Reason:: I've received another cool Remix of Visions from Suma. It's nice variation of the arrangement with a cool 80s/90s production style behind it. It's definitely worthy of being listened to.

suma-VisionsInthefireRMX.zip

Suma also mentioned the fact that he's having problems with the .zip files from here. I've been zipping the files with MacBinary encoding (.bin), and I was under the impression that winzip 8 actually decodes this format after expanding the file. If anyone can clear up this mystery, please let me know. Otherwise, people should use stuffit expander available from Aladdin Software

TB-303:: Dan Gendreau has updated the old TB-303 pattern Chart layout. His new and improved version has 4 patterns per page, and he's added knob setting graphics to mark settings for the synthesizer. The GIF version is available for download, but I just received an e-mail from Dan that he's going to render a PDF version soon. (as soon as I get the graphics to him :-)

TXT:: I finally managed to download and install the Pro Tools 5.1.1 LE update. Apparently Digidesign has finally created a new set of drivers that replaced the old Digidesign Sound Driver 1.4.2 (circa 1997) and made one which is MacOS 9 friendly! So far it has treated me kindly and the new version seems a little faster. Check out the information here at Digidesign's 5.1.1 upgrade page

M4M2:: So some people may be asking, what the deal is with me going full steam into the world of Max/MSP. The deal is that i've been working on creating some interesting helper applications that are ReBirth/Reason/ReWire compatable. Last night I was tinkering around with a little ReBirth Input Mixer for people who do not have Reason or other ReWire Host applications. It's a little crude, but it does expand the world of ReBirth to a new level. Having individual controls over the sample outputs makes a bit of a difference.

I have also been working on the Reason to DirectConnect Bridge idea, which now has transport control (only one way at the moment) from Pro Tools to Reason. So the Pro Tools Play and Stop commands will also Play and stop Reason. Again, this is only really working on Pro Tools Free Version 5.0.1

Anyone interested in doing things like this should look into the application. Unfortunately it's not quite as stable as say ReBirth/Reason, but the potential is quite immense for what you can do with Max/MSP. Cycling74's Website

Last Friday, at the last CNMAT class, the Joshua Kit Clayton, jhno, and David Zicarelli dropped in to present more features incorporated into the new version. Some of the more interesting things included very tweakable sample playback systems, new GUI enhancements which allow you to create your own interfaces (*gee i wonder where they got that idea*) like RB Mods, and David Z. showed off some of the new scripting capabilities and his experimental Javascript object.

Greetings from CNMAT:: Ironically, One of the instructors at this class is Les Stuck. The same person who gave me a very indepth introduction to Max/MSP at NAMM 2001. This week has been fairly exhausting with seminars every night and lab instruction during the days. However, I'm definitely getting lost with some of the material since the lectures seem to accellerate as the night progresses. I have been really amazed at the flexibility this application possesses.

Last night, I was blown away by a presentation by Matt Wright. He was demonstrating a system of Additive Synthesis based on analyzed models of a solo sax recording. Using a Wacom Graphics Tablet, he used the models to synthesize the frequency spectrum at any given time instant of the sax loops. When he moved the stylus across the pad, the synth model would play back like a loop. He could scrub the stylus back and forth along the time line or hold it at one point where it would maintain the pitch and timbre at that instant.

The Labs take place on the UC Berkeley Campus where they have Beige G3 desktop workstations set up. (I'm totally spoiled at home with the G4s). Today was totally messed up because my project kept having problems. After a few minutes of poking around, I discovered that Virtual Memory was switched on and probably caused most of the problems I was having. David Wessel seen here, has been directing the course and has been an important part of CNMAT/IRCAM. Talking with Dr. Wessel is Ahm Lee, who has been coordinating the lab instructions. Wednesday night, She presented a very cool live guitar DSP system used for a soundtrack in a project for the Pacific Film Archive.

TXT:: Thanks Wolfie for letting me know about the corrections :)

Well this week I'm off to nightschool. I've enrolled in the Max/MSP courses offered at CNMAT , part of the University of California Berkeley. Last night was the first session, and I learned an interesting bit of trivia: Apparently, (the old version of?) Recycle's transient detection is based on a MSP analysis algorithm.

There are some VERY interesting developments at CNMAT, but I have to see if it's cool to disclose this information. Oh - hell, they told us, so it must be cool. Dr David Wessel mentioned a UDP audio/midi/CV hardware interface which will give you several channels of audio, MIDI, and 32 electrical inputs. All this information is consolidated and transferred via UDP, TCP/IP protocols over a network. Dr. Wessel mentioned that he will let us take a look at the prototype this week! I'll try to snap a few shots for you industrial spies.

ReMixes:: The Two 'Visions ReMixes' mentioned below, are now online and ready for download:

EPRS_(Re)Visions.rps

Peff-Visions(KageMix).rps

TXT:: What's been going on eh? No update for awhile. Well, my obligatory responsibilities have been keeping really busy. To make a long story short, someone has filed a Ethnic Discrimination Complaint against my mother and me, so I've been busy dealing with all that bullshyt. It's really a simple misunderstanding, however the people who filed the complaint are trying work me over for some cash. (Like that's any surprise). For the record, I'm not racist, nor do I discriminate - I dislike all people equally! (sorry, it's been a bit frustrating with people going around trying to slander me like this)

Anyhoo this, along with an unexpected passing of a close family friend have put a nice end to my little prolific streak in June.

But that's life - you just have to go with the flow :-)

ReFills:: The Reason Archive is being updated. A direct link for the Visions Remix Refill is up. I will be posting up a couple of selected remixes made with it. One from Mr. Franck "EPRS" from Strasbourg, France (where the tornado touched down!), and One from DJ Kage from the Motown Area. Franck's Girlfriend also did an interesting visual work to accompany the track.

If you have an interesting remix, send it in for scrutiny and if it passes the test, I will definitely post it. Download the ReFill now:

Peff 002 - Visions Remix.RFL 15.9 Megahonkinbytes

Also, before I get cleaned up and head off to my friend's service, I will send out a brief Newsletter update with the download URL for ReFill P004 - the one which contains samples from my Putney and Buchla Synths.

TXT:: Max/MSP has been updated to 4.0.6! and the little problem with the rewire object has been fixed! Now I'm able to connect up to 16 or 20 channels of audio from Reason into Pro Tools via Direct Connect. What's the big deal? The deal is that now I can connect Reason modules directly into the hardware interface to individual outputs and record them directly to a pro tools project and bypass a very tedious process of rendering each track to an audio file and importing it back into pro tools! It saves a huge amount of time!

I've also compiled a stand alone version of the rewire to direct connect host application so it is not necessary to install max/msp. However, I'm not exactly sure if i'm going to release this publicly because it really does crash a lot until you get it running. I've tested it with PT Free and PT 5.1 LE with my Audiomedia III card. Jonas has been trying to make it work with his Digi001 and has been unsuccessful.

If anyone else cares to try it out, please e-mail me and i will send you a copy of the stand alone version. Please be prepared to crash a lot.

TXT:: I've been messing around with Max/MSP quite a bit and finally learned how to compile applications. It is a great development tool for anyone looking for wierdness. I can see why many artists use it. The ReWire portion of the application is not fully developed yet, and only two channels of audio are available from Reason/ReBirth or other ReWire application.

I've been hoping to create something where you could route several channels of Reason into DSP modules in Max/MSP then into a Mixer. Because of the 2 channel ReWire limitation, there isn't much use for this other than to create sequences in Reason and tweak the audio in Max/MSP.

I did create a little input mixing patcher and connected the MOTU 828 into several Hardware Devices like the Lexicon reverb, Eventide, and Sherman. Inside Reason, I virtually wired effects sends to different outputs (3,4,5,6,7) on the Reason Hardware Interface, and used the 828 Mixer patch to mix the Effect Returns from the hardware. It's very slick works extremely smoothly. I may make a stand alone application version available. If you have a MOTU 828, e-mail me if you're interested in trying out the MacOS application.

TXT:: During the last week I've decided to sit down and learn Cycling74's latest release of Max/MSP 4.0.5. This application has been around for a long time, but the latest version has ReWire compatability. So i've been tooling around creating little Max/MSP patches trying to learn the basics of the application. First I started with a little 16 step sequencer project that grew into a step sample tweak thingy. You load in a sample and mangle it on 16th note divisions, and the result are these cool tweaky rhythmic patterns. I rendered about 500megs of these things and recycled a few and put them into a ReFill. Tweaky but cool - the audio demo for the ReFill is available for preview:

P008 - MSP Effects ReFill Demo

ReWire:: I have also been creating little DSP projects that receive Audio from Reason that tweak the sound to bizarre dimensions. Max/MSP is quite overwhelming since there are so many things you can do, and I have barely scratched the surface with this application. I discovered that there's a Digidesign Direct Connect plug in for Max/MSP and so I attempted to construct a little ReWire to D|C bridge....

and it actually worked! Sorta... I had no problems sending 2 channels of audio from Reason into Max/MSP 4.0.5 then out to Pro Tools 5.0.1 free version. The problem is that I haven't figured out how to get OMS Midi Beat Clock from Pro Tools into Max/MSP to calculate a Tempo message to send to Reason. Then i have to figure out how to send transport controls (if this is possible) from Pro Tools to Reason. However, I was able to record audio from reason into Pro Tools!

Reason ReWire to Direct|Connect Screenshot

The Max/MSP 4.0.5 application isn't exactly cheap, but there's a downloadable 30 day trial demo version available from the Cycling74 Website.

So I'm hoping there is someone out there who is a little more skilled with Max/MSP who can build a little OMS to ReWire patch so that transport synchronization between Pro Tools and Reason ReWire will be possible. Please E-mail me!

ReFills:: I've received a cool little refill from Raffaele Stefani, who has yet to set up a website for serving fills, so I've put the file online from my server. The refill contains samples of Waldorf Micro Q drums. 2.5 Meg ZiP archive can be downloaded from here:

Micro Q Analog Drums Map.rfl

More Fills available now. Although, I've made the Visions Remix Refill available, It's not final, but the TB-303 Square Bass ReFill is done and can be downloaded now as well. Contained in the ReFill archive are a couple of example RNS files. One is just demo patterns, while the other is a distortion effect configuration which complements the sample set. As usual, the ReFill is free with the condition that if you use it, please include a credit for my sample/Reason file production. Sample library creators are even welcome to use the set to create loop CDs for their own commercial releases. Again, all I ask for is a little credit for the production--Something like this: "TB-303 Sample Refill Production by Kurt Kurasaki (www.peff.com)"

With all that clear, please download and enjoy the 5.3Megs Zip archive:

Peff 003 - 303 Square Bass.rfl

Although Raffaele and other ReFill creators do not make it clear, I think it's a good habit to make sure that you credit the ReFill creators when using their samples in any release - commercial or non-commercial.

ReFills:: While editing down the Shakuhachi Samples for ReFill 007, i stumbled across something interesting. While mapping the multisample keyspans, I triggered one of the flute sounds which was pitched about an octave and a half lower than normal. The sound that came out sounded similar to some 50's Japanese Movie Monster scream. Now this makes perfect sense since the Shakuhachi is a native Japanese Instrument and back in the 50's they didn't have the same audio resources that we have today. It's plausible that a shakuhachi glissando was recorded to tape then played the tape back at half or 1/3 speed to get this sound.

Flute timbres are one of many sounds that are butchered when synthesizers attempt to emulate them. Sampling (or recording) flutes is usually the only way to get the realistic intricate sound. The ReFill is pretty much done and features REX loops of rhythms I played on the finger holes. There are other effects like me humming along with the note playing. The audio preview can be heard here:

P007 - Novice Shakuhachi ReFill demo

REASON:: In the process of creating the demo rns files for P007, I also stubled across a cool production technique to get a little more pump out of basslines and REX loops. Just add a compressor on an effect bus in mono. The RPS is available for download in both Reason Archives.

TXT:: So I'm here downloading some MP3s of the new Squarepusher Album, Go Plastic (not released yet apparently. Someone has sent a few rips via e-mail so don't even ask). Btw, I've already preordered the CD from WarpMart. I'm listening to this track and I hear the uncanny production similarity to Aphex Twin's WindowLicker. It has a lot of quick cuts and audio flippidy-doos, but with definite Tom Jenkinson beat programming/slicing and bass arrangement. (Tom is just more rhythmically adept than RDJ, but RDJ is technically more innovative). Then to throw a big monkey wrench into the mix - he puts the old Casio CZ-101 organ bass into the mix on top of the Amen loop...it's funny and nostalgic at the same time. I still have my old CZ-1k and will definitely multisample that organ and refill it....Some sounds will never die :-)

Anyways, I definitely plan to catch his next show coming up in August in North America.

ReFills:: On the ReFill beta testing section of my message board, I've posted a download link for the Visions Remix Refill. If anyone is interested in doing a remix to be included in the Final Packing, please download the RFL file and send me your reason files.

I also recorded some very mediocre samples from a Shakuhachi (Japanese Bamboo Flute) I had laying around. I played a few notes and effects and phrases with it - this is how I know they are mediocre because I've never had a lesson on how to play it. I will pack these up in the near future as well - maybe someone will find them useful. There was a brush fire nearby today, and occasionally a siren or CDF bomber planes appear in the background.

REASON:: There's a "rule" that you're only supposed to dither audio once. If you don't know what dithering is then don't worry. While Dan E. was visiting, I asked him if REASON dithers and he claimed that it does, but I just received an e-mail from him revealing more details:

I was just messing about with the Reason code base and I remember you asking
me about dithering when rendering to disk - I think my answer was "always" but
after a peek into the sourcecode these are the facts:

Rendering to 16-bit audio (AIFF or WAVE) enables dithering but rendering to
24-bit audio (AIFF or WAVE) *disables* dithering.

So no dithering when rendering 24-bit audio.

For those of you who are a bit anal about those Digital Audio rules, Do Not dither a 16 bit reason file because it's already dithered during the render process.

ReFills:: I've been putting them together like a mad man lately. However the testing stage has been rather slow. The latest construction is a ReFill of ReCycle 2 Loops and Single hit samples from my very first Drum Machine, the Roland/Boss DR-110 Dr. Rhythm. The Samples have been recorded through a custom DI box into a Compressor and into the MOTU 828. I sampled the sounds at 24bits this time. For some reason 24bits has less of a tendency to clip than 16bits...

Normally one would think that having single Hits of the Drum sounds would be enough to recreate the sound of the DR-110 (or any drum machine). This ReFill may convince people otherwise. There is an intrinsic "Groove" in the loops which can't exactly be emulated with the single hits and a ReDrum. I think this reveals one of the benefits of using ReCycle. The Audio demo is available here:

P006 - DR110 ReFill Demo

Another Fill I've been working on is Number 004. I've sampled various noises from an EMS VCS-3 (a vintage model). The "Putney" has built in speakers and I've opted to sample the sounds by recording the audio from the speakers rather than the direct line out. Seen in the picture is Putney and an AKG C12 VR microphone. The sound has a different charachter because of the recording process. People who like tweaky noise may appreciate this fill.

Yet Another Fill is a preview of a Commercial Project I'm working on. I've assembled a package of Subtractor Patches and Example Effect Configurations which complement a set of REX files. The Audio demo is also available, and a public demo Fill will also be available in the near future. If you listen to the audio, keep in mind that other than the basic noise loops, all the other sounds are created in Reason using effects and Subtractor.

To hear the preview of ReFills 004 and 005, follow the link below this paragraph. Also, the TB-303 Square Bass ReFill is also available for preliminary download in the ReFill Testing Section of this site. Look around for the link on the message board. If you managed to read down this far, then you can have access to the file. :)

ReFill Previews