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| Sunday July 6, 2008. 05:22 AM |
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Akai Professional has released updated firmware for the MPD24 USB/MIDI Pad Controller.
Offering improved transport functionality, v1.09 is the second update to the original release of MPD24 firmware. A complete document of release notes is also available for review at www.AkaiPro.com.
Owners can update their MPD24 firmware by selecting the Docs & Downloads section of the MPD24 product page on the company?s website. Users may download the 44 kb zip file at no charge. The firmware is installed to MPD24 via a USB-connected Mac running OS X or later, or a PC running Windows XP or later.
Designed for use with Digital Audio Workstations (DAW), sequencing, and other software applications, MPD24 is a velocity sensitive USB/MIDI pad controller. The MPD24 allows users to program drum parts in a much more intuitive and natural way than by simply playing them on a keyboard. With its array of knobs and sliders, the MPD24 allows users to control parameters on their favorite DAW or software synths, offering incredible real-time control.
Electron has announced an update to the Monomachine OS:
Good people around the globe, the hydra just got two extra heads. In other words - Monomachine OS 1.20 is here!
Two new machines have been added in this magnificent update, allowing you to use your own customized waveforms. Read all about it in the updated Monomachine and C6 manuals (you’ll find them in the support section). The added waveform functionality is for MKII units only.
Akai Professional is now shipping the MPD32 pad controller.
MPD32 is Akai Professional’s flagship pad controller for musicians and DJs. Using a USB cable to connect to a Mac or PC, MPD32 is designed for hardware control of apps like Reason, Ableton Live and GarageBand.
MPD32 also features transport controls for interfacing with DAW/sequencing applications like Sonar, Cubase and Logic. MPD32 is a fully programmable controller and multifunctional control surface that fits perfectly within any production or performance environment.
Features:
MIDI-synced note-repeat with MPC swing
Sixteen full-sized, genuine MPC pads with velocity and pressure-sensitive response
Three banks of eight assignable switches, sliders and endless knobs for a total of 72 controllers
Two assignable Foot Switches
One assignable Foot Pedal controller
Large, easy-to-read backlit LCD
Thirty user-definable presets for use with software applications
MMC/MIDI Start/Stop transport buttons
Ableton Live Akai Edition software included
BFD Lite software included
MPD32 is available now, with an MSRP of $499.00.
Motion Samples has released five new downloadable sample libraries.
Here are their descriptions:
Sequential Synths - over 400 loops of pumpin? analog fx and synth rhythms for producing various styles of minimal house and techno. Inside you?ll find tons of useful loops of pad sweeps, ambient fx, sequenced modular synths, phat bass grooves, screeching oscillators and endless ideas for starting off beats.
R&B Soul Delite Keys - collection of R&B?s finest ep, rhodes, piano and keyboard melodies with over 200 extended loops mixed down with Eventide processors for the perfect reverbs, delays and fx.
Big Boss Sounds - over 250 colossal multi-samples of stab chords, horns, orchestra hits, retro synth hooks, piano licks, dirty organs and tons more.
DeepHaus Synth Loops - over 200 loops of synths and ambient pads for producing chilled and zoney club beats. Inside you?ll find tons of mid-range synth fills recorded from modern and classic 80?s synths for that warm resonating tone.
Cinematic Hip Hop Intros - collection of 80 cinematic intros of orchestrated scenes, violent effects and epic soundscapes played in moods of fury, suspense, sadness, champion, war and many more. Included are fully mixed 6-40sec wave files of ?movie like? scores that feature compositions of orchestra melodies, guns & weapons, crime scenes and ambient soundscapes.
Prices range from $25 to $40. Details and demos at the Motion Samples site.
touched echo is an electroacoustic artwork that uses bone conduction to take people back in time:
The visitors of the Brühl’s Terrace (Dresden, Germany) are taken back in time to the night of the terrible air raid on 13th February 1945. In their role as a performer they put themselves into the place of the people who shut their ears away from the noise of the explosions. While leaning on the balustrade the sound of airplanes and explosions is transmitted from the swinging balustrade through their arm directly into into the inner ear (bone conduction).
It’s a very interesting use of bone conduction to enable a private art experience in a public space.
via Todayandtomorrow
ReasonBanks has released Analogue Monsters 3, a ReFill based on 5 GB multisamples of these analog synths:
Alesis Andromeda A6
Korg MonoPoly
Korg MS-20
Korg Poly800 MKII
Moog Prodigy
Oberheim Matrix-1000
Roland Juno-60
Roland Jupiter 4
Studio Electronics SE-1X
Waldorf Microwave XT
Analogue Monsters 3 Features:
Combinator bank: 200 patches in 9 categories.
NN-XT Bank: 1243 patches in 11 categories.
NN-19 Bank: 606 patches, for compability reason.
Redrum Kits: 12 ReDrum patches.
Multisamples: 6927 perfectly looped wav files - Alesis Andromeda A6, Korg MonoPoly, Korg MS-20, Korg Poly800 MKII, Moog Prodigy, Oberheim Matrix-1000 (new in v3), Roland Juno-60, Roland Jupiter 4, Studio Electronics SE-1X, Waldorf Microwave XT.
Rex loops: 72 sequenced loops in Recycle2 format.
Analogue Monters 3 is available for download for ?81 EUR (96 EUR for DVD). Version 3 is a free upgrade for existing users.
DanceFuel (www.dancefuel.dj) is a digital music store that’s sort of like the iTunes Store for DJs.
What makes the site unique is that they offer mp3 downloads of electronic music with Key and Code info designed to make the tracks Harmonic Mixing Ready”. ?Harmonic Mixing Ready? tracks are now available in the Top 100 and in the Category?s Top 10, and is planned to be available for the full 110,000 tack catalog.
About Harmonic Mixing
Harmonic mixing is the natural evolution after beat matching/mixing, consisting of mixing in compatible keys (notes). With the latest audio analysing software like Mixed in Key or using dedicated DJ mixing software with harmonic classification such as MixMeister, you can avoid sour mixes caused by clashing melodies, as the ?master key note? is previewed on the track info.
When used properly, this info can help the DJ mix long overlays (on any DJ setup or software) without relying on percussion or “free beats?.
Key and Code classification facilitate choosing tracks for a set, if you’re interested in limiting your search to tracks in related keys and tempos.
WaveIdea has introduced NeoSynth24, an synth-on-a-card expansion board for CME keyboards (UF and VX series).
NeoSynth24 features a built in sound bank (64 MBytes/256 Mbits) that can be updated at your convenience. Various sound banks are available (General MIDI standard instruments set, Grand Piano style, Hip Hop style, Techno/House style, R&B style, etc). Multiple sound banks are available on SD Cards that can be ordered separately. These SD Cards are then used to upgrade the on board instruments, once upgraded the SD Card can be removed from its slot.
Features:
All available sound banks are high quality sampled instruments, from 16 to 24 bits resolution, up to 96 kHz sampling frequency.
NeoSynth24 on board powerful DSP allows up to 124 voices of polyphony
MIDI /USB expander
Up to 124 voices of polyphony
Built-in FX engines
Up to 64 MB sound bank
Updatable sound banks from SD Card
Various music styles available
USB MIDI class compliant (no driver)
24 bits / 48 kHz audio paths
Main stereo audio output (24bits D/A)
Auxiliary stereo audio output (24bits D/A)
Headphones output
Analog stereo audio input (24bits A/D)
S/PDIF stereo audio input/output
Available for both UF & VX keyboards
Large MIDI implementation
Pricing is TBA. More information is available at the WaveIdea site.
genoQs Machines has released Nemo, a new hardware MIDI sequencer.
Nemo builds on the tradition of real-time MIDI sequencing of GenoQs’ Octopus.
Features:
90+ Tactile switches and 9 endless encoders for interactive access
93 LEDs (tri-color) used to display both numeric and quantitative data
64 pages (i.e. “patterns”)
4 tracks per page, 16 steps each
4 concurrent pages, i.e. 16 concurrent tracks
Page tracks freely chain-able to structures of up to 64 steps
Per track velocity, pitch, length and start factors, MIDI channel and CC
Individual clock multiplier/divisor per track
Individual and editable runtime directions per track
Polyphonic steps, of up to 7 notes (chords or multi-trigger)
Track self modulation, via step events
Cross modulation of tracks (via the Effector)
MIDI note and CC recording and playback per track
32 MIDI channels via 2 dedicated MIDI ports
Nemo is available now for ?1399.
Xoxox has released Friction, a new VST designed to synthesizer friction effects:
The friction algorithm is combined with a 2nd order mass-spring and two waveguide resonances for flexible emulative application.
Presets include squealing tires, squeaky hinges and axles, ww2 bombs, swingsets, etc.
The license is $15 (or $10 for current customers). The demo removes some parameters.
Preview friction below. Note: it’s pretty painful:
OT: Australian dance Diva Kylie Minogue became an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) Thursday, receiving the award from heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles at a ceremony in London.
“It is an incredible honour for me to receive this award,” said Kylie. “It makes me feel both humble and proud to be recognized for doing a job that I love so much.”
Speaking after the ceremony to the waiting press Kylie admitted to feeling a little nervous but added “I was very excited and to have my family here was magical… I do feel very proud. I think my job, aside from making music, is about communication and this symbolizes my communication with my audience around the world.”
Of her medal, Kylie said: “I’ll admire it for a while, and then keep it safe in its box!”
I’m not sure why Kylie was singled out for honor by Prince Charles, but I’m guessing it’s because he’s a fan of this great Kylie/New Order mashup - Can’t Get Blue Monday Out Of My Head:
AudiOdyssey is a free experimental computer game designed to be accessible to both the visually impaired community and mainstream gamers.
AudiOdyssey was developed with four research goals:
The visually-impaired and the sighted can enjoy the same level and quality of gameplay
Navigate game’s menus with ease and efficiency approaching that of conventional user-interfaces (UIs)
Create a fun and natural control scheme using the Wiimote
An engaging game that relies more on high quality audio than visuals
Description:
The user stars as Vinyl Scorcher, an up-and-coming DJ, on his quest to get club patrons dancing. Swinging the Nintendo Wii controller to the beat, Vinyl lays down the various component tracks of a song, and keeps the party jumping. If he does an especially good job, he can even freestyle!
via AudioPornCentral
This is a Pixar promo - but it takes an interesting look at the sound design of Wall-E.
Andrew Stanton, Jim Morris, and Ben Burtt share their process for creating the sound of a sci-fi animated feature.
Bleep Labs has introduced the Thingamakit - a DIY project that lets you build your own anthropomorphic noise maker.
According to Bleep Labs, the Thingamakit features “all the sounds of Thingamagoop plus
triangle wave LEDacle with shape and speed control. Second photocell patchable to modulator and photocell rate. Square and Triangle wave output.
The satisfaction for making an noise monster with your own soldering iron!
Comes with:
detailed instructions
fully labeled components
simply layed out circuit board with minimal hand wiring.
2 ready to blink LEDacles
control panel and face stickers
Bleep Labs is also doing a fun marketing twist, creating a Thingamakit Flickr group.
Ueberschall has announced Trance ID 2, a new Elastik Soundbank sound library focusing on trance music.
Description:
Trance ID2 incorporates the latest trends in the genre such as Neo-, Electro-, and Tech-Trance, as well as elements from Progressive and Minimal.
The construction kits on Trance ID 2?powered by the Elastik Loop Player?offer cutting-edge drum loops, synth patterns, bass lines, chord progressions, atmospheres, air and rumble, percussion and fx-sounds which can be combined with each other.
BPM information and root key (key signatures) are embedded in all loop file names, simplifying selection and direct use.
Trance ID 2 was created by
Mike Koglin - Grammy-nominated DJ and producer
Marc Steinmeier - Time Unlimited label boss
Mark Pledger - Anjunabeats superstar
Darren Tate - famed for his many top40 hits under his DT8 Project, Jürgen Vries and Angelic guises.
Contents:
2 GB, 30 construction kits, 1000 loops and single sounds
Elastik Soundbank for Mac/PC/AU/VST/RTAS
Elastik Player included - no sampler require
Trance ID 2 retails for $119 USD / 99 Euro / 17.800 Yen / £69 GBP
Here’s something fun I saw highlighted at the Califaudio blog - the Theremug, a DIY project that turns your cup of coffee or tea into a theremin, of sorts.
Here’s Kyle McDonald’s explanation of the Theremug:
1 Prepare some tea
2 Expose the L/R leads on an 1/8″ cable
3 Immerse leads in tea
4 Plug cable into audio input
5 Start up max/pd/processing/etc. and average every 735 samples (882 if you’re in Europe/running on 50Hz)
6 Scale value and drive oscillator
(The tea should not be neglected, be sure to drink it once you’re done making noise.)
See the Max patch for a more in-depth explanation: flickr.com/photos/kylemcdonald/212649409
Here’s something for Sasha fans/trance fans: Sasha’s announced a new CD, Invol2ver, that promises to take a visit to the same territory he explored on the Involver CD.
The CD features twelve heavily worked-over tracks, including tunes from Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, synth pop stars Ladytron, indie troubadour Ray La Montagne and Telefon Tel Aviv. Limited edition copies will include a second CD of Sasha remix exclusives.
Tracks:
01. Intro - Sasha
02. Telefon Tel Aviv - You Are the Worst Thing in the World
03. Rone - Flesh
04. Sasha - Untitled (with Ray LaMontagne vocal sample)
05. Sasha - Lowlife (with Adam Parker Vocal sample)
06. Sasha - Midnight (with Adam Parker vocal sample)
07. Apparat - Arcadia
08. Home Video - That You Might
09. Ladytron - Destroy Everything You Touch
10. M83 - Couleurs
11. Thom Yorke - The Eraser
12. Sasha - 3 Little Pigs
13. Engineers - Sometime I Realise
Sasha releases Involver2 on Global Underground on September 8th 2008.
Steinberg has announced price drops for Cubase & Wavelab:
We would like to inform you about an adjustment in the pricing structure for Cubase 4 and WaveLab 6. We have decided to lower the prices of both products* as of July 1st, 2008 to ?599.00**. The pricing for several upgrades to Cubase 4 has also been reduced, so that the upgrade path from Cubase Studio 4 and Cubase SL versions to Cubase 4 is now only ?199.00**. Upgrades to WaveLab 6 from WaveLab Studio 6 have also been lowered in price. Please visit the Steinberg Online-Shop for more information. We know that this comes unexpectedly for customers who have recently purchased Cubase 4 at the old recommended retail price. This is why we will be offering these customers a special rebate on a future purchase.
Is this the Logic Pro effect?
Details on the new pricing are available at the Steinberg site.
Moby has announced live dates for his Last Night tour:
The energetic set showcases new material from ?Last Night?, but also takes you on a journey through Moby?s eclectic musical history ? taking a nostalgic look back at his deep roots in the rave scene, whilst making reference to albums Play, 18, and Hotel, and embracing the future with cutting edge remix material.
You can catch Live: Remixed at the following festivals this summer:
04th July Belgium, Werchter Festival
06th July France, Belfort, Eurockeenes Festival
25th July UK, Global Gathering
08th Aug Germany, Saalburg, SMS Festival
This is a rough cut of a new documentary, the Vinyl Revolution.
The video captures some wonderful characters that represent a disappearing world.
via Crate Kings
Scientist have found that people who took magic mushrooms in a study looked back at the experience, up to 14 month later, as one of the top five spiritual and meaningful experiences of their lives.
“It’s one thing to have a dramatic experience you say is impressive,” says neuroscientist Roland Griffiths of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who led the research. “It’s another thing to say you consider it as meaningful 14 months later. There’s something about the saliency of these experiences that’s stunning.”
Either there’s more to psychedelics than people thought, or John Hopkins just gets some impressive mushrooms.
For a lot of people, though, music is their drug of choice, especially trance music.
If you’re into psychedelic trance music and culture, check out the latest issue of Goagadar, a free psychedelic culture web magazine. It features interviews, music news, trance reviews and even an interview with Hawkwind’s Dave Brock.
via moleirinho in the forum
PKNTS has designed an interesting modular sound toy for kids:
AMK is a modular sound toy designed for preschool children. In combination with a computer, single sounds and sound sets can be transfered to sound blocks, called ‘Klangbausteine.’
Childrend can play independently with each module, or combine the sounds by plugging blocks together.
Only one sound per block, and age-based limited possibilies of sound modification, makes the toy easy to learn and understand.
These look pretty interesting, and look like they are ripe for bending. If you’ve had a chance to check these out, let me know what you think.
SimplyNoise is a site that offers nothing but noise; it’s a noise generator for the Web.
The only control is a slider that controls a low-pass filter.
According to the site, noise can help you block distractions, sleep and “find your zen”.
IK Multimedia and Muse Research have teamed up to offer the Total Workstation Rack, powered by SampleTank and Receptor.
The Total Workstation Rack is a combination of Muse Research?s unique Receptor hardware plug-in player with IK?s Total Workstation line of Powered By SampleTank instruments: SampleTank 2.5, Sonik Synth 2, Miroslav Philharmonik, SampleMoog and SampleTron. These IK products come pre-installed and authorized within Receptor, allowing immediate access to make music live and in the studio.
The Total Workstation Rack is available for $1,999.99/?1,599.99.
Heartcode is the name of the latest free music download from net label iimusic.
It features 10 8-bit style tracks, including:
01 Temp Sound Solutions - The Menu for Today
02 Alex Mauer - Ikea Shopper Credits
03 Disasterpeace - Ensis
04 Animal Style - Stalactite
05 Phlogiston - Crystal Waves (feat. Shnabubula)
06 Alex Mauer - Monstrox
07 Shnabubula - Get Pumped
08 Xoc - Rubles from Heaven
09 Norrin Radd - Four Lights
10 Temp Sound Solutions - Heart Pitches
If you need any more proof that interesting synths can be made from just about anything, for very little money, check out the Sonic Picnic Set:
the sonic picnic set is a low tech modular system
connections are made as needed using crocodile clips
these pictures show some of the boxes
You gotta love this 4-joystick panner, too:
Check out all the modules.
Goldbaby Productions has released a fun new sample pack that features arguably Moog’s worst synth, the Realistic Concermate (Radio Shack) Moog MG-1.
There are a lot of reasons the MG-1 was so cheesy, starting with the fact that it’s got the Radio Shack stamp all over it, moving on to the flawed construction to the dumbed-down control panel.
Despite the fact that it was a pretty cheesy little synth, it was a Moog with a real Moog filter, and if the sound wasn’t f’d up enough, Goldbaby ran it through a bunch of Audio Damage effects.
Download URL.
Don’t miss the rest of the free goodies at Goldbaby’s site.
Image: Kriton Visuals
Native Instruments today released Urban Arsenal, a collection of production-ready sound material for contemporary hip-hop and similar music styles.
Created in collaboration with established urban music producers and sound designers, the latest entry in the Kore Soundpack range provides an assortment of hip-hop grooves, drum kits and instrument sounds for use in Kore 2 and the free Kore PLAYER software instrument.
Description:
At the heart of Urban Arsenal is a comprehensive collection of authentic hip-hop grooves and drum kits, which can be easily tweaked and transformed through the sound shaping and control features of the Kore platform. Over 1,000 sampled drum sounds form the basis for 40 groove sets and 32 drum kits, including a “human beatbox” kit from beatboxing champion Mando.
With over 15,000 overall groove variations, an “Instant Remix” function and many other creative features, Urban Arsenal is designed to make it easy to create the sonic foundation for contemporary hip-hop tracks.
The groove material of Urban Arsenal is complemented by 50 sample-based instrument sounds that use the Kontakt engine integrated in Kore, offering an assortment of typical brass, strings, bass and leads sounds as well as a collection of mini-scratches.
Additionally, the sound pack includes 70 new synthesizer sounds that take advantage of the integrated engine of the powerful Massive synthesizer, with a range of inspiring leads, sub basses, pads, bells and mallets specifically designed for urban music styles. All instrument sounds can be adjusted, tweaked and even morphed using the intuitive macro controls and Sound Variation features of Kore 2 and Kore Player.
Urban Arsenal is available for download purchase in the NI Online Shop for a suggested retail price of $119 / ?99.
Back In Time Records has released several new sound libraries for the Alesis Fusion Workstation.
You can preview a couple of the new sound libraries below:
11 Titles Are Available
Fusion Presets by kpr
Fusion SYNTH Presets by kpr
Fusion ULTRA SYNTH Presets by kpr
Fusion ULTRA SYNTH II Presets by kpr
Fusion OTHERWORLD Presets by kpr
Fusion SAMPLES by kpr
Fusion SAMPLES 2 by kpr
Fusion SAMPLES 3 by kpr
Fusion ORGAN by kpr
Fusion GRAND PIANO by kpr
Fusion MyMoog by kpr
Wire to the Ear’s Oliver Chesler put together a nice screencast that shows the features of Ohm Force’s OhmBoyz plug in:
I really think OhmBoyz is the best delay I own. After watching the video I encourage you to head over to the Ohm Force website and download the demo.
This screencast covers: Installation, Presets, Multiple Knob Control, LFO, Automation and Sustained Loop.
He hits testing this out in live at about 1 minute in.
If you liked this screencast check out the other Wire to the Ear videos.
Aaron Rutledge, the guy behind Tweakbench synths, has announced that he’s updated all of his free VST synths and effects:
all the plugins have a point release, updating many little things, and keeping things up to date. all of the cycler series, and everything using any granular processes should perform a bit better now, and i’m just a few days away from the newest addition to the family
If you’re a PC user and you’re not familar with the Tweakbench line up, this could be a great time to check out the nearly two dozen free synths and effects that Rutledge has put together.
Akai has announced that they are now shipping the MPC5000.
Akai’s MPC5000 is the first MPC to permit eight-track streaming hard disk recording for real-time capture of individual tracks or even entire songs. A 20-voice, three-oscillator analog synthesizer with arpeggiator, a new sequencing engine with 960 PPQ resolution, pad and track muting and mixing, 64 continuous sample tracks and 12 Q-Link controllers highlight just some of the features that make MPC5000 Akai’s most advanced MPC ever.
An optional CD/DVD drive permits usage of audio on CD or DVD in songs, and also records compositions. 650MB of sounds from Loopmasters are included with the MPC5000, so it’s ready to go straight out of the box.
Best of all, it’s got an “old-school” mode, for that vintage sampler sound!
The MPC5000 lists $3,499.00.
Features:
Sixty four-voice drum/phrase sampler with 64MB memory built-in; expandable up to 192MB RAM
Three-oscillator virtual analog synth engine with arpeggiator
More than 300 Virtual Analog synths including
Eight-track direct-to-hard disk recording
More than 40 unique effects within a modular four-bus effects processor
Master equalizer and compressor
?Old school? mode provides vintage sampler sound
Built-in 80GB hard drive
Optional CD-R/DVD drive
USB 2.0 port for computer connectivity
CF Type-2 card slot (up to 2GB)
Chop-Shop 2.0 software included - slices stereo loops into individual samples and automatically assigns to pads
Patched Phrases - creates multiple splits in looped samples to ensure proper tempo sync without changing pitch
Continuous Sample Track - ensures samples play in perfect sync no matter where you start the beat in a loop
12 Q-link controllers for internal automation, external MIDI control and quick parameter editing.
240 x 128 hinged backlit LCD is double the size of previous MPC displays
Ten analog outputs, eight ADAT-optical outputs, and stereo S/PDIF I/O
Powerful new multimode filter
Two MIDI inputs and four MIDI outputs
Turntable phono inputs with RIAA preamp
XLR + 1/4-inch combination inputs, selectable mic/line for use with any input source
MPC5000 is also the first MPC with Random and Cycle sample playback added to the Zone play. A turntable input with preamp and XLR + 1/4-inch inputs provide a wide range of options for connecting any source equipment for production and performance.
Jooris Benny has shared some great pictures of an ARP 2500 synthesizer.
The ARP 2500 is a synth classic, and it was the first synth I ever used, at the University of Kansas, before I could afford my own!
It uses a combination of patch chords and matrix switches to create connections. Each module’s panel has signal path lines that make it easy to identify how to patch things together. This makes patching fairly clean, but as you can see from the picture, it takes up an unholy amount of space.
The ARP 2500 was also the synth used to communicate with the aliens in the movie Close Encounters Of The Third Kind!
Puremagnetik has released Metalsphere, a sound design toolbox of intense soundscapes, suspenseful textures and horrific environments.
Description:
Metalsphere contains a huge array of sonic possiilities. With up to four individual distorted and layered sound sources, users can easily tailor their individual textures and signal levels. Sound designers, film composers and producers alike can each find something in this colorful palette of ambiences.
The Ableton Live and Kontakt versions contain easy sound shaping controls to morph between signal sources. The Kontakt version includes customized KSP menus for easy access to filters and amplitude envelopes. The Ableton Live version is preprogrammed with effect macros and advanced Live Rack controls.
Modular Components
Metalsphere for Ableton Live and Logic contains individual “modules” for layering sounds. Each module comes from a completely different sound source and can be layered together or individually. Load up only the needed modules or combine multiple modules for a huge sound.
System Requirements:
Requires Ableton Live 7, Logic 8 or Kontakt 3
‘500 MB of physical RAM
1 GigaByte (GB) of free hard disk space
Trailer for the work in progress RAYMOND SCOTT: ON TO SOMETHING, a biographical documentary by his son, filmmaker Stan Warnow, about the 20th century musician, composer, and inventor whose musical career included the swing era, electronica, and everything in between, including use of his music in Warner Brothers Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies.
For more info go to scottdoc.wordpress.com/
via StudioNebula
Dr. Earth’s plan to save the world with sex, hedonism and clubbing seems a bit out there, so I did a little digging to find out more about sustainable clubbing.
I came across this YouTube video that looks at the Sustainable Dance Club in Rotterdam (NL):
While the video is a promo for Toyota as much as the idea of sustainability, it at least highlights some of the concepts behind sustainable dance clubs.
This would be even more interesting if the motion of dancers was used to directly influece lighting and effects within the club. For example, if people move faster, it would generate more energy, making lights brighter or making them flash more frequently.
If people on one side of the club were dancing, but not the people on the other side of the club, you could play a harder mix on the side of the club with the dancers, and a more chilled out version of the track on the side with no dancers.
If you know anything more about the idea of sustainable clubbing, let me know in the comments.
Fixed Noise has announced the release of Kreate, a new sound library designed and produced by techno, dance, minimal artist Speedy J, aka Jochem Paap.
Description:
This personal collection of Speedy J’s sounds includes the dance and minimal electronic rhythms for which he is notorious as well as fluid pads that offer an atmospheric sensibility. The library is composed of drum kits, individual hits/tones, loops, sequencer-based instruments, fx and konstrukt instruments. The library is made up of over 500 instruments mapped out in Native Instruments’ Kontakt Player 2. The Kontakt Player allows the user to create with the powerful and popular Kontakt interface without necessarily owning the full version.
“My intention was to design a collection of sounds that is fun to play with and inspires the creation of music. The goal is to provide a broad set of carefully sculpted distinctive elements which can be used in many ways,” says Jochem Paap. “In my own productions I always try to use sounds in unexpected ways by pushing the limits of my tools. Kreate is designed to provide an organized and easily accessible collection of tools which will inspire users to take the same approach but make it less of a hassle.”
Kreate will be released in late July, 2008, and will retail for $199.
Kreate is Fixed Noise’s second software instrument. “We are thrilled to release Kreate,” says Fixed Noise founder, Jo Ardalan. “The pressure was on after OTTO [the debut product] to create something as sonically distinctive. Jochem succeeded in creating an instrument that not only stands alone sonically but feels endlessly creative.”
Paap released his debut album, “Ginger,” on Warp Records. He has since released many records like “Public Energy No 1 [Mute],” “A Shocking Hobby [Mute],” “Loudboxer [Mute],” and also collaborated with artists such as Chris Liebing, Depeche Mode, Bjork, the Shamen, Mike Paradinas, Pete Namlook, George Issakidis, and Adam Beyer. In February, 2008 Paap and visual artist, Scott Pagano, released ‘Umfeld’ an audiovisual production designed specifically for 5.1 surround with rave reviews. His is currently releasing his records digitally through his own digital label Electric Deluxe.
Alpha Juno Control is a free, open source Mac OS X patch editor for the Alpha Juno.
It will let owners of Roland’s Alpha Juno keyboard control patch parameters via MIDI from their Mac.
via Moogulator
Dr. Earth has launched a plan to use hedonism, sex and dance music to save the world.
To forward this goal, Dr. Earth’s first step has been to launch a sustainable clubbing initiative:
Working on the basis that a club should be self sufficient and not a drain on the environment, Club4Climate has come up with the varied and interesting ways to be eco-friendly.
The strangest of which have been reported in the UK press, whereby Amy Winehouse is set to headline at Watt nightclub, Rotterdam in September.
Energy will come from urine and sweat from clubbers and toilets will be flushed by rainwater. Projects Abroad, the gap year organisation recently endorsed by BBC Dragon?s Den star James Caan for their forward thinking initiatives, are working with Club4Climate to send young people to create sustainable dance clubs in New York, Cape Town and Rio de Janeiro.
Once Dr. Earth achieves his goal of sustainable clubbing through urine and sweat powered clubs, he plans to create Club4Climate Island, a sexy eco-friendly holiday destination, where “you can save the world lying down drinking cocktails by the pool.
Call me old-fashioned, but I’m a little skeptical about the idea that clubbing is going to save the world. And Dr. Earth makes me think that Mini-Earth has to be hiding somewhere.
But if Dr Earth can save the earth with clubbing, sex and hedonism, count me in.
DSK has released another free Windows virtual instrument, DSK Virtuoso.
With DSK Virtuoso you can play combinations of 6 instruments, or play a composition up to 6 different parts, through the MIDI channels selectors.
Features:
6 Instrument layers
Midi channel assignable to each one
ADSR, level and Pan control for each layer
40 instruments in 6 categories
2 Send Fx (Chours & delay)
1 Master reverb Fx
Velocity response
DSK releases free virtual instruments, but is having trouble paying his hosting bills as a result. If you use DSK instruments, considering using the PayPal link on his site!
Wax Museum is a documentary view of the art of collecting vinyl.
Featuring DJ Capsize as he interviews friends and strangers on a search for the answer to “what is the future of records?”
via CrateKings
Yuri Suzuki is an artist and musician interested in “revamping and giving new forms and meanings to the turntable, a device which very few of us still have in their house.
Music is become more and more digital and abstract, and Suzuki is interested in exploring the physical, tangible representation of sound.
The Prepared Turntable, above, is an analog answer to the digitalized DJ. The turntable has 5 tone arms, each of which can have its volume controlled by its own fader. Users can make or play music with special loop groove records.
More examples of his work are available at We Make Money Not Art.
Remain Calm has put together a list of its top 24 music apps for the Nintendo DS:
bliptracker - a drum machine & sequencer
dsmcu - MCU-compatible mix controller
Protein[DS] - sample looper, scratcher, glitcher
nitrotracker
kaosDS - converts touchscreen data into midi over wifi
sampling keyboard
dstep v2 - a visual sequencer
glitchDS - a cellular automation sequencer
repeaterDS - stuttering sample player
midipad - a DS Kaoss pad clone
toypiano - a sampled piano
dstar - MIDI sequencer
monome ds - an open-source Monome emulation
soundcells - cool looking virtual synthesizer
ukulele - a virtual ukulele
dssynth - an open source DS synth
MIDI Jammer - a graphical MIDI tool
AXE - move the stylus around on the touch screen to create simplistic music
pulse dsi - a MIDI synth
drummers v2
FUDI Kaos DS
knobs and sliders
drum me - virtual drum kit
strum me - a virtual guitar
Check out the Remain Calm site for screenshots and more info.
If you’ve tried these or other DS music apps, let me know what you think in the comments.
The Chemical Brothers have announced a new best-of album, Brotherhood, that will be released Sept 2.
Brotherhood comprises 2 discs, the first is a collection of 13 undeniable benchmark singles from the band’s immense back catalogue and new track Keep My Composure which features the shimmering flow of Baltimore?s Spank Rock.
The 2nd disc will feature exclusively Electronic Battle Weapons 1-10. Since 1996, Electronic Battle Weapons have acted as the laboratories for The Chem’s musical experiments and laid the rhythmic and melodic foundations for numerous tracks. Until now, Electronic Battle Weapons 1-9 have only been available on various limited formats. This is the first time they have been widely available.
Brotherhood will be preceded by the digital single Midnight Madness, the full-length of which will be included on Disc 2.
Tracks:
Disc 1
01. Galvanize
02. Hey Boy Hey Girl
03. Block Rockin’ Beats
04. Do It Again
05. Believe
06. Star Guitar
07. Let Forever Be (Featuring Noel Gallagher)
08. Leave Home
09. Keep My Composure (Featuring Spank Rock)
10. Saturate
11. Out Of Control
12. The Golden Path ? (Featuring The Flaming Lips)
13. Setting Sun ? (Featuring Noel Gallagher)
14. Chemical Beats
Disc 2
1-10 Electronic Battle Weapons
Weepr is a new free music application that is sort of like a software Tenori-On.
Not much information is available yet, and the site is in Italian, but you can download and try Weepr out here. Adobe’s Air is required.
It’s limited in terms of what sounds are available, and timing is a little shaky, but it’s free, and it’s distributed under a Creative Commons license, so you can change it and build on it, if you like.
Post-punk pioneers Devo are suing McDonald’s over a Happy Meal doll that sports the band’s signature red flower pot hat.
In April, McDonald’s introduced a series of American Idol Happy Meal toys based on a range of music styles, including Disco Dave, Country Clay, Rockin’ Riley and Soulful Selma.
Devo’s complaint is that the toy “New Wave Nigel” is based on the band’s image, and that the doll plays a Devo-esque song.
Bass player Gerald Casale said the band were taking legal action against McDonald’s for using their copyrighted hat without permission.
“We are in the midst of suing them,” Casale told AAP.
“This New Wave Nigel doll that they’ve created is just a complete Devo rip-off,” said Devo bassist Gerald Casale, “The red hat is exactly the red hat that I designed, and it’s copyrighted and trademarked.”
“They didn’t ask us anything. Plus, we don’t like McDonald’s, and we don’t like American Idol, so we’re doubly offended.”
While it’s clear that this toy was derived from Devo’s trademark image, you have to wonder if Devo itself has devolved, when it’s suing McDonalds over appropriating the band’s 25-year old image, instead of doing something new.
Sonofcastille has published a set of videos demonstrating beautiful steampunk-style synths and noise generators.
Here are a few of the coolest:
WSG
This is Ray Wilson’s Weird Sound Generator circuit off of musicfromouterspace.com, plus audio amp scavenged out of a Radio Shack amp. The case was an old telephone from the 70s.
Captain Nemo’s Beat Box
This is a circuit bent Realistic/Radio Shack drum machine from the 80s.
Radio Free Mars
Digidesign has announced the immediate availability of its Transfuser virtual instrument for Pro Tools.
Transfuser comes with nearly 2 GB of loops and phrases to get users started quickly. By combining a series of modular drum machine/sound generators, dedicated sequencers, loop manipulation tools, and effects with an intuitive drag-and-drop composition/editing interface, users can easily create, manipulate and perform loop- and rhythm-based music on the fly.
?Transfuser is an incredibly fun and creative way to quickly make and manipulate music right in Pro Tools,? says Digidesign?s Dusty DiMercurio. ?Many people today rely on audio loops and phrases to create music. Transfuser offers user-friendly tools and a simple workflow that enables anyone to easily remix grooves and create original music from these building blockss.?
Transfuser is available now in RTAS format for both Mac OS X and Windows at a price of $295 / ?282.
In this video, new age artist Kitaro explains how and why he uses the synthesizer as he does. He also offers some criticism about the “wrong” use of that instrument.
Digidesign has teamed with The Crystal Method, artist community Fuzz.com, and Remix magazine on a remix contest using a new track from The Crystal Method?s upcoming studio album, due in stores this fall.
By visiting www.fuzz.com/remixingprotools, you can download The Crystal Method song session, create a remix, and then upload an MP3, by September 30, 2008.
The Fuzz.com user community will vote for their favorite remixes, with The Crystal Method, Digidesign, Remix, and Fuzz.com staff reviewing the top voted remixes and selecting one winner and one runner-up to each receive a studio prize package.
?We are so excited to be a part of this remix contest. This will be the first time anyone has heard anything from our new album and now you have the opportunity to remix it,” said The Crystal Method?s Ken Jordan in a statement.
Grand Prize
Digidesign 003 Factory
Digidesign Transfuser
M-Audio Studiophile BX8a
M-Audio Axiom 49
1 Year Subscription to Remix Magazine
Runner-Up Prize
Digidesign Mbox 2 Micro
Digidesign Transfuser
M-Audio KeyRig 25
M-Audio IE 20 XB In-ear Monitors
iLok USB Smart Key
1 Year Subscription to Remix Magazine
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