Siesta Submarina is one of the more interesting contemporary techno acts that have emerged from Norway. His live sets are techno in the truest sense; deep, evolving, mechanic and yet strangely human. Improvising when performing, while always keeping a keen ear on detail and rhythm, are inspiring trademarks of his.
Zki & Dobre (known by other aliases, but most well known as The Goodmen and Chocolate Puma), are a Dutch house music duo from Haarlem, Netherlands. They comprise Gaston Steenkist (“Dobre”) and René ter Horst (“DJ Zki”). They have produced multiple dance hits under various group names since the early 1990s. For their upcoming compilation Pssst Music Assorti 1 they went up to their studio’s attic in search for some old master tapes. Doing so, they stumbled upon some old studio equipment they have been using over the years. Watch the video and see all the great goodies they have used, that we’ll all love!
Alex from Source Distribution (UK) gives us a comprehensive run down on the almighty, Moog Minitaur analogue synthesizer – featuring 2 oscillators, the classic Moog ladder Taurus filter, MIDI and CV. Perfect for stage or studio. This new synth from Moog is by now worldwide available.
Today a sad episode of our ‘Something for the Weekend’ post. Today, friday, we got the news that Adam Yauch a.k.a. MCA from The Beastie Boys died, probably, as a result of cancer. Yauch co-founded Beastie Boys in 1979 with Mike D, Mix Master Mike and Ad Roc. The Beastie Boys are one of the most important and influential hip-hop groups of all time. They were instrumental in making hip-hop a global, mainstream force. Formed in 1981 as a hardcore band, they combined punk and rap into a singular sound that grew increasingly broad over the years, encompassing a vast array of genres. We are truly saddened by this news. Therefor in honour of Adam we post on the greatest videos (we think) of the Beastie Boys, ‘Three MC’s and One DJ‘.
One of the few good kept secrets was the release of a ‘little’ Roland Jupiter at this years MusikMesse. The JUPITER-50 is equipped with a sound engine that’s the sonic equal of its big brother JUPITER-80, containing most of the SuperNATURAL acoustic and synthesizer tones found in the JUPITER-80. It also retains the same Live Set architecture, where four separate sound engines can be stacked together to create massive voices such as classic fat synth tones. Users can even import JUPITER-80 sound data into the JUPITER-50. In addition, powerful multi-effects and reverb are onboard for studio-quality sound processing.
The story of Stevie Wonder’s technical challenge to Ray Kurzweil that ultimately motivates the inception of Kurzweil Music Systems.
The sounds of the Roland TR-808 drum machine inspire musicians around the world, even though the device hasn’t been made since 1984 and most of its avid users have never actually seen one.
Music software and hardware company Arturia is proud to announce availability of its newly-developed SPARK Vintage Drum Machines (Standalone, VST 2.4 & 3 — 32-bit and 64-bit, RTAS and US — 32- and 64-bit) software instrument, placing 30 legendary drum machines at discerning musicians’ rhythmic fingertips!
In a world where manufacturers keep making the life of a DJ easier with all kinds of ‘sync’ functions, there will always be people who do things … differently! The video below shows us how you still can do a reasonably proper DJ set with a totally exotic approach. Why not use two Elektron Octatracks and just sync it oldskool … by ear!?
Native Instruments recently unveiled the details behind the upcoming debut performance by Mostly Robot. Conceived by the music technology company itself, the band is made up of five highly-renowned musicians, each celebrated in their own field: Jamie Lidell, Tim Exile, Jeremy Ellis, Mr Jimmy and DJ Shiftee.
To be honest, at first I really thought this was some kind of a joke. However, after viewing this short documentary my initial thought completely changed. I got moved and inspired by Robbie Wilde‘s story. His passion, his ambition, his persistence, is … really awesome. We take our hat off to ‘that deaf dj‘!
The songs emanating from the mind of the Japan based producer Loopdrape are old school, yet strangely modern. You get the impression that each sound is carefully selected to fill a distinct purpose and it’s next to impossible to not be sucked in by the hypnotic feel of tracks like Jiwlvld or Pulsedroid.
With a unique sound generator at its heart, and the tools to add unprecedented movement and evolving changes, BLADE is an additive synthesis engine that has an individual character and flexibility never seen before in a software synth. With the video below Rob Rapen shows us more about the features of the “Harmolator” within Blade.
The world is listening – Many of you already use SoundCloud, the world’s leading social sound platform, to share your creations on the internet. Ableton has now teamed up with SoundCloud to give all Live 8 and Suite 8 users 5 months of SoundCloud Pro for free, a value of EUR 145/USD 190. This offer is valid for all existing users, upgrades and new purchases of Ableton Live 8 and Suite 8 registered by May 31, 2012.
RØDE Microphones is very excited to announce today’s launch of ‘RØDE Rocks’ – an international band competition designed to locate and showcase the best in independent, unsigned talent around the world and reward them with an all expenses paid recording session in Hollywood with renowned producer Alain Johannes, as well as studio prize packs consisting of microphones and speakers.