Touch of Vintage – Melt Factor Free Ableton Effect Rack
Touch of Vintage – Melt Factor Free Ableton Effect Rack AfroDJMac has released a free effect rack for Ableton that can add warmth and vintage vibes to any track you add it to. It is part of a larger Pack that includes 40 instrument racks filled with nostalgic charm. Check out the video below for an in-depth look at the Pack with the creator himself. su_youtube_advanced url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZncwv3-JD4″ showinfo=”no” rel=”no” modestbranding=”yes” https=”yes” /su_youtube_advanced I added the rack to a Wurli track I have in one of my songs and it instantly brought the instrument to life. You can download the Melt Factor rack here for free.
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Game On! – PAPU, Free Nintendo Gameboy Plugin
This week we took a look at a FREE plugin by Socalabs called 'PAPU' which emulates the Game Boy Sound System (or GBS) found in the OG Nintendo Gameboy.
The synth has 2 square-wave oscillators that each can be modulated by Attack and Release, Tune and Finetune, and Pulse Width knobs. The first oscillator offers a pitchshift knob which you modulate by negative or positive milliseconds. A Noise Oscillator is available with A/R knobs, and includes a Shift, Steps button (7 or 15 steps) and Ratio knob to adjust the timbre of the oscillator. All three oscillators have stereo outputs that can be individually switched on and off which allows for some interesting sound design, you could use any combination of. The sounds are absolutely reminiscent of old Nintendo so we thought it would be fun to show you how to achieve a chiptune sound to really spark those memories.
Loop (2017) – Ableton Hosts its 3rd Annual Summit for Music Makers
It's that time of the year again, when the heat creeps in, fades out teasingly, then wakes you up in mid-September to remind you that Summer ain't over yet even though Fall is just around the corner. By the time Autumn has finally shown up in early November everybody's favorite music company, Ableton will be ready to host its international music conference Loop. What is this conference all about?
The name was inspired by live-looping/loop-cutting, both are relatively new methods of performing/producing music on the fly by solo or group artists. The conference is described by Ableton as, "three days of discussions, performances, presentations, studio sessions, installations and interactive workshops designed to share ideas at the forefront of music, technology, and creative practice". The conference will be held at the historic Funkhaus Nalepastraße radio station in Berlin for the third year.
Blog Recap: sidebrain Live at SamplenHold
SamplenHold is a new LA-based event for boundary-pushing performance artists hosted at Downtown LA hot spot, Resident. We are honored, grateful, but also not surprised our school's founder, Yeuda Ben-Atar AKA sidebrain, was asked to perform at the first SamplenHold event last Tuesday, July 11, alongside the likes of incredible talent like Amp Live, Josh Spoon, Portrait XO, and other special guests.
On SamplenHold's event page they described sidebrain as a "mastermind of multi-genre live performance and controllerism". He absolutely lived up to the hype. Using Ableton, a MIDI keyboard, and his famous Dreamcast controller - Yeuda threw down a set full of original loops, beats, and songs all while jamming out live with his controllers in masterfully creative ways. People we're feeling the heat and we can not wait for sidebrain to release some of the new material he was previewing.
Fragments: A Max For Live Granular Synth
Fragments: A Max For Live Granular Synth Fragments, the latest from Spektro Audio, is a Max For Live granular synth with tremendous potential for creating new musical ideas and new sounds. The 8-voice granular engine is designed to create percussive loops in glitch rhythms which means the sounds you get will vary greatly depending upon the sample loaded. Imagine an endless landscape of new ideas and sounds. The layout and functionality of the device is designed to be manual and intuitive so Fragments has capability for first-time users as well as the more advanced. To get started, users need to load an audio sample or loop into the “Audio Sample” section of the device. For best results, Spektro recommends longer loops like drums loops or vocal phrases. The 8-voices of the granular engine can be sequenced via the built-in sequencer or played in via MIDI. Once a sample …
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Lido Workshop Recap: Wow
Lido Workshop Recap: Wow Lido is one of those producers that producers get awestruck about; how does he get that swing? That sound design? Those percussion patterns? The list goes on. We are so grateful to the man himself for blessing the Lab this past Saturday with our most packed workshop to date! su_youtube_advanced url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmZGFmHEbq0″ showinfo=”no” rel=”no” modestbranding=”yes” https=”yes” /su_youtube_advanced The day started out with a packed house, and people just kept showing up. Halfway through the workshop we had people sitting on the floor, lining the walls, and even a crowd watching from the hallway. Lido never stressed though and he really made everyone feel welcome and engaged. His passion for music is obvious in his work, but what really left an impression with everyone in that room was his passion for educating and connecting with other producers. He had an air about him that …
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