Friday, June 28, 2013

Free Sample Friday: Tube Lately

Today's free samples consist of a recording I made on my old Yamaha TX81Z when I still had it.  This is none other than the famous LatelyBass patch recorded through a tube pre-amp for extra balls.

Seven mono 24-bit/44.1k WAV files, each marked with root key.

GO GET THEM!

Sequential Circuits Prophet 10 on eBay

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Ensoniq ESQ-1 on eBay

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Thursday, June 27, 2013

Nick Crow Releases V 1.2 of 8505, Includes Mac Compatibility

Nick Crow has released a new version of his 8505 Lead amp simulator.  The new version now supports stereo  tracks and adds Mac Compatibility.  As with other Nick Crow products, 8505 is free, although donations are accepted if you find it useful.

Free Lofi Vintage Drum Machine Samples

Someone calling themselves BDee has started a blog recently consisting of vintage drum machine sounds and loops sampled from YouTube demos and edited in Edison.  Interesting idea!  Give it 5 years and the sound of YouTube compression will be the next Bitcrushing.  And you can get in on the ground floor!

CHECK IT OUT!

[via Synthtopia]

Access Virus Classic on eBay

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Sequnetial Circuits Prophet 2000 on eBay


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Wednesday, June 26, 2013

R.I.P.: Alan Myers of DEVO

DEVO Drummer Alan Myers, A.K.A. The Human Metronome, passed away this week after losing his battle with cancer.  Myers was DEVO's drummer for most of the band's best-known material from 1976-1986.

[via Slicingupeyeballs]

Complex Releases Free Soundbank for Madrona Labs Aalto

Complex have released a free soundset (donations accepted) for Madrona Labs' amazing Aalto soft synth called "Musicbox".  Here's what they have to say about it:

"It was a great fun do this soundset because Aalto is a unpredictable and powerful instrument.
Sometimes I was having in mind one concrete sound, but patching one cable to the wrong place have unexpected and surprising effects!
Due to the architecture of this synth I decided to do a section of Machines and a section of Sounds, these to sections are very random and unpredictable.
The section of Percussions is full of Buchla like sounds, very innovative drums here.
This soundset have my personal revolutionary taste, I use this sounds in my music and sound designs.
The soundset contains 83 patches with machines, random sounds, percussions and keyboads.
It is divided un four sections:
Machines with 20 patches.
Sounds with 27 patches.
Percussions with 19 patches.
Keys with 17 patches."

Studiologic Sledge on eBay

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Black and Red Korg Microkorg

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Roland MC-202 on eBay

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Tuesday, June 25, 2013

80 Patches for u-he DIVA Free for a Limited Time



Down Southside have released a new set of 80 patches for u-he's DIVA, and for a limited time, you can download them for absolutely free (in exchange for your email address).

GO GET THEM!

NPR Interview with S. Alexander Reed on "Assimilate"



S. Alexander Reed, who some may know as the guy behind Thoushaltnot, recently released "Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music", one of the most complete looks at the industrial scene from its inception to what it has evolved (or devolved?) to today.  NPR recently did an interview with Reed, linked above.  (And from the "Cool story, bro" department, after many years where I had played gigs with Reed's band, we realized we went to the same high school, though I don't think we ever met...)

Free Analog Transistor Drum Samples

Rythmic Robot has released "Jacky" a free sample set of transistor-produced drum samples from an old combo organ.  All you need to do is head on over to their website, and drop them a line with the subject line "JACKY".

Here's what they have to say:

"This was supposed to be a combo transistor organ with onboard rhythms, but before we could sample the keyboard sounds it died on us. There was smoke and everything Shit! So... all we've got is the drum sounds, and rather than trash them we're giving them away free in the form of a little Kontakt instrument Smile 

They're probably not going to set the world on fire, but they're fun and have a retro transistor-combo-organ kind of charm to them. The rhythms are syncable and combinable, and there are a handful of round-robined drum hits to play with. "


[via KVR]

My Adventure in Crowd-funding is in the Home Stretch



A couple weeks ago, I launched my first ever crowd-funded project, an Indiegogo campaign seeking funds to release an album from my new side project, Surveillance.  I've learned a lot in the process and plan to write at least two articles here in the future: one about what I learned in the process, and one after I've done the fulfillment portion to report what I learned about that.  At any rate, there's a little less than a week left, so I just wanted to plug it again.  Download your free track below, and if you like what you hear and want to show your support, please visit my Indiegogo Campaign and find a perk that you like!

The Making of the New Pretty Lights Album



Tons of amazing gear porn in this one.  That hat, though.

[via Thump]

Sonic Potions LXR: A DIY Drum Synth

Sonic Potions LXR Drumsynth from Sonic Potions on Vimeo.

Sonic Potions has announced their first product, a build-it-yourself drum synth called the LXR.  And it looks like a pretty cool one!  It is slated for release in just a few days on June 28th.  No pricing info is available yet.   Here are the features:


  • Cortex M4 based
  • 6 voices (VA and FM)
  • 7 sequencer tracks (extra open HH channel)
  • 44kHz / 16 bit audio
  • 4 mono outputs
  • 4 different instrument engines
  • 1/128 step pattern resolution
  • USB/Din Midi
  • different lengths for each track
  • 8 chainable patterns per preset
  • Step probability
  • SD-Card
  • Cowbells!
  • 39 buttons
  • 6 LFOs routable to every voice parameter
  • complete kit. comes with all needed parts for assembly
  • No SMD soldering required
  • open source
  • All! actions possible without stopping the sequencer playback

Sequential Circuits Prophet VS on eBay

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Oberheim Xpander on eBay

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Wednesday, June 19, 2013

A Look at Depeche Mode's Current Stage Setup



[via tomwendt on YouTube]

Klanghelm Releases Free Saturation Plug-in

Klanghelm have released IVGI, a plug-in for Mac and Windows (VST, RTAS, AU).  IVGI is a simple, soft saturation effect well-suited for strapping across your master buss.  Here's what they have to say about it:

"IVGI can deliver very soft and subtle saturation, that feels at home
on the master buss. It is equally capable of very dense and dirty
distortion effects to spice up single tracks.

IVGI's base sound is comparable to the DESK mode in the upcoming
big brother SDRR.

Just as SDRR, IVGI reacts dynamically to the input signal. Even the
modelled fluctuations react dynamically and also change depending
on the drive setting, so that it doesn't get in the way of the
SOUND. Stereo tracks benefit from it's modelled crosstalk behaviour.
Just as its big brother SDRR, IVGI features a “Controlled
Randomness”, which determines the internal drift and variance inside
the unit. It contributes to the livelyness and realness of IVGI's
saturation character. All internal processes are modulated to some
extent to make this possible.

IVGI gives you a sensible amount of controls to manipulate the
character of the saturation itself. It offers a unique ASYM MIX knob
to alter the symmetry of the signal without affecting the harmonic
content much. Usually, asymmetry leads to an increase of even
order harmonics. But in IVGI's case, dialing in the asymmetry makes
the negative part of the signal “cleaner”. This way you can preserve
the dynamic structrure of the source better and get a more
transparent result. Actually, you can think of ASYM MIX as a
transparency control.

IVGI also lets you alter the frequency dependency of the saturation
with the RESPONSE control.

IVGI is internally calibrated to 0VU = -18dBFS.

IVGI is free! So try it out for yourself."

Suiko ST-10 Koto Synth on eBay

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Roland TR-909 on eBay

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Tuesday, June 18, 2013

New Version of TX16WX Released, Mac Compatibility Added

Cwitec Music Software has released a new version of their full-featured freeware sampler, TX16WX, which includes adding OSX compatibility.  A "Pro" version that adds still more advanced features is available for a nominal price as well.   Here is a look at the impressive feature list:

  • Re-sizable, flexible GUI 
    • Full Undo/Redo support
    • Built-in file browser with sound playback and wave and program preview
  • Unlimited multi-timbral operation
  • 128 voice polyphony
    • 12/24 dB resonant filters
      • Low-, high, band- and allpass
      • Notch, peak, low- and highshelf
    • Two syncable LFO per voice
    • Two Modulation Envelopes per voice
    • Three Sequence LFO per voice
    • Modulation matrix with 16 modulation slots per voice
    • Multiple keyboard scales
    • Multiple trigger modes
    • Mono/Poly/Legato operation
    • 8 choke groups per program
    • Per-sample loop start/end/direction modulation
    • Polyphonic glide
    • Polyphony limit per channel
  • Built-in sample editor
    • Automatic Loop Slicing + slice mapping
    • Actually Samples! Record audio straight into the sampler.
    • Automatic pitch detection
    • Loop tools
    • Loop cross fading
    • Multiple loop definitions per wave
    • Trim, cut, duplicate
    • Pitch detection
    • Normalize
    • Reverse
    • Tempo detection
  • Graphical keyboard mapping editor
    • Automatic sample layout
    • Flexible drag & drop-based group edit
  • Quick select of sound data via MIDI
  • Drag & drop of samples/programs/performances/banks
  • Multiple outputs
    • 4 Stereo + 8 Mono outputs
    • Individual output mapping for key groups (drums)
  • 16 mappable controllers for automation
  • 48 mappable VST parameters for automation
  • Preview loaded programs and samples in your song before loading 
  • Reads multiple sample and bank formats
    • WAV/AIFF/AIFC
    • SoundFont 2
    • SFZ Files
    • Ogg Vorbis
    • FLAC
    • Typhoon compressed AIF files
    • Original Yamaha OS Wave files
  • 100% documented XML-based sound file format. 
    • Anyone can write conversion tools.
  • Saves data in DAW project directory
  • Low CPU usage
  • Fully native, optimized for SSE2.
  • MacOSX AU/VST64 & Windows VST support
  • 64-bit support
  • Nice sound
    !

Roland MKS-80 Super Jupiter on eBay

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Waldorf Q on eBay

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Friday, June 14, 2013

Free Sample Friday: Jupiter Witch House

Today's free mutli-sampled instrument is a patch I programmed in Arturia's Jupiter-8V and processed through heavy chorus and ensemble effects.  The resulting sound has a sort of dreamy drift that reminds me of 80's horror soundtracks (and thus, witch house... heh). Feed it through a huge reverb and you're good to go!   11 24-bit/44.1k WAV samples. Root keys listed in the file name.  [12.2 MB]

Gø G∑† †h∑m¡

Alesis Andromeda on eBay

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Arp Pro Soloist on eBay

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Thursday, June 13, 2013

Review: Do Dough Music NDS-6 House Music Vol. 2


Product: NDS-6 House Music Vol. 2 sample library
Developer: No Dough Music
Format: 24-bit 44.1k WAV
Price:  $54.99
Demo: Audio demo on the product page.

"House Music Vol. 2" is the latest sample library from No Dough Music.  This time out, they've focused on a collection of sounds evocative of classic and deep house. A generous selection of loops and single-shot samples alike comprise the 2,000 samples in this library.  Furthermore, the single shot samples are offered in two flavors: unprocessed and "British", which are processed through a variety of high-end analog hardware.  So, let's have a listen, shall we?

THE LOOPS & BEATS
The main library is split into 2 sections - The Loops & Beats and The Drum Hits.  So let's start with the loops.  The loops folder is further subdivided into folders for Music Loops, Shaker & Rider Loops, Bassline Loops, and Beat Loops.

Music Loops - This folder contains tons of different musical elements, fully produced and effected and ready to be dropped into an arrangement.  Pads, organs, textures, synth riffs, lead lines, and more are all clearly marked with key and tempo info, making a good fit easy to find.  There are some sample-based sounds here, but overwhelmingly the sound here is vintage analog.  I think my ears hear a lot of old Roland gear for sure.

Shaker & Ride Loops - I bet you can figure out what this one contains - tons of shaker/tambourine/etc. loops ready to drop over your kick and snare to add some groove and energy to your track.  Some of the tracks sound "live" and "real", while others deliberately sound artificial, so there's a nice mix of organic and electronic.  The selection here is quite nice and roams outside the typical kind of shaker/tamb loops.  You'll also find stuff on every point of the swing continuum from straight 16ths to loose and funky.

Bassline Loops - Like the Music Loops folder, this folder contains musical loops, this time focusing on the bassline.  Again, the majority of sounds you'll find here are classic analog, full of warm and snap.  Some punchy digital and sample-based basslines are also present for a different kind of retro vibe.  Everything here is tastefully processed and produced.  There's a nice weight to these, as there should be to any good bassline.

Beat Loops - Finally, we have the Beat Loops folder, which is made up of drum loops.  The loops are presented in multiple variations often with just the kick, just the kick and the hats, the tops, and the whole thing together.  This gives you a lot of flexibility for building your tracks and avoiding that canned "looped" sound you get from using the same loop for the entire song.  Production here is really nice, with a nice, round bottom end and some tasty saturation.

THE DRUM HITS
The drum hit library is also subdivided into categories: Kick Drums, Percussion, Toms & Big Drums, Atmospheric, Background, & FX, Snare & Claps, and Hats & Cymbals.  Each of these folders is further subdivided into folders containing the unprocessed samples and the samples processed through analog gear.  I love the option of processing the sounds on my own if I want to, so kudos for offering that flexibility.

Kick Drums - This was probably my favorite section.  As you might expect, you get tons of 909 kicks processed and tuned in different ways, clicky Linndrum like kicks, sustaining 808 monsters, doofy synth kicks, and everything in between. The processed versions in particular really shine with just the right mix of warmth and punch.

Percussion - The Percussion folder is a grab bag of all manner of percussion.  Tribal toms, synthetic chirps, congas, cowbells, wood blocks, and more are on offer in many different versions.  Again, a mix of synthetic and organic sounding samples are presented.

Toms & Big Drums - This folder is filled with tom-tom like sounds including some absolutely spectacular-sounding 909 toms (seriously, these are punchy as hell!)  Many of these sounds have enough low frequency oomph that they would be good candidates for layering with kick drums.

Snares & Claps - This was probably my least favorite of the library.  While there are some nice, solid 909 snares, the majority are extremely dated sounding sampled drums.  I understand this might be appropriate for some styles of classic house, but honestly, you probably already have a lot of similar snare and clap samples already.  I would've liked to have seen more creativity here in melding the old and the new.  Obviously, you can layer and process these yourself to build your own hybrids, but I didn't hear anything here I was dying to load into my sampler.

Atmospheric, Background, & FX - Here you'll find another grab bag of all sorts of FX, textures, and odd sounds to add some sonic interest to your tracks.  There's some cool stuff here, but little of it struck me as being particularly 'housey'.  That said, who can't use some more FX samples?

Hats & Cymbals - Finally, we have a folder chock full of hihats and cymbal sounds.  This folder is subdivided into separate folders for closed hats, open hats, and crashes.  Among the hats you'll find the expected 909 cymbals and a heaping of sampled hats of all sorts.  The crashes, unfortunately, just consist of the 909 crash at several different tuning values.  Granted, that's a staple of classic house, but I definitely think some other options here would've been nice.

THE VERDICT
If you're looking to put together some house tracks, this is certainly a fine collection to get started with.  The sound quality is great, and the British versions of the single hit samples in particular have that perfect slamming club sound.  As previously mentioned, there are a few weak spots, but for the most part the library is really nice.  I don't even make house and I look forward to playing around with these samples! [8/10]




Alesis Ion on eBay

Info at the listing...