Music Making Month has crested over the hill and now we are winding down to the last full week of events. We’ve come a long way, learned a ton, and even survived the end of the world on Saturday. What better way to celebrate that fact than with MORE Music Making Month Events!
Sometimes you see the ‘strangest’ maybe most interesting stuff on the internet. And yes we see a lot here at the Gearjunkies HQ, or people send us stuff that might be interesting. So this morning we were send this picture below. The Yamaha Motif XF Rack version. First impression is mostly “oh wow” that looks cool. But after a few seconds often this enthusiasm is tempered. Is this thing for real? The picture being a computer rendering, we do have our doubts…
Back around 2006, T-Mobile Germany made this rather comprehensive film on techno giant Richie Hawtin for its Electronic Beats marketing series. Thankfully, the doc is pretty bereft of cell-phone branding junk, and focuses solely on the DJ/producer’s rise to fame, from his humble, Canada-by-way-of-Britain beginnings to his current status as the toast of Berlin’s techno scene. This is the first time that the documentary has been viewable online, so enjoy the 70-odd minutes of classic Detroit footage and interviews with the likes of Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson, Mute label head Daniel Miller, DJ Magda, Hawtin’s ever-involved parents, and, of course, Hawtin himself.
Like there is no tomorrow Mario Jurisch has finished work on yet another DIY hardware controller for the Poly-Ana Admiral Quality VST Instrument.
Roland is pleased to announce that the RD-300NX Digital Stage Piano, the latest and most affordable member of its popular RD-series stage piano lineup, is now available. A state-of-the-art stage piano that boasts an advanced SuperNATURAL® Piano sound engine, electric piano sounds based on SuperNATURAL technology, a newly developed Ivory Feel-G keyboard with Escapement, and a unique Sound Focus feature, the RD-300NX offers players of all levels superior digital piano performance at a breakthrough price.
A pessimist would say that Music Making Month is half over. An optimist would say it’s only half begun. But a regular viewer to our events so far would say, “Don’t bother me with that. I’m busy making music!” This week in Music Making Month is one of our busiest and biggest yet, with some exciting new additions too.
Many, many years ago when we started Gearjunkies, we had to come up with a name. We wanted it to reflect the thought we had in our minds: the love for gear. Marc, Mark and myself (Eric) had a common love for electronic music but also the affection for the gear that made this music. That was when the name ‘Gearjunkies’ came into the picture and pretty soon we decided that this would be the name for our ‘project’: Gearjunkies!
This just came in from the Beatport Blog. A rare opportunity to get world fame (well kinda). Swedish gent and top notch producer Hakan Lidbo is a true musical maverick who reflects the times we live in. He has produced everything from easy listening electro pop, techno, electroclash, house and electronica for labels like Skam, Pokerflat, PAPER Recordings, Skint, Tommy Boy, and Ministry of Sound. He has remixed for Kool Keith, Plastic City, Ennio Morrocone, Depeche Mode, Trentemøller, Fever Ray and on. He also curates the Stockholm electronic arts festival Voltfestivalen.
Composer Keith Kenniff: “After learning about the tragic events of the Japanese earthquake on March 11th my wife, Hollie, and I were talking about ways to help. We decided to ask a few friends to join a compilation to help raise money. A few quickly became many as we were overwhelmed and warmed by the eagerness of these musicians to get involved.”
Dino Soldo is a multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter. He plays numerous instruments live for huge stars such as Lionel Richie, Leonard Cohen and Beyoncé, and has various self-penned albums. On stage, a wide assortment of instruments encircles him. Saxophones, wind instruments and harmonica, guitars, keyboards, percussion items, and in his own words, “some damn strange controllers”.
Kurzweil is proud to announce the release of the new Sound Download Library exclusively for the PC3K line of Synthesizer Workstations. Now available for free download on Kurzweil’s web site, the first two collections of samples and programs available in the library are from Kurzweil’s acclaimed Synthscapes and Take 6 Vocals. Originally developed for the legendary K Series keyboards, these incredible sound collections have been brought forward to the PC3K series continuing Kurzweil’s commitment to non-obsolescence by design. Many more samples and program collections will be provided in the near future further adding value to owners of PC3K keyboards.
Novation just published this cool video of Novation’s resident Controllerist jamming on an UltraNova and three Launchpads with Ableton Live.
Follow the life of the Minimoog Synthesizer from its inception through its prolific contributions to poplular music throughout the last 4 decades. In this first installment documenting the journey of the Minimoog synth through the 1970’s, we explore the musicians and the people that were instrumental in bringing the instrument to prominence. We also sit with one of Moog Music’s earliest engineers, Bill Hemsath, who recalls the process of the Minimoog’s birth and sheds some light on what sets the Moog synthesizer apart from other analog synths.
While the sun is shining here nicely and we are close to joining the nation on Queensday here, we thought to share this quickly. It is a fan video for the track Derezzed, from the TRON 2 original soundtrack. The video is directed and animated by Arnaud Faure. Allthough we usually post audio related material, we share this video too. We think you’ll enjoy it too. Arnaud did a good job!
Propellerhead dubs May 2011 as “Music Making Month,” a month-long set of activities to inspire and help people with their music creating endeavors, whatever they may be. During the month, Propellerhead will serve up a packed schedule with daily online events including interactive workshops, Q&A sessions with artists, new tutorial content, webcasts of live events and clinics from places around the world and much more. Activities are designed for any musician or producer regardless of production tools used or instruments played.