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Its Here!!  The first installment of Simteks' Signature Samples!! Drum Shots

04/18/2013

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Well, I am back with another pack to please the masses.  This is my personal collection of drum shots that I have collected, layered, and processed to get just the right sound that I was looking for.  This collection was meant to be my arsenal in creating my own personal sound, however, corporate downsizing has me in a financial pinch, so I have decided to release them to you!  The pack is only $10, and you can get a 15% discount if you share the product during checkout.  This is a good and diverse mixture of electronic and acoustic samples, and is perfect for beginning producers to establish a well rounded drum library; as well as to round out collections of established producers.  
CONTENTS:

26 x Closed Hats
26 x Crash Cymbals
27 x Kick Drums
36 x Open Hats
18 x Rim Shots
38 x Snares
24 x Toms

Again, you get all of these high quality 24-bit WAV samples for the low price of $10, so what are you waiting for?
buy
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edIT shares his world

03/03/2013

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If the name edIT doesn't mean anything to you, then I am surprised you are reading this blog.  If you happen to be afflictied with that condition, however, let it just be known that has long been an innovator in the computer music world.  His consistently solid and boundary pushing solo releases have solidified his position among many as a production legend; and his collaborative work within the group The Glitch Mob has brought his name to many across the world.  
Personally, while listening to his work, I often find myself wishing I could pick his brain about some of the techniques that he uses.  Naturally, when I discovered that he had begun a web video series and was allowing his fans a glimpse into his world, I was very excited.  At the time of this post, edIT has posted 3 videos, onc a day since March 1st.  It sounds like he plans to continue this series, so check out the videos he has already posted and subscribe to his channel to keep up on any new ones.  Oh, and beware the BOOM at the begining.  My heart skipped a beat when I h
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Neurohop Fans/Producers, you have a new home.

02/22/2013

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Consider this a Public Service Announcement if you are a fan of the Neurohop sound (i.e. K.O.A.N. Sound, Opiuo, etc). A new forum was recently launched to focus on all things Neuro.  You can check it out at the very appropriately named Neurohopforum.com.  Its a brand new forum, so head over and help to build a good community full of See ya there!
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Some new tools in Ableton Live 9

02/22/2013

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Well, the release is right around the corner, and here is another video that briefly covers some of the new devices available in Live 9.  Some of these look like they are going to really be fun to mess with.  
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A glimpse of the future of Ableton Push

01/28/2013

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Tom Cosm Tinkering with the New Tools in Live 9

01/16/2013

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So today, Tom Cosm, who is well known for educating the masses on production techniques with fast paced, profanity filled videos; posted up a great video outlining some of the new features in Ableton Live 9's Beta release. In the video, he does his usual create-a-track routine, and touches on a lot of the possibilities that LIve 9 will create.  There are some great ways to use Live's new Max devices, functional uses for the new Convert to MIDI capabilities, and a fairly thorough tour of the new layout in the Browser.  So sit back, relax, and take a trip into the future with Tom.  
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North Korean Neuro Bass Bombs from Outer Space!!!!

01/14/2013

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Well, here it is, the product of an espionage mission lasting two months and spanning four continents. This pack was stolen from the North Korean Ministry of Psychological Operations (who built it from salvaged alien technology) and has been scientifically engineered to break necks, melt faces, and propel feet into uncontrollable dancing fits.  Strangeflow, from Bassadelic.com, and I teamed up to bring you a pack that will go down in history as the one  that almost caused Mutually Assured Destruction.  With 44 funked out basslines, 71 drum samples (including 27 banging beats), 27 bass sustains for building your own sampled instruments, 20 risers, and a healthy assortment of random tidbits that we couldn't classify; this sample pack has  480MB worth of everything you need to bring the neuro-funk-goodness you desire in your tracks.  Wanna make Opiuo and KOAN Sound jealous? Then order your copy now!!!
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More Ableton Live 9 info 

01/08/2013

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So if you haven't figured it out yet, I am super excited about Ableton Live 9 and the Ableton Push controller.  In fact, I am selling my mode of transportation to pay for them.  I figured I would embed a playlist of the official Live 9 videos here just in case you haven't stumbled across them elsewhere.  Rest assured, I will resume making tutorials and such as soon as I have my hands on these.
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Featured Artist Series: Auxiliary Phoenix

12/17/2012

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Well hello again Internet Faithful.  I am back from hiatus with another feature for you.  This time it is a pleasure to introduce to you Auxiliary Phoenix.
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I have to begin by apologizing, both to my readers and to Auxiliary Phoenix.  I have been sitting on this interview since well before Thanksgiving; and for various reasons both inside and outside of my  realm of control, I haven't posted it until now.  I definitely dropped the ball on this one.  Auxiliary Phoenix is the brainchild of James Strain, who hails from that legendary island of leprechauns and magic mushrooms, Ireland.  He definitely has a unique take on music, and an awesome attitude, it was a pleasure to speak with him.  Check out the interview below, then go check out his tunes on Soundcloud.  

I suppose I should start with my customary first question, where did you come up with your artist name?

The phoenix is my favourite mythical creature. Plus the word sounds pretty cool, I think. So that and auxiliary, also a cool word, together create this image in my head of some sort of mech phoenix robot thing, and I was feeling that, so I ran with it. I reckon it's a bit of a step up from DJ Zap, my old name.

DJ Zap, nice. How long ago were those days?

That began in 2004 and ended around 2008 I think, when I started getting into playing instruments more and playing in bands, and so my DJing and producing kinda came to a halt for a while, until I started making tracks as Auxiliary Phoenix around this time last year.

Well, it is good to have you back in the producing game. What kind of music were you playing in your hiatus?

All sorts of stuff! I had my own project, Round Elbow Lemons, that was primarily alternative rock sort of stuff, but I used that to experiment with progressive rock and metal and stuff too. But my main focus was a post-rock band I was (and still am) in, called Louis Walsh Assassination Project. But I was known as a bit of a band whore, haha. I pretty much joined any band on any instrument I could play and at one point I think I had like 5 different bands going at once!

Damn, way to exercise restraint. Haha. So how many instruments do you play?

Well, I consider myself a bassist, first and foremost. It's definitely my favourite and the one I'm most skilled at, but I also play drums, guitar, turntables (I count that, totally), and I do vocals too. So that's 5? Yeah. I would say keyboards but... you know, i feel i'm good enough to produce and make beats and tracks like that with it, but i wouldn't be confident enough to play it in a band!

five bands, five instruments, makes sense. I definitely think turntables qualify as an instrument in the right hands. So how long have you been involved in music?

Since 2004, started off with the DJ Zap stuff. got a set of turntables and a mixer for my birthday! mixmaster mike was such a huge inspiration. scratching was the shit. there's not enough scratching in hip hop anymore, i feel. it's like, the guitar solo of hip hop, y'know?

ya I feel ya, there isn't enough hip hop in hip hop if you ask me, lol

True words! to be honest im not feeling a lot of the up and comers at the moment. a lot of the new shit seems so bland and generic, nobody's trying new things, they're just going on that whole kanye vibe a lot of the time.

Even I can rap/sing with autotune

I mean, there's not been a new rapper in the past couple of years that's grabbed my interest, and that's a bit sad.

Its like anything else, gotta look underground. so what is the territory that you are trying to cover with Auxiliary Phoenix?

Hopefully slightly unchartered territory. my biggest goal is to create music that is truly unique. i really don't see the point of emulating your heroes, it's a bit superfluous. i've been told some of my stuff that i don't even consider that wonky to be quite wonky, but i don't mind that so much, because wonky it's inspired me so much, it got me back into producing, and it's not really bound by hip hop preconceptions. it can have anything on it; an orchestra, guitars, it can be a full live band even, but it's just got this undeniably cool flow when it's done right.

Who would you say is your favorite artists with a wonky style?

Busy is definitely just beyond anything electronic I have heard before. I think he's so great. I feel like if you played his tracks on an acoustic guitar even, they'd be great songs! Him, Dorian Concept and Low Limit are what really drew me in. But more recently I discovered Mono/Poly, and he's definitely been getting a lot of plays.

what are some other big musical inspirations that you have?

The Mars Volta turned my taste in music around so much. Before that, what got me into rock music, was Pixies. Of course there's Beastie Boys, and I'm not ashamed to say it because I was young, but i used to be crazy into Linkin Park. Deftones, Smashing Pumpkins are another huge one... Damn there's so many! I could go on but then I'd have to go on for paragraphs hah.
paragraphs i am much too lazy to type, haha.

so could you describe the processes that you use for Auxiliary Phoenix's tracks?

Well, I use Reason 4.0 because my Mac is a bit old and can only handle so much! So I just open that up and generally start with drums or a loop to chop up. Once I have that down it can go anywhere really, but I generally do some chords with some spacious enough synth, to have something to work around when I'm writing the bass line. Sometimes I take an idea I've written on guitar and translate it to a synth. After I have the track all written with all the additional synths and lead parts or whatever, I do a mix in Reason then render. Then a lot of the time I bring that into Ableton and chop it up and do some additional mastering and/or effects and add chopped vocals or a vocoder if it's one of those tracks. That's it pretty much, sometimes I branch out into Logic if I'm adding a guitar track or bass guitar track. Then I have a smoke and see how it stands up after not listening to it for a while, if i can!

so you multitrack most of your stuff I take it?

Everything is multitracked but when i bring the audio from reason into ableton, it's a stereo file, so when i chop it up, it chops bass, drums, synth, everything. I like the effect you can get with that. I think it helps create some really cool rhythms that may only happen once in the song for a bar or something.

Sounds like a solid process. So, born and raised there in Ireland?

Yeah, lived here all my life. Not as magical as people anticipate it to be. But our biggest city seems like a small village compared to London so... I guess that has charm? One thing I do like though, is that Ireland has some brilliant bands. A lot of utter shite, but some brilliant bands nonetheless. And So I Watch You From Afar, Adebisi Shank, God Is An Astronaut, Windings. A fair few big names in post-rock and math rock.

so whats the best venue in Ireland?

That's a hard one. My favourite bands all tend to play in different places whenever they play here, but it's always Dublin. I think a lot of people might say Twisted Pepper or Button Factory, so I'll go with those!

Ill be sure to check it out when i roll through.

Hit me up when you do, we can spit out some tracks perhaps!

I would love to, just lemme sell some samples, and I will get my trip all planned.  Thanks for your time, happy music making!

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Glitch Hop Forum's Unleashes its Third Annual Production Contest!

11/21/2012

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Sample outside the box.
GHF wants you to get off you lazy asses and sample the sounds of the world. 
GHF's Third Annual Production Contest

            In the realm of electronic music not many communities offer resources and like GHF does.  A huge community of over 8000 users, you can get feedback on your music, production techniques, inspiration or participate in producer Q&A's.  GHF doesn't limit itself to glitch hop, the community is vibrant and open minded.  Which is exactly what this years Production Contest is like.  The theme of the competition was no easy decision as the GHF community was asked to voice their opinion.  Here's some of the strange and awesome suggestions from the GHF community. 

Hors d'oeuvres, TB 303, Natural Elements, grungestep, forest sounds, things you might hear on an airplane, vagrants, vag, Songs to accompany homelessness, Candy Ravers, Explosions, Astrology, procrastination.

Now you can see the we have some real imaginative producers out there.  But in the end what could cover all these bases and still allow for full creative freedom was the theme of field recordings.  You could sample candy ravers in line for a grungestep show as long as you are outside recording it.  There are no limits as long as you get the hell outside and be creative.  Get out of your box of a room and wipe off your glazed over eye balls step onto a forest floor or a busy intersection and start sampling.   Too make things more exciting this contest is judged by an all star cast of electronic music producers who are the who's who of the underground.  But of course it wouldn't be a contest without super out of this world prizes from companies that are leaders in forward thinking technology.  

This years top prize is your choice of the Keith Mcmillan Quneo or Livid Instruments CNTRL:R.  Second place gets whatever first place doesn't want which could be what second place actually wants in the end.  Third prize is weird and personal.  Its Dewey db's own collection of 8-tracks, varying in style but mainly funk, soul and r&b.  Don't forget the portable player you get that plays all this 8-tracks.  Here's some words about this prize from the horses mouth:

"I have been collecting these 8-tracks for a long time now. Call it a geeky hobby, or whatever, but they are dope as fuck. Unfortunately I am moving to Europe for a year and somethings just gotta go. My loss, your gain. Dopest collection of 8-tracks you will ever get your hands on."
A little bit about the 2 main prizes:

The Keith Mcmillan Quneo is the midi controller dj's and producers alike have been vying for.  A Multitouch midi controller without the expense of a touch screen display.  Each pad can send midi messages for note, pressure, velocity, location and direction.  Depending on which of the 2 modes (Drum mode or Grid mode) the pads can react as x/y controllers or be used as a sequencer with led responsiveness.  That's just the tip of the proverbial midi iceberg.   All I can say is this thing is a monster.    

The livid CNTRL:R is a device of beauty and suites a studio environment but thrives in a live setting.  Designed with innovative superstar Ritchie Hawtin during the course of a year and a half, CNTRL:R was not created in a rush.   Meeting both aesthetics and functionality in a beautiful package Livid went above and beyond with this product.  The keypads are backed with RGB lights to keep your fingers on the trigger even in the pitch black rave.   Get away from your laptop and get hands on with CNTRL:R.  

Here's the nitty gritty of it all so that there's no confusion and/or lawsuits:

RULES & GUIDELINES
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- The theme of the contest will be Field Recordings
- Judges will give extra consideration to people who stick close to the theme.
- No remixes.
- It must be completely original material. 
- If it does have samples (that anyone will ever recognize), they must be cleared before you send it in.
- Submissions must be in by Dec 15th
- Only one submission per artist. So please be sure before you submit.
- Please e-mail submissions in 320kbps mp3 format to: contest@glitchhopforum.com
- Please include your mailing address for where I should mail your GHF T-Shirt (see below in other prizes)

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JUDGES
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All work will be shortlisted by our team and then judged by a few leaders in the industry:

OPIUO - http://www.opiuo.com
ILL GATES - http://www.illgates.com
ILL-ESHA - http://www.ill-esha.com
MOCHIPET (Daly City Records) - http://www.dalycityrecords.com/blastoff/
BIL BLESS (Bless Records) - http://bilbless.bandcamp.com/
Dewey dB - http://glitchhopforum.com/


---------
PRIZES
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1st Place 
Your choice of either the Keith McMillan QuNeo http://www.keithmcmillen.com/ or the Livid Instruments CNTRL:R http://lividinstruments.com
A Glitch Hop Forum hoodie, a pair of Ear Buddies 

2nd Place) 
A Glitch Hop Forum hoodie, a copy of ill-gate's dj-template & A midi controller (whatever first place didn't take)


3rd Place)
A Glitch Hop Forum hoodie & Dewey dB's personal collection of funk & soul 8-tracks with a portable 8-track player to go with them. 

Other Prizes
Everyone who enters the contest will be mailed a glitch hop forum t-shirt.
Only one small disclaimer on this one. You don't get to choose the size. I am very low on stock and I will be moving soon so I haven't printed new shirts. You get what I give you. end of story.
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