New song: Aflecht ft. Delia St. Claire I - Gotham by Night (compo version)

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Aflecht ft. Delia St. Claire I - Gotham by Night

Voted fourth in the dance music competition at Stream Party 8 in Tampere.

New song: Kraku - Good Morning

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Here's the download link to the song:

Kraku - Good Morning

Gear used:

Eurorack modular synthesizer

LennarDigital Sylenth1

Native Instruments Battery 3

Ohmforce M-Tron Pro

Logic Pro 9

SoundToys EchoBoy

Voxengo Elephant

API 2500 compressing electronic drums

I just bought my first hardware compressor - API 2500 - and I gotta say it sounds pretty damn sweet. It doesn't break the transients the same way as software compressors do. It always seems to keep the sound clean, natural, snappy and punchy, regardless of the parameters you dial into it.

Here's the API 2500 in action, compressing a dull sounding kick drum with different setting. After 8 beats new settings kick in, which are listed below.

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Here's the uncompressed WAV file for those who want the tiny bit of extra fidelity in the signal.

Be sure to listen to this in loud volume, since a lot of the action is with the bass dynamics.

Also try to compare each of the settings with the original and you'll realize how drastic effect the unit has on the sound without "breaking it to pieces".

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Threshold has been slammed all the way down to -20 (maximum).
Attack = 10ms
Release = 0.5 sec
Ratio = 4:1

Only "Tone" settings of the compressor have been tweaked in these examples.

1 = dry mix
2 = Type = Old, Thurst = Loud, Knee = Hard
3 = Type = Old, Thurst = Norm, Knee = Hard
4 = Type = New, Thurst = Norm, Knee = Hard
5 = Type = New, Thurst = Norm, Knee = Soft
6 = Type = New, Thurst = Norm, Knee = Hard

...here comes a pause...

Threshold is still all the way down to -20 (maximum).
Attack = 1ms
Release = 0.5 sec
Ratio = 4:1

7 = Type = Old, Thurst = Loud, Knee = Hard
8 = Type = Old, Thurst = Norm, Knee = Hard
9 = Type = New, Thurst = Norm, Knee = Hard

New song: Aflecht - Irresponsible part 1

A new track is ready once again. It's the first half of a two part song. The second part will be a song in it's own right with actual vocals, which I hope to finish soon.

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Here's the download link of this song:
Aflecht - Irresponsible part 1

Gear used:

Logic Pro 9
Native Instruments Battery 3
LennarDigital Sylenth1
GForce M-Tron Pro
Eurorack modular synthesizer
Future Retro XS

Cytomic Glue
IK Multimedia CSR
SoundToys EchoBoy

First test using MOTU Volta + Expert Sleepers ES-3

I just made my very first test with MOTU Volta + Expert Sleepers ES-3 controlling my Eurorack modular:

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I have to admit that even though I was aware that the timing would be sample accurate, I'm still blown away by the preciseness of the results. Since Volta does all the envelope generation, triggering and legato/slew limiting, the results sound like a VST/AU, but still have that analogue character to it. Best of both worlds.

Fantastic!

Another great thing about Volta is that you could build a modular setup with half the modules you'd normally need. You don't need any modulation sources anymore; it's all handled by Volta.

I highly recommend Volta + ES-3 combo for everyone tampering with modular synths.

New gear purchases

Got some new gear for my studio this month.

The most important purchase was Millennia HV-3C mic pre amp. I've been using RME Fireface 400's internal mic pres for now and I felt that the quality could be improved with this baby here. I wasn't wrong. This mic pre sounds quite smooth, transparent and natural :) I'm currently using it with my AKG C414XLS and DPA 4091, but I'm planning on buying Gefell UM930 as my main mic for most duties and a matched pair of Gefell M300's for stereo recording. I would imagine HV-3C and the Gefells would be a killer combo.

I also purchased Expert Sleepers ES-3 ADAT to CV converter (Eurorack module) to be used with MOTU Volta. These allow me to have sample accurate control and timing with my Eurorack modular synth. The super tight timing is really important if you write dance floor stuff like electro-house etc.

Expert Sleepers ES-3:

MOTU Volta:

Sennheiser HD25-1 II Pro headphones will be used from now on for tracking and headphone mix checking. They're closed back models so they don't bleed out sound to the mic during tracking vocals and acoustic instruments.

And finally: Larrivee B-03RE acoustic bass. I've wanted to buy a good acoustic bass for years now. I'm not much of a bass player, but I like the idea of just sitting on my couch, computer turned off, and composing new music with it. I'm also going to incorporate it into some of my dance floor productions. I'm thinking of using it for progressive/electro-house genres as well as more traditional groovy trip-hop and so on.

New Song: Kraku - There And Back Again

Here's a new song I wrote:

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Gear used:

Logic Pro 9
Native Instruments Battery 3
LennarDigital Sylenth1
GForce M-Tron Pro
Eurorack modular synthesizer

Cytomic Glue
IK Multimedia CSR
SoundToys EchoBoy

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It'll be interesting to hear what this track sounds like tomorrow, when my ears have a few hours of rest from listening this track non-stop. I hope the mixing doesn't suck completely...