Here is a video of LL Cool J at CES showing off his new collaborative recording studio service Boomdizzle. There’s a bunch of these services now. Ohm Studio comes to mind as a recent entry. I wonder if people are really using any of these and making complete songs. We did learn Mama Said Knock You Out took 14 takes and LL knows who Leonard Cohen is. The best thing is this video isn’t about branded headphones! In case you were wondering my fav Cool J Track is Rock the Bells.
“LL Cool J launches his remote music-recording software, called Boomdizzle, to the stage at CES 2012 and lays down some tracks with B-Teezy!” – Cnet
A couple of months ago Steinberg re-released one of his classic synths the Model-E. Today they re-released Neon and Karlette. Neon was the first soft synth I ever used. What a trip down memory lane! I’m very tempted to make a track using only Neon instances. Are we going to get a 2012 version of the Koblo Vibra9000 next?
“Throughout the long history of Steinberg, many products have come and gone, many have been superseded by new variants and others have been dropped completely. Once in a while, however, some of our developers like to dig up one of these long forgotten gems and polish it ready for current operating systems.” – Steinberg.net
Mini Organs are Japanese collectables that come in a wide variety. Check on eBay and you will find often they sell for $200+. I really like this detuned turntable guy the Panasonic SG-123. Honestly I almost can’t believe so much of this weird stuff ever existed.
“Simply great! Listen to your own favourites and play to them. A masterpiece of a time where mothers were happy and children were creative!” – miniorgan.com
I recently completely rewired my music studio. I now have years of hardware all patched into 30+ inputs via a Motu 828MK3h and two Behringer ADA8000′s. I have all the hardware one click ready in Ableton as External Instrument devices. This means all my hardware is also plugged in powered. One problem I noticed was my Presonus Central Station, Analog Solutions Telemark Synth, Doepfer Dark Time and Ekdahl Moisterizer all do not have power switches. I really didn’t need them all on all the time so after some hunting I discovered the American DJ PC100A. There’s really nothing much to the unit other than a power strip with 8 on/off switches. It works and it’s inexpensive. $29.99 at Amazon.
“the PC100A features 8 lighted switches and a 15A resettable circuit breaker” – americandj.com
Could it be a $600 100% analog Moog with MIDI based on the Taurus pedals will be announced at Namm? It seems so!
“The MINITAUR is a compact table-top monophonic MIDI-and-CV-controllable analog bass synthesizer module with a 100% analog audio signal path, based on the design of the Taurus 3 bass synthesizer.” – proaudiostar.com
My friend Collin Strange posted a link to a Tumblr blog called Goths up Trees which is photos of Goths in trees. Honestly this is what the internet was invented for. Let’s hope they keep adding to it.
“The goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify.” – Wikipedia
As usual in January I’ve been reading a lot of best of last year lists. One iOS game that was on everyone’s list that I overlooked is called Forget Me Not. I mention it here because its got great retro arcade sounds to it. I’ve been playing it over and over just to hear it. In the app store for $1.99.
“Run around the infinite, ever changing corridors of the NEON DUNJUN, gathering flowers and shooting everything. ZAP! Grab the key to the next floor.. try not to let monsters take it off you. Once you’ve picked all the flowers, the doorway shall appear… Grind the walls for a speed boost and the power of squishing!” – nyarlu.net
Depression is a battle many musicians fight. The darkness itself can be an incredible muse if it’s not debilitating. Listen to the great words of Leonard Cohen and let yourself be happy enough to produce your art.
“Good work is produced in spite of suffering… as a victory over suffering.” – Leonard Cohen
2011 was electric. 2012 will be electrifying! Happy New Year!!!
“There are a variety of popular beliefs about the year 2012. These beliefs range from the spiritually transformative to the apocalyptic, and center upon various interpretations of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar.” – Wikipedia
The Belgian electronic body music group Front 242 is one of my all time favorite bands. Anything before the album Tyranny for You was incredibly original and creative. Like many great bands that continue to make music there is a cut off where things changed. The early albums which focused on Jean-Luc De Meyer vocals and military aesthetics had me fully hooked. Anything after that time period I simply can’t listen to. The canon of “good stuff” they recorded is large so I’m really not complaining. In the late 80s I collected every piece of 242 music and memorabilia I could find. Back then there was no eBay so Manhattan record stores were the hunting ground. The most rare thing I own is a Front by Front DAT Cassette. Every few months I still check eBay to see what 242 stuff is there. Once I saw the arm bands then someone bought them and I never saw them for sale again. Some friends (Pet Duo) of mine went to see them live in Berlin last night so I decided to look around online for old 242 stuff. Amazingly I found a blog called Front 242 Collector that has great photos of the arm bands and all sorts of finds.
“this is without a doubt one of the most collectible and hardest to come by Front 242 items: the Front 242 armband! Back in the day, before Transmission 242 there was the 242 Propaganda Unit. This was one of the “Propaganda Supports.” You can see 242 sporting this armband on the Official Warfare Tour and in videos. The armband was offered for sale in the Propaganda Unit catalogue (I will post this someday as well). The cost for the 242 Armband was 50 BF in Belgium, 70 BF in Europe, and 100 BF in other countries (+ postage). Today, when they do come up for sale, expect to pay upwards of $200-$250 at times! The armband is made of leather with beautiful “242″ stitching and attaches to the arm with velcro. The Propaganda Unit logo is stamped inside and I believe they were numbered? This example happens to be #63.” – target242
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