OT: OG Ice T shows how to disassemble a Mac that is giving you problems.

I don’t know about you – but there have been a couple of days where I’ve wanted to do this.

Boston based virtual instrument manufacturer SONiVOX has introduced Sampla – Hip Hop Production Sampler, a new virtual sampler plug-in for MAC and PC designed for fast sampling and beat creation for hip hop producers.

Features:

• MPC style editing & slicing for easy instrument & beat creation
• Imports Wav, Acid, Broadcast Wav, Aiff, & MP3 Format Files
  Easy to use record functionality for real time sampling
• Over 250 factory preset instruments and pad layouts
• 16 user assignable pads
• Tempo Sync Stereo Delay, EQ, and Chorus Effects
• Assignable filter section with 10 filter types
• Graphic waveform display with zoom, click, and drag functionality
• Midi Learn & Save functionality, Sampla is instantly compatible with any
• MIDI keyboard or pad control
• Pad-Specific Variable Resolution Note Repeat and Pattern Arpeggiation Mode
• PC Standalone, VST and RTAS Compatibility.
• MAC Standalone, AU, VST, and RTAS Compatibility.

Sampla is available now with a MSRP of $149 and an introductory street price of $99.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Description:

Sampla’s unique design bridges the gap between MPC style sampling and the computer based virtual instrument environment. Sampla allows users to easily record, slice, loop, and assign (keymap) their ownrecorded samples as well as any of their own wav, acid, aiff, and mp3 samples.

In addition to the flexibility provided by Sampla’s sampler engine, Sampla’s “Learn Mode” allows users to interface their MIDI pad controllers and controller keyboards directly with Sampla.

Sampla is packed with a diverse and extensive factory sound bank, all recorded and programmed by SONiVOX’s award winning sounddesign team, with over 250 high end instrument presets and pad layouts.

Included are acoustic and electronic drumkits, basses, keyboards, leads, guitars, strings, brass, pads, vocals, symphonic construction kits, scensorship bleeps and blips, as well as a selection of loops from the SONiVOX LoopLine series.

The Beat Kangz have introduced PlayaThang (App Store link) – a beat playback application for the iPhone.

Description:

PlayaThang offers simple playback of high quality pre-loaded content – 20 professional beats (3 in the FREE version) created by The Beat Kangz; including mixes by Grammy award winning engineer Commissioner Gordon (Lauren Hill, Damien Marley, KRS-One, Amy Winehouse).

PlayaThang lets you mute, solo and change volume for each of the 8 stereo tracks that make up each beat. You can create your own arrangements of the beats on the fly, write or freestyle until you work it out.

It’s designed for mixtapes, albums, and demos; and all the content comes with a free license. Just give the Kangz a shout on the production credits. The Beat Kangz say that you’ll soon be able to download all beats as hi resolution multitracked files from BeatKangz.com, too.

The Brett Domino Trio uses the new Stylophone Beatbox in their latest video, a medley of old school rap tracks.

via brettdomino:

Myself and Steven Peavis performing a medley of our favorite hip-hop songs, entirely on the new Stylophone Beatbox instruments.

• Featuring: ‘Rapper’s Delight’ – Sugar Hill Gang.
• ‘Jump Around’ – House of Pain.
• ‘Boom! Shake The Room’ – DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince.

The Stylophone Beatbox will be in the shops from November.

Also at Firebox, Amazon and HMV online.

http://www.brettdomino.com

Beat Thang Virtual: In the studio, with pint-sized beatmakers IcyCold & MX Dub.

via BeatKangz:

13 year-old IcyCold & his 11 year-old brother MX Dub are veteran beat makers. This is their first time playing Beat Thang Virtual.

This is a quick demo that shows how you can browse sounds and samples on Native Instruments Maschine, from the hardware, and how this lets you make music without looking up from the controller.

via SoundsAndGear

DJ Jazzy Jeff demonstrates some of the possibilities available when using Serato Scratch Live and Ableton Live together.

via SeratoHQ:

iPhone music apps: This is a sneak preview of The Strange Agency’s Slice, a beat-juggling app coming soon to the iPhone and iPod touch.

via TheStrangeAgency

This is the music video for Herbie Hancock’s monster electronic dance classic, Rockit. It was released as a single from his 1983 album Future Shock.

The song was written by Hancock, bass guitarist Bill Laswell and synthesizer/drum machine programmer Michael Beinhorn.

via limahl81:

Constructed and composed during the recording process at various studios, including Martin Bisi’s in Brooklyn NY, “Rockit” was perhaps the first popular single to feature scratching and other turntablist techniques, performed by GrandMixer D.ST – an influential DJ in the early years of turntablism – using turntables as a musical instrument. Later turntablists, such as DJ Qbert and Mix Master Mike, cited Rockit as revelatory in the documentary film Scratch, inspiring their interest in the instrument.

The record GrandMixer D.ST. used for scratching in Rockit was Change The Beat by B-Side, released in 1982 on Celluloid Records.

Atlantic City, New Jersey Hosted the 2009 DJ EXPO where Beat Kangz Electronics demoed The Beat Thang Virtual for the godfather of hip hop dance music, Afrika BamBaataa.

The Beat Kangz have also announced a promotion – purchase a copy of The Beat Thang Virtual and the Beat Kangz will send a copy to the school of your choice.

Best quote: “What company has rappin prez & VPz bangin beatz???”

The Zro Hour caught up with the Beat Kangz to interview them about The Beat Thang sampling drum machine, and how they moved from creating sample sets to creating functional specs and getting manufacturers to create a new drum machine.

DJ Magazine took the Akai Pro MPD32 for a spin.

The MPD32 is a MIDI-over-USB performance pad controller for DJs, programmers, producers, and others musicians.

If you’ve used the Akai Pro MPD32, leave a comment with your thoughts!

Akai Pro MPd32 Features:

• MIDI controller for production and performance
• MPC pads: bank of 16, velocity and pressure-sensitive
• Four selectable pad banks for a total of 64 sounds accessible from the pads
• Eight assignable Q-Link faders, eight assignable Q-Link 360° knobs, and eight assignable Q-Link buttons, all three banks
• MIDI-synced MPC Note Repeat and MPC Swing
• Two assignable footswitch inputs and expression-pedal input
• Dedicated transport controls
• Backlit, easy-to-read display
• MIDI-over-USB or MIDI operation
• USB powered or powered via optional AC adapter
• MPC 16-Level and Full Level
• Comes with custom versions of Ableton Live Lite, FXpansion BFD Lite, and Vyzor Editor Librarian software
• 30 user-definable presets for DAW applications

via AkaiProVideo

IK Multimedia has introduced GrooveMaker for iPhone/iPod Touch, a new loop-based audio sequencer.

Everything in GrooveMaker is done in real-time. You can add, remove, and replace single or multiple loops as you listen.

If you’ve used Groovemaker, leave a comment with your thoughts!

GrooveMaker Features:

• Instantaneous control over 8 stereo loop tracks.\
• Massive loop library of drums, bass, bass-drums, lines, pads, percussion, effects included.
• Play, Mix and Randomize loops on the fly.
• Combine studio-quality loops to produce a million possible grooves.
• Manipulate loops in real time (pan, volume, mute, solo, group, tempo).
• Arrange grooves easily with drag and drop to create full-length tracks.
• Save, preview and recall your mixed tracks.
• Upload your tracks as hi-quality WAV file to your Mac/PC (Wi-Fi network required).
• Interactive Help feature allows for quick learning, simply follow the indicated steps.

There are 4 GrooveMaker applications currently available:

• GrooveMaker FREE, House and Hip-Hop styles, 125 loops included (78-125 BPM)
• GrooveMaker Club, 189 loops included (130-135-145 BPM), $4.99/€3.99
• GrooveMaker Hip-Hop, 315 loops included (80-85-90-100 BPM), $9.99/€7.99
• GrooveMaker House, 315 loops included (120-123-125-127 BPM) $9.99/€7.99

GrooveMaker apps are available at the IK Multimedia section in the Apple iTunes App Store.

More information is available at the Groovemaker site.

Sunday Synth Jam:  In this video, German gangsta beatmaker NoKiEone is “kicking a Gangster HipHop Beat on Reason 4.0.”

German gangsta style, boyz!

via DjJanVanDeRoy

Description:

Abstraction 04 is an all-you-can-eat buffet of domestic “found sound”, which has been purposefully polished, refined, and formated into rhythmic loop adders designed to spice up your percussive pallet and inject freshness into your grooves. This time around however, it is targeted directly at down tempo breaks, centrally-Intelligent hip-hop, and experimental urban futurism. Furthermore, this massive second helping of glitch rhythms and real-world sampled eccentricism, is for the first time paired together with analog kick and snare loops to synergistically co-create some seriously freaky future funk designed to make 3008 look old-school.

All Abstraction 04 loop content is produced at a native tempo of 106 BPM and is designed to effortlessly stretch from 90BPM to 120BPM and beyond to fit all tempo ranges used in current urban and down-tempo breaks music sub-genres.

Features:

• 1,040 new cutting edge loop files (over 1GB, 44.1K/24bit): 160 Solo Kick Loops, 160 Solo Snare Loops, 320 Abstraction Percussion Loops, 320 Mix Loops, 80 Extra Bonus Abstraction Perc Loops.
• Both Mix and Solo Element loops are provided. Four different loop types are available.
• All solo element loops are provided without additional auxiliary Reverb or delay effects. This keeps the loops pristinely clean and sharp, enables easy custom slicing and editing, and allows the producer to apply his own favorite effects.
• All percussion samples are made in stereo and make use of extreme spatial processing techniques at the sample level to produce sounds that literally jump out of the speakers.

Abstraction 04: Found Sound Urban Intelligence is available in Apple Loops, Acid Loops, REX Loops, and Single Hit Samples versions, starting at $39.95 USD for a single format, with additional formats available for $14.95 USD. A free set of samples is available for download from the product page.

This is a demo of Beat Thang Virtual, the Beat Kangz’ new virtual music production workstation.

If you’ve had a chance to try out Beat Thang Virtual, leave a comment with your thoughts!

via griffinavid:

In this vid, we chop up a sample and make a beat within 10 minutes.

Doesn’t get any easier than that.

“There is so much low-end content in music being made today,” said Adam Cohen, Director of Business Development, Akai Professional, “we felt that a studio monitor specifically designed for extended low frequency playback would appeal to the people who already use our MPCs and production controllers.”

RPM8 studio monitors are sold individually and will be available from professional audio and musical instrument retailers Q4, 2009. Pricing is TBA.

Description:

RPM8 studio monitors are two-way, active, bi-amplified, nearfield loudspeakers. The two-way monitors each feature an eight-inch woven-kevlar low-frequency driver with 80W RMS of continuous amplification for full bass all the way down to 39 Hz. The monitors’ high-frequency system consists of a one-inch silk-dome tweeter with 40W RMS of continuous amplification, mounted on a custom, functionally optimized waveguide for excellent control of directivity and reduction of unwanted early reflections.

RPM8 studio monitors contain active, fourth-order crossovers for outstanding separation and optimal power management. Their cabinet is constructed of industry-standard MDF for low resonance, and is dually ported on the front baffle for bass extension in any setting including soffit-mounted installations. The bi-amplification, ported cabinet design and overall acoustical efficiency combine to produce a speaker that can deliver up to powerful 113 dB SPL and with accurate frequency response from 39 Hz to 20 kHz. Producers will appreciate the RPM8s’ bicolor LED clip indicator, which assists them in avoiding damage to their system. Engineers can connect their professional studio systems to the RPM8s’ combination XLR-balanced 1/4″ TRS inputs for compatibility with a wide variety of source equipment.

Click To Enlarge

Ethan Hein put together this Michael Jackson sample map, which shows how Jackson’s songs have been sampled and reused by other artists.

Antares’ Auto-Tune is hated by many, but it’s, arguably, the most influential audio effect of our time.

With D.O.A., Jay-Z writes the obituary for Auto-Tune, saying “you rappers singing too much, get back to rap, you T-Paining too much.”

When Jay-Z’s rapping about an audio effect plug-in, you know it’s gone mainstream.

D.O.A. is free of the usual trappings of modern hip-hop – drum machine beats, samples and Auto-Tuned vocals – and it sounds pretty fresh, as a result.

What do you think? Is Auto-Tune D.O.A?

Jay-Z Death of Auto-tune Lyrics

“Only rapper to rewrite history without a pen,
No ID on the track let the story begin, begin, begin”

This is anti autotune, death of the ringtone, this ain’t for itunes, this ain’t for sing alongs,
this is Sinatra at the opera, bring a blonde, preferably with a fat ass who can sing a song, wrong,
this aint politcally correct, this might offend my political connects,
my raps don’t have melodies, this should make jackers wanna go and commit felonies, ahh
get your chain tooken, I may do it myself – I’m so Brooklyn.
I know we facing a recession, but the music y’all making going make it the great depression.
All y’all lack aggression put your skirt back down, grow a set man.
Yeah this just violent, this is the death of autotune, moment of silence.

This ain’t a number one record, this is practically assault with a deadly weapon,
I made it just for flex and Mister CEE I want people to feel threatened
stop your bloodclot crying, the kid, the dog everybody dying, no lying,
you boys jeans too tight, you colors too bright, your voice too light
I might wear black for a year straight, I might bring back Versace shades
this ain’t for z100, Ye told me to kill y’all to keep it 1 hundred,
this is for hot 97, for Khalid we the best’n,
yeah this is just violent, this is death of autotune, moment of silence.

This might need a verse from Jeezy, I might send this to the mixtape weezy,
get somebody from BMF to talk on this, give this to a blood let a crip walk on it,
50 thou to style on this, I just don’t need nobody to smile on this,
you rappers singing too much, get back to rap you t-paining too much.
I’m a multi-millionaire so how is it I’m still the hardest here,
I don’t be in the project hallway talking about how I be in the project all day
that sound stupid to me, if you a gangsta this is how you prove it to me.
Yeah just get violent, this is death of auto-tune moment of silence.

The Moogist -”Music is Finished” – Glenn Gould Mashup

Tim Tsang, aka The Moogist, jams with a style that’s heavy on the knob-twiddling and light on the prog-style pitch bending.

Is music finished? Leave a comment with your thoughts!

via timtsang3