Metro is one of my all time favorite songs. Check out Berlin’s lead singer Terri Nunn on Terri on VH1′s Where Are They Now? She talks about what pushed her to make the vocals and she says what I always say: The best music comes from frustration. Synths and sex forever people.
“Berlin is an American synthpop band. The group was formed in Los Angeles in 1978 by John Crawford (bass guitar). Bandmembers included Crawford, Terri Nunn (vocals), David Diamond (keyboards), Ric Olsen (guitar), Matt Reid (keyboards) and Rod Learned (drums). Learned left during the first EU tour and was replaced by Rob Brill (drums). The band gained mainstream-commercial success in the early 1980s with singles including “The Metro”, “Sex (I’m A…)”, “No More Words” and then in the mid 80s with chart-topping single “Take My Breath Away” from the 1986 film Top Gun.” – Wikipedia
I really love the technology in Yamaha’s Vocaloid series. Basically it’s a sequencer that allows you to play a synthetic voice. The newest Vocaloid incarnation is named Avanna. From what I understand these voices are used a lot by videogame producers and some are even stars in Japan. Unfortunately this is PC only software but many of us have virtual machines these days. It would be more useful if I could re-wire it into Ableton on my Mac side though. This version is $130 USD. Let me know if any of you use Vocaloid in your own productions.
“AVANNA is the clearest and sweetest sounding English vocaloid yet. Ideally suited to pop and celtic, she can also be used in a myriad of musical styles. The new Vocaloid 3 interface allows you to import wav files so Avanna can sing along with your compositions from within Vocaloid. Avanna also comes with a default reverb for added realism and you can add vibrato and expression to her voice. Whether it’s sweet and pure leads, harmonies or backing vocals, Avanna can sing anything you like any time you want!” – soundsonline.com/a>
Newcleus the same band that brought us Jam on It also brought us this robotic love song called Automan. Check out the fantastic Roland TB-303 bassline. I’m made of wires…wires…wires…
“There ain’t no way that I could ever love you.” – Newcleus
This entry was written by Oliver Chesler, posted on March 25, 2013 at 12:40 pm, filed under music and tagged Automan, Newcleus, rap. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post. This post currently has 1 comments.
Later today I am going to The Silent Barn at 603 Bushwick Ave., Brooklyn, New York 11206. There is an event called Modular Equinox that will be running from 5:30PM – 1:00AM. A huge number of modular synthesizer performances and installations will be taking place. Be sure to click to the event page to see the lineup. See you tonight!
“Drew McDowall (Coil) + many more — installations and workshops”
“The Wobblatron. Wobble, tweak, modulate, filter, scream, wibble, wub wub streaming audio into new exciting things. Run any audio through it and turn it into sub-atomic bass!!!” – Ned Rush
The Wobblatron by Ned Rush is a very cool new Ableton device that lets you do more than just Wobble your sound. Check out the video to see it in action. I can see this getting a lot of use. Available now for $25.
Sometimes you need a very basic great techno track. Ronan Portela’s Among Noise remixed by Jonas Kopp hits the spot. If you don’t go out often trust me if this is playing in a club people will be dancing.
“Jonas Kopp was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1981. He has been a producer since he was 19 years old.” – Discogs
Here’s a nice video overview of the new MMG Eurorack module from Make Noise. Like all of Tony Orlando’s Rolando’s creations it has many features and uses.
“A vactrol based Voltage Controlled Filter and Low Pass Gate using our QMMG core. The MMG bridges the Far East and West Coast synthesis styles by allowing for highly resonant acidic squelch and organic, percussive animations to be programmed simultaneously with a single module.” – Make Noise
This entry was written by Oliver Chesler, posted on March 19, 2013 at 4:12 am, filed under modular, synthesizer. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post. This post currently has 3 comments.
A California newspaper is reporting that Peter Murphy was arrested for a DUI hit and run this morning. Beyond the tradegy of someone getting hurt I found some things reported funny and ironic. First off the king of goth drives a Subaru Forester? He also stated to Police he’s on anti-depressants. As it’s standard to say, “Let’s hope he finds the help he needs.”. The link to the full report is below.
“Inside the Los Angeles police patrol car where Murphy had been detained, officers reported finding a small plastic bag, possibly of methamphetamine, police said. Murphy denied the bag belonged to him, but officers said they believed he was trying to discard it in the patrol car.” – glendalenewspress.com
There will be a Theremin concert next Wednesday, March 27th in New York City. It will take place at Joe’s Pub at the Public theater on 425 Lafayette Street. The show starts at 9:30PM. I think I will go to this one!
“Performances on Theremin by: Dorit Chrysler, Benjamin Ickies, Scott Robinson, Rob Schwimmer, & special guest Joe McGinty on Therevox. We are pleased to continue the NY Theremin Society’s concert series by announcing an exciting line-up of accomplished Theremin Virtuosos to perform March 27th at Joe’s Pub. Thereminists include Dorit Chrysler, Benjamin Ickes, Rob Schwimmer and Scott Robinson as well as special guest Joe McGinty on Therevox. Each player has their own unique style and approach to the instrument making for a night full of contrasts and musical surprises. ATTENTION: May contain some very rare theremin duetting or trios! Join the growing movement of infatuation with the Theremin in the 21st century!” – thereminworld.com
About a month ago I mentioned an upcoming EBM compilation from Sweden called Inside the Volcano. My song Heart of Steel appears on the very nicely packaged release. It’s now available for pre-order.
“Finaly it has arrived CCP2CD001 Inside The Volcano Vol. 1. This goes out to all preorder today.” – CCP
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