Here is an innovative project presented by Stanford Ph.D. candidate Nick Bryan. Hat tip to my friend Simfonik for informing about this. The project, dubbed Mopho DJ, uses iPods to transmit their location, velocity and direction while rotating on a turntable. This data is then used to manipulate an mp3. There is a software application that decodes the transmitted data. In essence, the iPod takes the place of time coded vinyl as used in digital solutions like Traktor and Serato. I think it’s a very cool idea with a lot of potential. My only concern would be the uneven weight, the iPods add to turntables and one obviously has to make sure they are solidly secured. But kudos to Mr. Bryan for an idea with a lot of potential.
Category: Technology
Mojo’s beatseqr test drive
I finally got a chance to demo the beatseqr, which my friend Steve was kind enough to loan me. Steve custom builds these little boxes of MIDI joy. Here’s some video I shot giving a brief overview of the features, some info on using it in a Windows environment, and a little old school jungle/drum & bass beat progression I made using the beatseqr.
The Great Vinyl Debate
As you approach your destination, you begin to hear the sounds that have become the soundtrack of your soul. Booms, squelches, bleeps. You walk through the door, the sounds coalescing into that track you heard last night. Whatever the hell that track is, you’ve got to have it! Half running towards the DJ spinning this madness on the turntable, you try to get a peek at the label. As you get closer, you recognize the cat on the decks is the guy who hooked you up with some wicked new breaks last week. He catches your eye, recognizing the shared appreciation, and hands you this musical delicacy right off the platter, before gesturing towards the new release wall where there’s bound to be a dozen or more musical gems waiting. Grabbing a stack off the wall and making your way to one of the listening stations (at least they’re not crammed today); you rub a record edge on your pant leg to crack open the shrink-wrap and gingerly place the record on the platter. After listening to your stack, you’ve found a number of cool pieces. Probably more than you can afford to take home – begging the question, do I really need to eat today?
A similar story can be told at the used record shop you’ve recently found across town. Based on the amount of vinyl gold you’ve found here the past few weeks, it doesn’t seem like many others know about it. And for now, you intend to keep it that way. On bended knee, you dig through dusty crates of yesteryear’s classics. Making your way past a run of old Carpenter’s LPs, there’s a Coltrane… tempting, but you need something you can play tonight. And there it is. A record sleeve featuring a logo you recognize. Copyright says 1991; this is bound to be good. Of course you won’t know until you get it home; this place has no fancy listening stations. But at 99 cents, what have you got to lose? The owner of this place is some old beatnik dude who only listens to jazz. He hasn’t got a clue what’s buried between the Pat Benatar and the “Living Stereo” classics. While it’ll take you several cramped hours to make your way through it all, finding even only two or three pieces here today will make it all worthwhile.
At the end of a long day, as you prepare to enjoy the fruits of today’s haul on your 1200’s, your second wind kicks in as the beats begin to pulse. There were no Monster drinks back in the day. You’re ready to kick off a three hour mixing session, fueled by the excitement of what you came up on today. Then, it’s off to your gig.
Many of today’s up and coming DJs aren’t familiar with these experiences. I share them, not just to nostalgically reminisce about the “good old days,” but also to share my perspective on a debate currently being waged. A debate that pits vinyl against digital mixing platforms. I too have engaged in this debate… with myself. I see the virtues and the pitfalls of both, and as such, I think I can offer an objective opinion that respects and appreciates where we’ve come from, but also acknowledges some of the benefits of where we seem to be headed. There are impassioned and entrenched positions on both sides, and I respect and understand where each are coming from. I hope by offering a balanced point of view, mutual understanding can be achieved.
In the interest of full disclosure, let me state that I come from a completely vinyl background. I started spinning in 1992, when all we had was vinyl. I have a decent-size vinyl collection that I treasure probably more than any other material thing I own, and I continue to add to it when opportunities present themselves. I cringe when I hear friends talk about digitizing and selling their collections (unless they’re gonna give me first crack at it). Having said all that, I share one other main passion besides music and that is technology. I enjoy gadgets and geeky tech things. I like keeping up on the new “toys.” I have reviewed or demo’d several of the new mixing environments on my blog. And yes, I have even done some development in the area of digital music interfaces myself, and this is an area I hope to continue to explore. Some may see a contradiction in my simultaneous love for vinyl and open-mindedness towards new platforms. I see it as a natural progression.
Before I move any further, I want to make one thing absolutely clear, and that is that I consider auto synch features an abomination and an insult to DJs everywhere. I understand the marketing gimmick that makes these features desirable, but I really wish the software development firms would just remove them completely. Now sure, there have been a variety of auto synch functions out on the market for years, from BPM counters to mixers that would flash LEDs in time with the tempo, but, beat matching is at the heart of being a DJ. At its core, this is the primary, fundamental aspect of what makes a DJ, a DJ. Even if you have no notion of key, can’t juggle or scratch, have never laid a hand on the EQ, can’t read a crowd, and have crappy taste in music, at least if you could match beats, you had a place to start. How anyone could think that cheating with auto synch can make them a DJ is beyond me. The obvious truth is that anyone can auto synch, you cheapen the craft and all those involved when you resort to this. Besides, while beat matching takes some longer to learn than others, it’s a skill that, like riding a bike, will be with you for the rest of your life. The only time I could possibly accept the use of autosynch is if an established, accomplished DJ used it as a means to pull off some really mind-blowing, crazy magic. And even then, it’s questionable, because any established DJ should be able to match a beat within a few seconds. So, to reiterate, regardless of which platform you choose to become a DJ, learn to beat match. Period.
So what is it about vinyl? I love the feel of vinyl. I love the record sleeves and the artwork that is common on many sleeves and labels. It’s easy to organize in a crate or a bag. And there’s no question that when it comes to tactile feedback, it is superior to anything else out there. The scratching on some of the new platforms is pretty close, but there is always that hint of latency that seems to keep it from feeling exactly like vinyl. It provides visual feedback and you can mark your records and personalize them. Some whine about how heavy crates are. I always enjoyed walking into an event with a crate. It was an announcement. People immediately knew what you were there for. And let’s face it, for the time being at least, vinyl holds its value. Actually, depending on the record in question, vinyl potentially increases its value. This brings me to another, more esoteric point. Vinyl, as opposed to today’s digital media, had intrinsic value. That value was built on two key aspects – 1. Vinyl was considerably more expensive than today’s digital tracks, and 2. Vinyl was a limited resource. The cost of a record, at $10.00 minimum for an import, or even $5.00 or $6.00 for a domestic, meant that you had to be extra picky every time you went shopping. Looking back, the cost of the records, as much as it hurt financially sometimes, acted like a quality control filter. I’m not saying I’ve never bought a crappy $10 record, but generally, you could afford fewer “misses” at $10, then you can at 99 cents, or free. The only way one was fortunate enough to get free music back then was to become known enough to get some promos.
Then there’s the limited quantity issue. A first run pressing might have as few as 1,000 copies distributed worldwide. Some stores only picked up two or three copies of a given piece, meaning you had to be lucky enough to have it get past the DJs who worked there, who always had first dibs. This is why so many of us took low paying record store jobs. And if you didn’t work at the record shop, you made friends with the guys who did, or you got to know the shipment schedule real well. So now you’ve got a record in your hands that maybe only one or two guys in your town have. Having several records that were associated with you – your songs, if you will – was a badge of honor back in the day. If you heard a record that you liked, at a club or on a mix tape, you had to work to research what the track was and where you could find a copy of it. The infinite number of copies of an easily available digital track removes this dynamic completely. I’m not saying that’s necessarily a bad thing. At its heart, DJing is and always will be about sharing music with others. But the value built into a vinyl record was built on many more factors than the song itself. It represented the work, and occasional luck, you put in to come by that record, in an age when there were no wikis, youtubes, discogs, ebays or message forums.
So, there’s my defense of vinyl. It may, at least in part, explain the impassioned hold vinyl has on so many. However, we are many years removed from those glory days. Solid digital platforms in one form or another have been on the market for quite some time now. CDJs, virtual vinyl, midi controllers, mixing software, even iPad apps. The technical improvements have brought many of them to functional equivalence with turntables, some would argue that they are superior to the turntable… although I say, let’s not get carried away. There are clearly some additional features available – effects, sorting, looping, graphical representations of a song’s waveform makes it a lot easier to find a breakdown in a dark room. These are all cool features that, in the hands of a skilled artist, should definitely add to the toolbox and enhance the performance. At the end of the day, it’s what a performer can do with a set of tools, not the tools themselves, that defines their skill.
I first bought Traktor Scratch abut two years ago. I bought it because I wanted easy, inexpensive access to new music to mix with. Let’s face it, it’s a hell of a lot more convenient to shop for tracks in the comfort of your own home. You miss out on the social aspects of record shopping, which were always part of the fun, but you can quickly and easily browse through a boatload of tunes at your own pace. It also offered me opportunities to get my hands on music on my want list that is very difficult or expensive to find. Further, I could more easily explore other genres without having to make a big upfront financial commitment. I use it with the virtual time-coded vinyls, which, from an operational perspective, makes it nearly identical to what I do with vinyl. I can even use it with my existing vinyl collection. So for me, it was the best of both worlds.
Now, I’ve read some of the rants against digital platforms, and I agree to the extent that if someone shows up for a performance with a pre-configured, auto synched set, that is an insult and a load of bullshit. Having said that, I use Traktor exactly like I use my traditional vinyl. I am still beat matching, riding the beat, and am actively involved in the mix. I can’t say I would prefer to take my setup to a gig… there are too many variables for my comfort. But if a Traktor/Serato virtual vinyl configuration was already set up at the location, I think I could roll with this. CDJs have been in place at many venues for several years now.
One thing I think we can all agree on is that technology has played an important role in the DJ arena. The Technics turntable itself was a technological advancement. I can’t imagine what it would be like trying to mix on a pair of 8-tracks. The music most DJs mix is also heavily dependent on technology. From hip-hop and sampling to the more obvious role of technology in electronic music of all forms, technology represents not only how the music was produced, but quite often is associated with the identity of the music itself. Sure, some of the hardware involved, the 808s, 909s, 303s, Moogs, etc. are actually decades old, but producers are always gravitating to new sounds, even if not to new hardware. New patches and new effects are a fundamental aspect of electronic music, regardless of sub-genre. Is it a little odd that a DJ who’s involved with production will embrace the new effects box, the new synth, the new sequencer, but diss a new mixing platform?
I am curious to see what lies ahead and remain open towards new products and environments. My main concern is that the DJ craft does not get watered down along the way. I share this concern with the strident vinyl die-hards. The bottom line is that while everyone may want to be a DJ, it is only those who put in the time, dedication, work and paying of dues that deserve recognition. In a world of “DJ Hero” and other insta-DJ gimmicks, it is easy to become cynical. I believe if DJ Hero opens up a kid’s mind towards wanting to learn more about the actual DJ craft, then that’s not a bad thing. But if DJ Hero becomes some sort of replacement for the actual art of Ding, then that’s a big problem. Stick with Halo, kid.
I’ve read a number of great threads, posts and opinions from advocates on both sides of the issue. Sometimes the discussion devolves into nothing more than a bitter flame war. People on both sides hold pretty strong viewpoints. So much so, I was a bit hesitant to even write on this topic. The last thing I want to do is alienate anyone. I have friends and associates on both sides of the issue, some even financially invested on one side or the other. People I’ve worked with and people I have a great deal of respect and admiration for. And because I’m presenting the middle path, I could potentially piss off both sides. I heard once, that if you lie in the middle of the road, you are bound to get run over. Yet, as the publisher of this little blog on music and technology, I felt bound to weigh in on the issue and share my perspective. I don’t intend to change anyone’s mind, but I hope I can facilitate acceptance and ease judgments.
Looking back, there have been times I’ve viewed the current environment with a bit of envy. How much easier would it have been to identify and track down certain songs if I had the tools that are available now, back then? How much money could I have saved that could have gone into other investments or even could have made the struggle a little bit more comfortable? How much easier would it have been to promote myself and my mixes with today’s social media? And then I realize that the experiences I went through, the struggles I endured, and the work I put it in, were just as important as any achievements I enjoyed. As this unknown quote states – “Too often we are so preoccupied with the destination, we forget the journey.” When it comes to the great vinyl debate, I am reminded of another great quote from Jane’s Addiction – “Everybody has their own opinions.”
AirDeck mentioned in Electronic Gaming Monthly!
My AirDeck virtual theremin application was recently mentioned in Electronic Gaming Monthly and I was briefly quoted. Here is the excerpt from the article:
I am also posting a couple of photos that I sent to EGM to use in the article. EGM did not end up using them, but they are really great shots taken by my friend Omar Ramirez of Public Works Collective from my sit-down with them last year. Public Works Collective is a group putting together a film documentary chronicling the history of the Los Angeles electronic dance music scene. Here are the shots:
Kinect Theremin!
Ken Moore has been working on theremin emulation for some time now. He developed a Wii remote based theremin, and was quite helpful to me as I was developing my AirDeck project, which was also a Wii based theremin emulation application. Now Ken has done it again. This time, with the Kinect motion detection device that is used with the Xbox 360. Perhaps, if I can find the time, I can work on something similar with the PlayStation Move, which I have, and then we will have effectively converted all three motion based video game systems into theremins. Check this out:
The Most Commonly Sampled Breakbeats – Techno Edition (Part 3)
My first post here in 2011 is a continuation of something I started late last year, which is a list of breakbeats commonly used in classic techno songs. Sorry for the delay, between the holidays and working on some music, this was the first opening I had to finish this. Hope the wait was worth it!
These last four breaks may not have been used as much as the first seven that were documented in part 1 and part 2, however they each deserve recognition in that they were used in several songs that were in heavy rotation during the golden era of oldskool techno. They are also all very distinguishable breaks; easy to spot once heard.
All girl 80s dance/R&B band Klymaxx brings us this funky break from their tune Good Love:
http://www.youtube.com/v/a2xWXYfvDWg
This loop was also used in a remix of Kariya – Let Me Love You For Tonight, but Klymaxx predates the Kariya track and so this is very likely the original source. This break is very distinctive and was featured in one of the most well-known techno classics of all time… Bombscare by 2 Bad Mice:
http://www.youtube.com/v/iQVv40_9NSo
You can also hear this beat in DJ Phantasy and DJ Gemini – Never Try the Hippodrome:
http://www.youtube.com/v/kkmqyItSXU4
As well as is in this rare, well sought white label by Schedule 3:
http://www.youtube.com/v/0Z-HpbtUDOM
This version of Apache is actually a cover recorded by Michael Viner’s Incredible Bongo Band, released in 1974 without much acclaim. In terms of hip hop and drum & bass, this epic break ranks up there with the Amen, the Funky Drummer and the Think break. I cannot mention this break without featuring this historic clip of Grandmaster Flash cutting up Apache on the wheels of steel:
http://www.youtube.com/v/C9aG3xc9IZw
Like many popular hip hop breaks, it also found its way into several popular techno and acid house songs. It is very easy to recognize due to the powerful reverbed congas. Here it is in The Break Boys (aka Frankie Bones and Tommy Musto) – And the Break Goes On:
http://www.youtube.com/v/uit8WhT0XVM
As well as Panic – Voices Of Energy:
http://www.youtube.com/v/_6G9vQKdmNw
Listen to the little breakdown at (:57) of Todd Terry’s Just Wanna Dance. There is the Apache in all its glory.
This drumbreak is a hybrid creation of two other well-known breaks, with some additional flair such as a booming sub-bass and was featured in the song Run’s House off RUN DMC’s Tougher Than Leather album:
http://www.youtube.com/v/0xMJZHrG_94
The two breaks in question include James’ Brown’s Funky Drummer, which rivals the Amen break in terms of overall usage in hip hop, drum & bass and techno tunes:
http://www.youtube.com/v/dNP8tbDMZNE
The second break is from the song Ashley’s Roach Clip by funk group Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers:
http://www.youtube.com/v/ZfymVPOdMwk
Ashley’s Roach Clip is yet another very recognizable and well known loop that has been used in countless hip hop and even mainstream songs, probably most famously in Eric B. and Rakim’s Paid In Full.
The Criminal Minds used the Run’s House break in the 1992 ragga techno hit Baptised By Dub:
http://www.youtube.com/v/v84mJACUmu8
It is also featured in Urban Shakedown’s Some Justice:
http://www.youtube.com/v/e3x0BMNy99c
And again in Naz AKA Naz’s dark proto-jungle work Organized Crime:
http://www.youtube.com/v/nOKlm95G5nM
Last but not least, there is this funky little break from the Isley Brother’s Get Into Something:
http://www.youtube.com/v/092WyVP4cv0
The break is somewhat similar to the Think breaks with the background voices, tambourine and snappy snares. We hear it on one of the very big tunes of the day, 4 Hero’s Mr. Kirk:
http://www.youtube.com/v/THCj2AJuNVE
It can also be found on Nation 12’s Electrofear(unfortunately, no YouTube clip of this version of the song is available).
The breakbeat is, and continues to be, a powerful weapon in the arsenal of dance music producers worldwide. While these samples have powered the energy behind many hip hop, drum & bass and techno tracks, it is also important to recognize and acknowledge the incredible drummers who were the original sources of these loops. I believe it is also interesting and worthwhile to listen to these loops in the context of their original songs. There is a wonderful history that flows from these rhythmic interludes. Thanks for allowing me to share at least a little bit of this history with you. I also hope that this will broaden people’s musical tastes into some wonderful work that, while clearly stylistic departures from the tunes which sampled them, are incredible gems that deserve to be enjoyed in their original glory.
The Most Commonly Sampled Breakbeats – Techno Edition (Part 2)
Before we dig deeper into the breakbeat vaults, first… a quick correction on Part 1. The break used in Isotonik – Different Strokes, Bass Construction – Dance With Power, Blow – Cutter (Acid Mix), Rabbit City #1 – Cutter Mix and Smart Systems’ The Tingler (State Side Swamp Mix), actually comes from a breakbeat loop record released by Warrior Records. Warrior released a series of loop compilations beginning in 1989, credited to The Original Unknown DJ’s. The break in question can be found on their 1991 Warrior Sampler E.P. I believe it is a modified Think break, but this Warrior Records series appears to be the source of this particular loop. You can hear it much more clearly in Quadrophonia’s The Man With the Master Plan:
http://www.youtube.com/v/Y6vsy1lRJgw
Continuing on with our exploration of breaks used in classic techno tracks, here are four beats which were also featured frequently during the oldskool heyday between 1990 and 1992.
Let It Go (Part II) is a song by disco funk legends KC and the Sunshine Band. Their second, self-titled studio album, which is known for classic hits That’s The Way (I Like It), Get Down Tonight and Boogie Shoes closes out with Let It Go (Part II):
http://www.youtube.com/v/IKJBhNTwMQo
You can hear this break in the song Lock Up by Zero B:
http://www.youtube.com/v/h4UCsVGAl0g
Other songs that use this break include: DMS – Vengeance, The Scientist – The Exorcist and Fierce Ruling Diva – Rub It In. This is one of two funky breaks used in DJ Mink’s Hey! Hey! Can you Relate?
The Beginning of the End is a band consisting of three brothers and a bassist hailing from Nassau, Bahamas. The 1971 track Funky Nassau (Part I) became a hit in the U.S. reaching #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart and #7 on the Billboard Black Singles Chart. The tune also hit #31 on the UK Singles Chart in 1974. This particular break is literally a funk monstrosity which is easily spotted due to the clanging ride cymbals and booming kick drum.
DJ Mink’s Hey! Hey! Can You Relate? uses the the Let It Go break along with the Funky Nassau, as heard here:
http://www.youtube.com/v/dm9eODlT_EY
Other tunes featuring Funky Nassau are: Sonz of a Loop Da Loop Era – Far Out and Nebula II – Flatliner.
This powerful break, which is pitched up for techno tempos, comes to us courtesy of soul icon Barry White from his 1973 single, I’m Gonna Love You Just A Little More Baby. The song is a great exemplification of Mr. White’s smooth vocal stylings. Amazing to think that such a rough break evolved from this mellow and shall we say “intimate” work.
http://www.youtube.com/v/np5VvHx-1T4
Check out the I’m Gonna Love You Break as used by Rhythm Section in the 1992 classic Comin’ On Strong:
http://www.youtube.com/v/aiiHaexxK_I
This break can also be found on Rabbit City #3, TronikHouse – Uptempo and Is That It? – ICTOT.
This break may be a bit more controversial. I did quite a bit of research and it appears as if Moby is the creator of this particular beat. If anyone can verify or correct this, it would be greatly appreciated. For now, it appears as if Moby, himself an immensely important member of the techno pantheon, deserves credit for crafting this incredible beat. Here it is in Moby’s Go!:
http://www.youtube.com/v/-3725vlV0nw
Moby and Jam & Spoon collaborated and remixed each other’s work, which may explain the use of the Go! break in Jam & Spoon’s immortal masterpiece Stella:
http://www.youtube.com/v/vZpkhpfecwg
A more innovative use of the Go! break is exemplified here by Acen, who cut it up to great effect in their massive hit Close Your Eyes:
http://www.youtube.com/v/L2eko6Ix-Sc
Finally, this break is also used in Rabbit City #1 – Beyond Control and M D Emm – Get Down.
There are several more influential break loops put to dynamic effect during the oldskool era that we will look at in Part 3 to close out this discussion.
The Most Commonly Sampled Breakbeats – Techno Edition (Part 1)
The mighty breakbeat. That funky, syncopated rhythm which is the backbone of so many dance-oriented tunes; culled from dusty crates of old funk and soul records where the drummer is given a moment to shine in a drum solo, a song intro or a rhythmic bridge. These moments of funk bliss were intitally looped by hand on the turntables of the early hip hop DJs. Once samplers became available, finding these breaks, sampling, looping and cutting them up became an art form all unto itself.
The use of breakbeats in hip hop music and drum & bass has been well documented and it is relatively easy to find lists breaking down which breaks were used on which songs on the web. When it comes to finding such lists for oldskool techno, it’s a bit more challenging. This list is an attempt to document several of the more common breaks used in techno. Many of these breaks are breaks also frequently used in hip hop, although typically pitched up or played at a faster tempo. I’ve always found it fascinating to hear the original songs, some of which are so different from the pieces in which their drumbreaks are sampled. The following list indexes the original source of a break and several of the techno tunes which used it.
This can easily be called the granddaddy of all breaks. The genre of drum & bass, and its pre-cursor Jungle, owes heavily to this beat and there are literally thousands of tunes which feature this break in some form. This breakbeat plays such an important role in the evolution of electronic dance music, a gentleman named Nate harrison recorded an entire video devoted to the history of this breakbeat which you can watch here. I am sure many people who are even passingly familiar with electronic music have seen this video, but if not, it is highly recommended viewing. The original source of this break is from a 1969 B-Side by The Winstons called Amen, Brother.
http://www.youtube.com/v/GxZuq57_bYM
One of the earliest uses of this break in the dance music arena was Success-N-Effect’s Roll It Up:
http://www.youtube.com/v/8DTUk-rUhEI
Roll It Up was caned by Carl Cox in the well-known tune I Want You (Forever):
http://www.youtube.com/v/ve_h_-T6Hus
Other tracks featurning the Amen Break include: First Prodgect – Right Before, Atomic Brain – Atomic Brain, Skin Up – A Juicy Red Apple, 2 For Joy – Let The Bass Kick and Sys’tem X – Wind It Up (Bumpy Mix) (No YouTube Clip Available).
The Think Break
Think (About It) by Lyn Collins is a treasure trove of breakbeat goodness. This 1972 funk song was produced by James Brown and featured his backing band The J.B.’s. Probably the most well-known use of a Think loop is in the popular 1988 hip hop track It Takes Two by Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock. There are actually 5 separate sections of the record where breaks have been sampled from:
Think 1
Think 2
Think 3
Think 4
Think 5
Here is the entire song, for context:
http://www.youtube.com/v/eHn48b7iWF0
One of the earliest variations of a think break is on the acid house track Hip This House by Shadows J (and their particular edit of this loop was further used by DJ Splix in Nasty Rhythm and Rhythm Section in Perfect Love (2 AM):
http://www.youtube.com/v/_UFYHKzHokU
Here is another techno classic using one of the Think loops, Da Juice – C’mon C’mon (Mental Bass Mix):
http://www.youtube.com/v/MYKaBGj_j-0
All of the various Think loops have been pitched up and down, cut and otherwise manipulated to the point of being barely recognizable. For example, Isotonik’s Different Strokes, in which the Think break is somewhat difficult to spot due to the layering of other drum hits:
http://www.youtube.com/v/m4-8BsQxLZI
Finally, here’s a list of other classic techno tunes, all using some variation of one of the Think breaks: Greed – Give Me (Quadrant Mix), Bass Construction – Dance With Power, E-Lustrious – Ragga Tip, Petra & Co – Just Let Go, Blow – Cutter (Acid Mix), Rabbit City #1 – Cutter Mix, The Gonzo – Lost and Smart Systems – The Tingler (State Side Swamp Mix)
Bobby Byrd is a funk and gospel artist and is credited with “discovering” James Brown. An instrumental dub of the track Hot Pants is the source of the final break we will be looking at in this episode:
http://www.youtube.com/v/K7doq5HouVQ
This beat was actually featured in the song Fool’s Goldby alternative britpop band The Stone Roses; their drummer Alan “Reni” Wren played live with the Hot Pants loop in the background, as heard here:
http://www.youtube.com/v/FuPfbfJm2rc
This particular version of the break, with the live over-dubbed drummer, was actually lifted and used by The Ya Yas on their 1991 techno track Looove (Quadromania Mix):
http://www.youtube.com/v/Q6gXDcI9TpQ
However, there are a number of songs that feature the original raw Hot Pants break, most notably The Prodigy’s Charly:
http://www.youtube.com/v/HntARyHUgng
You can also hear a heavily reverb-drenched version of this break in Meat Beat Manifesto’s Radio Babylon, which itself became a heavily sampled tune:
http://www.youtube.com/v/8ILqfpDD6XE
Other tunes featuring the Hot Pants Break include: Addis Posse – Let The Warrior’s Dance, Nebula II – Seance, Lab Technicians – Sweet Perfection, Bizarre Inc. – Plutonic and The Future Sound of London — Papua New Guinea.
These three songs, in and of themselves, form the basis for countless techno tunes. In Part 2, we will examine several other important breakbeats which provided the rhythmic glue for many other oldskool techno classics.
Hybrid Midi Turntablism – no time coded media necessary
This video introduces the Hybrid mode on the Denon DN-S3700 CD decks for use with Serato Scratch. This mode allows real-time control of MP3s without any time coded vinyl or CDs being necessary. I think that’s a huge step forward. The tricknology is being performed by UK DMC champ JFB.
Reactable Mobile?!
Reactable is an object based musical platform that uses the shapes of objects on a multi-touch like surface to create musical patterns and effects. They have now made a mobile version for iPod, iPhone and iPad. How cool is that?
TouchOSC controlling a Modular Synth
A Guy Called Tom (yes, that’s his name on Vimeo) is using the TouchOSC app on his iPhone to control a modular synthesizer. Pure Data is doing the heavy lifting, converting the data to MIDI. Here is what he says about it:
TouchOsc iPhone app sending osc data into PureData Extended, where it is converted to midi and sent to the Doepfer MCV24 which converts it to voltage and controls the modular synth.
TouchOsc XY Pad controls the pitch of two Thomas Henry VCO-1 which also crossmodulate each other.
TouchOsc Sliders control Elby Steiner filter cutoff, Plan B Model 10 env cycle speed, Doepfer BBD feedback and delay. Thomas White LPG used in both mode for amplification. Delay is a Stereo Memory Man with Hazarai. Sorry for the video quality, its done using a photo cam.
Using TouchOsc is fun, there is a lot of control right at your fingertips. Actually it can control way more than i have to control 🙂 Really cool app. Disadvantage is the steping in the control voltages that you can hear quite well, especially when controlling the pitch of oscillators. Not sure if its the midi resolution, the mcv24 or the application itself.
This is very cool. I was experimenting with TouchOSC during my Special Projects in Music Technology class last quarter. I was just using my iPod to control some sounds in Pure Data, this is taking it to the next level. Maybe even the level after that.
2099 Called, They Want Their Bad-Ass Multi Touch DJ Rig Back
Welcome to the future. This is a concept I have been playing around with in my head and on paper for some time and now Pablo Martin has brought this vision to fruition. Basically, Pablo has created a software interface called Emulator that allows Traktor to receive multi touch data, freeing it up from the confines of just the mouse and allowing it to be used on a multi touch surface. That right there is cool enough.
Rodrigo from Chile is developing the multi touch surface you see in the video, which is called Töken. Between the two of them they have put together one hell of an incredible DJ rig.
Shout out to simfonik for turning me on to this.
Summer!
Summer is here and along with it an opportunity to recharge, refresh and get working on some stuff that the extra time available from not having school will afford me. That includes more frequent posts to my blog here; I know I’ve lagged somewhat but this last quarter was pretty brutal for me.
Things I’d like to get working on this summer:
1. Make a couple of new mixes. Discogs is now a media partner with Juno, so they are an excellent source of digital media along with Beatport which I have also used in the past. I love vinyl, but there is no denying the ease of use and efficiency of time and cost that mixing with digital media offers. Reading some of the comments in various forums there seems to be some animosity by some DJs and vinyl heads towards the digital media and it’s a debate I’d like to engage in, but that is for another post… Feel free to post your thoughts in the comments if you have an opinion.
2. Work on a couple of remixes. There are a number of remix competitions out there, some of which offer some pretty cool prizes. I’ve done one so far, but I definitely want to get cracking on some more and continue polishing and refining my production efforts. The findremix blog is a great way to keep track of all of these competitions.
3. Do some more work with TouchOSC and PureData.
4. I downloaded the VST Software Development Kit from Steinberg a while back, which allows you to create your own virtual synth instruments. I just haven’t had the time to work with any of it. So I definitely want to take a more serious look at that.
5. Start reviewing some more music/DJ based apps for the Ipod/Iphone/Ipad here (Yes, I want an Ipad, dammit!). Like the vinyl versus digital format debates, there seems to be some apathy by DJs and producers towards these emerging tools. Again, I see no problem with looking for new tools to work with and technology is merely about providing new tools to work with. Again, another debate to post about in depth another time. But since I have an interest in developing apps myself I guess you could call me biased on these issues. Main thing preventing me from serious app development is Apple’s requirement that apps be developed on a Mac… which I neither have nor can afford any time soon. So I might have to look at starting with droid app development.
6. There are still a number of other music development platforms I have been exposed to recently including Max, CSound, Super Collider and something called the Synth Toolkit. Obviously, I can’t delve too deep into all of them, especially with all the other stuff I am trying to get familiar with, but definitely want to play around a bit with each of these. That’s always been one of my problems, overly ambitious with too broad a focus. Something that’s hindered me in the past, but something I am working to improve as I get older (and school has definitely helped with that!)
7. Last but not least, I would like to add a section to this blog that focuses on the history of electronic music. I’ve been fortunate to be exposed to a lot of interesting information over the years; stuff that I think would be interesting to share with other folks who are into synthesis, electronic music of all styles, music production, DJing, music technology and everything that goes along with all that. There are so many interesting precursors and influences to today’s electronic music that I believe are important to share. So maybe something like a wiki or just a “spotlight of the week” type thing.
Skinput
This video highlights the development of Skinput, a project that uses the bodies’ surface as an input mechanism. A bio-acoustic sensor device is used to capture and decode taps made on the body, with a high degree of accuracy. Pretty wild and there are a number of applications in a wide variety of industries where such an interface would be useful. Obviously, I see music and performance capabilities…
Physical Modeling Synthesis with Tools
I am currently taking a special projects in music technology class. The emphasis for this session is on instrument acoustics and we are each tasked with a project to build an instrument based on research of the principles and phenomena involved. I will be working in the virtual arena trying to emulate a unique instrument in software that can emulate the physical properties or characteristics of real instruments. This process is known as physical modeling.
I have currently been surveying a variety of platforms to work as the only music programming I have done so far was in Java and a little bit of C# in the earliest iterations of my wii theremin project. I will most likely end up working with Max/MSP as it is a modular, object based system with a graphical interface – and I need to get up and running as soon as possible. I am also looking at the following languages/platforms which I’ve found along the way:
- Csound – “…a sound design, music synthesis, and signal processing system, providing facilities for composition and performance over a wide range of platforms.”
- SuperCollider – “…an environment and programming language for real time audio synthesis and algorithmic composition.”
- PureData – “…a real-time graphical programming environment for audio, video, and graphical processing.”
- Steinberg’s VST SDK– allows developers to develop plugins that can operate within Steinberg’s Virtual Studio Technology environment.
Now, these comprise just the basic platforms I am looking at to get started and they are just general synthesis and digital sound processing type programming environments. For physical modeling itself, I have discovered the following packages:
- PMPd(Physical Modeling for Pure Data) – PMPd offers a collection of objects for Pure Data , and also ported to Max/MSP, which provide real time simulation of physical behaviors.
- rtcmix~– rtcmix is an open source audio programming language written in C/C++, however the component I am interested in is the rtcmix~ object for Max/MSP which the developers have provided.
- Tao – “… software package for sound synthesis using physical models. It provides a virtual acoustic material constructed from masses and springs which can be used as the basis for building quite complex virtual musical instruments. Tao comes with a synthesis language for creating and playing instruments and a fully documented (eventually) C++ API for those who would like to use it as an object library.”
- Percolate – “…an open-source distribution of a variety of synthesis and signal processing algorithms for Max/MSP.” Percolate is based on a port of the Synthesis Toolkit, another system I am looking to work with. Unfortunately, the Max/MSP windows port link for this seems to not be working…
- Modalys– Developed by Ircam, this seems like it would be the holy grail of physical modeling tools for me to work with. Unfortunately, it is for Macs only (although it looks like some folks have tried to get it running in Linux) and to gain access to it one must become a member of the Ircam forums which costs a decent chuck of cash, so this is out of reach for me; at least for the time being.
The following videos show Modalys in action. What is amazing about Modalys is its accurate representation of actual instruments. These aren’t samples or Wavetable lookups, these are synthesized emulations that completely capture the timbre, characteristics and even peculiarities of the instruments, right down to reeded instruments such as the clarinet or saxophone squeaking.
Mojo's Dojo 