Based in Los Angeles, Critical Mass Productions is a collective of award winning professionals at the forefront of sound design and music production for film, video games, records and commercials. One of the founders is Tobias Enhus – a scientist of sound and master of sonic terror.
Just a few months ago we got the opportunity for doing an interview with the current CEO of Focusrite (and Novation) Phil Dudderidge. After doing some reasearch we found that mr. Dudderidge is quite a remarkable man. In his early years he worked as a sound engineer. For a while he was even the live sound engineer of Led Zeppelin. From here on his path lead to developing and customizing PA systems and live mixing consoles and eventually in founding Soundcraft. Short after Soundcraft got sold to Harmann Industries, mr. Dudderidge bought the assets of Focusrite from, initial founder, Rupert Neve. And that’s where this journey began.
Below are some of the new releases we have encountered this week on the Loops and Samples front. Just like the quality of the audio software we use these days the quality of the content we use (loops and samples) equally matches the high standards of this software. Below is this weeks selection.
Denon has released some new vinyl discs to show off your style with the new colored replacement vinyls for the SC3900 and DN-S3700 Digital DJ Controllers. Available in three colors (Clear, White, and Blue), these vinyl accessories for your fit perfectly on your Denon DJ direct drive platters and give you that true vinyl feel.
This time on the testbench, Volfram, a multi effects plugin by a relatively young company called Subsonic Labs. Volfram is capable of a wide range of different fx like: Chorus, Delay, Distortion, Filter, Flanger, Phaser and more. With a clearly laid out GUI it doesn’t take a lot of time to get on a roll with this beauty.
IK Multimedia have announced that have stgarted shipping their iRig Blueboard Midi pedalboard. It is the first wireless MIDI pedalboard for iOS and Mac that allows you to control your music apps and more from the floor.
Below are some of the new releases we have encountered this week on the Loops and Samples front. Just like the quality of the audio software we use these days the quality of the content we use (loops and samples) equally matches the high standards of this software. Below is this weeks selection.
The guys behind the Mixed In Key harmonic analysis software for DJ, have been quiet for about a year now. But with good reason as they have been working hard on a new software…. A DJ mixing software! And to be honest that is a bold move with several very strong players in this market already like Native Instruments Traktor and Serato. Fully aware of that, MIK have developed a software that does give new features that will give new creative possibilities for a DJ.
The Producertech team are excited to announce the first of many live teaching events, starting in November with 2 Ableton Live weekends by certified trainer Rob Jones. These weekends, one for Beginners and one for Advanced level users, include 2 full days of training on Ableton software and music production in general, as well as instruction on Ableton’s control surface Push, free online courses and £100 worth of samples from Loopmasters.
Introducing the RAVEN MTi by Slate Media Technology, the world’s first multi touch DAW control surface. The RAVEN MTi is a state-of-the-art multitouch DAW and software controller featuring the RAVEN MIXER, a powerful multitouch mixer that can control all major DAWs and a flexible and user-customizable, multifunction TOOLBAR.
Superstar Bruno Mars finished the North American leg of his Moonshine Jungle Tour in September a run that consisted of over 40 U.S. and Canadian dates, a spectacular appearance on the MTV Video Music Awards, and an announcement that he will perform at the Pepsi Super Bowl XLVIII Halftime Show on February 2, 2014. This month, the Moonshine Jungle Tour continues on to Europe before setting out to Australia and New Zealand in early 2014. Bruno and his band rely on Sennheiser microphones and wireless systems.
For ADE, there’s always the possibility a visitor could come back the next year as a performer. To make this possible, Waves are making their ADE debut by introducing The Art Of The Mix, a four-day event series featuring mixing workshops led by some of dance music’s biggest stars including Dave Audé and Omid 16B. In between sessions, Yoni Leviatan of Waves will be demoing the Element synth and give visitors a chance to play it themselves.
Even though JBL are not that well know in Europe for their product line of reference monitors, unlike in the US, their new 3 series may help with this. The new 3 series are JBL entry level reference monitors that come in 2 models. The LSR305 with a 5″woofer and the LSR308 with a 8″woofer. We will test the LSR308 and compare them with the competitors in the same price range. To that extent the price range isn’t entry level for your average producer. But of course there is a difference in sound quality. So these monitors are more like the 2nd pair you’d buy if you learned your first monitors don’t cut it anymore.
Yet, … another quite original and ‘special’ new controller/instrument. According to developers Naonext it is much more than a controller, a real instrument: an interface based on movement, the Crystall Ball allows for intuitive control of MIDI synthesizers and computer-aided creation software.
Raw Cutz is the fresh sample label from Erik Svahn and Matt Pelling, the guys behind Loopmasters and Equipped Music – it’s a fresh look at the world of sampling through the eyes of those that have been involved with the sampling industry since its inception in the early 1990s.