How To: Above & Beyond - 'Sun In Your Eyes'

Published on Jul 27, 2018 Kris Lennox

"A few notes: the performance on the vid isn't the exact structure of the original piece (i.e. at some points in the original, chord 1 is held for more than 4 bars etc) - consider it a springboard you can work from. For this reason I haven't focused too much on exactly replicating the tone of the original. The point is showing how to get close to the tone etc.

In terms of gear - again, no need to have a MB or the specific delay I'm using - especially given these aren't what were used on the original. Neither existed back then! You'll be able to get close with a basic delay, and a basic synth.

On the original track (which is here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ba-c6...) the delay is running throughout - but it's good to hear how the sequence sounds without the delay, purely for reference, and to hear the difference it gives the overall feel.

Delay settings - be sure to sync the delay rate to the tempo, as opposed to manually inputting a millisecond value. Also, the values I'm using may be vastly different depending on your own delay: judge with your ear.

I intentionally omitted the frequency cutoff positive and negative values of the delay (i.e. delay EQ) from this vid as these values can have huge variation across delay pedals. Again, go with your ears.

In terms of the actual sequence length: 4 beats/16 semiquavers. A 16 step sequencer is all you need.

Also - you may have to pause the vid to garner all the info in the initial section, but I felt it best to have the info appearing as/when the alterations were happening in the performance.

Given a large chunk of my channel subscribers are classical musicians/listeners, I say the following - respectfully - but it should be taken on board:

Many classical musicians have very fixed ideas of other styles of music - often dismissively so - especially with dance/electronic music.

It should be known that many, many dance musicians are actually highly trained classical musicians - off the top of my head I can think of 5 who are graduates of the likes of the Guildhall School of Music. The guys know what they are doing - but are choosing to write in a specific genre - no different from when a jazz or classical musician chooses to write in a jazz/classical style.

Yes - there may be the dance music association with hard drugs and rampant sex on a beach in Ibiza - but this is a stereotype.

If there's any doubt as to the skill of dance composers: try writing a dance song. Or - ask Jon Hopkins what he thinks of it. He openly states that a piano work often takes him only minutes, but a dance song takes him months.

I'm not saying it has to be 'one or the other' - but rather - try to approach it with an open mind. Plus - writing dance/electronic music is bloody good fun!

RE Above & Beyond - have a listen to their acoustic sessions. Stunning. And a good demonstration they clearly know what they are doing in how they write music.

Personally, my favourite Trance artists are probably A & B, and Chicane ('Sum of All Parts' is a great album). I'll probably do some vids on Chicane's music in the near future.

All best
Kris"

Pantala Labs Planets + Noise Engineering BIA

Published on Jul 27, 2018 Gibran PantalaLabs

via Github:

"Eurorack module with 3 channels of Euclidean Rhythms. For channels 2 and 3 there is a Rotate button to advance the step grid each time it is pressed and the Gravity button to create a behaviour correlation between tem."

RNA 2CPO INTRODUCTION

Published on Jul 27, 2018 Really Nice Audio

"The 2CPO audio to trigger convertor is a slim and simple way to control your modular from a spare of outputs on your sound card.
It works great with a pair of hardware sampler outputs enabling easy syncing of modular to sampler sequencer.

In this demo we connect the outputs from a sound card into the 2CPO. The outputs from the 2CPO are connected to the CLOCK and RESET inputs of a Music From Outer Space 16 step sequencer.

With slight modification the 2CPO can also be used with phones etc enabling sync over wifi with app like Ableton Live."

"This 2CPO module is a 2 channel audio to trigger convertor. It can enable 'audio engine locked' sync of hardware sequencers as well as many other duties.

OPTIONS:
The REGULAR option is suitable for Balanced to Unbalanced connections. This has RED LED's.
The PHONE option has a higher gain setting suited to mobile phone output levels (for use with Ableton Sync etc.) This has YELLOW LED's

Come with Power Cable, Screws and Washers"

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Synthesized Sounds For Young Humans by Justin Maxwell

A new album from Justin Maxwell just released today. It's available on BandCamp, Spotify, Beatport, and soon on iTunes. Be sure to check out his other releases as well!

"My latest album is out today, on the amazing Touched label (where all proceeds go to charity). I wrote this between 2014-2016. Tons of analog on it (described better in the liner notes [see below]). One song is all Endorphines Furthrrr generator, another is all 303, etc."

Pics of the release via Justin on Facebook.

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Spectra Sighting | Spectra Calling

Published on Jul 27, 2018 Time_Controlled_Organism

"Starring Spectra

Catch it at https://vcvrack.com/Spectra.html

Find my music at https://timecontrolledorganism.bandca..."

Spectra Calling

New DIY Vocoder Demo - 18-channel Analog Stereo Vocoder and Formant System

Published on Jul 27, 2018 Glubsch Productions

"Update 2018-07-30: for more information about this DIY vocoder, go to http://vocoder.hoerold.com.

The video demonstrates a variety of vocoder settings using the text of the German song "Für mich soll"s rote Rosen regnen" (red roses shall rain down for me), followed by a few samples of vocoded voice accompanied by analog synthesizer sounds.

Playlist:
0:00 Introduction ("Für mich soll's rote Rosen regnen", originally sung by Hildegard Knef)
3:50 Autobahn -- Kraftwerk
4:40 Silence bridging
5:10 "Wir sind die Roboter" ("We are the robots") -- Kraftwerk
6:12 We are the Borg...
6:53 "Transformer man" -- Neil Young
7:38 "Mr. Roboto" -- Styx
8:12 "Daisy Bell" -- Harry Dacre"

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Novation Circuit Mono - In Depth Review - Software Update!

Published on Jul 27, 2018 Andertons Music Tech Dept.

Fanfare For JP

Published on Jul 27, 2018 MrFirechild

"Using analog synthesizers like the Yamaha CS-80, Prophet-T8, Minimoog, SEM Pro´s, OB-Xa, OB-6, modular stuff and a spanish guitar we try to capture the sound of an epic ride through time and space. The track is called Fanfare for JP. Composed and produced by www.firechild.se"

Power DX7 Going Global Part 5 - San Francisco, America 4K

Published on Jul 27, 2018 Power DX7

"Now I'm going to another amazing place in America!!

What a beautiful city, San Francisco is!

Best result using 4K TV!

Music created using only Yamaha DX7 MK1 (except drums). It's a re-mix version of 'Soft Dance'.
- Waaah Male Choir
- Soft Square Bass
- Gamelan like bells
- Saw Filter Sweep
- Slow Ice Strings
- Soft, Warm and Silky Pad"

Dewtron Mister Bassman Synth Bass Pedalboard

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"The Dewtrons were only available for a short time in the UK and came either as a DIY kit or you could order them pre-assembled. Famous users of these Bass Pedals are Chris Squire and Mike Rutherford from GENESIS. There are the pedals that creates the thunder in Cinema Show.

Extremely rare bit of kit to have in your collection."

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