Video Interview With Jacob Korn On Production and More.

Jacob Korn spoke with Tony Nwachukwu about his music making, a move to Dresden and experiences at Red Bull Music Academy and beyond. 

A Video of Ableton 9's New Features!

Watch MK make a new dub: Part 3

FACT drop part three of their production workshop with the highly influential US house producer.

If you missed part one earlier this week.....

Watch MK make a new dub: Part two

FACT drop part two of their production workshop with the highly influential US house producer.



If you missed part one earlier this week.....

Marc ‘MK’ Kinchen shows FACT TV how to make an MK Dub (part 1)

Marc 'MK' Kinchen has been one of house music's most distinctive and celebrated remixers since the early 1990s.

A hero to generations of house and garage producers -- most notably Todd 'The God' Edwards, who's claimed in the past that without MK there'd be no Todd -- the way MK chops up vocals, syllable by syllable, to say entirely new things, has contributed to countless classics, and is a trick that's been used by everyone from Burial to Mount Kimbie since.

One of the modern producers most inspired by MK is Hot City's DJ Haus. The biggest Kinchen expert we know, we put Haus in the studio with MK last week, with two aims: to come out with an MK remix of Haus's 'Needing U', and to produce a video where MK shows FACT TV how he makes his remixes. For fans of Kinchen and garage, and budding producers in general, this should be an education and a half. Here's part one.

Filmed by Anoushka Siegler & Kamil Dymek

Interview: Roman Flügel "I can’t explain decisions"

Writers have a notoriously hard time describing Roman Flügel’s style. Incredibly multi-faceted, a non-conformist and one of the stalwarts on the German electronic scene, Flügel recently released his very first album under his own name. Fatty Folders has drawn rave reviews for its diverse content (who could expect anything different, considering Flügel’s body of work?) and we were privileged to catch up with the artist to discuss Germany’s importance on the electronic music scene, producing solo albums and eighties acid house.


You became interested in electronic music after you listened to your brother's Chicago house music. Which particular artists inspired you back then?
Actually, it was because my brother handed me a compilation of House Trax from the DM Street Sounds series as a Christmas present back in `87. It’s still the most influential compilation of my life because it introduced me to acid house and early techno containing tracks like Phuture’s 'Phuture Jacks', 'The Dance' by Rhythm is Rhythm or 'Like This' by Two Of A Kind. My brother didn’t know anything about house music, he only knew that I was into electronic dance music already.

Good choice, anyway.

 As a child you played the piano and the drums - what aspects of electronic music did you find particularly attractive over any other type of music?
I guess it’s the combination of simple rhythms and unusual sounds. I started to like dance grooves when I first listened to Lipps Inc. Funky Town in my parent’s car on the radio. That must have been around 1980. They were complaining about the ‘primitive’ structures in the music but I totally enjoyed it!


How do you find the house scene these days? Are there any upcoming artists you're excited about?
I still find it very vital and inspiring! Take an artist like the 23 year old Ben Thomas as an example. His output as BNJMN is just great.



You've worked extensively with Jörn Elling Wuttke as Alter Ego, do you have any forthcoming collaboration plans with other artists? 
Not at the moment. For the first time in years I’m a bit more focused on my own stuff and it feels good.



Fatty Folders is the first album released under your own name - is it a more personal album than others? 

Not more personal than my other two solo albums as Eight Miles High and Soylent Green. It’s just that I’ve used my given name for the first time on an album format.


Why has it taken so long to release an album under your own name?
I don’t know really. It just felt like it was about time not to hide behind aliases anymore.



What's the thinking behind the name Fatty Folders?
I always find it a bit difficult to find the right name for an album. Fatty Folders sounded good and I had a picture of ‘fatty folders’ on the desktop of my computer in my mind that had to be cleaned out. Don’t know if that help.

It contains a diverse selection of sounds - which is fitting, considering your varied career. Was this diversity something conscious?
It seems that this phenomenon is a part of my musical output and it does not happen on purpose. I wish to do at least one album that is totally self-contained in the future.



You are renowned for this diversity and have stated that it stems from curiosity - do you simply experiment with a sound, or a sampler? Or how does it work?
I start to play around with different ideas in the studio and record them in Logic. Later I decide what to keep and what to throw away and the actual track starts to shape up. It could be a rhythm, a sample, melody or sound. Decisions depend on so many occasions and subconscious incidents that I can’t really explain.



What are you currently excited about?
At the moment I’m still excited about promoting my new album and the fact that after spending more than 15 years with Playhouse and Klang, the label Dial seems the right platform to work with. It’s always important to have good people around you.


Do you think your German origins have played an important role in your career in electronic music?
Through the years I’ve learned much more about about the history of German popular music –‘Krautrock’ for instance and I can feel a certain Germanic originality behind bands like Neu!, Cluster or Can. But to be honest when I first listened to electronic music - besides Kraftwerk - it was more music from England or America that interested me. Like Grand Master Flash’s Scorpio, for example. Later, when techno and house music started to become established I was happy that Germany was building such a strong independent scene that helped me to build a reputation.

Roman Flügel - Krautus

Roman Flügel - The Improviser

Roman Flügel - Deo

Studio Talk: GummiHz chats about some of his work

Since 2006 Alexander Tsotsos aka GummiHzhas been steadily working on his mixture of House and Techno through imprints like Mobilee records, Treibstoff and Earthrumental. With several years of classic guitar training and a couple of teenage garage bands, he was introduced to DJing which instantly became his passion. His "Sapfo" EP only recently came out on his brand new Claap imprint. Time for some studio talk with Alexander about some of his productions:

GummiHz & Nikola Gala "Sapfo" [Claap]

I must say that Nikola is one of the very few people I managed to work with in the studio as usually I prefer sending an idea back and forth so people can work on it on their own time. This one though was done so seamlessly. Nikola was visiting me in May for a week. So we thought of working on some tracks together. We had the main groove running practically within an hour or so. And I was very surprised how easily it was for us to work together. Then we had to do a bit of research so that we could find the right theme to develop over it. It was then when we decided to use something, which reflects our cultural inheritance as we are both Greek. So we looked for a few themes coming from poems written during the byzantine years. That’s around 1400 ac. We heard it and we know on that instant that it was what we wanted for the track. I am so happy we managed to use the Greek language creatively so it can work in a set even if you don’t speak the language. Nice one Nikola!





GummiHz feat. Emena "Love Call" [Mobilee]
Love call was my first attempt to sing on top of a groove and actually considering it for releasing. I enjoy a lot singing at home but never really went for a vocal of mine. It was kind of funny that at the time of production I was in quiet an upset psychological state so all of the lyrics came out in one take! Then I had to listen to the track over and over to take down the lyrics! So basically the whole vocal is pure instinct. After I played it to a few friends of mine, they were all encouraging me to keep the vocal as it really made an impression. So I decided to do so and name the singer “emena” which in Greek means myself. So if you do the maths its like GummiHz feat. Emena = GummiHz feat. Myself!!


GummiHz "High On Percussion" [Earthrumental]
This record came out in 2009. It is the outcome of some sessions I had with Bayogar. An african percussionist I met through good friend Argy. I remember Bayogar taking a whole percussive orchestra out of his trunk. I was shocked. A cup of coffee and a good discussion later Bayogar was really high on percussion. After a few hours recording and a lot of editing, High on percussion was produced. I sent it to Franck at Earthrumental and he loved it and asked me to make a couple of drum tools for the record also. Easy thing when you have the whole track ready. Having a huge love for tribal tracks, I am very proud for this record as it is was my first tribal record. And I must say I love rhythmic tracks. They are always useful for sets. I just prefer that the drums are, or sound, real rather than placed bongo hits on a grid!!

Moog: Ladder Filter 500 Series Module

If you think Moog’s entry into iPad synthesizers is too new-fangled, something for the kids, and nothing compared to the authentic analogness of … uh … analog, you’ll like this, at the opposite end of the spectrum.

In the same week they unveiled their first iOS synth, Moog has their first 500 series module – and it’s a classic, derived from Dr. Moog’s legendary Ladder Filter design. Engineering audio isn’t quite like engineering bridges and airplanes: it’s actually the unique flaws in what might have otherwise been a forgettable filter design that led to a distinctive distortion, first heard in Moog modules but made famous by the Minimoog. That signature sound is what you get in this module.

I propose we celebrate Ladder Filter Day on October 28 – the 45h anniversary of Dr. Moog being granted the patent for the “Electronic High Pass and Low Pass Filters Employing the Base to Emitter Diode Resistance of Bipolar Transistors.” (I also propose that you greet everyone you see on that day with “Happy Electronic High Pass and Low Pass Filters Employing the Base to Emitter Diode Resistance of Bipolar Transistors Day!”)

Here’s some good reading on the original Ladder Filter:
The Classic Sound of the Moog Ladder Filter [Universal Audio Blog; check out their references at the bottom, too]
Analogue Systems has some good thoughts on what made the filter special, in the commentary for their own module, influenced by the same

But seriously – what’s in this module?

• Low pass and high pass analog filter modes with cutoff
• Attack and release parameters
• Amount (positive/negative), which you can drive hard enough to make compression-like sounds or even reverse filtering, claim Moog
• Resonance, which you can push into self-oscillation
• 2Pole/4Pole: (12db per octave/24db per octave)
• Relay bypass switch
• Modernized design, including XLR (Via 500 rack) balanced line level

Better trade in your 64GB iPad 2 now — US$769, available in December 2011. That our else you need a special relationship with Analog Santa Claus. (Can I actually please have a chat with Analog Father Christmas?)

One downside: it doesn’t play Angry Birds. But you could make a sound like a flock of angry birds – which, by astounding coincidence, is also how I’d describe CDM comment threads earlier this week. Have at it:

http://moogmusic.com/products/500-series/500-series-ladder-filter

Tech: Line 6 Turns Your iPhone into a POD

It’s small, but I think it’ll be pretty huge. We’ve seen plenty of guitar audio interface adapters out there. Here’s the dirty little secret: they’re pretty awful. Because they connect to the audio jack of the iPhone or iPad, there are issues with impedance matching and noise / signal-to-noise. (Read: they don’t sound great. I’ve tried them, and since they all use the same in/out jack, they all sound more or less the same.)

The Mobile In from Line 6 has three things going for it. First, it works with Line 6′s POD effects and guitar amp modeling, which is already popular with guitarists. Second, the app that it works with the audio interface is free. No paid app, no add-on fee for presets – you buy the hardware and get all of the software for free.

Third, and most importantly, the Mobile In connects to the proprietary Apple 30-pin connector, so you get digital audio I/O rather than relying on the jack. That means the quality of the Mobile In is, well, the quality of the Mobile In. Without a test unit, it’s impossible to say for sure, but Line 6 at least claims a 110 dB dynamic range on the guitar input and a 98 dB range on the stereo line input. There’s up to 24-bit/48 kHz support, but I’m happy just to get a portable device with line and guitar ins. They’ve even tossed in a 6-foot guitar cable. Total price: US$79.

The Mobile POD app, while free, is no slouch, either: you get 10,000 presets, a built-in tuner, 64 amps and effects and more, even with a neat iTunes play-along mode. And it’s free for everyone, whether or not you have the hardware. And if you want to use a different mobile app, of course, you can do that, too, if you do use the hardware.

With specs like that, this looks like a must-have for the iPhone and iPad, even if you use them exclusively for practicing guitar. Now, I just wish the beautiful New Signal Process accessories, which turn iOS gadgets into stompboxes, had a MIDI-only version. Maybe there’s a MIDI-compatible controller that could eventually be compatible with these. (Line 6, you listening?)

There’s only one catch. Stereo line in. Guitar in. There’s something missing here – output. That means that the Camera Connection Kit with a USB audio interface could be a better option if you have an iPad. You’re still limited by the headphone output jack here – no other output is available. That makes this fine for practice, but people wanting more flexible ins and outs (well, outs period, beyond the headphone connection) will want to consider a USB audio interface. (Of course, the free app is still cool.)

My other wish? It’d be nice to see the Android platform compete with, well, any of this. Theoretically, there may be a way to do digital audio I/O on that platform, too; sounds like a research question. We’ll see if, Android or otherwise, another tablet/mobile platform starts to evolve these sort of features.

Any mobile guitarists who want to test this out for CDM, and share your music in the process? Let us know.

http://line6.com/mobilein/

Production: Exist – Lookin’ At Blue (Atjazz & Karizma)

Exist - Looking At Blue by Atjazz Record Company

Exist is the collaborative entity comprising of two of the finest producer / DJs in House music today. Both Karizma and Atjazz are veterans in this game, constantly pushing boundaries and their respective sound. Exist is what happens when these two progressive talents come together – to devastating effect.

“Lookin’ At Blue” is soulful dance music like you’ve never heard it before. The elements of soul, jazz and house are present and blended to make a track that simultaneously compels you to dance while stimulating your soul.

In addition, Atjazz has provided one of his future soul astro dubs, flipping the concept for the glitchy electronic dancefloors.

Tuesdays Tech: Omnisphere 1.5 Review

A trade show round up of what the new Omnisphere 1.5 can do.......

Omnisphere 1.5 Demo from Spectrasonics on Vimeo.

Video Interview: King Britt & Rucyl (Saturn Never Sleeps) @ Dubspot + Ableton Live Workshop Recap

On Friday, July 29 legendary Philadelphia-based producer, DJ, and remixer King Britt stopped by Dubspot with singer and collaborator Rucyl Mills for a music production and performance workshop with Ableton Live. The duo performs live and release music under the name Saturn Never Sleeps, and this video, they share insights into the recording process for their debut album Yesterday’s Machine, which is out now on their own SNS imprint. The bulk of the record was constructed in a live, improvised, one-take fashion, combining the duo’s intuitional musical sense. The two point to the work of avant-garde jazz revolutionary Sun-Ra as a major source of inspiration, drawing from his value in art’s of-the-moment process. Read more about King Britt’s history, as well as what Rucyl calls, “the Chakakhantroller,” a MIDI controller that she wears on her body, over on the Saturn Never Sleeps website.

Maschine Mikro : Finger Drumming

Native Instruments reveals some big news for Maschine that’s … well, smaller. A new package has smaller hardware and lower price, with the same full-sized software. And an iOS version lets you use Maschine on iPad or iPhone.

As their drum machine / drum sampler / groove workstation with plug-in hosting and doubling as plug-in matures, and becomes a focus of NI’s production and performance side, things are starting to heat up. And yes, this news comes just as we learn more about an upcoming analog drum machine. It’s a Labor Day full of drum machines.

Shrunken Maschine: Maschine Mikro is, for me, the best news. It’s cheaper than the full Maschine package. It’s smaller and lighter, with a more compact controller. You might expect NI trimmed down the samples set – nope, it’s the same 6 GB ibrary. Or maybe they added a “lite” version of the software – nope, it’s the same, full Maschine version. And you still get full-sized pads. The Maschine pads are some of my favorite currently on the market – controller or otherwise – so that’s quite nice, indeed. You do sacrifice some hands-on control: the Mikro lacks the big, beautiful screens on the full Maschine, and the additional knobs and triggers. The eight macro knobs on the full Maschine are pretty handy, as are dedicated group buttons.

So, why would I think Mikro’s a good idea? Simple: when you’re on the road, or performing live onstage in cramped spaces, the Mikro looks like a winner, and all with the same software and at a lower price. For studio use, the full Maschine is still your best choice. But I’m personally going to switch out to the Mikro, especially because – like many people, I suspect – it’ll ultimately be combined with another controller in my workflow. You can have a closer look at our two product shots from NI and decide for yourself. (Yes, there’s a Maschine Bag, and yes, I was just talking to King Britt about his on-the-go luggage setup with his Maschine, but I’m still partial to smaller and lighter!)

Finger drumming video: NI has also released a promo vid of finger-drumming virtuoso Jeremy Ellis tearing apart their new hardware. It’s supposed to make you want to buy a Mikro, or something, except it may make you feel somewhat … inadequate … with your own finger drumming, instead.