If you don’t know what a granular synthesizer is then first of all, there is no need to feel stupid, it’s pretty specialist stuff and you may wish to have a quick read of this wiki article before going any further.
When I first discovered the joy granular synthesis, I became so obsessed with it I didn’t make any music that didn’t involve one for about 5 months, a serious hinderance if you are studying for a degree in music composition.
Well, for £1.19 you can share this joy without having to go through the pain of learning a programming language and making one yourself. All you need as an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.
The app is fairly versatile and allows you to load your own samples via a web style drop box. The interface is pretty intuitive too. If you need further convincing of how fun messing around with sound is, then check out the video below.
If you’re an experimental, electronic musician who is struggling to get any serious attention, no matter how many hours you spend hunched at your computer tweeting, facebooking and blogging – may I suggest you pay attention to the article below?
First Stage Underground is the UK’s first and only charity based record label. It works on a very basic and transparent model; you submit your music which they then decide whether or not to promote and release on the label. Any proceeds go to their nominated charity – Cancer Research UK.
Ok, so it won’t make you rich, but if that concerns you then you’ve rather missed the point of this label. The company can already boast a number of success stories and with no commercial interests, they really are free to give a chance to some experimental stuff.
This really is an excellent idea, the label takes music very seriously and is an excellent way to both get your music some exposure with the support of a real record label. All you have to do if you would like your music considered is drop them an email – firststagerecordings@gmail.com or visit their SoundCloud dropbox by clicking here.
Take a listen to some of their artists by visiting their SoundCloud or MySpace page. I’ve included some examples below for you to get an idea, and if you think your music would share common ground, please take the time to learn more about this excellent record label.
Canadian company Plogue have built an emulator that replicates all the sound chips from first generation consoles from the Game Boy to the Neo Geo – harness the incredible power of the 80′s arcade!
The plugin reproduces the idiosyncrasies of the most sought-after classic sound chips, including their most well-known variations, as sonically accurate as possible without adding any non-authentic aliasing or DSP artifacts. Whether musicians are already versed into chiptune/chip music or just interested in those sounds, this is one unique instrument for them.
Research and analysis for this project has been made in house on Plogue’s large collection of cartridges, modified consoles and classic computers and also on the chips themselves using custom made circuit boards and low level 8 bit software code.
“The most authentic emulation of C64, Nes, Vic20, Gameboy, and Atari 2600 sound chips I’ve ever heard!” -8 Bit Weapon
“Quite simply put, it beats the s*** out of any other single chip emulation VST currently available.
chipsounds is a must-have for anyone who’s seriously interested in chip sounds but don’t have access to the real hardware.” – nitro2k01 (http://gameboygenius.8bitcollective.com)
Plogue chipsounds will be offered at an introductory price of 75$ until November 1. Listen to what can be produced here:
If you don’t know what a granular synthesizer is then first of all, there is no need to feel stupid, it’s pretty specialist stuff and you may wish to have a quick read of this wiki article before going any further.
