Tuesday 31 August 2010

Danny Krivit: The art of the edit

"I make my edits for my dance floor; for myself." Ahead of the release of his Edits by Mr. K 2 compilation, veteran New York selector Danny Krivit talks on camera about the first edits he ever put together.

Thursday 26 August 2010

At Ones Rinse Fm Set + Kina Mawazo Ep


Check out last fridays exclusive mix and mini interview from myself on Music Mans show. Thanx 4 having me. Right click to download.
At One on Rinse Fm

If you have heard heres my first solo release so please support the movement......

Purchase Here:
whatpeopleplay - At One / Kina Mawazo

At One - Kina Mawazo - Traxsource.com - the best House Music WAV and MP3 downloads
http://www.defected.com/store/details/At+One/Kina+Mawazo/1801/d

Kina Mawazo Ep by At One by At One

Thanks for your continued support.

Peace an blessins

Wednesday 25 August 2010

This Weekends Activities

SOULFOUNDATIONS @ 143 BAR WATFORD, Saturday 28th.

Catch me down at Soulfoundations, spinning the finest in deep/soulful/afrocentric house.

Line Up

At One

Blue Boy

Time:8:00 pm - 1:00 am
Venue: 143 The Parade, High Street, Watford, Hertfordshire
Cost: ??? (not much)

restless soul @ East Village, Saturday 28th.


Line Up

Danny Krivit
Noel Watson
Aaron Ross
Alex Bradley
Dominic Jacobson
Phil Asher

Time: 9:00 pm - 3:30 am
Venue: East Village, 89 Great Eastern Street, Shoreditch, London, EC2
Cost: £10



More About Music Presents...The Notting Hill Carnival Jam 2010 (Part 1) @ Fat Badger, Sunday 29th.

Line Up

ROOM 1

JERRY DAMMERS (The Specials / The Spatial AKA Orchestra)
RED RACK'EM (smugglers inn)
SOULED (fresh minute music)
NICK V (Mona/Paris)
NICK REES (Adela St)
MISS D LOVE (Reading Rooms, Dundee)

ROOM 2

MATTHEW BANDY (Limestone Rec)
DEMARKUS LEWIS (Grin Music)
WBEEZA (Third Ear)
ROMAN RAUCH (Tjumy/Austria)
DAVE HARDY (Jus'House)
DAN J (DWB)

Time: 4pm-11pm
Venue: Fat Badger Pub 310 Portobello Road/Goldborne road, London, United Kingdom
Cost: Advance tickets available from the fat badger pub on 0208 969 4500, Tickets £7

More About Music Presents...The Notting Hill Carnival Jam 2010 (Part 2) @ Fat Badger, Monday 30th.

Line Up

ROOM 1
Hosted by restless soul

Phil Asher
Aaron Ross
Jose Carretas
Dominic Jacobson
Bopstar
Luke McCarty & Craig Whitfield (HHA)
Live Pa's from Selina Campbell & Guests

ROOM 2

Special Guest
Altered Natives (Eye4Eye/MoreAboutMusic)
Simbad
Donn T (live Pa/moreaboutmusic)
Ceramic (Eye4Eye/MoreAboutMusic)
Ladybugz

Time: 4pm-11pm
Venue: Fat Badger Pub 310 Portobello Road/Goldborne road, London, United Kingdom
Cost: Advance tickets available from the fat badger pub on 0208 969 4500, Tickets £7

Monday 23 August 2010

Time To Get iLL Music With Crazy Larry


New York-based DJ/producer Crazy Larry will begin a new label, Time To Get iLL Music, early next year.

Conceived as an extension of the parties Larry throws under the Time To Get iLL banner, the imprint will aim to offer "a platform for like minded artists to release the music that they want to make, not music they think has to be a chart topper." The first release will arrive from Glacier—the collaborative project between Larry and Pier Bucci—and will act as a follow-up to the duo's Rocky Mountains EP for Wagon Repair, which was put out back in 2007.

A deep house excursion from Canadian producer Jay Tripwire has been lined-up for Time To Get iLL #2, while the third release on the label will be something of a concept record. The Bolt Bus EP (named after the Boston to New York service) will see Larry collaborate with three Boston-based artists, namely Soul Clap, Tanner Ross and Adam Collins. We caught up with the crazy one via email to ask what to expect from Time To Get iLL Music.

Tell us about the thinking behind starting Time To Get iLL Music?

So the gist of the label is simple: I have been doing events for almost five years now, and I just wanted to take my career and parties in general a step further. Parties come and go but you really don't have anything lasting with events. Sure, you can keep flyers and recordings, but having a vinyl out and about is a more lasting icon. I have always wanted to do a label, and I think the time is right now.

I'm not looking to sign huge hits and chart toppers, but I am looking to run a consistent label with good music that DJs like myself and other serious artists (much like the Air London peeps) can count on every release. I also want to tie the label into artists that I have previously booked, or people that I meet along the way with doing events. Kind of keeping it in the family so to speak.

You and Pier Bucci are on the first release as Glacier: How did you two meet?

We met when Pier came to Denver for the first time back in 2005, I think. He was playing for a party I was helping promote. We hit it off right away; we talked gear and production for hours into the night. We both wish we had more time, but he had to get to the next gig. We stayed in touch, and about a year later I was going to start doing my own party in Denver, Uddermadness. Pier ended up being the first artist I booked for the opening party. He was either going to stay in Denver all week, or head to NY and stay in a hotel... I proposed we chill out in Denver and go to the mountains, as I had a cabin at St Mary's glacier, so we decided to take apart my studio and head up there for the week. After four days of hiking, cooking, and lots of music making, we had a finished EP! I sent the tracks a few months later to my friend at Wagon Repair, and the rest is history.

Are there any plans to take the partnership into the live arena?

We have played live a few time already, and plan to tour on the release. First was in London at Dig Your Own Rave at T Bar—Matthew Styles' party. Next was for the first Cheap Sunglasses Party at WMC... that was a massive one, and we played in Ibiza last year at the Zoo party.

What's coming up for the label?

Details of all the releases are HERE. And [I'm] going to try and sign a few more things before the first one is out...

Tracklist: Glacier - Cabeza
1. Cabeza
2. Cotril Gardens
3. Pirate

Time To Get iLL Music will release Glacier's Cabeza in February 2011.

Friday 20 August 2010

Some Interesting stuff to watch.....

Karizma @ Suncebeat Croatia Boat Party on Aug 14 2010


Take a tour of the Moog factory
This ten minute clip was shot at the iconic synth manufacturer's North Carolina base.

Wednesday 18 August 2010

This Weekends Activities

Buzzin' Fly @ Plastic People, Friday 20th August.

Line Up

Ben Watt
Chris Woodward

Time: 10:00pm - 4:00am
Venue: Plastic People, 147-149 Curtain Road, EC2A 3QE
Cost: £7.50 - £10


NONSENSE @ PLASTIC: SPECIAL GUEST - DEGO (2000 BLACK), Saturday 21st August.

Line Up

NONSENSE RESIDENTS:

JUDAH
BENNY BLANCO
MR.WONDERFUL

SPECIAL GUEST:

DEGO (2000 Black)

Time: 10:00pm - 4:00am
Venue: Plastic People, 147-149 Curtain Road, EC2A 3QE
Cost: £6


Together All Day Terrace Party @ Dex Club, Sunday 22nd August.

Line Up

Phil Asher
Zepherin Saint
Broadcite
Jose Carretas
Dennis Christensen
Rap Saunders
Kristel Morin
Martin Lodge
Matt L-S

Time: 1.00pm - 0.00am
Venue: Dex Club/ 467-469 Brixton Road, SW9 8HH
Cost: £5 early bird tickets from www.ticketweb.co.uk. More on the door

Tuesday 17 August 2010

The Project.....

Caught wind of this movement going down.... Thought y'all should know..... Looks dope.

What is the Project?

"We wanted to do something special for the Five Year Anniversary of 5 Magazine - something for the community, and something which has never been done before."

"We wanted to create a multimedia project documenting the producers who are making Chicago move NOW, in 2010, with in-depth interviews and features. We wanted to include a track from these artists as well."

"And we wanted to give it away completely free."

"This is our and the contributing artists' (multiple Grammy®-nominated producers and remixers among them) gift to Chicago, and to DJs and fans around the world. It's a snapshot of the many styles of Chicago House Music in 2010, and a tribute to the producers that make it happen."

The complete list of contributing artists is available at 5chicago.com/theproject.

"The Project launched on August 16, 2010, worldwide and available to everyone, at 5chicago.com/theproject. Two new videos and free tracks by the contributing artists will be updated every day, Monday through Friday, until we're through."'

5 Magazine 5 Year Anniversary Project with Chicago's Biggest House Music Stars from Czarina Mirani on Vimeo.

Monday 16 August 2010

HOW TOGET YOUR DEMO HEARD.......

In a digital world the unsolicited demo still remains a popular way to discover new musical talent. But what makes a good demo and how do you decide which labels to send it to? David Felton reports.

Getting a demo into the hands of the right person has been the most consistently effective way of being discovered in the music industry for as long as recorded music has been around. Back in the day it was tapes; lovingly artworked and recorded on crunchy four tracks before being handed to A&Rs in sweaty clubs. Then it was CDs, often by post and with the obligatory band name and contact number scrawled onto the surface (with the occasional bribe thrown into the envelope for good measure). Nowadays it is usually an mp3; either emailed direct to the label or uploaded to their Soundcloud dropbox in the hope of garnering a listen from their head honchos.

Though the medium has changed, the goal – and the prize – has remained the same: to impress the label and subsequently find a place on their artist roster.

Of course, it’s not an easy ask. Labels – particularly the more established ones – receive scores, sometimes hundreds, of demos each week. That means you need to do everything you can to make yours stand out, in terms of the music, the production, and the way it’s presented.

How then do you ensure that your own demo has the best chance of being heard – and responded to?

Not before you’re ready

It may seem blindingly obvious, but avoid submitting demos that aren’t finished. One of the key complaints among labels is that many of the demos they receive are works in progress: tracks that are at best incomplete, unmixed and at worst just ideas – eight bar sections that a producer thinks could make a great track.

Although the intentions behind sending these ideas may be good, it’s easy to see why labels get frustrated: they want to a sign a track (and potentially an artist); not an idea. You owe it to yourself, your songs, and the label, to finish the tracks you send in: if you can’t be bothered to finish the track, why should the label be bothered to take any further interest in you? And when a label says ‘finished’, they mean finished; as in, fully mixed and with a proper ending.

The label may – occasionally – decide to re-record your demo, or give it a subtle touch-up, but the days of labels remaking tracks, particularly in the dance music world, are long gone. If you make indie, pop or rock then chances are that an 80% complete track will be enough to catch a label’s interest. Not so for electronic music: labels want to buy into a producer as much as a track. And a quality producer won’t send a half-finished demo.

Mastering the demo tracks you send, incidentally, is not essential. If you’re confident doing so, by all means do a bit of pre-mastering – some gentle multiband compression and limiting – but don’t bother spending cash on a pro job. A label understands that demo tracks are, ultimately, still demos and they will usually have a favourite mastering engineer they use across their output anyway.

Where?

Your first question when submitting demos will be which labels to send it to. There is no point in adopting a scatter-gun approach, firing off your demo to as many labels as you can in the hope that one of your musical seeds falls on fertile ground. One of the drawbacks of email and Soundcloud demo submission options has been that it requires little effort to upload demos to a host of labels in next to no time. But this kind of method rarely yields results and can have the inverse effect of alienating labels (some labels will require that any demos sent to them are only sent to them, their thinking being that there’s no point in listening to tracks that may get signed to another label).
It’s much better to take a focused approach; identifying the labels that release the kind of music you make and who will therefore be more likely to like – and therefore sign – your tracks.
If you are immersed in a specific music scene it should be easy to make a shortlist of labels: you’ll already have a natural affinity with many of them – you’ll probably buy from them and may have been to some of their club nights. If you are more isolationist in your music making then it’s time to start researching: head to Beatport or DJ Download and listen to the top 100 tracks in the genre your tracks most fittingly inhabit. Then follow links to the 30 or so labels that you think will be most interested in your demo. Read about each label; see what kind of artists they have signed and ask yourself how you would fit into their roster. Whittle down your list of chosen labels to around 20: this final list will be your hit list.

Who?

So you’ve identified the labels you’re going to submit your demo to. Now it’s time to do some research, and find out who at the label to send to, what format they like demos in, and what email / Soundcloud / postal addresses to mail the demo to. This often tiresome research stage will see you scour the net, trawling label websites and myspace pages in search of the golden contact details. But it’s time well spent.
To make your job easier, start a spreadsheet and on each row put the label name, website address, list the styles they concentrate on releasing and then record any contact details you may have – like email addresses or postal addresses. Your aim at this stage is to build up a simple database of label contacts to whom you will send your demo.
Many of the bigger labels offer clear demo submission policies, with specific instructions on where to send them, or with email addresses of the A&R representative: look out for ‘Demo’ areas on label websites – usually on the Contact Us or About Us pages. If you find one then your life’s been made much easier: just whack all the info into your spreadsheet and save it. Many of the bigger labels have clear demo pages – like Toolroom Records or CR2.

For the labels that don’t offer demo submission info as easily (probably the majority), you’ll need to do some research. So get your hands dirty and fire off an email to the site contact, or the A&R person (if there is one), or fill in the label’s online contact form.

Keep emails short and sweet; polite and undemanding (bear in mind your recipient will be busy – probably a lot busier than you). Let them answer your email in one line. A suggested email might be: “Hi, I’m interested in submitting a demo to you. Can I confirm where to send it please?”. It’s also worth saying that if you can get a name of the A&R contact (often these are listed on the contacts page of the label’s website) then it’s worth noting down: getting a personalised email is more likely to win you favours from the receiver than just a blanket “Hi, Here’s my demo”: it shows, at the very least, that you’ve spent some time on research, which a label will appreciate.

How?

As important as ‘Who?’ is ‘How?’
Does your target label want demos dumped into their Soundcloud dropbox, or emailed direct or even (shock of all shocks!) sent by post? Find out exactly how the label lieks demos to be submitted and then follow their guidelines to the letter. In a Sounds To Sample survey of over 1,000 dance music labels, the majority asked for mp3s to be uploaded (via yousendit or similar) and then the link sent to the label’s A&R by email. The next biggest group asked for demos to be uploaded either to the label’s Soundcloud dropbox or using an online form on their website. The smallest group asked for CD-Rs. None of the labels welcomed mp3s attached to emails – and unsurprisingly: the amount of space that even the most compressed mp3 takes up in the recipient’s inbox, when multiplied by 20 or 30 a week, makes such a method a logistical headache.
Labels may ask for all kinds of other things. They may specify the bitrate of the mp3 (192 and 320kbps are favourites) and many will ask that the mp3 is labelled sensibly to indicate the name of the artist and the track name. If you’re not doing that then it’s worth doing anyway as a matter of industry good practise: using the format ArtistName_TrackTitle.mp3 will make life easy for the label.

To artwork or not to artwork

A perennial question that has taxed demo submitters from day one has been to what extent demo artwork matters. In the old days it did matter: the A&R assistant trawling through a thousand tapes / CDs would gravitate towards the ones with striking or quality artwork. Musicians were advised to send their demo in with good artwork and a well considered press release telling the recipient a little about the band / artist. It was all about making a good initial impression which would lead in turn to that ever-important demo listen.

But things have changed. If you’re sending an email with demo attached, or uploading to SoundCloud, there’s not much you can do with artwork, although it is worth writing a few carefully worded sentences about yourself as an artist, detailing any tracks you’ve had released, any radio support the track has received, any live work (DJing or touring) that you do and why you’ve sent the tracks to the label in question. Keep it brief, spell check before pressing send and, as ever, keep what you say polite, positive and friendly.

Patience

When you’ve submitted your demo be prepared to wait. The sheer volume of material received by label A&Rs means that there’s a perennial backlog of tracks to listen to, and the truth is, most labels will put aside just an hour or so a week, when they’re not crazy busy, to listen to the music of new hopefuls. The kinder labels often offer a few paragraphs on their demo submission pages saying how long you might expect to wait for a response, but while you twiddle your thumbs bear in mind that:
- you may not get a response at all (even if it’s a no)
- if you do get a response then it could take as long as a month to arrive
- so there’s no point in moping while you wait. Instead get busy making your next track, and make it even stronger..

Follow up / Feedback

After you’ve waited for as long as your patience allows (a fortnight at least), it’s time to return to your spreadsheet and do a few follow-up calls or emails. This step is as much about keeping your name in the A&R person’s consciousness as about pushing them to listen to your track, but – as long as you avoid becoming a stalking e-pest – it’s a step worth taking.
All you need to do is email your original A&R contact and ask them if they’ve received the demo and whether they’ve managed to find time to listen to it. They may or may not reply, and they may or may not have listened to it, but your email could, at the least, prompt a response from them, even if it’s a no.

Of course, much better is a yes. And somewhere between yes and no is a reply that offers some feedback on your song.
Although fewer labels do it than in the old days, it is still fairly common practise, particularly among smaller labels, or if a label likes, but doesn’t love, your track, for them to write back to you with some feedback and / or suggested amends relating to the demo. The label may not like the beats or they may suggest cutting a verse. Whatever they tell you is gold-dust. In the endless learning curve of music making and production the feedback received from a label should be treated seriously. Take time to thank the label for sending it through. And if you admire the label take what they’ve said on board.

The wider picture

One can’t end an article on demos without noting the wider industry trend away from a ‘purely music’ approach to a ‘music plus fans’ approach to signing an act. While the demo could, in the past, be the sole means to a signing, labels are now looking for evidence of your appeal and success as an artist. In a world where your number of friends can be established on Facebook, and your fanbase on Myspace, labels are far more likely to sign the act that has 5,000 plays than a slightly better one that has none.
In an industry in which cash is at best in short supply, labels want to back the winning horse: not one that has no experience on the racetrack. If you can present them with a list of remix credits that include a few bigger names, and a Myspace page with more than 100,000 views then you will have something to interest them – even before they listen to your demo.
Not everyone is able to provide such an attractive offer to a label, of course, but everyone is able to spend some time refining their online offering – whether it’s their website, or their Myspace pages – to show that they’re as serious about their identity as about their music. It’s the digital equivalent of the nice CD package and could make the difference between being signed or ignored.

And five top tips for getting your demo heard…

1. Never send your demo as an email attachment. They clog up the inboxes of busy label executives and often end up in the trash (sometimes automatically). The vast majority of labels who welcome demos by email ask that the demos are uploaded somewhere else, like yousendit, Soundcloud, or your own website, and that ONLY THE LINK is embedded in the email. Remember to include contact information, including your telephone number, in the email you send them, as well as a few lines (and ONLY a few) about who you are, any achievements in the industry and the size of your following – if you are lucky enough to have one.

2. Be careful when naming mp3s. Include the artist name and the name of the track. This will help labels identify the tracks alongside the email. It’s never a bad idea to go one step further and also tag your mp3s. Tagging is used in the consumer world to make organising large music collections easy. An mp3’s tagged ‘metadata’ (song title, artist name, genre and so on) is stored in a tiny companion file called an ID3 container, and all details can be edited by you. Tagging demos mean that even if they get divorced from the email you sent with them, the label will be able to identify the artist name – and even your email address.

3. Encode mp3s at 320kbps. It is good enough to offer a fairly faithful rendition of your track in terms of quality, but is not so big as to make streaming cumbersome.

4. Create some heat. Send your tracks to radio DJs, or try to get some online (or offline) press and PR. Spend some time cultivating your online presence. If you’re on Myspace, Soundcloud or Facebook invest some hours (and maybe a little cash) in pleasing, accessible design. Offer an incentive for ‘fans’ to join your Facebook or Youtube fan pages and ramp up your plays. If a label likes a demo their next step is often to look at your website. If they get there and are greeted with out of date tracks, lousy artwork and little indication of life then you are damaging their first impression. A little time spent ensuring colour schemes work, that any text is spelt correctly, and that you have more than your best mates as followers will all help push you to the top of the A&R pile. Too many musicians are guilty of spending weeks on a mix and only minutes on their web presence. Do yourself a favour: ensure the latter reflects the quality of your music.

5. Go for quality over quantity every time. Resist the urge to send labels every new track you make. If they don’t rate your first few tracks they’ll soon start to ignore your emails. A much better approach is to work hard on one or two tracks and then mail these through – two tracks every three or four months to a single label is reasonable. Timely submissions of quality material will always yield better results than endless bombardments of mediocrity.

Good luck!

Friday 13 August 2010

Kina Mawazo Ep By At One out on Yoruba Records

Here is my new long awaited ep out on Yoruba Records, thanks to everyone for there support and help.

Here is the first review I have scene from what people play: "This is Yoruba Records at its finest. At One aka Richard Ward delivers an EP of the coolest proportions; deep, euphoric vibes that will almost certainly provide the backdrop to sunsets for the rest of the summer. ‘Ashiha’ leads this chilled affair with some with its tribal drum programming that wouldn’t be out of place on the beaches of Benirras. ‘Brukker Dance’ and ‘The Rhythm Africa’ provide a house vibe and ‘Uno Gara’ completes this awesome collection of slickly programmed tracks."
Kina Mawazo Ep by At One by At One

Purchase Here:
whatpeopleplay - At One / Kina Mawazo

At One - Kina Mawazo - Traxsource.com - the best House Music WAV and MP3 downloads

http://www.defected.com/store/details/At+One/Kina+Mawazo/1801/d

The release will be on general release from the 28th so iTunes etc etc.

Thanks for your continued support.

Peace an blessins

Thursday 12 August 2010

The future of DJing? & Charitable Sound Library Plugins

How does playing from a giant multi-touch sheet of glass sound? Take a look at this video showing the töken concept and decide for yourself.

"emulator" on töken concept from yöyen munchausen on Vimeo.



Planet Earth
Pay What You Want Sound Library & VST/AU - 50% to Charity!

Planet Earth is a new Sound Library packed full of great sounds for electronica, ambient and dance music producers. Until the end of August you can choose what you want to pay for it, and at least 50% of proceeds will go to charity.

It features 150 stunning sounds and Alchemy Player VST/AU. Sounds include massive pads, deep soundscapes, pulsating arps and fat basses. Alchemy Player offers an additional 150 sounds.

Pay what you want. The library was produced with the same uncompromising attention to detail as all other Camel Audio Sound Libraries which sell for $59, but until the end of August, you name your price!

50% to environmental charity Friends of the Earth. By default, the amount is split equally between FOE and Camel Audio, but you can tweak the split any way you'd like.

http://www.camelaudio.com/Planet-Earth-Sound-Sample-Library.php

Features

Number of Sounds: 150 (1200 variations)

Sound Categories: 35 Pads, 29 Soundscapes, 19 Arpeggiated, 17 Loops, 15 Bass, 11 Synths, 9 Keys, 6 Vocals, 5 Mallets, 4 Leads - view full preset list

Genres: Electronica, Ambient, Dance, IDM

Sound Designer: Andre Ettema, BigTone, Yuroun, biomechanoid, Nick Moritz, Himalaya, Ian Boddy, bManic, patchen preston, Cyforce, Bryan Lee

Download Size: 370 MB

Requirements: Alchemy Player (included) or Alchemy

Soundwise, Planet Earth is jammed with jungle soundscapes and tribal rhythms, industrial basses and warped machines. From ancient ritual to glimpses of alternate futures, it offers a world of new sounds for modern electronica, ambient and dance, yet manages to be both warm, lush, light and airy, as well as dark, dramatic and icy, just like Planet Earth itself.

Featuring gamelan bowls and oriental bells, bamboo bongos, glass instruments, mechanical pianos, electronic and vocal drones, Planet Earth features 320MB of new samples, including rich pads, ethnic loops, inventive soundscapes, powerful electronic basses as well as synthesisers and broken machines. It was created by a talented team of sound designers from around the globe.

Alchemy Player - Included Free!

Alchemy Player is a software instrument with an inspiring 360MB sample library and 150 instrument sounds including evolving soundscapes, lush pads, and pulsing arpeggios. Built with the Alchemy engine under the hood, it provides ready to play sounds that can be easily tweaked via the intuitive interface.

Alchemy Sound Libraries offer numerous advantages over sample libraries:
tweak sounds to fit your music using the perform controls and remix pads. Better, more responsive sounds provided by powerful synthesis and modulation. Smaller download sizes and less disk space thanks to resynthesis.

Wednesday 11 August 2010

This Weekends Activities

2020 Vision with 2020 Soundsystem, Crazy P & Mcde @ Village Underground, Saturday 14th August.


Line Up

2020 Soundsystem Live
Crazy P Soundsystem
Motor City Drum Ensemble
Simon Baker
Julien Chaptal
Ralph Lawson
jozif

+ support from:
Craig Torrance
Chris Halliday
Danny Raper

Time: 6pm - 6am
Venue: Village Underground, 54 Holywell Lane, Shoreditch, EC2A 3PQ
Cost: £10 earlybirds, £12 b4 10pm, £15 Standard Ticket.



All Friends presents Drumpoet Community @ Egg, Saturday 14th August.


Line Up

Quarion and Soultourist (Drumpoet Community)
DJ Le Roi (DeepTown Music)
Zaki
Sam Russo
More tba

Time: 10pm - 7am
Venue: Egg, 200 York Way, Kings Cross. London. N1. England
Cost: £12/10

Monday 9 August 2010

Review of Deep Cover @ Dex Club, Sat 7th Aug.


First I would like to say my apologies to the boys from Souled and Ms Marcia Carr as I missed their sets. But as always I was informed and I hear Marcia came fresh, with cuts from prototype to vintage and had all the djs peering over (for the names of all the tunes) so biggups Ms Carr. Then onto Souled, well the production duo always come fresh... anyone who knows their productions can expect them to run things just right and i'm told thats just what they did. Also pictured is the lovely Miss Lyric L, who touched the mic to give abit of va voom.

An so it begins as I enter around 10 ish the party is going along to the jazzy house sounds of Simon Boi co-founder of this new and exciting night, Simon always seems to know the right warm up music to play and I must say he does it very well, not to mention his ability to play a closing set, a talented Dj.



Next up we had Blue Boy, well what can I say other than he thumped the life out of it!! Blue boy was dropping that good hard deep house, with an eclectic mix of vocals thrown in there, not to mention a great tune to end on :-). Blue Boy upped the tempo and got people really going for it, another great performance from him the other co-founder of this night.



By this it was rammed as you can see, people bubbling, having a great time (just like we used). this night I have to say, brings back memories of how going out used to be and what fun you can have when there are no idiots in the dance!! Congrats on always getting that right boys.

An so it was time for Sy Sez to brace the decks and he truley played a stonker biggups to him on that, anyone there will tell you that for two hours the dancefloor was rammed with people just sweating for the love of deep house music. Sy played a dope range of tracks he went from new to old playing some classic records, those classics that were kick, snare, hat, bass, groove and done!! Nothing else was needed! So as usual a wicked performance from Sy Sez, he has obviously been taking notes from me!!! lolololol


Up After Sy was the main feature for the night Mr Paul Trouble Anderson, who played a dope selection of oldskool jams. As always it was Troubles house and the people loved it. So biggups to Trouble.

As always the round up says, WHENS THE NEXT ONE LADS????? You got a slamming night, so keep it up!! Keep them coming....

Deep Cover a brand you can trust, which has my signed and sealed band of approval..!

Friday 6 August 2010

How Vinyl Records Are Made.....

Vinyl records have a unique place in the world of music media. Aside from their warm analog tone, vinyl is the only popular medium that is nearly impossible to create or duplicate at home – something that can’t be claimed by cassettes, CDs, DVDs, and certainly not mp3s.

Now, if you haven’t seen the exact process in how records are created, you might be surprised at how much manual cooperation is involved. From inspecting the metal pressing discs and the lacquered masters, to centering the disc for hole punching, you’ve got sweet old ladies who are meticulously making sure your music will sound great. And the actual assembly process, even with automation, is like something you’d see in a Detroit auto maker’s factory: heavy hydraulic equipment pressing hot platters into precision shapes, rotating slicers, and vacuum-assisted label placers.

You can watch the whole process happen, courtesy of Discovery’s “How It’s Made” – part two is where things get interesting.



Thursday 5 August 2010

Tech info on the, Moog synthesiser .....


In the Moog ... Dr Robert with his iconic synthesiser in 1970. Photograph: Hilton Archive/Getty Images/Jack Robinson
What are they? The most iconic synthesisers of all time. FACT.

Who uses them? Pretty much anyone with an interest in electronic music will have had a dalliance with a Moog at some point, so enduring is their legacy and appeal. But it was Walter (later Wendy) Carlos who first brought attention to Moog and synthesisers in general with the landmark Switched-On Bach album in 1968. Here's a Spotify playlist of other Moog heroes.

How do they work? Dr Robert Moog's great innovation was voltage control. Previous attempts at synthesiser-type instruments, such as the Hammond Novachord or the hulking United States Air Force-constructed RCA Mark II, generated sound using hundreds of individual vacuum tubes. But the invention of the transistor prompted electrician Moog to consider using voltage to control the frequency of an oscillator (which generates pitch) as well as loudness. By using basic increments of one volt per octave change of pitch, Moog was able to make simple circuits using everyday components. His 1964 paper Voltage-Controlled Music Modules – which initially proposed the idea – invented the analogue synth as we know it.

Where do they come from? At 14, entranced by Clara Rockmore, Bob Moog made his first theremin. Years later one of Moog's theremins would fall into the hands of the godfather of electronic music, Raymond Scott, who invited the young electrician to see how he was using it. Moog's theremin had been gutted, its innards wired up into a keyboard-controlled contraption Scott called the Clavivox, which had a profound influence on Moog. He continued to build circuits for Scott's technology throughout the 50s, and in 1964 debuted his first Moog modular synthesiser.

Comprising a potentially infinite array of oscillators, filters, noise generators, ring modulators, triggers and mixers, linked by telephone exchange-type patch cables, and played using joysticks, pedals, ribbon controllers and keyboards, the modular Moogs had no interest in replicating existing instruments. They were machines for creating sound that sounded electronic. Massive, fragile and impossible to tune, the modulars were designed and built to order in consultation with high-end consumers, but synthesisers at this point were far out of the price range (and comprehension) of the average musician. This all changed with the launch of the Minimoog in 1970 – a portable, sturdy and powerful keyboard synth designed for concert performances. Tweaked now so that the synthesiser could reliably perform as either a melodic lead or propulsive bass instrument (rather than just as a complex sound-generating machine), the Minimoog changed everything.

Why are they classic? Though technically ingenious and historically significant, what we really love Moogs for is their sound. Synth nerds might rep just as hard for less-hyped gems such as the EMS VCS3, but the Moogs oozed character. Their sound could be quirky, kitsch and cute, or pulverising, but it was always identifiable as Moog.

What's the best ever Moog song? There are so many 70s Moog-pop chart classics. Hot Butter's Popcorn, Space's Magic Fly to name another, Autobahn and Are "Friends" Electric? all rank pretty highly. But in 1977 Giorgio Moroder pulled the voice of God from the void. Everything that isn't the kick drum or Donna Summer are the big-brained dreams of a Moog modular. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you I Feel Love.

Five facts and things

1) Stop pronouncing Moog with an "ooh". It should rhyme with "vogue". At least that's how Bob Moog chose to pronounce his surname, although the original Dutch variant is something entirely different. The "vogue" pronunciation makes the pun in the Moog Rogue more apparent, but the pun in The Plastic Cow Goes MOOOOOOg sadly redundant.

2) The pitch control on the Modular Moogs was so shonky because few of Dr Moog's early customers – sound artists, choreographers, and studios interested in electronic sound effects - were interested in playing conventional melody on the instruments, so making the things stay in tune seemed a low priority.

3) Gary Numan's classic breakthrough, The Pleasure Principle, is almost an album-length advert for the Polymoog. Those beautiful, stark, synth-strings frozen all over the songs is the Polymoog's Vox Humana preset.

4) After a serious of disasterous changes in ownership, Bob Moog left his own company in 1978. He worked as a consultant on other electronic music innovations such as the Fairlight CMI, and in the 90s manufactured his own theremins and Moogerfooger effects pedals. It wasn't until 2002 that he reacquired the Moog Music name and returned to synths with the Voyager – a well-received update of the Minimoog.

5) Dr Moog sadly passed away in 2005, at the age of 71. The last synth to bear his creative input was the posthumously released Little Phatty. Moog Music has since made inroads in the guitar market, with the launch of the Moog Guitar in 2008.

Wednesday 4 August 2010

This Weekends Activities

DeepCover feat Paul Trouble Anderson/Sy Sez/Marcia Carr/Souled & more @ Dex, Saturday 7th.

Line Up

THE LEGENDARY PAUL TROUBLE ANDERSON
SY SEZ (Aphrodisiax - Soulheaven)
MARCIA CARR (LadybugZ)
SOULED (Fresh Minute Music)
SI BOI (DeepCover)
BLUEBOY (DeepCover)

Time:5pm - 4am
Venue:Dex Club and Terrace, 467-468 Brixton Road, London, SW9 8HH
Cost: £7 Advance tickets from http://www.etickets.to/buy/?e=5180
£7 Before 7PM (£12 after)
£7 Badgeholders (all night)

Tribe, Slick Management & Ancestral Soul Boat Party @ Corsica Studios, Saturday 7th.

Line Up

Manoo (RealTone FR)
ZEPHERIN SAINT (Tribe)
Kinetic P (Pushfm.com)
DJ CROOKID (Unknownfm)
MATT LS (Tribe)
DJ SELEKTAA (Slickmanagement)
BAMBI
BANDRA
DJ SKETCH
VELLY
VOOC
SHEYI ON PERCUSSIONS

Time: 7:00pm - 7:00am
Venue: Corsica Studios, 5 Elephant Road. London SE17 1LB
Cost: £30 Boat Cruise along River Thames & after-party / £10 Adv tickets afterparty only / £15 Door after party only

Monday 2 August 2010

How to get in Anywhere + Free Partner Instrument Compilation for Ableton

A 5 minute to prove all you need is a cliche hoodie and a record bag. Its true tho...... lol











More DIY videos at 5min.com


Free Live Pack: Partner Instrument Compilation


Ableton's favorite sound designers have developed a rich collection of instruments custom-made for Ableton Live: the Partner Instruments. Now, we're giving away the Partner Instrument Compilation — a free 2.9GB Live Pack that provides a selection of content taken from the Partner Instruments. It includes everything from acoustic pianos and electronic drums to exotic instruments and cinematic soundscapes.

http://www.ableton.com/Partner Instrument Compilation