guide: making the Virus TI Snow work with Reaper

May 8th, 2012

If you use Reaper, the (nearly) free DAW and own an Access Virus TI Snow (or the like), and you just can’t figure out how to get them to cooperate, read this short guide.

If you’re like me, you just want to turn on your machines and go! Most of the time, this works without a hassle, but in the case of the Virus TI (Total Integration) series of synths, it’s almost a necessity to use the software integration.  It’s a blessing and a curse; along with the deep editing capability comes the usual issues of mixing hardware with soft.  Although I have used my Virus TI Snow quite a bit in the past, I know I’d be using it a lot more if things just worked.

Don’t get me wrong–everything functions as the makers intended–but it takes a couple extra steps to get everything going in Reaper.
I’m writing this guide because it’s not as inuitive as it is in, say, Ableton live.   If you’re interested, continue reading after the jump.

(more…)

tags: guides, snow |

new EP: (d) – point within a circle

April 18th, 2012

On 4/17/2012, I released a little collection of mostly-unreleased and re-mixed content, called “point within a circle.”  If you need a concise description, using common buzz-words, I’d say that it’s six tracks of electronic, “IDM”, and ambient.  Someone who listened to it noted that it sounded like “early WARP or Planet Mu.”  I certainly don’t mind those comparisons!  Anyway, you can get it on Bandcamp, here:

http://glitched.bandcamp.com/album/point-within-a-circle

As always, it’s FREE or name your price.  Any proceeds that I receive will go toward a physical disc for my next release.

An interesting thing about this EP is that some of these tracks were originally recorded as far back as 2007–they laid dormant on my hard drive for several years before I was able to find the magic ingredient to consider them complete.  Specifically, I found the skeleton arrangement of “before the fires” in early-2012.  I knew something was there, but it needed another layer, something to keep the listener involved.  The Access Virus TI is usually a source of great inspiration (especially for emotive pads), but no sounds seemed to fit.  Software to the rescue!  Yes, it was the humble SQ-8 VSTi, an SQ-80 emulation, that inspired the melody in the middle of that track.  From there, it was easy to finish the song.

“A way through” was recorded in 2009, but I could never figure out how to arrange it.  There was a breakdown in the first half of the track that cut off abruptly and didn’t transition well.  I also couldn’t figure out how to end it; 90% of the time I abandon a project, it’s because I have solid groove or feeling, but it doesn’t go anywhere.  Some songs are so inspirational, they almost write themselves, but other times, as good as they seem, they require more work to be considered a finished piece of work.  That’s the story with “a way through.”

Another hinderance in finishing this track was that I had only a couple of tracks to work with because of my haste in recording the whole thing in one go.  Stupid mistake, but through some clever copying, pasting, and cross-fading, the pieces came together.

I’m proud to have put together a cohesive project on my favorite music-website, Bandcamp, and will be doing it again in the very near future.  Speaking of the next project, it’ll be more modular-focused and maybe a little harder-edged; “point within a circle” is certainly a showcase for Elektron products, oh, and the Nord G2.  (I forgot how much I used that thing!)

I’ll leave you with one of my favorites from this compilation, “a way through”:


Thank you for listening, downloading, and reading!

 

tags: bandcamp, elektron, g2, machinedrum, monomachine, news, tracks, [d] |

glitched.org is hosted on Amazon’s S3 service

November 22nd, 2011

So, a little while ago, I moved glitched.org and modernsoundmastering.com from a traditional web host (Dreamhost), to Amazon’s S3 cloud storage service.

Why?  First of all, the pricing.  I haven’t paid a penny yet, but the cost projections for this month’s usage amounts to about…$0.07.  Yes, seven cents.  A single month of Dreamhost cost $9.95.  At this rate, even if I paid just $10 per year, that’s still ten times the cost of a year on S3.  (Note: since I use lots of “cloud” services, the bandwidth and storage usage for me is minimal.)

Second, I discovered that I didn’t have a need for a fully-dynamic site, run on something like WordPress.  Yeah, WP is great, but I don’t use many of the dynamic features, like comments or galleries or whatever.  I don’t update the blog every day, so that’s another reason why a static site is better for me.

Third, you can’t say enough about security.  It’s hard to keep up with all of the software updates.  Sometimes, your favorite plugin is incompatible with the latest version of WP and that can be vexing.

Finally, the speed of a static site can’t be taken for granted.  There are some database-driven sites that take 15-30 seconds to load, which is not something I like to endure.

How?  It wasn’t too, too difficult, but it took some time and research to figure out.  Read below to find out more.
(more…)

tags: news, site |

site upgrade, lots of new music, and more!

October 24th, 2011

There are several things to talk about in this update, including some nice, short (d) tracks, DIY project progress, and most importantly, the site upgrade.

I will go into this, in detail, at another point, but I moved both of my main sites, modernsoundmastering.com and glitched.org, from a standard, shared webhost, to Amazon’s S3 cloud service.  Why?  In a nutshell: pricing ($0.07 per month?!?) and speed.  Sounds great, but there are pro’s and con’s.  More on that, soon.  On to the music…

Nothing to report on the progress of “real” tracks to put on bandcamp.com (and on the front page of glitched.org), but a few nice melodies and atmospheres, while you wait (these are embedded on the sidebar of glitched.org/up):

(d) – harmless3
http://soundcloud.com/d01/d-harmless3

Really epic-sounding track with massive bass and a little unintended distortion.  The original loop from which this idea sprung was a mere :30 long; I time stretched it, slowed it down and did a bunch of spectral processing to create the final track.  It’s very dynamic; I remember doing a lot of EQ and efx automation in FL Studio.

(d) – do you remember?
http://soundcloud.com/d01/d-do-you-remember

This simple melody created algorithmically, with some web-based app.  I forget which one.    Had to smooth out the “pluckiness” of the electric piano-type sound with some tape saturation.  Again, I was experimenting with spectral effects, which resulted in strange low and ultra-high frequency timbres.

(d) – when you’re not here
http://soundcloud.com/d01/d-when-youre-not-here

A sweet-sounding track based on a loop I found on my hard drive, dated 10/2009.  This one was done completely in Ableton Live; I really love the built-in reverb and resonators plugins.  I believe I did some spacial efx, using iZotope Ozone.

(d) – Doepfer Dark Energy Experiment .934288
http://soundcloud.com/d01/doepfer-dark-energy-experiment 

The Doepfer Dark Energy is a supremely capable instrument and this short demo only scratches the surface.  The Elektron Monomachine is the sequencer, as usual.  Go to that link for the full description.

Finally, I wanted say that I’m really into this DIY electronics stuff and it takes a lot of time away from music.  Ironically, the things I make are meant exclusively for music-making!  Anyway, it’s great fun and hope to finish up some projects, very soon.  Read the full story on synth.pen.io.

tags: diy, elektron, fl studio, misc, modular, monomachine, news, soundcloud, tracks, [d] |

DIY electronics mini-blog: synth.pen.io

April 22nd, 2011

Since I’m all about DIY synth stuff right now, I’ve decided to start a mini-blog devoted to my progress.  Here’s the link:

http://synth.pen.io/

It will be updated regularly, as I run through my backlog of projects.  When I’m done with everything, I’ll put a better narrative on this site.  Or maybe I’ll just leave it there and keep glitched.org/up for music-related things.

Anyway, I’ll have a couple new sound snips of my modular synth creations, soon.

tags: diy, modular |

how to get the eurorack front panels, by glitched

January 12th, 2011

If you’ve come here from various forums, twitter, or just a random internet straggler and want to know more about the Eurorack-format panels I’ve designed, go to this link:

http://glitched.org/up/eurorack-front-panels-by-glitched/

After you’ve digested all of that information (or just looked at the pretty pictures) and decided you’re interested in one of them, you must understand these caveats:

1) Acrylic is fragile.  It may scratch or break, under a certain amount of force.

2) This first run of panels is 3.0mm thick, which is about 1.0mm thinner than typical Eurorack front panels.  (Two M3 x 8 screws will be provided.)

3) These are hand-made items, so they may have slight imperfections (but I strive to make every one as good as the last).


Pricing

Each panel will be USD 15$ + 3$ shipping (unless otherwise noted), for up to three panels, if in the United States;  4-6 panels, 4$.  Elsewhere:  4$ USD  for shipping, up to 3 panels; $5.50 for more.

Current Design Availability

Unfortunately, not all of the panels that I have shown will be available in this first run.  The main reason for not being able to sell the SCM/RCD panels is because the 3.0mm acrylic is too thick for the stock jacks to fit through.  If you don’t care about that and want to find your own jacks, make a note in your message to me and I’ll see what I can do.

Go to this link to check the available options:

http://bit.ly/eJPmvN

Procedure

Here’s what you need to do if you’re interested:

0) Check which designs are available by viewing this spreadsheet:

http://bit.ly/eJPmvN

1) Go to the “front panel request form,” here:

http://www.glitched.org/up/contact-form/

2) Enter your details.

3) In the message body state the following:

  • Which panel(s) you’re interested in.  (Example: QUANT-white/black/raster.)
  • Quantity (list a number for each style if multiple panels were chosen)
  • Paypal address (if different from contact email address)
  • Your country.  I’m located in the US, but will ship internationally.
  • Any additional notes or requests.

4) Hit “submit”.

Now, this is important: unless the panel is currently in stock, the steps above are only to declare your interest in these panels; there is no obligation to buy and your paypal address will only be used at the final step, when I need to initiate the production run.

If I have the panel that you want on-hand (again, see the spreadsheet), I will send you an invoice right away and you can pay me.

If I receive interest for more than 5 panels, I will be able to initiate production and will then send you an invoice for the total, to your paypal address.  I will also notify you of the payment cut-off date.  If I don’t receive money by that date, you will not receive a panel (but there may be a couple extras, after everyone has gotten theirs).

Once the order is placed, it can take anywhere from 2-3 weeks be produced and get to me.  I take them, paint them, and pack them up.  This probably won’t take more than two days.  After that, it’s time to ship!

tags: modular, news, panels |

modular front panels, by glitched

December 27th, 2010

Consider this post just a teaser.  The full story and information on how you can order yours will come soon.

*UPDATE* — Go here for the full story, including tons of high-resolution photos: http://glitched.org/up/eurorack-front-panels-by-glitched/

The next update will include information on how to procure one of these panels.

END OF LINE

—————–

I have designed some alternate front panels, in eurorack format, for 4MS Pedals’ Rotating Clock Divider, RCD Breakout, and Shuffling Clock Multiplier.  Besides those “commercial” modules, I also did a design for a DIY quantizer found on electro-music.com.  These panels were designed by me (can you tell I’m proud of myself?) and manufactured by that wonderful “personal factory,” Ponoko.  Again, more information on the process will come soon.  View the gallery below for some pictures.  (By the way, it was really hard to get good pictures of these things, considering how shiny they are.  Plus, dust just seems love acrylic.  It’s vexing to know how good the panels look in real life, when the camera doesn’t do them justice.  More pics, tomorrow.)

tags: diy, modular, news, panels |

various [d] updates (soundcloud, modular, shruti-1)

December 8th, 2010

Just thought I’d hit you with a few quick updates:

1.  I’ve finally gotten into the modular game!  After maybe 10 years of pining after a modular synthesizer system, I finally gave in and purchased a few modules.  See below for a slideshow:

2.  I’ve updated my soundcloud with sounds and loops made with that system:
MODULAR SET 1: http://snd.sc/bABNwB
MODULAR SET 2: http://snd.sc/fuFH3p

3. Remember the Shruti-1 DIY synthesizer project?  Well, I wrote up a rather extensive article that describes the entire building process, which was hosted on drop.io.  That site is now defunct, so I have moved that information to this site, at this location: http://glitched.org/up/diy-shruti-1-synthesizer-glitched/

4.  My Monomachine suffered a memory-erasing crash last night; I lost everything.  The sad part about this is that I had a bunch of songs and ideas ready to record for my upcoming album, but now they’re all gone.  Subsequently, I won’t be releasing anything soon.  This is just a minor setback.  Whenever this sort of thing happens, I look at it as a sort of cleansing experience and usually come up with some material that is 10x better than whatever I lost.  I’ll be back in action, soon.

That’s all for now.

tags: misc, modular, news, [d] |

moving to a different web host (complete)

October 24th, 2010

I will be moving to a different webhost this weekend, so there may be some down-time.

In the meantime, check out some of my recent tracks @ bandcamp.
I’ve been really into “Master Control,” recently:

http://glitched.bandcamp.com/track/master-control

UPDATE: Well, that was quick and painless–we’re back!  The transition from Godaddy to Dreamhost was flawless.

UPDATE2: I’m really happy with Dreamhost.  If you want to try them out, you can use this code, which entitles you to 1 year of hosting + 1 free domain for $60:  DHOST60 .  By the way, this WordPress site is maybe 3-5 times faster than it was on Godaddy.

tags: misc, news |

[d] is on soundcloud as d01

September 17th, 2010

I finally gave in and signed up for a soundcloud account: http://soundcloud.com/d01 .  I’m not quite sure what I’ll put up there, but I think it’ll replace the songs I usually reserve for box.net; that is, remixes, works-in-progress, and misc.  Soundcloud is a cool tool to meet other like-minded people as well.

One drawback of the (albeit, free) service is that it only streams at 128k and that makes some of my tunes sound like crap.   I suppose everyone’s in the same boat because 128k seems to be the industry standard (even bandcamp’s player streams at this rate).  Thankfully, there is a “download original” function, where the listener can download a higher-quality mp3, .flac, or even .wav.

Add me up!

tags: misc, news, soundcloud, tracks, [d] |

« go back in time