attached to my desk. Probably wouldn’t hurt to look into some lighting either. Let’s face it, at this point I’m really going into broadcast territory like serious serious hobby going into professional setup type of thing.

During all of this desktop arrangement activity I helped my girl prep the Lamb dinner and made quite possibly the wickedest gravy for what was to be lamb chops, potatoes, parsnips and rice. I diced up half a giant onion, 3 cloves of garlic, a tomato, some granules of lamb gravy (well what was left), sprinkled some lamb seasoning, dried mixed herbs, salt & pepper, and the crowning glory was the juice from the lamb itself at various times through cooking. There were periods where I thought I’d lost my way on the flavour journey as I’m somewhat of a mad professor when cooking; no method to the madness just chop, add and taste. At the point where we were satisfied to leave things on the stove to do their thing, I retreated to the workspace and began to record a quick session rather than to stream.

Currently making lamb for my Sunday dinner and thought I’d make a drum beat whilst waiting for dinner to be ready. Thought it was a great way to test my MPC Live 2 layout in OBS.

Catch me on YouTube and Twitch.

The post Sunday Session – Lamb Chop (Drum Beat) first appeared on Where Is KO?.

The funniest thing about Saturday’s edition of Khalism Live is that I somehow managed to get a stream in and also pop into central. Usually its one or the other with me so to get a likely beat session in and a shopping trip, dayaaaaam I’m on some different ish.

The morning started just like any other. I woke up and had a glass of water and popped some boiled eggs on the stove. I jumped into the shower and got dressed. Once my boiled eggs were finished I served them up with some smoked salmon. I felt mega nourished. My girl popped out with her friends and I meanwhile was in two minds of what to do with my day. On one hand I wanted to make some music but on the other I really had no idea of what I wanted to make, on the other hand I wanted to grab a Maharishi and iPhone 12 Mini that I had been looking at online the night before. I was sure that it wouldn’t be in stock at END. if I went into the store so I made a plan to visit a Maharishi store which needed to also be near a Nudie store to pickup a pair of jeans. I had no idea of the type of jean I was after specifically but I was deffo wary when stepping out because I know that at the moment I’m losing weight so I wanted to try a few options.

Whilst eating my breakfast I rewatched Ep.003 and found myself amazed at how good the riddim sounded so at that point I was like “ok you’ve got about an hour to do your business and catch the train into Victoria and head to Oxford Circus”. I popped the 12 Mini onto the Joby TelePod Pro, opened OBS, popped the Maschine MK3 on the stand and got started…

My day was maaaad. It was different. I went out with a plan to go to Maharishi and Nudie. I was determined to grab myself a new beanie and maybe grab a new pair of jeans however when I got to Maharishi I spotted a lunchbox that I had been interested in for a long time so I copped it. Is £45 a bit much for a lunch box? Yes, but it is what it is. The beanie cost £60 and in hindsight it had me realising how easy it is to spend money, especially since I’ve been on self-imposed austerity since the start of 2020 to get my finances in order.

I walked from Piccadilly to Soho and landed at Nudie however I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of choice, how hot I was from walking and then putting on a mask, before just realising that I didn’t even know what I was looking for in a packed store. I aborted the mission and headed home to venture to East London the next day. On the way home I continued to watch what i had done earlier and I got GASSED!!! I had it in my mind that I’m going to head home and stream again.

This stream was special because I had someone tuned in from Canada who was really giving suggestions and responding to the choices I was making. It was the first time I had also been logged into my stream manager on a separate device and could interact with a viewer. It was a real eye opener because I felt encourage and it also made the stream more dynamic. I think what also helped is that I had a camera focused on me and I was talking my way through it from time to time so it added a new and more personable dynamic.

Hope to see you in the comments section of the next live stream: Twitch / YouTube

The post Khalism Live – Ep.004/5: Beanie x Lunch Box first appeared on Where Is KO?.

Hey y’all! I’ve really been getting stuck into streaming lately since installing my newest and most ergonomic workspace setup. I can honestly say that it’s made going live a dream. I pretty much slip my phone into place, move my keyboard and trackpad apart, place the 3d printed drum machine stand in the middle and open the OBS app to get started. Due to using Restream I can broadcast to all services at once, aside from Facebook pages as I have to upgrade to premium, which is really good because I don’t have to heard people to different places.

Friday morning started out well. I stepped on the scales and recorded a low weight due to actually eating at a decent time and having more than enough sleep. Besides due to taking a break from the intensity of the gym for a few days I wanted to give my body some time to readjust. My bro sent me a message to give me the heads up about the Patta x Nike drop which I didn’t even look into a few weeks back as I figured why do I need two ticks on a crep but decided to try a ting. Surely this would be more democratic than an END. or SNKRS raffle right?

Click to view slideshow.

After losing out on the Patta drop, I sat at my desk staring at my monitor and loosly scrolling through Twitter feeling kinda salty for a good 40mins completely forgetting that Apple Watch Series 7 pre-orders opened at 1pm. By the time I got there it was 1336 and the shipping was saying some dumb shit like the 19-21st Oct and I was mad as hell. Thing is when I cop something I really want it on launch day ie. when its avails to the public or not at all but I still copped and for about 40mins I was set to own a Series 7 but in the time I was washing the dishes and boiling the pan full of eggs for a brunch, I said “fuck this” and cancelled my order.

Click to view slideshow.

I deffo made a vow to myself that I wouldn’t upgrade my Apple Watch Series 3 until the mythical feature of the blood glucose monitor arrives and have recently had it repaired due to bricking it with WatchOS 8 Beta and not being able to downgrade I figured I’ll run with it a lil while longer. Yes I’ve been going hard on fitness and taking it serious but I feel like as my guy Kayeman put it “smart watches are all fun and games, they shouldn’t dictate the work you put in.” In all honesty 400GBP is a lot of money to spend on something with no yield and I have a lot of pressing priorities so let me stick to my vow after my iPad Air 4th gen purchase of not buying anymore Apple products.

If anything, it goes to show that if you can’t identify the reason why you’re making a purchase or even what’s driving the urge then you really need to chill. In that moment of madness what drove me to get involved with the Series 7 is that I lost out the Patta’s but also what drove me to purchase them was the hype and influence from my brother which previously I didn’t give them a second glance when they featured in all the feeds anyway. I’m tapped. Sometimes we’ve got to gain a hold on ourselves because this consumption ting is very real and has a lot of folks who aren’t aware or in control of their emotions to spend themselves into oblivion thinking it’ll make them happy.

I started this Khalism Live with a roulette of what poetry to record but that quickly got dashed aside once I made the bouncy riddim and freestyled my consumption calamity. Hope you enjoy and give me a sub and a follow on the services such as Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and FaceBook.

The post Khalism Live – Ep.003: Ambition first appeared on Where Is KO?.

A few nights ago I got round to recording an underrated and significant piece of poetry I wrote in 2017 after a random encounter one Wednesday morning. It would be years until I understood the phenomena or even revisited the piece to structure or make sense of it. The app I wrote it on doesn’t’t provide an audit trail annoyingly so I couldn’t see when I started to make the edits. As you’ll come to learn about me depending on how long you’ve been following what I’ve been doing is that I love an audit trail because time and date carries as much significance as the pice itself. It’s how I reflect back and know exactly how and what I was feeling at a specific date and time.

I recorded the poetry into Logic Pro X to no backing track at all and managed to narrate it from my external monitor which display it much bigger, thankfully, than the days of old when I used to do it from my actual MacBook. The great thing about nowadays is that I can split the screen between LPX and Pages to really record and narrate at one time.

At the moment of posting I haven’t taken any photos of my live stream setup but over a course of time I’ll keep you updated with how it unfolds. The way my desk is organised it definitely does make it easier however I feel like the arrival of MacOS Monterrey will likely make it easier to control the stream as for something like OBS can be pushed to my iPad Air but then again why don’t I just use Sidecar?

Maybe I need to test it out from a response perspective to be able to check comments and viewers whilst streaming. Also I can’t benefit from MacOS updates straight away as I’ve got to wait until the manufacturers of my equipment release firmware updates that are compatible first and even then I’ve still got to be wary. This was the case after upgrading to Big Sur. My MacBook Pro still crashes randomly when loading particular Maschine files which is sometimes a major nightmare when trying to work. What you will found in this stream is that it kinda happens with LPX when loading up You Remind Me file as the Splendid riddim is access via the Akai MPC Live 2 being in controller mode with the file stored on its SSD drive that I recently installed.

I know some of the above may sound like gobberdy goop to the unfamiliar eye but its all relative to the process hence why its been documented in blog form. Anyway… without further adieu here’s You Remind Me from a collection of pieces entitled Internal Affairs that may feature on Rhythm & Prose: 1012BC. The video of the stream is also available to watch below too via the embed.

Stay up to date with future broadcasts by following me on Twitch and YouTube.

25th March 2017, 1015

You remind me of someone I once knew.

I think it’s the way your sunglasses are resting at top of your head as if they are some kind of tiara or hair band, holding your long dark hair with blond streaks running through it from covering your deep brown eyes that tell an eternity of stories.

You speak with the same linguistic flow and cadence as the person I once knew, poetic and soothing as the sound of the majestic Iguazú falls.

You remind me of her.

Similar genetic and cultural DNA, chilled and laid back sensibility, an air of having no care in the world, an island retreat and paradise.

Unlike Odysseus’ saga on Ogygia with the nymph Calypso, our stillness in time was but a moment. A grain of sand that seemed to take forever to fall through the portal from the top of the hourglass to the pile of grains at the bottom.

You remind me of someone who I dedicated verse after verse to.

Manuscripts manifested from a collection of thoughts.

Up late at night riding spiralling free writing trains of thought in a feeble attempt to descramble my brain. I ride this bus in the hope that writing it all down allows me to remove the remnants of you.

You remind me of the love I once chased as if I were the soda trying to mix with a concentrated and refined taste that burns the heart seconds after the initial sip had passed through my lips, meandering through the grooves of my tongue, flowing down the dark unchartered throatal abyss to leave a bitter taste in my mouth if left for too long between sips.

Madting.

The post Khalism Live: You Remind Me first appeared on Where Is KO?.