Boy George strikes again
Boy George has announced his return with a new studio album, This Is What I Do, set for release later this year.
This is the first record of original material released by Culture Club’s former leader in two decades, and was showcased on Monday at his appearance at Yoko Ono’s Meltdown Festival in London.
It is produced by former collaborator Richie Stephens, and features several, as-yet-unnamed guest musicians with some intriguingly “expected to appear as George’s band on his live dates”.
He’ll also be setting out on tour in November, with tickets going on sale this Friday, June 28, at 9am – have a look at the dates below:
NOVEMBER
Sun 3 – RNCM, Manchester
Tue 5 – Glee Club, Birmingham
Wed 6 – City Varieties Music Hall, Leeds
Thu 7 – King Tuts, Glasgow
Sat 9 – O2 Academy 2, Oxford
Sun 10 – Koko, London
Mon 11 – Concorde 2, Brighton
MacBeth: NEXUS Test #5
Ken MacBeth tests out the prototype of his upcoming MacBeth Studio Systems Nexus touchpad synthesizer, details below:
As I finalize the design of the NEXUS synthesizer for production- I took it the prototype through to the work bench. Basically- the work/refinements are complete. This recording has no external effects- the only sounds are from the NEXUS itself! I’ve designed a synthesizer that has the type of sound, similar to that used on the David Bowie trilogy that was recorded in Berlin in the seventies- see what you think!
MikroWave – music sequencer for Android now w/ renewed audio engine
Demo of MikroWave 1.5.0 running on a Asus Nexus 7 tablet (though it will run fine on mobile phones as well). As of this version, the audio engine has been overhauled to run in a native layer for high performance audio with low latency (the delay between an action and hearing the result).
Devices running Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) should benefit greatly with an extra increase in performance, while the application runs from Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread) upwards.
You can try it for free (NO ads, NO time limits) on Google Play:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/de…
Korg Kronos Tutorial: 13 MS-20 Patch Panel Programming
Korg Kronos Tutorial: 13 MS-20 Patch Panel Programming (use the 1080p quality to read the screens)
This tutorial shows how to use the MS-20 Patch Panel, the common input and output connectors will be explained. The following patch sections are in the tutorial:
– AMS Source Output Connector
– Total Input Connector
– Frequency Input Connector
– High Pass Filter Input Connector
– Low Pass Filter Input Connector
– Noise Output Connector
– VCA Area
– Mixer Area
– Modulation Generator Area
– S&H area (with Clock source)
– Feedback routings
At the end of the video there are several examples of common patch panel routings to get you started.
Machine Machine – Granular synthesizer
Machine Machine (2013) is a 32″ touchscreen installation that functions as an electronic instrument. Granular synthesis is used to loop “grains” of sound and video at variable lengths and frequencies. These parameters are based on the y-axis of the touch point on the monitor. The x-axis determines the position of the grain within the timeline. The piece was exhibited last month at the Northrup King Building in Minneapolis during Art-a-Whirl and for Visual Storage; the MCAD MFA thesis exhibition.
Within the piece there are five different segments that can be manipulated. Each segment provides the sound and visuals of a particular machine doing its job. These include a magnetic scrap crane, a train engine, a hydraulic metal cutter, tanker cars, and foot traffic. The video demonstrates some of the range and subtlety possible with the device.
See more at: http://audiocookbook.org/machine-mach…
Time machine: YAMAHA CS-5 Analog Synthesizer 1978
Time for a new vintage synth feature – this time the Yamaha CS-5, details below:
The YAMAHA CS-5 came out 1978. It is a monophonic synthesizer equipped with 1 VCO, 1 multimode resonant filter (highpass, lowpass, bandpass), 1 LFO, 1 noise generator, 1 envelope. It also has an external signal input. This is great for processing signals – a bit like Korg MS-20. The LFO is very fast. It has CV and trigger inputs/outputs.
The CS-5 has the S&H waveform in the LFO, which the CS-10 does not have. This is very important to produce great FX sounds! On the other hand the CS-5 has only 1 envelope.
A nice little synth with some great sounds!
I played the CS-5 along with a Roland DEP-5 (delay) and a Lexicon MPX-500 (reverb).
Andrew Innes of Primal Scream and the MS-20 mini Analogue Synthesizer
Korg met up with Andrew Innes of Primal Scream at the band’s London studio to talk about his new Korg MS-20 mini, an analogue synthesizer featuring the original circuitry from 1978.
The same engineers who developed the original MS-20 have perfectly reproduced its circuitry and fit into a body that’s been shrunk to 86% of the original size, yet retains the distinctive look of the original.
Perfect for Primal Scream, Andrew says:
“It’s got an atmosphere to it straight away. Whether it’s happy , sad or threatening. It seems to be really good at threatening!”
“The glorious thing about this synthesizer is that every button you hit makes it better ”
For more info on the band go to http://www.primalscream.net/
To learn more about MS-20 mini head over to www.korg.com/ms20mini.
mikrosonic RD4 Groovebox for Android
Get the free demo version on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/de…
Turn your phone or tablet into a musical instrument! RD4 – Groovebox is a music making app with virtual analog synthesizers, drum machines and effects. Compose and arrange your music in real-time. Choose instruments individually for the 4 channels. Record live or set notes with the dedicated sequencer or piano roll of each instrument. This multi-touch enabled app makes it simple to invent unique loops and musical phrases. Manipulate the sound of the synthesizers by tweaking the oscillators, resonant filters and audio envelopes. Add audio effects like reverb, distortion, phaser, filter and delay to your sounds. Appropriate both for experienced musicians and beginners. Loops you’ve created and exported with RD4 can also be automatically integrated into mikrosonic’s audio mixer app SPC – Music Sketchpad.
Feature Overview
Mixer:
– 4 channel rack mixer
– Instrument selection for each channel
– Volume control with level meter per channel
– Direct audio effect channel assignment
– Tempo control with tap tempo
– Channel mute and solo
Sequencer:
– 2 banks with up two 8 bars per instrument
– Adjustable play modes from 1 to 8 bars and random modes
– Song Mode with a length of up to 99 bars
Choose between two virtual analog synthesizers and the drum machine for each channel:
Analog
– Modeled after legendary monophonic synths of the ’70s
– For fat sounding bass and powerful lead sounds
– 3 oscillators with 6 different waveforms
– Each oscillator can be tuned precisely and has a warmth control for the typical analog sound
– Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release envelope generator
– Pitch wheel
– Low-pass filter (24dB/oct, 4-pole) with knobs for cutoff, resonance and an Attack/Decay/Sustain envelope generator
– Recording of played notes in real-time (depending on devices capabilities)
– Piano roll for editing recorded notes comfortably
– Or compose by drawing notes directly with the piano roll in 1/16 or 1/32 resolution
– Piano roll editing features: Transpose Pattern, Shift Sequence and Quantize Pattern
Bassline
– Reminiscent of the legendary 303 synthesizer
– Create bubbling basslines and screaming lead sounds
– High-quality low-pass filter with resonance, cut-off, and envelope controls
– Oscillator with 4 types of waveforms
– Real-time step sequencer with accent and slide
Beats
– Program beats with 10 classic drum kits: 808, 909, 606, CR-78, Linn, KR55, RX11, RZ1, DMX, DPM48
– Booming kick drums, snappy snares and throbbing percussions
– 8 channels per drum kit
– Punch control for volume and envelope adjustments
– Accent programmable for each drum channel
– Free assignable effects for each drum sound
– Channel mute, Closed Hi Hat can mute the Open Hi Hat
– Real-time pattern based step sequencer
Audio effects:
– 5 effects: Reverb, distortion, filter, phaser and delay
– Real-time controllable
– X/Y control field for each effect
– 4 effect sends
– Chaining of 2 effects
Technical features:
– Customized layouts for phones, 7 and 10-inch tablets
– Special additional rack view in portrait mode for 10-inch tablets
– Multi-touch control
– Live session recording
– Audio loop export feature
– SoundCloud Sharing Kit integration
– Session save capability
– Cut/copy/paste pattern
– OpenSL support for low latency*
– App2SD
System Requirements:
– Android 4.0 or higher
– Screen resolution 800×480 (WVGA) or higher
– 1 GHz CPU or faster supporting ARMv7
* Please note that for recording in real-time with the Analog synthesizer you will need a low latency Android device with Android 4.2 like the Google Nexus 4 or 10 or the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Read more about audio latency on our FAQ: http://www.mikrosonic.com/faq
More details at: http://www.mikrosonic.com/rd4
Reaktor: The Reverser – new delay that reverses the sound
Boscomac tells us that The Reverser is a delay that reverses the sound.
A spokesperson had this to say, “Originally, we recorded a sound and then we returned the tape to play it backwards, it was pretty perilous. Today, we are far from the mechanics, but the principle remains the same except that the sound is processed in real time. Here you can set the delay time of the signal which will be read backwards, the feedback, stereo offset (spread) and mix the processed signal. In terms of Vintage, you can saturate the tape, cut of frequencies and modulate the sound reversed.”
Full version of Reaktor 5.8 needed.
New video release from FUNKER VOGT – THE FIRM
The Firm is taken from the new Funker Vogt Release “Companion in Crime”
(release 28th June 13)
Lyrics: A. Watts & G. Thomas
Music: G. Thomas
Video Script: Steven Dornbusch
Regie: Cara MC Finn & Steven Dornbusch
Video Production: TalkingFish Media
Video Edit: TalkingFish Media
Camera: TalkingFish Media
Label: Out of Line Music GmbH
Distribution: Rough Trade
SPECIAL THANKS TO
SZENE DÜSSELDORF, Route 66 Düsseldorf, Dietmar & Cara Mc Finn
DATAMASKIN
