You Rock Guitar

An all-in one game controller/MIDI guitar/Digital guitar thing for $179? Sounds - well, quite cool...

From their site:

"100 Guitar & Synth Presets – blends, mix sounds, levels, tunings, capos, tap mode, open mode.
25 Sampled Real Guitars – Strats, Les Pauls, Acoustics, Nylons, 12-strings, Telly’s all 16 bit long samples.


25 You Rock Mode™ Tracks – just the rocking start to learning all the progressions that changes the world


50 Alternate Tunings – From Hendrix and Hutchins, Mitchell and Hedges plus the classics.


Digital Capo – No need to tune a single string.


Tap Mode – When you’re felling like Eddie, we ready to deliver
Whammy Bar – pitch bend up or down.


Vibrato Joystick – for that mushroom sustained amp feedback effect.
1/4” and stereo mini output – Yeah we got that.


On-board recorder – take the You Rock Guitar anywhere and still save your creations


MIDI & USB – the fastest and easiest, all 16 channels plus Mono modes on Channels 1-6 or 11-16"

The You Rock guitar isn't quite out yet, but check out the vid....

And then pop to their home site for more...

"You Rock Guitar" > read the full post

ES1 Skin anyone?

Been at bit bored over the holidays, have been designing a new skin for Logic's ES1 synth. Anyone interested? Let us know, and we'll make it available for download.....

"ES1 Skin anyone?" > read the full post

Smack my bitch up - Ableton style

Thanks to Rhys for sending me this link - how to make The Prodigy's Smack my bitch up in Live, complete with the sample resources.....

"Smack my bitch up - Ableton style" > read the full post

Free melhoman performer edition

Ohmforce are giving away their Melhoman performer edition for free! Very nice of them too.

It's a bit of a weird one, this, but very cool. Been playing around with it this morning, and it's worth a read through the manual just to see what it can do - it looks deceptively simple!

It comes in Mac and PC RTAS and VST, as well as AU, and even as a stand-alone, so just

head here to pick up your copy.

"Free melhoman performer edition" > read the full post

CBGB's virtual tour

Bit of an oddity this...

Found a virtual tour of the classic NY venue CBGB's. If you never had the chance to go there, why not put on a Bad Brains CD too loud, open a can of beer, tip the contents of an ash tray over your clothes and turn up the heating until you're sweating like a pig, and experience what it was really like

"CBGB's virtual tour" > read the full post

Pro Tools on the Mackie Onyx - now official!

Good news everybody!

AVID (owners of Digidesign, who make Pro Tools) have come to an agreement with LOUD (parent company of Mackie) about running Pro Tools on Mackie hardware.

This means you can now run Pro Tools LE on the Onyx 820i, 1220i, 1620i and 1640i mixers - with official support.

We'd looked at this ages ago, but this was before the official licensing agreement.

Check out the Mackie news site to read the announcement

"Pro Tools on the Mackie Onyx - now official!" > read the full post

Rage Against the Machine for Christmas No 1?

Not sure if you've seen this already, but there's a campaign underway to stop the X Factor single reaching number 1 at Christmas, by buying Rage Against the Machine's Killing In The Name Of.

Looking at the iTunes chart this morning, Rage are at number 2 at the moment, so it'll have to gather a little momentum to defeat Joe McElderry's Miley Cyrus cover.

Check out the Facebook campaign homepage, or head straight to iTunes to join in..... but.....

Rage Against the Machine were released and published by Sony - who Simon Cowell works for.

Still, at the very least, you'll own a copy of a very cool song...

"Rage Against the Machine for Christmas No 1?" > read the full post

Get yer free plugins, they're luverly!

Something a bit different for you all - a 4-band distortion plugin from TCK Plugins, called the Dirty Bastard. Good for anything from adding a little valve warmth, to distorting signals beyond recognition.

It's made using SonicBirth, so you'll need to have that installed for the Dirty Bastard to run (Mac only I'm afraid, but in AU and VST versions).

Don't worry though - SonicBirth is free, and you can use it to design your own plugins too.

(Need a little help getting started making your own plugins? Try out this tutorial).

Head to the London School of Sound website to download the Dirty Bastard.

"Get yer free plugins, they're luverly!" > read the full post

Minispillage

AudioSpillage are offering a free version of their upcoming DrumSpillage drum synth.....

It's a cut down version of the full version, but still pretty cool.

Just head here to download!

"Minispillage" > read the full post

New Smashing Pumpkins album

Smashing Pumpkins are releasing their new album for free, one track at a time....

"New Smashing Pumpkins album" > read the full post

Rammstein vs. Cookie Monster

Not much to add, just check out the vid!

"Rammstein vs. Cookie Monster" > read the full post

More No-Brainer Deals from audioMIDI.com

Couple of tempting deals from audioMIDI.com - they're offering the Nomad Factory Blue Tubes Analog Trackbox for $15 (around £9) - that's 90% off.

They're also offering an LE version of the XILS3 matrix synth for just $20 (£12).

The Analog Trackbox is a tube emulating gate, compressor and EQ. It offers two different tube emulations, and comes in both Mac and PC VST and RTAS formats, as well as Audio Unit, so it should be compatible, whatever your system. You can choose between Hard Disc and iLok authorization, and there's a 15 day demo here.

The XILS3 LE is modeled on a classic matrix synth - you can connect anything to anything else! It can be used as a synth, or as an effects processor.

I'm waiting for my serial numbers, so I'll write more once I've had a chance to play with both of them. In the mean time, head here to check out the offers yourselves.

"More No-Brainer Deals from audioMIDI.com" > read the full post

NI synths for €99 each!

But only if you're quick....

Edit: Too slow!

Native Instruments are offering Reaktor 5, Absynth 5, Massive and FM8 for €99 - but only for one more day!

"NI synths for €99 each!" > read the full post

Muppets do Queen

After the monstrosity that was X-Factor Queen night comes something fantastic - the Muppets do Bohemian Rhapsody. Just awesome.....

"Muppets do Queen" > read the full post

Blue Cat Plugins in RTAS

We mentioned the Blue Cat free plugin bundle a little while back, but the good news is that it's now also available in RTAS formats! Great new for us Pro Tools users, who tend to feel a bit left out when it comes to free stuff...

Phasers, flangers EQs and a frequency analyzer come with the bundle. Just head to here to download in your favorite format...

"Blue Cat Plugins in RTAS" > read the full post

Foosball night

Thursday night was Foosball night at the London School of Sound south campus. Thanks to all who turned up - was a fun night.

Though most people thought the deserving winner was robbed (knocked out in a semi-final round sudden death point), the reigning champion is me!

As it would seem a bit mean for staff to take the cash, the prize money is being put into a beer fund for the next planned night - Doubles matches. All current and former students are welcome - details will follow once we iron out the details.

For the few of you who are interested, you can check out the final match here.

"Foosball night" > read the full post

Korg nano Controller update

Those of you who've invested in a Korg nano should be interested in this. They've just released a free control surface plugin for you.....

With Garage Band and Logic, it was difficult to assign the nano to control plugin parameters. Well, now it isn't! Simple enough. Go get it here..

"Korg nano Controller update" > read the full post

Free plugin from Valhalla DSP

Yes, it's free plugin time again.....

Valhalla DSP was set up by one of the guys behind Audio Damage (check here for the free Audio Damage free offerings). It's a strange modulating delay effect. No GUI yet, but apparently that's on it's way.

Not sure what I'll use it for, but it's fun to play with. Head here for the download.

"Free plugin from Valhalla DSP" > read the full post

Free TC Electronics M30 Reverb

But only if you act quickly!.....

TC Electronics are giving away the M30 reverb unit if you sign up to their newsletter before Wednesday the 18th of December 2009.

It's available for Mac (AU and VST) and PC (VST) formats, and will cost $79 after Wednesday.

So why are you still here? Go and sign up!

"Free TC Electronics M30 Reverb" > read the full post

A history of Autotune

Quite a cool vid, explaining the history of autotune, helped by Weird Al Yankovic.....

"A history of Autotune" > read the full post

Gleetchplug Berna

Quite an interesting, and very affordable toy from Gleetchplug - the Berna virtual electronic studio.....

Based on the early electronic systems of the 50s and 60s, it's only €10.69 (£9.67). Try out the demo, see if you like it, but don't forget to turn up the oscillator levels to make it work (the 9 pots towards the top of the third column (took me a while to figure that one out). The demo times out after 8 minutes.

"Gleetchplug Berna" > read the full post

Numotion Keyboard

So, want to be a guitarist, posing at the front of the stage, but you made the mistake of learning keyboards? Well, I have the ideal soluton for you - the Numotion Keyboard.....

Yes, it's a curved keyboard, not just a photoshop mistake. Check out the videos of this thing in action.

Trouble is, as Counterfieter succinctly put it, "it makes you look like an arse".

"Numotion Keyboard" > read the full post

Cable Drop

While unsuccessfully hunting for Christmas presents, I spotted these...

As with the best ideas, it's really obvious once you've seen it. (I found them at firebox, but they're also at amazon). Only around a tenner for a pack of six.

"Cable Drop" > read the full post

Buy the T-shirt, get the album!

Unconvincing Ford Prefect Mos Def is selling his album in an unusual format.

We looked at ASDA selling T-shirts with song lyrics and MP3 quite a while back, but this takes the idea one stage further.....

The Ecstatic's Killer of Sheep T-shirt has the album artwork on the front, tracklisting on the back, and a download code for the album on the tag.

More details here...

"Buy the T-shirt, get the album!" > read the full post

The Beatles never broke up...

So in another universe, the Beatles never broke up, and they're still touring.

James Richards accidentally travelled to this universe, and brought back their latest album.....
Head to thebeatlesneverbrokeup.com to listen to and download their Everyday Chemistry album, and read the full amazing story...

"The Beatles never broke up..." > read the full post

What's with Pro Tools HD anyway?

Yes, we get this a lot......

"What's with Pro Tools HD anyway?" > read the full post

Brainworx Cleansweep

Been a bit busy putting the new studios together to blog much recently, but to make up for it, here's a new free EQ plugin for you....

"Brainworx Cleansweep" > read the full post

World's Greatest Song...

Read on for the world's greatest song, or at least the most irritating...



The track in question is Public Image Limited's "Fodderstompf", the very name implies grinding banality and the track was indeed a sneering knock off, shoved together to fill up the running time of their debut LP and deliver a two fingered assault to the record company and record buying public. Despite having a history of getting up peoples noses in his previous band the Sex Pistols John Lydon decided PIL were going to be a complete break with the Pistols swaggering pub rock, indeed he planned a complete break with all rock, the one consistent being the power to annoy. But I don't think even John Lydon and his merry men could have envisioned how unbelievably funny and teeth grinding this track would end up.

When every rock act these days, with the honorable exceptions of Slipknot and System of a Down, seem obsessed with telling their mildly depressed Mondeo driving fans that its OK to feel a bit worried but everything will be all right because lets face it you are white and western, a glutenous shower of platitudes that make you want to join the Taliban, PIL's irony saturated track comes over the hill like the sanity police and reminds us all to stop moaning so much about fuck all. When global warming grows teeth its not Keane fans who will have to worry, mores the pity, it's the poor bastards in the third world who will get the big Kahuna...

This reality, the hand ringing of the western privileged classes and the shafting of anyone else is echoed in the bottomless "black" sound of the music, the thin helium voices moan "we only wanted to be loved" in increasing derangement as the rumbling dub bass and eerie squelching synths buzz like tsetse fly in the bush.

One proviso the Youtube clip below proved incapable of translating the bass of the original which is virtually inaudible on the clip so download for the full glory. Without the groove the piss taking voices are unbearable for the full ten minutes however funny!



Maningrey




"World's Greatest Song..." > read the full post

The Daily Adventures of Mixerman

If you've got a few hours to spare, check out the Daily Adventures of Mixerman. It tells the story of a recording job from hell. Many familiar situations for those who've been there, many lessons for those on their way...

(Unfortunately, you'll need to buy the book to see how it all ends...)

"The Daily Adventures of Mixerman" > read the full post

LSS upgrades to new gorgeous iMacs

Yes, the latest generation of iMacs with OLED displays had only been announced for thirty minutes and we were already on the phone to order new computers for LSS North Campus. The old ones had been there already for two years, and you know, the waste basket on the desktop was full of stuff, and yeah, you could click on 'empty waste basket' but it's quicker to throw them all away and order some new ones ;)

Read all about the new iMac on Apple's website, the ones we are getting have a 21,5" OLED display, 4Gb or ram and 3GHz processor, but we are staying well clear of the new wireless keyboard and Magic Mouse.
As much as we like LSS to be on the cutting edge, the classic extended keyboard remains the best one for music applications, and to be honest, I am very wary of anything 'Magic'. I like my mouse to be stupid and have real buttons to click, thank you very much, so we are sticking with the Apple Mouse (it used to be known as Mighty but it's now just the Apple Mouse > read how Apple lost the right to the Mighty Mouse name).

Still, you are welcome to bring yours in the class, if you think it's better.


"LSS upgrades to new gorgeous iMacs" > read the full post

Open your mind Maaaannnnnnn

I have recently introduced various people to the work of Yes, Neu, King Crimson and Can....



Two of those four bands, Can and Neu, are now accepted as being cool despite sharing the same amount of facial hair and velvet loon panted leg room as the other two, in fact there could not be anymore uncool acts in history than Yes and KC in the eyes of the musical taste makers, and yet by sneakily playing people tracks blind or to people who have no knowledge of a particular period of rock history I have turned hop hop fans, wedge haired indie tykes and suspicious girlfriends onto all manner of embarrassing shit....

Try it! While doing the washing up put on The Clap by Yes, as if it was just on the radio, hum along and when your WAG/shades wearing flatmate or flute playing cat goes "Hmmmm this is nice" grab them, cuff them and yell "Ha it's by YES and I am making a citizen's unwitting prog consumption arrest" and then make them admit they only bought the Ting Tings CD because it was all over the tube on huge posters which said "Buy the Ting Tings you thoughtless dull eyed slaves of capitalism, see the bright colours, see the attractive girl and BUYYYY"

What gets my goat is that certain styles are swept under the carpet while other are venerated when lets face it how much of punk was actually good??? the Clash, The Pistols...ohh hmmm ohhh YES THAT'S IT!!

How much of grunge? Nirvana...there that's its I'm afraid...

60's Rock? Hendrix and Zappa...I also like the Loving Spoonful but I will admit that's a personal tic like scratching my ear when nervous.

Heavy metal? Sabbath and Zep.

Yeah OK so I am being a bit sweeping but cool people are always telling me how ALL prog sucks or all jazz is boring and how all dance music sounds the same and frankly that is balls.

So open you mind and don't worry about the labels, unless of course its an orange skull and cross bones on a bottle of bleach that says DEATH under it..

Maningrey







"Open your mind Maaaannnnnnn" > read the full post

Cinematic Strings

Cinematic Strings are giving away their Monster Staccato patch when you register on their site....

Been playing around with it for a hour now, and it sounds pretty awesome. It's only available in Kontakt format, but you've already got the free Kontakt Player now, haven't you?

Register and download the Monster Staccato here.

"Cinematic Strings" > read the full post

DIY reamp box and more from Jensen

Thanks to Matt Foster (Mixing Engineer Supremo and great guy all around) for this link.

Jensen Transformers is an American company producing all sorts or useful boxes for musical use: DI boxes, microphone splitters, the list of gadgets is too long to publish but you are welcome to visit jensentransformers.com and discover one or two boxes you didn't know you wanted, and now you do.

The best part is that rather than waiting for Behringer to go and copy their designs, Jensen is not afraid to publish full schematics for each one of their products, encouraging people to make their own. They know perfectly well that after a couple of aborted attempts at doing it yourself you will just get back to them and buy the real thing, but this shouldn't stop us from having a go.

Matt is currently getting his soldering iron out for a very handy reamp box, to be used to get some guitar tracks out of Pro Tools and back in to some cool vintage guitar amps – because, you know, just having every guitar amp plugin in the world is not enough.

Here is the link to the schematics for the reamp box and to the full list of application schematics
.



"DIY reamp box and more from Jensen" > read the full post

Ultra Anal?

AudioMIDI have another of their "no-brainer" deals going on.

They're offering the Applied Acoustics Systems Ultra Analogue VA-1 synth for just $15 (that's $184 off the regular price!)

It comes in VST and RTAS for all you PC users, and AU, RTAS and VST for Mac.

I got my version yesterday, and it's a very cool, 2 oscillator, 32 voice polyphony physical modeling virtual analogue synth.

You'll find the deal here.

Just one thing - why don't manufacturers realize how their name will abbreviate in a sequencer window? I expect to get some strange looks if anyone sees me with this.....

"Ultra Anal?" > read the full post

Synth Britannia!

Friday 16th of October, BBC4. From Human League to Throbbing Gristle, check out what it was like before the days of plugins....

Check out the trailer.

"Synth Britannia!" > read the full post

Shels build a "Guitar Bunker"

There's quite a cool DIY solution to recording loud guitars at home up at the Shels blog...

Looking forward to the new album - they're using classical guitars through a 5150

"Shels build a "Guitar Bunker"" > read the full post

Logic 9.02 update

Use your software update to download the latest version.
At the time of writing the list of changes and bugfixes has not been updated on Apple's website but it should be available soon on this page > http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2565

We can only assume this release addresses a number of bugs (Logic 9.01 still had many serious bugs) and we can also safely assume it doesn't fixes all of them.

Apple has got in to the bad habit of NOT giving a complete and detailed list of bug-fixes, possibly to avoid projecting a negative image about the product. So what we get is a non-committal "Some issues addressed include (but are not limited to)" which means having to go and spend hours trying to figure out which bugs are still there and which aren't. Bastards.

At this moment in time we still recommend not upgrading to Snow Leopard and not deleting your Logic 8 if you upgrade to Logic 9.

Note: the plugin settings (the presets) of version 8 are overwritten by version 9, and version 8 might not be able to open some of them. If you really like certain presets and you want to be able to open them again in version 8 all you have to do is save them as 'user' settings and Logic 9 will leave them alone – obviously this has to be done before you upgrade to 9.


"Logic 9.02 update" > read the full post

Freemasons Master Class (Become a Dance Music Superstar)

The British Music Experience are presenting a unique chance to interact with one of the UK's most successful DJ and Producer teams, The Freemasons.....


Dance music superstars Freemasons are giving a masterclass on Thursday 26th November 2009 at The British Music Experience. Sounds like decent value for £8 and access to the exhibition as well, see the BME hyper link for more details.






"Freemasons Master Class (Become a Dance Music Superstar)" > read the full post

Classical Music Event - Student Discount

The historic 100 Club has a new night for the classically minded among us...read on.



The good people at Limelight are bringing classical concerts to the spit n beer atmosphere of the 100 Club in an effort to "attract a younger crowd, to prove that classical music is not the preserve of the white-haired stalwarts", heartening news unless you are a "white haired stalwart" of course...But anyhow they are offering a 2 for 1 discount for students from music schools so check this link and follow the instructions.



If you can't make this night they have more excellent young musicians playing over the next few months:

Upcoming headliners:

* Tuesday, Oct 13th: saxophonist Amy Dickson

* Tuesday, Nov 10th: violinist Daniel Hope

* Tuesday, Dec 8th: pianist Joanna MacGregor




"Classical Music Event - Student Discount" > read the full post

Electromagnetic noise from an iPhone

These things are amazingly noisy!...An old friend of mine has been experimenting with his iPhone and iMac, seeing how much electromagnetic noise they put out.Here's the iPhone, but head to his Youtube page to see the iMac, as well as his circuit bending experiments...



"Electromagnetic noise from an iPhone" > read the full post

iPhone notepad

So, it's a notepad that costs a stupid amount of money, but looks like an iPhone....

Pointless? Maybe not - if you're developing iPhone apps it might be useful, but how difficult is it to draw a square on paper?

"iPhone notepad" > read the full post

Free Bitsmacker Plugin

Another free AU for you, this time from Meatscience...

Bitsmacker is, as you might have guessed, similar to Bit Crusher in Logic. It allows you to reduce the sample rate and bit resolution, for that eighties-sounding digital audio effect.

What's cool though, is the pre and post distortion parametric EQ, allowing you to shape the tone of the bitsmacking.

Head to the Meatscience page to check it out.

"Free Bitsmacker Plugin" > read the full post

Kurt Cobain raps and sings Bon Jovi

If you want to see the positive side, this could be your best argument to convince someone that killing yourself is bad. Rather than being the tragic romantic gesture, the ultimate rebellion against the system, or whatever other misconception your average teenage goth might have, it turns out that suicide is the quickest way to be made in to a money-making puppet – now legally owned by a giant capitalistic corporation.

(Watch the video at the end of this post)


In short, the latest version of Guitar Hero has a bonus mode in which you can get a 3D version of Kurt Cobain to sing songs from a number of other artists. Some of them, you could say, quite not what Cobain would have ever wanted to be associated with, in life or death.

And while there is some debate to the amount of blame to attribute to Cobain's widow, selling the rights to use his image to Activision, it should be pointed out that every single retarded person who buys Guitar Hero is fundamentally supporting this thing.

I do appreciate that in saying so I am probably offending a large part of the readers of this blog, but hey, maybe you like seeing Kurt Cobain singing Bon Jovi. I can't really say that I am that bothered myself, personally I find more offensive the concept of a game which uses music to reward your ability to follow orders and doesn't involve the slightest amount of creativity.

But I am digressing.

Activision's CEO has so far responded to the criticism of fans around the world "We went and spoke directly to the estate and made it crystal clear, got the rights, paid for the rights, and really we've done what we've always done.”

Business as usual then. Well, if you think hilarious to see Cobain singing light-hearted pop songs, here below is a video for you. If you think this is a bit in poor taste, you should email Activision and tell them so. More importantly, if you don't like the idea of becoming part of Guitar Hero after you are dead, it's time to call a lawyer and make some amendments to your recording contract.




"Kurt Cobain raps and sings Bon Jovi" > read the full post

Butch Vig will record your band! - eBay auction

Butch Vig (producer of Green Day, Smashing Pumpkins, and Nirvana, as well as being the drummer in Garbage) will record your band.....

He's auctioning a 1 day, 10 hour session at Dangerbird Studios in LA, for the Pablove Foundation. Bidding's currently at $790, but with 5 days to go, don't expect it to stay that low for long!

Check out the auction site here.

"Butch Vig will record your band! - eBay auction" > read the full post

Eleven Rack is here

And, as we suspected, it's a bit pricier than first rumored......

At £787, it's still pretty cool for an audio interface + amp emulator + pro tools though. Check out vids of it in action here, or head straight to Digital Village for UK prices and specs

"Eleven Rack is here" > read the full post

Jimi Hendrix Signature......Gibson?

OK, so Hendrix did play Gibsons occasionally (we have a Hendrix Flying V in our collection), but he's most pictured with a Fender Strat in his hand.....

But this is a bit of a weird beast - The Little Wing, Signature and Experience models. They look like Fender Strats, probably sound like Fender Strats, but they're Gibsons...

Not very convinced myself - looks like a bit of a cash-in by the Hendrix estate.

And is it a good idea to walk on stage with Jimi's face on you scratch plate? - let's face it, you're not going to come off well in comparison.

Still, anyone gets to try one out, let us know how they perform....

"Jimi Hendrix Signature......Gibson?" > read the full post

Pro Tools on Snow Leopard

In what must be the fastest ever turnaround from Digidesign (10.5 support took ages - Leopard was released in October 2007, and compatibility with Pro Tools arrived in June 2008), there's a pre-release of 10.0.3 now out......

The bad news is, they're dropped support for Power PC Macs and the original MBox, as well as a few other bits and pieces. (Whether our old MBox will be usable with the update remains to be seen - unsupported doesn't always seem to mean doesn't work in Digidesign land)

For the adventurous amongst you (and those who've just bought a new Mac so don't have 10.5), head here to check it out.

Go on, you first..... let me know how it turns out....

"Pro Tools on Snow Leopard" > read the full post

Support Your Local Record Shops...

...AKA lets fuck HMV! Here at London School of Sound we dig little damp disorganised record stores owned by enthusiasts rather than faceless corporate giants pedaling AOR and my favorites are...



...Revival Records on Berwick St, its hit and miss but if you go with a zen pure mind and a sense of adventure you can come out with a load of treasures. Many is the time I have despaired of ever finding that rare Salsoul comp that is now £80 on Amazon only to uncover it with trembling fingers in Revival's racks. Possibly the greatest day of my life was finding the CD of the book "Last Night A DJ Saved My Life", worth it for the edit of "Love is The Message" by Danny Krivit...I can only imagine that the birth of a daughter would bring greater joy to me...If I had a daughter I would call her Clamidia, such a pretty name..

Soul Jazz on 7 Broadwick Street. What a terrific load of reissues these guys do, I often buy them just for the packaging. Brazilian pop, Kraut Rock, Funk, Disco, mad free jazz, they got the lot. My last trip there I got an Albert Ayler album of jazz splatter, a comp by Mark Stewart electro dub and would have got a This Heat CD if they hadn't "misfiled" it, this means that it was the last copy and someone in the shop wanted it for themselves but thems the breaks!

Exotica, they don't seem to have a website and maybe the name has changed or they have gone under but this used to be a great vinyl only shop on Portobello Road. It had a distinctive red and yellow sign and reminded me of a tribal hut, but stuffed with weird garage rock rarities rather than shrunken heads. Worth a trip to see if its still there.

Finally after trecking round all day and now laden with goodies I usually go for some herbal tea to re balance my chi at the excellent Yumchaa on 45 Berwick Street, sometimes they play The Kinks and sometimes they play The Eagles, I hope you get lucky...

Anyway happy digging..

maningrey




"Support Your Local Record Shops..." > read the full post

Gig Opportunites for Young Musicians

Promoters of the up n' coming music night Go West are looking for ambitious, young and exciting acts for support slots, are you all this and more? If so (or even if you are old and fat) read on...




Michelle Cooney from Go West (hopefully named after the Village People's disco classic rather than the awful 80's soul band) confidently told me that her night at the atmospheric ex strip club Madam JoJos is regularly riddled with Patrick Batemanesque music industry professionals looking to snap up (and exploit) young bands. Bloc Party, The Horrors, Noah and the Whale and The Kills have all graced JoJos stage so it looks like a great opportunity to get noticed. If you are interested give Michelle a shout at the contact details below or even better pop down to the night in person, see the randy flyer, and give her a CD...But make sure your hair is suitably wonky!!

michelle@lambands.co.uk
07803 663 731



maningrey supports live music and delinquency


"Gig Opportunites for Young Musicians" > read the full post

Jazz, Soul, Funk, Blues and Latin - Live music bonaza!

A new live music showcase run by Shades of Soul promises a spicy cocktail of......



....Jazz, Soul, Funk, Blues n Latin! Sounds like it could be worth the treck if the slick suit n southpaw Les Paul action on the flyer below is anything to go by!





"Jazz, Soul, Funk, Blues and Latin - Live music bonaza!" > read the full post

Free Samples

Loads of free guitar and drum samples for Kontakt...

Just head here, where Pettinhouse have a huge selection of free (and pay for) sample packs. Share and enjoy!

"Free Samples" > read the full post

Free plug in time once more....

Blue Cat Audio have updated their free plugin pack....

It gives you chorus, flange, frequency analyzer, gain controls, more chorus, more flange and EQ (and there's a meter too for the PC users amongst you). It comes in AU and VST for the Mac, and VST and DX for the PC. Head to Blue Cat Audio to download them and try them for yourself..

"Free plug in time once more...." > read the full post

Digidesign Eleven Rack - Only $165!

After Digidesign's Change Your Game teaser announcement, one of the more inquisitive Gearslutz forum members did a little googling, and found this rather (and amazingly priced) promising listing....

Schilke Eleven Rack Guitar Multi Effects Processor.

To quote:

Digidesign Eleven Rack Guitar Multi Effects Processor

Digidesign's Eleven Rack is a revolutionary guitar recording system designed to solve the challenges guitarists face in the studio. Eleven Rack uses a unique tone cloning design and one-of-a-kind, custom-designed True-Z input to re-create the experience of playing through a mic'd amp. By combining studio-standard Pro Tools software with a DSP-accelerated high-resolution interface, Eleven Rack puts professional recording into the hands of every guitar player. Whether you're tracking in the studio or playing on stage, this rackmountable multi-effects processor delivers fresh, mind-blowing, hyper-realistic guitar amp and effects tones that will inspire your best performances.



Digidesign Eleven Rack in the Studio



Eleven Rack combines studio-standard Pro Tools software with a high-resolution, dual DSP-powered audio interface, so you'll never have to worry about latency when recording, thanks to its built-in amp/effects tones, nor will your computer have to carry the processing burden. Additionally, Eleven Rack takes re-amping to the next level by recording both dry and processed guitar signals simultaneously, allowing you to re-amplify later without patching a single cable. Digidesign even found a way to embed the Eleven Rack amp and effects settings into the audio tracks you record, enabling you to automatically recall those settings from your audio files on any Pro Tools system with the Eleven Rack.


Obviously no pics yet, but check out the full specs here,

"Digidesign Eleven Rack - Only $165!" > read the full post

Skull Crusher Overdrive Pedal

How's this for a cool looking guitar pedal?...

Available in stainless steel, gun metal, "aged" and "ancient", they're available from Tone Box. Doesn't look like they're in the shops yet, but I've a feeling I'll be in the queue once they get distribution - the eyes glow red when you stomp on it - what more do you want?

"Skull Crusher Overdrive Pedal" > read the full post

New Remastered Beatles DO NOT BUY (updated)

As previously announced, on the 9th of September the entire catalogue of the Beatles has been re-issued, remastered from the original tapes (as part of a general push of the brand with the Beatles game and other creepy things being done around it).

Personally I have no hesitation in saying that the extra low frequencies and loudness make the overall balance worse than the first CD release. You might disagree but at least think about it before you go and splash a lot of money on something that possibly you already own, simply assuming that the new version "must be at least just as good as the old one".

I have just spent some time comparing the two versions (which reminds me of a fantastic episode of the IT Crowd where Moss orders Harry Potter in both original and adult edition to check word-by-word if it is really true that the text is the same) and it is immediately clear that what you get is a different record, one where instruments that used to be loud become just part of the mix, and certain choices made during the mixing stage would have to be reconsidered.

One example for all...

The song Taxman features a mix with the entire rhythm section on the left channel; odd choice by today's standards, but absolutely fine for a record that didn't have the bass frequencies we are used to now. However, when the new mastering brings up all the bass that can be extracted from the original recording, this choice doesn't make sense anymore, and particularly when listening to the song in headphones you have to say that the effect is only detrimental to the song.
I am looking forward to demonstrate this and many other points during my lectures, where we can analyse the original CDs in the best possible way without incurring in copyright infringments. If I find the time I might be able to post some short examples here or somewhere else in the future.

UPDATE: Things are more complicated than it seems.
Check this post for more about the remastered Beatles stereo boxset and mono boxset

"New Remastered Beatles DO NOT BUY (updated)" > read the full post

Melodyne DNA beta now out!

Finally! Celemony have released the beta version of their revolutionary Direct Note Access, with Melodyne Editor.....

You'll need a valid existing Melodyne install on your computer for the beta to work, so I haven't had the chance to try it out yet, but word on the Celemony discussion board is promising - give me a few days, and I'll have a chance to play with it myself, and let you know how it handles.

"Melodyne DNA beta now out!" > read the full post

Jeff Beck FREE tickets

If anyone fancies seeing the mighty Jeff Beck, legendary be-mulleted guitar mangler, for FREE read on...



A nice lady at indigO2 at The O2 rang to tell me she has some free tickets to see Beck on Monday 21st September, you just need to contact me at the details below and I will email her your details for the freebee.

Frank
info@londonschoolofsound.co.uk
0207 720 6183



"Jeff Beck FREE tickets" > read the full post

Native Instruments gives you the finger

Warp artist Tim Exile is clearly as proud of his work programming this fantastic new instrument in Reaktor as he is of the fact that he got away with calling it 'The Finger'.
You can see him giggling from NI's website while proudly announcing "and now I am gonna show you the finger". Ah, well, nerds will be nerds.

Having started life as a home-made Reaktor ensemble, the Finger is now officially endorsed and repackaged by Native Instruments, and it's nothing short of extraordinary. Just have a look at these videos and judge for yourselves...





More videos can be seen on Native Instruments' website.

To see where it all started you can watch this other video from a guest lecture that Tim Exile did at Thames Valley University in 2007 (incidentally, also an Ableton Training Centre: Phelan Kane teaches there and he is another genius, the only other person I'd recommend to learn from outside London School of Sound).

Well done Tim, maybe we'll manage to get you down to Clapham one of these days for a workshop or something.

The Finger can be purchased online directly from Native Instruments for a ridiculous 69 Euro. Compare this to the £350 I spent on a Kaoss Pad that looks GORGEOUS in its glowing red light but does little more than nothing!



"Native Instruments gives you the finger" > read the full post

Pro Tools Vocal Studio, Recording Studio and Key Studio

No sign of this on the Digidesign or Avid website yet, but word is that a new, cut down version of Pro Tools is on its way, at a very reasonable $99 (converts £60, but probably around £100 by the time it gets here)...

It's coming in three varieties: Vocal Studio (with USB condenser mic) for $99, Recording Studio (with Fast track audio interface) for $129, and Key Studio (with 49 key MIDI controller/interface) for $99.

It won't be fully featured (limited to 16 tracks for a start), but at that price, definitely worth a closer look once it hit the shops in mid September

"Pro Tools Vocal Studio, Recording Studio and Key Studio" > read the full post

The weird and wonderful Omatone

I just have to get one of these. The Omatone is the closest we'll ever get to the Holophone in Futurama....

Kind of a cross between a theremin and a tennis ball, the Omatone is an invention from Meywa Denki. Can't find it on Amazon yet, so for now I'll just have to watch videos like this one...

"The weird and wonderful Omatone" > read the full post

Pro Tools on the Mackie Onyx

So, the unimaginable has happened. You can now use a non-Digidesign or M-Audio interface with Pro Tools (M-Powered).

Rumors have been floating around about this for a little while now, but the official announcement has now arrived from Mackie - their new Onyx desks work with Logic, SONAR, Cubase, Ableton Live, and last of all, Pro Tools.

This is not just HUI control, or ADAT connection to an existing interface. So, what's the downside?

Well, it won't work yet - the small print says that the driver will be released with details how to use it with Pro Tools M-Powered 8 in the coming weeks. (So it might not be that straightforward to set up?). Also, if you read carefully, it says it is qualified by Mackie to use with Pro Tools M-Powered 8. So Digidesign have not agreed to this. What's to stop the next update crippling the Onyx?

On the bright side, it looks like a pretty nice piece of equipment (though I've not forgiven Mackie for the atrocity that was the dXb), and if it does work as advertised, it's pretty tempting. My advice? Hold off for now, see what Digidesign do first.

"Pro Tools on the Mackie Onyx" > read the full post

Studio build, phase two

IMG_3881
Originally uploaded by London School of Sound

A few pictures I never had the time to upload from the work done during August.

Eventually we will have a full feature on the construction of the studios with links and advice on the acoustic performance of different materials, where to buy it, etc.

See all the pictures here

For the moment we are too busy trying to put the final touches (electricity, to name one, is one thing that apparently is quite important in the modern recording studio, and we are looking forward to seeing some of it this week).

Also coming soon another set of pictures showing the work done in reception and our custom made desks for the Pro Tools class.

"Studio build, phase two" > read the full post

Discount for DJs!

The good people at Decks have given us discount cards worth £10 off their selection of kit....

If you would like one please come down to our Clapham campus, have a look around and get your discount card. Please ask for Frank at reception.

"Discount for DJs!" > read the full post

Behringer does Apple

You have got to love these guys!

Most companies, in their humble beginnings, will have done things in slight bad taste: 'taking inspiration' from a competitor's idea and claiming it as their own, to put it nicely.

As the company grows there is always an effort from the management to distance themselves from these episodes, and gain an air of total respectability, integrity and what not.

Then you have Behringer. Taking shameless theft to a level where, to me, it becomes a form of art. Have a look at the last and most incredible example...



Yes they have cloned the website of Apple! WOW! Fantastic.

I mean, anyone designing a website will take in to consideration the example of Apple's and learn a trick or two from that, but here we have a photographic clone, pixel by pixel, like only Behringer could do.

Like with all the other products they copy (Boss FX pedals, Mackie mixers, etc) it would have been so easy to change just a thing or two and maybe get away with it. That's what everyone else does; I mean, take London School of Sound's website, we clearly steal a few ideas from here, there and Apple everywhere, and then adapt them to our design. But not Behringer.

I can imagine the quiet desperation of a graphic designer when Uli Behringer, founder and CEO of the company, asks to have a website "a bit like Apple's"; it will have to be REALLY a bit like that.

The irony in all this is that the website they used to have was much easier to navigate and I could find manuals and info about products in a second. This 'Apple" one is wrong in so many ways. The yellow Behringer logo is stitched on without having any counterpart anywhere else on the site, the navigation lacks the research that Apple puts in giving the right priorities to different parts of their business.

But that's not the point. The point is that stealing is morally wrong (and criminally fine as long as you are based in Switzerland and China), but stealing on this scale becomes a work of art, and art is exempt from moral.

Besides, if you think their products are inferior, all you have to do is buy something else. But you can't escape the fact that some of their things are just FINE. We have quite a few in the school and they do the job, according to the company's motto "double the features at half the price". One example? Their headphone amplifier, as found in LSS and many other studios around the world: I would recommend this to anyone, and it would still be great value for money if it cost twice as much.

But I am digressing.

To all the behringer haters and lovers I'd like to point out a passage from Uli's Behringer's story:

"At the university I studied, we had exactly two microphones for over 100 students and one had to queue up for several months to be able to use them. The mixing console and tape machines were under “constant maintenance” (...) I realized that it was simply impossible to become a Sound Engineer without having my own studio."

Think how much different things would have been if Uli had been a student at London School of Sound. The world would be missing a major manufacturer and would have gained a properly trained Sound Engineer. But then we wouldn't have our heaphone amps (and may other little useful things) and Uli would be out there copying note-by-note every song you hear on the charts!

Maybe it's better this way. What do you think?






"Behringer does Apple" > read the full post

More essential studio upgrades

If you wonder how come your records have not gone platinum yet, or if somehow your records have not even gone past the stage of being more than a vague idea, we now know why.

Do you want to know too? Read on...

What you are missing, really, are a 'decent' computer screen and a 'decent' pair or headphones.
Sure. How can you be expected to come up with anything decent when you are still struggling on that miserable iMac 24"? It's barely enough to give you a sun tan when you stand in front of it for a coupe of hours!
Have a look at these Panasonic plasma screens: the largest one is 103", meaning that if you point a camera at yourself you can use it as a life-size mirror – handy to see yourself dancing to your finished mix.

And for headphones, I normally recommend the entry level Grado or the HD650 from Sennheiser for mixing, but now there is a new model called HD800.

Is it good? Well, it probably is. We have not tried it. But it costs £1000 so it's gotta be. I am still quite happy with a pair of much more affordable HD600, but if Sennheiser decides to send me a pair of 800 to try I might discover what the heck can you do to a pair of headphones to make them so expensive.
Check a review here: http://crave.cnet.co.uk/accessories/0,39101000,49301485-1,00.htm



"More essential studio upgrades" > read the full post

Antares Autotune on your iPhone!

Oh dear.

Antares have a new product out - I am T Pain.....

From the blurb:

* Genuine Auto-Tune technology, right in the palm of your hand

* Bundled T-Pain tracks, including lyrics, for singing along alone or with your friends

* The ability to record and stream your songs to Facebook, MySpace and email

* Freestyle mode lets you create your own tracks

You can check out the website here, or go straight to the iTunes store here. Or just check out this video:

"Antares Autotune on your iPhone!" > read the full post