The recent remix EP by Nguzunguzu does more than act as a marketing tool by introducing their name to the remixers’ audiences. It helps spread the ideas the duo have been developing with their DJ sets, studio mixes, and their own production. The EP’s cues come primarily from club hip hop and juke but move far beyond those starting points. Brenmar’s mix is a chopped R&B crossover riding on 808s, comfortably striding along at a halfstep gait. Mixed with some verses or another record by an adept DJ, it could evoke cheers from the floor coupled with some up close and personal bouncing. With this track in mind, it’s no surprise that he played a set consisting of nearly all hip hop at Trouble & Bass this weekend. Then there’s the Girl Unit contribution, which builds on his success blending dirty South beats and UK dance sounds. Here, he leans more towards old school hip hop and sets the pace at 135 BPM. The throwback drum machine and early ’90s sirens get mixed with some future house rhythms, adhering close to a 4/4 but burying that with flourishes, fills, and offbeats. Near the end he introduces some of those colorful synths that have been coming out of the bass music scene lately. The Canblaster and Berou remix also begins with rap foundations, but takes a ravier, house infected approach. Most of the rest of the EP is juke-inspired, such as the Subterranean-signed DJ Pierre and the mabmo/juke jump off that screams Munchi. - MS

Shabazz Palaces – “An Echo From The Hosts That Profess Infinitum”

Shabazz Palaces is one of the most enigmatic rap projects to emerge over the last 18 months. There’s a lot of hype about the group, which is lead by Palaceer Lazaro (otherwise known as Ishmael “Butterfly” Butler from early ’90s alt-hip hop/jazz futurist group, Digable Planets). After two impressive, well-received EPs in 2009, Shabazz inked a deal with legendary Seattle indie rock label, Sub Pop Records, and unleashed “An Echo from the Hosts That Profess Infinitum”, the first single from the group’s upcoming album Black Up, which drops June 28th. This track offers a glimpse of things to expect: densely textured poems, verses delivered with Butler/Palaceer’s signature measured cadence, swirling and chewed up synths and samples, ridiculously good beats, and more mbira solos, courtesy of Zimbabwean multi-instrumentalist Tendai! - LF

Mr. Mageeka – “Different Lekstrix”

“Different Lekstrix” is permeated with a feel of elasticity. The main synths stabs, those effected stings, and even the strummed bass line – they all have a rubbery quality, a quick snap back and rippled return. Combined with the unpredictable but satisfying soul claps and drifting snares, 4/4 kicks, and the rolling cycle of additional percussion, it’s a track that’s hard not to dance to when mixed properly. It’s very loopy, but the loops are so dense it takes a while to figure out what’s going on, which keeps it interesting, and the hits are often placed in slightly different spots on the beat. The record came out on Numbers last year.

Kode 9 & The Spaceape – “Love Is the Drug” from Black Sun

“Love Is The Drug” is a fairly simple composition, but gallops along like a ghost horseman mesmerizing anyone that gazes upon it and roping them in for the ride. Although “love” is in the title, the mood is pretty menacing and grey. In fact, the vocal threatens that “this love is gonna tighten round your neck,” with variations of that layered throughout. It stays energetic without aggression though. The quadruped kicks are matched with bass drums at the beginning of each measure and oscillating highs at the end. Droning synths fill the void beyond, occasionally rising slowly in scale to emphasize the propulsion. Very difficult to resist looking into the eyes of this creature, even though it might turn you to stone. - MS

Peverelist – “Dance til the Police Come”

Peverelist is without question of the most distinctive dubstep producers – he’s your favorite producer’s favorite producer. He’s notable not simply for his unrelenting adventurousness with rhythms and structure, but also for his remarkable restraint when it comes delivering and maintaining understated but highly effective and memorable synths and basslines. On this new 12″ single for Hessle Audio, Peverelist is in absolute top form, picking up where he left us with “The Hum”/”Rrrrr” with Hyetal, and “Better Ways Of Living”/”Fighting Without Fighting”, which were both released by his own label, Punch Drunk Records. It also furthers the sounds we heard on his debut LP Jarvik Mindstate. On the A-sdie, “Dance Til The Police Come” is an hypnotic, polyrhythmic techno exercise carried out with a certain amount of ease and elegance only few producers top. Peverelist himself describes it as, “Wholly or predominantly characterized by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats,” a type of music the UK government considers anti-social. B-side “Fundamental” delves even deeper with a more relaxed swing to rhythms, all reinforced with hazy, intoxicating synths, bass, and effects that dissolve by fading in and out. Fascinating stuff! - LF

These updates are major, and they address many issues and requests that I had as a Reason/Record user and have even included some things that I, along with other users, surely couldn’t have imagined.

Propellerheads say that the updates will be out later this summer.

Live Sampling – Reason 5 and Record 1.5

This is an interesting concept; software samplers that actually record and sample audio. Live sampling is a new feature that places a Live Sampling button on every location where a .WAV or .AIF file can be loaded in on each of the sample playback devices (i.e. Redrum, NN-19, NN-XT, Kong, etc.) Live sampling will allow for two main functions:

1. To sample external audio through your audio interface in realtime (i.e. mic input)
2. To resample any piece, part or section of your tune

When live sampling is engaged, a waveform editor that has now been built into the program appears, and allows you to trim, crop, normalize, reverse, crossfade-loop the sample, thus making this whole process self-contained inside the program.

Kong Drum Designer – Reason 5 and Record 1.5

Kong is a multifunctional drum design unit that allows for 16 different drum parts for each of the 16 different pads on its GUI. Sounds can be edited and shaped all-day. Kong also posses an arsenal of Support generators and FX processors geared towards shaping your drum sounds. Support generators will add additional body and tone to your drum sounds.

Drum generation methods are:
1. NN-Nano – Sample playback – multisampling/layering
2. Nurse REX – REX Loop playback – plays back as individual slices, or chunks
3. Analog Bass Drum Synth – think 808, 909, etc. analog kicks
4. Analog Snare Drum Synth – think 808, 909, etc. analog kicks
5. Analog Hi-Hat Drum Synth
6. Analog Tom Drum Synth – think 808, 909, etc. analog kicks
7. Physical Modelled Bass Drum
8. Physical Modelled Snare Drum
9. Physical Modelled Tom Drum

The Support generators are:

1. Noise
2. Tone

Kong’s internal structure allows for 2 Insert FX for each part; 1 Send Effect and 1 Master Effect.  Kong also allows for flexible output routing (16 outs.)
The FX are:

1. Compressor
2. Filter
3. Overdrive/Resonator
4. Parametric EQ
5. Rattler
6. Ring Modulator
7. Room Reverb
8. Tape Echo
9. Transient Shaper

Propellerhead – Reason 5 and Record 1.5 – Neptune

How clever? Nep-tune… ;-) … I get it.

Neptune is a pitch device for audio in Record 1.5. It’s also an FX processor that you would add to an audio track as an insert effect. Overall, Neptune has three key functions:

1. Real-time Audio Transposer – This is pretty cut and dry; you have controls for the semitone shift and fine tune.
2. Real-time Pitch Correction – This function is a very welcome addition, as it detects notes in monophonic audio signals and/or tracks (e.g. vocals) that are off and corrects their pitch. It looks as though it will also allow for incoming MIDI notes to pull the pitches away from their root and correct it in a sliding and gliding real-time fashion. Hmm… feels like I’ve seen something like this before in a certain plug-in.
3. Voice Synth – This functionality allows for incoming MIDI chords to make duplicates of the audio to create what sounds like harmonies and backing parts. I was a big fan of a piece of hardware that did this years ago.

Bravo!

We have lots more iPad app content out – check the TouchOSC video tutorial series and written review, plus write ups on ReBirth-338,  the Korg ielectribe, and Looptastic HD.

Now that the iPad has been around for almost two months, things are starting to get a bit more interesting on the sequencing tip. I recently came across two new sequencing programs made specifically for the iPad, both of which look promising in their own ways, and show a glimpse of things to come, both for those companies, and for what is still possible. The first of these programs I’m going to tackle is iSequence by Beep Street, the same company who brought out Piano Pro when the iPad was first released.

iSequence is what you would think: a sequencer. But unlike, say, the Korg iElectribe, which lets you sequence, but is really more of a drum machine, iSequence allows you to put together full songs, has editing capabilities, and let’s you output MIDI, which is a great addition, and really has some interesting potential for a device like the iPad.

iSequence is an eight track sequencer. Except that it’s got the potential for much more than eight tracks. Really, the way that Beep Street has implemented sequencing in this program is kind of ingenious. But I’ll get to that in a minute.  First, the other features.

Aside from the tracks of sequence data, there are two delay units, which are serially connected to two filters. Cutoff frequency, delay send, and resonance amount are automatable. There is also a mix section with faders, mute, and solo. Panning and instrument volume are set at the instrument level itself, and are not automatable. But this isn’t as much of a problem as you might at first suppose, because of the virtually unlimited amount of instruments at your disposal.

Speaking of instruments, the data input options change depending on what kind of instrument you have selected. For example, if you’re playing a pitched instrument, the input method is a keyboard along the bottom of the screen. However, if you’re programing drum beats, the input switches to drum pads. The pads aren’t labeled with the names of the instruments, but they do have the note numbers on them, so you know which note belongs to which pad.

Although iSequence looks like a traditional sequencer that’s set up by tracks, it’s not. What it really is, is a giant modulation matrix that allows one piece of data to be on each grid. Meaning that if there’s an empty space, you can fill it with any instrument playing any note at any velocity level.  The only drawback is that the limit is one note per block, so if you’re making chords you have to use multiple blocks, but is isn’t such a problem, especially for electronic music. But what’s really cool about it is the ability to put a completely different instrument on each grid point of each “track” to create some really interesting textural ideas.

Making a song out of the sequence is a snap. Each loop of sequence is a group, which is shown in the upper left corner. These groups can be copied and pasted, duplicated, repeated, whatever you want to do. The copies can then be edited and changed. This process is easy, and makes the writing process extremely convenient. If you’ve written a few groups that you want to copy, there is a selection option to copy and paste a few groups at a time.

1. Almost unlimited instruments. Because of iSequence’s unique grid setup, it is possible to use many different instruments during one song. It’s not limited to one instrument per track, as most sequencers are. This is a very powerful implementation, and one which I think is really cool. The only other way to really do it would be to allow program changes during a track. I guess that would be possible, and maybe someone is working on it, but this is another, extremely creative way to do it.

2. The timing is excellent. One thing I’ve noticed with a lot of sequencers on the iPad is that the timing is off many times. This is not only extremely annoying, but makes programs unusable in a professional situation. Fortunately iSequence’s timing is spot on. Plus, it even has a shuffle mode, which is nice when set at low levels.

3. Automation. I wish there was more automation, but what is there is well done. The automation grid that shows up below the main sequencing grid is intuitive and easy to use. I didn’t have to touch the manual at all to figure it out, which means that someone, somewhere is doing something right!

4. Exporting options. Probably one of the most powerful features of iSequence is its many exporting options. Not only can you export an audio file of your loop or song, but you can also export a MIDI file of it as well! This is great, because it means that you aren’t stuck with iSequence’s lacking sounds (see below).

- What I Miss -

1. More effects. While the delays are good, and easy to set up, they keep us firmly in karaoke land. Well, not really, but I sincerely hope Beep Street plans to add on some reverbs and other effects in the near future.

2. The instruments are only so-so. If you like General MIDI, then you’re gonna love the instruments presented here, but if not, then you’re out of luck. To be fair, the main highlight of the program doesn’t seem to be to make finished products, but to create great ideas. Beep Street also offers extra instrument sets. Just to see how these are, I downloaded the extra electronica instrument set and tested it out. This set gives you more angry basses and glitchy synths. It’s a great starting point, but without more synth editing capabilities, the instruments are still going to sound like what they are: samples.

iSequence is a great program. If you are looking for a scratch pad to capture your ideas everywhere you go, then this is a perfect option. Easy to use, adequate sounds, and the ability to export MIDI mean that, as long as you’ve got your iPad with you, you’re ready to create music.

Website: www.beepstreet.com
Price: $6.99
Get it: itunes.apple.com

Propellerheads ReBirth-338
Get It or Forget It: GET IT!

For those of us who have been kicking around music and computers for a while, there are a few things that we all would have in common. The first announcement of computers getting a Gigabyte of HD space, the first dual processors, and the power they would unleash on the world, and of course, Rebirth-338. With the launch of that program about twelve years ago, a new era in computers and music was ushered into existence. For the first time we could all feel the power that computers would ultimately wield in the world of sound creation.

And now we can experience that feeling again in our pockets with ReBirth for the iPhone.

This program is a faithful and more than complete reissue of the original. If you remember how to program on that, you will feel right at home on this new incarnation, as it is exactly the same.

For those of you who were not around when the original was released, you may be scratching your head and wondering just what the big deal is… I’m not going to rehash the history of ReBirth-338 here, but I am going to say that if you have an iPhone or an iPad or an iPod touch and you make electronic music, just get it. Don’t ask questions. Don’t hesitate. Just go directly to the App Store and download this App. Here’s why:

- The Basics -

ReBirth-338 is a faithful recreation in digital form of some of the most popular music equipment in history: the Roland TB-303, the TR-808, and the TR-909. If you don’t know what these are, and you’re making electronic music or hip hop, then stop what you’re doing and go take a Google history lesson. This review will be here when you get back.

In this digital recreation of the originals, not only do they sound faithful to the hardware pieces, but there are two 303’s, an 808 and a 909, preset saving abilities, pattern programming, and a song mode to connect the patterns together. There are also global effects: distortion, compression, an envelope filter, and delay. The combination of these features made ReBirth-338 a hit back in the day, and the translation to the iPhone makes for not only a fun toy, but also a powerful music creation App.

The overall workflow is broken down into a few key segments: Patterns, the sounds themselves, mix output, effects settings, and global output. Each module has a pattern selector to its left. First select the pattern and then program the rhythms and pitches into the module. You can duplicate patterns and then tweak the elements (pitch, rhythm, etc). Then set the mix level of each device and its distortion, compression, pattern filter, and delay amount. These effects are global, so there is one setting for all of them for each effect. The distortion, compression, and filter are on/off, while the delay is a send amount type of effect. The settings for these are over to the right. Finally, the master output allows the overall volume to be controlled right within the program.

Program patterns by selecting from the bank and the pattern number. You can clear the current pattern or just tweak the existing one. Copying and pasting patterns is accomplished by an on-screen menu across the bottom that can be hidden or revealed at will. This menu setup works great on the iPad and doesn’t get in the way at all.

Arrange the patterns in Song Mode, and then automate everything! Automating parameters in songs is easily done in real time. Laying out the song itself can be done in realtime or in step mode. This is easy to do, and moves pretty quickly as long as you have your patterns thought out ahead of time.

When you are ready to finish up, just save your work by accessing the menu and hitting save. It will ask you to name the file and then you’re done. Easy.

- What I Like -

1. Sounds great – these are classic sounds. Of course the original hardware is classic, but ReBirth-338 itself achieved a level of notoriety that few programs ever reach, and the sounds have been translated faithfully to this incarnation. Nostalgic and useful at the same time, I love it!

2. Easy to use - programming rhythms here is as easy as pushing buttons on a grid. And programming pitches on the two TB-303 bass modules are input exactly like on the originals, which is pretty easy to do. The overall workflow is smooth, and you won’t even need to bust out the (online) manual except for possibly learning about sharing your creations with others.

3. Completely fully featured – if you are familiar with the original program, then you will quickly see that nothing is missing here. If you never used it, then you’ll find that all the bases were covered. There’s a reason why Propellerheads has been so highly regarded, even before Reason!

4. You can share your creations with others! Need I say more about this? What could be better than making a slamming track? Letting others bask in its glory, of course! With the online sharing feature ReBirth-338 for the iPhone makes it super simple to do just that. Upload and become a techno god in minutes! To share your songs just hit the Share button on the menu and the your song is uploaded to a file server where it can be viewed by others as well as emailed out by you. To listen, people do need the iPhone app or the classic version on a computer somewhere (which, although this is really cool, it’s hard to find a copy of this software loaded onto modern computers since it doesn’t work on the newer OS machines).

- What I Miss -

1. No MIDI export. OK, so this isn’t a complaint, so much as a wish. How cool would it be to be able to program a beat that sounds great and then export the MIDI data to your favorite sequencer? Yeah, that would be pretty cool.

- Final Thoughts -

Once again I’m gonna repeat what I wrote in the initial section of this review: if you’re an electronic musician (producer, DJ, MC, whatever), GO GET THIS APP NOW! Not only is this thing a piece of music history, but it’s a great piece of software. There’s a reason the original made such a huge impact on the music scene, and it’s all here, plus some.

The ability to share music with other users is really cool, and will allow some fantastic collaborations to spring up. The fact that these songs are backwards compatible with the original computer software is unbelievably cool, even though I have nothing to use my original software on! All in all, this is a great program, and it shows once again why Propellerheads is one of the most popular music software companies around.

Website: rebirthapp.com
Price: $6.99
Get it: itunes.apple.com

iPad Review
Get It or Forget It: Get it!

Yes, I got an iPad. No, there was no waiting in line, or ordering online. Just went to the store, checked it out, and decided it was something I had to have. Just between me and you though, I knew I wanted to get it even before I saw it in the store. Why, you ask? Well, for all the potential of this thing. As a musician, DJ, and producer, the creative and business tasks the iPad offers seem limitless. And yeah, there was a little bit of the “gotta have the first one” thing in there as well.

If you’re interested in the iPad, then you will probably love it. The hype is all true: it feels great, works really well, and is truly a new type of computer. The potential is astounding. If you hate the idea of it then you’re probably going to dismiss it no matter what, so you might as well just stop reading now.

Here is my take on the iPad as a musician and what I think about it after having played with it for about two weeks.

What I Like:

1. No more walls. Slim and compact, yet with a powerful processor and reactive touch screen, the iPad breaks down the barriers between computers and humans to a point which we haven’t yet experienced. This is noticeable in all kinds of ways that truly cater to producers. For example, there is an app for putting together beats called Looptastic, in which you just drag and drop the loops from a pool at the bottom of the screen into the mix window above it. There is no clicking around with a mouse and then reaching for a controller (assuming you have one) to mix with. You just drag, position, and release, all in one gesture. The ease of this means that even people who aren’t producers can be putting together loops and simple tracks in no time at all. It’s intuitive, with virtually zero learning curve.

2. Because it is so small, you can just throw it in your bag and go. This is great for musicians who are traveling around on tour, or for those of us who live in major cities and are always on public transportation. As of right now there aren’t a lot of pro recorder apps out, but that is sure to change in the near future. The processor is certainly powerful enough to do basic things on multiple tracks. For DJs it is also great, because with the right app, we will be able to practice mixes on the go. Just plug in headphones and mix away! We’re waiting for Ableton to release a version of Live that works at least a little bit like the computer version! (Hint hint!!!)

For non musical purposes this point is great (and bad – see point 1 in the “what I miss” section below). The size of the iPad means that yeah it’s compact enough to grab and go, but the screen is also large enough to actually type on. Sure, it will take some getting used to, but once you do, there is no finger pecking. In fact, this whole review is being written entirely on an iPad! Apple’s iWork software is extremely useful and easy to use. Editing and spell checking is even easier than I initially assumed!

3. The fact that there is no keyboard or flip screen means that there is a more direct connection between the user and the machine. This isn’t really noticeable until you actually use it for something where you would notice it. For example, when looking at photos for an album cover at the record label I work for, we loaded all the photos into the iPad via iTunes. Then we just passed it around, looking at pictures and discussing. Everyone was chilling in their seats (in our case, a sofa and some cushy chairs) and talking about the pictures on the screen.  There was no need for people to get up and crowd around a computer desk and monitor. While we were looking at the photos, it became apparent that this is how computers were always meant to be used. Not as a machine that you have to move to, but more as a machine that becomes a part of you.

What I Miss:

1. The portability thing that I mentioned above in number 2 is actually a double edged sword. Yeah, it’s great that you can take it with you everywhere, but it also means that work can now encroach even further into our private lives. For example, the urge to whip out the iPad and work on a document on the bus or train will be even larger, and people will really need to allocate more “me time” into their schedules. Devices like the blackberry and iPhone already make email almost all intrusive, and I can see the iPad doing the same thing for other office tasks.

2. Audio interface, anyone? I don’t know of any that are on the horizon, but I’m sure they’re being dreamed up, or even put into production even as we speak! The faster processor combined with the larger screen means that companies can finally start looking into serious apps for music, which means that the hardware will also have to come along shortly. Some devices I can see that are necessary right off the bat? Something for DJs for sure. This wouldn’t require any inputs, just a couple of stereo outs and a headphone jack for cueing. And of course people will want to record, so a basic audio interface with a couple of ins and outs. In fact, the design for this is already on the market: the Apogee duet. The cable design of this interface makes it perfect for the iPad.

3. Here’s something that I’m putting in the “what I miss” section, but is more along the lines of “what I don’t miss”: flash. So many reviewers are crying about the lack of flash on the iPad and iPhone, but I say so what? What is so great about flash anyway that it’s necessary for most functions? My idea of a great web browsing experience is not accidentally mousing over an ad and having a huge popup screen block out most of the content. And apple is notorious for setting the bar high and making others play catch up (USB, FireWire, non-SCSI computers), so should we really be surprised about this omission? No. In a short while, I predict that most websites will see the value in making iPad-ready versions of their sites, so us users won’t even notice the lack of Flash.

Well, there you have it. My initial reaction to the iPad is hugely positive. It’s not going to replace my laptop for certain things such as studio recording and mixing, but it is certainly a great tool for the on-the-go musician. There is so much untapped potential for this product, and I’m eagerly looking forward to what companies will dream up for the near future.

Website: apple.com/ipad
Price: $499 – $699
Get it: store.apple.com

Beatgridding in Traktor

Traktor Scratch Pro and Traktor Pro have proven to be the industry standard in DJ Software.  Traktor can help your DJ workflow tremendously depending on how much work you put into preparing your tracks.  Whether you are using Vinyl, CD’s, MIDI controllers, or even a mouse, Traktor has a very handy button called the “Sync” button.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The proper use of the Sync feature is commonly misunderstood in Traktor.  A common complaint with Traktor is “I press the sync button, and everything goes off.” This problem occurs because Traktor needs to know where the downbeats are in your tracks, as well as the speed (BPM) of your tracks. This is where beatgrids come into play. Beatgrids are the backbone of Traktor.

A Beatgrid is a series of Gridlines set across your tracks that mark the downbeats of your track, and tell Traktor the BPM of the track.

They are like Warp markers in Ableton Live, except setting a beatgrid in Traktor is much easier.  Once you set a beatgrid for your track, the BPM reading of your track will be accurate to the 1/1000th of a BPM, and if you are mixing it with another track that is beatgridded you can visually mix using Traktor’s Phase Meters.

Below is my method of beatgridding in Traktor. Some artists I’ve trained such as Victor Calderone, Dubfire and Nic Fanciulli use this method religiously for every track they play.

I would do all of your beatgrids in your headphones since the music is directly in your ear. I would also recommend doing beatgrids at home or on the flight to your gig, and not live at the gig.

1) Make sure Traktor’s Auto Beatmarker function is turned on by going to Preferences / File Management / BPM Detection Range / and turning on the option “Set Beatgrid when detecting BPM Range”. With this option enabled, Traktor will automatically set a beat marker in your track where it thinks the first downbeat is located. You also might want to change the BPM detection range to the Tempo (BPM) range that you usually DJ at.

2) Next you want Traktor to analyze your new tracks when you load them into a Deck. You will turn on this option by going to the Traktor Preferences / File Management and turning on the option to “Analyze New Tracks when loading into Deck”.  So, when you load a track into a Deck in Traktor for the first time, Traktor will Analyze the gain, transients, and BPM – and with the Auto Grid function turned on, it will place a beatmarker where it thinks the first downbeat is in the track.

3) To make sure you can hear Traktor’s Metronome over the track that you’re beatgridding, set Output routing to  “EXTERNAL” mode by going to the Traktor Preferences / Output routing and changing the output routing to “External”. Also make sure you have an output set for Deck A. For example, if you were using your built in output (Mac’s built in speakers or headphone output), I would set the output for Deck A to Output 1 and 2.

4) In the Traktor Preferences set the Mouse Control to “SNAP” mode by going to Preferences / Transport, and changing the Mouse Control Mode to “SNAP”. This will make it so you can click directly on the transients (kicks, snares etc) inside the track with your mouse. Also Make sure the option to Highlight Beatmarkers is turned on in Preferences / Global View Options

5) The next thing you will want to do is turn the “Cue” button on for Deck A on Traktor’s Mixer, and also turn the tick button on in the Master Panel. This will make it so you can hear a metronome over the track loaded in Deck A.

6) Next open your “Grid” panel in Traktor by clicking on the Arrow beneath the “Active” button in Deck A, and then click on the “Grid” button to open the Grid panel.

7) Now, load a new, unanalyzed track into Deck A in Traktor. When Traktor is finished analyzing the track, you’ll notice a white marker in the Track. This is your auto-beat marker. You’ll also notice a series of evenly spaced white lines across the track. This is your beatgrid. Each of these white lines is where Traktor thinks the beats are in the track.

8) Zoom in as far as possible on the waveform by using the + and – buttons in the deck. Click on the top waveform (in the deck) and click on the first kick drum in the Track with your mouse. You can sample the kick drum by clicking the mouse button and holding it. It is best to set your grid markers on the first beat of a bar.

9) Once you’ve found the first kick drum, set a 4 beat loop starting at this point by clicking on the number “4″ beneath Deck A.

Now click on the play button and listen to how the Metronome lines up with the Track.

10) While the loop is playing, you will want to shift the grid left and right with the top 2 MOVE GRID Buttons. This will shift the entire grid left and right. Keep moving the grid left and right until the metronome is perfectly in sync with your track. If you are new to doing beatgrids, I recommend shifting your grid far to the left and far to the right of the beat, so you can hear how it sounds when the tick is off beat, and then adjusting it back onto the beat – not unlike tuning a guitar. If you need to move the grid faster, you can hold the control button. In this step you are only using the TOP 2 Grid buttons. Do not touch the bottom 2 yet.

11) Now that you have the first 4 beats perfectly synchronized to your metronome, let the track play by clicking on the loop button (4). Now you are going to listen to see if the metronome stays on beat with the track as you skip forward in the track. If it does, then skip through the song by clicking on the waveform and listening at different points of the song to make sure its on beat, then skip to the end.

If the metronome is drifting off beat, listen to the track from the beginning and use the bottom 2 BPM INC / DEC buttons to make the grid lines closer or farther apart. This is also changing the BPM value. Usually for tracks you buy on Beatport you will not have to use the bottom 2 buttons. You will just need to shift the grid left and right, and maybe change the BPM from 127.999 to 128.000.

12) Now set a 4 beat loop at the end of the track, preferably on the last measure of the track that has percussion. Listen to how the metronome lines up with the last 4 beats. If it lines up perfectly, then you are done. If not, use the BPM INC/DEC buttons to compress and expand the grid until the metronome perfectly lines up with the last 4 beats. Now your BPM reading will be accurate to the 1/1000′th of a BPM. Usually if you’re BPM shows up as an even number like 128.000 this means that you don’t have to touch the bottom 2 grid buttons, and that you only need to shift the grid left and right.

13) Once you are done, and the metronome perfectly lines up with the track from beginning to end, click on the LOCK button to save the beatgrid to the track. This will save the beatgrid to the tracks ID3 information and will make it so if you send the track to another Traktor user, they will have your beatgrid, cue points, and loops inside the track. If you do not click the lock Icon, Traktor will still remember your beatgrid in your Traktor collection, but will not write the beatgrid to the actual track.

Now that you have a beatgrid set, you can use Traktor’s SYNC button to keep all of your tracks perfectly synchronized, and they will never go off beat, and all of your loops, and effects will be perfectly on beat.


Making A Good Thing Even Better…

Native Instruments has finally released the long awaited (and hotly debated) new version of Maschine, now available as a public beta to all registered users.  It delivers on a string of very important features that will make it much more functional, both as a plug-in in Ableton (or any other DAW), and as a controller.

The main improvements in my view have to do with host automation and support for MIDI CC’s, as well as the ability to configure Macro controls.  The added MPC program import might be equally import to entrenched MPC fans.

The above features alone will likely entice new people to start looking at Maschine as their MIDI drum production and performance tool of choice.

A new Macro page

Which you can use to remote control group and sound parameters conveniently from one location, and as a connection point to controllers for host sequencer automation.

Assign Macros for automation in Ableton, making Maschine happen in Live, or use MIDI learn with your controller via right click and the turn of a knob.

Or, you might just want to emulate the sound of classic drum machines with the new vintage sound engine.

Another nice feature is the ability to instantly assign a sound with 16 different velocities across all the pads from bottom left (softest) to top right (loudest).

New sampling features have been added by popular demand…

Including some basic destructive editing functions, along with a very smooth zoom and scrolling function, controllable with two knobs.
This feature might even be useful as Ableton audio editor.

Slicing has been upgraded with a new split slice mode that let’s you create a certain number of slices instantly, mapping them to the pads for previewing. In addition, we still can slice by grid or transients. The new manual mode allows for fine tuning of the slices in case the transients were somewhat off. Controlling that process with those hi res knobs and the software display makes that process an unprecedented pleasurable experience;-) remember… a hardware controller is about using less of that mouse.

Speeding up the workflow…
Is the name of the game, and some important actions are much easier to execute in more direct ways (shortcuts) with this update.

Quick changes of volume and tuning for groups and individual sounds…
Is now just one press away on the group selectors or an individual soundpad, then just turn the volume or tuning (tempo) knobs.  This option really opens up new performance possibilities.

Quick replace record by holding rec. and erase button simultaneously.

Silently selecting a sound by pressing the select button while hitting a pad – another important update for live performers. You can now select a pad for editing without causing that pad to sound.

Selecting MIDI events and adjust ranges…
By pressing the select button also gives us a new option in the left display of the controller, where we can now select/deselect all events of a pattern. Whereas in the right display a range of notes can be selected – something that previously could only be done in the software.

New Voice settings…
With polyphony control has been improved on a sound level for gating/re-triggering, legato mode, and playing with glide.

Save project with samples…
Is similar to ‘collect all and save’ in Ableton Live.  This feature helps your projects travel better, or simply  consolidate before backing up.

Defaults under Preferences…
Can be used to set up a start up Template, which helps you to get ready quicker so you can start programing some beats..

My conclusion: I really love this upgrade.  Maschine is also now much more functional in Ableton Live, and the improved integration is very constructive and fun to use.

Happy invasion!

- Heinrich Zwahlen

Various Artists :: Funk Aid For Africa

The term “funk” has different meanings to different people. It could imply a series of horns over an electronica-inspired soul groove. Or maybe a Spanish guitar accompanying a storming drum beat. Or perhaps it requires a smooth voice crooning above a jazz tune. No matter the interpretation, DJ OBaH made sure any fan of the term has something to enjoy on the first installment of New York City-based production school dubSpot’s compilation series. With 100% of the proceeds going to the construction of a “green” playground for children of a South African organization (called Youth with a Vision) that runs AIDS prevention programs, listeners can spend their hard-earned money on this knowing their contributions are certainly going to a positive cause.

And while feeling good about yourself for donating, you can keep the upbeat emotions running while listening to this release. The mix is designed to get your dance on, as contributors include versatile soundmakers J Boogie’s Dubtronic Science and the NYC Afropunk band Kokolo Afrobeat Orchestra. Other notable cuts include The Lions’ brassy “Jungle Struttin” and vocalist Ursula Rucker’s spiritual “Electric Santeria (Remix by King Britt).” Whether it be the uptempo vibes of the music or the good-hearted feeling one gets after performing a charitable deed, purchasing this album and supporting the cause is well worth the money and the effort.