AfroDJMac’s Drum Track and Tutorial (Free Ableton Rack 16)
Ableton Live Drum effect Rack download and tutorial.
AfroDJMac takes you through how he uses Ableton’s drum racks, effect racks, and follow actions in his live performances to create drum fills, variations, and effects. Effect rack contains Beat Repeats, Mutes, Looper for tape effects, Reverb, Delay, Filters, New York Style Compression… Download includes a Live set with the effect rack and clips set up to play randomly generated drum fills that come in and out, very musically and on time.
Download the Live Set Here: http://bit.ly/freesynth16
All you need to know about Reason 6
Propellerhead Software has announced Reason 6, a major update to the well-reviewed music software, which finally integrates all of Record’s audio recording functionality into one product. In order not to completely lose face by not incorporating audio recording into Reason in the first place and creating a stand-alone product. Propellerheads is calling Essentials “the successor to Record,” that packs all the recording, editing, effects, instruments, mixing and mastering necessary to sound great in a streamlined package and providing all Reason products with audio recording and editing.
Combining all the features from Record into the new version, Reason 6 adds audio recording and editing, along with Propellerhead’s excellent mixing console, multiple parallel racks, Line 6 amp models, new effect devices plus additional features.
New creative effects designed for inserting directly into instruments and tracks include: Pulveriser, sound crushing effect with crunchy compression, dirty distortion and flexible modulation; The Echo, advanced stereo echo with modern delay and analog tape echo emulation: and Alligator, a three band pattern gate for complex rhythmic texturing. Interface enhancements, high definition audio transpose and true 64-bit compatibility highlight other new feature improvements.
Mix in studio grade quality
The fully equipped mixing desk adds a big studio signal chain to all your sound sources. Every audio and instruments track has its own channel strip — the built-in EQ, dynamics and advanced routing will give your music that unmistakable million-dollar console sound. The “radio ready” master bus compressor gives your mixes that extra punch.
Pulveriser
Pulveriser puts crunchy compression, dirty distortion, a multimode filter and flexible modulation in a single, sound-crunching effect.
The Echo
The Echo is an advanced stereo echo bringing together the brilliance of modern delays with the organic sounds of analog circuitry and old-school tape machines. The Echo is equal parts pristine stereo delay, sound sculpturing toolbox, and playable performance effect.
Alligator
Alligator is a three band pattern-based gate effect that turns bland pads into rhythmic textures, radically twists your loops, and tweak boring beats into blockrocking breaks.
Neptune
New in the Reason rack is the Neptune pitch correction and voice synth device. Neptune turns your performances into pitch-perfect ones in no time. Simply play your new harmonies on your MIDI keyboard for instant backing vocals.
Audio recording
Capture your ideas with a minimum of mouse clicks and menu actions — version 6 introduces unlimited hard disk tracks and rock solid audio recording in Reason.
Time stretch & audio transpose
With our now legendary non-destructive time stretch, you can actually record first and pick your tempo later. And with the brand new audio transpose you can even record first and change the key later. Change the tempo of your song, and the audio follows right along. Non-destructively change the pitch with a mouse click.
Recording meter
The large Recording Meter overlay lets you tune your guitar and set the levels from across the room.
Line 6 guitar and bass amps
With the virtual guitar and bass PODs® from amp and cab simulation experts Line 6, Inc. you are never short of interesting tones and timbres.
Comp editor
As a perfect performance may be less than perfect from scratch, Reason 6 features our swift and easy to use comp editor. Building the ultimate vocal track is as simple as selecting the parts that work and muting the ones that don’t. Exit the comp editor and listen to the results; a perfect take containing only the good parts.
Expert exporting
Want to move your song over to your DAW? In one single click, Reason will export your separate mixer channels as individual audio stems, with or without effects. Need just the effects? No problem.
More sounds
The included Factory Sound Bank has been expanded with thousands of new patches and loops for Reason’s instruments, and hundreds of patches for the new Pulveriser, The Echo and Alligator effects. Finding your sound has never been easier.
CAUSTIC electronic music rack for Android – Overview
Demo video showing an example of what can be done with CAUSTIC Electronic Music Rack for Android devices.
This is just a quick overview of how to the different machines to put together a song loop. I’m hoping to create more in-depth videos explaining some of the more complicated machines like the SubSynth and Sequencer in the near future. Stay tuned.
The developer has released these demo videos, though, that demonstrate what Caustic can do.
Features:
- 1x Virtual analog subsynth
- 2x PCM synths (23 demo samples included)
- 2x 303-like BassLine synths
- 1x Sampling drum machine (9 demo kits included)
- 1x Mixer desk with Delay/Reverb and 4 insert effects
- 1x Song sequencer
Note: The current version is free; a commercial version is in the works.
The app is available for most Android devices, and there’s a full demo version with no time restrictions. To unlock full-version features (song save/load/export), use the in-app purchase option.
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.singlecellsoftware.caustic
Propellerhead Unveils Balance Audio Interface – Integrated with Reason Essentials for the perfect music making solution
So it was a hardware piece that they had up their sleeves, just as all the rumors claimed 
Propellerhead Software today unveiled Balance, its first audio interface and foray into hardware. Integrated with Reason Essentials Software, Balance is at the heart of Propellerhead’s complete music making solution.
Balance, a two-in by two-out audio interface for Mac and Windows, is designed for the single person operated home/project studio. Fully USB 2 powered with separate volume controls for monitors and headphones, it contains 8 input connections to keep all instruments, mics and devices connected and ready to record with the press of a button—without software pop-ups or control panels. The included Reason Essentials packs in all the recording editing, effects, instruments and mixing tools needed to create great sounding tracks.
“We looked at recording from our musician users’ perspective. They were spending time concerned with issues other than music making—riddled in installing software, managing cables, setting up control panels, setting gain levels, tweaking recording parameters, and more. It frankly wasn’t as easy and straightforward and it should be,” says Ernst Nathorst-Böös, CEO. “So, we were compelled to create Balance with Reason Essentials to let them focus on creativity and not on technology.”
Works with everyone, perfect integration with Reason and Reason Essentials
Balance’s class compliant drivers on the Mac and ASIO/WMD driver for Windows ensure hassle free installation and compatibility with all applications from iTunes to ProTools. Integration with Propellerhead products goes further. Hardware buttons on Balance bring up a large meter/tuner in Reason and can also enable “Clip Safe,” Propellerhead’s new recording technology that with one click heals clipped recorded audio. Musicians no longer have to worry about losing a great recording because gain levels were too high, and can stay focused on creating that goose bump evoking performance.
Pricing and availability
Reason Essentials with Balance audio interface will be available for purchase worldwide on September 30, 2011 at a suggested retail price of EUR €499 / USD $499.
Any current Reason and Record user who purchases Balance can receive the Reason 6 upgrade for free.
More information on Reason Essentials with Balance can be found here:
www.propellerheads.se/products/balance/ .
Jean Michel Jarre – Synthesizers and stage of Monaco’s concert
For those who want to see how it all came about – check this video out
Here is a short video I made of the stage created in Jean Michel Jarre’s Monaco’s concert, a few hours before the incredible show watched live by more than 85 000 people, and online by more than a billion !!
UK synth pop act Client goes full circle
In December last year it was known that Sarah Blackwood, the front woman of the London-based electro duo Client left the band to focus on other projects.
Recently it was announced that Kate Holmes got a replacement in Technique-member Xan Tyler.
A funny thing here is that Client actually evolved out from the ashes of Technique, who was created in the mid-90′s featuring Kate Holmes and Xan Tyler. Named after the 1989 New Order album with the same name they were signed to Creation Records, owned by Kate’s husband, Alan McGee.
An album was recorded but did never see the light of day as McGee decided to close the label. However, two singles was released in 1999, “Sun Is Shining” and “You & Me”.
And it was out of this, a couple of years later, Client was formed when Xan Tyler was unable to participate in a tour supporting Depeche Mode and Kate replaced her with Sarah Blackwood, that time in Dubstar, and shortly after renamed the group to Client.
Now the duo is back in the form it was all started in.
In related news, it’s rumoured that a “Best of” album is planned with material taken from the band’s first two albums.
Via BV
The Zebralette synth becomes freeware
German software developers u-he have decided to make Zebralette, a stripped-down version of their popular Zebra 2 synth freeware. Here’s what they have to say:
Zebralette has two LFOs (one per voice, one global), a multi-stage envelope and three on-board effects (chorus, EQ, delay). Not forgetting Zebra2’s famous dual spectral effects, which include several squelchy filter algorithms.
Megasaw? Zebralette also goes to eleven.
So: Because the Zebra2 oscillators are so powerful, Zebralette is actually a great little synth in its own right, and it has the same pristine audio quality as the mighty Zebra2… try out the new presets and see for yourself!”
Custom made drum sounds for Yamaha
Classic drum sounds
This is a demonstration of the custom sounds I made for my Yamaha FB-01 using the Atari ST program “Caged Artist FB01 Editor”. As you can see… its possible create drum sounds similar to what you’d hear on a drum synth, as well as create typical FM sounds… and even a very clear sounding square wave. I am sure someone will comment with “this sounds like Sega Genesis” and I agree mostly.
PS – there are no external effects applied… not that it sounds like there are
Hammond SK1 Organ – Exclusive Demo
The Hammond SK1 is the first “Ultra-Portable” organ in its history, weighing in at just 15 pounds, and the first Hammond portable to feature a wide range of Extra Voices. The “Drawbar” section is a complete Hammond Organ with all the traditional features: Real Mechanical Drawbars, Chorus Vibrato, Touch-Response Percussion, and the most authentic Digital Leslie we have ever offered. “Vx” and “Farf” combo organ models are also available, as well as an assortment of fine classical Pipe Organ voices derived from our 935 Church Organ. Acoustic and Electric Pianos, Clavs, Accordions, Vintage String Synth, Wind Instruments and Tuned Percussion round out the specification.
http://www.production-room.com/hammond/hammond-sk-1-organ/
‘Alan Wilder – Collected’ trailer
A preview of the new documentary : COLLECTED – The Alan Wilder/Depeche Mode Collection
A Historic Equipment, Vinyl & Memorabilia Auction
Auction date : Saturday 3rd September, 2011 4.00pm
Venue : Zion Arts Centre (www.zionarts.com)
Address : 335 Stretford Rd, Hulme, Manchester M15 5ZA
Viewing : 10.00am to 8.00pm – Friday 2nd September, and 10.00am to 4.00pm – Saturday 3rd September
http://auction.recoil.co.uk
www.omegaauctions.co.uk
DATAMASKIN
