I know the KALOTW is way late… I suppose about a couple of months late but oh well!

This week we’re looking at a new product which is a partnership between Rane Serato and Ableton Live.  Yes, you heard me right, SERATO AND ABLETON TOGETHER AT LAST!  As a user of both pieces of software I have long been looking for the proper setup to do live shows with an element of DJ as well and buddy, this is it.  Basically, you can control the transport of Live with serato, and if you have a controller (like the sweet as hell APC 40 that the boys have tied into everything) you can trigger clips in the session view while scratching the whole project in Serato!  It’s amazing!  AND THAT’S NOT ALL!  It also goes the other way, utilizing a technology that they call “Mixtape“.  This means you can record a set directly into the Ableton Live arrangement view and if you have the proper mixer/controller it will even insert all the automation for you (eqs, faders, etc).  Unbelievably dope and I really can’t wait to get it for myself

Here’s a couple of youtube videos from NAMM 2010 last month to get you salivating

And of course here is the link to the Ableton Live website featuring The Bridge.

Ableton Live – The Bridge

Kick ass link of the week is a day late this week (sorry bout that!).   In case you didn’t know, this is the week of ridiculousness (in a good way)!  5 shows in 6 days and I’m pumped as hell – after Bass Rebel Radio this evening (with my guests Professor J and Burnto) yours truely will be playing Halifield Presents at The Paragon.  Tomorrow night of course is It’s a Wickedbad Xmas with Ill.Gates! The grimest Christmas Party in town!

This week’s KALOTW features a TON of tutorials, and boy do I mean a ton!  First up:

For all you Ableton users out there (myself included) here is a wonderful little thread from the Ableton forums with more tutorials than you can shake a stick at!  THERE  ARE ALMOST 80 TUTORIALS ON THIS PAGE – from sidechain compression, to vocoding to glitching, arpeggiator tips to everything in between.  This is the ultimate list of Ableton tutorials:

The “Little” List of Ableton Tips
http://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php?t=27120

Next up is probably my favorite tutorial site out there at the moment,  Music Tech Tutorials.  These guys are not DAW dependent, so there are tutorials for Logic, Cubase, FL Studio and Reason as well as Ableton Live.  All tutorials are in video form (which is nice) and topics covered include FX, synth patches and general audio production tips like how to properly use of multiband compression and much more!

Music Tech Tutorials
http://www.musictechtutorials.com/

Enjoy this wealth of information and hope to see you out this weekend!  Come back tomorrow for the most recent episode of BASS REBEL RADIO!
PEACE and BIG BASS
Dave

Kick Ass Link(s) of the Week is back!  It was on hiatus for a little while but it is officially back for good in it’s new Wednesday slot.

For those of you that don’t know, KALOTW is a series of posts with either just cool music related stuff or links to Electronic Music production resources.  Always a little something for everyone.

VST instruments and effects can be REALLY expensive, but they don’t have to be.  Here’s a list of sites that offer free VSTs including synths and audio tools.   So here we go:

Great VSTs from tweakbench.
http://www.tweakbench.com/

Killer Synths from NovaKill
http://www.novakill.com/killerz.htm

KVR Audio with a decent database of free and commercial VST plugins
http://www.kvraudio.com/

A monster free VST database at GERSIC.COM
http://www.gersic.com/plugins/

Enjoy and tune in next week when I drop a monster listen of Ableton Live tutorials!

PEACE and BIG BASS

Are you a beginning producer, fooling around with the knobs and buttons on your synth or soft synth with no real clue about what you’re doing?  Maybe you’re somewhat of an advanced producer but you really haven’t figured out synthesis yet? Have no fear, DVD is here!

Synthesis is a huge field, and I mean massive.  I’ve been studying it on and off for a good 3 years now and I’m still nowhere near having it figured out.  The tutorials I’m linking to today however will give you an excellent start, right from basics.  Please note that oldest tutorials are on the bottom, newest tutorials are on the top, its a little weird that way.  Start from the bottom and word your way up.

Here are some examples of the tutorials:

Part 1: What’s In A Sound?
In the first part of this new series exploring the world of subtractive synthesis, Gordon Reid goes right back to basics. What are waveforms and harmonics, where do they come from, and how does the theory relate to what we actually hear?

Part 7: Envelopes, Gates & Triggers
You press a key on your synth. It plays a note. That’s it, right? Wrong. Gordon Reid explains the role of envelopes, triggers, and gates in this deceptively simple process.

Part 14: An Introduction To Additive Synthesis
Every pitched sound can be though of as a collection of individual sine waves at frequencies related to the fundamental. Gordon Reid introduces a powerful method of synthesis that works by manupulating these individual harmonics.

AND MANY MORE.  There are over 60 tutorials on a huge range of topics.  Once you cover these you should be a synthesis master….

It’s EASTER FRIDAY and there is just a buttload of stuff going on this weekend.  Felguk tonight and (of course!) we’re rockin out at the Coconut Grove tomorrow night to celebrate the J’aime Le Dubstep Launch Party!

Now on to this week’s Kick Ass Link of the Week (KALOTW)!

OH MY GOD.  These have been circulating on facebook and the aggregators for 3 or 4 months so I thought I would put them all in one place.  I can’t pick my favorite – can you?

Master X / Rhymes & Noisia

Skibadee / Fun & DJ Ruffstuff

IC3 / DJ Clips & DJ Die

Stay tuned next friday for the KALOTW!