Lawrie Cape from England sent me an email this morning with details of a new project he/she has been working on called Cellular AutoMidi. It’s a generative audio app running inside Adobe Air. It has internal sounds but also uses the Flash Midi Server system so you can control VSTs with it. If you don’t have your copy of Audio Damage’s Automaton at work this could get your Cellular Automata algorithm fix in!

Cellular AutoMidi from Lawrie Cape on Vimeo.

“I’ve just finished work on a generative audio app called Cellular Automidi. Cellular AutoMidi is a generative music app, making “music” based on a modified Cellular Automata algorithm. It can make music itself, or you can use it as a midi controller with other software/equipment. Each cell can be alive or dead. Once in a generation, each cell looks at it’s surrounding cells, and dies if it is lonely or overcrowded. If a dead cell has an optimum amount of neighbors, it will come to life! Each generation, all the cells which have come to life will sound a note. The notes are assigned based on the cell’s y position, and are all in the pentatonic scale.” – Lawrie Cape

Free download: lawriecape.co.uk/theblog/index.php/archives/735

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Wave Alchemy has released a free sample pack of the vintage analog Roland TR-606 drum machine. Four free kits are included titled: Driven Kit, Dry Kit, Stereo FX Kit and Warm Kit. To grab the samples: click here

“606 Drums by Wave Alchemy serves up 290 drum samples from Roland’s sought-after TR-606 drum machine. The samples included have been lovingly recorded through an API pre-amp with many sounds boasting multiple round robin variations, accent and velocity layers! 606 Drums contains four pre-mapped drum kit patches for use with Kontakt 2, 3, & 4 and Battery 3. Each kit makes extensive use of multiple velocity layers, round robin sample playback and choke groups to create truly expressive sample instruments.” – Wave Alchemy

Disclaimer: Wave Alchemy is an advertiser on Wire to the Ear.

photo credit: BatterseaTrump

via Synthtopia

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Goldbaby has recorded some more drum machines to tape. The new Vol.3 sample pack is $29. He has some good free packs on his site too. Having a few Ableton Impulse patches created out of these nicely recorded machines is handy.

“Drum Machines used: RZ-1, TR-55, XD-5, MFB-522, DDM-110, DDM-220, DPM-48, RX-21L, R-100, ED-10, PB-300 and the DSM-1. The Tape machines used: Otari MX5050 1/4″, Rolla 77 valve mono 1/4 inch, and the Hitachi Cassette deck. Plus the UBK Fatso was also used!” – goldbaby.co.nz

For audio samples and more info: goldbaby.co.nz

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Here’s a link to some audio samples from The European Organization for Nuclear Research’s (CERN) Large Hadron Collider and computer room. Listen and download the samples: click here

“Above all, we want everyone to be able to share in the wonder and excitement of the greatest experiment ever built. We feel passionately that everyone is capable of appreciating what is happening at CERN and that it is the responsibility of those of us already `in the know’ to find new and better ways of sharing the awe-inspiring magnificence of it all. The LHC belongs to us all; you paid for it to be built and you will enjoy the technological advances it brings.” – lhcsound.com

For more info: lhcsound.com

photo credit: AndiH

via Matrixsynth

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For those who like there music making with a heavy click swing, deep bass and the flavor of Berlin.

“The Live Sets were made exclusively for Ableton by ten artists from the Minus roster. Each Set comes with a companion Lesson that reveals insights into the artist’s musical vision and offers valuable production tips. Includes material from: Click Box, Hobo, Heartthrob & Troy Pierce, Magda, Marc Houle, Fabrizio Maurizi, Barem, Ambivalent, JPLS and Gaiser. This Live Pack requires Live 8.1.3 or higher. To install the Pack, download it, unzip it and double-click the .alp file. You’ll then be asked where to save the contents of the Pack.”

Download the Live Pack: click here

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Free Glitches Vol.01 Demo by Bronto Scorpio

Here’s a free sample pack of glitches from Dennis Harms at Bronto Scorpio Music. To download: click here

“Don’t expect pseudo analog stuff here! You get 120 weird, digital noises with this pack! These sounds are perfect for Autechre, Richard Devine, Aphex Twin like tracks, but can also add some special elements to other tracks. I designed these sounds over the last few months and thought it would be cool to share them with you. The pack contains 120 24Bit/44Khz wave files and a simple Kontakt (3.5 or higher) instrument where the samples are mapped across the keyboard. Mod- and pitchwheel do some crazy things in this instrument too!” – brontoscorpiomusic

For more info: brontoscorpiomusic.blogspot.com

photo credit: mikrosopht [deleted]

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Totalmusik is a NY sales rep for Metasonix and Eowave gear. They seems to also record the equipment and make sample libraries with the blessings of the manufacturers. They have released a Kontakt Polyphonic Wretch Machine sample pack. The samples were recorded to tape and they also included some Impulse Responses. The pack is 2GB and will run you $65. It’s on sale now for $50.

“For this library, no attention to detail was spared in capturing the true essence of this instrument. The Wretch Machine features a dual gas-tube oscillator configuration – each oscillator is switchable between three waveforms: Saw, Squarer and Subosc (squarer with suboctave). Realizing that everything sounds better through tape, and our personal philosophy that “Old is Good, Old and Broken is BetterTM” – we enlisted the assistance of our TEAC Reel to Reel to handle our tape transfer needs.” – totalmusik.com

For more info: totalmusik.com

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I’m lucky to have my own driveway in NYC. I’m also lucky to have a beautiful apple tree that blooms to park underneath. The only problem is hundreds of birds love this tree too. Therefore going to the car wash has become a routine trip. I’m amazed that for $10 you can get a full car wash that includes a full cleaning of the interior too.

Car Wash by thingstocome

My mother is a avid gardener. There were four large planters outside my building that were just dirt and weeds to I asked her to help me choose some plants to fix the situation. You can see the full set of photos of my “garden”: click here

Van Houten Farms by thingstocome

You can hear more of my field recordings here: soundcloud.com/thingstocome/sets/field-recordings

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Today I would like to welcome a new sponsor at Wire to the Ear: Wave Alchemy. You can see there advert running on the top right sidebar of this blog. I’ve turned down a lot of advertising requests from companies that were totally unrelated to pro-audio. Why diamond and shoe companies think this is a good place to advertise I don’t know! Wave Alchemy are based out of Nottingham in the UK. They sell sample libraries that are 100% royalty free and every sample is 100% original (not ripped from vinyl or anywhere else). Even if your not ready to buy anything it’s worth a visit to their site because each pack has a free sample set. There’s also a few totally free sample packs such “Club Kicks” and “Odyssey FX”. Robert Babicz (Rob Acid), Chris Lake and Martin Eyerer are a few of the artists using Wave Alchemy’s stuff.

I hope you welcome them as it does help Wire to the Ear stay on your computer screen.

For more info: http://wavealchemy.co.uk

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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

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