Technology

Tech News Roundup: November 14, 2008

• Written by: francispreve
• Filed under: Music News: tech news roundup

Last week, November’s music tech news got off to a quiet start.

This week, the pace picked up a bit.

Create Digital Music posted a slew of interesting tidbits, as did Synthtopia.com.

Throw in a handy new iPhone tool for producers and an incredible sale on AAS softsynths and you have the makings of a busy week for music tech.

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Beatportal reviews Dave Smith’s Mopho

• Written by: francispreve
• Filed under: Music News: dave smith mopho prophet 08

Few synths – other than the Prophet 08 and the Moog Voyager – have created as much advance buzz as Dave Smith Instruments’ new Mopho.

Based on the sound engine of the Prophet, the Mopho is a monophonic (one note at a time, not chords) synth that features a fully analog signal path and more features than other synths costing three times the price.

And it’s only $439 MSRP.

We’re among the first to get our hands on one, and after a few weeks of tinkering, here are our findings.

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Ministry of Sound launch DJ Academy

• Written by: Christen Reutens
• Filed under: Music News:

Not content with ruling the world of compilation CDs for dance music first-timers, Britain’s Ministry of Sound has decided to launch a DJ academy for aspiring jockeys.

Based on a curriculum devised by a full-time lecturer at Guildford’s Academy of Contemporary Music, the one-day courses are being offered for a whopping £300.

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Blue announces Icicle

• Written by: francispreve
• Filed under: Music News: microphones usb converter

Laptop producers on the go are always on the lookout for tiny toys that fit in a gig bag.

Blue Microphones’ new Icicle, a super-portable in-line USB converter and preamp, makes connecting XLR microphones directly to your Mac or PC a straightforward process.

Blue understands that producers need simple, hassle-free products, so there are no complicated drivers, I/O boxes, or additional converters required.

Icicle works with dynamic and condenser microphones, providing high quality connectivity with Mac or PC for recording, podcasting, sampling and more.

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MOTU MachFive Upgrade Deal

• Written by: francispreve
• Filed under: Music News: samplers synthesis

We were deeply saddened by the discontinuation of GigaStudio earlier this year, as its passing abandoned a lot of users who had invested heavily in the software.

Clearly, MOTU were saddened also.

So much so that they’ve just unleashed a killer offer on their competing MachFive softsampler.

And the offer isn’t strictly for GigaStudio owners either.

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Tech News Roundup: November 7, 2008

• Written by: francispreve
• Filed under: Music News: tech news roundup

While all eyes and ears have been focused on the US elections, it’s been a quiet week for product announcements from the major manufacturers.

But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t any news on the technology front - in fact, there are several noteworthy goodies that all share this week’s theme…

Free.

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Traktor Pro: In-depth review

• Written by: Terry Church
• Filed under: Music News: technology review traktor pro

‘We hope that you enjoy using Traktor and that it stimulates your creativity as a DJ’ reads the liner notes in the manual that comes with Traktor Pro, the new updated DJ software application from Native Instruments.

With an arsenal of new FX, four fully-featured virtual decks, a slick new user interface and a new and improved browsing system creativity ain’t gonna be a problem with this one.

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Pioneers of electronic music #4: Pierre Schaeffer

• Written by: culprit1
• Filed under: Music News: pierre schaeffer pioneers pioneers of electronic music

Pierre Schaeffer was a pioneer of musique concrète, a style of avante-garde composition based on natural environmental sounds and other non-musical noises.

The Frenchman helped bring the cut ‘n’ paste method of composition to a worldwide audience during the 1940s.

Here’s a history lesson on one of the 20th century’s most important electronic music pioneers.

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Speedy J changes electronic music LPs forever

• Written by: Terry Church
• Filed under: Music News: speedy j

Dutch techno pioneer Jochem Paap aka Speedy Jhttp://www.beatportal.com/images/site/misc/wiki_box_a.gif has always pushed the boundaries of techno further than most (word has it Richie Hawtin’s current DJ set up was conceived by Speedy J), and now he is set to change the way electronic music albums are constructed forever.

For his next LP Speedy J is inviting producers worldwide to submit parts and loops to him which he will use to create a collaborative album of epic proportions.

It’s an ambitious project that has never been tried before on such a scale.

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• Check out Speedy J on Beatport

Production Master Class: Hi-hats and top-loops

• Written by: francispreve
• Filed under: Music News: production master class synthesis

In our previous roundtables on intros/outros and kick and bass, we laid the foundations for building a groove like the pros.

This week, we’re going in the opposite direction – hi-hats and top loops – and taking a closer look at the trebly stuff.

Shakers, hi-hats, tambourines and related high-frequency percussion parts add the jiggle and shimmy to a track.

Some producers focus on swing or shuffle, some zero in on the sounds themselves, others talk about ditching quantization entirely.

The bottom line is that all of them have a slew of successes to back up their advice.

Let the advising begin…

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MXP4: Beyond MP3?

• Written by: francispreve
• Filed under: Music News: musinaut mxp4

French start-up, Musinaut, has some big plans in store for the music world.

Plans that could fundamentally change the way music is enjoyed - and even more importantly to us, DJed.

Their format, MXP4, takes the MP3 concept, improves the encoding quality, then splits the whole thing into layers and tracks – allowing users to create their own remixes on the fly.

Right now, the format is proprietary and in its early stages, but with the right momentum, it could be a real paradigm shift – even beyond the electronic music community.

Let’s take a closer look.

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Tech News Roundup: October 31, 2008

• Written by: francispreve
• Filed under: Music News: tech news roundup

This week was a grab-bag of tricks and treats that should keep your hunger for sugar-coated gear gossip under control.

Well, for at least a day or two.

On the one hand, there was some deliciously retro goodness in the form of YouTube videos for the Roland TR-808 and Analogue Solutions’ TB-303 clone.

As for more modern technology, there’s a terrifyingly useful new resource for Kore users, along with some sweet new features on SoundCloud.

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Tutorial: How to use a noise gate

• Written by: francispreve
• Filed under: Music News: noise gate the expander

All too often producers overlook – or sometimes disregard – the value of the lowly noise gate and its cousin, the expander.

Originally designed to help eliminate hiss, rumble and other unwanted recording artifacts, the noise gate has quite a few creative uses once you understand what’s going on under its hood.

In this tutorial, we’ll take a closer look at the underlying principles that govern this type of effect.

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Loopmasters announces Nick Thayer library

• Written by: francispreve
• Filed under: Music News: nick thayer sample library

Hot on the heels of last month’s Chris Cowie sample library, Loopmasters now adds breaks producer Nick Thayer to their catalogue of celebrity soundware.

The Nick Thayer - Breaks Producer collection includes over 350 samples, with more than 40 bass loops, 75 breakbeat drum loops, 45 atmospheric and groove-based musical loops, 20 processed vocal loops and samples, a slew of sound effects and more than 100 single drum hits for programming your own patterns.

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Steve Lawler’s mobile Viva studio

• Written by: Industry Boy
• Filed under: Music News: audiofly

From these photos you’d imagine Steve Lawler and Audiofly to be sitting in a posh music studio in London, but we are in fact on a tour bus traveling through the Arizona desert at about 50mph.

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