Music Object

2010-10-25T23:22:00.000-07:00

So, i got me an iPad and...

2010-10-19T20:57:00.000-07:00

Well, finally i accepted my fate and bought myself an iPad. 64 Gb that i'm having a hard time to fill with stuff. I should probably have bought a 32 Gb version with 3G instead of only the wi Fi version. I bought mine second hand, apparently from a student who was more interested in the hard, cold cash, instead of Apple's new device.

Is it worth it? Well, you could do more stuff with a nice laptop and Reason. But on the other hand, it's pretty easy to operate and it's pretty portable and battery life is eternal. I used to carry with me a Roland PMA-5 to play with. It now rests in a shelf, disguised as a book. It's a nice machine, though, don't misunderstand me. The difference is that the iPad can be a thousand things instead. It can replace your Tenori On, your Lemur and your Korg Kaoss Pad.

There are some shortcomings, though. If you want to put samples inside, you have to use WiFi. There's no audio input, although the built in mic is pretty good.

Anyways, no more text, here are some videos of the musical apps for the iPad. Currently there are 938 musical applications in the App Store, and i'll just be reviewing the most relevant for me, in a completely random way.

All the audio was recorded separately, i later added the voiceover. Please excuse my wildly varying accent. It changes randomly, according to the last movie i saw.

Here's the Reactable App:

And here are some of my favourite apps.

Making music on your iPad / iPhone / iPod touch.

2010-05-02T17:10:00.000-07:00

Let me begin this article by stating two things:

1) First than anything, I am not an Apple fan. In fact, i hate Apple. I think that Apple product owners are basically pretentious cunts who like to own expensive stuff and gloat about it in exclusive New York clubs, like to wear white pants and crocs and are most of the time friends with or fans of Paris Hilton, and possibly they are Paris Hilton themselves.

I am a PC person. A Google person. A DIY person. I hate Apple's policy of giving you a nice computer that is never really yours to hack, use, or slash at your will, unless you do the following:

Ipad smoke. Don't breath that. Seriously.

2) Most of what i'm writing in this article can be found in this article, and it's better written, it's wittier and smarter, and i'm certain that the writer smells better than me. Yes, he probably smells like Pierce Brosnan, or at least what i fantasize about how Pierce Brosnan smells like.

Okay, now, let's get to it.

What do you get when you get an iPad ? Well, not much, if you buy the whole thing you get 64 Gb storage, a built in microphone and a capacitive 9 inches multitouch screen. Plus limited conectivity to every other device at home.

However, the good thing is not in the specs department, but on the software and how it uses the multitouch screen for musical purposes.

We already had some decent music apps on the iphone/ipod platform, and they were good but heavily hindered by the small screen size. Example:

Nice ladies, huh ? But now, look at this beauty:

The problem that i see, is that we still don't have enough ways to get audio inside the iPad. And it's not due to lack of connectivity, it's due to how Apple forces us to handle files inside this specific OS. However, the idea is there.

Now check this other video:

Nice, huh ? The iPad seems like a JazzMutant Lemur killer. Poor Jazzmutant. And it could potentially become a Monome killer. And perhaps a Novation Launchpad killer. Jesus, the iPad could be the Dexter of electronic musical instruments.

When it comes to virtual instruments, the iPad really shines.

You can get the lite version of the Minisynth at the App Store for free. The greatest thing is having the synth and the controller in a single thing, and it being multitouch lets it to be really played. I have a Tablet PC with several VSTs, and it's fun, but in the end it's forcefully monophonic. With the iPad you can actually play a chord and at the same time move the pitch and modulation wheels.

And finally here's the one that irritates me the most:

Not because it's an Electribe in software form - It's because it sounds and looks exactly like my US$350 ESX-1 Electribe. Damn it.

Now, before someone jumps and tells me that i've become an Apphole, let me tell you why you shouldn't go and buy an iPad right now.

1) It's expensive, really. I got a nice HP TC1100 Tablet PC with better specs for US$ 192, used. I don't understand why people get rid of these. If you want an iPad with all the bells and whistles you should expect to pay at this moment nearly US$ 1000. Because there aren't any. Fanbois and early adopters rushed to buy the spawn of Steve Jobs, so that left the average audience (who could give a real use to the stuff) without access to the product. Good luck with finding one and not being ripped off at Ebay.

2) It lacks connectivity. Sure, it has WiFi, Bluetooth and 3G (some models) but those features are severely crippled by Apple, who do not want you to mess with their computer. Besides, it only has a built-in microphone as a device to input audio, and a 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack as audio output.

3) It is not a real computer. Okay, okay, don't hit me, but the truth is, and Steve Jobs said so, that it is a device that fills the niche/ecosystem not occupied by smartphones and notebooks. So you can't buy Reason 4 and put it in there. You cannot buy Logic Audio (yet) and put it in there. You cannot expand it. You cannot change the battery. You cannot format it and install Ubuntu. You cannot run this wonderful site (Hobnox Audio Tool) on it because it doesn't support Flash ("and it won't, EVUH !" according to Steve Jobs). You can't download your free VSTi and put them in there because THERE'S NO FUCKING WAY TO DO THAT.

4) It doesn't do multitasking. So you can't play stuff on a virtual synth, and record it at the same time. A pity.

However, why should we be optimistic and not dispair about the iPad ?

Well, for a start, it is a new thing. It opens spaces, and creates new forms of interacting with technology. Okay, okay, that sounds like taken from a leaflet, but it's true. There's a whole new field in music making since Apple got their greedy hands in this area. And we have a beautiful girl to prove our point. Come on, korean girl. Show them:

Secondly, it will become better with time. It doesn't have USB ports, cameras or other stuff, but once the device becomes massive, the only way to sell more iPads would be to add more features. Apple announced OS 4.0 in a couple of months, and it will (allegedly) support multitasking. So the best is yet to come.

Thirdly, the creation of this kind of device forces competition amongst hardware manufacturers. Both Hewlett Packard and Microsoft announced a couple of similar products (the HP Slate and the Microsoft Courier) and then both decided to withdraw these plans and go back to the drawing board after the iPad came out. That doesn't mean defeat, on the contrary, it's just that the iPad stated clearly that Apple could offer a device that 1) began working as soon as you pressed the ON button, and 2) multitouch was not just a gimmick, but an useful feature and a major selling point. Microsoft and HP are forced to come out with BETTER products if they wanted to get their share of the market.

And fourth, but not least importante, there are the jailbreakers. These are people who armed with only their knowledge of C++ and their desire for a free world, not like 1984, are willing to develop a free application that will let you own your iPad. They are our only hope. They and booze. In large amounts.

So, should you run like an idiot to the next Apple store and buy an iPad ? Well, no, not at this moment. I'd suggest you to wait for the next iteration, which will probably be better and won't fry your balls while you surf the internet with it. However, i'd suggest you to keep your eyes open because this one is just a sign of good things to come in the near future. Of course that if you have the money and want to have the latest gadget right now, go buy it. I will wait until the next generation comes out and lamerz all over the world will turn to ebay to sell their ipads for 100 dollars. Then i will buy six of them and build a multitasking, multi-input, multi-output, 384 Gb sized iCube.

Yeah, don't steal that name from me, Apple. I've registered it.

How to have a number 1 - the KLF way

2010-03-23T04:54:00.000-07:00

Excellent music blog Loudat has posted the KLF's legendary 'Manual'.

Subtitled 'How to have a number one the easy way' it is an absolute gem. Comic, serious, full of bile and useful advice, here's just a taster of the text:

"Firstly, you must be skint and on the dole. Anybody with a proper job
or tied up with full time education will not have the time to devote
to see it through. Also, being on the dole gives you a clearer
perspective on how much of society is run. If you are already a
musician stop playing your instrument. Even better, sell the junk. It
will become clearer later on but just take our word for it for the
time being. Sitting around tinkering with the Portastudio or musical
gear (either ancient or modern) just complicates and distracts you
from the main objective. Even worse than being a musician is being a
musician in a band. Real bands never get to Number One - unless they
are puppets."

The book also comes with a guarantee that if you follow the advice to the letter and don't have a number one hit, they will refund the cover price. If you follow the instructions and DO have a number one, the KLF will take you for a night out in Madagascar.

Excellent stuff.

Here it is.

And here's a reminder of the wonderfully f*cked-up chart topper that inspired the book:

Vinyl CDs

2010-03-23T04:24:00.000-07:00

Textured CDs, printed to look like vinyl and put in 7"-style sleeves. Cool for attention-grabbing promo CDs?
More info here.

Cardboard record player

2010-03-19T04:29:00.000-07:00

Brilliant marketing idea. How do you make people take notice of your promo vinyl? How about making the sleeve it comes in a fully functional record player?

Genius.

From here.

Music lectures

2010-03-09T05:26:00.001-08:00

Head here for videos and podcasts of lectures from some of the most innovative and creative music makers in the game today.

Everyone from A Guy Called Gerald to Steve Reich talking about their music making career and creative process.

Get the lowdown from legends such as Arthur Baker, Hank Shockley, Tony Allen and Shut Up & Dance.

Interesting stuff!

Music from the future

2010-03-09T02:57:00.000-08:00

As Miles Davis wisely said: "My future starts when I wake up every morning... Every day I find something creative to do with my life."

In the year 2999 we will certainly have flying cars, robot butlers and houses that know when we want the lights switched on and off. I know this because I watched Tomorrow's World when I was a youngling.

But what will the music sound like?

Well, Peppermill Records are giving you the chance to decide in a new competition.

The blurb:

Description:

It's the year 2999, and what you see above is your future. What exactly is going on? Your job is to soundtrack the above painting by celebrated futurist David Schleinkofer and write a short description of your vision.

This open competition is for a spot on a big upcoming Peppermill release, the chosen piece will be featured alongside many of the most talented forward-thinking electronic musicians around. Their works will be interpreted by illustrators while you'll be doing the exact opposite.

What we're putting together is a futuristic dance album, as the title is a play on the phrase "dance like it's 1999". However this doesn't have to sound like anything humans currently groove to, in fact we encourage you to paint way, way outside the lines.

Bass is necessary though. Deep, deep sub bass. This collection is going to feature songs using a very full range of frequencies, and experimentation with the lower end of the spectrum is a must.

When completed it'll be freely downloadable under a Creative Commons license, as all our releases are, which means people are encouraged to share the music but aren't allowed to alter it in any way or use it for commercial purposes without your consent.

Guidelines:

- interpret the painting above
- the result should be ready to be played on dancefloors 989 years from now
- use a rich range of frequencies including sub-bass
- the title should be fairly descriptive, as the painting and the song are to be a combo
- include a paragraph-long summary of your vision

The link: Clickety click

Why not have a go? And if you do, why not send us your efforts too. If we get enough sent to us, we'll do a showcase post at some point in.... THE FUTURE!!!!

Diary of a free album

2010-03-01T04:42:00.000-08:00

Over at Fwonk*, everyone understands the beautiful feeling one gets from giving music away for free.

After weeks and months crafting sounds, sculpting waveforms, noodling with synths, slicing samples and polishing the resulting noise into something wonderful, it is with pride and pleasure that we release our musical offspring into the world to be heard and played and enjoyed.

So we've been following bass music's 'Diary of a free album' with interest.

Baoginga and I.D. - whose album 'Big Monster' provided some of the biggest dancefloor smashing moments of 2008 - have just released a free album. Their diary tracks the process, their intentions in making it a free release and their approach to self-promotion.

It makes a very interesting read and is symptomatic of the changing face of the music industry as musicians sieze the publicity tools and wrestle the creative process out of the hands of major labels.

You can hear a minimix of the album here:
I.D. & Baobinga - Bass Music Sessions Album Preview by I.D.

Read the diary here. And download the album here - it's a no-minimum, pay what you want effort, with all proceeds donated to charity.

Viejos Hombres & Per

2010-02-24T07:28:00.000-08:00

We've had two new releases on Fwonk* records, an ambient-noise LP from Viejos Hombres de Abejón - a supergroup of three Fwonk* drone meisters, and Ettertid from Fwonk*s resident genius and polymath Per Byhring. Two new releases, and both for free!

Click on the covers below to download...

Viejos Hombres de Abejón - Viejos Hombres de Abejón
Per - Ettertid

Cable Sceptic

2010-02-23T04:59:00.000-08:00

Look at James Randi. Take a good look at him. That's a photo of him not believing a word you say. Not a word. Not unless you can prove it.

Mr Randi is sceptical. That's his job. He makes a living debunking phoney psychics (not that there are any real psychics) but also casts his sceptical eye over ridiculous claims made by various companies.

Recently he has turned his attention to cables aimed at the 'audiophile' market. He has noticed that Pear Cables are selling their 'Anjou' speaker cables for $7250 for a 12-foot pair.

The company claims that the cables have a "new and completely unique hybrid geometry for the ANJOU Speaker Cable", resulting in "sonic beauty without compare".

Review of the cables online claim they are better than any other cable they have ever tested.

Randi calls this "nonsense" and has thrown down a million-dollar challenge to anyone who can positively tell the difference between the 'Anjou' and a bog-standard speaker cable in a Pepsi-challenge test.

So far he's had no takers.

Read the full article here.

Code Organ

2010-02-23T04:56:00.000-08:00

Code Organ is a clever little webamajig that turns internet pages into sweet sweet music.

The makers say:
THE CODEORGAN ANALYSES THE *BODY* CONTENT OF ANY WEB PAGE AND TRANSLATES THAT CONTENT INTO MUSIC. THE CODEORGAN USES A COMPLEX ALGORITHM TO DEFINE THE KEY, SYNTH STYLE AND DRUM PATTERN MOST APPROPRIATE TO THE PAGE CONTENT.

FIRSTLY, THE CODEORGAN SCANS THE PAGE CONTENTS AND REMOVES ALL
CHARACTERS NOT FOUND IN THE MUSICAL SCALE (A TO G), AND THEN ANALYSES THE REMAINING CHARACTERS TO FIND THE MOST COMMONLY USED 'NOTE'. IF THIS IS AN EVEN NUMBER THE PAGE IS TRANSLATED IN TO THE MAJOR PENTATONIC SCALE OF THAT PARTICULAR NOTE, IT BECOMES MINOR IF THERE IS AN UNEVEN NUMBER.

SECONDLY, THE CODEORGAN DEFINES WHICH SYNTHESIZER TO USE. THIS IS
BASED UPON THE TOTAL NUMBER CHARACTERS USED ON THE WEBPAGE – THERE ARE CURRENTLY 10 SYNTHESIZER EFFECTS AND THE ONE CHOSEN IS PICKED BASED UPON THE PERCENTAGE OF CONTENT.

LASTLY, THE CODEORGAN SELECTS A DRUM LOOP BASED UPON THE RATIO OF CHARACTERS ON THE PAGE VERSUS THE NUMBER OF CHARACTERS THAT ARE ACTUALLY MUSICAL NOTES – THERE ARE CURRENTLY 10 DIFFERENT DRUM LOOPS TO PICK FROM.

GO AND MAKE BEAUTIFUL MUSIC TOGETHER.

THE CODEORGAN PEOPLE

It's dead clever.

Go and play.

Groovy

2010-02-23T04:37:00.000-08:00

Fellow audio-geeks over at Synthgear.com have published these amazing pictures of vinyl record grooves under an electron microscope.

Mmmmmm, vinyl.

Read the full article here.

Oh, and if you've got some 3D glasses handy, check this out:

John Bonham Breaks

2010-02-16T07:23:00.000-08:00

Those superb folks over at Salad Records.com have posted some awesome links to John Bonham's drum out-takes from 1979 album "In Through The Door".

Bonzo's drum stylings have been sampled by everyone from Eminem to The Prodigy. Now you can get in on the act too.

Grab the files here.

Don't fear the pirates

2010-02-15T17:59:00.000-08:00

http://www.newmusicstrategies.com/2008/04/03/should-i-be-worried-about-piracy/

This is probably one of the most clear-headed articles on piracy, the internet, life, the universe and everything.

And here are three more things to consider:

1) People who share your music are recommending you to people who respect their taste and opinion;

2) The vast majority of people who have unauthorised copies of your music would not have ordinarily paid for it anyway;

3) Do you really want for people who cannot afford your music to be prevented from ever hearing it?

The single most effective way to stop people from copying your music is to stop making music. If that’s not an option (and why would it be?) then accepting that this is the world in which we live is a good start towards successfully negotiating the new media environment.

Free Music Tuesday - Four Tet

2010-02-09T01:19:00.000-08:00

You can grab two full length mixes from Four Tet's very own Soundcloud page. Go get them!

Mixtape Wednesday (Yeah, we back)

2010-01-20T01:53:00.000-08:00

Well, after an extended festive break, we're back in full effect with a load of excellent mixtapes to kick off the new decade.

First up, a mellow, groove-driven mix from Dunks entitled 'History of Jazz'. Taking in artists like Pepe De Luxe, Napz and Featurecast alongside nods to Aretha Franklin and even the Beatles, this is a simultaneously eclectic and unified mix with a laid back vibe and some smooth mixing.

Check it out:

Dunks' History of Jazz by Dunks

Tracklist:

1. History of Jazz Intro
2. Follow Me - Red Astaire
3. Finally Moving - Pretty Lights
4. Bad Luck Blues - DJ Nu Mark & Pomo
5. Blues Banger - Audited Beats
6. Everybody Pass Me By - Pepe Deluxe
7. One Step (Featurecast Re-Edit) - Aretha Franklin
8. Farm to Follow Feat Kelster - TM Juke
9. Sounds Good - Flevans
10. Ohio City - Jugoe
11. Carlito's Cumbia - Dub Traffik Control
12. Mi Camino - DJ Lengua
13. All The Time - Napz
14. I Feel The Weight - Jon Kennedy
15. Whatever - The Opensouls
16. Skin on the Drum (Bassnectar Remix) - Michael Franti & Spearhead
17. The Sweetest - Nightmares on Wax
18. When You Gotta Go You Gotta Go - Gelka
19. Words from Michael Ruppert
20. Come Together (Los Bandidos Remix) - The Beatles
21. I'm Free - Gramatik
22. History Of Jazz Outro

While we're on a down-tempo tip, here's a heavy, head-trip of a mix from Copenhagen's Den Sorte Skole. Innovative, eclectic and atmospheric, you need this mix in your life.

Weaving tracks together using six turntables, this trio have created a deeply smoked-out mix that still gets serious rotation on the MusicObject iPod, two years after its release.

Grab the download here.

Read the tracklist (laid out so you can even see what is happening on each deck at any time) here.

Next, a huge project from Mustard Pimp - a 24-hour mixtape. This is what the letters W T F were invented for.

More than 800 tracks make up this enormous project, which, like the TV show 24, is split into handy 1-hour chunks.

Hour 1-2 : New Tracks January 2k10
Hour 2-4 : Electro,Fidget Best Of
Hour 5 : Japan
Hour 6-7 : Dubstep
Hour 8-10 : Breakbeat
Hour 11 : Big Beat,Fusion
Hour 12-14 : Drum & Bass
Hour 15-17 : Hip Hop
Hour 18-19 : Techno Classics
Hour 20 : Rock
Hour 21 : Eurodance
Hour 22 : Death,Thrash Metal
Hour 23 : Hardcore UK
Hour 24 : Speedcore,Terror MP

Even if you don't like the music, you have to admire the audacity!

Here's a preview of Hour 1:
Mustard Pimp - Jack Bauer Mixtape - Hour 1 8AM-9AM (January 2K10) by mustard pimp

And you can download all the episodes individually here (Mediafire).

I'm not even going to start typing the tracklist for these, as I value my fingers and still have a little bit of a life. But you can go here to read it.

Finally, just a heads-up that Mixcloud has announced its top 50 Cloudcasts of 2009 and there's some seriously good stuff in there.

Go here for the list and especially keep an ear out for The Sly Players wicked 'Keep Sweet Mixtape', Zinc's excellent 'Crack House Mix' and DJ Spinna's funked-up 'Boogie Bundle'.

Rave Wars

2010-01-15T08:46:00.000-08:00

Old skool hardcore and Star Wars, together at last!

Hardcore Han Solo has come up with a novel way of shifting some vinyl. When you buy his new Rave Wars single, you not only get two tracks of hands-in-the-air breakbeat hardcore (replete with Star Wars samples), you also get a vintage Star Wars figure.

Genius.

Learn more and buy.

A butt-load of freebie goodness

2010-01-13T08:42:00.000-08:00

Let's kick the new year off in style with a treasure trove of sampling treats!

Real Music Media is giving away all its previously paid-for packages for free.

These include 'Drum Sounds of the 1960s', 'Swing Jazz Drums' and a very meticulously multi-sampled snare.

There are also some classical guitar loops and some Mellotron bits. Well worth having in your musical arsenal.

Grab them here.

More Dave Smith TETR4 demos

2010-01-03T09:31:00.000-08:00

Ah, my favourite soon-to-be-mine analogue synth is now in youtube. Besides Dave Smith's own demos and that bald guy over there, there was not too much info on this little beauty. Thanks to Dogboy73 who made the effort to upload these demos.

I need to sell that goddamn sampler quickly.

Wanna be a superstar DJ?

2009-12-30T23:54:00.000-08:00

There's an 'app' for that.

Against The Grain Records has released the Krafty Kuts application for iPhone.

They say:
"Add a new dimension to your DJ sets with this awesome sound effects tool which comes pre-loaded with over 100 samples including MC shouts, sirens, bass drops and many more useful noises to spice up your set.

"I wanted to produce a sampler style app which could actually be used by DJs in clubs, on radio or even at home," says Krafty Kuts. "Having the ability to drop samples like 'Make Some Noise In Here!' along with big 'woosh' and 'lazer' noises over my mixes, without the need for a laptop or third turntable is amazing!"

No matter your preferred genre of music, or if you're a budding bedroom DJ or a pro, you'll find these DJ Tools both useful and fun to use. With an incredibly simple user interface you'll be able to launch samples at the touch of a button out the the corner of your eye - so you won't be heads down while you're ripping it up!"

You can buy it for just under three quid on iTunes now.

The only think that confuses me about this 'app' is that Apple has rated it '9+' for "infrequent mild cartoon / fantasy violence". Erm, did I miss something?

Need inspiration? Try 'The Brainstormer'

2009-12-30T04:37:00.001-08:00

The Brainstormer is a Flash gadget aimed at inspiring illustrators, but it can work equally well for anyone needing a band name, track title or an unusual stylistic nudge.

Go to Andrew Bosley's site to try it out.

Another party-friendly bootleg for you!

2009-12-29T07:20:00.000-08:00

tOtALcULt - Dynamite Lady by tOtALcULt

Modjo's 'Lady' meets MC Dynamite's verses from Krafty Kuts' 'There They Go' atop some funky breaks business.

Direct download link here for those who don't like Sandclart:
http://bit.ly/4AIRn5

Enjoy, feel free to post a comment if you like it / detest it. And it's a 320, so do play it out if you feel so inclined.

EastWest Orchestra - Free Edition

2009-12-28T07:09:00.000-08:00

Soundsonline is offering a free edition of the EastWest Quantum Leap Orchestra instrument, including strings, woodwind, brass and percussion.

Go here, fill out a survey and it's yours. Also, there's a cheap upgrade path to the full versions until January 31st.

Go Pro!

2009-12-27T19:56:00.000-08:00

See the pic in full here.

Free Daft Punk bootleg for all y'all!

2009-12-23T05:29:00.000-08:00

I done did a bottleg / mashup. It's the first time I've done that.

It's Chic's 'Good Times' meets Daft Punk's 'Around the World' meets Dan The Automator's remake of 'Rapper's Delight'.

Decent party-fodder I reckon.

Grab it here and have a very merry Christmas!

Free Kore content from NI

2009-12-21T00:38:00.001-08:00

Native Instruments are making sure the season goes with a swing by releasing nearly 500MB of new sounds for their free Kore Player.

The sounds come from the following packs:
57 DRAWBAR ORGAN - The legendary 1957 Hammond™ C3 drawbar organ
KONTAKT RETRO MACHINES - The sounds of seminal synths and drum machines from the 70's and 80's
KONTAKT SAX & BRASS - Saxophones, trumpets and trombones from KONTAKT
DEEP RECONSTRUCTIONS - Highly creative, unconventional effects
ESSENTIAL BASS - Ready-to-use instrument containing classic synth basses to sampled uprights
URBAN ARSENAL 2 - Second installment of the complete hip-hop production toolkit
ACOUSTIC REFRACTIONS - Original sampled sounds, combined with advanced processing
MASCHINE DRUM SELECTION – Groove construction tool and library taken from MASCHINE
EVOLVE MUTATIONS - Rhythmic suites, percussive kits and unconventional instruments/ FX
ABSYNTH SPECTRAL EXPANSIONS - Newly designed sounds from the modern legend ABSYNTH
ABSYNTH TWILIGHTS - From ethereal, enchanting pads to dark and foreboding soundscapes
SONIC FICTION - Brilliantly bizarre musical instruments inspired by Sci-Fi culture

Go here to download the new content and here to download the free Kore player.

40 Amen Breaks

2009-12-18T09:08:00.000-08:00

Courtesy of Cyberworm's very excellent Sample Blog.

Download from here.

Free synth from Ohmforce

2009-12-18T04:58:00.001-08:00

As an early Christmas gift, those lovely plug-in types at Ohmforce are giving away a stripped down version of their Symptohm Melohman synth.

Features:
* 2 unique sample-based SyncGrain oscillators (SGOs).
* Additional Sub Oscillator, based on SyncGrain's spectral content.
* Stereo noise generator.
* A ring modulator for each voice, based on the Sub Oscillator.
* inter-voice Ring Modulation.
* Dynamic routing of the signal into a 'powered by Quad Frohmage' filter bank, with loads of filter types, distortion, band delay and much more.
* Extensive modulation options (one LFO + one xADSR per parameter + MIDI) for almost every parameter.

The 'Peformer Edition' they are giving away has 1200 presets(!) and although takes away control tweakability, it retains the ability to morph between presets AND you can still load your own samples into it, replacing the factory ones.

Grab it now!!!!

Free Music Friday

2009-12-18T00:22:00.000-08:00

On my heavy metal Christmas my true love gave to me,
12 silver crosses
11 black mascaras
10 pairs of platforms
9 tattered t-shirts
8 pentagrams
7 leather jackets
6 cans of hairspray
5 skull earrings
4 quarts of Jack
3 studded belts
2 pairs of spandex pants
and a tattoo of Ozzy!

And who could ask for more? Well, you lot probably, so here it is:

First we have a very festive offering for this season of goodwill and all that lovely stuff.

It's an alternative take on Christmas given to us by those splendid folks at XO Publicity. Actually, I'm with Bill Hicks on this, anyone who works in PR is Satan's little helper, but y'know it's snowing and I feel kind.

Anyway, by alternative, they mean jangly American pop-rock from bands called things like 'Sleepwalk Kid' and 'Caravan of Thieves', but at least it's better than John f*cking Denver. (Yes, that is his middle name.)

So if jangly indie pop is your bag, click here to download. If not then humbug to you sir, but hopefully you will enjoy our other offerings!

Sublime to the ridiculous now, or vice versa, as we move from indie to airhorn-blasting ghetto bass through the exciting method of intarweb space folding.

So yeah, think we transitioned that okay.

Scatter Music is a new netlabel / blog offering its releases for free whilst simultaneously selling them through major download sites. It makes payment entirely optional and as far as I know it's a pretty new approach to running a label.

I'm loving the chaos of Mat Cant's 'Hornbo', their second release. It's a slice of bruckwilin' party-friendly beat-breakery chock full of mad ragga samples and airhorns. Noice!

Their first release was a 21-track dirty bomb of an album blasting its way through breaks, hip-hop, twitchy house and Baile-funk. Go here to grab Real Music For Hustlers. If you like your music loud, chaotic and mental you won't regret it.

Let's ease back with something chilly-outy now. Re-Runs is a free EP from 00Genesis, featuring crackly beats, laid-back loungey samples and thumping bass. Just the ticket if you need to relax after battling your way through the zombie hoards whilst Christmas shopping.

Go here and register to download Re-Runs and a load of other releases.

Finally this week, a release from heroes of breaks Splitloop who have remixed, re-recorded and re-imagined tracks from their album 'Pleasure Machine' in an easy listening stylee. The result? 'Leisure Machine' of course.

Really awesome stuff. It works incredibly well. Go here and hear for yourself.

How To: Smack Your Bitch Up

2009-12-17T07:31:00.000-08:00

Wunderbar!

Thunderous noise

2009-12-17T06:49:00.000-08:00

July 2009 Reason Wizardry - Thor Audio-Rate Modulation from Jeremy Janzen on Vimeo.

Nucleus SoundLab get freaky with Thor's routing in Reason. Interesting stuff for anyone with a modular / semi modular soft synth.

Can you tell the difference...

2009-12-16T07:19:00.001-08:00

... between a recording made on Reason in a bedroom setup vs a professional studio worth thousands of pounds?

Just how far has music software come?

Well, the MusicRadar blog is putting just that to the test.

Go here and listen to the A/B comparison.

Which one do you think was mixed in Reason and why?

Now go here to see if you were right.

Tim Exile performing with his incredible Reaktor setup

2009-12-16T02:30:00.000-08:00

Wow.

There's a brief explanation of all the technical jiggery-pokery in this vid:

Mixtape Wednesday

2009-12-15T09:57:00.000-08:00

Oh Em Eff Gee! Do we have some tasty treats for your this week? Yes we do. So let's not mess about, here we go.

First, let's get festive with the modestly-titled "World's Greatest Christmas Mixtape". DJ's Chris Read and Marc Hype get chopping, slicing, mixing and blending - not to create a wonderful chestnut stuffing, but instead the perfect eclectic Christmas mixtape.

Funk, soul, hip-hop, reggae and Latin flavours are all present and correct and the mixing is absolutely spot on.

The tracklist is massive, including James Brown, Run DMC, Elvis Presley, Dan The Automator, Blondie and Yuletide classics from the Jackson 5, Petula Clarke and Paul McCartney - all presented in a cut & paste stylee with skill and humour.

Go here to grab a copy, courtesy of Music Of Substance.

Next up something fierce, fresh, rock-steady and bass-heavy. Granted it's not very Christmassy, but if that's the effect you're going for, try hanging some holly off your balls whilst listening.

It's a brand new mix of glitch-hop and dubstep spun by William Breakspear, head honcho of the newborn Spanky Panky label.

We're expecting big tings from this label in 2010. It promises to provide much funky, mid-tempo, heavy bottom-end wickedness. Watch this space for news and free teaser MP3s.

And grab the mix here. No tracklist, but rest assured there are some mammoth tunes in there, nuff FX and lots of squonky goodness.

Some lush soulful vibes now, courtesy of DJ Hanif, on a downtempo tip.

Tracks from Spacek, Rollercone, King Britt and more,combined with plenty of moody vocal performances, lend this a smoked out, bumping atmosphere - like a 1960s soul club catapulted into the 21st Century. Or something.

Go here to get your groove on and check out Hanif's other mixes.

And finally for this week, something to recognise the massive impact the Warp label has made on the music scene over the last two decades.

That's right, it's been 20 years!

And by way of a celebration, DJ Flincha has put together a mixtape featuring plenty of Aphex Twin, Drexcia, Flying Lotus, LFO, Hudson Mohawke and heaps of other forward-thinking, boundary-busting beat-makers.

It's not downloadable, but you can listen here on this widgetty thing:

Flincha Presents - Warped Steel - 20 Years Of Warp by Inaudibleanswer on Mixcloud

That's yer lot for this week, enjoy!

In C

2009-12-15T09:03:00.000-08:00

In 1964 a composer called Terry Riley composed a piece of music called 'In C'.

From Wikipedia:
In C consists of 53 short, numbered musical phrases, lasting from half a beat to 32 beats; each phrase may be repeated an arbitrary number of times. Each musician has control over which phrase he or she plays: players are encouraged to play the phrases starting at different times, even if they are playing the same phrase. The performance directions state that the musical ensemble should try to stay within two to three phrases of each other. The phrases must be played in order, although some may be skipped. As detailed in some editions of the score, it is customary for one musician ("traditionally... a beautiful girl," Riley notes in the score[2]) to play the note C (in octaves) in repeated eighth notes. This functions as a metronome and is referred to as "The Pulse".

In C has no set duration; performances can last as little as fifteen minutes or as long as several hours, although Riley indicates "performances normally average between 45 minutes and an hour and a half." The number of performers may also vary between any two performances. The original recording of the piece was created by 11 musicians (through overdubbing, several dozen instruments were utilized), while a performance in 2006 at the Walt Disney Concert Hall featured 124 musicians.

The piece begins on a C major chord (patterns one through seven) with a strong emphasis on the mediant E and the entrance of the note F which begins a series of slow progressions to other chords suggesting a few subtle and ambiguous changes of key, the last pattern being an alteration between B♭ and G. Though the polyphonic interplay of the various patterns against each other and themselves at different rhythmic displacements is of primary interest, the piece may be considered heterophonic.

Here's part one of the original recording:

Then, in late 2008, the Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble decided to make a new recording of 'In C'.

Their idea was to release a double CD - one disc with their performance in full and a second disc of remixes.

The project is now complete and you can hear the results here:

You can also get an insight into the project from the remixers point of view by listening to this week's Radiolab podcast from WNYC.

Traktor + Maschine + X1 Controller = Mad Skillz

2009-12-15T08:00:00.000-08:00

DMC-winning DJ Rafik mashes up the Chemical Brothers' 'Block Rockin Beats' live using the latest technology from Native Instruments.

Aquasky Bass Tutorial

2009-12-15T00:34:00.000-08:00

Loop TV caught up with Dave Wallace of Aquasky to watch him turn a sampled drum n bass hit into a complete bassline using Kontakt.

Watch the video here. (No embedding of Loop TV for some reason!)

New Audio Visual Mix from DJ Food & DK

2009-12-14T05:23:00.000-08:00

DJ Food & DK present - Now, Look & Listen from Solid Steel on Vimeo.

DJ Food & DK showcase their AV mix that they perform live on 4 decks and 3 mixers. Using Serato's Video-SL plug-in for Scratch Live, they mix, scratch and blend the sound AND vision for each track they play.
Months were spent creating videos for each piece of music, either using the original source material or, in most cases sampling footage to create a new video entirely. Described as 'Video Turntablism', it has become a way for Food & DK to visualize their already legendary DJ sets.
As usual, it's the diverse mix of music that they love and are known for, taking in current club floor fillers, but also making room for classic tracks. You can now marvel not only at their musical tastes, but also the visual side as well.

The Day The Earth Stood Still.

2009-12-14T01:50:00.000-08:00

This is how it ends. Our robot overlords are already here and they go "Fwonk".

This is a robot built by Nervous Squirrel containing a 'Weird Sound Generator' synth from Music From Outer Space.

Fwonk* Monday

2009-12-14T00:31:00.000-08:00

Prolific (pruh-lif-ik)
–adjective
1. producing offspring, young, fruit, etc., abundantly; highly fruitful: a prolific pear tree.
2. producing in large quantities or with great frequency; highly productive: a prolific writer.
3. profusely productive or fruitful (often fol. by in or of): a bequest prolific of litigations.
4. characterized by abundant production: a prolific year for tomatoes.
5. Katarrhaktes.

Today, though the infinite love of Fwonk* Monday, you get the chance to meet a true phenomenon. A man who seems to sweat music, tracks dripping from his every orifice, remixes scattering carelessly from his pockets like so much loose change every time he sits down, albums dropping like biscuit crumbs as he dusts the front of his sweater.

Welcome to the itchy glitchy world of Katharrhaktes.

With eight albums to his name (and counting) and a penchant for destroying pop music with fiercely squonky remixes, Katharrhaktes' sound is hard to explain or describe.

It's like music only broken. If music could be kept, tethered and strait-jacketed, blindfolded in a cold, wet, windowless cell for 3 years, only being let out once a week to be waterboarded or given shock treatment, this is probably how it would sound.

Just check out the deeply freaky Katarrhaktes remix of Hannah Montana's 'Hoedown Throwdown' and you'll start to see what I mean:

I honestly expected the man behind such music to be writing strange prophecies about robot badgers on the wall of his rubber room using crayons and faeces. However, when we caught up with him for a chat, he seemed to all intents and purposes a very rational and sane human being.

Mind you, they said that about Charles Manson. It's always the quiet ones you have to watch...

How would you describe your music?

It’s different depending on which LP/EP you’re listening to. There’s a kind of continuity going, too, so if you listen to my earliest music, it’s quiet, ambient, and textured noise over piano. Over time it’s gotten darker and much more sparse, with an increasing reliance on digital technology. Dynamics are often vast, ranging from ear-splitting industrial noise shrieks to incredibly soft atmospherics. If I absolutely had to put a label on it, it would probably have to be something like: Bipolar Dark Electronic Harsh Ambient Wreckno

Which of your Fwonk* releases are you happiest with and why?

NO FUTURE. It's my only release on Fwonk*. This is a sin that must be rectified. That album is not easy to ‘get’, seeing as it’s essentially a lengthy indulgence of remixing some sickeningly mainstream pop songs with almost unknown artists. All over-driven with noise, of course.

When and where do you make music?

In my bedroom. I make music whatever state of mind I may happen to be in. Time isn’t really an issue, either, although you probably won’t find me doing anything between the hours of midnight and nine o’clock a.m.

What inspires you?

Suffering. The sad things in the world. I don't think I have ever written a piece of music about a joyful experience. If I do write about beauty, it’s always tinged with the knowledge that that will wither and perish. My happiest-sounding track so far is entitled ‘the wish that was, but never would be’.
I am often inspired by disillusionment and the separation of one’s own perception of reality from reality itself. Truth can be relative, but much of the time it’s not.

How does your creative process work?

Sometimes I’ll ‘hear’ a particular line of percussion or melody, either in a dream or a random passing moment, and quickly record myself singing that. Later when I can get access to my computer, I’ll re-create it and flesh it out. The next step comes with improvising and finding sounds that work with whatever I’m working with. Much of the time this will be weird samples taken from something like radio hiss, a guitar that sounds like a vocal line, something like that. After I’ve got it all down and am completely happy with what I’ve made, that track is then left for a few weeks, listened to again, and either left or worked on more.
Getting myself into the right frame of mind to get down and write has always been a problem, but I force myself to do it anyway to keep myself on edge, and as a result, I produce a whole load of music pretty quickly, and usually have a backlog of material. Right now I have around fifteen tracks completed and ready to send out into the world, but the problem is with pacing – having literally just released two full-length albums in two months, I don’t think it’s wise to flood the market with way too much too quickly if I can help it. I’m thinking of setting myself some new boundaries to ensure that I only release one thing every couple of months.

What hardware / software / instruments do you use to make music?

PC with an old version of ACID Pro and Sound Forge
Boss Dr. Rhythm DR-550
East West Quantum Leap Symphony Orchestra [silver edition]
FRG-7 Communications Receiver
Various free VSTs
Zoom H2 recorder
A circuit-bent Casio SA-21 keyboard
Cornet
A violin owned by a man who is now dead, and has not been re-tuned since he departed.
Egg shaker
Piano
Ocarina
Recorder
A myriad of bells and whistles

Who are your favourite bands / producers / DJs?

I can enjoy pretty much every type of music, as long as it's well done, although I have to admit that I tend towards listening to music with a dark aesthetic. As far as bands go, I'm very into Blam Honey, Collide, Curve, Dir en grey, Massive Attack [the late albums especially], Nine Inch Nails, and Teargas & Plateglass.

Whereabouts in the world do you come from? And is that where you live now?

I'm from London in the UK. Born and bred, and still here!

What's your favourite noise?

When you’re alone in the middle of a moor at twilight, and you can’t see or hear any sign of civilisation. And you stand there with your eyes closed and are at peace, even though around you, you know that the harsh landscape is at war with itself.

What's your least favourite noise?

Not hearing. A few months ago, one of my ears became blocked, which meant that I couldn't hear a thing. I couldn't listen to music, let alone make it. It was one of the more traumatic experiences I've had.

Download 'No Future' by Katarrhaktes here and visit his own site for much more music.

Make your own Spectrum Analyzer

2009-12-13T16:12:00.000-08:00

A very talented japanese person teaches us how to build a physical spectrum analyzer using nothing but 16 computer fans, a couple of acrylic sheets and plastic beads. Oh, and some leds.

Looks nice, works, and i'd certainly pay for a USB version.

Where's my monkey?

2009-12-11T08:08:00.000-08:00

So Caspa has absolutely rinsed the dubstep scene with his tearout remix of TC's 'Where's My Money?'

Now Parker, from Goodgroove Records has gone one better by remashing and mangling it with a side order of Jungle Book bizniss into 'Where's My Monkey?'

Enjoy:

Free Music Friday - Funk Special

2009-12-11T00:14:00.000-08:00

Free as a bird,
it's the next best thing to be.
Free as a bird.

Ah, free as a bird. That's how we like it. But with less feathers and beaks and weird twiglet feet. Especially the twiglet feet. What's up with those? Birds are freaks basically. But at least they're free.

Which is also how we like our music here at th'Object.

Another smorgasbord of music awaits, so let's get down to it.

Now, we don't normally include single tracks in our free music round-up, normally we'll highlight full EPs and even albums, but once in a while we find something a bit special and have to break our self-imposed rules.

'Misdemeanour' by the CBs is already a slice of pure old-school funk released on DJ, producer and funkmaster general A-Skillz' new label, Jam City.

Then Mr Skillz stepped up on remix duties and a dancefloor-smashing monster was born.

And now he's giving the track away for free. What a bloody nice chap. It's a killer tune, you need this in your life.

Grab it here.

Staying on a funky tip, next we have an album by French hip-hopper DJ Trans Bert entitled 'Music, Friends, Life'.

With cool, smoky vibes, jazz flourishes, crisp beats and tight cuts aplenty, this is a very slick debut from the as-yet unsigned Trans Bert (who also goes by the name of Tatsuki The Abstract, after all, everyone needs a good AKA nowadays).

You can download the album here courtesy of The Find Mag and get your head nod on.

More funky bizniss now, this time from Hungarian netlabel Budabeats. If you've not heard of them, you are in for a massive treat.

This is music to comb your Afro to. And if you don't have an Afro, you might just grow one listening to this raw, badass funky material. It's tougher than Shaft, sweeter than Coffy and even more pimp than The Mack.

Refusing to be confined by pigeonholes and genres, Budabeats are putting out trip-hop, breaks, turntablism and other funky stuff and it's all free.

I've been rinsing 'Funkagent' by Sliptone all week - a brilliant release.

Head over to their site for this and many more releases.

Finally, something a bit more slow and slinky, smooth soulful hip-hop from Canada's Henry Moses.

He's just released his album 'Love and Happiness' - a collection of slow jams, with slick vocal guest performances, nice scratches and crisp beats. His production is full of great samples and smooth vocals, 'Shine' featuring Amenta is a particularly beautiful track.

Grab it here (Megaupload link).

Cheers all, have a truly funky weekend.

Mixtape Wednesday

2009-12-09T00:29:00.000-08:00

Go shorty, it's ya birthday, gonna party like it's ya birthday.

Even if it's not 'ya birthday' we're still 'gonna party' because this week I got another year older.

And to celebrate, we have some superfly TNT action, where TNT stands for TurNTable. What? It sort of works. Well okay pedant-pants it doesn't, but it's my birthday so shutuppayaface and enjoy the mixes.

First up, a 4-deck mix from Fort Knox Five, recorded live in Colorado in October this year.

Weighing in at 80 minutes, around 40 tracks, countless beats, cuts, samples and loops, with acapellas, mash-ups and more than a sprinkling of low-down dirty grimey funk - this is great work.

Download it here.

Tracklist:

1. Mr Bigstuff vs Lyrics Born - Sould Out DJs
2. Money Banger - A Skillz
3. Sign, Sealed, Delivered (DJ Smash's Remix) - Stevie Wonder
4. Shake Ya Ass - Street Punx
5. The Brazilian Hipster - Fort Knox Five
6. Buffalo Boot (DC's Finest Fort Knox Five Edit) - Buffalo Springfield vs Shaft
7. My Girl Remix - Temptations vs DJ Solarz
8. More Bounce - Dj Dan and Uberzone
9. Rock of Ages - DC's Finest featuring Huula
10. The Balance (Fort Knox Five Remix) - Sub Swara
11. Fifth of Cool J - DC's Finest (Fort Knox Five Edit)
12. Calling Out A Winner (DC's Finest Fort Knox Five Edit) - Hot Chocolat vs Lyrics Born
13. Shining Star (Fuzzbox Inc Edit) - Earth, Wind, and Fire
14. Work (Fuzzbox Inc Edit) - Masters at Work
15. Party & B.S. (Mat the Alien Edit) - Notorious B.I.G.
16. Downside Up - Nick Thayer & Agent 86
17. I'm Bossy (Reece Re-Edit) - Kelis
18. Dusty Girl (Jay Clue's Edit) - DJ Tripp - B.I.G. vs Leftfield vs Stereo MCs
19. Dizzie Dollie (Different Strokes Edit) - Dolly Parton vs Dizzee Rascal vs Billy Squire
20. Azzido Da Banger - Will Styles
21. Night Owl - Neighbour & Think Tank
22. What Make Ya Dance featuring Rootz - Fort Knox Five
23. Funky Music Till You Die - Kool Hertz
24. The Champ (Nick Thayer Edit) - The Mohawks
25. Boogie Call - Slynk
26. Whatchyagot - Funkburners
27. Electro E.L.O. (DC's Finest Fort Knox Five Edit) - E.L.O.
28. Black Dog in the Streets - Unknown
29. Revolution (DC's Finest Fort Knox Five Edit) - The Beatles
30. Bmore Salmon (A Skillz Edit) - Chemical Brothers
31. Body Slam - Neighbour
32. Dynamo Bustamove (DC's Finest Fort Knox Five Edit) - Dynamo Productions vs Young MC
33. The Sax Pusher featuring Frank Mitchell - Fort Knox Five
34. Big Band Breaks - DC's Finest (Fort Knox Five Edit)
35. Baba O'Reilly (Sebastien Edit) - The Who
36. War Pigs (Drums of Death Edit) - Black Sabbath
37. Studdastep (DC's Finest Fort Knox Five Edit) - Biz Markie vs Sukh Knight
38. Paper Planes - M.I.A.
39. Come Together (A Skillz Banger) - The Beatles

Next is a jacking disco mix, "blending old, new, classic, disco, electro, grime, rock and more into a delicious b-girl bouillabaisse" from Cassie Carpenter.

For my money, this mix takes a couple of minutes to find its groove, but it's worth getting through the first few tracks, because once the Rye Rye + MIA track hits, the rest of the mix just blows up with groove after relentless groove.

Download and listen courtesy of DiscoWorkOut here.

Tracklist:

1. Los Angeles Intro (including Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty and David Lynch)
2. Pants are Saggin’ – DJ Tragic
3. Burnin’ – DJ Attack
4. Inside Ya – DJ Tragic
5. Bang – Rye Rye featuring MIA
6. Credit in the Straight World – Ssion
7. The Dull Flame of Desire (Modeselektor Remix for Boys Edit) – Björk
8. Ain’t My Type of Hype (Rap) – Full Force
9. Jungle Fever – Chakachas
10. Fit In Interlude – TV Carnage
11. Born to Be Alive – Patrick Hernandez
12. Damian Lazarus Interlude
13. Fuckingham Palace – Alter Ego
14. Nattura (Switch Remix) - Björk
15. I Love U (Larry Tee Secured Dub Remix) - Bart B More
16. Off the Map – Simian Mobile Disco featuring Jamie Lidell
17. Baby Let Me Kiss You – Fern Kinney
18. The Goddess Appears – Koji Kondo
19. I Can’t Help It (Todd Terje Remix) – Michael Jackson
20. Lose You (Drums of Death Remix) – Peaches
21. Lose You (Slash Fiction Remix) – Peaches
22. Frenchapella and What is Love? – Deee-Lite
23. Monty Python/Disco Show/8 Bit Weapon Interlude
24. Bacon Fat – Andre Williams
25. Brainless (Baron Von Luxxury Remix) – Sunny Day Sets Fire
26. Do You Wanna Funk – Patrick Cowley & Sylvester
27. Golden Cage (Fred Falke Remix) – The Whitest Boy Alive
28. Brian 2 Demo – James Braun
29. Still Going – Spaghetti Circus
30. Clown (Moves Remix) – Ssion
31. Jeffer – Boyz Noise
32. Scatterheart – Björk
33. Roscoe (Beyond the Wizard’s Sleeve Remix) – Midlake
34. William’s Blood (Aeroplane Remix) – Grace Jones
35. Untitled – The Cure

Also hot this week - breaks, bass and genre-hopping from one of Fat! Records' tips for 2010, Randomer.

This mix glides from funky breaks, to silky chilled beats, to drum & bass with apparently effortless ease - something like watching a swan float downriver with a boombox on its back.

Download the mix and a free track from Randomer here.

Tracklist:
1. Zombie Disco Squad - The Dance
2. Joe - Claptrap
3. Untold - Just For You (Roska Remix)
4. Randomer & Jonny5 - Too Many Times
5. Martyn - Mega Drive Generation
6. Untold - I Can’t Stop This Feeling (Pangaea Remix)
7. Untold - Palamino
8. Drop The Lime - Set Me Free (Lil Silva Remix)
9. Lil Silva - Different
10. Randomer - Bleep Loop
11. NB Funky - Frequency
12. Randomer - Scapegoat
13. Toasty - Full Clip
14. Randomer - Soft Focus
15. Instra:mental - No Future
16. Randomer - Junk
17. Danny Breaks - Outro
18. Randomer - Easter Island
19. Enei - Z-Grab
20. Randomer - Down in the Woods
21. Randomer - Down to the Club
22. Randomer - Synth Geek
23. Randomer - Trogs
24. Randomer - Synth Geek
25. Dan Harbarnam - Zoom Back Camera
26. Danny Breaks - The Big Bossa
27. Commix, Nutone & Logistics - Soundbyte
28. Randomer - Puzzled
29. Hunchbak - Peace Wip
30. Randomer & REDS - Modem Jazz
31. Hunchbak - Peace Wip
32. Decimal - Circle Of Nine
33. Sabre - God Fearing
34. Randomer - Appetite
35. Martsman - Halow
36. Randomer - Rough Sex

And finally, a mix from techno legend Dave Angel, a man whose chunky British re-invention of the classic Detroit vibe has been an inspiration to me for many years.

This mix was recorded a year ago, but still sounds fresh. I can't find a tracklist on the web anywhere, but it does contain a couple of tracks from his 'Ghost Train EP'.

It takes me back to my days of eye rolling head massages at Voodoo in Liverpool, the days when Dave Angel's 'In Flight Entertainment' EP absolutely blew my mind.

Download it here and crank your stereo.

Bohemian Rhapsody... WITH COWS ! - No, i mean, WITH COMPUTERS !

2009-12-07T21:58:00.000-08:00

Well, finally they've done it. The canadians done it. They took useless computer junk, and hacked it to make beautiful music with it. So here it is, a version of Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, interpreted on Oscilloscope, Scanner, Printer and Atari 800 XL.

One wonders: what will they do next ? This is the beginning of a new era. Soon, musicians all over the world will be replaced by calculating machines and slide rules, and this people will be able to focus on more productive tasks, like ploughing.

Cubase Portable?

2009-12-07T05:38:00.000-08:00

If this is for real, it changes everything! Fully functional Cubase 5, with VST support, on a PSP portable gaming system. Too good to be true?

Googling hasn't thrown up any legitimate launch links, but this is a very intriguing demo / hoax.

Endless Endless

2009-12-07T03:36:00.000-08:00

The wonderful Audiobulb Records have initiated a collaborative project (in fact it appears to have been running a while) called Endless Endless and have been asking for further submissions for the project. They are looking for submissions of 120 seconds duration of Ambient or Microsound compositions to be potentially used in a notfor profit CD/Download compilation. Submission and contact details are outlined below. Usefully for people like me who start stuff but never finish it on time, there is no submission deadline.
Project Specifications:

+ Endless Endless is made up of tracks of an ambient and/or microsound nature.

+ Tracks need to be sent in a WAV format (preferably 24bit, 44.1kHz).

+ Each track must be 120 seconds long.

+ Please label your file as follows - "artist_name-track_name"

+ Please send me an email confirming that you are happy for the music to be used in the project and made available for public download.

+ Lastly confirm whether you are happy for the track to be used in a potential future Endless Endless CD or digital download - available for purchase? If this is achieved it will be a small scale run and not for profit - but artists will get a copy.

Please send to contact@audiobulb.com or use www.yousendit.com
Audiobulb Records www.audiobulb.com exploratory music

OMFG! Want one!

2009-12-06T05:32:00.001-08:00

Okay, so it costs almost $800. But I still want one. It's a tiny theremin inside a Russian doll, what's not to want?

Buy them here.

Free Music Friday

2009-12-04T06:43:00.000-08:00

It's Winter, which means Jack Frost is nipping at our noses and Johnny Boredom is nagging at our noggins.

But we can cure your seasonal blues and warm your chilly bits with an early Christmas stocking, brimful of gratuitous pod-fodder.

DJ Def Cut is up first with a splendid album of cut & paste funk, crisp breaks, fierce scratches and wicked samples.

If, like me, you're still mourning the death of bigbeat and the lack of party-friendly hip-hop hitting your speakers, this is the album for you.

26 (yes, twenty six) tracks of jump-up, dancefloor-smashing funk-hop. Priced at no pence, which is frankly amazing.

Get your copy here.

Next a compilation album from Bristol collective Drawn - a gang of "artists, producers, musicians, vjs and promoters who want to see innovative and original music and art spread across Bristol and the Southwest". They also run their own record label.

The comp ranges in styles from bass-heavy wub-tronica from Mothboy to indie rock in the form of The Deads. On the way it takes in Girl After Shower's glitch-hop, vocal trip-hop from Cloudbreak and Jump Ship, a couple of dubby outings from Plodocus and Onega Sound System, and even a lively reggae ska track from Sickwax.

All in all, this is a seriously quality product. Expect great things from this lot in the future.

Check their site for updates on gigs, events, future releases and other news. And download or stream the compilation, Drawn Vol. 1 here.

And finally, just space to plug the Deep In Dub netlabel, which has more than 30 releases including EPs, albums and sample packs for producers.

Specialists in deep, spacey, bassy dub techno, their Walking Spirits compilation is a very good place to start exploring this label.

Drifting from deep house styles to moody electro and seriously smoked-out dubs, this is quite varied compilation, which serves as an intro to the artists in their roster.

Download the album here and see their full releases list here.

Iphone Orchestra

2009-12-04T03:20:00.000-08:00

This is nothing that new in general terms, I've seen lots of different people performing with mobile devices for quite a long time (particularly reminded of DJ Scotch Egg conducting an orchestra of Gameboy performers), Standford "MoPho" - who look very similar to the above but describe themselves as a chamber music as opposed to full orchestral (!) there are lots of live performance and
not so live performance bits of sotware for a number of mobile platforms, the Palm Sounds blog goes into quite a lot of detail on many of them. I've done gigs on nothing more than an ipod touch, and it's a lot of fun.

None the less, what I think *might* be interesting utilising Iphones would be the use of the different interaction methodologies - stuff like game boys or similar have a limited amount of interation possibilities, they only have the control that they have, but the iphone (and others) have multiple interation possibilites, which could be used on conjunction to create some very nice performance possibilities - it's done by computer types first and foremost and not musicians, which is a good thing to my mind. It would be nice to see a more detailed run down of this aspect of the performance.

I like mobile music making stuff and this kind of publicity is always going to get more people interested and therefore mean more developers, which can only be a good thing.

Photo: The University of Michigan's iPhone orchestra in action. Photograph: PR via The Guardian.

New Look on the Object

2009-12-03T03:02:00.001-08:00

Just a quick post to say that we've updated the styling of the MusicObject blog to match the rest of the Fwonk* empire (*evil maniacal cackle*), and to enable easier movement between the blog, the forum and the netlabel.

Ta.

Hacked Novation Launchpad

2009-12-02T09:37:00.000-08:00

This is a cool hack made by Johan Larsby over at Idle Hands. It's so easy and fun, even kids can use it to make noise.

Quote:
As you know I own a Novation Launchpad, and since I want to extend the functionality in ways that Novation did not think about and I really don't want to be bound by max/msp. Inspiration are plentiful from the work's of monomeist's and fellow launchpadders.

What I'm making though is a little framework, with the emphasis on little, that enables me (and perhaps other when the source is a bit better) to create applications in C/C++. So far I've gotten a decent framework in place as a command application. No GUI to speak of and it needs a little bit of cleaning up before anyone could make a port to something other then it's current os x home.

The Inspiration Bucket - Free Sample Pack

2009-12-02T05:55:00.000-08:00

Ever been writing a track and found it needed something? Something you couldn't quite put your finger on?

If you have banging drums but no groove to lay over them, or a wicked groove but need some crisp breaks to give them bounce, or you just need something unexpected, weird or wonderful to lift a track, then this could be the sample pack for you.

We have assembled 75 24-bit samples from soul, funk, hip-hop, indie and world music designed to inspire whole tracks from the ground up, or simply bump you out of a creative rut when you find yourself stuck.

'The Inspiration Bucket' is designed to be a kind of sampler's lucky dip. It contains music from artists as diverse as Rhetta Hughes, The Cure, Breakestra, Amp Fiddler and Run DMC as well as African musicians such as Awadi and Rokia Trarore.

Whether you're looking for a bassline, guitar riff, drum break, percussion loop, vocal snippet or even a whole groove, just dip into the Inspiration Bucket and see what comes out.

Whilst this pack is mainly aimed at hip-hop production, there are sounds and samples in here suitable for any funky, beat-based music including nufunk, breaks, chillout and IDM.

Download the pack here.

PLEASE NOTE: The Inspiration Bucket is intended for non-commercial use only. If you try to use these samples in commercial work you might well find yourself in court and that won't be our fault.

Mixtape Wednesday

2009-12-02T00:28:00.000-08:00

We're on a countdown to a new decade and we still have no flying cars or hoverboards. Let's face it, the future is a lot less cool than we expected.

Yes, this decade gave us the iPod, Serrato Scratch, Ableton Live and YouTube, but it also gave us X-Factor, lawsuits from Metallica, the death of James Brown and Autotune.

Not great. Or is it? When you look at some of the amazing music released in the Noughties (next decade to be called 'the Teenies'?), you realise the perks of living in the 21st Century.

As if to illustrate this point, DJs 2tall, Clockwork and Kper have compiled an impressive mix of raw, soulful, underground hip-hop released between 1999 and 2009.

Year by year, track by track, beat by funky beat, 'A Boom Bap Continuum' cuts, samples, mashes and blends its way through 10 amazing years in music.

Taking in Skitz, Erick Sermon, MF Doom, Mos Def and a host of other artists, from the US, UK and Europe, this is not so much a mix as an important social document, recording the voice of hip-hop in the Noughties.

Yeah, you can bob your head to it, but it also deserves a place in libraries and archives.

Download the mix, read the epic tracklist and find out more about the three time-travelling turntable tour-guides here.

Another mix so huge, encyclopaedic and funky that we could ignore it no longer, is the Stickypod Connection's Shambhala 2009 set.

This is three hours of Drum n Bass, Funk, Dancehall, Womp, Breaks, Reggae, Soul, Hip Hop and Mashups from two truly creative DJs, J-Pod the beat chef and Stickybuds.

Recorded live at the Shambhala Festival in Canada, this bass-heavy mix is peppered with acapellas and unexpected eclectic collisions.

Where else could you hear The Eagles and The Rare Earth wrapped around MIA and Fort Knox Five? This mix is surprising, groovy and exciting, standing out in a world full of unimaginative, plodding mixtapes.

Download it and read the mammoth tracklist here. You can also get their previous Shambhala sets on their Myspace.

Finally, just got time to highlight some really rather excellent classic soul mixtapes from Modern Sun Records.

Go here to grab mixes by Skymark, Ill Dubio and Ketepica featuring artists such as Cassiano, Future Flight, The Lovelites and The Fantastics.

That should keep you going until next week!

Moby, ubergeek!

2009-12-01T06:23:00.000-08:00

Moby shows off his massive drum machine collection, gives a tour of his studio and even adds his two cents to the analogue vs digital debate.

"There's no such thing as a cool electronic musician... We're not cool."

Actually, all the Electric Independence vids are worth checking out. There's interviews with RJD2 and JD Sampson of Le Tigre.

RIP Technics?

2009-11-30T06:15:00.000-08:00

The industry standard deck that has been the foundation of three decades of DJing and turntablism, could be discontinued next year if internet rumours are to be believed.

The iconic Technics 1200 and 1210 ranges have been a staple in nightclubs since their birth in the 1970s. But with the rise of CD turntables, software mixing solutions and packages like Ableton Live, a whole generation of DJs is growing up without ever touching a deck.

Now many sites are reporting an end of production in March next year, although Cnet.com has stated the press release that forms the basis of these articles is a fake.

We'll keep watching the story, but if it's true, it would genuinely be the end of an important era.

Fwonk* Monday

2009-11-30T00:01:00.000-08:00

So it's official, Ketamine will obliterate your bladder, leaving you peeing into a bag for the rest of your whiffy, sloshy life.

For those of you who don't fancy rubber pants as a life-choice, there's a new, safe alternative. It provides an equally potent trip, mashing and mangling your mind but thankfully it is free from unpleasant side effects such as organ failure.

I'm speaking, of course, about the music of 2ndMOUSE, an artistic purveyor of warm, fuzzy, occasionally frightening psychedelic experiences in handy, easy to swallow MP3 format.

His music is melodic, electronic, strong in the groove department yet prone to industrial bursts and unexpected glitched-out twists. It summons images of terminators chasing sweaty, wide-eyed ravers through unconvincing 1980s Hollywood versions of night clubs. Well, it does for me anyway.

Now celebrating his second release on Fwonk*, we thought it was high time to catch up with 2ndMOUSE for a chat.

How would you describe the your music?

Experimental electronica / idm.

Which of your Fwonk releases are you happiest with and why?

Levite, because its the most recent, and is a better representation of what I'm hearing in my head. As my knowledge of production grows, the picture is able to be realised much more clearly, so I always prefer my most recent material.

When and where do you make music?

I make music constantly 'cos I'm surrounded by sound all day and always thinking of ways to assemble it differently. If I'm on a train, I listen to the rhythm of the carriage on the tracks. When I hear people talking, I'm thinking of ideas. My mind never stops.

What inspires you?

what inspires me is sound itself. I like to disassemble it, and find new ways of putting it back together again. I'm inspired by rhythm and always put as much thought into the rhythm of a melody, as I put into the actual notes themselves. Sound is as much to do with rhythm as it is intonation.

How does your creative process work?

My creative process just involves auditioning sounds until a particular nuance catches my ear, then I audition more sounds until I find something to complement the original.

Generally, I find that there is almost a DNA in a sound that determines how that sound should be used, almost like I hear the whole track inside the nucleus of the very first sound I choose.

What hardware / software / instruments do you use to make music?

The only hardware I have is an M-Audio Fasttrack audio interface , and an M-Audio Oxygen49 keyboard which isn't working properly right now.

Software I use is predominantly freeware VSTs. I like finding new little machines that mess with buffers and screw things up in satisfying ways.

Who are your favourite bands / producers / DJs?

I'm inspired by many bands, not all of them electronic. Plaid , Boards of Canada, Vesna, Plone, Luke Slater, Luke Vibert would be a few that I'd consider to be awesome.

I try not to copy what they do, but sometimes its inevitable and you can't escape.

Whereabouts in the world do you come from? And is that where you live now?

I come from Northern Ireland , near Belfast.

What's your favourite noise?

Favourite noise would be those planes you always hear in summer when the nights are getting brighter. It just says "summer".

What's your least favourite noise?

Scratching fingernails on a blackboard.

Download 2ndMOUSE's 'Levite' here and his first Fwonk* release 'Full Of Earth And Stars' here.

A grand don't come for free... Or does it?

2009-11-27T09:10:00.000-08:00

Sonart Audio are giving away a free 1.6GB multisampled piano.

They say:
"The versatile C7 is at home in any idiom- jazz, pop, classical- and this piano was sampled in a perfect acoustically tuned environment with every note in 20 velocities for 40 seconds plus a piano release and noise layers using top of the line microphones and preamps recorded in 44.1 kHz/24 bit.

Contains programs for Kontakt 1 & 2.1, EXS24, Giga 2, Giga 3 and HALion.

Features in Detail:
+ Fantastic realistic sounds!
+ 20 velocities for 40 seconds plus a piano release and noise layers.
+ Ease of use in the PC/MAC studio
+ New 1.67 Gb 24-bit core wav library!
+ 7 different formats (EXS24, Kontakt 2.1, Kontakt 1.5, Giga 2, Giga 3, Halion and Wav).
+ All NEW Sounds recorded by CS & Sonart sound designers.
+ Fully programmable!"

It normally costs $89.00, but for now it is absolutely gratis. Go here to get yourself a grand for free.

Opportunity for MCs and vocalists

2009-11-27T02:43:00.000-08:00

Root's Manuva's Bananaklan imprint is giving upcoming vocalists the chance to get 7" releases and mixtape coverage.

"Yes yes massive and crew this is the riddim section. Monthly beats and tracks for you and your talented friends to write songs to.
"Send them back to bananaklan75 at gmail dot com.
"All the best renditions will appear on bananaklan 7"s or mixtapes."

And to start you off, there's a fly riddim to download and bless with your verbage.
Go here for more.

Free Music Friday

2009-11-26T22:47:00.001-08:00

I wanna glide down over Mulholland
I wanna write her name in the sky
Gonna free fall out into nothin'
Gonna leave this world for a while

And I'm free, free fallin'
Yeah I'm free, free...

Yes, it's that perfect antidote to the winter blues: Free Music Friday.

This week we have moody atmospheric hip-hop from Napalm Death's drummer and 16 tracks of gritty lowdown funk, given a twist by some of the biggest remixers in the game.

Not enough for you? Then we'll garnish this musical feast with two collections of 're-grooves' - classic tracks by both the former Godfather of Soul and late King of Pop given a new and funky spin.

First, 'Having It', an EP by Mick Harris. The former grindcore hero found a new direction in the mid-1990s when he started making ambient and chillout music.

The late 90s saw him working on bass-heavy, dark, minimalist instrumental hip-hop, released on the Hed Nod label. Subscribers to the vinyl series were sent CDs, limited to 100 copies, of bonus material along with the records, and it is one of these rare and sought-after CDs which we're pointing you at today.

You can download 'Having It' here.

Next a release from insanely funky Fort Knox Five.

Their album 'Radio Free DC' combined breaks, hip-hop, funk and Latin flavours into a head-swimming Mojito of an album.

The band then asked some of the greatest remixers in the world to systematically re-funk their hits. Deekline & Ed Solo, A Skillz, Nick Thayer, The Nextmen, Shimon, Fuzzbox Inc, Malente and more jumped on board.

The result is an epic, dancefloor-rocking funk odyssey. God only knows why they're giving it away free! All it'll cost you is your email address. Grab it before they come to their senses.

Finally this week we have an amazing double-header from the Goodgroove Records camp, which I discovered thanks to the rather lovely NuFunk blog (well worth checking it out).

Throwing producers like Basement Freaks and Parker at the project, Goodgroove have re-grooved classics from Michael Jackson and James Brown including 'Bad', 'Smooth Criminal', 'Super Bad' and 'It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World'.

Any DJ seeking a dance-floor friendly bootleg of an MJ track for the upcoming party season is spoilt for choice here.

Wonderful stuff. Get the Michael Jackson album here. And nab the James Brown project here.

Have a funky, funky weekend people.

Sampling - a potted history

2009-11-26T14:26:00.000-08:00

Knowledge Magazine has got a pretty good article looking at the development of sampling, from its earliest tape-based incarnations at the birth of Musique Concrete, right up to the advent of Ableton Live, when all audio became infinitely flexible putty in our hands.

Read it here.

Sadly there is no mention of MusicObject pin-up girl Delia Derbyshire in the article, so here's a completely gratuitous picture of the wonderful workshopper doing what she did best.

Free Artist Packs for Ableton Live

2009-11-25T03:20:00.001-08:00

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Ableton Live bursting onto the production scene, 10 artists have got together with the software manufacturer to create Live Packs full of samples, tracks and presets for synths and FX.

10 years? Damn, I'm getting old.

Adam Freeland, Swayzak and Thavius Beck are among those taking part and giving away their sounds, allowing us a unique insight into how they each use the Ableton package both live and in the studio.

The packs require 8.0.9 or higher and are read-only in Live Lite or Live Intro.

Go here to download and find out more.

Mixtape Wednesday

2009-11-24T23:58:00.000-08:00

Derby-based DJ Hudson has been rocking the Midlands for years with his party-friendly blend of disco, funk, breakbeat and hip-hop.

He has a whole heap of mixes available online, showcasing his block-party sensibilities and excellent set-building skills.

My current fave, still getting a lot of iPod airtime for me, is his 'On 45' mix, made using only 7" singles and taking in everyone from Professor Longhair and Paul Simon to Silver Bullet and Shut Up & Dance.

Tracklist:
01 MFSB - Something for Nothing
02 New Birth
03 Eddie Kendricks - Intimate Friends
04 Ohio Players - Funky Worm
05 Foster Sylvers - Misdemeanor
06 Aretha Franklin - One Step Ahead
07 Hubert Laws
08 Cymande - The Message
09 The New Birth - Honeybee
10 Madlib Invasion
11 Heavy D & The Boyz - Blue Funk
12 Leon Haywood - I Want To Do Something...
13 James Brown - Papa Don't Take...
14 Biz Markie - Vapors
15 Ruby Andrews - You Made A Believer Out Of Me
16 Freda Payne - The Easiest Way To Fall
17 Joeski Love - Pee Wee Dance
18 Everybody Bounce
19 Deee Lite Theme
20 Kool & The Gang - Dujii
21 The Village Callers - Hector
22 Gang Starr - Who's Gonna Take The Weight
23 LL Cool J - Rock The Bells
24 The 900 Number
25 Olympic Runners
26 Paul Simon - 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover
27 Parliament
28 Dilla - Signs
29 The Supremes - Bad Weather
30 Jack McDuff - Dit Da Dit
31 People's Choice
32 Big Daddy Kane - Raw
33 Chambers Brothers - Funky
34 Ann Sexton
35 Shoorah! Shoorah! (reggae version)
36 Professor Longhair
37 Doobie Brothers - What A Fool Believes
38 The Intruders - I'll Always Love My Mama
39 Patti Jo - Bonus Beats
40 Tom Tom Club - Wordy Rappinghood
41 A Guy Called Gerald - Voodoo Ray
42 Royal House - Yeah Buddy
43 Shut Up and Dance - £20 To Get In
44 Silver Bullet - 20 Seconds To Comply
45 It's a Leicester Fiesta
46 The Jacksons
47 Breakbeat Era
48 Life Is What You Make It
49 Motherlode - When I Die

Download it here. And check out more mixes by DJ Hudson here.

Sometimes I wonder where it all went wrong. Kids have knives, our leaders are arseholes, the economy is in a slump and the word "electro" is being misappropriated by every shitty house DJ on the planet.

In truth, it's the last one that bothers me most. I love electro. Real electro. Detroit electro. German electro. Proper electro. I hate the fact that a genre built on experimentation and innovation has had its name hijacked by unimaginative house producers.

For the record, house music is not electro any more than trance music is techno.

Anyway, rant over. Here's a mix from Bassline FM, in Seattle, that reminds us all of what makes real electro amazing and how the scene is continuing to push boundaries with fresh pioneering sounds.

The Electro Mixtape covers tracks from the 1980s when electro was born, to the present day. Taking in classic productions from AUX-88 and Shiver alongside newer joints from Point B and Dave Clarke.

Download it here.

Tracklist:
1. Cynthia Stern - Follow (Warlock Mix)
2. Wee DJs - 80
3. Bass Junkie - Sub-Mission (Control The Bass)
4. AUX 88 - Rated AUX
5. Shiver - Subsonic Soundscape
6. Hrdvsion - Love's Duel
7. Clatterbox - Control Freak
8. Vicarious Bliss - Theme From Vicarious Bliss (Dave Clarke Remix)
9. Underground Resistance - Electronic Warfare
10. Silicon Scally - Dissolve (Weemix)
11. Point B - Split
12. Clark - The Magnet Mine

Until next week, enjoy the mixes.

Dexterous digits!

2009-11-23T08:55:00.000-08:00

Check this finger-flinging Monome action!

edison - tonka truck from edison on Vimeo.

Edison is using only one-shots, no loops and playing the Monome as a live instrument for this performance of 'Tonka Truck'.

Seriously dope.

Want one? More on the Monome here and here.

Breaks production tips

2009-11-23T05:22:00.000-08:00

The Sounds To Sample site has lots of good resources for budding producers, alongside its sample packs for sale.

There's a particularly good set of tips for anyone making breaks, or in fact any dancefloor friendly genre here. Written by Hedflux, the article includes sections on basslines, drums, breakdowns, drops and more.

It's worth keeping an eye on their 'Knowledge' section for more tutorials, tips and tricks.

It just tastes warmer than digital cheese....

2009-11-23T05:14:00.000-08:00

Fwonk* Monday

2009-11-23T00:25:00.000-08:00

Greetings, my friend.

We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives.

And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future. You are interested in the unknown... the mysterious. The unexplainable. That is why you are here.

And now, for the first time, we are bringing to you, the full story of what happened on that fateful day. We are bringing you all the evidence, based only on the secret testimony, of the miserable souls, who survived this terrifying ordeal. The incidents, the places.

My friend, we cannot keep this a secret any longer. Let us punish the guilty. Let us reward the innocent. My friend, can your heart stand the shocking facts of Bachelor Machines?

Sounding like an explosion inside Ed Wood's head, the Bachelor Machines' future-retro techno horror breaks burst onto Fwonk* earlier this year with 'It Is Nice To Finally Meet You'.

Fizzing with electronic blips, robotic vocal snippets and abused percussion, the EP is a collaboration between songwriter Clint Hoagland and the machines he found in a dusty basement in a remote part of Lansing, Michigan.

He told us what it was like to work with his benevolent robot overlords.

Your name / names on Fwonk*?

Artist name: Bachelor Machines
Forum name: BeigeBeigeBeigeBeige

How would you describe the your music?

The music is whatever the Bachelors feel like doing this week. At one point they became fascinated with the prospect of dance music and so they started spitting out electro breaks... I think they eventually found that to be a drag (since, ultimately, they're plugged in in my basement and cannot get out to clubs) and they moved on to music that aims to create moods in individuals rather than groups.

When and where do you make music?

The Bachelor Machines are set up in a little room in the corner of my basement. I try to get down there and work with them for an hour or so most evenings, it works out to maybe 3-4 evenings a week, and a weekend session of a few hours probably once a month. I'm not sure what they do when I'm not down there. I'm gonna try to forget that I even just thought about that.

What inspires you?

One technique that's been fairly successful, in terms of helping us decide what to work on next, has been to work from a particular image, whether that's a photograph or a painting.

How does your creative process work?

Typically, Bachelor #1 will somehow indicate to me what kind of raw material he wants to work with. I supply that material to him and he sits on it for a while... anywhere from a couple of minutes to a couple of years.

I don't know everything that is going on under the hood but he is processing the raw material during that time. By raw material, I mean raw sonic information, in the form of movie soundtracks, LPs, whatever. More recently he has been requesting that I play nylon-string guitar in front of a microphone.

Then, at some future date, what ends up happening is that Bachelor #2 and I will be talking or messing around with some kind of synth pop or something (which is what we do when Bachelor #1 is busy working on his parts) and Bachelor #1 will start displaying all these different images and playing some recombined version of the sounds I gave him. At that point the three of us work out a tune.

What hardware / software / instruments do you use to make music?

Bachelor #1 and Bachelor #2 could, I guess, be referred to as hardware... in terms of software, we use Live and Renoise to arrange the tunes.

Who are your favourite bands / producers / DJs?

The Books, Solvent, Adult., Caribou, Venetian Snares, Squarepusher, Juan Garcia Esquivel, Henry Mancini, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Joao Gilberto, Paulo Bellinati, Plastikman, Magnetic Fields

Whereabouts in the world do you come from?

Lansing, MI, USA.

What's your favourite noise?

Hard to put my finger on, but I guess "one sound juxtaposed with another sound in an expressive way."

What's your least favourite noise?

The way guys in alternative rock bands sing.

_______________________

Until next week, why not strap yourself in, download 'It Is Nice To Finally Meet You' and enjoy the ride.

Free Music Friday!

2009-11-19T23:53:00.000-08:00

I'm free to do what I want, any old time. And right now I choose to point your browsing glands directly at some rather wonderful music. You lucky, lucky people.

First we have an artist who is no stranger to the concept of 'Free'. He's one of the few who is taking the internet piracy issue lightly and changing his tactics to suit.

British MC, singer and producer Dan Bull is acting as a one-man antidote to Lily Allen, Metallica, Muse and other artists in danger of disappearing up their own arses through anti-file-sharing frenzy.

In fact, he's written a free single, complete with video on the topic. Watch Dan's 'Open Letter To Lily Allen' below:

Refreshing to hear it told straight by such a talented artist isn't it?

And Mr Bull is backing his words up with actions. You can download the MP3 of 'Dear Lily' absolutely free of charge here.

But it doesn't stop there. Although Dan's album is available for sale on Freshnut Records, as well as iTunes, Amazon and Napster, he is also giving it away (in low-res format) on Megaupload and through torrents.

As with the single above, 'Safe' is witty, musical and uniquely British. If you enjoy it, play fair and buy a high-res copy.

If chunky, funky breaks are more your bag, then we've got a treat for you.

Gyre, aka Mike McGuire is a UK-based music producer, making breaks, house, ambient, chillout and various other forms of electronic music.

He's created two really rather rocking remix EPs of artists including Freeland, Poordream, French hipsters Iam, Erratech, Air and even Blur.

You can download them from his Soundcloud page and stay updated on his activities over at his blog.

Nifty stuff.

Finally this week we have an EP out on the excellent Plainaudio netlabel.

Matthew Stenning, recording as UV has fashioned a frankly brilliant 7-track EP of broken beats, lush floating synths, crisp acoustic guitars and occasional heavy bass that nods to IDM without ever entering 'abstract noodling' territory. I suppose you could label it 'chillout' or 'folktronica' but that wouldn't truly reflect the diversity of this EP.

In his own words: "The UV sound is a very insular one, and unintentionally disrespectful of genre - the point is to simply write what 'needs' to be written at that time, as opposed to curtailing to tempo, style or other restrictive boundaries - the mood could be dark, playful, energetic, organic, or technological - it really doesn't matter. A feeling, or vibe is prioritised, not category."

Download the EP here.

As always, if you like what you hear, spread the word, tell your friends and share the love that is Free Music Friday.

Have a good weekend people!

DIY Soundsystem

2009-11-18T23:52:00.000-08:00

Michael Una over at Create Digital Music has written a really rather wonderful 'how-to' on making your own bass-heavy soundsystem, old skool style!

Using metal barrels and car stereo sub woofers, you can create a block rocking speaker set and really worry your neighbours.

Go here to learn how to make a barrel o' bass.

Mixtape Wednesday

2009-11-17T07:35:00.000-08:00

This is the first in a new series bringing you fresh mixtapes each and every week.

And as with everything in this online socialist utopia we're creating, they're going to be free. Yes free.

In keeping with the Fwonk* manifesto ("Make It Good, Make It Interesting") we won't just be linking to banging 4/4 trance mixes but seeking out blended musical journeys, taking in tunes old and new.

Let's kick off with something both Good and Interesting, from Robots In Heat - 'Obscured By Crowds'. This luscious mix sounds like a cube of melancholy space folk melting into a steaming cup of psychedelic prog rock.

It's not even a conventional beat-mixed seamless session, closer in fact to a mixtape made by a friend with a very broad record collection - but that just makes it all the more intimate and special. Really excellent stuff.

While you're at the Noncollective site, be sure to check out the other mixes. There's loads of goodness to be had.

Download 'Obscured By Crowds' here.

Tracklist:
01 Jade Warrior - A Winter's Tale
02 Stomu Yamashta - Tempest Fantasia
03 Shawn Phillips - Prelude To Leaving
04 Shawn Phillips - All Our Love
05 Bo Hansson - Trial And Adversity
06 Steve Hillage - Four Ever Rainbow
07 Lee Michaels - (Drum Solo)
08 Wasa Express - Son Of A Peach
09 Riot - Just Beyond
10 Roy Buchanan - You're Not Alone
11 John Lucien - Would You Believe In Me
12 Reverberi - Cat Casanova
13 Harumi - Twice Told Tales of the Pomegranate Forest
14 Masami Tsuchiya - Haina-Haila
15 David Van Tieghem - Remote Viewing
16 Orson Welles - The Late Great Planet Earth
17 Kim Fowley - 1988: Searching For A Human In The Tight Blue Jeans
18 Dissidenten - Grand Babylon Hotel
19 Rhythm & Noise - Monomenon
20 Cheb Khaled - La Camel
21 Tangerine Dream - Rare Bird
22 Bermuda Triangle - Nights In White Satin
23 Jade Warrior - Borne on the the Solar Wind

Never let it be said that Nick Griffin has not done anything good for us. Yes he's an almighty bellend, and yes it's horribly embarrassing to have a Holocaust-denier representing us in Europe, but without his influence, the mysterious DJ Ghandi would never have been angry enough to put together the Masala Mix.

Blending bhangra, Qawwali dub, desi reggae & dubstep, this mix is a reaction to the ignorant Fascist's recent appearance on Question Time. It's an uptempo bass and beat fest of the highest order, celebrating diversity in a way the British Nobend Party never will.

Download 'The Masala Mix' here.

Tracklist:
1 Madlib 'New Bombay'
2 Gaudi 'Native Dub'
3 The Ruts 'Babylon's Burning' (Rob Smith rmx)
4 Mayor Mehran 'Yaar Dha'
5 Kush Arora 'Tribute to Selassie Riddim'
6 Panjabi MC 'Jagga'
7 Asian Dub Foundation 'New Way, New Life' (Dry & Heavy dub)
8 The Dub Factory 'Kaise Guzar Rahi Hai'
9 Pete Murder Tone 'Paper Tiger'
10 Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan 'Ghamgar Bare Ne' (Gaudi rmx)
11 PMC 'Dholana' ft. Master Salim
12 Orange Blossom 'Bendima'
13 Erol Bellot 'Globetrotting'
14 Gubi Sandhu 'Teray Meray Pyar Dhian'
15 Distance 'Temptation'
16 Bombay Dub Orchestra 'Journey'(Liquid Strangers sliptrip rmx)
17 Dov 'Earth Bleed' (Single Cell Orchestra rmx)
18 Liquid Strangers 'Hexed & Perplexed'
19 Bassbin Twins 'Roller Choon'
20 A.D.F 'Fortress Europe (Jazzwad rmx)
21 Kush Arora ft. Juakali 'Get Wet'
22 A.D.F. 'Hypocrites'
23 PMC 'Kori (Giddah)'

Until next week...

Remix Anti-Pop Consortium

2009-11-17T00:35:00.000-08:00

The Big Dada label's Anti-Pop Consortium are offering their banging track 'Reflections' for remix in conjunction with New York radio station WMFU and the Free Music Archive.

You can read more and download the parts here.

Watch the video below to see if the track is up your street:

And here's a video of the group's High Priest talking about beat-making and pluggin Reason 4:

Free Reverb - until Wednesday!!! D/L NOW!!!!

2009-11-16T09:33:00.001-08:00

TC Electronics, creators of Powercore, plus loads of high-end plugins, are giving away their Reverb VST (or AU if you're on Mac) for free until Wednesday.

It usually retails for $79, so it's a bit of a bargain.

Go here and get yours.

Remix Eastenders???

2009-11-16T05:38:00.001-08:00

To celebrate the launch of a new 'yoof' version of the perpetually dreary, tragically unrealistic London-based soap opera Eastenders, Aunty Beeb is offering the iconic theme tune for remixing.

Learn more, download the samples and upload your remixes here.

800MB Of (not really) Free Hip-Hop / RnB Samples

2009-11-16T05:25:00.001-08:00

ProducerLoops are giving away 'After Hours' for free.

EDIT: Although they claim this is a free pack, you have to make a minimum order of about 5 quid to download - so it's a bit of a scam really. Not cool.

You can still go here and check it out if you want to.

Free Modular Synth

2009-11-16T00:54:00.000-08:00

Blok is a simple, easy to use modular synth environment designed as a tool for teaching synthesis to students.

It's available as a standalone program, VST or Buzz Machine, and is straightforward enough for beginners to use without drowning in a sea of possibilities.

With 5 types of oscillator and a bundle of controllers and modifiers, including filters, delays, waveshapers, LFOs and envelopes, this is a very versatile package.

Blok even includes external knobs so that parameters can be automated from your host software.

You can read more about Blok, check the manual and download the installer here.

And there's a pretty detailed wiki here, which already includes tutorials on synthesising specific sounds such as kick drums and hoover basses and should become even more comprehensive over the coming weeks.

Fwonk* Monday

2009-11-16T00:05:00.000-08:00

I don't know what it's like where you are, but where I am a pitch-black sky is pissing incessant rain onto the cold dark earth.

Yes, it's Monday morning and suddenly we can all sympathise with Brenda Ann Spencer.

But wait, Mondays don't have to be bleak exercises in endurance. Before you go on an insane shooting spree, see if we can liven up your day.

This week, Fwonk* Monday is showcasing the work of Heskin Radiophonic, without whom the Fwonk* netlabel would not exist.

In between running the Fwonk* community boards, designing websites, holding down a dayjob and raising a family, Heskin also finds time to run the label, often even designing the artists' album covers.

Oh, and somehow he also has time to make music. Perhaps he's using a Time Turner?

Mr Radiophonic currently has two albums available for download: Wait For No Man and 雪月花時最憶君.

Epic, drone-based ambient electronica, occasionally straying into glitchy territory - these could be the perfect albums to cosy up to on a miserable rainy morning.

We caught up with the man who made Fwonk* happen and asked him a few questions.

How would you describe the your music?
Breathing. Organic. Artificial.

Which of your Fwonk releases are you happiest with and why?
FW025: Wait For No Man - I attempted to make an "album", by which I mean a single artistic entity that flowed from track to track and of which every track formed part of the whole. And not just a bunch of songs I'd made stuck together (as was the case with my previous release!)

When and where do you make music?
I make music on my PC which is stuck in our utility room next to the washing machine. I make music when everyone else is in bed!

What inspires you?
My family, the raw power of the sea, and the sensation of bare feet on warm sand.

How does your creative process work?
I think about my tunes all day. I used to formulate drum patterns on pieces of paper and start with them. Now I start with the melodic content - a couple of chords (usually with a lot of shared notes) or a guitar riff that is transposed into a keyboard part and totally changes in the process!

What hardware / software / instruments do you use to make music?
CMI Telecaster Deluxe, a far-Eastern Thru-Neck guitar, my trusty Yamaha bass into a PC running Ableton Live, GuitarRig3, Abysnth3, CamelSpace, CamelPhat and lots of freebie VSTs, especially the lovely ones from Antress, Odo and of course De La Mancha.

Who are your favourite bands / producers / DJs?
Pink Floyd are my all time favourites, but I like anybody who can create interesting, original music that is one step removed from normality.

Whereabouts in the world do you come from? And is that where you live now?
Lancashire. Aye.

What's your favourite noise?
The laughter of my children.

What's your least favourite noise?
I have lots. Over-compressed music. Anything played on Radio 1. Witless chatter. I could go on...

Errrrrr, WTF?

2009-11-13T08:47:00.000-08:00

Mmmmmkay. Well, that's actually pretty cool.

It's two robots playing a Gnarls Barkley track. Yup. That's what it is.

You know you want one of these...

2009-11-13T08:39:00.001-08:00

Buy it here.

Benders.

2009-11-13T02:04:00.000-08:00

Circuit bending - the noble art of licking electronic devices until their souls scream for mercy in shrill, upsetting tones. It's probably best explained by the short Absurdity.biz documentary below:

Having established what it is, how does one go about it?

Well, first you'll need something powered by batteries that makes sound. Kids toy electric guitars, drum machines and keyboards are a good start, as are Speak & Spells, Furbies and a host of other noisy toys. Hell, you could even do it with one of those annoying musical greetings cards.

Next you'll need to open it up, exposing the circuits.

Then the abuse can begin.

There's a superb step-by-step guide at the Anti-Theory site.

Another great guide at CircuitBenders.co.uk.

Dozens of inspirational creations from Tim Kaiser at Atomic Sonic.

Bendtronics sells kits and stuff, but also has a series of excellent free video tutorials.

And the Get Lo-Fi blog has loads of great articles and links.

"But I'm frightened of batteries, ever since I licked one and it made my tongue feel funny!"

Oh well, perhaps circuit bending just ain't for you. Don't cry about it.

In fact, for the faint of heart there are some cheeky alternatives out there, ways to get the bent sound without ripping the heart out of a single Texas Instrument.

This obviously goes against many of the purist principals of bending, where abandoning the chaotic creation process through buying pre-made kits and devices is frowned upon. But there you go.

MusicObject friend and all round talented geezer De La Mancha has created 'Bent' - a circuit bent style VST resynthesis effect.

He says the plugin "will recreate the incoming audio into an approximation of itself using a waveform-morphing audio oscillator. Depending on the volume and pitch of the audio, it will gate, stutter and morph the output in sync with your host tempo". And you know what? He's not wrong.

Like all DLM creations, this works well and sounds great.

Berrtill is a bizarre sound-mangling distortion plugin from Shuriken.se, modeled on a circuit-bent toy. The signal path goes through a car speaker to a kazoo, to a tape recorder, followed by a toy microphone and finally a toy amp. The controls allow you to adjust the thresholds of various parameters and to mess with the signal path.

You really should read the manual to get a feel for it.

See a video of the real-world device:

Tonebytes have created a software synth that does a pretty good emulation of a circuit-bent device.

Bend Box "can be useful for making experiments and for creating various noise FX. All knobs can be tweaked manually or thru easily assignable MIDI controllers. MIDI Automation is also available.

With Bend Box you can get wide range of noises: from the soft gurgling to ringing grinding, or even strange melodical timbres."

Bitboy from Darkware is another free plugin that promises the sound of "all your old consoles,fried by lightning". We haven't had a chance to play with it yet, but it looks good.

If samples are more your thing, there are some goodies to be had for free.

There's a bundle of great Speak & Spell sounds (both bent and unbent) at Webiocosm.

The Freesound Project has a good pack by evilpaul.

mimu.eu has some good packs here and here, including a broken 303 and a bent noise machine.

Roil Noise has some blinders including samples of a Yamaha PSR-12 keyboard, a Casio CTK-550 keyboard and a Roland DR-550 drum machine here.

And finally, Steve over at Haunted House Records has some sample packs in his Free Stuff section, check out the Electronic Critters pack.

After all this talk of bending, why not listen to some tunes made with circuit-bent kit?

Circuitbenders.co.uk has some.

There's a free album from Get Lo-Fi here.

And Noise Koncept has a wonderful compilation called 'The Bent Life' here.

Free Music Friday (Hip-Hop Edition)

2009-11-13T00:53:00.000-08:00

Yeeeeeeeaaah bwoooooy. It's Friday, get high day, wave work goodbye day!!!

And that means free pod-fodder for the massive in a globe-trotting hip-hop style.

New Big Dada signing Damaged Good$ lay down some slick synthetic funk and lazy, drawling verses on their new free single "Dopest Flyest".

The single is a very tasty taster of a forthcoming free album - "Spread Love Not Germ$". Keep and eye on their Myspace and the Big Dada site for more news and probably more gratuitous dollar signs.

In the meantime, download "Dopest Flyest" here.

As this blog proves with alarming regularity, the best things in life are free.

This is a philosophy shared by German netlabel iD.EOLOGY, who have put together an alarmingly good compilation of fresh instrumental and vocal hip-hop.

There's a load of good stuff on here, but standout tracks for me include the progressive deep funk of 'Time Machine' by Soulkrates and Fleur Earth & Gringo Starr's 'Geiz ist eine Plage', which drops somewhere between jazz and dancehall.

Grab the album here.

Gritty, grimey, crackly and creaky offerings from the UK now, from the vaults of the mighty Blah Records.

First up, a collaboration between Lee Scott and Monster Under The Bed, recording under their Mcabre Brothers moniker. Featuring production from Reklews, Lee Scott and Sly Moon, these are 10 tracks of raw, lowdown attitude with tight production, rambling, raucous verses and more than a whiff of early Redman sound.

Secondly from Blah, more dirt, more verbal swagger and a whole heap of crunchy beats on Flash 4Dem's aptly-named 'Mega Dumb Free Shit'. A member of the Children of the Damned crew, Flash drops rhymes that are simultaneously tight and loose, sprawling and precise over dark, sample-laden beats that sound like bad trips on wax.
Grab both albums here.

Finally for this week's free spread, a remix project from the talented folks over at Crate Kings that's gonna go back, waaaaay back, if you know what I'm saying.

Crate Kings 4 sees the deep vein of production talent that inhabits the CK forums taking on remixes from 1990s hip-hop. Ultramagnetic MCs, EPMD, Pharoahe Monch, De La Soul and Nas are among the artists getting the remix treatment on this mixtape.

From the razor-sharp cuts and swiftly-switched breaks of Downstroke's intro to the chilled funk of C1's take on Big L's 'Put It On', this is a pretty sweet project. Some may say that the classics should be left alone, but if everyone thought like that hip-hop would never have happened.

Grab the album, and have a listen to the previous Crate Kings releases, here.

Now, until next time, we're ghost like Casper.

Free techno plugin studio

2009-11-11T06:43:00.000-08:00

From Wikipedia:

Instruments utilized by the original techno producers based in Detroit, many of which are now highly sought after on the retro music technology market, include classic drum machines like the Roland TR-808 and TR-909, devices such as the Roland TB-303 bass line generator, and synthesizers such as the Roland SH-101, Kawai KC10, Yamaha DX7, and Yamaha DX100 (as heard on Derrick May's seminal 1987 techno release Nude Photo). Much of the early music sequencing was executed via MIDI (but neither the TR-808 nor the TB-303 had MIDI, only DIN sync) using hardware sequencers such as the Korg SQD1 and Roland MC-50, and the limited amount of sampling that was featured in this early style was accomplished using an Akai S900.

So how do you recreate that classic techno sound without splashing out thousands on over-priced retro hardware?

Well, as a starting point, you could do a lot worse than downloading Propellerheads ReBirth and snagging yourself two TB-303s, a TR-909 and a TR-808 for free.

Or, for a more open approach, you can grab a lot of the kit in VST form:

Claw - a good freebie 303 emulation.

Drumatic & Drumatic VE - 808 and 909 sims.

Novinyl.net's SH-101 emulation.

Expo - an FM synth with many of the famous DX100 presets.

Onyx - a decent match for the DX7 sound. Probably the best you'll get for free at least.

Short Circuit - a decent free sampler. Couple this with the Time Machine bit-reducer from Jeroen Breebart (for that old-skool crunch) and you've got a decent Akai emulation.

Then you'll need a step sequencer to recreate the way those guys were working, so try Subliminal's Stepchild or MidiSeq 1.2.

Now keep it deep, keep it funky and most of all keep it Detroit.

And if you need any inspiration, why not watch "Hi Tech Soul" a history of Detroit techno:

More cool cassette tape thingies

2009-11-06T08:21:00.000-08:00

We've already featured recycled tape ties this week, but here's some cool stuff from Brian Dettmer, an artist who makes his living melting tapes into shapes and doing strange things to encyclopedias.

More about his work here.

There's an MPC in my oven!!!

2009-11-06T07:59:00.001-08:00

Free Music Friday

2009-11-06T01:06:00.000-08:00

Friday comes round so fast, it'll be a whole new decade before we know it. But the arrival of Frigg's day (oh yes, look it up) heralds free MP3s the like of which the world has never known.

We're on an IDM tip this week. Honestly, I never used to like intelligent dance music, and given the option I'd still plump for stupid dance music any day, given the option. But, now my brains are less addled by MDMA than they used to be, I can appreciate there's some good stuff out there.

And that's what we're going to share with you lucky people today.

Infrabuse is up first. His 'State of Mind' EP is a free taster of a forthcoming CD release.

Bass-heavy and crunchy, this is music that ventures into glitchy realms without losing the funk. If this is the quality of the taster, I'm eagerly anticipating the final release.

Sign up for updates and download the EP here.

The production community over at IDM forums is, like all forums, a curate's egg - some posts show what a torrent of musical talent it has tapped into, others simply ask what plugins will make them sound like Aphex-cocking-Twin.

But the forum's netlabel, well that's a different matter. It currently has seven releases showcasing the cream of the forum's output. Ranging in styles from dubstep and breaks to lush down-tempo chillery, their compilations are probably the best place to start.

They've just released a new double LP - 'Continuum'.

Grab it, and the label's other free releases here.

That's it space cadets. Until next week, nanoo nanoo.

Videogame sounds

2009-11-04T23:43:00.001-08:00

Need a little 'pick me up' in the music department? A new sample pack can often provide the audio Viagra you need.

With this in mind, here's some videogame themed sounds for your mangling, mashing, sampling pleasure.

First up is Doom 3, the classic super-violent shooter. And who better to make a soundset for this dark, grimy, industrial future than NIN maestro Trent Reznor.

Grab his sounds for the game here.

While we're in dystopian future territory, let's pay Half Life a visit. The classic boy-meets-crowbar love story has been ripped wide open, leaving all 800MB of sounds, music and speech exposed for all to hear. Nab them here.

Finally, something for the old skool gamers out there. Grab all the sound FX from the classic open-ended, space trading BBC game, Elite.

They are hosted here.

Now if that doesn't put the waggle back in your joystick, what will?

Dubstep star's 'stolen MIDI' scandal

2009-11-03T08:40:00.000-08:00

Over at Dubroom they are a bit miffed that dubstep pioneer Skream seems to have been a bit light-fingered with their MIDI files.

Thay say:

It has come to our attention, that the midifiles are used without prior permission as basis for certain (online) artists who claim they think we put these musical works online for them to remix.

Artists like "Skream", even, makes uses these midi's as basis for commercial releases without even crediting this website and/or the producers of the original midi files. (just compare "Blue Eyez" with "Rock The Nation In Dub")

But just because we are now living in a time wherein midi has gone back to the studio does NOT mean you can use these files like they are public domain for they are not.

Please respect our works. They were posted online in the times BEFORE MP3 (yes, there was such a time on the Internet) and they are just as much finished works as our audio releases.

If you want to use any of the material on this page, we kindly ask that you contact the Dubroom for permission before putting any material online or releasing in any other form.

So, did the Tempa star nick the file for his own ends?

Decide for yourself:

Rock The Nation In Dub

Sounds pretty similar to me.

Dubroom's Messian Dread, who wrote the original file, has been pretty philosophical about the 'coincidental sound'.

He said:

If Skream would have contacted me, or credited the Dubroom, it would have been really nice. Right now, I can only say that I am happy with the uncredited recognition and I am happy with the fact that Jah has inspired me to make that tune and some others too.

Obviously this revelation has sparked a heated debate over at Dubstep Forum where opinions range from: "That is just not cool... i feel kinda dissapointed" and "not acceptable one bit" to "isnt this what dubsteps all about?" and "I don't even care", taking in "dam dis midi file go off in da club" and "this makes me a sad panda" on the way.

MIDI theft, is it the new sampling?

Fwonk Monday (belated)

2009-11-03T04:12:00.000-08:00

G'AH! It's Tuesday. And we're doing a Fwonk Monday. OMFG. I just hope the space-time continuum survives this Marty McFly-style jiggery-pokery.

Anyway, this week we're talking to the mighty Tomaz, aka Gross Prophet, aka half of Errorhythm.

His most recent release on Fwonk* is, to continue our time-hopping theme, actually a re-issue of his first album, previously only available on CDR. Shane Carruth would be proud.

Combining frenetic, glitched breaks and acidic squonks with catchy melodies and humorous samples, the Gross Prophet EP is a great intro to GP's style.

If you like this, why not listen to his other works: Ethic and Protero. You can also check out the Errorhythm album 1996, here.

We caught up with the insane breakbeat scientist and asked him a bit about his sound.

How would you describe the your music?
That's a difficult one... I always struggle with this. If you use genres, it makes people just think of other artists they've heard in the genre, which isn't exactly effective. To do it any other way is far too long-winded and useless. After all, talking about music is kinda like abstinence - It's useless and wanky.

Which of your Fwonk releases are you happiest with and why?
That's a hard one, too. A lot of my releases are in different styles, and have different "purposes". So it's hard to compare them in terms of aptitude. I believe the most well produced is Gross Prophet's Protero. The most fun is a toss up between Gross Prophet's self-titled EP and Errorhythm's 1996. 1996 is definitely the greatest achievement out of those two, being a collaborative effort, which I find very hard to do.

When and where do you make music?
In my bedroom, or Greg's (the other member of Errorhythm). We live in a shared house, with several other people, so all the equipment is kept away from the public domain, and safe from party-goers, etc. When? Err... rarely, these days. I seem to have found less and less time for it lately, but it used to be at any given moment that I wasn't working/studying. Weekends are rarely spent on music, though. Weekends are for partying!

What inspires you?
I know a lot of people get inspired by other music, but I'm just the opposite. Just about anything but music can. The way someone composes a sentence; a piece of visual art, or sculpture; a book (or an entire series, as by which the current Errorhythm focus has been); smells... you name it! It will always be the feeling that these things give me which is the focus of the piece they inspire, though.

How does your creative process work?
It changes wildly from song to song. Sometimes it begins with a bit of sound-design work, if that captivates me I might just do that all night, then come back to the pieces at a later date and arrange them. Other times I'll load up my trusty, old, home-made breaks & synths patches and just go nuts and make a piece in an hour or two (those tracks are easy to pick). One time I wrote an entire "classical" piece out of strings and whatnot, to which I've recently come back and completely transformed it into a more modern piece.

What hardware / software / instruments do you use to make music?
Okay... that could take all night to answer... I'll just mention the key aspects...
Software:
Programmes:
FL Studio for most of it. I love the interface, versatility and proprietary synths & effects!
Audacity for recording
Live for live shows
VST(i)s:
Synth1
Kjaerhus Classic series effects/dynamics processors
Various Tweakbench effects and synths
Arcane Developments ET-200 (it has bugs, but it's like tape-delay sex)

Hardware:
Cassandra (my laptop)
Roland SP-202
Novation Remote SL Zero
A very comfortable chair
Whatever keyboards I can borrow

Who are your favourite bands / producers / DJs?
Right now I'm right into Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Textures, Nam Shub of Enki/Monster Zoku Onsomb, Sensational Alex Harvey Band & Master Musicians of Bukkake. I have this problem where I keep expanding my taste in music, but I find less and less time to listen.

Whereabouts in the world do you come from? And is that where you live now?
I'm from Brisbane, Australia. It's been a bit of a black-hole in terms of any kind of "scene" for the music I produce in the past, but it's beginning to expand. There have always been wicked producers come out of Brissy though, but they do exactly that... come OUT, then never come back. I'm still here, but only for a couple of weeks before I travel around Europe for a couple of years (yes it's a tour, but more of a holiday, and a poorly organised one at that!)

What's your favourite noise?
Well... it would be a combination of noises... several combinations. I like dissonance, texture and punch. In order to be effective though, it has to be contrasted with melody & subtlety. So... everything?

What's your least favourite noise?
Poor production in electronic music, over-production in rock music, poor and ineffective "genre crossing", cheese without a tongue in the cheek...

Sonic Fabric

2009-11-03T01:33:00.000-08:00

Getting ready for a big night out, it's good to know you can not only look good, smell nice and feel fine but also sound amazing.

These sonic neckties are made from 50% recorded audio cassette tape and 50% colored thread. The recorded material is actually audible if you run a tape head over the surface of the tie.

They are just one application of Sonic Fabric, visit the site here for more info.

Here's a couple of videos about the project, the first describes how the idea for Sonic Fabric was formed and how it became a reality. The second shows you how to make a sonic fabric player by jacking parts from a cassette player.

Buy the ties here. And buy other sonic fabric products, including material by the yard, here.

Free Music Friday

2009-10-30T06:13:00.000-07:00

After a couple of weeks' absence, spent dodging Matatus in the amazing town of Mombasa, Free Music Friday is back.

In honour of the majestic continent of Africa, here's an amazing free album from the modestly named "The Very Best".

The band, made up of Esau Mwamwaya and producer Radioclit, met in London, but have produced an album that sounds wonderfully exotic and true to their African roots.

Infectious rhythms and joyous vocals collide with electrifying effect on track after track. If you like this, and I suspect you will, keep an eye out for their new album "Warm Heart of Africa". Tribal pop which brings a bit of sunshine into the most gloomy of winter days.

Download their demo album here. Visit their Myspace for news about their activities, including an exciting remix project here.

And just in case you are hungry for more freeness, we're taking this opportunity to highlight the Eigentum Ist Diebstahl (Property Is Theft) label from Germany.

Their netlabel is now up to it's 19th release. The Eigentum crew have a very open music policy and (contrary to the national stereotype) a very quirky sense of humour, so expect everything from beard-stroking ambient noise to electro-pop covers of "These Boots Were Made For Walking".

With 19 releases, there's a lot to choose from, but I'd recommend Shenpen Senge's EPs as a very accessible starting point. That said, if you're into facial hair, the label's founder D-Tex is pretty hard to beat, as you can see in the picture below. Either way, pay them a visit and grab some of the rather splendid music they give away for free.

More free noises next week.

Get a $1,000 plugin for free

2009-10-28T06:59:00.000-07:00

Need to sound like the professionals, but on a tight budget?

Every once in a while, a plugin developer throws us poor bedroom producers a bone. And that's just what the Open Ambience Project has done.

It's taken a mastering process, developed by Bob Katz and sold in plugin form for $990.00, and recreated it in a free VST.

The effect is a "Stereo Haas Effect Ping Pong Inverter" or SHEPPI.

"What SHEPPi describes is this. You set up a ping-pong delay with feedback of around 30mS, which is the sweet spot for the well-known Haas stereo widening effect. Then, in one of the crossfeed delay lines you put an inverter such that the artificial early reflections are bouncing around out of phase (exaggerating the wideness) and out of time with each other. Bob adds some extra control over this effect by determining whether the delay feedback ("Deep" switch) or single-channel crossfeed inverter ("Wide" switch) should be on or off. In addition, the K-Stereo process adds a couple of convenience touches easily simulated with other tools: an M/S matrix processor (also known as a "shuffler") preceding the effect, and a post-effect EQ module for tailoring the synthetic reflections."

In A/B tests the difference between the uber-expensive plug and the freebie are negligible.

The Open Ambience Project created their plugin out of a sense of fairness, saying Mr Katz has no right claiming ownership of processes which are standard practice in most major studios.

"Bob basically took a few mixing concepts already in use (these would include early reflections, ping pong delay, M/S processing and the precedence, or Haas effect), applied them all at once and took out a patent on it - while conveniently sidestepping everything that looked like prior art."

Read more, hear the A/Bs and download the plugin here.

T-t-i-i-m-m-e-e-s-s-t-t-r-r-e-e-t-t-c-c-h-h!

2009-10-28T01:20:00.000-07:00

The Akaizer Project by Ben Burchett is a standalone, freeware Windows application that aims to replicate the sound of classic 1990s time-stretching and pitch-shifting.

It's currently in public beta at version 1.4 and if you listen to the sound samples below you can hear he's nailed the classic Akai S950 sound already.

Read about the project, download the app and donate to support further development here.

Listen to these sound samples and drift off into junglist heaven:

Brockwild
Brockwild-300_2000_0
Brockwild-900_2000_0

Amen-100_800_+12
Amen-300_750_0

Chronicles from The Loudness War Trenches

2009-10-14T21:02:00.000-07:00

The loudness war is a process that started during the eighties and continued until today. Basically, music producers discovered that louder music sounded better, so they struggled to be louder than anyone else. This means that today's music (Timbaland, Black Eyed Peas) sound like shit, because it has no dynamics - it sounds all the same - very loud, all the time.

The good thing: the war is over. Or at least, that is what this interesting article claims.

Now a new target format - downloadable media combined with jukebox players - has gained acceptance. It hasn't eliminated the CD format, but a tipping point has been reached, and the CD's days are numbered. Mastering engineers are already marketing their services towards the new media. And over the coming decade, mastering engineers will adopt new practices and technologies to exploit the capabilities of this format.

And the Loudness War will end forever.

The question then will simply be - do we need to buy yet another copy of the White Album?

I'm quoting from another website, the audio hall of shame. Here are the albums with more measured clipping.

1 – Black Eyed Peas – Elephunk (54 clips/second)
2 – Wheatus – Wheatus (47 clips/second)
3 – Sheryl Crow – Cmon cmon (41 clips/second)
4 – Jennifer Lopez – JLO (36 clips/second)
5 – Madonna – True Blue Remastered ( 43 clips/second)
6 – Gorillaz – Gorillaz (25 clips/second)
7 – Shakira – Laundry Service (32 clips/second)
8 – Macy Gray – On how life is (26 clips/second)
9 – The Chemical Brothers – The Golden Path Single (31 clips/second)
10 – Eminem – The Marshall Mathers CD1 (26 clips/second)
11 – Turin Brakes – Ether Song Bonus Disc (14 clips/second)
12 – Eminem – The Marshall Mathers CD2 (26 clips/second)
13 – Nelly Furtado – Whoa Nelly Uk Special Edition (13 clips/second)
14 – Britney Spears – Baby One More Time (19 clips/second)
15 – Ozzy Osbourne – The Essential & Disc 1 (14 clips/second)
16 – Vitamin C – Last Nite Uk Cd Single (15 clips/second)
17 – Fun Lovin’ Criminals – 100 Colombian (18 clips/second)
18 – Garbage – Version 20 (13 clips/second)
19 – Elastica – Elastica (13 clips/second)
20 – Turin Brakes – Ether Song (6 clips/second)

And that explains why everyone wants to throw the cd player through the window everytime they hear "Let get it started".

The Eigenharp

2009-10-08T23:58:00.000-07:00

This new instrument looks like the strange hybrid fruit of random sexual activity between a bassoon, a bass guitar, a keyboard and a drum machine. The most interesting thing is that it looks very playable.

The audio aspect seems rather good for an instrument so versatile. Most of the time we are dissapointed by instruments that do everything at once but sound so terribly General Midi that they should be depicted with four stars at their shoulders.

The Eigenharp sounds rather classy, and the website states it took them eight years to develop. That's a lot.

It seems, however, that due to some amazing flaw of design, this instrument can only perform songs written by Moby.

In any case, it doesn't stop this instrument from being awesome. Now let's wait for the hordes of "real musicians" that will claim that this is not a real musical instrument like their banjos and ukeleles.

Ve have vays of making you talk, Mr. Piano

2009-10-08T21:53:00.000-07:00

This is both awesome and downright creepy. In a polstergeist fashion.

What you hear in the following video is a "speaking piano" reciting the Proclamation of the European Environmental Criminal Court at World Venice Forum 2009. Of course we have seen vocoders come and go during the last half century, but in this version the piano "speaks" by pressing down the keys (that means a real piano sound) rather than some complicated electronic ju-ju/wizardy.

It's rather evident (for me at least, who am a geek) that the software created by Berno Polzer and Peter Ablinger simply deconstructs incoming audio into harmonic tones, and then proceeds to press the corresponding keys on the piano in order to mimic the original sound source. A vocoder works in a similar way, filtering a carrier wave (the synth sound) after a modulator (the human voice) - the difference is that a vocoder works with voltages or digital data instead of mechanic actions.

Anyways, we won't be satisfied until we see this wonderful technique applied on kittens.

I-nudge

2009-09-29T06:42:00.000-07:00

Another online sequencer. This one, however, allows you to share your creations on a variety of social networks (i.e.: facebook).

Isn't this "I-stuff" gone to far? back in the nineties everything was "e-" something. E-mail. E-shoppping. E-gaming. E-connect.

I predict that by 2010 the letter "O" will be fashionable. O-mail. O-game. O-rigami. O-rgasm.

I will be rich when I get the rights to the letter O.

Anyways, the O-nline sequencer I-Nudge is rather good. Try it. Right here. In Musicobject.

We'll be back after a few words from our sponsor - the letter O.

Retro Love: Korg Wavestation

2009-09-27T21:09:00.000-07:00

Just listen to this beautiful demo.

Perhaps it's not the most beautiful synth out there. The black case with nothing but buttons screams "1990" and "DIGITAL" like MC Hammer's baggie pants. Don't look at the specs: 4 Mb of sample ROM would make anyone laugh these days. Forget about internal sequencing: it doesn't have a sequencer. But if you look closely there's also a joystick up there, to the left. This joystick introduced you to the world of Vector Synthesis, which allowed you to mutate your sounds amongst 255 different waveforms.

In order to make it more awesome, Korg hired Dave Smith to design this synthesizer, and Jan Hammer used it for a couple of tunes. The fact that they couldn't get Chuck Norris at the moment avoided this synth from becoming the most awesome synth ever.

Now, the good thing is that you don't have to chase these around ebay. Korg has made it into an emulation that is included in their Korg Legacy package.

Korg Microsampler

2009-09-27T20:54:00.000-07:00

Does the world need another sampler ?

Oh yes. I've come to realize that i don't sample too much due to the major pain in the arse that it means to make a hardware sampler work. Of course that there's the option of software, but i don't want to go into the hardware versus software issue.

Do we need another hardware sampler ? Oh, yes. There's a drought of keyboard based samplers these days. Most samplers are ugly boxes with a single audition key to play them. That's so uninspiring.

There was a horrible demo of this beautiful machine a couple of weeks ago, where the hype team wasn't unable to demonstrate anything beyond the fact that they were terrible beatboxers. Anyways, here's a better official demo that highlights some of the strong points in this machine.

Some people might say that the design is ugly ("washing machine aesthetic") but i like the fact that it could happily replace my long lost Casio SK-5.

Probably it doesn't add too much if you own an ESX-1 and a keyboard - except polyphonic sounds!

World'smallest amp

2009-09-22T06:48:00.000-07:00

Ok, it's a gimmick, and you won't play a gig with it, but if you want to carry an amp as a keychain, this is it. The coool thing is that it actually works.

More useful yet is the amPlug Vox Mini Guitar Amp, which sounds exactly like the real thing. You just plug it into your guitar, connect your headphones, and there you go - instant rock sound.

Links via ThinkGeek.

Dave Smith Instruments TETR4

2009-09-21T23:39:00.000-07:00

Videos > Images > Words...

Oh, in this one skip to 4:00...

I'm saving my pesos.