Paco de Lucia R.I.P.

Famed guitarist Paco de Lucia passed away yesterday of a heart attack in Mexico. Just 66 years old, Paco de Lucia had awed audiences with his lightning fast flamenco rhythms and finger dexterity since recording his first record at the age of 14 with his brother Pepe. Perhaps most famous in the United States for his album Friday Night in San Francisco with John McLaughlin and Al Di Meola, which sold over 1 million copies and generated a significant interest in flamenco music in America and Europe. R.I.P.

 

Video courtesy of KayoooS

Picture courtesy of paprikadefrance

Portion of information and text courtesy of Wikipedia.

MOOG SOUND LAB | Lost in the Trees | Past Life

Chapel Hill's Lost in the Trees shows off the title track to their album Past Life, released today on ANTI:

"In all honesty, I was slightly nervous walking in to the Moog factory for our session. We had little planned besides what song we were going to play. With the unlimited options for sounds from the many instruments available and our limited knowledge of analog synths, I figured the session could have gone either way. The nervousness faded quickly with the guidance of the wonderful folks at Moog who taught me that it's really ok to just turn knobs until it sounds cool. Anyone listening to the first half hour of us trying to figure out the song might have thought we were completely over our heads, but then suddenly Past Life started to emerge. Before we knew it we had dialed in some magic and were really enjoying the beauty and uniqueness of the sounds and music we were making. We are obviously enjoying it so much that we cant seem to stop repeating the ending over and over again, like we are figuring out something new and wonderful we could play on our Moogs with each refrain." -Bassist Mark Daumen

 

Aira Italiano!

A look at the new Roland Aira series in Italian for RF's one Italian viewer. Marco this is for you:

 

Deepwater is Live!

Brent Kallmer from Bluewater VST has a new premium content Reaktor site! Deepwater dives deeper into Reaktor with monthly comprehensive guides to Reaktor ensembles and weekly members only videos. Check it out:

"Dear REAKTOR User,

You know me—you’ve probably heard me say “Hey guys, what’s up? Brent Kallmer from Bluewater VST” a whole bunch of times. I’ve been pulling back the curtain on REAKTOR for years, sharing tips and tricks on YouTube and here on Bluewater VST. During this time, I’ve also dreamed of setting up a premium REAKTOR community, a place where people could come together to go deeper into what I consider the most powerful music production software ever created.

The Truth: REAKTOR People Are Not “Typical” Producers

Hundreds of interactions with producers have taught me that REAKTOR users are a different breed—because REAKTOR is not for the faint of heart. It takes an adventurous person to even launch the program… In fact, many KOMPLETE owners report that they have been too intimidated to dive in to the universe of REAKTOR. But for the select group that has the musical curiosity and perseverance to enter the world of REAKTOR, there’s no looking back. If you are a member of this daring group, I invite you to be a part of Bluewater VST’s new premium REAKTOR learning community…"

Introducing Deepwater!

Deepwater is a premium REAKTOR learning membership. As a Deepwater member, you’ll receive:

• a comprehensive guide to one of REAKTOR’s glorious ensembles every month (best part: you vote for the ensemble you want to see covered the following month!).
• weekly, members-only videos on REAKTOR.

Subscribe today to Deepwater for the introductory rate of $12.99 a month!

Photograph courtesy of Brian Skerry, National Geographic

Propellerhead Artist Interview - Kool Kojak

Brand new Propellerhead Artist interview with Kool Kojak:

"Before he was Kool Kojak, Allan Grigg and his brother built their own drum set out of tape and pvc pipes and created their own recordings using their boombox. It was the start of a lifelong quest to make the hip hop sounds that inspired him from childhood. His tenacity led him to New York where he interned at legendary hip hop studios, saved for years to get his prized MPC drum machine, and made musical friendships that would lead to number one hit songs around the world.

Kool Kojak's success is no fluke. He works hard but he plays hard, not afraid to push himself into experimentation and find his own sound. His reputation and credits have led him to work with artists like Flo Rida, Nicki Minaj, Britney Spears, Ke$ha, and many many more."

 

Aira is Here!

Roland has let loose a slew of info on the new Aira line in the last couple of hours. There's already even reviews on Sonic State:

 

 

 

 

Mono/Poly RE Review on REReview.com!

Posted a brand new article on RackExtensionReview.com today on the mighty Korg Mono/Poly RE for Reason! Check it out!

The Notwist - Kong (Official Video)

New video from The Notwist!

"The official video for "Kong", directed by Yu Sato, from upcoming Notwist album 'Close To The Glass' out 24th February on City Slang in Europe, 25th February on Sub Pop in N. America, 12th February via Afterhours in Japan, and 21st February via Spunk in Australia."

 

Reaktor Tutorial 10: Hacking Spiral

Great new tutorial on hacking the Spiral Ensemble to loop melodies by Peaks:

 

Get Your Kicks on Route 66!

Michael O'Hagan has a number of new Reaktor ensembles available for download in the Reaktor User Library, my favorite of which is the FM powerhouse Route 66 FM V.01! With 5000 available waveforms this 6x6 FM synth with FX and modulators is not your Mama's DX7. Check it:

Roland Aira - It's coming soon!

 

Roland continues the Aira tease campaign with two new videos today and a couple of actual product photos! The second video describes the Analog Circuit Behavior (ACB) technology Roland developed for these products which "faithfully captures the sound and feel of some our most revered classics. ACB is the technology behind the authentic sound and responsive behavior of the AIRA products. It utilizes original design specs, consultation with original engineers, and a detailed, part-by-part analysis of each analog circuit in Roland's own pristine units." It's good to finally know something about the technology used to make the Aira product line, and while I'm still not fully sold on it, I do so want one of the white Roland jumpsuits worn by the engineers in the second video!

AIRA

"With roots in the very origins of electronic music, AIRA is the new series of products designed to meet the evolving needs of today's electronic musicians. In the studio or on the stage, AIRA brings genre-defining sound and modern performance features to a new generation."

Richard Devine's Modular Lullaby

Richard Devine has long been one of my favorite sound designers. This video posted yesterday using the 4ms Quad clocking distributor is just beautiful:

"This patch focused on using the 4ms Quad clocking distributor (QCD) module as the main brain to trigger the drums and musical sequences. The source clocking generator was the delptronics triggerman running in pattern mode. I set up 8 stored sequences that had slightly different shifted gate positions, and then outputted these assignments to the 4 channels on the 4ms OCD, and then took those outputs into separate gate triggers for the drum/snare/high-hats. The Modcan QLFO was also being clocked from the delptronics trigger man. Running from LFO output 1 in random stepped mode causing ever changing CV changes to the CV Clock Divider/Multiplier inputs, which gave the sequencing this interesting pace. I kept the sound sources very simple and limited. Using just 3 different intellijel dixies as the main sound sources (sine waves and one square). All three being triggered and then CV controlled in slow stepped mode from the Modcan Quad LFO, then into the µScale intelligent quantizer and interval generator for the melodies. The output was running through a Strymon BigSky reverb pedal using the "Chorale" algorithm for the slow like choir pads swelling delicately from the summed VCO's. One intellijel running in low octave pitch down for added baseline effect. Drums courtesy of the Mutable Instruments Braids for the snare drum running in CLK mode, with the envelope set to "ping" short attack. The kick drum was from the JoMox Membrane II, and hi-hats from the 4-hp whitenoise output from the BlueLantern running into a intellijel HexVCA. Another direct whitenoise out from the HexVCA running into a cwejman MMF-1 filter for the slow delicate automating filter sweeps, being modulated by cwejman D-LFO. This output was then taken into the Strymon Timeline for added depth and space. This patch was specifically created as a lullaby to play at bedtime for my baby Eila. Enjoy :-)"

 

4ms Quad Clocking Harmonies (Modular Lullaby) from Richard Devine on Vimeo.

Damon Albarn's Everyday Robots!

Damon Albarn's music has always been a favorite of mine. Whether it be with Blur, Gorillaz, Mali Music or The Good, The Bad and The Queen. So when I heard of his soon to be released solo record (coming at the end of April) I was intrigued! Here's the first single, Everyday Robots: