The Smiths goes chip tunes
Can only wish they had also added Morrissey´s vocals to the track – that would have been awesome 
The Smiths – This Charming Man
Original video above
Moogerfooger Cluster Flux is a MIDI Synth!
The Moog Moogerfooger MF-108M Cluster Flux is fully MIDI-controllable.
Moot demonstrates one of the most powerful uses for that feature by using the Cluster Flux as an analog synthesizer in its own right. No other sound source or processing (besides some reverb) was used in this piece.
For a full demo of what this baby can do, check out Moot’s review of the Cluster Flux.
Enjoy!
#UNRAVEL Teaser
Coming soon #UNRAVEL – a new collaboration between FOUND + Aidan Moffat on the reliability of memory. As external conditions change, the music and narration distort, evolve and warp.
#UNRAVEL will be unveiled at Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art, 20 April – 7 May.
More information:
UNRAVEL opens to the public on 20 April – 7 May as part of Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art at Arch 24/ SWG3.
UNRAVEL is a collection of devices making up a gallery-based, reactive sound installation, through which the audience will attempt to unravel the truth about The Narrator’s life by playing records from his collection.
When we tell the story of a memory, how much of it is true and how much is shaped by who we are talking to? Once we’ve told the story many times, how do we even know what is true any more – what is constructed and what actually happened?
The installation is the work of Edinburgh based arts collective / experimental pop band FOUND, whose members include Ziggy Campbell, Simon Kirby and Tommy Perman and Glasgow-based author and musician, Aidan Moffat best known as one half of the band Arab Strap. FOUND and Aidan Moffat are signed to Glasgow record label Chemikal Underground.
At the heart of the installation is a vinyl record player and ten 7” records of familiar singles from pop music’s heyday. Visitors to the gallery are encouraged to select a record from the collection to be played. As soon as they drop the needle on to the record the installation springs to life. The vinyl controls a series of acoustic, self-playing musical instruments positioned throughout the gallery which soundtrack the story as the narrator recounts a memory he associates with that record. Each 7” record represents a different memory, but unlike conventional vinyl recordings they sound different each time they are played.
Just as a real narrator alters the way they tell a story depending on their mood, audience and context, the memories embodied in the installation will distort, evolve and warp depending on external influences: the time of day, the size of #UNRAVEL’s audience, the local weather, and what people are writing about the installation on twitter from moment to moment.
A year in the making, #UNRAVEL is the first collaboration between FOUND and Aidan Moffat and represents a major new body of work for both. The project required Aidan to write 10 short stories with multiple variations of each, to be soundtracked by a total of 160 new musical compositions by FOUND.
With Investment from Creative Scotland’s Vital Spark programme and New Media Scotland‘s Alt-w Fund with the support of the Centre for Design Informatics, Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art, SWG3 and the University of Edinburgh.
How to make electronic music – Part 4 the orgasmic filter sweep
A lot has been said about the engaging nature of synthesizer filter sweep sounds. But little study has been done on the subject. Part 4 of our series investigates the matter with DJ lace. Here we witness the direct impact of a sequential circuits prophet 600 filter.
Pre-listen to the full VCMG album here
VCMG are releasing one of 2012’s most anticipated musical collaborations with the album Ssss, out on Mute on March 13, 2012.
It marks the reunion of electronic pioneers Vince Clarke (Erasure, Yazoo & Depeche Mode) and Martin L. Gore (Depeche Mode). They have joined forces, for the first time in over thirty years, to craft a 10-track album which demonstrates their mutual love of electronic music. Full remix details for EP2/ Single Blip, the follow up to EP1/ Spock – out now on 12” / download and featuring remixes by Edit-Select, Regis, DVS1 and XOQ – will follow.
Ssss Track Listing:
- Lowly
- Zaat
- Spock
- Windup Robot
- Bendy Bass
- Single Blip
- Skip This Track
- Aftermaths
- Recycle
- Flux
There is also a fresh interview out with Vince and Gore, below is excerpt from it:
The Quietus spoke to both Clarke and Gore over the phone from America (they’re doing their interviews for the UK press separately) to untangle the story of what turns out to have seemed to a project where unfinished creative business reaped some great reward.
Martin, it was interesting to read in The Stool Pigeon that Vince, who first approached you about VCMG, had never listened to techno until recently, whereas obviously you’ve done more with DJing and so on.
Martin L Gore: I’ve been listening to techno for a long time now. I read The Stool Pigeon interview as well, and found out things about Vince I didn’t know! I never really knew Vince over the years, so that was a surprise to me that he only got into techno a couple of years ago. Mute even had a techno label for ages, NovaMute, and I remember being into the Tresor stuff, and Daniel [Miller, Mute boss] putting some of that out. Techno has been in my blood for ages.
Was it surprising how easily VCMG came about, if in fact it did?
Vince Clarke: I started working on the record on my own. I was working on about three or four tracks before I decided that I’d like to collaborate with somebody and contacted Martin. I think the surprise was how in tune Martin and I were about this kind of music. At the same time, it was really great because I’d send him something and have no idea of what he would be sending me back, but as it turned out it was something I really liked. I wasn’t just being nice! We just seemed to fall into the same mould.
Were you ever worried that he might say ‘no’?
VC: I didn’t know… I wasn’t sure… I know Martin’s always busy and I didn’t know what the Depeche Mode schedule was at the time. What I said in the email was that there’s no pressure, no deadline, no timeline, no release date scheduled, nothing, it’s something we can do and we can have a bit of fun with, and if you’re up for it then let’s do it.
Did he get back to you quite quickly?
VC: Fairly quickly – about a week and a half.
Martin, were you quite surprised that the idea was there? What was your initial response?
Martin L Gore: Of course I was really surprised, because I’d never in my wildest imagination thought that Vince might contact me and think we’d do a project together. So when I received that email it was a total shock. Once I’d got over that, it seemed like a really good idea because apart from the fact that it was nice to be doing something with Vince again after 30 years, I’ve been into techno music for a long time now.
You’ve said how when you were first together in Depeche Mode you didn’t actually know each other that well. Listening to VCMG it sounds very fresh and sparky, do you think that gap or cutting short of a relationship that still had a way to go creatively helped that? It means your partnership hasn’t become staid at all?
VC: Oh definitely. When I left Depeche, obviously Martin took over the writing, and his writing style is completely different to mine. Over the years we’ve developed completely different styles, and I think that’s why the record sounds so different. I don’t think people would have expected the record to sound as it does if we’d been working together for 25 years in the same band.
Moog Minitaur Analog Bass Synth with Critter and Guitari Pocket Piano
Here is the all new Moog Music Minitaur analog bass synthesizer being triggered by the Critter and Guitari Pocket Piano MIDI.
More on the Critter and Guitari Pocket Piano:
The Pocket Piano MIDI has all the functionality of a Critter & Guitari Pocket Piano synthesizer, now with MIDI capabilities! It can interact with many other MIDI devices: drum machines, sequencers, computers, synthesizers, and other Pocket Piano MIDIs. It is both a sound module and a controller, sending and receiving MIDI note messages, and MIDI clock signals.
In addition to its intuitive interface, maple keys, built-in speaker, and aluminum and wood enclosure, it features the same six unique synth modes found on our original Pocket Piano:
• Vibrato Synth
• Harmonic Sweeper
• Two-Octave Arpeggiator
• Octave Cascade
• Mono FM Synth
• FM Arpeggiator
As a controller, the Pocket Piano MIDI sends out key presses as note messages, useful for triggering other synthesizers, samplers, or software. As a sound module the Pocket Piano MIDI responds to all 88 notes of a full size piano, so you are not limited to the 16 key range of the Pocket Piano. Using a full size controller, you can take advantage of the Pocket Pianos unique sounds and arpeggiators over a much larger range. Larger range = more fun !
But the fun doesn’t stop there! The Pocket Piano MIDI also sends and receives MIDI clock, so you can synchronize the Pocket Piano’s arpeggiators with your favorite drum machine, sequencer, or computer software. The Pocket Piano MIDI passes all received clock messages to its output, allowing you to chain many Pocket Pianos together to create an orchestra of Pocket Pianos.
Delora lpTouch – new iPad remote controller for Logic Pro
Harmony Systems, Inc. announced the worldwide availability of Delora lpTouch, an iPad application that functions as a remote controller for the Apple Logic Pro application program on a Mac. lpTouch is an intuitive, powerful control surface app optimized for use with Logic. It uses Logic’s built-in Open Sound Control (OSC) control surface support, so all that’s needed is a working Wi-Fi connection between the Mac and iPad.
lpTouch expands the Delora Software line of music controller apps for iOS devices and the Mac, including gbTouch and gbRemote for GarageBand.
Features & Benefits
Adjust track settings, send values, Logic’s EQ, plug-in effects, and software instruments to “dial in” to the right sound. Mute or solo any track to evaluate a mix during playback. Arm one or more tracks for recording. Know where you’re at with the timecode and bar-beat display, and track name and number identification. Access transport controls from any screen.
No more frustrating attempts to make sound setting adjustments with tiny computer screen controls and mouse. lpTouch’s five screens offer large, usable multi-touch faders and rotaries – with values displayed – to easily edit software instruments, insert parameters, EQ settings, or track volume, pan, and send levels.
Pricing & Availability
lpTouch is available for $4.99 (USD) on the iTunes App Store >>
Hardware – new album by Agent Side Grinder
Hardware is the third official album release by Swedish electronic band Agent Side Grinder. On this record, Agen Side Grinder once again steps into their musical time-machine, has a rendezvous with old masters such as Joy Division and Depeche Mode but also local gigants from the 80s like Tredje Mannen and then invite them all on a reckless, rhythmic journey into a bleak future.
Dressed in black work-wear, equipped with an arsenal of analog machines and loaded with their strongest material to date, Agent Side Grinder is ready to challenge the sounds of both the past and tomorrow. Other passengers include Swedish indie icon Henric de la Cour and the new champions of melancholy, Skriet.
Klanghelm – free audio compressor for Mac & WIndows
Klanghelm has released a free audio compressor for Mac & WIndows, DC1A.
Here’s what the developer has to say about it:
DC1A is the little brother of the compression monster DC8C. I’ve taken one of my favourite settings from DC8C and tried to make it work in a two control context. Soundwise it’s comparable to the PUNCH mode in DC8C. It’s kind of a mixture of classic opto and FET designs.
I’ve always wanted to do a compressor with just an input and output knob, a compressor that just works: gentle, faithful, from almost invisible, smooth leveling to heavy pumping with a nice crunchy saturation and punchy enough to treat drums with.
DC1A looks like a one trick pony. But don’t get fooled by lack of further controls. You may be suprised on how many different material this little thing works. DC1A is heavily program dependent, so is the saturation.
DC1A is available now as a free download for both Mac & WIndows (VST/AU).
Closer look at the MegaCurtis
Testing the next Curtis for iPhone
The Strange Agency has introduced MegaCurtis, its latest iteration of the Curtis granular synthesizer.
Here’s what they have to say about it:
The app was completely rewritten for better performance, longer recording time, session recording, polyphony, Retina display and more!
We’ve added jitter, LFOs, amp envelope control, and even a proper keyboard.
More awesome features are on their way to the app store as free updates, but the launch version is only $.99 for a limited time.
No mention is made of MIDI support.
MegaCurtis is $.99 in the App Store.
DATAMASKIN
