Want to know more about the Axiom Air 61 – Review
M-Audio’s top of the range MIDI controllers to replace the Axiom Pro. Quite a change in concept – see what we make of it.
About the Axiom Air 61 (marketing pitch):
Take command of your studio while achieving higher levels of musical expression with Axiom® AIR 61 from M-Audio®. Offering unprecedented control, Axiom® AIR 61 brings together unmatched ease-of-use plus empowering software to form the ultimate studio centerpiece. Stretch out and play your best on 61 semi-weighted piano-style keys—with aftertouch. The illuminated pads are velocity sensitive and even respond to pressure. Experience total hands-on control of your sessions using assignable LED lit buttons and rotary encoder knobs, long-throw faders, plus an array of dedicated transport and software navigation buttons. HyperControl® interactive controller mapping unites your hardware and software so you can start working faster. Completing this powerful package are two complementary software selections: Avid® Pro Tools® Express and Ignite by AIR music creation software. Together, they deliver a comprehensive path for transforming the ideas in your head into a finished piece of music.
Fairlight Keys for Ableton Live
Free Ableton Live Pack featuring CMI Fairlight sampled instruments. 3 different sounds to bring back the early 80s.
Free Download: http://bit.ly/freesynth93
Sampled by: http://sonicbloom.net
Visit his site for more stuff like this, including Live Instrument downloads, tutorials and music! http://www.afrodjmac.com
Magnetic Fields 4 Melody Played on Arturia MiniBrute and MicroBrute Synthesizers
Background video description:
I’m not a big fan of covers, but one of the factory sequences loaded into the MicroBrute is reminiscent of Les Chants Magnetiques Pt. IV by Jean Michel Jarre and it’s only appropriate to do a quick demo of a couple of French synthesizers with a French composer/synthesist’s song. I’ve got the MicroBrute running through the Strymon TimeLine (dTape mode, of course) and the MiniBrute running through the Big Sky (Cloud mode). Apologies for the sloppy playing, it’s not easy to play with a tripod right up next to you.
Radio-Activity: An Interview With Felix Kubin
The Quietus has a nice interview out with felix Kubin, read an excerpt here:
With his great new album Zemsta Plutona just released, the unique German sci-fi synth-pop explorer and sound artist speaks to David Stubbs about musical deconstruction, radio art, and reconnecting Germany with the culture of Eastern Europe
The music of Felix Kubin spans, in its scope, the years 1916 to 2016. He straddles pop, sound art and composition, regarding all of them of equal value. Active in music since his pre-teens, his music alludes to, and draws on, the spirit of Dada, expressionism, Weimar cabaret, post-war musique concrète, the unique radio art form of Hörspiel, Kraftwerk and the great wave of early 80s German groups who preceded the bland misnomer of Neue Deutsche Welle.
As well as the early 80s German artists he first heard on one of the multiple radio sets in the rooms in which he grew up, Kubin’s music is reminiscent of of a host of artists whose work has collapsed the walls between pop and the commercial, deconstruction and the avant garde – among them The Honeymoon Killers, Raymond Scott and Iannis Xenakis.
His latest album, Zemsta Plutona, finally released on his own Gagarin label, is as good as anything he has ever recorded since the “Tetchy Tapes” he first made when practically still a child on his newly acquired Korg MS-20 synth. It’s been well road-tested. “Usually, I tend to play tracks first live before I put them on record, where it’s possible to play them live,” he explains. “So, people know them from live concerts. Most of the tracks for this were ready for 2009, and were ready to be released on a French label, but that fell through – then I got an offer from a label in Los Angeles who wanted to put out an album but that took so long, two years – until finally, I said, this is ridiculous, I’ve been playing these tracks live for so long – I need to put this out.”
Gravitation in time (robotic instrument excerpt)
Gravitation in Time (2013)
Composition for Orchestra, Robotic Instruments, Leap motion and Electronics
Composed by GayBird
Gravity Glock (robotic instrument) concept and design: GayBird, Thomas Ip
Engineering and programming: Thomas Ip
Gravity, as an ultimate natural force on Earth, people living there may easily neglect its presence, and not to mention to its influence in our seemingly ordinary everyday experience.
We are used to take such magical force for granted, however, the potential energy that it can generate is indeed powerful. My work – Gravitation in Time, is intended to draw our attention to such force again.
To perform this piece, I have custom-made two pieces of robotic instruments – Gravity Glock. They are activated by the gravitational force, and incorporate with mechanical engineering and electronic sound processing, to provide a breath-taking audio-visual experience to audience.
Musically, the constantly progressing serpentine melodies symbolised the state of unawareness presence of gravity. The piece is structured from scattered to polyphonic texture, and developed into an integrity ensemble of repetitive melodies, that demonstrated the weight of gravity in an abstract sense.
Great Violin Concertos – Iskandar Widjaja Plays Wieniawski
Presented by Hong Kong Sinfonietta
Date: 12 October, 2013
Venue: Concert Hall, Hong Kong City Hall
Free sample pack from the Roland JD-800 flagship synthesizer
Legowelt has released a free sample pack featuring 350 samples from the 1992 JD-800 flagship synthesizer from Roland.
The JD-800 is Roland’s answer to half a decade of hard-to-program synthesizers. Covered in sliders that act as dedicated editors just like a classic analog synth, the JD-800 is an extremely programmable and hands-on digital synthesizer. It is also an interesting and great sounding digital synth with incredible flexibility and control. Internal ROM based waveforms are combined to build your sounds. The sounds are based on Roland’s D-50, but updated for the nineties with multimode filters – uncommon but welcome at the time.
Colossal Juicy Thick Basses, bizarre unearthly pads, uncanny strings, mystifying effects, entrancing chords and lots lots more all ready for u to use in your sampler, DAW, tracker, workstation, MPC, Octatrack or whatever u use Let the creative juices drip from your sampler Rub yourself in the sap of this giant beast and break through the event horizon of music production
The sample pack is a free (203MB) download at Legowelt.
Time machine: ROLAND SH-2000 Analog Synthesizer 1974
AnalogAudio1 plays the Roland SH-2000 with reverb effects from a Lexicon MPX-500 and delay effects from a Roland DEP-5.
The Roland SH-2000 is a preset monophonic analog synth with aftertouch. You can tweak the presets a bit with LFO and filter controls.
The SH-2000, introduced in 1973, is Roland’s second synthesizer and is essentially a limited version of the SH-1000. Like the 1000, it is a single-oscillator monophonic analog Preset synthesizer designed to sit atop a home organ. It’s got a great old analog sound but its lack of edit-ability and connectivity compared to the SH-1000 is what ultimately holds it back from being really great.
Its 37-note keyboard are several colorful tab switches which are used to select any one of its 30 Preset sounds. They range from the usual to the unusual: Tuba, Trombone, French Horn, Trumpet, Saxophone, Bassoon, Oboe, Flute, Clarinet, Cello, Violin, Bass Guitar, Hawaiian Guitar, Banjo, Fuzz Guitar I, Fuzz Guitar II; Piano, Harpsichord, Accordion, Vibraphone, Xylophone; Singing Voice, Song Whistle, Popcorn, Space Reed, Planet, Frog Man, Funny Cat, Growl Wow and Wind.
Left of the keyboard are the only editable controllers available on the SH-2000. They include the filter’s cutoff, resonance and modulation sliders, LFO modulation rate, portamento, vibrato, pitch bend, volume and master tuning. The filter and LFO are severely limited and there are no ADSR envelope controls. However, the cool ‘Growl’ and ‘Wow’ effects and the Random Note Generator from the SH-1000 are here, which is nice. Amazingly, this 1973 synth has aftertouch, called the ‘Touch Effect’ which can be assigned to modulate the volume, Vibrato, pitch, ‘Wow’ and ‘Growl’ effects. A few other drawbacks to the SH-2000 is the total lack of CV/Gate for external communication and no user memory.
The SH-2000 is great for squeaky effects and growling bass notes. However the SH-1000 offers much more flexibility and a better sounding filter.
Guide to REAKTOR’s Lurker
REAKTOR’s Lurker hybrid effect unit is a powerful and mysterious beast. Let’s demystify!
E-MU Emax – HxC Floppy Drive Emulator
Vintage synth tech tutorial
How to install the HxC floppy drive emulator on an E-MU Emax 1
The SD HxC Floppy Emulator can be buy on the Lotharek page. I use the Rev-F Black version. All works of your own risc!
all sounds in the tutorial: E-MU Emax SE sample library
New Reason rack Extension—Tritone Multiband Waveshaper by SoundMod
SoundMod Tritone is a multiband waveshaper allowing you to split your signal into three separated band and apply an individual waveshaping algorithm with a sets of control available for each band thus creating rich overtones. Transform simple tones into complex one, add punch to your guitar and bass line, destroy drum beats, fatten up your synth sounds and create movement. This is what Tritone will do for you.
Intro Price.:
25.00 Eur, 29.00 USD til Nov.10th
32.00 Eur, 39.00 USD from Nov.11th til Nov.17th
Here is a quick description of the main features:
Input section:
-1 Input gain control
Crossover section:
-1 Low/Mid-Low control
-1 Mid-High/High control
Envelope follower modulator section:
-1 EF response control
-3 EF amount control (1 per band)
-3 EF target control (2 per band)
Waveshaper section:
-3 Drive control (1 per band)
-3 Algorithm selector(1 per band, 11 algorithm at this point)
-3 Asymmetry control(1 per band)
-3 Blend control(1 per band)
-3 Level control(1 per band)
Bandwidth limiter section:
-1 On/Off control
-1 Offset control
DATAMASKIN
