Andy Bell’s hard time to get rid of the Erasure legacy
A couple of weeks ago Andy Bell (Erasure) teamed up with video-makers Caz Gorham and Frances Dickenson to film a ‘homemade’ video for Andy Bell’s “Call On Me” single, which is to be released on CD and via download next week. The single is taken from Bell’s newest solo album “Non-Stop” which was originally to be released under the Mimó flag. The video was shot by the same team that made Erasure’s “I Love Saturday” video among others.
Apparently Bell started working with Belgian producer Gabriel Pascal after the tunes e recorded with Stephen Hague were scrapped. The sessions with The Hague (who was behind records by New Order, Pet Shop Boys and even Erasure) sounded ‘too much like Erasure’, according to Bell’s label bosses. Bell had this to say about this change in an interview with Spinner: “I thought, ‘I’ve been in the business all this time, and now I’m not allowed to sound like myself? It’s kind of strange.”
And Bell also wants to go the ‘Gahan’ way by penning Erasure songs as well: “It’s a bit hard with boys with their toys, with their synths, to get a way in, but I think through making this record, it’s maybe opened the door a bit. We’ve got quite a few ideas. There are quite a lot of really good ideas. I’m just kind of looking forward to honing them down, really. I’ve got a load of lyrics to do. It’s a bit daunting.”
3D music and Pd clones
1. 3D eye candy. Charles Cliffe has a psychedelic visualization of sound playback. The JavaScript nuts are also proceeding to do more things with their language than most would deem possible, even moving DSP calculations to JavaScript code.
2. Patching in a browser – with a Pd clone. Chris McCormick is porting a subset of basic Pd objects to the browser.
Pre-order free Trent Reznor EP (How to destroy angels)
Millimetric remix
Smoking Kills (The Horrorist-Electrofied Mix) – Millimetric by thingstocome
Here’s a clip of a remix I just finished for Millimetric. I played it live in Stuttgart and it past the club test so it’s in his inbox. From a production standpoint your hearing Vermona DRM-1 drums through Izotope Trash, white noise crashes from a Yamaha CS5, the 90’s T99 or 80’s Vomito Negro sample is in an Ableton Simpler going through various Sugar Bytes Effectrix presets. My vocals are through a Shure KSM32 and Wavearts plug-ins.
Sampling in Reason 5 – Day 4
Remember the time when samples were something you sampled and not loaded from your hard drive? When a sampler was a machine that could record samples, not just play them back.
As samplers became software instead of machines, they came to rely on external sample editing software for recording and editing the samples and the art of spur-of-the-moment creative sampling was pretty much lost. Now we are bringing it back to Reason 5 with its live sampling input.
All sample players in Reason are now samplers. Just hook up a sound source to the rack’s sampling input and you are ready to start sampling. Use a mic, a turntable, an instrument or the entire Reason mix.
Sampling in Reason is simple and straightforward. Hit the sample button and Reason starts sampling. Reason will detect the sample start automatically. You can sample when Reason in running too if you like – no need to stop the music.
If needed, bring up the built-in sample editor to set start and end points, loop points and more. This is possible for all loaded samples by the way – not only the ones you have sampled.
As always, Reason lets you focus on music making – and sampling in this case. All samples are neatly stored in our song file and accessible in the new samples pane in the tool window. Here you can easily see what samples are loaded into what machine and delete and export samples as you wish.
Live sampling together with pitch detection of root key and automatic zone mapping makes it dead easy to sample an instrument and map the samples across the keyboard. This way you’ll create your own multi-sampled instruments for NN-XT and NN-19 in an instant.
Live sampling – coming in Reason 5.
Exclusive interview with Swedish synth-maestro Eddie Bengtsson
Page is currently celebrating 30 years as performing artsist on the Swedish synthpop stage and are currently planning summer gigs after the release of their first new album in 10 years. Stereoklang got an one on one interview with the synth pioneer Eddie Bengtsson, who’s electronic music really kick started the Swedish synth-pop scene in the 80’s, active in Page, Sista Mannen På Jorden (Last man on earth) and This Fish Needs a Bike. Page really became the Swedish answer to Yazoo/Erasure, OMD, and Depeche Mode, and made ground for popular acts like Elegant Machinery, S.P.O.C.K and many others. In this interview we have invaded Eddie’s home studio to take a closer look at the synthesizers and music production gear he uses and what it really takes to make a great synth-pop song.
Neatly mounted in a corner of a 10sq/m room, sharing the space with Star Trek memorabilia and a huge vinyl record collection, several of the classic hardware synthesizers are hooked up and ready to bleep. Although Eddie tells me he have had to sell of several synthesizers from a logistical point of view I enjoy finding vintage gear like the Moog Rouge, a Korg DW 6000 and the personal favorite of Eddie’s the Yamaha CS15 (used on every album), coupled with recently acquired gems like the Moog Little Phatty, the Moog Voyager and then some modern virtual analogs like microKORG and Yamaha CX1x.
What is used use for what
The CX1 is used as the mother keyboard and the DW 6000 mainly for strings. ”Sound 11 is a personal favorite” Eddie says☺. You can for example find it also on all S.P.O.C.K songs. If Eddie on the other hand only were to take one synthesizer with him to a deserted island it would be the CS15. In fact Eddie tells me that due to the flexible routing and filters; he’s able clone the bass sounds of all other synthesizers with it, if you treat it nicely. Perhaps the only drawback is the useless noise generator, which is too weak, although a weakness that many synthesizers has as he puts it.
Neatly tucked under racks of synthesizers a well hidden Roland S760 sampler can be found. Curious about the fact that this particular device hasn’t been replaced by software versions already, Eddie admits that years of collecting disketts has made him somewhat lazy, somewhere among all those hundreds of disketts there is always that one with the right sound. But I wouldn’t be surprised if that device will be left out from future productions in favor of software alternatives.
The lazy side of Eddie shines through on several occasions during the interview and for the last two records other people have contributed in replacing sounds with updated versions. However, the new Page album actually came as a turning point for him and a lot of hard work has gotten into it, resulting in more focus on sound search and music production then before.
Moving on to the next rack of synthesizers Eddie tells me that the microKORG is actually a very capable machine used primarily for strings and pads. The Rouge on the other hand is the real stage machine and a trade mark for Page in live sets. It’s compact and easy to bring, cool looking and splendid for single oscillator sounds. (Indecently the Rouge uses the same circuitry as the Taurus II Bass Pedals). (Listen to this song, all sounds by the Rouge by Hannes Rasmus. http://www.vintagesynth.com/audio/moogtheroguedemo.mp3 ) Other old gems like the Roland SH02 and Moog Prodigy have been replaced with new bass and sequencer gear; the Moog Little Phatty, as you can easily spot on the new Page album.
Why all the Moogs?
Easy answer would be that everyone is talking about them, prestigious and expensive stuff that is. And although proud to have them, some drawbacks can be found also here; the sound is a bit chilly and there is no noise generator to be found at all, as with the Prophet 8, it takes forever to heat up and sometimes the oscillators are not really in sync. The Voyager is really a beast and lit up it looks really impressive. Currently it’s mainly used to discover cool sounds in the studio it might end up on the stage some day. “But why on earth did they implement this totally useless performance pad on it, when turning the knobs is the way to do it and it is not even multi-touch, which might have given it some extra advantages”. I asked what’s next and Eddie kind of suggests that a DSI Mopho might end up on the rack within short.
Where do you start making a song?
“Never, or very seldom, I have an idea or the song in my head. When I feel like making new songs I always start off with a bass, then adding drums, melody and finally the vocals. I really need to get the beat going first.” >>>>>
Read the rest of the article here >>
Modular MIDI sequencer for the Lemur
Clip featuring a modular synthesizer jam with Sequencomat V3 – an 8 track 16 step MIDI sequencer in Max/MSP, with a touch control surface for the Jazzmutant Lemur. Sequencomat is based on the idea of traditional hardware step sequencers, but with an touchscreen control surface, and below that he tests out Sequencomat v3, running its own clock and sequencing a Nord Modular G1 on the first 4 channels and the G2 on the 4 following.
A simple test with the sequencomat v3 running its own clock and sequencing a nord modular G1 on the first 4 channels and the G2 on the 4 following. check http://music-interface.com/ for more info on sequencomat v3
Tony Grund introduces the TouchOSC for iPad
Dubspot’s Tony Grund introduces the new iPad program TouchOSC, which promises to revolutionize the controller market by providing a completely customizable interface, perfect for both DJs and producers alike. This is the first video in the series – be sure to check out parts 2, 3, and 4.
Propellerhead Reason 5 – Day 3 teaser
Continuing from yesterday here we have yet another teaser from Propellerhead on their upcoming release of version 5 of Reason and updated Record.
Getting a vocal performance right means so much more than hitting the right notes at the right time. Sometimes you get that almost perfect performance with perfect feel and presence, but the singer might have missed a few notes. That’s when Neptune can save the day. Neptune is an advanced pitch adjuster, audio transposer and voice synth for Record 1.5.
As a pitch adjuster, Neptune will fine tune the pitch of an audio track to help getting your vocal performances just right. Neptune will fix the flat notes with an unbelievable audio quality . You can select a root key and a scale that you want to correction to use, or create a scale that fits your song. And, yes. By cranking the pitch adjustment settings to the max, you can get that effect sound too.
Neptune is also a natural sounding audio transposer. This is a great help if you ever needed to change the key of a song that’s already been recorded.
Perhaps the most creative-sparking function in Neptune is the voice synth. Play your MIDI keyboard and Neptune will create new harmonies from your vocal tracks in real time, or use it without the original voice to completely change the melody of the song. Endless creative options!
New free sample pack – the Metallophone
Metallophone – Free sample pack – Microphone Neumann km 184 and ART tube MP microphone preamp. Sampling card Digidesign Digi 001.
Sound format: Wav, 16 bit samples and 44.000 hertz.
Download here!
DATAMASKIN
