It was a tour whose initial dates sold out in just ten minutes. A tour which nobody thought could ever happen. But March 2013 saw the impossible become reality… and Yamaha digital mixing consoles played their full part in reuniting the classic line up of Status Quo – otherwise known as the ‘Frantic Four’ – on stage for the first time in over 30 years.
It’s nt a real secret that Vince Clarke is one of our heroes. So the video below is a plaesure to watch as Arturia went to Vince Clarke (Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure, The Assembly) to talk to this synth legend at his studio in New-York, talking about MiniBrute, his relation to synths and his up-coming projects.
In today’s über-connected world, it’s easy to become inured by the nearly endless procession of cookie-cutter bands on the Web. But when a breath of fresh air like Alt-J comes along, it’s proof positive that great music stands out on its own merits. In almost no time at all, the Leeds, UK-based quartet has captured the ears of millions of music lovers, with each gig playing to ever-larger sold-out crowds.
That the Polish producer Tomasz Twardowski knows his gear is evident from listening to his latest 12″, A Soundtrack To Growing Up EP. Everything is in the right place. The dance floor not set on fire by the sound, feel, groove and character of his neo-disco boogie is not worth its name.
Mackie announces a powerful new control app for the popular DL1608 and new DL806 Digital Live Sound Mixers – My Fader – is now available as a free download. Based on the acclaimed user interface and workflow of the Master Fader iPad control app, My Fader provides the perfect set of features for on-stage performers controlling their own monitor mix. My Fader is also great for the FOH engineer who needs a handy tool that allows pocketable wireless control from anywhere in the venue.
Drummer Thomas Holmen is a very busy guy. As guardian of the groove for Danish pop-rock sensations Infernal, Holmen spends his days on the road, cranking a powerful backbeat for one of Denmark’s most popular bands.
Hailing from London, Ben Westbeech is one heck of a talent from the British Isles who became known back in 2007, releasing tunes via Gilles Peterson’s label Brownswood Recordings and other equally exciting imprints including Strictly Rhythm, Dirtybird and Cross Town Rebels. Right from his debut album Welcome to the Best Years of Your Life through to the hit single Fatherless, Ben’s been producing his tracks with Steinberg Cubase. As a DJ he’s been playing from New York to Tokyo under his own name or his moniker Breach, which shows a deeper side of his love for house music, and under whom the EP Jack is about to be released on the seasoned Dirtybird label. He also runs his label Naked Naked, releasing music from the likes of Midland, Dusky and Dark Sky.
Ross Birchard is Hudson Mohawke – an artist who constantly pushes the expectations and boundaries of scenes and genres. One of the most influential and forward thinking producers currently. His appetite for sounds started at a young age. A UK DMC finalist at 15, DJing was the focus. It’s through his production that he has grown into the artist he is today and that has taken the kid from Glasgow, to the world.
If you don’t know yet, Depeche Mode is about to release a new album soon. Several websites and magazines have been reporting on it already. Some friends in Sweden (Teenage Engineering) have been talking to Christoffer Berg who did a lot of the programming for this new DM ‘Delta Machine’ album. Below is the interview they did with Christoffer.
For nearly as long as dubstep has gone from being an experimental subgenre to the juggernaut world-dominating scene that it is today, Grime has been its lesser known cousin – developing right alongside dubstep but staying safely in the underground. It’s not that we haven’t all heard grime beats before but masterful grime producers have been weaving the sounds into pop songs and remixes in ways we don’t realize, effectively sneaking grime into our playlists. Propellerhead recently met up with respected grime producer, Preditah, to walk through his latest instrumental beat.
From Livingston Taylor to Ziggy Marley, U2 to The Red Clay Ramblers, Grammy-winning producer Glenn Rosenstein‘s multi-decade discography is both lengthy and delightfully eclectic. So it’s hardly surprising that Rosenstein jumped at the opportunity to take on a project unlike anything he’d done before.
On a recent trip to LA, Sonnox dropped in to Mirrorball Entertainment, to chat with multi-Grammy winning mix engineer Tony Maserati. Fortunately they had a camera with them, so they filmed it! In the six videos, Tony discusses some really interesting subjects such as Subtractive Equalisation, and how mixing for today’s music consumer is very different to what it was 10 years ago
Sasha is a DJ who almost needs no introduction, but we’re going to give him one anyway… A living legend to many and certainly a widely-acknowledged inspiration to a plethora of DJs all around thanks to his advanced skills, blending tracks together into one seamless composition and playing with keys and chords like no other DJ. It was a complete honour for Point Blank to be able to not only speak with Sasha over the phone for this interview, but also to welcome him into Point Blank a few weeks back where he took a tour of the college.
With inspiration ranging all the way from grime to flamenco, listening to the French hiphop outfit Ghostown is a bit like turning the frequency knob on a radio receiving signals from all corners of the world. Rael Powell, the beatsmith and vocalist of the project, explains how he masters his loops.
Renowned techno DJ and producer, Gayle San, has adopted the Xone:DB4 as her mixer of choice for touring and production work. Gayle San started DJing 18 years ago with vinyl, then progressed to CDs, and most recently her set up is digital, originally based around the Xone:4D and now the new Xone:DB4 mixer and Xone:K2 controller.