Beat Lab

International Music Production School

Floppy Disk Orchestra Plays The Star Wars Theme

Floppy Disk Orchestra Plays The Star Wars Theme   Just when we thought floppy disks were becoming a thing of the technological past, this genius of a man decided to build an old- school electronic orchestra which could play classic tunes such as “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, “Hawaii 5-0 Theme”, and my personal favorites, “Star Wars Theme”, and “Imperial Death March”. The Floppotron, created by Pawel Zadrożniak, is a serious work of art. He explains a bit in his blog how he came to coding this throwback masterpiece: “Host application was written in Python 2.7. I wrote it mostly on some boring lectures when I was still studying at the university, so it’s a one big mess, but… at least it does the job. It parses the simple language used for writing note sequences arranged in tracks tied to a specific controller / channel and merges those parallel tracks into one command list which is …

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Zont – The Gameboy-like Digital Synthesizer

Zont – The Gameboy-like Digital Synthesis     This slim pocket-sized digital synthesizer is taking the producer community by storm with its futuristic design and modern digital interface. Zont is designed by New York based industrial and motion graphics designer- Pavel Golovkin. divider style=”clear” Cartridge-like Sound Engine     Zont comes with four basic cartridge-like sound engines that are interchangeable like gameboy cartridges. The four sound engines are: Lead, Bass, Rhythm and Noise Lead: “Hundreds of original presets from soft melodic to huge monophonic leads. Customise presets or create your own unique sounds and tones.” Bass: “Beef up even the most bass driven genres, from hip-hop to drum-n-bass. Customise presets or create your own unique sounds and tones.” Rhythm: “Original rhythm synthesizer let’s you create punchy electronic and acoustic drum sounds” Noise: “Pure sound design with no presets or patterns. Perfect for warm ambience or meditative soundscapes.” Zont will also be …

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5 Auto Pan Techniques + Free Cheat Sheet

5 Auto Pan Techniques + Free Cheat Sheet   We coming back with another free cheat sheet and five techniques check out the Frequency Shifter Techniques here. This time we are covering the Auto Pan. Great effect not only for automatic left right movment but also side chaining, gating and phasing. This cheat sheet is part of the full collection we offer our students but, we got another free one for you (HQ PDF at the bottom of the page).   divider style=”clear” 4/4 Side Chain   Turn the Amount all the way up Turn Phase all the way down to switch Auto Pan to a Gater Sync the Auto Pan Change Rate to 1/4 Change Wavehape to Saw Turn Shape to 25% Invert Waveshape   This technique works great for 4/4 side chain. You can play with the shape to get different dynamic response. You can play with the Offset to change …

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Hello Samples Moog SUB37 – 2GB of Analog Samples and Presets (Free Download)

Hello Samples Moog SUB37 – 2GB of Analog Samples and Presets (Free Download) If you love using the rich sound of classic analog synths, but don’t have  $1600 for the Moog SUB 37 then theres good news! Hello Samples just released a free 2GB Moog SUB 37 sample pack. Now you don’t need to own the SUB37 to own the signature analog synth sound.  The sample library is a wide variety of audio samples from actual SUB 37 patches, with everything from basses, leads, drums, and effects. The samples are designed to work seamlessly in Ableton’s Sampler or Simpler. There are enough sounds in this pack to cater to pretty much any style of production. In total there are over 3900 audio samples all in WAV format, 91 presets ( including 6 drum kits, 15 basses, 17 leads, 6 plucks,11 FX, and 33 polyphonic sounds), making it an incredible addition to …

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Workshop Recap – House/Techno Production Techniques with Tanya Leigh

Women Only Workshop – House/Techno Production Techniques with Tanya Leigh   On July 18th, Beat Lab joined forces with The Athena Collective and hosted a free house/techno production workshop featuring special guest Tanya Leigh. Tanya Leigh has been involved in Minneapolis’s underground dance scene since 1998. She is also half of the techno DJ duo Complicit (Travis Norman is the other half). They are best known for their high-energy performances, which embrace the underground techno scene.  Beyond her DJ skills, Tanya knows how to play the piano and flute. She also has a BA in music and a diploma in Audio Engineering. For the first half of the workshop, Tanya shared with us her house music production workflow in Ableton. She started by using Ableton’s 909 drum rack to build a kick loop in the session view at 125 bpm. She then duplicated the clip and layered another drum element. She …

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3 Important Tips for the Novice Producer

Three Important Tips for the Novice Producer   Never has the world of music production been more readily accessible. As music production software and technology continues to evolve and transform across multiple media platforms, this is the perfect time for anyone interested in production to jump right in. With so many powerful and affordable Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs), plug-ins and third party content available just a few clicks away, its never been easier to get started making beats. But just as easy as it is to dive right in, it’s even easier to feel very overwhelmed very quickly. For those of you just starting to navigate the world of production, here are three important tips to keep in mind to help you steadily progress as you begin to develop your sound. divider style=”clear” Tip One – Get to know your DAW When first starting out, it’s incredibly easy to fall …

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