Dubstep supergroup Magnetic Man (Artwork, Benga & Skream) talk to Novation TV about their live setup, which comprises 3x Zero SL MkII MIDI controllers, and Focusrite Saffire Pro 14 audio interfaces. Together with three Mac laptops (linked together via their own ‘secret’ recipe) running Ableton Live. Novation caught up with them in Barvelona recently where the trio tell us more about this live setup.
Thanks to Phil Morse we came across this new video of the new (little) Pioneer DJ Controller which will be presented and officially released on the 29th of september at the BPM Show. This new controller will cost ‘considerably’ less then its two ‘fathers’, the DDJ-T1 and the DDJ-S1. We heart some rumours that it would be named the DDJ-T2, but we have our doubts as the controller will be shipped with a custom skinned version of the Virtual DJ Software.
This video is to me like ‘a sign of the times‘. With the ‘fast’ evolution of DJ’ing and the equipment used by DJs this video shows exactly what’s going on these days. Komatsushima is using a Pioneer DJM-900, CDJ-2000, EFX-1000, Ableton Live, an iPad, Korg Kaossilator and Touch OSC to do a ‘mash-up’ of “Diabla (Metrik Remix)” by Funk D’ Void and “Flashback (Accapella)” by Calvin Harris.
This past week Pioneer put a picture of a new DJ controller on their Facebook page. The general view or expectations were that it would be a ‘smaller’, ‘lighter’ version of their recent released DDJ-T1 / DDJ-S1 controllers. Looking at the video we can only say yes and no. The controller clearly has the Pioneer ‘LOOK’ but then again it also stand its own ground when it comes to design. Just see for yourself. After watching the video we just desperately want those details about this new controller. Pioneer’s statement: “…. coming soon!”
Mason is a DJ and Producers duo from The Netherlands. With a recently released their debut album ‘They are Among Us‘. On this album there are quite the collaborations with some big names in the industry, like Roison Murphy, Kurtis Blow, DMC, Sam Sparro, Aqualung and Sway. The guys felt the need to bring their music to the stage just like a rockband would do. The video actually shows how they did that with the help of Ableton Live and explain how they synced verything on their live system.
Reason 6 introduces three new creative effect devices: Pulveriser, Alligator, and The Echo. In this micro tutorial you’ll get a look at the Alligator Triple Filtered Gate. Gates are commonly found in electronic dance music and are widely loved by producers and audiences, alike. They add rhythm and texture to otherwise flat sounds like pads and sustained chords. A well-crafted gate pattern can make up the hook for a catchy track. In this tutorial, we’ll introduce you to gate effects done “Alligator style” and show you a few ways to use them in your own music, regardless of what genre you make.
To bring his solo productions to the stage, Nicolas Jaar expanded his sound to include a live band. Playing Ableton Live with his band, Nicolas leads a set full of improvisation and creative transitions. Ableton caught up with Nicolas and his band at Sonar 2011 for an incredible performance.
Soon Koma Elektronik will release some cool new video’s about their new effect pedals starring Dutch artist Marlon Penn. This clip is one take of the filmshootings from the beginning of this month. No editing, no color correction, just the raw footage and camera sound of Marlon playing around with the KOMA Elektronik BD101. It’s a Analog Gate/Delay with a lot of possibilities, here with just a guitar and an amp.
What can the Keith McMillen Instruments SoftStep do with Ableton Live? Performance, production, stage, studio, SoftStep from Keith McMillen Instruments does it all. This video showcases some of what SoftStep can do when controlling music software such as Ableton Live. Featured are various control setups for performance and studio situations. SoftStep is the worlds first first Multi-Touch, pressure, and motion sensitive foot controller.
The Pulveriser plugin is one of the three new effect devices within Reason 6, next to the Alligator en the Echo. In this micro tutorial Propellerhead take a look at the Pulveriser. Pulveriser is a sound demolition unit capable of destroying your signal but before you turn those knobs up to eleven, I wanted to show you that Pulveriser also excels at being an audio sweetener. In today’s world of pristine digital recording, meticulously sampled instruments, and quantized MIDI it’s sometimes necessary to add a little color and grit to your otherwise perfect material.
The ‘Rome Calling’ pro-audio seminar in early June was a great success! The Eternal City created a perfect frame for the event, and the keynote speakers willingly shared all of their expertise on recording, mixing, mastering and broadcasting with the participants.
Maybe you saw this video already this week, as it was a hit on the internet on Twitter and many blogs. But we thought to share it with you because it is just one of those really nice, really cool videos for the 30+ (of age), as the video takes us back to some hits of the 90s! Just enjoy (it again)!
Beatport is one of the major download websites for EDM (Electronic Dance Music). For years and years the website has been operated on the Flash platform. Several months ago they developed a ‘next version’ website running HTML-5. After a beta test period Beatport is now celebrating the formal launch of their newly re-engineered site. More than 20 percent of the Beatport customers were a part of the beta testing and feedback process.
The Octatrack DPS-1 is an 8 track dynamic performance sampler. The Octatrack is ideal for radical audio processing and performance oriented sampling. Every track features real-time pitch scaling & time stretch and the next generation Elektron step sequencer has been designed with maximum usability and efficiency in mind.
The video below is from Madeon, a 17 year old DJ/producer from France. He uses the Novation controller to make a live mash-up with numerous tracks (check out this Youtube description for the complete tracklist). The Launchpad is purpose built for triggering and manipulating clips in Live, it also offers a totally new way of controlling Ableton Live’s mixer. Launchpad’s buttons can be used to sketch out beats with drum racks, and they can be assigned to other functions in Live using Ableton’s ‘Learn’ mode.