Friday, August 31, 2012

Visitor - COMING HOME (Viceroy Remix) [Free Download]



Here's the latest track from the upcoming Visitor release, Coming Home//RNB.  It's a free download, and a goodie, so check it out.  The EP will be released on the 10th of September.  Be sure to check it out, as the other tracks so far have all been stellar.

Novation announces the MiniNova

 

New synth from Novation.  Digital, in the same style as the MicroKorg, but with some nice extra features.  Check out the videos from Novation.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Korg to announce a new product on 9/4. Will it be a MiniBrute competitor?




While the above are only renders, Korg is set to announce a new product on September 4th.  Because the MiniBrute is selling so well and no retailer can keep it in stock, could Korg be finally stepping in to capitalize on some fans who are tired of waiting?

Roland is also set to announce a new instrument tomorrow, but due to the company's track record with new analogs, it seems unlikely.  But again, perhaps the temptation of seeing companies do well will open their mind.

The above renders are an unlikely but awesome reality, so let's hope we get something close to that.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

A nice collection of EXS24 sounds and Logic Tutorials



If you head over to logic-cafe.com, you can find an excellent selection of free EXS24 presets of vintage drum machines, or just the drum samples themselves for any of you non-logic users.  There's also a host of Tutorials if you're new to Logic and want to pick up some skills.  I uncovered this site while searching for some EMU Emulator sounds.  Here's a link to the some EMU SP-12 sounds, which are awesomely retro, as well.

Check it out!

Madeon - The City



At this point you either love or hate Madeon.  Here's his newest track in his string of singles, and this one is his poppiest and most radio friendly to date.  If anything, Madeon's certainly setting his sights on radio play at this point.  What do you think?

Saturday, August 25, 2012

The Making of Mama - Genesis


I came across this incredible collection of home videos of Genesis making their self titled record (called the Mama record in some instances) and I thought I had to share it since it's such a cool look into making records at the time. There are multiple videos of this, so hopefully the playlist works correctly.  You can hear them doing multiple tracks from the album.  Check it out.

Friday, August 24, 2012

Rheyne - 8/23/12 - Live Jam #51


Rheyne never ceases to amaze with his jam skills.  Such a cool little setup and he releases so many of these.  Nice work!

Clouds (The Sanfernando Sound Remix)


Here's a new remix video from The Sanfernando Sound.  Some incredible old-school sounds on this one, and the introduction is pure Blade Runner.  What more could you ask for?

Thursday, August 23, 2012

VISITOR - COMING HOME (Lifelike Remix)



Now this remix has been floating around for roughly a year now, but it has finally found its way to a proper release, and I'm very excited.  Lifelike is absolutely magical in his reworking of "Coming Home" by Visitor.  This is a perfect track for the club, with an incredible head bob fist pump quality to it.  Dig it.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Jupiter-8V2 Review - How does the Jupiter stand up with a fresh pair of 64-bit legs?


From the upgraded collection of the Arturia plugins comes another vintage synth, the Jupiter-8V2.  The Jupiter-8 is, again, regarded as one of the classic and legendary 80s synths.  A quick look on eBay will show you that right now, these are hot, going for as high as $8,000, which is money you could build an entire studio with.  The Roland Jupiter-8 was first released in 1981 and was Roland's first great synth.  It offered all the bells and whistles of the time-- it was multitimbral, it had an arpeggiator, dual oscillators for each of the 8 voices, and two envelopes.  These are pretty standard and almost expected today, but at the time, it was an important step forward.  Roland filters have always had a unique sound to them, and the Jupiter-8 is no different, being the favorite for many who are making string sounds.  Of course, it does many other fantastic sounds as well.

Peter Gabriel and Fairlight CMI


Here's an old video of Peter Gabriel working in the studio.  Gotta love his use of the Fairlight CMI and his creative songwriting.

Monday, August 20, 2012

Topless Interview


Topless is a stunning duo from the Netherlands breaking on to the scene with incredible retro style and 80s synth grooves.  The band's eponymous EP arrived early this year with the fantastic single "Say You Love Me" (video and track below), among other old-school hits.  I was immediately intrigued by the perfect balance of high production quality without skimping on the retro vibe, so I had to get in touch with Topless.  The band was signed to Instant-Replay last year, so thankfully, plenty more music is on the horizon.  Be sure to read the full interview below.

Besides, when else can you search the word "Topless" and genuinely not intend to find something dirty?



Modified Concertmate/Moog MG1 Samples


"Sorry about the video cut out near the end...the camera ran out of memory. The audio is recorded directly from an added 1/4" audio out jack in the back.

A very small sample of possible sounds with the following modifications:


- Four LFO Speeds: 1/4 Original, 1/2 Original, Original, and Hyper speed
- Contour to Tone Source 2 for Sync Sweep or Pitch Swoops
- Disengage LFO to Tone Source 1
- Octave switch for Tone Source 1 for four octaves: -3, -2, -1, 0.
- TS1/TS2 Frequency Modulation"

Courtesy of MatrixSynth

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Mopho x4 Demo- Dave Smith Instruments


Since everyone is looking for more information from the new DSI Mopho x4, I thought I'd reshare this video from DSI showcasing some of the new sounds.

"Carson Day demonstrates some factory sounds on our new Mopho x4 polyphonic analog synthesizer. Except for the programs that are obviously played on the keyboard, the x4 is receiving MIDI data from an external sequencer in this demo."

Fred Falke at the Blockley Review, August 17th, 2012

Fred with opener Goldroom while switching between sets
Hey everyone.  Got to check out Fred Falke playing at the Blockley in Philadelphia last night.  If you've seen Fred before, you know it's a treat.  Fred combines standard DJing through Ableton Live with live bass playing.  It adds a really fun element into the mix and it's not your standard "turn knobs all night" affair.  He's got a huge selection of fantastic tracks and remixes to choose from, so there's never a dull moment in the set.  He even mixed in some funky drum and bass just to keep things interesting.

Some highlights for me include "Reaching Out", which is a Hall and Oates/Nero mix, which builds up to jumping moments.  There's also the always popular remix of Robyn, which takes "Dancing On My Own" from a pumping pop song into a smoother, bassier affair.

Also, have to give a shoutout to Goldroom who opened with an excellent set of his own.

Be sure to check the rest of Fred's upcoming tour dates on here on Facebook.  Seriously, I wouldn't miss any of these.

Check out more pictures below.



Friday, August 17, 2012

New Alan Braxe Mixes


Here are two new fantastic mixes from Alan Braxe.  Always great to hear a new mix from the legendary French producer, who brings something new every time.  I hope we hear more from this great label soon.  Be sure to check out his Q&A with thefuture.fm.

Mindscramble - Upstart (2012 Remix)



Here's a track from Mindscramble being released on the Synthwave Vol 1 Compilation.  Incredibly 80s, and I dig it.  There's that nice pumping beat and some smooth keyboard work.

Shook - Summerheat (feat. Pumashock)


Here's a new track from Shook called "Summerheat".  Shook's usual bag of tricks like Moog-y bass and a great rthym section are all present here, and it's a delight.  There's some really great piano work, too.  Be sure to grab it from Bandcamp.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Topless - "Say You Love Me" Music Video


Here is Topless's new music video for "Say You Love Me".  Not only is this a phenomenal song, but the video is incredibly stylish and cool.  I'm really blown away by this duo-- their production is very professional, and they capture 80s pop so well.  The bassline of this track is straight out of 1987, and I'm reminded of so many greats.

Let's hope to hear more from Topless soon!

Starsmith - "Zeros"



Starsmith has released an exciting new free track entitled "Zeros".  Though the song doesn't seem to be released for any occasion, perhaps we can hope to see more tracks from the producer behind Ellie Goulding soon.

Friday, August 10, 2012

Pro Tools Expert's Review of the Arturia MiniBrute


"Russ gets his hands on the Arturia analogue synth and takes it for a spin.

See and hear what he thinks of this little baby."


Here's a lengthy review of the new MiniBrute.

Moog updates Animoog


Moog has updated the Animoog with some nice new features, like better MIDI controlling.  Read on below for more info.

"The latest version of Animoog is here with exciting updates as well as new features. Integrating this incredible synthesizer into your performance and production environment just got easier.

New Features Include:

The recording time in Animoog has now doubled to accommodate extended looping and jam time.

Most of Animoog’s controls and features can now be mapped to MIDI CC numbers. Just tap and turn!

Animoog presets are now organized neatly into categories.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Lightwaves - Spirit Gun EP



Coming August 25th is Lightwaves' debut EP, which you can hear all of above.  It's got a few of his well known tracks with a couple newer ones thrown in the mix as well.  I'm a huge fan of "All The Way Down" for its classic synth pop melody and great chorus.  The newest track "Endless Highway" shines through as another great jam.  This EP is really a fantastic piece of work, and I'm glad we're getting it before summer's end.

Be sure to grab it August 25th!

Harts - All Too Real (Diamond Cut Remix)



It's been too darn long since we've heard some Diamond Cut.  Here's DC's new remix of Harts' track "All Too Real".  We've got some incredible synth warmth happening on this track, and it's a total dance floor banger.  I wouldn't expect anything less from Diamond Cut, who's been a favorite of mine since our interview last year.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Queen of Hearts - Only Love (Extended Version) (Ben Howard cover)



Here's a new cover from Queen of Hearts.  The original is "Only Love" by Ben Howard, and QoH has created a beautiful club synth landscape for our ears.  Some info courtesy of their SoundCloud:

"In this the Jubilee year, we can’t get enough of Queens. Good news then that Queen of Hearts has announced she will be releasing an EP of new material in September.

Ahead of that she has a treat for us in the form of a dreamy electronica cover of Ben Howard’s beautiful Only Love.

Queen of Hearts will also be doing dates around the UK including London Live in Hyde Park, Manchester Pride and Vogue Fashion Night Out in London.

CATCH QUEEN OF HEARTS LIVE

Saturday August 11
London Live
Hyde Park, London

Saturday August 25
Manchester Pride
Manchester

Thursday September 6
Vogue Fashion Night Out
London

'Only Love' produced by John Myers"

Electric Youth - "The Best Thing"



Here's a cool "song of the day" courtesy of Electric Youth.  I heard this song performed live only a couple of weeks ago, and it translates to the studio quite well.  Even cooler-- the band is working with Vince Clarke, a real hero of synthesizer music.

"We've released our new single 'The Best Thing' Today!

We worked on it with the amazing Vince Clarke (founder of our fav groups Depeche Mode, Yaz & Erasure) and plan to work further with him on our debut album once we come off tour."

Bonus: if you're unfamiliar with Vince Clarke, here's a classic look at Vince in the studio in 1985 (or 1987, if one of the comments is correct).

   

She's the Queen prep "Talk to Me" Single



She's the Queen have announced their new single "Talk to Me".

From the band:

"We are insanely proud to announce that our Talk To Me single will be released via electronic rumors on the 24th September, with reMixes from Lightwaves, digitalfoxgloveODahl and Silenx. Not to mention our amazing music vid director Aaron Alexis :)
Here's the cover!!!"

Be on the lookout for this on the 24th of September!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Dave Smith Instruments announces the Mopho x4


From GearJunkies:
"Dave Smith Instruments is just a week away from introducing DSI's new Mopho x4 synthesizer keyboard to the world. This new synth is polyphonic Mopho keyboard! The Mopho x4 is the newest addition to DSI's revered line of analog subtractive synthesizers. Building upon the same award winning voice architecture of the Mopho and Mopho Keyboard, the Mopho x4 boasts huge sound and 4 voice polyphony in an ideally sized, portable, and elegantly designed package. Use it to create huge unison basses, creamy leads, maniacal sequences, and ethereal pads. The Mopho x4 is sure to satisfy all your polyphonic analog synthesis needs.

Arturia Prophet-V2 Review


A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about Arturia stepping up their game recently and revamping their line of softsynths into the new 64-bit future, meaning they'll run better on newer machines that have 64-bit processing.  Since this blog has been around for only a year, this offers me a unique opportunity to revisit some of their older plugins.  I was given 3 for review, and the first one I'll be talking about is the classic Prophet-V2 plugin, based on the Sequential Circuits Prophet 5.

If you don't know, the Prophet 5 is a classic.  It's been incredibly popular since its release in 1978, and was a huge step forward for synthesizer technology, being one of the first to have patch memory and polyphonic sound -- hence the "5", for the 5 voices, in the name.  The synthesizer has been used by so many greats-- off the top of my head, Phil Collins-- that its status as legend has propelled its price point up into the thousands range.  Enter Arturia, who take classic and convert them to code so the average musician can enjoy and perform with the sounds of the legends.