TXT:: I finally upgraded my CD Burner and Software... My old Philips 2x has been replaced with the Que!Fire 12x firewire burner and Roxio Toast 5. I can't beleive how i managed to survive all those 35 minute burns with the 2x. One really nice aspect of Toast 5 is the ability to burn in the background. No more system take over when burning!

All this upgrading is becoming really tedious. I've finally brought all my machines up to MacOS 9.1 -- yes i know, MacOS X is only a few days away, and apple promises saturday delivery, but I'm not going to install it until I know for certain that my favorite audio applications run on it!

I've been having some problems with the new Titanium. Basically the Modem doesn't like my phone line and ISP. The apple Tech Info Library goes into great detail about how the V.90 compression protocol is flawed - so instead of a 56k, i'm running a 28.8 baud connection - it's the only way i can stay connected. Pac Bell is supposed to call this week to determine whether or not i can get DSL out here in the sticks. I know i live within the 3 mile radius of the central switch box, but i don't know if they even have service running to that substation. With the way my luck is running - probably not!

I've also had another series of crashes on the Titanium but this was the result of a bug in Internet Explorer and MS Entourage --- f8cken Microsoft! Thanks to the resources at Macfixit.com, the problem has been solved.

Reason:: There's more stuff on the way soon. I've posting up a new track created exclusively in Reason. It should be available soon. I have to thank Jonas and Wing for providing me with some cool samples to work with.

Reason:: I actually went through and sampled individual notes from the TB-303 and loaded them up into reason. There are 37 individual multisamples of the TB-303 Squarewave with the filter wide open. loaded into an NN19 Sampler. When you add a matrix pattern and tweak the filter, you can sorta get that bubbly acid feel. Look on the Propellerhead site soon for the Fill. I will also try to make a portion of the files available in their raw AIFF format for non Reason users.

TXT:: I received an interesting e-mail from Thomas Alker. He's written a little shareware application called Caps2MIDI. It basically turns your Mac's Keyboard into a MIDI keyboard for use with your MIDI applications. It's handy for PowerBook Jockeys who want to trigger notes and samples from a Reason Sampler without carrying around a controller. I've put up a little page where you can download the demo version and see a screenshot of the interface. Caps2MIDI Demo

TXT:: I'm trying to update the site to include a Reason Button on the Navigation bar. So things have been kinda slow since I'm learning a new web design application.

Plus i've been busy running around doing real life stuff :-) Last night I went out to meet some old friends. One of them promotes this party called "Magnum" up in San Francisco. I haven't seen my friend Scotty in 4 years. The cool part (which i missed) was that my old friend Mark (DJ ? 'question mark') was spinning. Maybe next time ? Anyhoo the party was a Harry Denton's Rouge--don't get me started about Mr. Denton...I can't beleive he's still alive. Rouge is an interesting spot that's flamboyantly red, ostentatious, totally tasteless elegance.

Times have indeed changed since i used to be part of that circuit...er circus... I met some interesting guys who were out pimping this Website called Nitevibe which is some kind of Club Scene information site.

Reason:: I've also been distracted with another Reason Track. Kind of a fruity dnb with lots of cliche sounds. This one came together rather quickly, and I'll post up the MP3 in the near future. I'm not sure about an RNS though...maybe I wont credit the sample library companies :)

I'm curious to hear what people thing about the exploring FM file. If anyone found it useful or even stupid, please let me know. I have a couple of other sessions tracked out like that. I guess I will post them - someone might find it interesting.

Reason:: I've added a few files to the Reason Archive as well as the Subscriber's Archive. First is the revised version of Archer. This one has a few of the loops removed because of copyright issues with the publishers. The other is a little experiment with the subtractor. I basically recorded all the knob tweaks and note/arpeggiator events to a Track in real time. This gives a user an interesting perspective on how to create subtractor patches.

TXT:: Finally it's here...I've spent the last day transferring over files and installing applications to my new powerbook. It's unbelievably quiet! with the exception of the internal fan which kicks in on occasion when it starts to run a bit hot. As you can see, Reason runs fine on it! This latest site update is also being created on the new PowerBook. G4/500 ;-)

TXT:: I discovered something interesting recently with the AMIII card and Reason and the Digi 5.01 drivers. If you have an external digital clock source connected to the S/PDIF inputs, set the Digidesign control panels to synchronize to the digital inputs, and the Reason CPU usage drops dramatically when set to Sound Manager Output. It rivals the AMIII ASIO drivers, and the latency is only 11ms rather than 87ms with the ASIO drivers. This is being done under MacOS 9.0.4 (I still haven't upgraded yet).

TXT:: I've been busy working on a remix for a Swedish group, Homy. They've asked me to remix their song, Baby Blue. Stephan Kula of eternity records, sent me a CD containing the vocal tracks. I've started the remix in Reason, then ported the music over to Pro Tools to work the vocals. After tweaking the timing and pitch, I exported some of the vocal parts back to audio into recycle files and incorporated them into the remix. I will have to remember to get the ok to release an MP3 version of the track. It's quite different from the other stuff I've been doing lately.

Did i mention before that Eric Persing at Spectrasonics is a fellow ReBirth user? I guess not. On the Retro Funk Library there is a RB-338 v2 Retro Funk Mod. Unfortunately this file falls under the license agreement and distribution is a no-no. It's pretty cool though, it has samples from the kits contained in the Library.

I received a new aquisition today: a Metasonix TS-21 Hellfire Modulator. This was the thing I ordered through the drum machine museum a few weeks ago. First, let me say this thing is f*cking PHAT. The Vacuum Tube circuitry makes a huge difference in warmth and fidelity, and amazingly this translates to the digital realm quite well! I've been running a MC-202 through the Hellfire and tweaking around the 202 filters for some amazing distortion sounds. Here's a little MP3 sample of this combination being used in the Homy Remix done with Reason: bbhfbass.mp3 (428Kb MP3 file)

I've had the opportunity to audition several of the New Metasonix modular devices, and they are equally as impressive as the Hellfire. In all honesty, these devices aren't for everybody. But if you're looking for a unique piece to complement your modular collection, then you should seriously consider this stuff. Now if i could only get Peter to write a Hellfire Effect for reason :-)

TXT:: Well, I've been busted... I received an E-mail from Eric Persing at Spectrasonics asking me to remove the Archer24Public.RPS file from the web because using a ReCycle'd drum loop from the Retro Funk sample Library is a violation of their licensing policy. I mentioned this might occur in the last newsletter, and it took all of two days to get around. So...if you have the file, please don't distribute it.

I guess this brings up that age old issue of public distribution of RPS files. If you use samples from a sample library, it's probably best that you don't include them as raw files or even ReCycle files. It's true that you cannot actually extract a sample from a RPS, however, I think it's fairly obvious that you can solo out the Dr:REX machine and render the output to audio. This feature of RPS files does bother me to a certain extent, but that's just the way it is.

I will post up a new version of the RPS file sans © loops in the near future.

TXT:: I was up in SF today, and dropped in to visit the Drum Machine Museum. This loft studio space in the middle of San Francisco is loaded with wide variety of analog devices as well as collectable beat boxes. Mickey T. was kind enough to allow me and my friend in to check out his extensive collection of vintage rhythm boxes and also let me audition the Metasonix line of Vacuum Tube Synthesizers and Processors. Man that sh%t is PHAT - Really PHAT! Unfortunately, i forgot to bring my Camera with me, but sometime in the future, I'll remember to bring it along and snap a few images of this cool space.

I also had the opportunity to check out the Technosaurus products...These little units are quite impressive. The Microcon II, Effexor, and Cyclodon are versatile little units build into solid boxes. Kinda like a pocket modular system (Dan B.--you will be pleased with your acquisition :)

Anyhoo, I couldn't leave without making an aquisition...hehe :) Oh yeah, i almost forgot. The Drum Machine Museum is a friend of the Propellerhead community and fellow Reason User. They May be making ReFills containing REX loops and one-shot samples from the various Rhythm Machines :-)

CC:: Guest Access to Computer Controlled HL Server has been disabled because of a constant barrage of Spam attacks. To login to the server, connect, as usual, to: hotline.computercontrolled.com and use the login: ccguest

For those people with accounts already established on the server, there will be no interruption of access. The FTP access will remain the same. Sorry about the incovenience to anyone.