Hardware Top 10

Im my struggle to create music ive acquire trough this years a lot of hardware equipment.
Back in 1996, ive begun to buy stuff, i was what do you call a hardware freak, ive sold a few and buy a few more , i also have filter my taste and know i buy only the stuff that its more important to my work.
So here is a list of my favorites buys.
1 hardware Synth : and the winner is.....Acceess virus B, im very proud of this machine it was my first synth and the one you as most powerful sound design.
Its capabilities, easy to use, great interface, sounds really tasty, the envelopes the lfos everything its great in this piece of hardware, if you see one on ebay buy it because its unique.
2 hardware synth : Yamaha FS1R a.k.a the drone machine, its a formante synthesizer and the sounds you could dream for days on a single patch.
The interface its not so great, but who cares anyway, the sounds of this little piece are full of ambient escapes, a must have.
3 hardware : MPC2000 XL, i really dont know what to say about this, for me its a brilliant conception between audio and midi production, even today i learn new features about the MPC and its sequencing system, one of the best things invented.
4 hardware synth : Sidstation, this little synth (no more then a box of chocolates)features are quite unique, first the chip the MOS 6581 is a legend in is time, then the idea of putting this inside a box with real time knobs ready to assign and to play, its just a lot of fun, and it sounds like no other of its kind.
5 hardware drum machine : Machinedrum another one from elektron, this guys from elektron are "packing fire" they have 3 machines in the market (Sidstation, Machinedrum; Monomachine) and all of them are really fantastic. but let focus on this one the Macinedrum.
First its a drum synth with lots of cool things like the "parameter locks" or the lfo that let you assign the lfo rate etc... to any setting in the synth like the pitch, delay etc..
The sounds inside this one are really great with a lot of kits ready to deploy :)
Any other words for this... Magnificent.
6 hardware soundcard : for those you use laptop,desktop,pc or mac the hawser its just one...Hammerfall multiface.
7 hardware microphone : Beringher B-2 PRO , nothing much to say about this microphone other then its great for all kinds of work, and i mean really all kinds, i do a lot of field recording with it and its great (big but great)i do my own samples record all my acoustic instruments (guitar, sax cello)with it and he performs and delivers like no other.
8 hardware effects : Shermann Filterbank 1 , it was pricy when i bought it, but it worth any euro that i gave for him.
The filters on the Shermann are great for live improvising music and also make my guitar sounds like Steve Vai (im not a fan of Steve Vai but he is the guitar master:)), inn appreciation this is one of the best filter that i came across, the envelopes and the lfos have a quality that you might want to have one of this baby's.
9 hardware synth : Cheetah MS6 (rare) and its all about analog monophonic synthesizer.
Ive bought this one 10 years ago in a flea market for 30 euros, it souds rich, fat,and warm and all my work passes trough him.
The interface its bad and also the design looks terrible, but the guts of this one delivers one hell of a sound, the bass section are quite interesting with a lot vca´s and lfos working togheter for a unique sound, its great also for ambient stuff.
One of the best buys.
10 hardware vocoder : MAM VF11 ,if you like robots and star wars effects and crunchy beat this vocoder/11EQ its for you (but im pretty shore that they don't manufacture this anymore)i dont sing but i pass all my beats drums trough it, the 11 channel equalizer gives a unique sound to my music and i really enjoy working with it.

So thats it TOP 10 hope you all enjoy my choices.

Labels: access virus b, cheetah ms6, hamerfall, machinedrum, mam vf11, mpc2000 xl, multiface, music, shermann filterbank, sidstation, yamaha

Squarepusher interview 1996

Im a big fan of Squarepusher and ive found this amazing interview 1996.
He talks about Herbie Hancock, Buddy Rich etc... seriously you have to see it.
I like when an artist talks about is influences and is stuff, studio, music etc.. its really a gift.

Video 1
video 2
video 3 (tecktv interview 2001)

Labels: buddy rich, herbie hancock, idm, music, squarepusher

Pneumasth

Pete blasser is a force of nature, ive to pay my tribute to him and also thank him for the creativity that he puts on all is works, really is amazing.
He brings a new design and instrument its the Pneumasth a sort of hybrid analog guitar.
""This is the prototypical model of a Namastitar, an analog/string hybrid. The brass frets, besides setting the intervals of the acoustic string tones, are also nodes of an oscillator. So by playing the fretboardyou articulate string tone as well as oscillator tone. This oscillator makes a ring-modulation circuit with the sound of the string so you have complex articulated tones formed out of plucked string, as well as smooth oscillator tones made by pressing on the bridge (like the sidrassi organ somewhat). There are four knobs: oscillator basis frequency, fretboard convolution, mix of affected and clean string sounds, and master volume. The fretboard convolution knob controls how the oscillator responds to the fret scale- going upwards or downwards or upwards-downwards.""

Pneumasth
mp3 1
mp3 2

Labels: ciat lonbarde, circuit bending, guitar, music

My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts

First, ive been with too much work lately, also my laptop rhapsody continues, so im sorry for not posting as much i would like.
My life in a bush of ghosts is a participative work with samples from brian eno ready to download, mix and share.
Ive post a few already and the quality of the work its simply astonishing.

My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts came out in 1981. Over the last decades, hundreds of artists in genres ranging from DJs to alternative to electronic have all borrowed from its ideas and claimed its influence. It is now being re-issued in a beautiful new package, with extensive liner notes and photos, and featuring 7 previously unreleased tracks from the original album and a film by influential artist Bruce Conner.

"I grew up as a David Byrne fan. I admired his work with Talking Heads and those records then led me to 'My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts' where I discovered Brian Eno's work. The collaboration between Byrne and Eno inspired me to think outside the box and opened my head up to new musical and most importantly non-musical experiences."

Hank Shocklee — Producer (Public Enemy)


My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts

Labels: brian eno, mix djs, music, work

Abletonator

Yet another controller, this one its only for live (ableton).
Yes controller is cool, but whats wrong with the mouse (for me the best controller in the world)
I dont have many info about this one, i first see this in this blog (fatos fidedignos), and ive beguin to search a little bit and ive found a video in ( futurmusic ).
Like i said theres lack of info in this controller.

Video

Labels: ableton, controller, live, mouse

Extreme Wood bending

Im in a process to build another music, bending synthesizer and im thinking wood for the case, simply because i think its the most beautiful of all materials.
In my search ive found this "extreme wood bending" the name its very appealing (circuit bending with wood, or some sort of it).
For everyone who are reading this blog here some more info about the stolen laptop and yet another bad news, my other laptop just died (burn motherboard), whats the chance of that in only a week?
SO here is the full story of wood bending.
""VICTORIA, B.C., CANADA--Chris Mroz tied the thin length of "compressed wood" into a knot and passed out another 50 sample pieces so the crowd could give it a try. You really had to bend it for yourself before you could believe his claim of the machine that can make hardwood lumber as flexible as rubber.

Dressed in a polo shirt and slacks, Mroz was demonstrating his bendable wood last week at the Furniture Society Conference here, and more than 100 furniture makers looked on with interest.

Eugene Rubin, a woodworker from Victoria, said he can already imagine uses for compressed wood. Rubin makes traditional bent willow chairs in the Adirondack tradition. "I see this as an opportunity to build my chairs with new materials," he said.

How it works
The machine used to create the bendable wood is called a Compwood machine, and it was developed in the 1980s by the Danish Technical Institute. The patented lengthwise compression process breaks the lignum bonds in the wood essentially making it flexible in any direction. Mroz purchased his Compwood machine from a lumber mill that produced bendable wood until it went out of business."""


Read the rest here
Thanks to Tauton fine woodworking
Eugene Rubin

Labels: bending, cabinets, case, laptop, wood