I was pleasantly surprised to hear an ice cream truck on my block yesterday. I snapped a photo and recorded the melody the truck was playing. It has to be one of the happiest sounds ever created.
Ice Cream Truck by thingstocome
This entry was written by , posted on March 12, 2010 at 5:49 am, filed under sounds and tagged ice cream, ice cream truck, sample. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
A real analog kick processed by some monster hardware boxes. Record it 65 ways and give it away free. That’s what Wave Alchemy just did. Hey, it got me to their site to look around.
“65 24-bit 100% royalty free kick drum (Jomox AIRBase 99) samples which have been recorded through an A-grade signal chain including devices such as the Thermionic Culture Vulture, Empirical Labs Distressor and API 512c pre-amp.” – wavealchemy.co.uk
Get your free samples here: http://www.wavealchemy.co.uk/club_kicks_2/pid60/fr
via Synthtopia
This entry was written by , posted on March 3, 2010 at 5:58 am, filed under sounds and tagged Airbase, API, API 512C, compressor, Distressor, drum machine, Empirical Labs, free, Jomox, kick drums, samples, Thermionic Culture Vulture. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Reverse Reverb from Rupert Brown on Vimeo.
I like these type of online music tech shows so I hope The DSP Project gains many episodes. I use this reverse reverb effect quite often. Sometimes I add a distortion unit after the reverb to really make the effect scream. Definitely check out my post: The Kick Boom, Thunderverb song writing element.
“In this episode I will show you how to create the reverse reverb effect in Ableton live (but technique can be used in any DAW) and put it into context by using it in a real project.” – Rupert Brown
Ever use this technique in your own productions?
This entry was written by , posted on February 12, 2010 at 8:59 am, filed under Ableton Live, song writing, sounds and tagged ableton, reverb, reverse reverb, Rupert Brown, sequencer, The DSP Project. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
I’ll admit to a production secret: sometimes I use MIDI files containing drum patterns. I cut my teeth in the early 90s making beats on countless records using various drum machines and sequencers. However, like an old boxer I always seem to throw the same punches. The only way for me to get some totally new grooves is to rely on Herbie Hancock or others who sold their patterns. Well ok often I use randomizers but that’s the not the point of this blog post. Today Groove Monkee released a new set of prefab drum beat MIDI files. This one’s called Twisted Beats and you get 800 for $29.95. If you order today (Wednesday Feb 10, 2010) you can get $10 off with the code: twitter10
“Twisted Beats is a unique collection of over 800 four measure MIDI loops for contemporary music with Rock, RnB World and Fusion influences. A wide range of old and new school influences are represented here: Dave Matthews, Herbie Hancock, The Mars Volta, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Meters, Paul Simon, Prince, etc. The grooves were played by a professional studio drummer or expertly programmed in order to get exactly the right feel. We’ve selected only beats with an infectious “feel” or “groove”; this is NOT just a random collection of unusable beats.” – groovemonkee.com
For more info: click here
via gearwire.com
This entry was written by , posted on February 10, 2010 at 9:34 am, filed under song writing, sounds and tagged drums, Groove Monkee, midi, pattern, sequencer, Twisted Beats. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QxN1u7KWDM
So I’ve been playing with Voice Band (iTunes link) for about 30 minutes and I can definitely say it’s fun. Like many iPhone Apps I will surely use this from time to time for a weird intro or background part in a song. All it takes is a simple import of the audio into Ableton Live. This does a similar trick as the now unfortunately discontinued Antares Kantos plug-in. Anyone remember Kantos? Read the Sound on Sound review of Kantos: click here
“A new iPhone app that turns your voice into an instrument in real time. You sing into the iPhone, and it turns it into a guitar or a bass, synth, etc.” – WaveMachine Labs, Inc.
For more info: wavemachinelabs.com
This entry was written by , posted on January 10, 2010 at 4:00 pm, filed under iPhone, song writing, sounds and tagged Antares, iPhone, Kantos, Voice Band, WaveMachine Labs. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
TOPLAPapp and GRID from Oliver Chesler on Vimeo.
Here’s a video I make of two terrific iPhone Apps that make random digital sounds. TOPLAPapp (iTunes link) and Grid (iTunes link) are must haves for any noise nerds out there.
“TOPLAPapp is a sonic puzzle based around a virtual machine for sound synthesis. This machine only accepts a few valid instructions, and you control it by placing each command letter within a grid, along with setting some associated parameter sliders. The machine runs through the grid, following the instructions to create the output sounds, which are usually of a somewhat noisy character, hopefully interestingly so. The historical antecedents include instruction synthesis as pionneered at the Institute of Sonology in the 1970s, and the live coding movement, of modifying a running program as it acts.” – Nick Collins
For more info: Nick Collins and Kin
This entry was written by , posted on January 8, 2010 at 7:13 am, filed under iPhone, sounds, synthesizer and tagged Grid, iPhone, Kin, Nick Collins, noise, TOPLAPapp. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Humans are born with a musical instrument attached to their face. All they have to do is mush their lips together and blow to make pretty sounds. Germany’s Best Service has released Whistler. A Native Instruments Kontakt library full of real human and bird whistles. I think this is pretty interesting. Why not add a background layer of whistle at the end of a song now and then? Sitting on the Dock of a Bay (iTunes link) by Otis Redding comes to mind.
“With the help of talented whistler Eduardo Tarilonte and a few birds, Best Service has released Whistler (19.99 EUR or approximately $30), a comprehensive library of every type of whistle tone you can imagine. No synths were used to create this library” – gearwire.com
Whistler is about 20 Euros. For more info: www.bestservice.de
This entry was written by , posted on December 14, 2009 at 5:38 am, filed under sounds and tagged Best Service, birds, Kontakt, native instruments, Otis Redding, whistle, whistler. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s92YywVZSPQ
I once owned a Magnavox Odyssey 2 (Wikipedia link) videogame system. I also spent a good amount of time at two Arcades. Galaxy and Mr. Arcade were their names and sadly they are both gone. I remember there was this gum filled grape candy I used to love. It was like a square Blow Pop without the stick. So no wonder when anything 8Bit retro pops up on my computer screen I stop for a minute and think to myself, “Yeah this is cool somehow”. 8Bitone (iTunes link) looks very solid and Vocoder Synthesizer SV-5 (iTunes link) look useful beyond retroness. I really like making music and every now throwing in the iPhone’s audio.
“This tune is ‘Behind The Mask’ by Yellow Magic Orchestra. So I performed on 8Bitone and Vocoder SV-5 that is iPhone/iPod touch musical apps by Yudo. 8Bitone is retro 8-bit sound monophonic Synthesizer and 4 track Sequencer. SV-5 is authentic Vocoder and polyphonic Synthesizer like a Roland VP-330.” – humanmaestro
8Bitone and Vocoder Synthesizer SV-5 are .99. Insert Coin!
This entry was written by , posted on November 23, 2009 at 6:16 am, filed under apple, iPhone, sounds, synthesizer and tagged 8bit, 8Bitone, apple, iPhone, retro, Vocoder SV-5, Yello Magic Orchestra, Yudo. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnxVVXzWhto
I love early Soft Cell demo tapes. There was a CD compilation called Science Fiction Stories (Discogs link) that had a collection of these early Soft Cell treats. If you like that super analog, detuned, noisy madness than you will love the new Analogue Systems rs440 delay. Liquid Sky music fans would also get along with this unit too. If your still reading and get what I am talking about AND lust as I do for such sounding things then watch the above video and find $325. Got the cash? Here’s the link: bigcitymusic
“Analogue Systems has just released a brand new module, the rs440 BBD Analogue Delay. This is an awesome sounding delay, utilizing a Panasonic 3011 BBD chip. Analogue Systems has done a great job keeping the price down on this voltage controllable delay. There is some clock noise at longer delay times but the use of a low pass filter after can easily rid you of it. Actually, the clock noise is pretty fun. You can use it as an effect!” – bigcitymusic
For more info: www.analoguesystems.co.uk
This entry was written by , posted on October 28, 2009 at 5:40 am, filed under hardware, sounds and tagged Analogue Systems, delay, modular, rs440. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhy2dU1hZOY
My studio in the early 90s was full of hardware mixers and long patch cable strung all over the place. Before computers with fast CPUs the way to get an original sound was simply plugging hardware boxes into each other. Electrocomp-101 synthesizer into a Boss Pedal into a Korg Digital Delay and so forth. I always felt like a pioneer pushing the equipment to unintended limits.
My favorite trick that I never actually heard anyone else do was something I called the “Wicked 106″. I created 16 slightly different patches on a Roland Juno-106. Next, I would create a 16th note pattern in Dr. Ts KCS. Here’s the trick: I would then put a different Program Change (number) on each of the steps. You never heard a Juno-106 sound so interesting. It really made the 106 sound like a modular going through a step sequencer.
“What most don’t know about the original TR-808, aside from it’s original voices (sounds) there is a “pulse” sound that you can hear when plugging a cable from the ACcent trigger out, it generates a metallic “zap” sound very similar to a Hi Q (sound from the Roland R-8) This sound was used in “Egypt Egypt” and “Funkbox” from Masterdon. THIS IS HOW THE SOUND IS DONE!!!!” – intromix
Do you remember an old hardware trick you used to do?
This entry was written by , posted on October 16, 2009 at 4:43 am, filed under hardware, sounds, synthesizer and tagged drum machine, Juno-106, program change, roland, tr-808. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
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