yizzle

ye i read about it the other day. Cant say im overly keen to jump onto it.

whats holding you back from updating bud?

Native Instruments has updated Maschine to version 2.1. It’s a free update for existing users. The video below, via Maschine Tutorials, is a quick overview of the new features. Here’s what’s new in Maschine 2.1: • Sounds accessible on pads on sample recording screen • A batch function to set all sounds in a group to the same MIDI channel. MIDI export available on the Group and Sound levels • Undocked NI plug-in windows can be pinned to remain active when not in focus • Scenes can be selected/triggered via MIDI input when MASCHINE is running standalone • Mix page on MASCHINE and MASCHINE MK2 controllers has been expanded and now provides access to level and pan settings for groups and sounds • A setting that only turns the metronome on when the Record button is enabled • Real time group erase function. • Shift functions allow fast scroll browsing. • Play quantize option –notes played live on the pads are quantized in real time • Control software views from the navigate page on MASCHINE and MASCHINE STUDIO controllers • Instantiating the first plug-in on an empty sound updates the name of that sound to the plug-in name • Sound, group volume & pan knobs are only displayed on hover • ALT+Drag for copy-pasting single elements (patterns, scenes, plug-ins) in the Groups / Sounds lists and the plug-in chain • Browser performance improvements • Numerous bug fixes, as well as performance and stability improvements See the Native Instruments site for details Source: synthtopia.com

This video playlist, via AudioTechnicaUSA, collects a series of videos that cover Basic Recording Techniques. The videos cover topics that a lot of electronic musicians have to deal with when it comes to recording live parts or content for sampling. Topics covered in the Basic Recording Techniques series include: • Percussion • Electric Guitar • Electric Bass • Acoustic Guitar • Group Vocals • Latin Percussion • Voice-Over • Solo Vocals • Electric Guitar – Multi Microphone • Upright Bass Note that the video embed is for the entire playlist. Use the left/right arrows to navigate from one video to another. Miking drum sets is more complex than miking most instruments, so AudioTechnica has a separate playlist that covers drum recording in-depth: Source: synthtopia.com

Pictured above: Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti, who introduced the motion. As the battle between Ultra Music Festival and the city of Miami finally begins to settle, another city has jumped to arms: Toronto’s board has voted in favor of banning all future dance music events from city-owned venues and buildings at the popular venue, Exhibition Place. The issue was brought to vote in light of concerns regarding heavy use of drugs at electronic music events with Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti providing the opposing argument: “This is not what city property and taxpayers’ money should be used for.” Controversy arose from the decision as some speculate the ban doesn’t stem from a problem with electronic music or drugs, but rather finances and politics between certain nightclubs that may have a stronger sway within the council. “It is not the presence of dance, or music, that is the problem,” Councillor Adam Vaughan argues, according to DJ Mag. “There are certain nightclub owners that have a lot of sway in politics. That’s all you’ll get from me.” While the decision is official and Toronto will now be forced to look towards alternative options for hosting dance music parties, dissent arises from the 4-3 vote. Councillor Mike Layton, one of the representatives who voted no on the decision, attempted to share his perspective that “EDM will happen regardless,” and wished to keep the phenomenon available at Exhibition Place. He continued to explain that keeping the shows at a venue where rules and regulation require appropriate security measures and on-site ambulances is a “harm reduction approach. Some people may not like it, but kids are going to want to dance.” The choice to ban dance music from Exhibition Place is estimated to cost the city $1 million in annual revenue. This potential economic blow caught the attention of Councillor Michael Thompson, chair of the economic development committee who clarified that not all hope might be lost for the venue. “It’s certainly something that we’re going to have to look at,” he offered. “We are focusing on music as a key piece with respect to economic opportunities, economic development, creating jobs.” Fellow supporting Councillor Gord Perks plans to reintroduce the issue to senior officials to see if the council can override the board’s decision. Source: dancingastronaut.com

Part 3 - Acoustic Treatment For Home Studios

Part 2

Mastering engineer Ian Shepherd is kicking off a new series on building a home mastering studio. He starts off by explaining that he’s not trying to duplicate the commercial mastering studio environment, but instead he’s trying to turn his garage into a home studio where he can get useful mastering work done. In the first video, Shepherd show you the ‘before’ look at his space and talks about room shape, soundproofing, electrics, floating floors and more. It looks like Shepherd’s series will offer information that be useful for people setting up general home studios, too, even if you don’t plan on doing any mastering. Part 1 Source: synthtopia.com

Today, inMusic announced that it has acquired three new brands: • Denon Professional • Marantz Professional, and • Denon DJ. The three join the existing inMusic brands, which include Akai Professional, Alesis, Alto Professional, ION Audio, Numark, M-Audio, AIR Music Technology, and Mixmeister. “By adding Denon Professional, Marantz Professional, and Denon DJ to our family of brands, we’re strengthening our base of DJ assets while extending our footprint in the professional market to the commercial installation and contractor segments,” said Jack O’Donnell, owner and CEO, inMusic. Source: synthtopia.com

An article by Curbed LA takes a look at the “underground world” of Los Angeles’ home-based recording studios. Home recording studios, along with “bootblack stands, rubber or metal stamp stores, typewriter or adding machine repair concerns,” aren’t officially allowed in LA. But home-based professional recording studios, well-soundproofed for acoustic reasons to begin with, seem to escape the building inspectors’ scrutiny — as long as the neighbors don’t notice and complain. Shifts in the music industry, and changes in the quality, price, (and sheer size) of audio recording gear, along with better options for audio software, have led to a proliferation in the creation of professional recording studios that just happen to be located in the producer/musician’s basement, garage, or guest house. Since much of the music-recording industry has been LA-based for decades, it makes sense that the shift to professional/DIY home studios would end up having a greater number of practitioners there. *ysm notes: now some DIY studio/gear porn from LA's "underground" studios Source: synthtopia.com / la.curbed.com / percussa.us/

wish i could go

On this episode of the Rock it Out! Blog from SXSW, Sami offers a behind-the-scenes look at one of man’s greatest achievements: the Third Man Records Rolling Record Store. Designed by Jack White, this former delivery truck takes its yellow and black exterior to the streets and offers fans the opportunity to purchase vinyl from Third Man recording artists along with other goodies. Third Man Records’ Cam Sarrett takes cameras inside of the store to show off all the amenities including a fully functioning DJ set up, a customized ceiling, and a couch made entirely out of leather from the inside of Mercedes cars. Source: vinyloftheday.com

SFX Entertainment continues to conquer the live-event and dance music scene by storm. The conglomerate behind concerts like TomorrowLand, TomorrowWorld, Life In Color, and Electric Zoo as well as the online electronic dance music store Beatport has recently acquired three new assets to their FX-1 division in charge of in-house marketing solutions for musicians and brand names in cohorts with them. They will be in the same section as Pay Logic, Flavorous, Arc90, and Fame House. The three companies are TMWRK, Learned Evolutions, and The Meta Agency. TMWRK resulted from the merging of two companies in 2011 each led by Andrew McInnes and Kevin Kusatsu, who met while working in Sony Music years prior. It is one of the commanding companies in the management and representation business for a variety of musicians. This includes moombahton master Dillon Francis, trap sensations Flosstradamus, Grammy nominated Producer of the Year Ariel Rechtshaid, and techno veteran Claude VonStroke. This is the company that made the the marketing partnerships possible between musicians A-Trak and Diplo to brands Adidas and Blackberry respectively. Learned Evolutions was founded in 2006 and deals in digital branding and marketing. However, the agency maintains a focus on multidisciplinary design, social media marketing, and technology-lead experiences. Since their foundation, Learned Evolutions has been responsible for the development of the communications platform for the Brooklyn Bowl and ownership over the #FEED Franchise that kickstarted at SXSW 2012. This company will be instrumental in expanding the SFX’s reach into the ever increasing tech-desire for future events and media outlets. The Meta Agency came about in 2010 and manages visual, experiential, and interactive artists who design for events, brand activations and permanent installations. With up to sixteen other companies specializing in visual arts, interactive design, motion graphics, and video under their control, SFX will be able to harmonize innovative advancements in technology with a rapidly evolving global community. Both Learned Evolutions and The Meta Agency were founded by Justin Bolognino. He serves as the creative director and top brand strategist for both agencies and is quite excited to have his two companies under the wings of SFX saying, “The opportunity to partner with SFX allows us an unprecedented opportunity to give our artists the broadest exposure to the fastest growing creative, technological and experiential platform of electronic music. We see the opportunities to bring leading experiential solutions to life with SFXs deep bench of marketing partners and we hope to make our artists as famous as the DJ/ Producers that grace the SFX stages around the globe.” Andrew McInnes of TMWRK also shared his thoughts of the future of TMWRK with SFX. He stated, “Partnering with SFX gives us more opportunities to help our artists grow in multiple ways. Kevin and I put our artists first. Our focus will continue to be on the music they make and provide an environment for their careers to grow in whichever creative path they choose to endeavor into. With this partnership and the universal commitment of everyone at SFX to maintain our artist-first commitment, this is a major opportunity for TMWRK and our artists.” However, the comment that sheds the most light on this situation comes from the head of SFX Entertainment Robert F. X. Sillerman. He explains the future of these companies and their place in SFX explaining, “FX-1 represents our vision to bring a full-service solution to our creative partners and our fans. EMC is the highly personal language of the millennial generation. By bringing together these talented people and their capabilities, SFX can now help artists, producers, labels and companies connect in the most authentic and helpful way. TMWRK adds career development expertise for those desiring that assistance. The Meta Agency and Learned Evolution give us an extraordinary level of creative design talent to support any development effort imaginable.” With such a massive growth for SFX, what will the company do next? They seem to have their hand far down the dance music culture cookie-jar and desire more from it. Source: youredm.com

The recent Microsoft Build Developer Conference threw up some interesting glimpses of the future for DJs. On display was a prototype version of the mighty Akai Pro MPC Renaissance, running with a version of Windows Embedded (more on this later). But of most interest for DJs was a slide showing a render of a Numark NS7 II unit, complete with 3 screens. And not a laptop in sight. Firstly, what is Windows Embedded? You know when you go to an ATM machine, only to be greeted with a load of computer gibberish, and sometimes just a C: prompt? That’s Windows Embedded – a stripped out version of regular Windows optimised purely for the hardware it’s running on. Think point of sale boxes in shops too. You barely get to see it, and almost certainly don’t get to interact with it directly. Remember, this is not Windows as you know it, and what it runs on cannot really be called a PC in the accepted sense, because… wait for it… it’s embedded. Geddit? Embedding Past and Present The idea of embedding for DJs isn’t new. Remember Stanton‘s SCS.4DJ? This ran a version of Linux inside that freed you from having to plug in a laptop. Music prep was done on your computer, and transferred onto USB devices that plugged into the SCS.4DJ. And it ran well, and the masses seems to love the idea of laptop-free DJing, even if the unit itself didn’t break sales records. Numark has also sort of dabbled with the general idea of embedding via the iDJ Pro. Dropping an iPad right into the heart of a controller is a very cool idea, and is something that I expect to see a lot more of. Indeed, the idea of iOS embedding is pretty hot right now via Apple’s announcement of their CarPlay technology. While not truly embedding, the principle of iOS driving hardware without having to directly use an iPhone or iPad is a step in the right direction. Apple already has patents for DJ products, and controllers are a fixture in the majority of their ads these days. The Case for MPCs The MPC and its ilk are traditionally standalone units, designed to be used just about anywhere that a music maker wants to. The main issue has been that the demands of producers has increased, but the screen (which is being generous) has stayed the same size. The solution was to hook up the newest generations of grooveboxes to computers, thus opening up a huge screen and enormous feature set to music makers, essentially making them no more than controllers. Booo said the groovebox faithful, as they now had to take 2 boxes with them.. And even though a magical world was open to them, they suddenly felt hampered by this now not-so-portable workflow. So it makes perfect sense for producers to welcome the idea of Windows Embedded. Not only do they get their standalone music machine back, but they also get a much bigger windows to play with as well. And this machine (in theory) will also play nice with laptops too. I assume it’ll still work with the respective Windows and OS X software too. The Case for (or against) DJs The sell to DJs is going to be much harder. The beauty of the current workflow is that music prep is done on the laptop inside the very software that will be running, and it simply plugs in to the controller. To go embedded, you have to do all your track prep the same way, and then transfer it to the DJ unit running embedded software. Think Pioneer and their rekordbox workflow for CDJs. So it’s not as slick and adds an extra step into the process of getting music out to the masses. But it does ditch the laptop from the workflow. There’s something incredibly cool about NOT having to constantly defer to a separate screen, thus taking attention away from your DJ gear. Looking at this gear, I would love to have a play to see if this is a workable model. It’s interesting to see Serato‘s software being used in this, especially as OS X is the unofficially preferred platform. Clearly it’s little more than a fancy render at this point, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist in some form of reality. Remember that OS X was running happily inside Apple for a very long time, thus it’s not outside the realms of reality that there isn’t a unit held together with gaffer tape and hope running an alpha version. I do love the idea of a completely self-contained DJ unit running without recourse to any laptop while playing. I want my focus to be on my DJ gear, to the point where I’d love a waveform sized screen right where the strip search is. And if embedded software lets that happen, then I’m all for it. It does of course raise so many questions about software features in hardware, and if the price of embedding will raise the price of hardware even higher than ever. But hey — that’s what comments are for, so that all these issues can be raised and kicked around before companies commit resources to a potential money pit. Source: djworx.com

After much anticipation, Bitwig Studio, the DAW software that takes Ableton Live’s ball and runs with it, has arrived to reinvigorate your music-making life. This comprehensive music production and performance platform goes heavy on user-friendly workflow features and light on clutter. The whole point is to unleash your musical creativity. But can it hang with the veterans of the industry? Is it just a re-designed Ableton Live copycat? We’ve sweated the details to let you know. Reviewed: Bitwig Studio 1.0 Price: $399 (free demo available here) Available: Now Supported Audio Formats: WAV, MP3, Ogg, AAC, WMA, FLAC (audio export is WAV-only). Minimum System Requirements: Windows: Windows 7 or later, multi-core CPU, 2 GB RAM (8 GB recommended), 5 GB free hard disk space. Mac: OS 10.7 or later; multi-core, 64-bit CPU; 2 GB RAM (8 GB recommended); 5 GB free hard disk space. Linux: Ubuntu 12.04 or later; multi-core, 64-bit CPU; 2 GB RAM (8 GB recommended); 5 GB free hard disk space. The Good: An intelligently flexible user interface built from the ground up for a speedy workflow, intuitiveness, and customization. Integrated clip launcher and arrangement view. Eight mappable Macro controls per device. Unified Modulation System and incredibly powerful nested device chains. Drag-and-drop between open projects. Great bouncing to audio and audio-slicing features. Accurate and simplified audio stretching. Layered editing. Absolute and relative automation. Well-rounded starter set of instruments, effects, and sound material. VST crashes don’t crash the software. The Bad: Very limited MIDI controller support for users without one of the 18 natively supported controllers or Javascript skills for writing a controller API script. The included sound material collection weighs in on the small side compared to many other DAWs. The Bottom Line: Bitwig Studio 1.0.5 storms out of the gate to immediately become a heavyweight contender in the crowded DAW space. It looks at Ableton Live and says “anything you can do, I can do better.” Aimed squarely at electronic music producers, performers, and sound designers, it’s a one-stop shop for production that helps you create your musical ideas fast. Splittin' Ableton's Wigs After a couple of years of steady teasing, Bitwig Studio, the latest digital audio workstation (DAW) to hit the scene, is now for sale. With a couple key members of the eight-person Bitwig staff having worked at Ableton, and with much of the software’s look and feel noticeably reminiscent of Ableton Live, it’s reasonable to wonder: Is Bitwig Studio just a glorified Live clone? It takes some amount of substantial firsthand experience, but after a few solid days of straight Bitwigging, I can answer with a definitive “not quite.” Bitwig Studio with the Central Panel in Arrange view. All DAWs share an enormous amount of common characteristics and workflow conventions, and Bitwig Studio is the first one to successfully borrow heavily from Live’s Session & Arrangement view/clips & tracks/linear & non-linear composition paradigm. However, Bitwig’s creators started from scratch with the goal of creating a program that got out of your way so you could make music as painlessly as possible. It’s the many tangible and not-so-tangible workflow improvements and interface strategies that make working with Bitwig a unique and gratifying experience. Bitwig borrows many conventions of the Ableton Live style: • clip launcher with Scenes • its way of handling audio material to Stretch (not Warp) to tempo • flexible one-window layout • nested devices such as the Drum Machine (not Drum Rack) • overall selection and design of instruments and effects. If that seems like a lot of aping, there’s a lot more going on that helps make Bitwig Studio one of the most exciting new DAWs in a long time, and an extremely robust and full-featured one for a v1.0 product. Layout And Interface The Inspector shows vital info and function shortcuts for the selected element(s) Like its spiritual predecessor, Bitwig Studio was made for you to record, arrange, improvise, and perform music in any combination, and all at once if you prefer. It accomplishes that with an intelligent, extremely flexible design. The Header at the top holds your transport controls, timeline display, tool selections, menus, and other options that stay constant regardless of how you modify the remaining space. The Central Panel is always open, but you can toggle it between the three main views – the Arrange Panel (timeline), Mix Panel (mixer and vertical clip launcher), and the Edit Panel for detailed editing of audio, MIDI notes, and automation. There’s also the Inspector Panel on the left, which holds many functions and details of any selected element in Bitwig; the Access Panel on the right, which includes the Browser, Project management panel, and the Studio I/O setup panel; and the Secondary Panel at the bottom, which toggles between the Device Panel and miniature versions of the Mixer, Automation Editor, and Note Editor. The main Central Panel has its own viewing options, so you can economize screen space by toggling send effect tracks and track I/O options on and off, and by halving the size of tracks. But it also lets you open a horizontal version of the clip launcher, where clips’ Scenes are launched from the top of columns rather than from the sides of rows. This is to help you quickly drag and drop material to and from the clip launcher to the arrangement timeline, and during composition or performance, let you easily jump from a track playing in the arrangement to a group of clips, and then back to the arrangement tracks at your discretion. Bitwig with the clip launcher, arrangement and mixer showing. Those used to the Ableton Live workflow may find it odd at first to have a horizontal clip launcher (remember, a vertical clip launcher also lives in the Mix window), but I found it to be a welcome and useful innovation. I quickly found myself working more than ever in a collaborative fashion between the arrangement and clip launcher, often recording clips in the arrangement and then dragging them to the launcher. The other bit of simple genius stemming from Bitwig’s layout is that you can have the arrangement and clip launcher viewable in the Central Panel, while the Mixer is in the Secondary Panel. For me, it’s a great ergonomic development over having to tab back and forth from the Arrange View to the mixer in Ableton Live. For the producers doing it big with dual- or triple-monitor setups, Bitwig has different Display Profiles in its Preferences for dedicating monitors to different combos of the Arrange, Mix, and Edit panels – or one each, if you have three monitors. As one last note, you can have multiple projects open in Bitwig at once, and even better, you can drag and drop or copy and paste audio and note clips, as well as Devices, from one open project to another. Browser Browser (split horizontally to show here) with samples and preview on the right column When doing almost any task in Bitwig, it feels like a small-to-medium-sized burden has been lifted off the work it takes to accomplish the same things in most other DAWs, not just Ableton Live. The Bitwig Browser provides one case in point. It has seven tabs across the top: • Devices and Presets: holds the 54 included Bitwig Devices broken into folders for Audio FX, Instruments, Container instruments, etc. Open one, and you’ll see all the available Devices, along with a number of the presets that are available. Then when you click on a Device, you’ll see all the presets in the panel below. Bitwig comes with a wealth of instruments and presets to get you started: 200+ presets for its flagship Polysynth subtractive synthesizer; 100+ drum kits for the Drum Machine; 100+ presets for the Sampler and FM-4 FM synth; and 200+ total presets for the 25 Audio FX Devices. Drag a preset to the Arrange Panel, and Bitwig will set up a new audio or instrument track with the associated device ready to go. • Sample: Upon launching Bitwig for the first time, you can download a healthy supply of Bitwig and third-party sample content – almost 5,000 total samples – that the Browser holds under the Samples tab. Drill down to a root folder to see all the samples displayed in the bottom panel; you can preview the samples – either synced to the project tempo or not – straight from the Browser. • Multisamples and Clips tabs: show the multisample packages (75) and instrument clips (260) that come with Bitwig’s downloadable content. • Files: shows various folders from your computer’s desktop, letting you search your entire file directory for content to import. • Configuration: lets you choose locations from your computer’s directory that will show up under the Browser’s Devices, Samples, Multisamples, Music, and/or Clips tabs, making it easy to set up shortcuts in the Browser to any locations where you have VST plug-ins, samples, MIDI clips, etc. Audio And MIDI Note Interoperability In many ways, Bitwig treats audio and MIDI note material similarly, and makes it so you can almost fluidly move back and forth from both. For starters, you can import both note clips and audio material to the same track, making it a Hybrid track. You may also end up with a Hybrid track by bouncing a note clip to audio. If you select a note clip, you can convert it to audio by selecting Bounce either from the inspector or from a contextual menu. In the menu, you can bounce it to a new track, or bounce it in place, so it stays in its same location. Audio files can also be effectively converted to notes. If you right-click an audio clip, you can choose Slice to Drum Machine or Slice to Multisample from the contextual menu. Both functions create slices from the audio file’s Onsets (like transient markers) and load them up into slots of a Drum Machine device or assign them to keyboard notes in a Sampler. The big difference is that in the Sampler, all the slices will go through the same signal chain, whereas every slot in the Drum Machine has its own signal chain. Whether it’s audio or MIDI notes, all tracks and clips are subject to a similar set of extensive editing features and subject to a robust set of automation features as well. Editing Audio And Note Events With either an audio or note clip or track selected, tabbing over to the Edit Panel will show you the full suite of editing features: the Detail Editor Panel, audio or note “expression” values, and the automation section. The audio event and note expression values are parameters that can be set for each individual audio event or note. These include gain, pan, pitch, onsets, and Stretch for audio, and velocity, gain, pan, and timbre for notes. Bitwig with the Central Panel in Edit view. You can also make these edits from Secondary Panel Views, or do automation for tracks from the Arrange Panel, but the main Edit Panel is the place to get all those features in one place. Having the Inspector open also helps edit, because it gives you shortcuts to editing functions like duplicate, quantize, legato, reverse, transposition, and halving or doubling clip or note lengths. Some Bitwig instruments use note velocity and timbre as modulation sources assignable to any parameters within the instrument. Timbre, for example, is a modulation source in the FM-4, Organ, Sampler, and Polysynth instruments. The Bitwig Histogram editing multiple audio events randomly. You can get very cool and random variations to timbre and other expression parameters using Bitwig’s Histogram. It can lead to some controlled chaotic results that can be great to spice up a part or to provide modulation for an instrument. With the Inspector open, select multiple notes or audio events in the editor. (For audio, use the Split at Onsets function in the Inspector to generate multiple audio events.) Then, various parameters in the Inspector, such as velocity, pan, pitch, or timbre, will have arrow buttons next to them that open the Histogram. Entering a value for Chaos will randomly vary the expression values for a parameter, and you can then play with the Mean and Spread values while monitoring the results in the Editor panel. Another awesome twist to note editing in Bitwig comes in the form of Layered Editing. This feature lets you edit the notes of multiple Instrument tracks at once in the same window. That’s very cool for seeing how the tracks relate to each other. You can also show an audio track in the background of the window – not to edit, but as a helpful visual reference. Bitwig’s layered editing with an audio track as reference. If you need to Stretch a piece of audio so it plays back in the project’s tempo, the onsets help you place Beat Markers, which then tie the audio to the grid for stretching. The process works very similarly to Warping audio in Ableton Live. When you bring audio into Bitwig, it will either analyze it for tempo or recognize the tempo from the file name if it includes something like “133bpm” in the name. If you know the audio’s tempo, you can input it as well. There are only three Stretch modes: Stretch and Stretch HD, which both preserve the audio’s original pitch, and Repitch, which treats the audio’s pitch like a vinyl record that’s sped up or slowed down. In my tests, stretched audio that retained the pitch sounded amazing when sped up to 165% of the original tempo and higher. The sound was good when slowed down by a modest amount, but started to introduce some artifacts at about 80% of the original tempo. Automation Bitwig Studio offers up all the standard automation features you’d expect in a high-level DAW, as well as a couple of nice surprises. You can create automation curves for Mixer functions, any MIDI CC, and for pretty much any parameter for any device placed on the track. You can edit automation from lanes nested under the track in the Arrange Panel, in the Automation Editor secondary panel, or in the Edit Panel. You can draw in automation curves with the Pen tool, create and move curve points with the main Object Selection tool, or record automation by tweaking parameters while recording. An absolute automation curve modulating a relative automation curve. One cool feature lets you attach automation to a clip, so that the automation repeats every time you use that clip. But Bitwig’s big automation coup is relative automation. Its two relative automation modes – additive automation and multiplicative automation – respectively move a parameter ±50% of its total range or scales a parameter toward zero. But best of all, you can use all three types of automation on a single parameter. To illustrate an example of what can be done with automation combinations, see this screenshot, where an additive automation curve had a repeating triangle wave shape until it was modulated by a long arcing absolute curve. The result is that the repeating triangle wave now has a slope to it. You can imagine the effect that would have over something like a long filter sweep. Nested Devices Bitwig Studio makes liberal use of nested devices to become something of a sound designer’s dream. Each one can combine Bitwig’s 9 Instruments and 25 Audio FX with any third-party VST plug-in you have. The most common nested devices in Bitwig Studio, Containers, are utility devices with the primary function of hosting other devices. The various Containers include: A Drum Machine with a nested Post FX chain. • Drum Machine: There are 128 possible device chains in the Drum Machine, one for each MIDI note, each one of which holds a drum synth or sampler, as well as any effects added to them. Sixteen drum slots, or pads, are displayed at a time. In addition, the Drum Machine’s FX button opens up a Post FX device chain, where you can add devices that will affect the summed output of the Drum Machine. In the Mixer, you can unfold a Drum Machine to show sub-mixer channels for each instrument within. • FX Layer and Instrument Layer: These devices contains “stacks” of instruments that will be triggered at the same time, or layers of effects that are processed in parallel. Like all other Bitwig devices, these can also be a part of a larger device chain. • FX Chain: Similar to an FX Layer, except that the effects are processed in serial. An XY Instrument followed by and XY Effect and Post FX chain. • XY Effect and XY Instrument: These containers load up to four effects or instruments in parallel and let you crossfade their outputs from an XY axis. • Mid-Side Split: Splits a stereo signal into its center (mid) and L/R panned (side) components and sends them to an independent signal chain. • Multiband FX-2: Splits incoming audio at a definable frequency and sends the signals above and below that frequency to independent signal chains. Unified Modulation System All of Bitwig’s effect and instrument devices have eight Macro knobs, which use a system for assigning one or more of the device’s parameters to that knob for a specified level of control. The same system is used to assign parameters to the many modulation sources in the Polysynth, FM-4 synth, Sampler, and Organ. Clicking an arrow button above any Macro knob highlights in blue any parameter that can be assigned to a Macro. From there, you click and drag on any of those parameters to designate the range that the Macro can move the parameter (this way you can confine the Macro to editing the “sweet spot” of any parameter). When finished, click the arrow button again, rename the Macro if you like, and you’re off. In the same fashion, you can assign any number of internal modulation parameters to the sources of an instrument like the Polysynth, which uses its envelopes, LFOs, Note expressions like velocity and timbre, and incoming mod wheel and aftertouch info from a MIDI keyboard as modulation sources. As part of its 2.0 update, Bitwig promises to open up its modulation architecture even further to create a native modular device-creation system similar to NI Reaktor or Max MSP. MIDI Controllers Bitwig Studio 1.0 natively supports some MIDI controllers with integrated functionality, and it has an open controller scripting API for creating custom mappings. However, you must know Javascript to use the API, and the number of controllers supported natively at launch was only 18, meaning that many users will be confined to Bitwig’s generic MIDI support. With that, you can set eight knobs or sliders on your controller to send MIDI CC# 20-27 to control Macros or other mappable controls. But MIDI support is very basic if you don’t have a supported controller or the know-how to write a controller script. Supported controllers can make use of Bitwig’s smart adaptable controls: eight color-coded controls that dynamically shift as you move about the program. Certain controllers, like the Nektar Panarama line and some Livid Instruments boxes, offer much deeper integration. Performance Bitwig recommends some fairly high system requirements, although most computers bought over the last two years should be able to run it. The Linux support should also make that tight-knit and slowly growing community very happy. I tested Bitwig Studio on a nearly two-year-old Apple MacBook Pro with 8 GB RAM, and for the most part, everything went swimmingly. I did experience a couple of instances in which the audio playback got a bit clicky, but admittedly, the CPU was bogged down with many other programs running at the time. The overall sound of the output left nothing to be desired and compared very well against programs like Propellerhead Reason 7, Ableton Live, and Native Instruments Maschine and Traktor. Bitwig with the Central Panel in Mix view and the Drum Machine track unfolded. A high-profile innovation, Bitwig’s “sandboxing” feature separates the handling of outside VST plug-ins from the rest of the program’s processes, so that if one of the plug-ins crashes, it doesn’t crash Bitwig or interrupt its flow. Of the dozen or so VST plug-ins I tried inside Bitwig, only one of them crashed, and it did so several times. Happily, the sandboxing feature worked as advertised. When the plug-in crashed, the only effect on the audio or the program itself was as if I simply turned off the plug-in in the device chain. The shell of the crashed plug-in showed an alert that it had crashed, with an option button to reload the plug-in. Rolling With The New For a v1.0 DAW, Bitwig Studio offers one of the most impressive combinations of mature features, innovation, user friendliness, and stability that I’ve seen in 15 years. It really does offer that elusive middle ground between high-level professional features for music production and sound design and an environment in which a novice could catch the music-making bug without being too intimidated. There are polished touches in Bitwig Studio 1.0.5 that other similar programs don’t have or are just now adding. For example, Bitwig’s Hardware FX and Hardware Instrument Router devices facilitate hooking up external gear through your MIDI and audio interfaces so you can incorporate them in Bitwig device chains. Propellerhead Reason didn’t add that equivalent feature until last year’s v7 update. There’s definitely more that Bitwig Studio could do to compare to some of the flashiest features in the world of DAWs, and the company has already promised some interesting additions for v2, including: • online collaborations • a native modular-device creation system similar to Reaktor or Max MSP • and network jamming, where several computers can all use Bitwig together over the same network, with a single computer sending the summed audio to a set of speakers. However, there’s no open-and-shut case as to whether Ableton Live or other DAW users should immediately switch to Bitwig Studio. If you’re happy with what you’ve got, there’s always something to be said for knowing your system so well that it becomes an extension of your own body and mind. And your current software may only be a version away from incorporating features that you want. When considering cost, Bitwig Studio’s $399 is less than Ableton Live 9 Suite ($749), more than Apple Logic Pro X ($199), and it includes an excellent array of devices and sound materials, but still less than either of those other two programs. Personally, if I could only use Bitwig Studio as my DAW from here on, I’d be happy, but I’d also want to buy a new MIDI controller with deep Bitwig integration and an additional collection of compatible soundware to round out what I would be missing from Live 9 Suite, which is a big overall expenditure. Because Bitwig Studio is so new, it doesn’t have the same MIDI controller support or giant user community that other established DAWs have yet. But for new or experienced producers who don’t mind those caveats, I’d recommend Bitwig Studio in a heartbeat. Source: djtechtools.com

pretty good mate

*ysm notes: sadly, i could not embed this video into the post, so I put links at the end of the post. The success of Apple’s iOS has led to an explosion of mobile music applications. Microsoft is working hard, though, to make its mobile ecosystem just as vibrant – and just as much a player in the area of mobile music making. This video captures an hour-long session at Microsoft’s Build 2014 conference that focuses on building mobile music apps: Sequencers, Synthesizers, and Software, Oh My! Building Great Music Creation Apps for Windows Store. Here’s what speakers Pete Brown and Jason Olson have to say about the talk: "People love expressing themselves by creating music on their mobile devices. This talk will briefly discuss why creative apps are important and how you can build the best music creation apps on Windows. We will show several of the top music creation apps today using new Windows features, how you can use these new features, and what Microsoft is doing in the future to make the experience even better." Direct video link: here Microsoft Developer Network: here Source: synthtopia.com / msdn.com

Propellerhead today released Reason 7.1 and Reason Essentials 2.1 – an update that adds workflow improvements, support for an updated Rack Extension standard and a free modulation Rack Extension, Synchronous. Here’s what’s new in Propellerhead Reason 7.1 and Reason Essentials 2.1: • Reason 7.1 and Reason Essentials 2.1 comes with the new Rack Extension SDK 2 installed. The new SDK allows for a new generation of Rack Extensions with vastly improved display capabilities. With the new SDK, Propellerhead is making it easier for content developers to create Rack Extension instruments. • Workflow improvements: ·· Hold shift when reordering devices in a signal chain to automatically re-route ·· Better indications on audio clips to show if the clip has comp edits or slices ·· Slices in self-contained REX files can now be used as samples ·· Spectrum EQ button on Master Section device • Various improvements and bug fixes: ·· Reason can now import 32-bit float WAV files ·· CodeMeter version 5 included ·· Improved synchronization with Cubase in Rewire mode Propellerhead also introduced Synchronous – a Rack Extension for Reason they describe as ‘a modulation powerhouse’: Animate your pad, wobble your bass or glitch up your samples. Draw complex modulation waveforms with Synchronous’ drawing tools. Assign the waveforms to the built in effect units and enjoy an energy boost to your sound. Use Synchronous to quickly call up straightforward effects such as tremolo or ducking, or use it to build complex modulation chains with several parallel modulation curves. Here’s the official intro to Synchronous: Developers can get more info on Rack Extension SDK 2 at the Propellerhead Developer Site. See the Propellerhead site for full details. Source: synthtopia.com

welcome dude

ya man, only use the KRK's for production and dj'ing. little ones are for everyday general listening

think this amateur rig just ran out of space..

even though this focuses on CDJ's Armchairs & i know you use a DDJ-SB you can do all of this on your DDJ-SB so its very worth a watch. it does all come down to being able to mix no matter what software u are using. I use traktor and I still dont rely 100%, less even on its BPM results. because frankly, sometimes they are wrong.

post it. i personally would like to see it. it will do more good than harm anyway to share with ADJF

it has been talked about in diff parts on the forum. i think this is THE thread for go or no

under normal circumstances i always throw some $$ into ADJF. this is just not one of those times.. so..