Voltage-Controlled

Dubspot Animoog Tutorial part 1 of 3

2012-01-31T23:03:00.003Z

Dubspot have some amazing tutorials on their YouTube channel which are very useful for producers of all levels. I noticed that they've uploaded the first in three tutorials covering my all time favourite iPad synthesizer, the Animoog by Moog Music inc.

I thought that the readers of Voltage-Controlled would be interested in an in depth look into the capability's of this awesome little synthesiser so I've embedded the first part of the Dubspot Animoog tutorial below.

Check out the Dubspot site for more cool tutorials and don't forget to subscribe to their YouTube channel here.

I'll post the second and third Animoog tutorials to Voltage-Controlled as soon as they are uploaded by Dubspot.

FutureMusic sampling special 'making of' videos

2012-01-31T20:22:00.006Z

FutureMusic magazine have uploaded two 'Making Of' videos to go along with their Sampling special edition. Part one is hosted by Cyclick and part two by Groove Criminals (Both regularly supply the free samples that can be found on the free CD that comes along with FutureMusic Magazine).

Part one focuses more in foundsound (eg, recording every day objects) where as part two talks about creative ways of getting cool sounds out of your synthesizers and drum machines. To be honest I preferred part two as I'm a huge synth nerd.

They're about 20 mins long each but you might find something interesting/useful. Watch part two if you just want to look at lots of cool synths.

Click here if you're interested in lots of free samples from Voltage-Controlled

NodeBeat HD iPad screen capture demo

2012-01-31T16:13:00.005Z

Here's another video of me playing about with the display recorder tweak on my iPad. This time the app I'm using is the NodeBeat HD app, which is a fun little generative music sequencer.

I'm hoping to get lots of these iPad display recorder videos up on the site, they're fun to make and it gives me a good chance to show off some of my favourite music making apps.

What is ReCycle?

2012-01-31T01:06:00.003Z

I love using .rex files in my music, it's an easy way to take your loops and create something completely different. ReCycle is a stand alone program by Propellerheads that lets you take your audio loops (say a basic drum loop) and chop them up into different segments that allow you to craft them into something unique that you can use in your productions.

Heres a short video by the folks at Propellerheads; it talks you through ReCycle, Rex loops and how you can use them to add something special to your music. I'd recommend using ReCycle to help make your audio loops a little more manageable and inspirational.

iPad display recorder & DM1 drum machine demo

2012-01-30T00:27:00.007Z

iPad demo videos have become a pretty big part of Voltage-Controlled over the last few months. I've uploaded quite a few videos that I've taken using the camera on the back on my iPhone. That's all well and good but the quality of the videos have obviously suffered, so I got thinking about how I could go about making my videos a bit better.

At first I thought about investing in a decent camera but Voltage-Controlled rakes in little to no money from ads and donations so I couldn't really afford it. I remembered someone telling me a while back that if I jailbreak my device I can use third party software to take screen captures directly on the iPad. I looked into it but found out that the iPad 2 that I was using couldn't be jailbroken on iOS5.

However, I heard a week or so ago that it's changed and I can now hack my device and install the screen capture software. So I did it, I jailbroke the iPad and brought a tweak called display recorder.

It's a pretty basic app but it doesn't record audio which is a shame. That's not too much hassle though as I can record the audio into my laptop using my Saffire 6 interface and then sync it later.

Anyways, I thought I'd try it out and upload a video to YouTube. Here's me messing around with Fingerlab's DM-1 drum machine, one of my favourite drum machines on the iPad. DM-1's available in the appstore for £3.99 but I think I picked it up a few months ago when the price dropped to 69p.

Broken sample links are now working again.

2012-01-26T21:11:00.006Z

I mentioned in the last post that some of the sample packs on Voltage-Controlled were hosted on the file sharing site MegaUpload. As MegaUpload was recently shut down the samples were made unavailable for you guys to download.

I've just finished re-uploading the lost sample packs to minus.com and they are once again available for you to download free of charge. The sample packs that I've had to re-upload are:

Voltage controlled sample collection vol.1
Free FoundSound percussion loops and one shots
Punished 909 kit (MC-303)

Luckily I haven't been using MegaUpload for long so only three of the packs were lost but it's still a bit of a hassle have to re-upload them.

Just to make it clear, all of the samples available from Voltage-Controlled are copyright free. I created them so that musicians, sound designers, film makers, etc. can use them in their productions and creations for free of charge.

If you have any other questions or problems then please get in touch with me at DanWeatherall@Voltage-Controlled.com

Samples unavailable at the moment

2012-01-24T18:12:00.005Z

Right then, since megaupload has been shut down some of the samples on my site have been made unavailable. Until I can find a suitable replacement site to host my samples they will be temporarily unavailable to download. I'll try and fix this as soon as possible and apoligise for any inconvenience that this has caused.

I know megaupload has been used by some to upload pirated material but some of us actually use it to host our own material. If anyone can suggest another free file hosting site that I can use to host my samples and loops please post a comment below or email me at DanWeatherall@voltage-controlled.com

iPad multi-track recording with VST support

2012-01-18T14:57:00.005Z

Wave Machine Lab’s Auria studio offers a 48 track digital recording experience for your iPad with VST support. Well it seems that the VSTs will have to be purchased through the app itself so don’t get yourself too excited about importing your favourite VSTs to your iPad. Also, with Auria studio being an audio recording app it looks like it supports effect VSTs only (So we won’t be running NI Massive on our iPads anytime soon).

The promo video looks really impressive though, by far one of the best studio apps for the iPad I’ve ever seen.

Auria studio will be avalible in the first quarter 2012

http://www.auriaapp.com/

Shakie - Pellet Percussion for iPhone & iPod Touch

2012-01-12T18:05:00.008Z

The beauty of Shakie lies in its simplicity. You’re not confronted with endless menus and settings; it does what you expect it to do. It’s a percussion instrument for your iPhone or iPod touch that’s controlled using the accelerometers and gyroscope that are built into your iDevice.

Shakie relies on a realistic physics engine, when you tilt or shake your iDevice the on-screen pallets will respond and trigger a number of samples. This gives the app a really natural feel and makes playing really fun.

The UI consists of just three pages: the main shaker page, the menu page and the info page. Everything is clean, simple and ready for you to pick up and play.

The app comes with 10 high quality built in sounds:

Bells
Castanet
Chimes
Maraca
Rattle
Shaker
Shaker Dry
Shaker Gritty
Spoons
Tamborine

Get Shakie from the app store now

www.shakieapp.com

Bitwig, Ableton live killer?

2012-01-12T16:21:00.005Z

The first thought I had when I saw the teaser video for Bitwig was "This is pretty much just a copy of Ableton", The similarities are remarkable but it's mainly the clip launcher and UI that remind me so much of Ableton. Apparently a few of the guys working on Bitwig are ex Ableton employees which would explain the similarities between the two DAWs.

By the looks of things the guys at Bitwig have crammed some pretty cool features into their new studio. General tracks (audio + midi), online collaboration, per-note automation and modular instruments are just a few of the features included in Bitwig.

Could this be an Ableton killer? The software will soon be going into the Beta testing stage so only time will tell. I'd love to get my hands on a copy though, just to take it for a test drive.

For a full list of the features of Bitwig Studio check out their site here.

Punished 909 kit (MC-303) - Free samples

2012-01-06T20:05:00.008Z

OK, so they're not actual 909 samples. The samples here are taken from the 909 kit on my MC-303 groovebox (Which are recorded from an original 909).

The MC303 has a really nice gritty sound to it (especially when you turn up the low boost), to add to that gritty flavour I ran the sounds through some plugins (Drive, EQ and Compressor).

There are 17 one-shot samples in this kit in .wav format. As always the Voltage-Controlled samples are completely royalty free so you can use them in any project you want without having to clear them.

>>>Download the samples now (.zip)<<<

Moog reveals MINITAUR analog synthesizer

2012-01-05T17:27:00.006Z

Moog Music inc. Have revealed the new addition to the Taurus family. The MINITAUR is a standalone analog synth, it looks perfect as a desktop synth.

"Minitaur is a powerful, compact Analog Bass Synthesizer that features a classic one knob per function design. It is the first instrument in the Taurus family that does not have foot pedals. At only 8.5" x 5.25" and less than 3lbs, the Minitaur puts legendary analog Moog bass into a package designed to fit seamlessly into today's performance and production environments. There are no confusing or convoluted menus to dig through. Plug in a MIDI controller or hook it up to your computer and start playing immediately.

Don't be fooled by it's size. Minitaur delivers all the growl, snarl and low end assosiciated with the Taurus family of Bass Synthesizers in a rugged performance package that is small enough to take with you anywhere."

This thing looks and sounds incredible. It’s stated on the Moog website that it will be sold for just $679.00 (Roughly £440) which is a pretty fair price. I can just imagine this thing sitting on my desk next to my laptop. Looks like I’m going to have to save up some money for its launch at winter NAMM.

Voltage-Controlled MicroKorg Ableton rack by LynchAudio

2012-01-03T19:35:00.004Z

I've been meaning to post this on here for a good while now. Matt from LynchAudio has made an awesome Ableton Live rack using the MicroKorg samples from the Voltage-Controlled sample collection Vol.1 sample library.

Go check out his site, download the free Ableton instrument rack and watch this demo video that he's made.

If there's anyone else out there that would like to share what they've created using the Voltage-Controlled samples then please get in touch (DanWeatherall@Voltage-Controlled.com) and I'll post a link up on the site.

Animoog hits the iPhone

2011-12-27T15:59:00.003Z

Animoog is my current favourite synth on the iPad, it's beyond awesome and it sounds really cool. Moog recently released it as an iPhone app so as you can probably guess; I brought it. The iPhone version is currently on sale for 69p so it's pretty cheap for such a cool little synth.

With the iPhone version I can now have the power and awesomeness of Animoog with me at all times. The iPhone app is pretty much exactly the same as the one on the iPad with the layout slightly modified so that it fits nicely on the smaller screen.

Your probably getting sick of hearing me complain about this but this app isn't universal, I don't understand why some companies think that people should buy their apps twice. I know it brings in a little more money but many people aren't going to buy something twice anyway. I've only made an exception here because of the low price and the quality of the app, but I still feel slightly cheated here. Universal apps are the way forward, stop scamming your customers out of their money.

Happy holidays from Voltage-Controlled

2011-12-26T06:39:00.002Z

Have a great Christmas and New Years, all the best for 2012.

Punchy bass tutorial (Propellerheads sound design)

2011-12-19T20:21:00.003Z

Here's the second video in Propellerheads sound design series. It focuses on how to make a punchy bass patch in Reason, perfect for modern house music.

These videos are extremely useful, especially if you're new to music production. For more tutorial videos from Propellerheads check out James Bernard's 52 Reason/Record tips.

If anyone wants to know what to get me for Christmas...

2011-12-19T19:00:00.005Z

...I'll have one of these little beauties ;). The DSI Tempest has to be one of the coolest drum machines I've ever seen.

"Tempest is a professional drum machine that generates its sounds using six powerful analog synthesis voices, and uses an innovative, performance-oriented operating system that permits an extraordinary level of control to create, edit, arrange, and manipulate beats in real time without ever stopping."

Tempest - Beat Exercise from Richard Devine on Vimeo.

Lemur for iPad, quick jam session.

2011-12-18T15:26:00.002Z

I love the new Lemur iOS app. I'm still learning but here's a short video of me messing around with one of my custom templates.

Get featured on the first Voltage-Controlled compilation album

2011-12-13T16:19:00.000Z

I mentioned on Twitter a few days ago that I was looking into releasing a compilation album featuring some artists that use the site. Soon after I got quite a few @replys from people that were interested in putting a track of theirs towards the album.

So here's the plan, I'm aiming to release a 20 track album called 'Voltage-Controlled vol.1'. There's no set release date set for the album as of yet but I'm hoping that it will all pull together sometime around New Years. So the quicker you put your track forward the better chance you'll have to be involved. The finished album will be released as a free download.

Here's a few basic rules:

- the track must be your own original material.

- no un-cleared/copyrighted samples. It's not my responsibility to clear samples for you.

- no remixes.

- must be unsigned.

- you can still upload the track elsewhere on the net.

- the genre must be considered to be electronic music

- you must submit a correctly labelled .wav file (artist name + track name) to the email below

The rights to the submitted tracks will still belong to you, but please bear in mind that if the track you submit gets signed in the future then it will remain as a free download as part of the compilation.

If you wish to help out by submitting art work for the album feel free to contact me.

If you have any further questions please email me at DanWeatherall@Voltage-Controlled.com

ShakeMidi for iOS review

2011-12-13T14:14:00.007Z

ShakeMidi is a wireless music app with a difference. Instead of controlling your software with touchscreen sliders and faders you just shake your iOS device and The app will send midi note information to your DAW.

This app is a lot of fun to play around with but I'm not sure that I could see myself making any serious music with it. But I suppose that's the main selling point of this app, it's fun. The App itself is set out really well, it's simple to understand and there's a built in help section just incase you run into any problems.

I've had a few issues with wireless midi apps in the past but I had no real trouble connecting ShakeMidi to my laptop. All that you have to do is download and install the free rtpMIDI program on your computer to set up a midi port. When you've done that Shake Midi will auto connect. Then there's the small matter of opening Ableton (or whatever DAW) you're using and selecting it in the settings. If this sounds a bit much there's a help page here.

The app also connects via core midi which means that if you have any supporting apps on your iOS device they can be easily controlled with ShakeMidi. This also works with multiple iOS devices on the same wifi network (for example: you can control GarageBand on your iPad with ShakeMidi on your iPhone).

It's always good when an app is universally compatible, especially music apps. Shake midi is indeed a universal app, meaning that it will work on your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch with no problems. However, I can't really imagine anyone with an iPad using this as much. I tried it myself and I just felt a bit foolish shaking my iPad around (good fun though).

Anyway, here's a short YouTube video of my shaking my iPhone. I have ShakeMidi hooked up to Massive in Ableton Live.

More about the iPhone midi app here

ShakeMidi is available from the AppStore now.

First opinions on Lemur for iOS

2011-12-12T02:06:00.002Z

So yeah, I couldn't help myself. I brought the new Lemur app by Liine. For me, the original Jazzmutant Lemur was the perfect controller, I wanted it so badly but unfortunately the original hardware version was a little out of my price range. The other day I posted here on Voltage-Controlled that Liine had just released an iOS version of Lemur.

I did say that I was going to wait a while before I brought the Lemur app but obviously I had a moment of weakness soon after and brought it. Now I'm in love with it, it's something that I know that I'm going to use a lot and when I say a lot I mean a LOT. It might have quite a high price tag for an iOS app but I can tell you, if you're serious about writing/performing electronic music then it's most definitely worth it.

I'm going to be writing a proper review of this thing soon and maybe posting a few YouTube videos of me messing around with it but for now I'm still learning about the editor and familiarising my self with it.

But anyway, here's a pic of the first custom interface that I made with the Lemur app.

Lemur is available from the app store now.

It's here! Lemur for iOS has hit the AppStore

2011-12-07T19:15:00.007Z

That's right the legendary multi-touch controller has finally hit the iOS AppStore. Lemur is available to download onto your iPad, iPhone & iPod Touch for £34.99.

The original Lemur hardware controller was used by many artists including: Daft Punk. Björk. Nine Inch Nails, Deadmau5. M.I.A., Justice, Hot Chip, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Orbital, Richie Hawtin, The Glitch Mob, Matthew Herbert, Joris Voorn, Stephan Bodzin, Modeselektor, Alva Noto, Richard Devine, Gui Boratto, etc.

£34.99 is a bit of a hefty price tag for an iOS app but you have to admit that this does look pretty awesome. I think for now I'll stick with TouchOSC for now but I'll definitely be considering an upgrade to Lemur in the near future.

You can get Lemur from the AppStore here.

Korg Monotribe version 2 update.

2011-12-03T22:19:00.003Z

Korg have released an update to their Monotribe ribbon sequencer. The update is made my playing an audio file into the sync in jack of the Monotribe. Here's a few videos from Korg USA that walks you through some of the new features as well as informing you how to go about update the OS on your monotribe.

New features include:

16 step sequencer
volume automation
drum roll
gate time
two or more monotribes can be played in rotation

Propellerheads countdown to the holiday give away

2011-12-02T18:11:00.007Z

It's that time of the year again, Christmas is nearly upon us. While we're opening the doors to our advent calendars the folks over at Propellerheads software are celebrating by giving stuff away. That's right; every day until the 24th of December propellerheads will be giving away gifts.

Follow Propellerheads on Twitter, Google+ or like them on Facebook for more details on how to enter the daily competitions.

That's not all, every week Propellerheads will choose one lucky winner to receive a copy of Reason Essentials and their new Balance interface.

Check back on them daily for your chance to win.

Korg iKaossilator updated, includes iPad support.

2011-11-30T09:45:00.004Z

The Korg iKaossilator has just been updated to version 2.0.0. This new update includes quite a few cool features and improvements that make the app that little bit more useful.

The first thing that I noticed was that now the iKaossilator has native iPad support, meaning that now you can run it perfectly on your iPad without having to run it in that annoying x2 mode. I think this is an feature that should have been included at the start, the iPad makes playing and performance a lot easier (as I mentioned in my first review) as the bigger screen allows for more precise control of the x/y pad.

Audio export is another feature that was needed from the start, it's a standard that nearly every music app has and I'm surprised Korg missed it from the original release. Along with audio export comes audio copy which basically allows you to exchange recorded parts from iKaossilator to other iPad apps that support the audio copy feature (GarageBand for example).

Support for soundcloud has also been included in the update. Users can now share their loops, phrases or tracks with the world via. the popular soundcloud platform.

An unusual addition is the flex play function which "makes it easy to generate fills and breaks". Flex is a way of further manipulating your loops, giving you more creative options and room for experimentation. Just hold the loop size or tempo buttons and move your finger around the x/y pad. The x axis will effect the length of the part and the y axis with effect the tempo. By doing this you can come up with quite a few interesting results.

These new features really help the iOS version of the Kaossilator. When I first downloaded it onto my iPhone I could tell that it was a bit limited so I'm glad this update didn't take long to come about. Finally I can use it on my iPad without having to run it in x2 mode.

Update: To celebrate the release of iKaossilator v2.0.0 Korg are offering their other iPad apps for half price until December 2nd 2011.