Music Mondays: Robots Cover Manson
I always loved a great cover of a great song, but this time we’re in for something different
Edited: August 8th, 2011
Cthulu Sleeps fan cover
I’m a pretty big fan of cover songs given the fact that I just released a cover song of This Is Our Night on my own record label. Here is a cover of the deadmau5 song Cthulu Sleeps. Pretty quality work if you ask me!
Edited: May 4th, 2011
MIDI Synth in Max for Live
When Ableton first announced Max for Live I knew this plugin / add on would be a game changer. I had to get a copy as soon as possible.
For the uninitiated max for live basically lets you use a simple graphical programming language, called max/msp within Ableton Live. This lets advanced users program custom interfaces and controls that have access to every piece of information Ableton Live knows about the audio. The possibilities of extending the features of the application are limited only by the programming skill and creative needs of the user. I have used the software a little bit in school but I have not had the opportunity to program many of my own patches for any specialized function yet.
The following tutorial video shows how quick and simple some of these patches can be. Check it out:
Edited: March 3rd, 2011
DSI Mopho Recommended MIDI Controller
Wow, we’re almost done the first month of the 2011.
I have been so busy in the studio and doing magic in Ottawa that I have not been able to update on some of the technology I’ve been loving recently.
Some of you may know (If you’ve been reading older posts) that I recently purchased my first analog hardware synth. I decided to pick up a used Dave Smith Instruments Mopho for a number of reasons. Aside from being a cheap synth it is of very high quality. I just love dirty Moog sounds that can be filtered into almost silence and brought back into a shrieking cacophony of noise.
The first and main advantage to the Mopho; total Analog signal path.
If you’re going to get an analog synth it might as well sound good. I don’t want a Korg Monotron which is hard to control and sounds very low fidelity. These DSI machines have very accurate and rich sound synthesis modules. They also have a great “slop” feature which lets you control how much pitch drift you want to incorporate into the oscillators.
The second reason was that I did not want an extra keyboard.
I already had an M-Audio Axiom 25. I did not need the Mopho keyboard edition (although it sure looks sweet . . )The Axiom works great with the Mopho, and I even can control the settings on the Mopho using a program thats over at the DSI site. I might want to get a few more keys in the near future but the Axiom has lasted me almost 4 years now and its still functioning great.
Edited: January 26th, 2011
ATAM Productions and studio Daze
Hello everybody, and new Twitter followers. I have been really busy these days working on a new type of sound, I’m going to be releasing some of this on my own label ATAM Productions but for now I will post a quick preview of what this sounds like.
I have not yet finalized the sounds in this version, the Bass will be different, harmonizing to the violin in the next version.
Edited: January 22nd, 2011
iPad 2 in Canada Release Date
I just finished writing an article last week about the iPad 2 in Canada but I’ve been wanting to find out more information about the release date.
MacRumors, a Mac News and Rumors site has recently shifted their position about the possibility of a Retina Display. Originally they had proposed that the next generation iPad 2 would have a Retina display but it might have a regular display.
The latest release date rumor seems to be March 9, close to some distant tech press events.
Edited: January 21st, 2011
iPad 2 in Canada in 2011
Today continued to paint a picture of the new iPad 2 in Canada as technology blogs are discussing the possibilities that Apple will announce the second-gen iPad 2 within the next month in Canada.
Kevin Rose, the founder of Digg, believes based on reliable information that this release is imminent:
I have it on good authority that Apple will be announcing the iPad 2 in the next “3-4 weeks”, possibly Tuesday February 1st. The iPad 2 will feature a retina display and front/back cameras.
There seems to be uncertainty on the details of the display, some sources believe that the screen will not be a “Retina” display like that on the iPhone 4 and newest iPod touch. Many people say it would be difficult to drive a retina display that big on smaller graphics hardware.
Either way the next iPad seems to be the perfect tool for augmented reality type web apps like Yelp. Also I’m really excited to see if iMovie becomes any more useful; its pretty hard to trim clips considering the iPhone’s small footprint.
Details about the original iPad are still seen on the official iPad website, but this site may change once the device is released.
Edited: January 8th, 2011
How to Make Fade Outs (or Fade Ins) in Logic 9
Welcome to coldplaysucks.com for more Apple Logic tutorials check out: http://www.coldplaysucks.com/tutorials/logic-tutorials/
It has been several weeks since i’ve posted a tutorial here, but I swear; I have a good excuse!
I’ve been working on a number of tracks and also getting ready to start another semester at Carleton University. But now on to the audio tutorial.
I noticed one thing that many people are searching for is a way to simply do a “fade in” or “fade out” on their audio in Logic. Coming from other DAW’s you might expect a lot of clicking around and creating automation, but there’s actually a very elegant solution in Logic.
Hitting the escape key will bring up this tool switcher menu in Logic
The Fade Tool:
Seriously, it’s that easy!
As soon as you hit the escape key you can change the role of your primary tool. By default it is the Pointer Tool, but it can be many different things. When you first load up the fade tool it will automatically allows you to draw a fade on an audio region. Obviously the difference between a fade in and a fade out is whether or not it occurs at the beginning or end of an audio region.
Sometimes fades can be difficult to see which is why I zoomed in in my second screen shot. There is also second method to generate fades.
Inspector’s Region Paramater Box:
This is the second and more verbose method of creating a fade on an audio region, you can actually go into the Inspector, by hitting “i” or clicking the Inspector logo from the Logic menu bar.
Fade Applied
Edited: December 20th, 2010
Sebastien Leger does it again with Plik Plok
- Image by Romain Heuillard via Flickr
I have been a fan of Sebastien Leger for a while now. I first wrote about his remix of Manson, The People last September.
Even before that I did a quick tech blog post showing him mixing some stuff in Ableton for his live show. In fact it sounds very similar to this song Plik Plok.
I really love the minimal feel of this. It still has very prominent sonic elements; this song fills your speakers out! What’s great about this song is its very DJ friendly. If you love electronic music this is the type of track you could play as a loop in your set and add SO much in terms of effects. Reverbs, Delays and a few glitch and volume modulation effects and you’ve got a banging live remix of this track . . . in the right hands of course!
There is a huge bass line that might get in the way. If you killed the bass all that would be left would be the high pitched pattern, instant DJ TOOL! Also, the did I mention that the percussion sounds really great?
What more can I say, Seb Leger tu l’avez fait trés bien!
Check out the song on YouTube below and support this artist on Beatport, iTunes etc! (and the audiophile in me also screams; BUY THE WAV not the MP3!! but thats a whole other problem)
Updated with YouTube video:
Edited: June 21st, 2010
Studio Tour
By Alex Massaad
A few months back I made a quick studio video showing the spaace where I record music, you can check outthe tour of the lab but I have something new to show you.
The video of the lab was shot back in April. Since that point I have made a few upgrades, and room changes.
New Studio Set Up
In this setup I’m using KRK Rokit8′s with an ERGO for room geometry correction. My main system is a Macbook Pro with an HD external monitor. Also hanging on the walls are home-made Ready Acoustics bass traps. (4 inch fibreglass sound absorbing material on the mirror points & room corners)
For software I’m mostly using Ableton Live and Logic. The only real hardware that I have is a DSI Mopho and a (hidden) m-audio controller.
Edited: June 18th, 2010