Adrien Joly
- Music
I’ve played drums since I was a kid. Even though I never wanted to make a career in music, playing with other musicians is a very important and fulfilling part of my life.
More recently, I’ve also been eager to learn more about Music Theory and create “chiptune” music inspired by the Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy game consoles. Read more about this project.
If you want to know more about what music I love listening to, check out:
- My collection of favorite albums
- My collection of favorite songs: openwhyd.org/adrien
Current musical projects
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Harissa(2017-NOW)
I play drums in Harissa. An invitation to travel, blending Groove, Jazz and instrumental World music.
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Boro(2023-NOW)
Pop/indie Rock. We recently performed at Supersonic, for a tribute to Fleetwood Mac.
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The Rag Dolls(2021-NOW)
Stadium Rock band from Paris, France. We cover epic songs from Aerosmith, Queen, MJ and others!
List of bands I previously played drums with
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Man Is Not A Bird(2012-2014)
Instrumental band between post-rock and math-rock. Forming drummer until summer 2014. Performed 12+ gigs, recorded the album "Survived the great flood" (Spotify).
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Alastra(2013-2014)
A powerful blend of hardcore and electronic music, inspired from science fiction themes.
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Anthony Bui(2010)
More than ten years later, I performed live with my first guitarist (now pop-rock composer) and friend, Anthony Bui.
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Trapped by Stereo(2008-2010)
A dual-singer post-hardcore band fueled by complex composition structures and effective melodies.
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Anyone Cares(2004-2005)
Melodic hardcore band which delivered several records and gigs, including with Strike Anywhere in 2006.
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Cryoplasma (ex-Enema)(2003)
A mixture of rock and metal music, packed with energy and melodies.
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Other bands(1997-2003)
Also performed with several bands since 1997: Cryoplasma/Enema, Oddity, Low Sound, Nemesis...
Musical experiments
As a nostalgic of vintage PC/MS-DOS games from my youth, I’ve mostly enjoyed experimenting the recreation of their peculiar audio esthetic.
WebMIDI-based chiptune synth (2018)
I developed this mini web application to explore the use of WebMidi and WebAudio to perform “chiptune” music (inspired by vintage game consoles like Nintendo Entertainment System) live, using MIDI instruments.
You can find its source code on GitHub and a quick talk in which I explain how it works: Make “Game Boy” music in JavaScript - YouTube.
Finger-drumming with OPL3 samples (2018)
After I bought my Yamaha DTX Multi-12, I wondered if I could reproduce the feel of vintage PC/MS-DOS games playing music through a Adlib/OPL3-based soundcard … with my fingers!
Soundtracking vintage VGM (2018)
To test the Deflemask soundtracker, I reprogrammed a song from Bio Menace (originally composed by Bobby Prince for the Adlib/OPL3 chip), for the Sega Genesis’ YM2612.
Chiptune meets Trap music (2016)
I wrote Wolfentrap as an attempt to mix chip-tune (from a classic PC/MS-DOS game) and trap music, using GarageBand.
Favorite tools
Here are apps I use with my band:
- I compose musical ideas with GarageBand for Mac.
- I use Voice Record Pro for iPhone to record rehearsals and quickly upload all tracks in MP3 format to our shared Google Drive folder, at the end of the rehearsal.
- I practice my tempo with Soundbrenner’s metronome for iPhone.
- I use Jamulus to jam with remote musicians, from home.
Here is a selection of tools I enjoy using to experiment with musical creation:
- Chord AI is a free mobile app that records what is being played through the phone’s microphone and detects the chords in real time. After your performance, you can listen to it and see the chords on the recorded waveform. Very handy to keep musical notes and learn the name of chords! (Before it was killed by Apple, I was using “Mémo Musical” for that)
- Yamaha Synth Book is a free mobile app that makes it easy to play beats & predefined chord pads on the go, using the touchscreen.
- I use Ableton Live as a DAW when I want to build songs without interacting with my computer, by pressing the record/playback buttons of my MIDI controller.
- SimpleSynth is handy when I want to play something quickly with my MIDI controller, without starting a DAW.
- Synthesia is great to learn how to play any song (from a MIDI file) on the piano, and it feels like a video game.