TXT:: The Old Computer Controlled Community is back online! Yes, the hotline server where this madness all started from is back in full force. Well, not exactly full force, yet. The old ReBirth Mod archive is still not ready to go, and the website is not up. Given some time, things will be back to normal. The original crew, ren, jackplug, jonas, and EP, are doing all the work in getting the server box set up for more features. Everyone is welcome to come by and chat along with other ReBirth and Reason users :) If you're looking for pirated copies of stuff... don't bother logging in :-p

Using Hotline client or Frogblast (recommended for MacOS X), connect to the server address:

computercontrolled.net (unfortunately, someone else is squatting on the computercontrolled.com domain, so we opted for the next best domain name)

ReWire:: It looks like Digidesign has released Pro Tools v6.1 with ReWire Support. I haven't installed it yet, but I can't wait to see how it works with Reason!

Book:: Needless to say, getting the server up and running has been an unwelcomed distraction, but I'm glad its running. I justed passed the 50,000 word quota mark, and i'm starting to polish off the chapters. I was having trouble writing the section on the COMP-01 compressor, but after a few days of research and testing things, I've finally discovered some solid tips on how to best use this enigmatic little dynamics processor. Not just tips on what settings to use, but techniques for finding the right compression for the type of signal you're processing. I know a lot of people are using the Scream 4 Tape compression algorithm now, but in some ways, the COMP-01 is still more useful since the Scream 4 colors the signal.

Book:: Progress is coming along with the book. I'm just getting over a little bit of "writer's block" and the manuscript is now taking shape. For about 5 weeks I was going along pretty well, and then I started organizing all the information into chapters. Now I'm going through and fine tuning the information and drafting the prose between chapters. I'm at about 94% of the quota, but the book is far from finished. I'm worried that I'm going to go over the 60,000 word limit, which would mean that some of the example tips may have to be deleted.

CC:: I have a bit of exciting news. The old Computer Controlled crew is working to get the old chat server running again and open to the public. I've recently signed up to get a dedicated server box to host this site as well as the ReBirth mods. Right now the server is nomadic being hosted by different people willing to run HL server on their broadband connection. It will be nice to have a dedicated server hosting the chat again. Stay tuned for more information!

TXT:: So... I've been really slacking with the blog entries and site updates. I'm in the middle of writing a book on Reason. I've spent months preparing files and examples, and finally I've managed to makes some progress with the manuscript. There's nothing electronic in this project--No video, no animations, no macromedia. I'm not even certain if a CD-rom will be published with the book, but just wait till you see the user interface (i.e. illustrations) that I'm developing with my friend, Hami! The working title to the book is "Beyond Reason", which was suggested by Mr. Paul Edmonds (JackPlug), and it's being edited by Jim Aiken, who was an editor and writer for Keyboard Magazine.

The material in the book is not really much different from the tips I've published in magazines, however, everything has been revised to Reason 2.5 standards and I've created a lot of effect configurations that take advantage of the new devices. Cool Vocoder stuff, some scream 4 things, some groundbreaking compressor tricks, more rex tricks, very useful arpeggio tricks, and RV7000 techniques. There's a lot of material, and I'm trying to keep the information usable for beginners, but aimed towards advanced users who want to push Reason to the limits.

Many times, i've found solutions or given advice for using Reason and posted these tips around the web. Finally, I've been presented with an opportunity to put the collective knowledge in one place. A lot of the information I've put into these tutorials is inspired by questions from my fellow users, so if anyone wants to see something specific in the book, please feel free to drop me an e-mail or post a suggestion on the message board.

I'm limited to 50,000 to 60,000 words and my deadline is coming up soon. Due to this massive project, updates to the site are postponed indefinitely. As the time of publishing draws near, I will definitely start making more announcements of the release, but currently I have no idea when the publisher intends to release the book.

More TXT:: Last week, I went to see Coldplay. My cousin, Tamiko, is a huge fan and invited me to come along for the show. I enjoyed going out, but Coldplay was still Coldplay. There are some nice tunes, but I was a little disappointed that they didn't really go off on any solos like a proper rock band.

TXT:: For months now, I've been receiving copies of TapeOp: The Creative Music Recording Magazine, and I keep forgetting to mention a special thanks to John Baccigaluppi for giving me a subscription. There's tons of great information about guerilla recording and production techniques as well as the occasional DIY electronic project.

RFL:: I've put a new ReFill online that contains about 120 Scream 4 patches. Some of these patches are included in the new Reason 2.5 Factory Sound Bank, but many many of them are not. The Scream 4 Sound Distruction Unit is a really versatile device that provides some really useful processing effects besides typical overdrive and distortion. Regardless of the usefulness, the Scream 4 also provides some really great distortion. You will be going through your old Reason song files and replacing the D-11 with the Scream 4!

Moog:: I received a Moog VX-351 CV Expander for the Minimoog Voyager. This device adds CV/Gate and control signal outputs to the voyager. It really makes the minimoog a lot more versatile, especially if you have other analog gear. Now there was one little glitch. Apparently an output adapter daughter board must be installed, but I didn't receive the instructions. This wasn't such a big deal since it was pretty obvious how it should be installed inside the Voyager.

I'm not sure if anyone reading this has a voyager and the VX-351, but I've made my own Visual Installation guide for the Minimoog Output Adapter. There are some graphic images of the insides of the voyager that some likeminded gearaholics would appreciate :-)

TXT:: I was up in San Francisco last night to check out the Drum Machine Museum White Box Act 11. This is Mickey T's Live documentary recording of live electronic musicians and VJs. It's hard to beleive that he's organized 11 of these events, and the crowd is growing in size. Last year at the first event that Mickey hosted in his loft space, He managed to get me to compose some tracks - "on the fly". I basically went in cold and put together some stuff live (Thank Goodness for Dr.REX!).

As usual MickeyT was busy behind the video mixing board assembling the footage from several camera people who were filming different scenes from the crowd, to the artists, to each other. The night opened with a demonstration of RadiaL from C74, presented by representatives from Robotspeak, an electronic music retail shop located in the Historic Haight-Ashbury disctrict of San Francisco. They deal with a lot of used gear, so people might find some hidden gems that they are holding on consignment.

One of the Acts, EQ! even had Reason running off a PC tower with the video feed being projected as part of the visual presentation. They had a really elaborate setup with four people running a lot of gear and pretty good bassist. The keyboard player was doing some great stuff on his Rhodes Stage piano. All of this on top of a great beat generated off of Reason synced to a hardware sequencer or drum machine. An electribe i think.

As the night progressed, the visuals seemed to get better and better. Seen here is Audiosports, who set up a live set using abelton Live. It was pretty interesting since he basically loaded a lot of tracks and looped them in live, and did a mix/cut set based on the sampled loops of popular tracks. Mickey and Alberto asked me to put the word out that there are more acts coming. I think they are going to plan something big on July 4th. If you're into electronic music, and want to see some cool performances, sign up on the Drum Machine Museum list for future shows.

I picked up an iPod on friday at the Apple Store, and I've spent the last few days ripping CDs and loading it up with all sorts of stuff. I got a 30gig, and it's about half full with my electronic collection, jazz, rock, and a lot of 80s stuff. There's even some old Sinatra and some of my favorite arias. I remember back around 6 years ago when people were first getting into ripping MP3s. We would use the shockwave audio exporter to rip a file and it would take forever to convert the file. MP3s would also sound like crap with the high frequency distortion. Nowdays, you can rip a full CD in the time it took to convert a song, and the conversion process (at higher bitrates) sounds pretty good. The other cool thing is that the iPod plays AIFF files, so I can take the full fidelty test mix for listen on the go. With 30gigs of space, there's plenty of room for the big files. I just wish they had a record feature built in. Now that would be the ultimate in portable recording technology!

That stupid PS2 has really been a horrible distraction, and I blame my new addiction to video games for not updating my journal entries. The other main distraction is the new MIDI controller I ordered: the Edirol PCR-30. It's working out really quite well and has been great for all my OS X music applications like Reason, Max/MSP, Modular V, etc. The only thing that seems a little fishy is the way the data gets a little clogged up when it's sending MIDI Clock out. There's no real sequencer transport in the device, so the clock just streams and you can't start/stop without actually turning the setting off.

All in all I'm quite happy with the PCR-30. It has a MIDI IN and can be powered off USB, and it has MIDI IN. Did i forget to mention that it has MIDI IN? I only stress this because it runs off the powerbook, and I don't need to bring along a separate MIDI adapter for the MPC-3000 so that Reason will slave to the MPC clock :-)

Another little project that I've been working on is a review section. I've been asked to provide my opinions on things, and I'm finally getting around do doing some in a section of this site called "imho" (internet acronym for "in my humble opinion"). The first solicited review will be appearing shortly about the Flatpack refill from the lapjockeys.

I'm not really a gamer, and sometimes I feel a little out of the loop when my friends start talking about games. I've been joking with Hami for a long time about the fact that I can see his work because I don't have a PS2. I guess he got me today because I received a PlayStation 2 and a copy of "the Getaway" in the mail! The problem is that he's in the UK and the PS2 I received is a PAL version :-/

"April Fools!" it was an NTSC Playstation 2!

Thanks, Hami for the really nice gift! I've already started playing the game and as I suspected, i really suck at games. The Getaway is kinda tough because you have to drive on the 'other' side of the road.