Random Visual - Telefon Tel Aviv Studio

I found a random picture of our buddy Charlie Cooper of Telefon Tel Aviv from Josh Eustis's Flickr. I haven't seen this dude in a long ass while, so it's nice to see him working on the new album fiddling away with that delay.

Workspace and Environment: The Sight Below

It's been a long time since our last Workspace and Environment entry. Most of the artists we're waiting for are on tour and enjoying summer but fear not, the grasp of fall and winter are coming and we'll be overflowing with domesticated artists willing to share their workspace and answer our questions. Here is a modest interview from The Sight Below from Ghostly International, also be sure to check out the excellent free EP that was recently released.

How long have you been involved with making music and what keeps you motivated?

Over 12 years. My Bloody Valentine - Kevin Shields makes perfect music.



What are your current favorite pieces of hardware?

Lexicon LXP-5 and LXP-1. I love the LXP-5's 12-bit pitch shifting reverb. I also like this German-made Schmidt bow I recently purchased and an old Kay guitar somebody gave me for my birthday. I swear by the SPX-90's reverse reverb.


What are some softwares or plugins you prefer?

I use Cubase for the most part. I like the Voxengo and URS plugins a lot. Lovely compressors and eq's. URS makes a great SSL emulation channel strip!





How does your physical space and surroundings influence your workflow?

I think the weather here in Seattle facilitates a distinctive emotional aura. The overcast skies have definitely influenced my creative output.

Could you describe your ideal location to be creative in?

Tromsø, Norway. I find the landscape and extreme climate very inspiring.





You can find The Sight Below from Ghostly International at:

- myspace
- Ghostly Artist Page
- No Place For Us (Free EP!)

LL Electronics RozzBox: 5-Voice Poly Synth w/Tube Filter!

Highlights:

- 5 Voice Polyphony via Digital Oscillators
- 5 Digital and Analog Filter on Each Voice
- One Tube based Filter
- Configurable FM engine with 7 algorithms
- The switchable "Hacker" adds artificial analog aliasing (tunable)
- 4 completely independent sequencer lines per voice, each with its own running mode and sychronization settings

Besides the classic design of a 4-oscillator polysynth with analog filters, the RozzBox features a bunch of mean functions that can't be found on any other synthesizer, such as the Hacker, the chaotic filtermode, switchable aliasing of the oscillators and much more! When you put these all together, they can easily turn those sweet little analog pads into a fiendish hellfire!

Well that's our kind of synth! I must have missed this one when it was announced but it appears to be (almost) shipping now via Big City Music. Although, this batch is going to everyone that pre-ordered, it looks like there will be another shipment on the way soon.

- Big City Music (More Info / Specs)

Universal Audio: UAD-2, Out Now!

The UAD-2 has finally arrived, there's a video posted at uad-2.com that explains in detail what this upgrade is all about, so I won't do that here. I will say that there are many different card options now: Single, Dual, or Quad processor choices, as well as three different tiers of plug-in bundles. UA is promoting the fact that up to Four of the UAD-2 cards can run in one system, but just ONE Quad card will allow you to have 128 Neve 88RS channel strips open, which essentially gives you a 128 channel Neve console right in your DAW. I am upgrading my UAD-1 the second I find a place to buy the UAD-2...

Analog synths come with magazines now...

The future has arrived. A future in which you can buy a magazine and instead of getting a floppy disk with a drum loop on it, you get a kit to build an analog synth.




MAKE: Blog has a review of the synth and more information on it. Note, the kit is from a Japanese magazine called 'Otona no Kagaku.'

The Harvestman Flickr

I stumbled upon The Harvestman's Flickr account which has some beautiful pictures of the setup and process of manufacturing modules. Don't be fooled with how slick and pretty his modules are, they are brutal as hell! Link: HERE

Livewire AFG Tip: Flux Capacitor Jumpers

Via the Noise Source blog comes an interesting tip. The Livewire AFG apparently has a location with a jumper you can change which will modify the shape of the 'Anit Mater' waveforms. Full details:

- Flux Capacitor jumpers, say what?!

Univiersal Audio: UAD 2 Teaser, Moog Plugin? *Update*

Universal Audio just threw up a teaser page regarding the forthcoming UAD-2 card. I am a huge fan of the UAD-1 and have a new Mac on the way that will need an upgraded UAD card, so this is excellent timing! There is not much information on the page, but I did spot the Moog logo, and I am not aware of any Moog emulations for that UAD-1......hmmm....

- Teaser

*update*



You can kind of see the interface for the Moog plugin that looks to be coming out for the UAD-2 card. Anyone want to try to figure out what it is?

Virus TI Public Beta 5 version 2.7.1 Released

The Access Virus TI Beta 5 software has just been updated to version 2.7.1. This one seems to bring in a lot of bug fixes. Check out the detailed change log here.

- Virus TI Software Updates

Late Livewire AFG News

If you ordered one of the Livewire Audio Frequency Generators, most likely you've received them and haven't showered since. Steve R, who assembled these beautiful things, has a blog that I recently found and it has some interesting behind the scenes shots and videos of the production of the AFG's. Enlighten yourself: Here

Should You Worry About Digital Drugs?

ABC news has an excellent article about the upcoming dangers of "Digital Drugs."

"...websites are targeting your children with so-called digital drugs. These are audio files designed to induce drug-like effects. All your child needs is a music player and headphones. "

Of course, there is some aspect of reality here. I am sure a lot of people are aware of the concept of Binaural Beats in which two slightly different frequencies played in each ear through headphones are combined into one pulsating sound in your brain. This is said to help with meditation and relaxation activities.

So what do your Digital Drugs sound like? Use the email on the right and submit your best effort at creating an illegal digital substance, we'll then post the results and have a big digital drug potluck together.

*Update* Here are some excellent free samples including audio versions of an acid trip, peyote and an orgasm from i-doser.com.

Passive Modules Placement

Hello everyone. I added a couple of things to my profile to the right and also feel free to send us e-mails about anything. We read and answer them all!

Aside from 'What is that?', one of the most frequently asked question I receive about my modular is how I put my Multiple up on the top left of my case. A few modules (like the Make noise moddemod) are passive and don't require power from the bus board thus making it possible to jam them anywhere! I read on the Doepfer forums that the top and bottom panels are made of hard wood. With that knowledge, I found some random threaded nails about an inch and a half long and manually screwed them to the top panel. While my random nails worked out for me, I've suggested people go to a hardware store with their module and find a couple of threaded nails that are long enough to comfortably dig into the wood yet thin enough to fit through the holes. Also, the lid still closes if there is a patch in the wood mounted modules. So, instead of wasting valuable real estate in your case, stick it in your wood!
*Yes, I'm aware that my camera eats it. My normal one broke and I have no plans on replacing it.

Live audio_Output: POLYFUSE

Check out the tunes before you come: polyfuse.net

As always, we're going to bring out a substantial amount of gear that hopefully will melt the sound system. This should include a Doepfer modular synth for noise/processing. Access Virus Indigo, Virus Polar, random analog effects and....a guitar! Gasp!

Trash_Universe: Live Webcast NOW

*Update* I am sure, for whoever tuned in, saw just a bunch of chaos. That's cause we were busy trying to have a life outside of the computer, which is rare. Anyway, we had some excellent guests at the Trash residence. Tomorrow we are all headed to lollapalooza, even though it's a three day event, I am just going tomorrow. Surachai has been there all weekend. Click here if you want to us ignore you.

Native Instruments + Beatport was going to have a party tonight but it got canceled cause of some unforeseeable situations. Anyways, some of the guys are coming here including Alessandro Cortini of NIN, Richard Devine, Moe Espinoza of Droid Behavior, Daniel Haver and Jeff Horton of Native Instruments. Come party with us!!! Click here if you want to chat too.

Access: Interview with Hans Zimmer

Access posted a nice interview with film composer Hans Zimmer recently, I found a few excellent quotes. Among them was this:

Hans
On Da Vinci Code, I said, “other than the orchestral stuff, I am only going to use one thing”, which of course was the new Virus Polar because it had just shown up. Then it was sort of fun to go “ok, now what am I going to get out of this one machine” and it was a fun way to sort of figure out hot to push it all the way to the wall. But then I could ruin your day and mention that I did end-up putting another synth into it, because the Virus could not do one thing. Do you know what that synth was?

The Minimoog.

Acccess
Fair enough.

Hans
Right! I had to do that bass thing. At the premier, at the Cannes Film Festival, when that little Minimoog came in, and it was not even vary loud, all the ceiling tiles began rattling and I was very happy!


Check out the extensive interview here.