Mixing Electronic Music Course – A Preview
February 5, 2010
Amateur and aspiring producers, myself included, are often faced with a significant degree of confusion when it comes to the final mixdown of a track. Once you have a track arranged and sounding like its ready to be finished it is essential to ensure that you have a good quality mix in order to attain that professional, crisp sound. However, for many of us the techniques of EQ, compression, effects and automation remain some what of a mystery, yet it is these processes which are the key to achieving what we are all looking for; crisp, punchy drums and booming bass.
So with this in mind Point Blank Music College have created the Mixing Dance Music Course, which directly addresses these invaluable techniques and provides an excellent guide to creating the perfect mix for your tracks.
The course features over 90 video tutorials on Logic Pro, extensive course notes, over 20 Logic Projects to download, exclusive audio/midi resources, a student forum to post your questions & discussion topics, personalised video feedback on your music and weekly webchats with a pro producer. It is these final two points that we at Point Blank are most proud of due to the fact that this is the only course of its kind which features an industry experienced producer giving you direct 1-2-1 feedback on your productions as you progress.
Our professional producer tutor Danny J Lewis (Enzyme Black) will guide you through the mixing process while providing you with a video of him going through your work, offering advice on how to make improvements and corrections. You will be getting access to an amazing producer listening to tunes and guiding you through how to create the perfect sound your looking for.
Danny has very kindly put together the video below which offers a preview of the immense depth and coverage the course offers, you can also see from the vid the high standard to which the course is taught and the quality of the course materials and feedback on offer.
So if your struggling to get the perfect mix on your tracks and want to learn first hand how pro producers achieve that professional, crisp sound then you may want to check out the course and get enrolling.
Testing Your Hearing With An iPhone
February 2, 2010
I just came across this article on the ProducingBeats.com and it’s a very interesting read.
The fact is that as DJs or producers, in both a professional as well as an amature setting, we are all subject to a great deal of abuse when it comes to our hearing. Good hearing is undoubtably an essential commodity when it comes to working with music, it is something which you don’t want to lose! With the hours and hours that many of us spend listening to music at high levels, whether while at a club, a gig, when DJing, in the studio, or even on personal music players there is always a chance that your hearing will be damaged, and as we have posted before you cannot underestimate the value of a good set of professional ear plugs.
However, there has never really been an easy way to test your hearing, to check if you have anything to worry about and see whether you have suffered any damage when it comes to the precise hearing that most of us one day had. Now it has never been area to check out your hearing levels and see what frequency range you can hear, you can simply check your hearing using the uHear iPhone app.
In any case suffering hearing damage should definitely involve a medical consultation, but this new little app is great for a music producer as you can check the exact frequencies that you can hear to a good standard. This may prove to be extremely useful when it comes to the final mixdown of a track. Anyway you can check out the full article here.
Traktor Kontrol X1 Videos Tutorials
February 1, 2010
You may remember us posting some info on this bit of kit when news of it’s release first came to light a few months ago. So after coming across these vids of the Trakor Kontrol X1 I thought I’d post them along with a little intro as these vids do give a great display of what the Kontrol and its effects manipulations are capable of.
The first video is a guide to using the beat mashing (or beat repeat) effect, the second video is a little guide to using the freeze effect, the third video demonstrates the loops synth and the final video showcases the juggling of samples.
So check out the first one below and follow the links to see the others, Enjoy!
Apple iPad – The Future of Music Production Technology?
January 28, 2010
Last night saw the announcement that many of us music tech geeks have been waiting for…Apple launched the iPad. The net had been rife with speculation about this new bit of kit and in the music world everyone was talking about the capabilities of using the iPad as a tool for music production.
A lot of people where hoping that this latest Apple product would be a full computer, just with a touch screen, that way you could use the touch technology to control your favourite DAW in ways never before possible, however does not seem to be the case. The iPad seems to be a bigger version of an iPod Touch, which might not necessarily be such a bad thing.
First of all not being a computer means that the iPad does not have a lot of USB/Firewire ports and does not have a lot of RAM, thus your not going to be able to install Pro Tools and take full advantage all of your plug-ins. But what we can take great advantage of is the ability of the iPad to easily and directly download and control all your favorite music apps! Think for instance about the use of one of the many great synth apps out there, they work pretty well on an iPhone so on a bigger scale with more depth of control we could easily see a range of music production apps on the iPad being integrated into a professional production set-up.
We’ve already seen quite a few plug-in developers making apps for the iPhone – latest in line is Spectrasonics – if the iPad is a big success we could see an explosion of cool apps that work standalone or integrates with our DAW’s. It could end up being like using a Lemur without the price tag that comes with it – iPad is only $500. Or what about something like Novations Automap feature?
Multi-touch is still a relatively unexplored area when it comes to music production and mixing, often narrowed down to soft keys. Its not that we need to get rid of our beloved faders and knobs, I want them too, but a multi-touch screen could be a great compliment to any current set-up.
The only gripe I’d have with the iPad is the lack of ports, but with the ever expanding range of high quality music apps out there its hard not to see the massive amount of potential that Apple’s latest offering has for the world of music production. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for the iPad and how it is utilised for making music, keep an eye on the blog as I’m sure that there will be a few posts on this topic when the other music tech geeks get there hands on Apple’s latest!
Krafty Kuts DJ Tools iPhone App
January 26, 2010
There has been a notable amount of apps developed for the iPhone with music production and DJs in mind, however it seems that few of these have lived up to a standard in which they can be used professionally, with many of the apps being used as simple gimmicky tools which are fun for a few minutes.
But now Breakbeat pioneer DJ Krafty Kuts has stepped up to the plate with a DJ friendly offering designed to be useful for all DJs of any genre. As the video below demonstrates the app is an MPC-styled sampler which allows DJs to drop audio samples over the top of their sets at the touch of a finger! The ‘Against The Grain DJ Tools’ app came about due to the overwhelming lack of suitable apps which can be used in a professional DJ booth.
Here’s what Krafty had to say about it: “We had seen a number of great music based apps which were fun to play with for a few minutes whilst at home or travelling, but none that I would consider using in a club environment. So creating a sampler style app for DJs of any genre, which could be used professionally, was a very exciting concept.”
“The iPhone is such a discrete device, it’s perfect. And of course a sampler or a laptop will cost you hundreds, yet this app is available for less than the price of a beer. The £2.99 app comes pre-loaded with hip hop-styled samples and classic rave noises that can be dropped over a set, like during a breakdown or a drop.”
“We created a number of rises, whoosh noises and classic sirens in the studio along with some really useful MC shout outs like ‘make some noise in here!’, and they really do work.”
And surprisingly, there is zero delay when dropping a sample off the iPhone. “There is zero latency which is very impressive,” said Krafty. “It was something the programmers worked hard on to achieve, and the result is something like mixing – it’s down to the DJ to be sharp and on beat.”
With a 2.0 update planned for later this year, which will include more samples, a favourites folder, and a load facility allowing DJs to directly upload their own samples, it’s an app well worth checking out.
Paul Epworth – A Man Of Many Talents
January 22, 2010
London’s award-winning music college Point Blank is due to host a guest lecture given by Paul Epworth, a British music producer, musician and songwriter who has worked with the likes of Bloc Party, Primal Scream, The Rapture, Friendly Fires, Jack Peñate, Florence and the Machine, Kate Nash and Maxïmo Park.
This multi-talented producer has also won a number of accolades for his work and can also be found producing remixes under the name ‘Phones’. With work under this moniker remixing various tunes for the like of Bloc Party, New Order, U2, P-Diddy, Goldfrapp, Simian Mobile Disco, The Streets, Tom Vek, Death from Above 1979, and Annie.
His debut of original material under the Phones name, “Sharpen The Knives/Worryin”, was released on French label Kitsuné in November 2006. In 2008 he announced he had killed off the Phones moniker but has said he continues to remix anonymously.
In early 2006 Paul Epworth began making music under another alias, Epic Man. His debut single, “More is Enough”, featured Plan B and was featured on the soundtrack for Need For Speed: Pro Street and was released on Epworth’s own Good & Evil Records, a subsidiary of 679 Recordings. He has since returned to his Phones name and there are no known plans to release under Epic Man again.
From this amazing rosta of work I’m sure you can understand the excitment we feel with the knowledge that Paul is making a visit to the Point Blank Studios on Monday to give a talk to the students studying on the school’s Music Production HNC Course. So our advice would be to make sure you keep checking the Point Blank website and the school’s YouTube Channel for the video’s of how it all went down.
Ski Beatz – An Unsual Approach to Ableton
January 20, 2010
Ski Beatz is a producer who’s worked with some of the biggest names in Hip Hop, including Jay Z, Mos Def, AZ, Foxy Brown, Lil’ Kim and Camp Lo.
In this video he demonstrates how he goes about making a track, and its actually done in quite an unexpected, yet very impressive way. Ski has an unusual technique for beatmaking which is extremely fast and fluid. Watch the movie to see him in action.
If you’re having trouble following what he’s doing, here’s how he goes about it:
- Ski Beatz uses Warp Markers as slicing point markers. He listens to a song he’s going to sample, with only the first Warp Marker in place.
- When he hears parts he wants to use, he creates a Warp Marker. Generally, he adds about 10-15 Warp Markers to a song, totally unrelated to Live’s tempo—the metronome is off at this point.
- Once he’s done adding the Warp Markers, he right-clicks on the audio file and selects the “Slice to MIDI Track” command.
- Then he chooses the Warp Marker setting, and his custom slicing preset, you can download this here.
- Ski now has all the points he wants to trigger chromatically laid out on his keyboard. He plays his samples, and while he’s playing with one hand, he hits the “Tap Tempo” button on the APC40 to set the tempo.
- Finally, he turns on the metronome and triggers an empty clip slot to record into.
Digital Guitar MIDI Controller
January 19, 2010
With all the NAMM hype around at the moment, I thought I’d write a post on a pretty cool design which didn’t reach the event. The Misa Digital Guitar has a touchpad which features digital filter, note velocity and pitch, needless to say that there are clearly a lot of sonic possibilities, and on first impressions it does seem to be slightly reminiscent of a Kaos Pad which controls a guitar. I reckon it’s probably not going to be the cheapest bit of kit, but it definitely looks like it could be a lot of fun to mess about on. Despite the fact that the digital guitar is more than likely to cause a lot of controversy among guitar enthusiast, the small Australian company Misa have created a piece of kit that will have music technology enthusiast, such as ourselves, very interested!
Numark V7: A Controller for Serato ITCH
January 18, 2010
Numark had recently launched the NS7, a controller unit designed to be used with Serato ITCH, however for many there was a real problem with the all-in-one design. Now Numark have showcased the V7 which is essentially the seperated deck part of the NS7, but with a whole load more features and controlling ability hosted in a smaller, more portable and practical unit.
The V7 is based around the acclaimed adjustable torque, motorized-platter design from the older model and delivers a host of professional features including real vinyl and a slipmat that analog turntablists will love, ultra-precise turntable control, effects controls, mouse-less library navigation, and Strip Search virtual-needle drop. The controller’s link function enables DJs to combine one or two V7s with their favorite mixer and their Mac or PC for a completely customizable, totally seamless performance environment.
This new offer from Numark also contains a full compliment of effects controls, which enables DJs to access the same effects as in Numark’s NSFX. The V7 includes a professional 24-bit audio interface that supports dual decks. It is outfitted with premium faders, knobs and buttons including controls for selecting tracks and blending audio effects in the included Serato ITCH software. Because the V7’s communication is based upon MIDI, it is MIDI compatible, and therefore DJs can use it with a variety of MIDI software.
So all-in-all, knowing that the NS7 was a great unit people can be extremely happy to know that this can now be purchased in a single seperate controller option. If Numark get the price right for the V7 then I’m sure that they will fly off the shelves, for now you can check out the video demo below:
Ableton & Serato: The Bridge
January 15, 2010
Live maker Ableton and DJ and virtual vinyl developer Serato have announced the long-awaited results of their partnership. The collaboration seeks to bridge the gap between the way DJs perform and the way Live users perform. The result focuses on the way a performance set is assembled in the two paradigms, an attempt to guide the flow of music between the two programs. Here’s a rundown on how it can be used:
You can save a DJ mix, called a ‘mix tape’, in a Serato product and export it to Live, what you then get is all of your edits in a form that can be further manipulated in Live. Waveforms and automation data from your DJ session, however they’re manipulated and transcribed by the Serato software, can now appear in Live.
You are also now able to put the Ableton Live Session View inside Serato, rather than put Serato inside Live. Ableton Live runs in the background and so integrated into the Serato interface are all your Session View clips from your Live Set. Serato’s control, via audio input from vinyl or CDJs, or an ITCH control surface, manipulates the entire transport of the Live set.
Turntablists are probably wondering, can they scratch Live? How much are those Live clips able to do? Do they behave as they do in Live? The answer appears to be yes with full ableton control within Serato. Live is, after all, running in the background and appears to have its normal capabilities.
Check out the video below for a demonstration from NAMM 2010 (sorry about the quality!):
Also keep on the lookout for more details on The Bridge and for more NAMM product news.
