Here it is: - the Roland Lucina AX-09 shoulder Synthesizer. OK, so I am in front of a great big mirror, I have put on my 80's clothes, made my hair look three times bigger than it normally is, picked up a guitar strap, attached it to the new Roland Lucina, plugged her in and switched her on. I must say I like the name of this Synth taken from Greek Mythology. Roland say that they have selected the name Lucina from the Goddess of Birth. They are hoping that this little beauty will inspire a new generation of children to become synthesiser players. I thought I would put Lucina through her paces to determine whether or not it was a serious instrument, a kid's toy or something that would truly encourage children to start to understand today's synths and all the fun that it brings to the world of music.

For more information and / or a great deal please visit :- Absolutemusic

Pictures Of People from Black Lab on Vimeo.

I am really pleased that Paul Durham from my favourite band BLACK LAB has included a picture of me in their latest video of their song PICTURES OF PEOPLE.

BLACK LAB are a great rock band from Berkeley in California that have been around for a for a few years now. Their music has a gritty hard edge to it but is also complemented by some really great melodies. Their is a lot of light and shade to it and Paul's vocal has that great American sound. He has a vocal resonance that no matter what he sings, you know it will sound good. Their great songs have also meant they have been picked for film soundtracks - SPIDERMAN, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, CAN'T HARDLY WAIT, VARSITY BLUES, PERMANANT MIDNIGHT , BLADE TRINITY, THE SHIELD, TRANSFORMERS.THE BENCHWARMERS, THE COVENANT, LOVEWRECKED and WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU.

If you haven't heard of BLACK LAB before go out and buy their debut album - YOUR BODY ABOVE ME - I guarantee you will love every track on it.

Paul is real down to earth guy. To give you an idea of the type of person he is, this is an extract from his e-mail this week:-

"I think each of us, over and over, has to answer some version of the question, "am I doing the thing I am best at?  am I doing the right thing with my life?  am I doing what I came here to do?"  maybe we ask it consciously and maybe we ask it unconsciously, maybe we make lists or maybe we shy away from even thinking about it. but whether it's being a good parent, a provider, an artist, a caretaker, a student, a hard worker -- whatever -- I think we ask this question and search for the answer.

One of the reasons I appreciate the community that has formed around black lab is that it helps answer this question for me, again and again, each time it arises. working on the 'pictures of people' video has been a very powerful experience, seeing people's faces over and over, feeling gratitude that so many of you would be generous in sending in your pictures, and just getting this visceral sense of who the community is.

So, thanks again everyone love  Paul"

You can view all of Black Lab's albums etc at their website - http://blacklabworld.com/

The Roland Fantom G8 is without doubt the best Piano / Synth Workstation I ever owned. The points that sell it are simply - its looks - its keyboard action and feel / playability and its huge 8.5" TFT colour screen which is mouse-controlled. The sound has a clarity that out-classes the Fantom X. This difference is like the difference between 16bit and 24bit sounds. Everything sounds just that bit crisper and cleaner. I particularly love the fact that the screen displays what you play and where and you can see exactly where your keyboard splits are. On most other keyboards, you would have to guess for example where your piano range ends and where your brass begins or you may have many splits where it is even more difficult. With the Fantom Gs you can clearly see it right in front of you in colour. The keys themselves are weighted and have a lovely non-slip un-shiny ivory feel to them. Whilst the purists out there will always argue that a real piano is better, I would say that you can only make this comparison with its piano sounds and you cannot lose sight of the fact that this is an awesome synthesizer with keys that are so close to the real thing and some beautiful piano sounds - what more could you ask for. Well there is plenty more; there are 2153 waveforms that provide you with 1500 preset sounds to keep you going covering all types of music. If this is not enough you can have another 512 user patches per project and you can have as many projects as you like. You can store them on a memory stick and simply load your project in, so you can invent sounds for the rest of your days. On top of this there are 512 preset “live sets” and “128 studio sets” and of course you can have another 512 user “live sets” and 128 user studio sets per project. There is a fantastic sequencer which is 128 midi track / 24 audio track and you have such a large screen to edit your songs. You can have up to 50 songs per project and the note capacity is 1,000,000, and song length is a massive 9998 measures.

For more information and / or sales visit :- Absolutemusic

Korg describe the Kaoss Pad KP3 as " More than a processor, the KP3 is a complete instrument allowing you to manage, recall, and play back samples; sample on the fly; and add dynamic processing to any audio signal or to the samples themselves". It has the X-Y touch pad to control multi -effect parameters in real time and it has been around since October 2006 and is still being widely used by musicians, producers and DJ's. It is Korg's third version of it's Kaoss Pad and I wonder as this is nearly four years old now, will there ever be a KP4? The KP3 was upgraded to Version 2 on 9th July 2009. This Kaoss Pad is not just a great hands-on effects module it is also quite a remarkable Midi controller.

For more information and / or sales visit :- Absolutemusic

When I receive a new product, the first thing I like to do is play with it without reading the manual. This is partly because I cannot wait but more importantly I want to test how use-friendly the item is. I am pleased to say that the Kaossilator was ready to go the minute I put in the four batteries and plugged in my favourite headphones. You switch her on and start to run your fingers across her touch-sensitive surface or tap away rhythmically and an assortment of cutting - edge sounds phases, flanges or auto-pans across your disbelieving ears. Why do you disbelieve? Well for a start its coming from something that is only approximately 5 x 4 inches in size.

As I played away previewing the brilliant presets I quickly became aware that I would not be able to play notes in the same way as I do on a keyboard. I was amazed by the way you could bend, slide, have portamento and additional sounds and effects come into play by a simple move of one finger across the surface. Movement along the horizontal axis changes the note or pitch, while the vertical axis brings in the fun elements such as cutoff, modulation and feedback. The 100 presets had a great variety of sounds, some of them with very delicate subtleties and nuances that added just that right amount of interest to have you wanting more. Squelchy acid sounds, trance plucks, vocal loops, reverbed piano and drums that on the fly you could build from a single bass drum to a bass drum and hi-hat through to a complete kit, again with simple moves of a finger. There are 20 lead sounds, 20 bass sounds, 20 sound effects, 10 drum sounds, 10 drum patterns, 10 chords and 10 acoustic sounds.

For the best price in the UK visit :- Absolutemusic

I attended a Sonar Masterclass session today at Nevada Music. I have always believed that no matter what training you receive you always come away with something and today was certainly no exception. Of course it is always better if firstly the subject matter is something you are interested in or passionate about and secondly it is not work-related.

The session lasted just under an hour and covered all the juicy bits of Sonar 8.5. After a brief introduction to 8.5, we started to look at Session Drummer 3 on what looked like a 32" monitor. The sound came through a couple of Roland Wedges, so the drums looked and sounded awesome. We saw how easy it was to :- create patterns with Session Drummer using the sequencer, change velocities of the drum parts,  and add a small amount of swing for example to the bass drum to give more of a "human feel" and less robotic sound. We then looked at the differences between using layers on a track rather than putting individual drum parts on different tracks. The obvious advantages were the savings in effect resources. With the track layers you could apply the effect to the one track but still have access to each drum part in each layer.

We touched briefly on the Matrix. The Matrix seems a strange beast to a lot of people but today for the first time I saw what a powerful arrangement tool this can be. I don't really see myself as a "loop" person but watching this demonstration has given me push to have a go. I like the idea of simply grabbing loops from your PC and dropping them into the matrix. The example that was used in my opinion was very effective. There was a musical loop going to start with that just had a bass drum beat. The second loop was a different riff but had only a hi-hat going. it then went back to first loop. As I sat and listened, I was very surprised by how good it sounded having just the bass drum and then just the hi-hat etc. As a drummer, this is not something I would have necessarily thought of. Simple? - yes but very effective.

More Great News - MINAMALISTIC can now be seen on AMAZON. You can download tracks from AMAZON.COM

or from AMAZON.CO.UK

Come on what are you waiting for ?

Tracks are only 79 pence or 99 Cents each.   -    Treat yourself to some great music

I have just bought one of those Roland ARX-03 SuperNATURAL Brass expansion boards for my Fantom G from those great guys at Absolute Music.

Brass to me is one of those strange sounds that whilst it is not particularly modern and has certainly been around awhile, it can still be used in todays sounds in any genre of music. It can be used to create fun, punch, haunting, rhythmic and sexy sounds in a variety of ways. In order for you to use these sounds correctly in your songs you need something to give you all the nuances and tweakability as if you had a whole brass section at your disposal. With the ARX-03 board, I believe Roland have attempted to do this.

If you want a great deal - the best price around - visit :- Absolutemusic

Another little nice one from Roland - The GAIA SH-01. Good decision on Colour. I don't wish to sound like a girl, but it is amazing how many times you see Artists who have products made specially in white. Why ? - because they look so good on stage. Access did it with their "Limited Edition" Virus. If people like the"White" look, why is it that manufacturers do not get this fact from their market research?

Anyway, back to the GAIA. GAIA is a word from Greek Mythology meaning "Goddess of the Earth". Well it certainly gives that impression when you first see this white keyboard with a black panel full of colourful lights and tweakable knobs to create powerful analogue sounds easily. All the controls are laid out for you in a very logical fashion. Roland have designed this instrument vey much like it's predessors to be a fun and very inviting, pulling you in to make your own fat sounds.

More info and a great price at :-
Absolutemusic

It is that time of year at Frankfurt for the big Musikmesse show and it is great to see new products as always. One of them that caught my eye was the KORG MP-10 Pro Professional Media Player.

It is strange but I often think why sometimes it takes so long for a product like this to come out. I am sure it has a great many uses for DJays and musicians and the technology is not new, it is the simple and logical idea of putting it all together in one package.

I hope there will be a few more videos on-line about this product soon as I want to see it in action. There is a German YouTube Clip that shows its colourful retro layout and it great looking touch screen in Colour. It has so far been desribed by Korg as:-

For more information and / or sales visit :- Absolutemusic

I am like many people and use MS Word for most things and was very surprised and delighted to find information on the anouncement of Music Notation for MS Word. What a great idea  - and why hasn't someone come up with this before?

Fancy having a music notation editing product that allows you to edit and publish music notation in a convenient Microsoft Word environment. Apparently musicnotationformsword.com have said this is easy to learn package with fantastic features such as point and click transposing. For composing of music, it can support MIDI keyboards, virtual piano keyboards and guitar fingerboards.

I know I have already mentioned the Access Virus but yesterday I had a chance to try out a Virus Ti2. It has been a few years since I had a play around with a Virus. What put me off a little bit back then was the fact that although it was very expensive the build quality seemed a little flimsy. The plastic controls seemed very weak as if they could never survive life on the road. I do not know how much they have changed under model Ti2 but they  seemed pretty good to me. Maybe I was being a little harsh on the earlier models  but that is just how I remembered them to be.

Well what is there not to like about an Access Virus Ti2? For a start I did not have time to preview all of the presets - Why? - well that is because there are so many of them. There are 512 RAM patches and 26 banks of 128 ROM patches making an overwhelming total of 3840 patches. If that is not enough to keep you going on the long winter nights then you can download more free from various places (including Access themselves) or purchase from some of the many sound creators around the globe that have put packages together for modest sums.

Since Youtube began, I have noticed a large increase in the number of videos that show and explain so many things for today's up and coming musicians. Many of today's music students are using YouTube to connect with other musicians all over the world. I have used this myself on many occasions and find it to be an invaluable resource.

You can watch how other people play particular songs, you can learn tips and tricks, how to read music. You can see demonstrations of products old and new and learn how to get the best out of them. You can learn additional skills of things perhaps you have not looked at things like mixing and mastering.

This is also great for teachers too. They can teach a vast audience with this educational tool. All they need is a computer and internet access and it costs them nothing.

We had the rubber pad and then the mesh head and now Yamaha have released a new playing surface on the DTX-PAD with Textured Cellular Silicone (T.C.S.) technology, which offers musicians an expressive playing experience. With no sound on,  these heads are actualy more quiet  than conventional rubber electronic drums.  The T.C.S. head uses a  process that puts small air bubbles into foamed silicone to provide playability and feel unlike any other pad. Top drummers were consulted as they wanted the feel of the drums to be more like an acoustic kit so these heads were designed to bring out every nuance and detail so that every acoustic drummer will feel right at home with these drums. The toms have a softer feel than the snare and all of them can be quickly and easily tuned by the singular knob on the drum. They are three zone drums and even have a form of suspension so they "give" a bit as you lay into them. The heads have also been coated to feel like a normal head and to be more durable.

I can't really make up my mind about the new Korg SV-1 Stage Vintage Piano. It is advertised as "New Body - Old Soul". I have tried this keyboard out a couple of times now in my local music store. The first thing that grabs your attention is it design, shape and Colour. Keyboards should be Exciting, Dazzling, Colourful and Innovative and we do not see enough of this from the keyboard manufacturing giants. Keyboard players not only want to sound good but look good on stage they also want to compete with their guitarist. If you compare the number of guitar designs and colours used you would appreciate how few there are in the keyboard world.This keyboard comes in two models a 73 note and a 88 note. I really like the 73 note for its weight and portability and that it is red, it had curves with a great layout angled back and upright in front of you.

It is that time of year again - WINTER NAMM 2010 - when the world is sitting in anticipation, full of expectation wondering what technological musical products will be announced. For some, like me it can be a bit of a dissappointment. For whilst there are some great new products released, my own personal  expectations have not been met.  I was hoping for some new mind-blowing synth from Roland, Korg or Yamaha. The Motif has certainly had a good few years now - surely Yamaha have some new sounds to offer us? And what about the long overdue update to the O/S for Roland's Fantom G (version 2.0) and some expansion boards. I suppose Korg have just released the SV-1 Vintage Piano. Anyway moans and groans to one side for a minute - lets have a think about what I do like. Here is my top 10 - I am sure it is different from yours but here goes:-

NAMM 2010 started today 14/01/2010 and Korg have announced  the KAOSSILATOR PRO – a powered-up version of the great little KAOSSILATOR, reborn as a powerful track-making tool and loaded with live performance power - just what you needed - what fun.

The KAOSSILATOR  allowed anyone to easily create melodies and phrases – the new KAOSSILATOR PRO  has 200 wild and exciting sound programs - (synths, drums and acoustic instruments), a new Electribe-inspired gate arpeggiator, and four loop recording banks that can even record external audio sources  It  is packed with goodies that make it ideal for live performance. In addition it has USB connectivity for use with your computer and an SD card memory storage allow the KAOSSILATOR PRO to be used not just for improvised performances, but also as a superbly intuitive, track-making music production tool. Intuitive X-Y touchpad lets you perform complex phrases with one finger.  You can assign your favorite programs to the eight Program Memory buttons for instant recall.

I have just been onto http://www.access-music.de/page/render/lang/en/p/1/do/The_Virus_TI___Totally_Integrated_Synthesizers.html This is the home of the great Access Virus Synth. I have always wanted one of these. They are a bit expensive but have a great sound.

The good news is at the NAMM Show in a couple of days time they are going to anounce an update to the Virus TI operating system. However, they are kindly letting us have a sneak preview of the new sounds now. You can download an mp3 to hear in advance of NAMM.

 Those Generous guys at Trash Audio -  Justin and Surachai have just released a Free TR-808 Sample Pack. Did I mention it is free.

Their website http://trashaudio.blogspot.com/2010/01/roland-tr-808-sample-pack.html  has a statement from Surachi that states :-

This little gem has just come to my attention - SpeakerText. It  is a new free web application designed  for video publishers that turns a video’s text transcript into a an interactive search and navigation tool.

SpeakerText Beta replaces the standard YouTube video player and adds an clickable transcript alongside the video, letting you search and navigate within videos using the transcript. As you click on lines of  lyrics, you jump to that point in the video. This is fun with short videos, but could be a very useful tool when viewing longer videos, such as a speech or a concert video.

Here is something I would like to see and hear - the new Simmons Digital Multi Pad Electronic Drum Set (The SDMP1). It is an entire Simmons kit and drum machine in one package. Simmons state that this is the perfect addition for practice, performance or recording beats and is able to be integrated with any drum or percussion set up, and can be mounted to a stand or an accessory clamp. It will connect to a PC with a USB port, while the included auxiliary input allows you to play along with a CD or MP3 player. The price seems very reasonable and I wonder how this compares on quality, sound and feel  with Roland's SPD-20 and SPD-S or Yamaha's new DTX-MULTI 12 Electronic Percussion Pad? The features and specifications look very good:-

Have you heard anything yet - only 3 weeks to go? The Winter Namm show 2010 will be held in the Anaheim Convention Center between 14/1/2010 - 17/1/2010. It normally has over 85,000 visitors and over 1500 exhibits from all over the world.

I know there are other manufactures but I am like most folk and can't wait to hear what the three giants are releasing - Roland, Yamaha and Korg. I am especially interested in new Synths. Some years are better than others and I have found there can be such a range of products that capture my interest and wallet. Will Yamaha release a new synth better than the Motif ? I heard Roland do not intend to replace the Fantom G yet but provide more for it in the way of expansion boards. I think they should anounce OS version 2 with a new soundset at NAMM.

I am quite taken with new Roland AX-Synth. Many Bands are using them at the moment. I even saw Hawkwind with one a couple of weeks ago. Not only do they give keyboard players that freedom to move around and compete with the Guitar player, they now have onboard Fantom G sounds so you don't need any midi connections. I can't help it - they do look good and I want one. It seem so much fun. It has  a Ribbon controller, D Beam, modulation bar, knobs, and easy-to-see display for stage use.

Here is a great website I have come across :- http://www.melodycatcher.com. - I have just added this to my favourites. Do you have a melody stuck in your head, you can't think what it is but you know how it goes?  The MelodyCatcher is a music search engine in which you can enter a melody or musical line via a simple keyboard-like Java applet interface. The melody is then searched in their database and the closest matches, if any, are returned. Each search result is presented with a link to the original audio file along with its source on the Internet, and a play button for instant playback. Although songs can also be searched using text, what makes the MelodyCatcher different from conventional search engines is that it is not limited to just text. The MelodyCatcher can be highly useful to those searching for songs for which little or no textual data are available, e.g., the song is an instrumental, or the user does not remember the artist, title, or any lyrics samples.

Another great item has been released by Big Fish Audio just before Christmas if you love to produce hip-hop and R&Bmusic - G-SUITE.

Producers Terry Lindsey and Gerald Brooks have used all their expertise and put together 40 hot urban construction kits with 6GB of fantastic content.

Every now and then you come across a really useful product - iZotope's Alloy .Harmony Central state " It's a channel strip plug-in on steroids, sort of like Ozone but designed for tracks, not mastering/buses". The question is does the world need another channel strip?  iZotope's Site - http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/alloy/ states "What it needs is a better way of working with the essential tools you need for all of your tracks and busses.  That's why we designed Alloy.

Those nice guys at Cakewalk are about to release Sonar 8.5.2. It should be available as a free download to Sonar 8.5 users by the end of the year. It has loads of issues that have been resolved and the following are Feature Enhancements - Wow :-

This caught my eye today - The new Yamaha DTX-MULTI 12 Electronic Percussion Pad.  I love products like this. This looks a little bit different in that it is split-level. It takes its sounds from the flagship Motif XS synthesizer and the DTXTREME III drum trigger module - 1,249 of them.  I want a go on this - I understand you can use sticks or hands and even your fingers.

My MINAMALISTIC album is now available as a digital download. With effect from today, you can now order each track individually from CD Baby. Just go to their site:-

CD Baby

I have just added this on Sound on Sound Forum and thought that it would be a good idea to have it here.

As a keyboard player, I hate the way chords and bass notes are expressed as the chord first slash the bass note. For example a Gm7 with a C bass is Gm7/C.

I prefer my own system whereby the bass note for my left hand is on the left and the chord in my right hand is on the right. So I would write the above example as c-Gm7. Visually and logically my brain takes these in naturally without having to cross them over. This has always worked for me but I am sure those guitarist out there would disagree, especially as most of them leave out the other notes. They will probably want the Gm7 to be their first thought and then as an after thought think about the possibility of playing the C bass - only kidding. Seriously from a keyboard point of view I have found this is far easier.

Those generous guys at TC Electronics are giving away a free reverb  - the M30 Reverb.  As they have stated "This really is an offer you can't refuse. Now you can have a great sounding and very easy to use TC Electronic reverb plug-in (VST and AU) for free! (value $79.) "

I am a great lover of TC Electronic Reverbs and I particularly like the ones found on their TC Konnekt 48 - they are so smooth.

The M30 Reverb plug-in has a great Hall algorithm and suits vocals but can also be used with a wide variety of instruments and audio material. It is simple to use and great sounding.

This is only free for a limited amount of time, so get it now at:-

TC Electronic.com

I  don’t know about you but I do not like music catagorised into little boxes. I like to listen to music for its passion, excitement, drive, rhythm and melody etc. I don’t care if that happens to be Rock, Dance or Classical.  I like Imogen Heap’s description of her own music where she lists various genres and in the middle of the list states “I don’t care”.

We all seem to like different things in music and like the idea that a friend or partner likes similar bands or songs. As a musician, it is often said that we have natural abilities built in to us. My Dad used to say this to me and I disagreed on the basis that it was all hard work and determination to learn. However, over the years I have often wondered what gave me that drive and determination to learn an instrument in the first place.

A recent study seems to confirm this but also that there is something in us that makes us like certain types of music. A study carried out on 4,000 twins show that a person's genes can affect which genres of music they prefer.  The strongest influences were found in people that like hip-hop, rap, classical music and pop and it seems that about half of our musical taste is predetermined for us.

Well, there you have it - the music you like is in your Genes - you were born to love Ice Berg, Eminem, Lady Ga Ga, 50 Cent, Black Eyed Peas, and Beethoven.

I came across this today - Driven Machine Drums at :- http://www.drivenmachinedrums.com/

I know it is software but it had 1,684 sounds in 24bit resolution. This electronic software library has been put together from 14 drum machines and 9 analog devises. Each of the sounds has been edited with some analog processing to get a tight punchy sound. I downloaded their free 100 waves for a listen.  They certainly have a nice Analog warmth about them, the sounds are rich and deep electronic and they have that right amount of buzz that you would feel at volume.

Drum Machines Used:-
Elektron Machine Drum, Symbolic Sound Kyma Capybara, Eventide H8000FW, Korg ER-1, E-mu SP-1200, Oberheim DMX, Emu Mo Phatt, Yamaha DX200, Roland TR909, TR808, TR707, TR606, Vermona DRM-1 MKIII, and Jomox MBase 11

 Processed through the following:-
Thermionic Culture Vulture, Anamod ATS-1, Neve 1073 Preamp, Atlas Pro Juggernaut Twin, A-Design EM-Gold, Source + Plus Tube Amp, Empirical Labs Distressor, Moog MF101, and Mutronics Mutator

Their website shows that the sounds are organized extremely well. The strange thing is only 997 copies will be made available.

Driven Machine Drums is available in two packages:

Driven Machine Drums (26 Guru Kits, 24bit Wav + 24bit Aif) $77
Driven Machine Drums Deluxe (Kontakt, EXS-24, 24bit Wav/Aif) $87<-->

For Computer Music Software information and / or sales visit :- Absolutemusic

It can be hard deciding what hardware drum machine to buy. There seems to be such a strange selection that all offer different things but not one covers what you would like to see in one yourself. Obviously from a marketing point of view they wish have the largest possible target audience. Unfortunately this means you end up with many sounds and styles you will never use. Examples of this type of Drum Machine are Roland DR880 or Alesis SR-18. Other drum machines are very specialized or very expensive like the Electron MachineDrum.

The answer is to have an extremely large library of drum sounds. Native Instruments Maschine provides this ( 5 GB of sounds) but this is a dumb hardware drum machine, with software running it and all of the sounds stored on your PC. If this had been a complete hardware product, I would have rushed out and bought it.

I have just come across something interesting, the best 20 new products for 2009 chosen by the editors of MIX at the Audio Engineering Society (AES) show. I was delighted to see Sonar 8.5 was amongst the list. All the rest is now on my Christmas List. There are some cracking professional hardware and software products here – check these out - in alphabetical order:-

1.    ADAM SX Series Monitors

2.   AKG C 414 XLS/XL II Microphones

3.   Audient Zen Console

4.    Audio-Technica AT4080/4081 Ribbon Mics

5.    BIAS SoundSoap Pro 2

6.    Cakewalk SONAR Version 8.5

7.   Dangerous Music BAX Equalizer

8.    Elysia Museq Equalizer

9.     Genelec 8260A Monitors

  10.  Grace Design M103 Channel Strip

  11.  iZotope Alloy

12.  Mackie Onyx-i Series Consoles

13.  Manley MicMAID

14. Neumann TLM 102 Microphone

15.  Radial Workhorse 5000 

16. Solid State Logic Duality SE Console

17.  Sonnox Restore

18. SoundToys Decapitator

19.  Trident HG3 Monitors

20.   Waves Vocal Rider Plug-In

           
For more information and / or sales visit :- Absolutemusic

Music Live is nearly with us again at the NEC 6^th, 7^th and 8^th November.  The three big boys will be there – Roland, Yamaha and Korg.  I don’t suppose they will be announcing any new gear but you never know. They will probably be showing their recent new arrivals. Roland will be showing off their TD20KX  and TD4KX kits, the AX Synth,  the SP404SX Sampler  and the VE-20 Vocal Effects. Yamaha S70XS and S90SX and Tenori-On, Korg will have their microSAMPLER, the M50 in its new Colour range, the SV1 Piano and the Wavedrum. I have been to this event 3 times now there is such an atmosphere and noise with sounds coming out of every orifice of the NEC.

Have a look at the list of Exhibitors at :- http://www.musiclive.co.uk/exhibitor_a-z.php

My favorite music store will be there – Absolutemusic

Does anyone remember the Quasimidi Sirius?  Over 10 years ago, Future Music did an article on this great machine and questioned "Was the Sirius the definitive dance tool?" This was a keyboard that I always wanted but never actually purchased. It just sounded so much fun. I remember listening to the sounds on the CD that I was sent demonstrating it’s capabilities. I loved it’s drum sounds. It reminded me of music made with software rather than hardware. A bit like making music with Reason and Thor but having an actual keyboard in front of you.

Yes it is German and has that very 90’s German analog Synth sound. If I remember correctly Kraftwerk did a couple of the demos for this.

It even has a random sound button. I tried this in a store at the time and was very surprised what it came up with. Maybe I should buy one now second-hand on e-bay?

For the best in today's Synths - more information and / or sales visit :- Absolutemusic

I had a play on the S90SX this week. This is a great keyboard; the weight of the whole thing is fantastic, given the fact that it has 88 note weighted keys. The feel of the keyboard was very good and it is impossible to find a keyboard like this anywhere. They even make a 76 note version that is even lighter. For a gigging musician, this is a godsend. I still do not understand why this has taken so long to produce. Nearly every keyboard player out on the road, wants good weighted keys a great piano sound and a vast range of synth sounds but hates the thought of lugging a great heavy keyboard around. This has them all - with the Motif as its sound engine and the addition of a huge additional 146 megabytes just for piano waveforms on top.

  Here is some good news - the Government is considering relaxing the rules to allow pubs and clubs with a maximum capacity of 100 people to stage events without a license. In my opinion there is not enough live music out there and young bands struggle to get work. This is great news for the music industry in this Country but it is a shame the number of people is not higher than 100, but it is a start.

Here is just a bit of music theory to start the day - The Dorian mode – what is it? Well it is a scale or rather it is a mode based on a scale – let me explain further. Lets take the easiest of scales C major which as you know is C D E F G A B C. The D Dorian mode contains all the notes of the C major scale but starts on D  -  e.g.  D E F G A B C D. Another example would be the G Dorian mode. This would be all the notes of the F major scale starting on G -  e.g.  G A Bb C D E F G. Do you get the idea now?

The Dorian mode is symmetric in its pattern of tones going up or down. it is made up of  a whole step, a half step, a whole step, a whole step, a whole step, a half step and a whole step. You could also say it is a Tone, Semitone, Tone, Tone, Tone , Semitone, Tone.

The sound of the Dorian mode is brighter than the natural minor scale and is used quite frequently in solos.

How useful is it ? – Well it makes more sense when you have a least two chords. For example if you were going from Dm7 to G7 – the B in the G7 implies a Dorian mode, because in Dm the B would be Bb.

Try doing some solos over these chords using the Dorian mode.

Have you seen the amount of portable recorders there are available today? See Them Here

These recorders are great just to pop into your pocket and take anywhere. They are ideal for songwriters especially once that carry acoustic guitars. Wherever you are as soon as an idea presents itself you can get the idea recorded – great!

For more information and / or sales visit :- Absolutemusic

Digital Music Doctor have announced a free update to Sonar 8 - Know it All!, a video training course for Cakewalk Sonar 8. This update covers all of the major new features in Sonar 8.5, the latest release of this popular digital audio workstation.

This training course update encompasses a number of important new features in Sonar 8.5 including the Matrix View, the PX-64 Percussion Strip, Session Drummer 3, Step Sequencer 2, Audio Snap 2, and the VX-64 Vocal Strip.

Sonar 8 - Know It All! contains over 3 hours of interactive videos which cover all major aspects of audio and midi recording, editing, mixing, and mastering using the Sonar 8 Digital Audio Workstation. The Quick Start section reviews the new features in Sonar and contains an introduction to Sonar projects as well editing and mixing.

Cakewalk by Roland have a great DAW for your PC called SONAR.Have you thought about or already purchased the new SONAR 8.5 upgrade? There are NO words to describe this user-made video (except for ‘totally awesome!’). Just watch it and you’ll see:

Sonar 8.5 Funny Video

For Computer Music Products or sales visit :- Absolutemusic

One of the main reasons why a novice sounds so bad when he attempts to play an acoustic drum kit is that he hits part of the drum kit that he doesn’t intend to such as the metal rims or he doesn’t hit the drum on the best part of the head to “make” the sound. With Roland electronic drums both of these issues can easily be eliminated.

With V drum pads it is easy to sound very professional by changing the sound of the rim to another drum completely. For example, if you have four Rock Toms, you could also have four Power Toms on the rims instead of the normal rim sound. If a novice then hits the rim by mistake, it does not sound like a mistake, it sounds like he has purposefully hit another drum with a different sound characteristic.