Music Gear Daily

Korg Volca Beats

diode — Sat, 12 Oct 2013 02:02:09 +0000

Korg has been on fire lately with their analog revival. It seemed at first that they were just tipping a toe back into the analog water but now with the MS-20 mini and the volca series, they are doing some really great things. Check out this demo of the Volca beats analog drum machine.

Herbie Hancock CMI on Sesame Street

diode — Thu, 29 Aug 2013 23:07:32 +0000

This is some great footage of Herbie Hancock explaining some rudiments of what a sampler does. This is of course one of the first samplers available, the Fairlight CMI.

Studio Sessions – Recording Strand of Oaks’ Spacestation

MasterDelight — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 21:49:02 +0000

Here’s a fantastic behind the scenes video on recording the song Spacestation by Strand of Oaks. Personally, huge fan of this guy and his group. My wife and I recently traveled over three hours to see him (and Phosphorescent). This song is especially good, I was really happy when my wife sent me the link of this video and happier still to be able to share it with all of you.

Strand of Oaks and other such recording artists have been very successful creating spaced out mixes with a full sound. In the video they explain, in detail, how they achieve this.

The Echo 2 USB Audio Interface

MasterDelight — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 20:17:38 +0000

The Echo 2 is a USB audio interface from Echo. It is the first USB interface from the company that makes some pretty quality gear at a decent price point. I have always been a fan of the Echo from way back when I traded some studio time for their Layla box. It was one of my first audio recording interfaces and I used it extensively for recording demos and live tracks. I will admit, not having XLR inputs is a bit of a downside when it comes these boxes but with The Echo 2, Echo throws in 2 adapter cables with purchase.

Check out the below video for more information:

Roland TB-303 with Acidlab Mod – MGD Wishlist

MasterDelight — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 16:00:36 +0000

Perhaps one of the most coveted TB-303 mods in the history of the synth. Almost impossible to find on eBay (units have been sold for over a grand) and, to make matters more confusing, there is another Acidlab synth company that has a similar product but is not the same. Also, this picture: Venetian Snares using one of these mods (although he’s got colored knobs ’cause he’s cooler than most of us). So, all that adds up to an MGD wishlist item.

Here are some details about the mod found at Matrixsynth (with more information at Synthfind):

Mod details:

The inputs are q- accent- gate- slide- vcf- vcf cut off-vca-cv these are for use with a midi-cv converter, analog synth or tb-303.
The outputs are eg- accent- slide- square- saw- vcf these could be patched to an external filter or effects unit or tb-303.

Toggle switches:

Accent – up normal, down accents on all notes
Slide – up normal, down slide on all notes
Waveform modulation – saw, square
Resonance – up normal, down rear vcf input.

Potentiometers:

Decay – from off to standerd
Resonance – adds q level
X-mod – modulation level
Overdrive – volume control of vco to filter

Pots come with 303 type knobs to retain original look.
LEDs: three new LED show programming accent, slide, bend.

Acidlab kit comes with faceplate overlay: 4 knobs, 4 pots, 4 switches, 3 LEDs, 8 inputs, 6 outputs, color coded instructions with wires- all resistors, caps, diodes, pot mounts and rear sticker.

Yummy.

Photos by Maxtrixsynth

DARK ENERGY II by Doepfer

MasterDelight — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 18:23:37 +0000

The Doepfer Dark Energy II is a redesign of the Dark Energy I (discontinued because of an important component the CEM3394 being no longer available). The Dark Energy II is a monophonic stand-alone synthesizer with USB and Midi interface that allows for plenty of plug, play and tweak fun. Check out the Doepfer Website for full details and the video below for a demonstration of the kind of sounds you can get from the Dark Energy II.

Drum Perfomance – Tosha Jones – Push and Shove

MasterDelight — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 22:50:25 +0000

Check out this great inside look at Tosha Jones recording her drum track for No Doubt’s Push and Shove Contest. Watching drummers perfom tracks is a hobby of mine. Being a drummer myself it’s a great way to pick up tricks of the trade.

Enjoy!

Reason 7

MasterDelight — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 18:07:47 +0000

I am a Reason addict so when I found out today that a new version of Reason has just been announced I had to share it here on MGD. Reason 7 comes with a new MIDI out rack to connect external gear into Reason. It also has enhanced recording capabilities and new mixing racks. Check out all the cool new tools at Propellerhead and look below for a video overview

Happy Reasoning!

4-1-13 UPDATE: Reason 7 hits the streets April 30th 2013!

Earslap.com – Otomata – Online Generative Musical Sequencer

MasterDelight — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 21:41:07 +0000

I was looking around online today and came across a fun little piece of cyberspace dedicated to making some cool sounds. Earslap.com has a couple of fun widgets aimed at graphically creating sound and sequences. Instantaneous fun can be had by using the Otomata (pictured below). For a more graphical approach to sequencing try their Circuli software. Both are available on Apple i products so you can take them on the go for that fast and easy music fix.

Motherbrain’s Custom Console

diode — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 17:06:41 +0000

Motherbrain, a recording studio in Brooklyn has just been outfitted with one of the most gorgeous consoles on earth. To be exact, it’s actually (now) an analog console / DAW control center. UM Project did an absolutely amazing job retrofitting and modernizing this late 60′s Wiener Schwachstromwerke board. It’s been lovingly appointed in a custom bent ply and steel chassis. From the small pictures on their site, it is a little bit difficult to see exactly what is going on but it looks as if on the left there are 14 channels of original analog input, 4 aux returns or busses and a master fader. The center section has been fitted with an Avid/Euphonix protools control surface and what looks to be some tonelux 500 series outboard. The whole right section of the board is set aside for two rows of full size 19″ outboard mounted horizontally and containing an LA-2A, Retro Audio and more.

This desk is just stunning. I’m sure gearheads will make the trek to motherbrain just to feast their eyes on this piece of art.