For those who will be in Singapore this coming weekend, here's an event not to be missed.
First in a series of pop-up bars and after-hours parties. In collaboration with Knight Runners, FICKLE GORILLA brings the very best in electronic music to the real party people of Singapore. A scene usually unseen.
The Little India launch Party will see the old brick walls of the Post Museum crumble and shake under the explosive beats of DARKWING (AU) & RTYPE.
Combining house, breaks, funk, disco and dubstep, the curious ying-yang symmetry of these two artists will be flicking all your switches and have you smashing up the dance floor as they tag-team their tunes throughout the night.
For this special launch event - DARKWING will be teaming up with drummer & brother-in-alms HORATIUS for a first taste of DARKWING LIVE – An assault of the funkiest, creamiest, rocking dance music floor stompers, set to electronic percussive wizardry.
Adding to the chaos are Niko dishing out wicked hip hop tunes and Submerge & Presha of Meshradio notoriety bring their breed of drum & bass and dubstep to our little music feast. What a beats night it will be.
A last minute addition to our merry band of noise makers is Paul (not the octopus) but the TAROT reader! Fortune hunters and creators of the future can catch him in his mystical corner at post-museum. End your fickle future at fickle gorilla!
Propellerhead Software has released the updated Record 1.5 and Reason 5, which add new instruments, effects, sequencing, sounds, patches and more.
Her’s a quick guide to what’s new and what it will cost you.
Propellerhead Reason 5 & Record 1.5 Highlights:
The new Kong Drum Designer and Dr. Octo Rex loop player extend Reason’s instrument arsenal to help musicians get phenomenal sounding rhythms, drums tracks and beats.
Reason 5 and Record 1.5 add a whole new take on sequencing: Blocks—build songs parts like patterns and string them together for lightening fast arranging with the ability to freely go back and forth between pattern and linear modes.
Neptune, a pitch correction tool and amazing voice synthesizer, turns less than perfect performances into great ones in no time. Simply play new harmonies on a MIDI keyboard for instant backing vocals. Live sampling into all sample capable devices means any musician can use samples in a new and playful manner, discovering the lost art of creative sampling. The Expanded Factory Sound Bank, doubling in size, plus added signature sound designers’ patches, inspire new arrangements and compositions. Multi core optimization, an on-screen keyboard and tempo scaling of clips top the list of additional improvements.
Live Sampling – Reason 5 and Record 1.5
This is an interesting concept; software samplers that actually record and sample audio. Live sampling is a new feature that places a Live Sampling button on every location where a .WAV or .AIF file can be loaded in on each of the sample playback devices (i.e. Redrum, NN-19, NN-XT, Kong, etc.) Live sampling will allow for two main functions:
1. To sample external audio through your audio interface in realtime (i.e. mic input)
2. To resample any piece, part or section of your tune
When live sampling is engaged, a waveform editor that has now been built into the program appears, and allows you to trim, crop, normalize, reverse, crossfade-loop the sample, thus making this whole process self-contained inside the program.
Kong Drum Designer – Reason 5 and Record 1.5
Kong is a multifunctional drum design unit that allows for 16 different drum parts for each of the 16 different pads on its GUI. Sounds can be edited and shaped all-day. Kong also posses an arsenal of Support generators and FX processors geared towards shaping your drum sounds. Support generators will add additional body and tone to your drum sounds.
2. Nurse REX – REX Loop playback – plays back as individual slices, or chunks
3. Analog Bass Drum Synth – think 808, 909, etc. analog kicks
4. Analog Snare Drum Synth – think 808, 909, etc. analog kicks
5. Analog Hi-Hat Drum Synth
6. Analog Tom Drum Synth – think 808, 909, etc. analog kicks
7. Physical Modelled Bass Drum
8. Physical Modelled Snare Drum
9. Physical Modelled Tom Drum
The Support generators are:
1. Noise
2. Tone
Kong’s internal structure allows for 2 Insert FX for each part; 1 Send Effect and 1 Master Effect. Kong also allows for flexible output routing (16 outs.)The FX are:
1. Compressor
2. Filter
3. Overdrive/Resonator
4. Parametric EQ
5. Rattler
6. Ring Modulator
7. Room Reverb
8. Tape Echo
9. Transient Shaper
Propellerhead – Reason 5 and Record 1.5 – Neptune
Neptune is a pitch device for audio in Record 1.5. It’s also an FX processor that you would add to an audio track as an insert effect. Overall, Neptune has three key functions:
1. Real-time Audio Transposer – This is pretty cut and dry; you have controls for the semitone shift and fine tune.
2. Real-time Pitch Correction – This function is a very welcome addition, as it detects notes in monophonic audio signals and/or tracks (e.g. vocals) that are off and corrects their pitch. It looks as though it will also allow for incoming MIDI notes to pull the pitches away from their root and correct it in a sliding and gliding real-time fashion. Hmm… feels like I’ve seen something like this before in a certain plug-in.
3. Voice Synth – This functionality allows for incoming MIDI chords to make duplicates of the audio to create what sounds like harmonies and backing parts. I was a big fan of a piece of hardware that did this years ago
Pricing:
Sidegrade (includes Reason 5 upgrade) EUR 149 / USD $169 Reason 5 Upgrade from any version EUR 99 / USD $129 Record 1.5 Upgrade from any version free download Record Reason Duo bundle EUR 405 / USD $449 Reason EUR 305 / USD $349 Record EUR 279 / USD $299
If you purchased a qualifying Reason product after May 24, 2010, you can upgrade for free.
Native Instruments today announced its new (and first) integrated hardware / software DJ system with a YouTube video wherein DMC World Champ DJ Shiftee rocked out to the Tetris theme and samples from Mike Tyson's Punch Out! (We guess someone knows their target demographic.) Traktor Kontrol S4 promises to take "functionality and control" to the next level with a new version of Traktor Pro that supports the hardware interface's many features, including: looping, cueing, effects, and track browsing controls, two sample decks, touch-sensitive jog wheels, a mixer, and more. Also included is a low-latency 24bit / 96kHz sound card. Available sometime this winter for an MSRP will be $999 (€899). See it in action after the break.
Engadget had a chance to get up close and personal with Swedish startup Tonium's portable DJ unit and paw this 120GB-storing mobile mixing and more device. Comparable in size to the PSP (a smidge smaller), the Pacemaker's integrated crossfader and multifunction touchpad at first blush provide a surprisingly intuitive way to control your mix. We're not gonna lie -- we kinda wish the touchpad worked more like a Kaoss pad than like ye olde iPod scroll wheel, but all the same it's pretty fun to get some pitch bending on with a device that fits in one hand. Also let's be honest, you're probably not gonna become the hottest thing in Ibiza with this thing, but at $700 it's a relatively low-cost convenient practice setup for DJs on the road or an attractive option for aspiring amateurs. Be sure to peep yourself some video after the break.
Oh man... this mix just can't get off my head. Loop mode was on for this mix particularly. Expect a wide spectrum of sound packing into an hour. I wish it could have been longer, oh well, I believe it will only takes a maestro in order to produce such a good sh*t.
-- Profile --
I guess I've been lucky enough to be around music since 1991 (the punk/hardcore days) but DJ-wise, I got started around 1995/1996 was lucky enough to be drafted for a gig by Chris Ho even before I could mix. Needless to say I was completely rubbish, even if i played only ambient (mainly Global Communication and Vangelis)!
I listen to a lot of music so I can inspired from everything from Jeff Mills, LTJ Bukem (the reason I fell in love with drum & bass actually) to Depeche Mode.
To be honest I knock up tracks just for fun so really Im the last person to be giving advice! :p Ive only been fooling with Ableton in the last six months (after much prodding by Brown Club chief Aresha) but I love programmes like Ableton etc have made making music interesting even for technophobes like myself. I guess the biggest tip is to not be daunted by the technology. Have fun, do that and half the battle is won in my humble opinion.
Best outcome - not sure how I can answer that! But really, taking it easy and having fun usually helps :p
Peace and respect to the Boss and the Simpang / Tampines Teh O Ais Limau crew (they know who they are!)
Due to overwhelm commitments. There is an expecting delay of showcases. Do look forward to many great DJ lineups; - Aldrin - Spikey Tee - Brendon P - Zul Subvert - Amjad Shah - and many more...
Think you know multitouch surfaces? Think again. We've just come across a video demo of the Token multitouch, erm, pedestal, which seems to have come straight from the future. A clear sheet of glass that beams out video from your computer and accepts touch inputs in return, the Token concept has been designed by a chap named Rodrigo hailing out of Chile. We know it uses a rear projector for its video, but other construction details are scarce at this point; what's really special here, however, is the way he combines it with a Traktor Pro controller titled Emulator, turning a few intelligent finger swipes into a kickass light-and-sound show. See it on video after the break.
We just recently got a glimpse of one possible future of DJing, but our world has now already been turned upside down once again with this multitouch-enabled rig built by Gregory Kaufman. The big difference with this one, as you can probably guess, is that it employs a gesture-based interface that lets you spin the virtual turntables and use a variety of taps and finger swipes to replicate the main functions of a regular DJ deck. What's more, Kaufman says that the only gear a DJ would have to carry is a USB drive with their own music and settings, which they'd simply plug into the multitouch table at a club -- assuming the idea catches on, that is. Top top things off, the system would also be able to accommodate regular DJ gear for some added flexibility, and even provide enough room for two DJs if you're looking to battle or share the stage. Head on past the break to check it out in action.
