The Music Producer Blog

Just Blaze Interview + RED STADIUM Studio introduction

2012-02-15T02:14:00.001-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day !!!

2012-02-14T10:05:00.002-08:00

Song of The Day:

Sixpence None The Richer - Kiss me von iori_killer

R.I.P Whitney Houston

2012-02-11T22:46:00.000-08:00

Well my story is this: I was exposed to Whitney Houston already as a young child when my mum bought her (I'm Your Baby Tonight) album back in the early 90s. I was playing that record back and forth although I couldn't understand a word she was singing as English wasn't my first language. But I guess liked the melodies, the synths and most importantly her voice.
Although she passed away the music will always keep her alive !

Whitney Houston - I have nothing von nice_

SR Studio Session With RedOne

2012-02-08T00:05:00.001-08:00

Edward Van Halen Talks about his classic tone

2012-02-07T23:56:00.000-08:00

....if you think you can achieve a great guitar tone with sampled vst libraries of guitars...well forget it !

A-Trak killing Dj Decks

2012-02-07T16:21:00.000-08:00

Teddy Riley shows Studio One @ Namm 2012

2012-02-06T11:30:00.000-08:00

Probably the most famous producer who is using PC's instead of Macs and VST Plugins. I think
he knows exactly that VST Plugins and the PC environment can give him better creativity. There are some crazy vst plugins that are available for PC's that can't be used on Macs in ProTools (RTAS) or Logic (AU)

J.R. Rotem Talks Nicki Minaj's 'Fly,' IYAZ's 'Pretty Girls,' and being named Songwriter of the Year at the 2011 BMI Pop Awards.

2012-01-31T19:27:00.000-08:00

Take some Advice from 16 times Grammy Award Winner David Foster

2012-01-30T11:50:00.000-08:00

Here are some woldwide hits that he produced:


  
Toni Braxton : Unbreak my heartvon BLACKMUSICS





                   
Chicago - Hard To Say I'M Sorry von killeraf


I have Nothing - Whitney Houston (The Bodyguard) von kenzaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Something New From Me: Kiss feat. AndreyAE - Loving You

2012-01-28T08:35:00.000-08:00

I was working on this remix for the last two days. I wouldn't even call it remix. I built the whole track from the ground up. You will definitely hear some Rock, House and Dubstep on this.
I tried to give the original track justice as I am a big fan of the original "I Was Made For Loving You" by Kiss.

Beluga Heights' Zach Katz Talks About Beats & Industry

2012-01-25T20:06:00.000-08:00

Some very good advice here...

Song of the Week: Skrillex "Breakn' a Sweat"

2012-01-24T18:17:00.000-08:00

Either you "get it" and like or you don't.

I like the idea of bringing two entirely different music generations together...

This is what happens when you let women play with your synths....

2012-01-23T17:20:00.000-08:00

Bryan Michael Cox working on a sample based beat in his lab

2012-01-22T09:33:00.000-08:00

This is how you "should" work a sample. Not looping it but just use it to inspire yourself and make a whole new song around it....

Quasimidi Technox Drumkit

2012-01-22T05:51:00.000-08:00

94 Drumsamples from Quasimidi Technox. For every crazy drummachine synth sound collector out there...

Original Download Link
Battery 3 Kit

Alchemy Player with free 1GB sample library

2012-01-18T15:20:00.000-08:00

I might be too late on this but this free vst is definitely worth it. Plus you can import sfz samples.

Alchemy Player is a free software instrument with an inspiring 1GB sample library and 200 instrument sounds including evolving soundscapes, lush pads, and pulsing arpeggios. 150 sounds are included with 50 more when you sign up for a free account.

Alchemy Player may be the only sample player you ever need, since it can now load any SFZ sample library. Built with the Alchemy engine under the hood, it provides ready to play sounds that can be easily tweaked via the intuitive interface.

Expand your Alchemy Player with our comprehensive range of Alchemy Sound Libraries which offer numerous advantages over sample libraries:

tweak sounds to fit your music using the perform controls and remix pads
better, more responsive sounds provided by powerful synthesis and modulation
smaller download sizes and less disk space thanks to resynthesis

Download

Kemper KPA Profiling Amp

2012-01-17T18:36:00.000-08:00

So I've stumbeled upon this thing today in the guitar amp section of my favourite music store. My first reaction was: "This one looks like if an Access Virus and an Ipod had a Baby"
The more research I did the more surprised I was with the capability of this thing to capture the characteristics of a guitaramp and replicate them 1:1. To be honest I have been following the guitar amp sims (software/hardware) from day one and I was waiting for this day where I could say that we have the first modeling amp (I know Kemper hates it when people call the KPA a modeling AMP) that can accurately replicate the sound of a tube guitar amp.
The only downpoint for me is the pricetag which is 1450€ and the missing Power Amp.

Oh and by the way the profiling files which are stored in this thing are only 5kb's ...so you can exchange your guitar amps with everyone in the world via internet or just download new models.

Check Out this videos and decide for yourself.

I hope I can test this thing at Frankfurt Musikmesse 2012 or In a music store asap.
I'll keep yall updated

Heres the official webpage: Kemper AMPS

The Evolution Of Music Online

2012-01-17T03:32:00.000-08:00

As the 90s came to a close, the business of music began to change profoundly. New technology allowed artists to record and produce their own music and music videos, and the internet became a free-for-all distribution platform for musicians to promote themselves to audiences across the world. The result was an influx of artists onto the cultural scene, and audiences were left wondering how to sort through them all. In this episode we discuss these massive changes, and reveal how music blogs and websites have arisen as the new arbiters of quality.

Off Book: The Evolution of Music Online from PBS Arts on Vimeo.

Phil Collins expalains how he came up with "In the Air Tonight"

2012-01-09T17:08:00.000-08:00

Very inspiring...It's just amazing how he came up with the whole song...

"people ask me why do you use drummachines when you're a drummer ? its sometimes...drummachines can give you things...its the atmosphere...its relentless...it doesn't move"

"I hadn't really set out to be famous...hadn't really set out to make a record of any type you know...I've just done a few things in my room you know painted a few pictures and someone wanted to look at them. The songs were just songs based on my emotion at the time"

Happy New Year !!!

2011-12-31T09:43:00.000-08:00

I'm wishing all my readers a Happy New Year with much success health love and happiness !!!
I hope 2012 will be a great year and I can find more time to update my blog with interesting updates!

Timbaland Tells All

2011-12-28T16:26:00.000-08:00

Another inspiring video ....

Merry Christmas !!!

2011-12-25T01:51:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to all my readers. Hope you got all the gear that you had on your wishlist. If not...well don't be sad. Don't forget to spend time with your family and your loved ones because that's what's most important!

...found this pic on the net. Your favourite christmas tunes played with a moog synth...hilarious !!! That album supposedly came out in 1969.

David Guetta - Nothing But The Beat - Movie

2011-12-13T17:36:00.000-08:00

Hate him or love him. This man put in some serious work to be where he's at right now.

Revival of the classic Roland 303 in LMFAO's recent hit "I'm Sexy And I Know It"

2011-12-10T14:22:00.001-08:00

LMFAO - Sexy and I Know It (Official Music... von wonderful-life1989

What a monster...

2011-12-10T12:13:00.000-08:00

WillPower Interview - Producer of Yelawolf / Radioactive album

2011-11-20T16:50:00.000-08:00

I listened to the new Yelawolf album and looked for the producer credits. Surprisingly I saw many beats made by WillPower so I did some research and found this video.
He was actually responsible for the production of the Trunk Muzik tapes by Yela.

But watch the interview and see for yourself. He seems like a very chill humble dude....
He been grinding for a long time and the hard work paid off...

Feature: Producer Will Power aka Supa Hot Beats, The man behind the music... from 3 Little Digs on Vimeo.

Choosing The Right Compressor For The Job

2011-11-15T09:59:00.000-08:00

Here's a very good article on which compressor to use for vocals, drums and other instruments:

LINK

Young Guru Lecture Madrid 2011

2011-11-08T09:12:00.000-08:00

Very interesting and inspiring interview:

Lecture: Young Guru (Madrid 2011) from Red Bull Music Academy on Vimeo.

Wolfgang Palm's PLEX 2 Synthesizer

2011-11-01T07:20:00.000-07:00

AKA Steinberg's Plex 1 (http://www.kvraudio.com/get/257.html) was a commercfial synth with an unique "Restructuring" approach.

Wolfgang Palm made some updates to the synth and released it as a free version. It's a very interesting synth concept and is very suitable for beginners who don't really know much about synthesis.

Download Link + Info

Variety Of Sound BaxterEQ

2011-10-08T02:55:00.001-07:00

Bootsy released a new EQ plugin several weeks ago. As you know he always puts out top notch VST's for free so download it. I won't say that you should stop using your UAD or Waves plugins but if you're on a budget / or just dont want to spend a lot of money you should definitely try out his plugins.

More Info + Download

Me recording a quick song #1

2011-09-25T20:37:00.000-07:00

I though it would be maybe interesting to make this blog more personal and add some videos, songs etc. that I'm working on. Finally you see the person who's writing all this stuff here lol.

If you have some ideas, advice or some suggestions write me a message on indabamusic: http://www.indabamusic.com/people/AndreyEbert

Collaborations are cool too...

Le456 ampsim based on an ENGL now available for Mac

2011-09-23T21:39:00.001-07:00

LePou released this great amp sim 2 years back. Now we have vst and au versions for macs. This is a must download for all guitarists with macs out there because you wont find better amp sims.I already tried Guitar Rig, Amplitube, Waves GTR and all other commercial plugins but I always come back for the ampsims programmed by LePou.

Download

Good Quality 808 Samples / Wave Alchemy 808

2011-09-22T18:03:00.000-07:00

Wave Alchemy released a free 808 pack. You know there are tons of 808 drums on the net but this one was ranthrough a Studer A80 MK1 tape machine so will get very good saturated 808 sounds.
I might upload some Battery 3 kits of this drumset...

Download

Back....

2011-09-22T17:57:00.001-07:00

I've been away for a while. Had to concentrate on university and some other things that are importan in my life.Nevertheless I'm Back and I will try to bring daily updates.

Dave Pensado & Dann + David Huff, Ed Seay - Rascal Flatts,Keith Urban, Dann Huff #12

2011-06-27T02:17:00.000-07:00

Studio Session With Swedish House Mafia - Making Of: One

2011-06-22T17:11:00.000-07:00

Studio Session With D Ramirez

2011-06-21T17:01:00.000-07:00

Andrey's Pick Of The Week

2011-06-20T16:17:00.000-07:00

Love everything about this track. It might be a little bit outdated but this is the kind of music that I miss. Dope bassline. Catchy Hook. Very Clean mix...

Bricasti M7 Impulse responses V2

2011-06-20T14:39:00.000-07:00

I was just checking what happened to the old Acousticas.net Impulse responses when I found a new pack that seems to be better than the old one:

Samplicity has created a new Impulse Response Library, using the immensely popular and highly acclaimed Bricasti M7 reverb unit. And again, Samplicity has created a very complete, accurate and excellently sounding set of impulse responses, all in True Stereo and in Mono-to-Stereo. This library surpasses all previously released Bricasti IRs in terms of signal-to-noise ratios and detailed and rich reverb tails.
This library is completely FREE, to comply with the request from Bricasti that it is allowed to create impulse responses with the M7, as long as these IRs are not included in any commercial product.

LINK

USB Producers Pack 26 GB Library £̶2̶̶0̶̶7̶̶.̶̶5̶̶0̶ now £103.75

2011-06-20T07:47:00.000-07:00

This massive library features more than 26 GB of sounds, instruments and loops, containing more than 50 000 samples, and covering every aspect of music and sound production. So much for figures, here are the sounds we don´t have to introduce anymore, in full version:

- Plugsound Pro : the award-winning global library
- Synth Anthology : 30 years of synthesis history
- Xtreme FX : the most famous sound design tool
- Mayhem of Loops : thousands of useful loops

SYSTEM RECOMMANDATIONS

IMPORTANT: iLok Key required

1 Gb RAM, 26 Gb free hard disc space, DVDROM Drive

Mac: OSX 10.4 or higher, G4/G5 (1.5 GHz minimum) or Macintel

PC: Windows XP, 2 GHz Pentium IV or better CPU

Attention: You Need an iLok Key for this library !!!

LINK

Paul Gilbert On Song Writing, Using Rhythm and Music Theory

2011-06-19T17:05:00.000-07:00

Distorted French Electro Synth Sound

2011-06-18T17:48:00.000-07:00

Basically:

Moog type Synth (3 OSC's (all Saws) playing in different Octaves) ---> Guitar AMP, Nasty Distortion Pedal etc. (turn guitar cabinet off) --> Saturation ---> Side Chain Compression

Dave Pensado Emanuel "E-Man" Kiriakou and Chris Wood - Selena Gomez, Whitney Houston, Jordin Sparks etc. #11

2011-06-16T17:25:00.000-07:00

Icon Qcon - An affordable DAW Controller

2011-06-15T05:30:00.000-07:00

There are some DAW Controllers on the market but there wasn't anything good in the 500$ Price range. A Mackie Control Universal will still cost you 999$ (and thats with a 400$ rebate).

The Qcon is quite affordable with 500$... Hope I can get one of those to run some tests...

IK Multimedia Total Workstation 2 ̶3̶̶9̶̶9̶$ ---> 199$

2011-06-13T14:31:00.000-07:00

If your're looking for a total package with bread and butter sounds... a very nice Orchestra Library...sampled synth sounds and a Moog library this deal might be for you. This is basically IK's answer to NI's Komplete package.

You can't go wrong with this. The orchestra library alone is worth 199$ : (if not more...)

LINK

Stillwell Rocket versus UAD 1176

2011-06-05T06:01:00.000-07:00

The differences are very subtle. I would even say that The Rocket sounds a little bit phatter.

Check it out its only $50

Tape Emulation Plugins: A comparison

2011-06-02T16:13:00.001-07:00

Free Transition Fx Pack

2011-06-02T04:16:00.000-07:00

Bronto Scorpio Music released a free Transition FX Pack. There are quite some usefull samples inside especially for electronic Music.

More Info

Download Battery 3 Kit

Sound Design Addicted - FAC Magnetic + Analog Bass Drum Battery 3 kit (Free!)

2011-05-30T16:28:00.000-07:00

"Eleven analog bass drum samples produced with the Moog Moogerfooger MF101. The modulation of the filter has been performed by Doepfer’s modules. These samples have been recorded through the RME Fireface 800 audio interface at high quality : 24 –bit 96,000 kHz."

"43 electronic style drums samples. This great free pack covers a large panel of percussion sounds: toms, closed hi hat, claps, snares, cowbells, kicks, noises, percs, sfxs, sub and woods. You will definitely use some of them in your tunes.

Samples contained in this pack are ROYALTY FREE so use them in your projects. As a payment, I will really appreciate your feedback on my Facebook page and your contribution of sharing this page.

Produced by Fred Anton Corvest (Sound Design Addicted!). Check out more samples from Fred on the Sound Design Addicted Facebook page."

Download Battery 3 Pack

Dave Pensado & James Murray - Assistant Engineering, Q+A, etc. #10

2011-05-30T16:06:00.000-07:00

Dave Pensado & Maureen Droney - GRAMMYS, Mastering, etc. #9

2011-05-29T11:53:00.000-07:00

Jaycen Joshua & Dave Pensado - Tracking Vocals - Beyonce, Rihanna, Justin Bieber etc. #8

2011-05-27T19:26:00.000-07:00

Torpedo PI-FREE - free speaker miking simulator

2011-05-27T06:51:00.000-07:00

Aivalable for PC/Mac VST/AU/RTAS

"The Torpedo PI-FREE is based on our flagship model, the PI-101, but only features 1 model of power amp simulation (EL34 / AB class), 1 speaker cab (based on a Marshall 4×12) and 1 type of microphone (based on a Shure SM57). And you still have the full Post FX section. And best of all, it is FREE!"

Power amp simulation

EL34
A/AB
Pentode/Triode

Miking section

Cab based on Marshall 4×12
Microphone based on Shure SM57

Post FX

Low-cut filter
5-band EQ
Exciter
Compressor

Aivalable for PC/Mac VST/AU/RTAS!!!

LINK

Dave Pensado - Vocal Mixing Techniques, McDSP Plug-Ins, and Corner Office Q+A #7

2011-05-27T06:41:00.000-07:00

Sidechain Compression with Apple Logic Pro 9

2011-05-26T08:04:00.001-07:00

Moog Prodigy - Virtual Model Pro

2011-05-26T05:42:00.000-07:00

A very good Moog Prodigy emulation. Sounds pretty fat and analog

LINK

Dave Pensado & Manny Marroquin - John Mayer, Alicia Keys, Maroon 5, Kanye West, etc. #6

2011-05-25T07:15:00.000-07:00

d16 Groupbuy - Buy one effect and get 2-5 effects for free

2011-05-25T04:56:00.000-07:00

LINK

Number of Group Buy participants	Number of free SilverLine plug-ins
> 100	1
> 250	2
> 500	3
> 750	4
> 1000	5

Dave Pensado - Audio Production Q&A #5

2011-05-22T10:07:00.000-07:00

Tony Maserati & Dave Pensado - Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey, & Jessica Simpson etc. #4

2011-05-20T02:16:00.001-07:00

Spicy Guitar ̶1̶̶5̶̶0̶€ ---> 0€

2011-05-19T15:21:00.000-07:00

What is it?

Spicy Guitar is a free physically modelled acoustic guitar synthesizer. Relying on an innovative technology, its sounds are rich, natural and lively.

Main Features

9 guitars, 2 types of strings
physical based sound design
astonishing expressivity
easy-to-use strumming engine
many types of chords, 2 positions
5 guitarist playing techniques
only 10 MB

Link + more info

Dave Pensado & Dylan '3D' Dresdow - Black Eyed Peas, Pitbull, T-Pain, etc. #3

2011-05-19T01:18:00.000-07:00

Flux Spring Time Special up to 45% Off

2011-05-18T04:08:00.000-07:00

LINK

Virology Kontakt edition (Access Virus Library) for 36€

2011-05-18T02:36:00.000-07:00

PinkNoise Studio released their Virology Reason Refill as a Kontakt library. Many people were waiting for this including me. I used Reason a long time ago but Im tired of rewiring it to Cubase just to load a refill. Virology is probably on of the best sampled Virus libraries out there.

• VIROLOGY was originally released as a Reason refill. This new Kontakt version is not just a conversion! It has been entirely rebuilt starting from the scratch, and thanks to the Kontakt's advanced scripting technology we were able to create a software instrument that sounds and behaves as a real hardware!

LINK

preFIX Bootsie / Variety Of Sound

2011-05-17T10:55:00.000-07:00

preFIX is a pre-mixing and audio alignment tool which typically takes place upfront the mixing process. It provides a clever tool set to clean-up, fix and align audio tracks (typically taken from recordings) concerning overall frequency correction, phase alignment, spatial stereo field corrections and routing. It contains a complete gate/expander solution with a dedicated and comprehensive sidechain filtering path as well.

Features:

Main audio path filter
Baxandall style shelving filter with pristine audio quality
Smooth butterworth high- and lowpass filter with switchable characteristics (12 and 24dB per octave)
Both are oversampled and match their analog model curve behavior

Sidechain path EQ and filter
Whole spectrum "tilt style" balancing filter with adjustable center frequency
Smooth butterworth high- and lowpass filter with switchable characteristics (12 and 24dB per octave)
A dedicated parametric peaking EQ
Internal/external sidechain switchable
Sidechain listening option

Gate/Expander
Adjustable threshold between -80 and +6dBFS
Freely adjustable knee from hard- to soft-knee behaviour up to 1:2 downward expander mode
Range limiting option (floor)
Channel link switchable
Envelope follower section with attack, hold and release control
Attack timing features console style peak timings as well as two rms modes
Additional gate pre-open timing option

Phase alignment
Analog style stepless signal phase corrections
Detailed options for adopting phase response curve regarding polarity, frequency center and width
Additional digital signal delay option
Phase control switchable to channel 1, 2 or both

Advanced control

Detailed output channel routing with six different modes
Stereo image rotation option visually supported by a goniometer
Output level control with special mono mode to mix in channel 1 and 2

Again this is very vice plugin that could be sold for hundreds of $$$ but Bootsie is giving it away for free. You can't even find something comparable on the market right now. The Gate is probably the best there is in the software world.

Link

Sampletron for $̶1̶̶9̶̶9̶̶.̶̶9̶̶9̶ ---> 49$

2011-05-17T10:09:00.000-07:00

Today Only !!!

LINK

Dave Pensado & Jean-Marie Horvat Interview #2 - Michael Jackson, Justin Timberlake, Whiz Kalifa

2011-05-17T02:51:00.000-07:00

Waves GTR Solo for 18$ ( no iLok needed!!!)

2011-05-16T16:22:00.000-07:00

10 Ams 13 Stomp Efects and 10 Cabinets for 18$. I think the effects alone are worth the price. It's nice that you dont need the iLok to run this version. It's not only good for processing guitars but is also great on drums. Check out the video with Nir Z

Link

AAS: Lounge Lizard Session for 19,95$

2011-05-16T06:10:00.000-07:00

If you're searching for a good electric piano this might be a good deal...

LINK

Dave Pensado & Ariel Chobaz - Mixing Engineer interview - Nicki Minaj, Linkin Park etc. Part 1

2011-05-15T12:00:00.000-07:00

In The Studio With Dr. Luke

2011-04-25T13:26:00.000-07:00

IK Multimedia Miroslav Philharmonik Classik Edition for 15$

2011-03-19T09:38:00.000-07:00

Over at audiomidi.com. 1.5 gigs of string sounds. Pretty good deal if you ask me.

Link

How To Produce Layered Claps And Snares

2011-02-25T19:15:00.000-08:00

E-MU Sample Library Collection for £23.99

2011-02-20T02:20:00.000-08:00

UK

Includes:
Beat Shop 2,
Planet Earth,
Virtuoso X,
Mo Phatt X,
Old World Instruments
Protean Drums

Although some of those sound are already old and old school those libraries are great for some inspiration and sound layering. The Virtuoso X Soundbank is very good though for that low price if you're searching for some non expensive orchestra sounds.

All those soundsbanks can be loaded with Proteus VX that is available from EMU for free. A couple of years ago you had to own a EMU soundcard and a Proteus X / Emulator X sampler to load them. The problem with Emualtor X and Proteus X was that they were not supported with 64 bit OS's like Wikndows 7. Proteus VX runs flawlessly on 64 bit machines. I just tested it :)

I'm gonna order this right now...

EDIT: There are some problems with libraries like Planet Eart, Xtreme lead, Mophatt etc. which contain large ebl files. ProteusVX cannot read them !!! So be carefull before you buy the package unless you got some software which can convert the Emulator X banks to other formats like kontakt 4.

Link

Interview With Dr. Luke

2011-02-18T17:32:00.001-08:00

Link

Erasure Sometimes - Vintage Synth Replay

2011-02-12T19:32:00.000-08:00

I'm a big 80s baby and still enjoy 80s music because I basically grew up with it.
I was searching for some synth videos on youtube and stumbled upon this channel where you can see many song replays with vintage synths...

Kinda refreshing to hear all that analog sound without being overcompressed or limited to death...even with that bad youtube quality

In The Studio with "DarkChild"

2011-02-10T13:52:00.000-08:00

Native Instruments KOMPLETE 6 for $262.99 (with Kore 2 for 549,99$)

2011-02-08T08:00:00.000-08:00

Since there is already Komplete 7 out some shops are getting rid of the old Komplete 6 packages for a really small price.

What's included ?

Kontakt 4,
Absynth 5,
Guitar Rig Pro,
Reaktor 5,
Massive,
FM8 and Battery 3

Reaktor 5 will cost you alone 399$ !!! You can still upgrade it from 5.0 to 5.5 from the Komplete 6 package !!!

For 549,99 you also could get the Komplete 6 kore 2 package with the hardware controller :)

Link 1

Link 2

Messiah Studio Pro for 40$

2011-02-08T07:44:00.000-08:00

This is not really music related but I saw this today over @ KVRAudio. It's a award-winning 3D animation and rendering application. If someone of you is doing some movie projects or/and 3d animation besides music this might be a good deal since the original software costs over 1195$. You probably ask yourself why is there such a big pricedrop ? Well I they're on a marketing campaign...I'm not even sure if they really gonna pull this off...but if not they will give you your money back.

Link

Sonar X1 for only 129£ (worldwide shipping) 64% OFF

2011-02-06T14:26:00.000-08:00

This is one crazy deal. So basically until the 28th february you can purchase an old Sonar 8.5 copy and then upgrade it to X1 FOR FREE.

There is one shop in the uk that currently has stock clearance on the old Sonar 8.5 sequencers:

---> Link

Delivery Costs (from the offcial site)

Main land UK £3.95, Non Main Land UK and EU £7.95 and Rest of the World £12.95 wherever possible.

Trance Course 1,2,3

2011-02-06T13:58:00.000-08:00

Trance Course - Video 1 - Drums from SoundMagus Music Production Vide on Vimeo.

Trance Course - Video 2 - Drums, EQ & FX from SoundMagus Music Production Vide on Vimeo.

Trance Course - Video 3 - Bass from SoundMagus Music Production Vide on Vimeo.

VTX VSTRON inspired by Korg Monotron

2011-02-06T13:51:00.000-08:00

VSTron is a free VST-Plugin that is well suited to create special FX sounds .

"VSTron is an effective and fun VST unit that is capable of producing different kinds of effects such as Laser sounds , Fast LFO's , Ascending/Descending Sweeps , Filtered madness , Bubbling Bleeps or attacking Ramps .

Initially inspired by the Korg Monotron the VSTron includes 1 Osc ( Saw , Sine , Triangle , Ramp , Pulse , White Noise and Pink Noise ) and 1 VCF Osc with 4 modes ( Low Pass , High Pass , Band Pass , Band Reject ) as well as 1 Main Envelope . To further modulate things you have 2 Envelopes and 2 LFO's that can be individually assigned to different parameters and some built-in effects such as Drive , Delay and Chorus .

Have fun !"

Download

Molot Compressor

2011-02-04T19:02:00.000-08:00

There are lots of good freeware compressors out there but not many of them can combine great sound with a nice gui. Molot is a vintage compressor with many knobs to tweak your sound. It doesn't only look good but it also sounds amazing for a free plugin. You should definitely try this one out:

Features:

“Molot” VST compressor plugin

- sigma and alpha attack modes
- Neve 33609 like sound in sigma mode
- Fairchild 670 like sound in alpha mode
- very characterful sound
- dual mono, linked stereo, M, S and M/S modes
- external sidechaining in mono mode
- up to 8x oversampling
- mid-scoop EQ for simple snare and guitars balance fix
- limiter for peaks suppressing
- small latency (3 samples)
- USSR military style GUI
- switchable language EN/RU

Here's a comment on the official blog of the developer:

"I am impressed, really impressed. Your GUI is amazing… I have always loved the ruggedness of Russian military hardware, and the photo realism of the VU and chickenhead controls is so cool. Sound wise, I gave it a wind for a good few hours last night, against my other buss favourite – a UAD Neve 33609…and I was very surprised. I wouldn’t call it uber subtle, but it colours the sound in a way I really enjoy and in many instances, I thought I got it to sound at least as good as the 33609, and in some instances beguilingly close to an 1176 thwack.
If this is your first release, in my humble opinion, you can stand tall with the likes of Bootsy and a select few other freeware developers. I am not a dsp know-it-all, but I’ve done this stuff long enough to know something good when I hear it. This kills a lot of commercial plug ins I have paid good money for…
May this be the first of many (Russian military?!) themed plug-ins.
Sincere thanks and congratulations from sunny Cape Town, South Africa."

Download

Kuassa Amplifikation Lite

2011-02-03T11:58:00.001-08:00

You rarely see any good amp plugins coming out for the Mac platform...well here's one

Kuassa Amplifikation Lite enables you to create ultra-realistic sounding guitar sounds by simply plugging your guitar to your computers soundcard input. Get high-quality guitar tracks with a simple interface and non-obstructive workflow using Amplifikation Lite. Amplifikation Lite’s DSP engine is created based on one of the amps featured on “Kuassa Amplifikation One“ with fixed tonestack and power amp output type.

Amplifikation Lite Features:

Free!
3 channels: Clean, Rhythm, Lead.
9 Parameters: Input, Channel selector, Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble, Presence, Volume and Cabinet On/Off.
Built-in Cabinet Impulse Response Loader
Up to 96 kHz sample rate support

Download

JBL Control One

2011-02-02T09:21:00.001-08:00

Just saw some really cheap JBL Control One monitors on ebay Germany for only 79,90€ If you're on a budget those are some really nice entry level monitors. You could combine them with an Onkyo SKW 204 * sub and you pretty much have a decent setup for 180€.

* The Onkyo SKW 204 is a really good sub for its price as a matter of fact I use one myself. Unfortunately it was discontionued and now they sell the new SKW 208. I don't know if the new model is better than the old one. Couldn't test it.

Link

KVR's NAMM 2011 Show Report

2011-01-31T11:48:00.000-08:00

I didn't write much about the Namm 2011 this year. But I found one good summary what was going on... It's basically everything you should know:

LINK

TSE 808 1.1 Tubescreamer

2011-01-31T04:15:00.000-08:00

This is one of the best tubescreamer emulations out there. Modeled by the same developer who made the famous x30 ampsim that was based on an ENGL preamp. With the current 1.1 version you can even change the whole circuit to your own specifications:

For more info on the legendary tubescreamers and their modifications visit this page right here

Download

Roundtone Tape emulation

2011-01-30T18:42:00.000-08:00

This is one fine plugin that simulates the old tape sound like we know it from old records. It gives the sound a much warmer feel and increases the punch.

I discovered it through KVR and the feedback seems to be very positive. And for 9,99 $ I think you can't really complain. There are alternatives like Bootsies FerricTDS but this one sounds better and more realistic in my opinion. I don't think you can do something wrong with this one. Read some posts over at KVR and check out the soundsamples on the official page:

LINK

1,338 free female vocal samples

2011-01-30T16:46:00.000-08:00

It's hard to find any good vocal sample packs on the net especially for Free. Sample Radar Now realeased this big sample pack with 1338 samples sung by Mandy Edge. Definitely try this one out !!!

Download

ARTFX Sound Effects Volume 1 @artfxstudios

2011-01-30T16:40:00.000-08:00

ARTFX - Sound Effects Volume 1 Showreel by ARTFX

A big 1 gb sample pack full of fx you can use on your tracks...

LINK

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross discuss The Social Network Soundtrack

2011-01-27T16:44:00.000-08:00

Music composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are joined by sound re-recording mixer, supervising sound editor Ren Klyce to discuss their work on "The Social Network".

The Sound and Music of "The Social Network" Panel from Michael Coleman on Vimeo.

Cubase 6 New Features

2011-01-26T02:40:00.000-08:00

7 Music Licensing Sites

2011-01-25T14:00:00.000-08:00

Here in no particular order is a list of seven companies that help artists place their music in film, television, commercials, games, etc.
Rumblefish - Licensing for television, film, advertisements, websites, videos, games, podcasts, and sonic branding - e.g. your music inside your local Gap.
Gamecues - Licensing for the gaming industry.
YouLicense - Music licensing marketplace - essentially, their system enables artists and those seeking music to conduct business directly with each other.
Pump Audio - Artists can license their music in television and advertising without giving up any ownership.
BeatPick - Music licensing provider.
Ricall - Music licensing marketplace, connecting users wanting to license music directly with the relevant copyright owners.
SoundReef - In private beta, this service exchanging music for promotion in television, film, advertising, etc.

This list comes courtesy of Duncan Freeman and his Indie Music Tech blog. Link: http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2009/04/top-7-music-licensing-sites-.html

Music Licensing Websites

2011-01-25T05:00:00.000-08:00

It's rare to find good information in some producer-forums especially on fp.com but sometimes you find really good info. I wanted to share this post with you. I asked the author for permission to post that info on my blog.
Check him out on: http://www.stuartbproductions.com

Ok so basically i've been researching online websites that license music to TV/Ads/Games/Documentaries/Movies etc.

Basically what most of these websites have an online library of music, and companies either go to them and search through the library themselves, or they request certain songs/genre etc and the website will submit music for placement.

The good thing about this is usually you can license your music over and over again, as the license is 'non-exclusive'.

Downside is that the websites usually take a BIG chunk of the money you make of these deals, by acting as the middle man. Generally 50%, i've seen some websites take 70%.

Anyways this looks like a good idea for me, and for any of those out there that might have a huge library of beats, but are too busy to shop them all. These licensing websites will submit your music for you and you can earn some passive income off these if your music is good enough.

Here are some of the legit looking websites I found and will probably be uploading my catalogue to.

http://www.pumpaudio.com - They take 70%, and your music must first be accepted through the 'submission' phase. Seem to have good history though as far as placements and connections.

http://www.musicdealers.com - I like this one because they set you up with your own REP who works for you and helps you out with anything on the site. The customer service here is GREAT. They also seem to have good placement history and connections. They take 50%. Anyone can upload music.

http://www.beatpick.com - Haven't really researched this one, but your music must also past the submission phase for the website before you can take advantage of the websites services.

http://www.youlicense.com - Only charge 9% commission. Not sure how there placement history is though or how many big companies they work with, but its very easy to sign up here and their music library search is great.

This looks like a good opportunity that a lot of producers and musicians will usually miss. Even if you want to chase placements which is great, it can't hurt to have your music up in these libraries, as 1) The websites will do most of the networking/submitting for you. 2) You still keep the right to use to beat over and over again. 3) Getting your music placed in an advertisement etc will generally have a positive effect on your 'brand' as a producer.

Toneboosters Timemachine - Vintage Sampler Emulator

2011-01-24T14:16:00.000-08:00

This one is great to get that old vintage sampler sound of the ASR10, MPC60 etc. This plugin allows you to change the sampling rate and the bit depth of any signal. Just put it on a channel and enjoy the sound.

Description
Awarded as best freeware VST plugin by Computer Music in 2008, TimeMachine is again available as the ultimate digititus creator. It allows to simulate the effect of A/D and D/A aliasing, re-sampling, and bit reduction (both linear and mu-Law quantization).Features

It’s free!
Zero-latency processing
Support of all sampling rates from 22 to 192 kHz
Re-sample rate adjustable between 1000 and 44100 Hz
Bit depth adjustable between 0 and 16 bits on a continuous scale
Linear or mu-Law quantization, with or without dithering

Download (you get the full plugin pack including some other trial versions)

Behringer BCF 2000 WH

2011-01-24T10:26:00.000-08:00

If you wanna get yourself some motorized faders for controlling your DAW you should look at the Behringer BCF 2000. It's really cheap right now (about 129€ over here in Europe) For that money you could get 2 of them and get 16 motorized faders. The other good thing is that the product is already a long time on the market so you can find lots of tutorials for different sequencers:

Link

Novaflash DISTORDER

2011-01-24T10:15:00.000-08:00

DISTORDER is a stereo distortion effect based on an unusual and secret concept ;) Originally designed for basses, it seems good too to shape other sound with a soft and warm colour. A feedback leveller with an analog ballistic ending the chain to refine the incoming signal . Bonus : An EQ and a stereo field adjustment are availlable. Recommended to be used with dynamic and low frequencies signals.

Last addition / fix / modification :
- optimisation
- minor fixes
- input GAIN removed
- EQ added

Soundsample

Download

Test your favourite vst libraries for free

2010-12-21T14:24:00.000-08:00

There is a website with tons of vst libraries which are loaded in real time into the browser and you can play them live. The latency aint great but its enough to check out and form your opinion of a vst library..if it's worth it or not.

Unfortunately you can't upload midi files and let them get played by the vsti.

The most important thing is that you can play the full vsti

"Are there all sounds available from the Plug-In or just some demo sounds?
Yes, it´s a full installation of the retail product."

That's how it will look like in your browser:

http://www.try-sound.com

Kirk Hunter Pop / Rock Strings 10 Gb 40-50% discount

2010-12-20T16:42:00.000-08:00

If you're currently looking for some quality strings to use in your pop and rock tunes you might take a look at the the new Kirk Kunter Pop / Rock Strings library. With the Group Buy the price will be around 125-150 $ which is quite good for a high quality library like that one. Check out the soundsamples on the website.

Link

Hollow Sun Definitive PPG for only 1$

2010-12-19T06:06:00.000-08:00

"Now that Waldorf have released the magnificent PPG Wave 3.00, it has been decided to discontinue the Hollow Sun 'Definitive PPG' library as it makes no sense to be in competition with 'the real thing', so to speak.

But before that happens, here's an opportunity to grab it for a measly $1! That's about 64p in real money or roughly €0.75!!"

Hollow Sun Definitive PPG Audio Demo by Hollow Sun

LINK

SYSTEM RECOMMANDATIONS
	IMPORTANT: iLok Key required
	1 Gb RAM, 26 Gb free hard disc space, DVDROM Drive
	Mac: OSX 10.4 or higher, G4/G5 (1.5 GHz minimum) or Macintel
	PC: Windows XP, 2 GHz Pentium IV or better CPU