2009 NAMM Show: Native Instruments today announced Maschine, their next-generation music production workstation – a sort of Akai MPC/computer hybrid. Maschine combines an advanced software sequencer and sampler with an integrated MPC-style performance controller. Maschine is designed to provide a tactile and immediate interface to computer-based music production setups. I was skeptical about Maschine going into… Read More Native Instruments Maschine
2009 NAMM Show: Beat Kangz is introducing a new sampling workstation that looks like it could be the sexiest beat box ever – The Beat Thang. The Bourne-o-vision video above is pretty bad, but even with the bad video, the interface looks like it will be pretty spectacular. If Beat Kangz can deliver, this could… Read More Beat Kangz Beat Thang Could Be Sexiest Beat Box Ever
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apna8Fhb0yE This is a demo of Radioactivox, the first new Optigan disk in 34 years. Here’s the official info: Radioactivox is in the style of a familiar German synthesizer band from the seventies. We used the much sought after Optigan/Orchestron choir sound for the keys- a sound made famous by said band. We used the… Read More A Preview Of First New Optigan Disk In 34 Years, Radioactivox
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdQZmQGfZOY This is pretty complicated – but it’s a demo of a virtual Optigan, being controlled by a real Optigan that’s been converted into being a MIDI controller. Here are the details from peahix on YouTube: This is an Optigan (actually the first one I ever owned) that’s been converted to a MIDI controller (aka the Midigan)… Read More MIDI Optigan & Reaktigan Emulation Software Demo
via LivePA – The video above shows what happens when someone decides that Korg’s sense of design just isn’t up to snuff. Blue LEDs and a sweet paint job on the case are obviously the answer! I love that Korg’s Electribe gear is cheap enough that people can do crazy stuff with them.
Michael Bierylo, a professor at Berklee, noticed this cool Samsung commercial while in Scotland, and suggests that it shows that the Luigi Russolo’s idea of an Art of Noises has gone mainstream: “At the beginning of the twentieth century a composer named Luigi Russolo authored a manifesto called The Art of Noises, where he called… Read More Sampling The Olympics
Don’t buy an Akai MPC5000 until you read this: hip-hop producer Just Blaze’s rant on the MPC Akai calls “the most advanced MPC on the planet.” “THIS THING IS COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE AND SHOULD NOT BE!” says Blaze. “Some of the bugs in this thing are ATROCIOUS.” He goes on to detail a litany of bugs… Read More Don’t Buy An Akai MPC 5000 Until You Read This
Another video of bwack’s creation – the largest sampler in history. It’s more oddity than innovation – but this would definitely make it easier for audience to understand the relationship between what they see going on onstage and what they are hearing.
Sonic State has introduced a new series, The Art Of Sampling. Episode 1 looks at the history of sampling: Before digital sampling, sound manipulation was seen as a subversive and avante garde activity. Composers were ostracized for experimenting with found sound sources and a belief that music could exist outside the strict confines of the… Read More The Art Of Samping: Free Video Tutorials
The video quality is pretty terrible, but this demo of “bwack’s very large sampler being properly operated by the family force 5” is, nevertheless, pretty cool. It looks a lot like a giant MPC. If you can add any info about this, let me know in the comments!
