Blamsoft REsampler Rack extension hits the Propellerhead Store

This Rack Extension has pretty much appeared out of nowhere. I saw a thread on the Propellerhead forum with a few mock ups but I honestly didn't think it would be released as quick as it was. Anyway, the REsampler by Blamsoft seems like a pretty cool bit crushing effect. I've not been able to try it yet as I'm away from my laptop (and Reason) for a couple of days.

It looks pretty useful for adding a bit of dirt to your audio tracks, but I can't really be sure what it's capable of until I can actually get around to trying it out. there's plenty of CV routing options though, around the back of the rack there's CV in for Wet/Dry, Depth and Rate. There's also CV out for Pitch and Level, which seems strange for a bit crusher. I'll probably put another post up about this when I've put it though it's paces and let you know the final verdict.

It's currently available in the Prop Shop for an introductory price of €12.00 (I have no idea how much it will be normally) until August 12th. 

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Guide to Reason Rack Extensions Part 3 - ProducerTech

Last week I posted a couple of videos from ProducerTech that looked at some of the Rack Extensions that are available in the Propellerhead shop. Here's the third video in the series, it looks at the Buffre beat repeater by Peff and Propellerhead's very own Pulsar Dual LFO module.

This movie gives an overview of two rack extensions from the last two groups - Creative FX and Utilities. The first device, Buffre, is a fantastic beat repeater, with totally customizable loop settings, which can be triggered easily with a MIDI keyboard or the onscreen piano keys. And the second, Pulsar, is Propellerheads' own device and is a really handy tool for allowing LFO modulation of any other rack devices, as well as also being a basic synth! Pulsar is also free till October so get it while it you can!

For more information, check out out online Reason school:http://www.reasoncourses.com

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Ableton Tutorial - Deep House Chord Selector Rack (Free DL) - Point Blank

http://www.pointblankonline.net/courses/ableton-live-courses.php to check out our range of online Ableton Course where you can learn more techniques like this. Please get in touch with a course advisor at advice@pointblankonline.net if you want to find out more.

In this tutorial Danny J Lewis creates a rack in Ableton Live which gives you a selection of easy to play chords.

Download this rack for free here: http://www.pointblankonline.net/blog/free-ableton-chord-selector-rack-download/

Please subscribe to our channel to make sure you don't miss future exclusive tutorials from Point Blank Online school

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First Look at the Rob Papen Predator Rack Extension

Rob Papen has recently uploaded a screenshot of the Rack Extension version of Predator. There's no further information about the RE at the moment although it does say that it will be available soon.

As far as I know there is no word on the pricing, but the VST version of predator is going for €149 so I suspect it will be about €99 for the RE version (Obviously this is a pure guess, I could be completely off the mark).

Anyway, I recently had the chance to play around with the VST version and I was really impressed. The thing sounds phenomenal, I can't wait to get it in my Reason rack and have a good mess around with it.

If these images (above) are of the final UI then it's missing the shiny knobs and buttons from the VST version (pictured below). But that could just be because of limitations of the Rack Extension technology and really, who cares what the thing looks like. At the end of the day, it's the sound and functionality that really matters and by the looks of the audio and CV routing options on the back, we could be onto a winner. Audio input for the filter section, vocoder and FX section is a clear bonus.

It's safe to say that Predator is going to have a home in my Reason rack.

 

UPDATE:

I've updated this post with a second picture of the back pannel of the Predator RE.  

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Guide to Reason Rack Extensions Part 1 & 2 - ProducerTech

Here's a couple of YouTube videos from ProducerTech, they focus on Rack Extensions for Propellerheads Reason. The first video focuses on the awesome Polysix synthesiser from Korg and the second one looks at the two compressors; the Rough Rider by Audio Damage and the FET Compressor by Softube.

I recently brought both the Korg Polysix and the Audio Damage Rough Rider and I've been using them religiously in my productions. I'm also working on a free Voltage-Controlled preset pack for Polysix that will be available to download soon.

Anyway, I found these videos very informative so I thought I'd share them on the site. Check them out and don't forget to take a look at the ProducerTech Youtube Channel while you're at it.

"Review of Korg Polysix Rack Extension for Reason

This movie is the first of a series of mini tutorials, exploring the range of instruments and effects available in Reason's new Rack Extensions feature. Korg's Polysix is the first instrument made by an external manufacturer to be included in Reason, so this is an exciting development! The movie takes you on a brief tour of the instrument, giving an outline of its controls and synth engine.

For more information about Reason, check out: http://www.reasoncourses.com"

"This movie gives an overview of two of the great new compressors available in the Reason Rack Extensions range - Audio Damage's Rough Rider and Softube's FET Compressor - showing how they cope in extreme compression situations, how they differ and their various merits.

For more information about Reason, check out: http://www.reasoncourses.com"

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Tips for using send effects - Reason Sound Design - Propellerhead's Reason

Here's another one for Reason users. This tutorial from the guys over at Propellerhead software shows some basic routing tips for setting up send effects in the Reason rack.

More info on Reason: http://www.propellerheads.se/products/reason/

"In this Reason Sound Design video Mattias shows you a couple of ways you can use the sends and returns in Reason and do a bit more than meets the eye! Do quick and easy parallel processing, make your mixes cleaner and open up new creative possibilities with these tips."

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Taking a look at Moldover's Jamboxes

Now this is really cool. I've been a fan of Moldover's unique style of controllerism for a while now and this new video showcases some of his awesome Jambox's. They look super fun too. If you don't know what I'm talking about then have a look at the video below.



"Born from the union of a passion for controllerism, and the love of community-collaboration, Moldover's jamboxes are some of the most radical and innovative instruments he's ever created. The OctaMasher, The SyncoMasher, and The MiniMasher are completely unique designs; each explores a different realm within the multi-player universe. Like jukeboxes in the 1950s and boomboxes in the 1980s, jamboxes are now playing a crucial role in the new explosion of social music and culture."

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Logic Environment Tutorial - Create Kaoss Pad style X-Y Fader Effects Unit - Point Blank

This week's video from Point Blank Online is aimed at Logic users. It covers how to use Logic Pro's environment to create a virtual X/Y pad to control effects. This is a little more in depth than most of the videos that are posted on Voltage-Controlled so this might not be for everyone.



"http://www.pointblankonline.net/courses/logic-courses.php This week Paul Yarrow shows you how to use the power of Logic Pro's environment to create an X-Y fader multi effects unit much like Korg's Kaoss pad. 

Learn more about using Logic Pro's environment on our wide range of Logic courses: http://www.pointblankonline.net/courses/logic-courses.php

Check out even more free tutorials at http://www.logic-cafe.com/Please subscribe to our channel to make sure you don't miss future exclusive tutorials from Point Blank Online school."

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Voltage-Controlled update. News and other stuff.

Here on Voltage-Controlled I like to keep my readers up to date with the technology and equipment that I've been using in my own musical endeavours and various other projects that I'm involved with. I also like to use this site to speculate on upcoming software and give my own opinions on various other things that I stumble upon; whether its music software, iOS apps or just a new piece of hardware gear that I've got my hands on (I know I've not featured hardware in a while, but really, it's expensive). I love writing about this stuff and that's why this site has turned into what it is today. 

It's also a nice way to keep readers informed about how I'm getting on with running the site. So I'm using this post to give you a little insight and news concerning the goings on at Voltage-Controlled HQ. 

Content is a vital part of any publication but sometimes it's hard to come across. It's always nice to get emails from PR people and developers telling me that they've being following my site and that they would like me to write about their new app or check out their new software. But in reality, I'm just one man and it can sometimes be hard to stay on top of everything. I'm always happy to post press releases and give a quick opinion but it's not always possible to review everything that drops into my inbox. Press releases are great for the site though, they provide quick and easy content and they keep the site fresh and varied for the readers. So if your a developer or in charge of PR then feel free to send me news of your products and upcoming releases (but please, keep it relevant. Music tech and production related stuff only). 

It's been a while since I've sat down and written an in depth piece on something that's really caught my eye. I often struggle to find the time to write about something when I'm juggling a website along with everything else that's going on in my life. I'm hoping this is going to change fairly soon so that I can make more time and get writing a little more often. 

As you probably know, Voltage-Controlled is run solely by me in my spare time. It can sometimes be hard to find the time to really focus on the site and work on it as much as I would like to. I'm hoping that at some point in the future I can transform Voltage-Controlled into something a lot bigger. The blog platform that I'm using now works for what I need, but the ultimate goal would be to transform it into a fully blown, content rich website full of music, reviews, news and much more. 

Making this goal into a reality can be a bit tricky as I don't really have the staff or the money to invest in the site. I think a reasonable step forward at the moment would be for readers themselves to submit content; Brought a new synth or piece of studio gear? Write up a review and send it in, and if it's up to scratch then it'll get published on the site. I can't promise money for content but what you will get is a 'by line' underneath your piece. It's always good to have a little help now and again, so if you think you've got what it takes then send your articles to DanWeatherall@Voltage-Controlled.com 

There's some really cool stuff that I'm hoping to get up on Voltage-Controlled soon. The main thing that's been in the works is the very first Voltage-Controlled competition. The competition has been on the cards for quite some time now and I'm really exited to get it up and running. I don't want to go into too much detail with this this right now because I want to get everything sorted out first. But I can say that there will be a pretty awesome prize to be awarded to the winner and a little something for the runners up as well. 

Voltage-Controlled has come a long way since it began as a little music blog. I'd like to thank all the regular readers out there that keep coming back for more. I hope that this site sees a great future and that I can continue to offer my opinions on the subjects that influence me throughout my day to day life. 

If you want to keep up to date with what's going on with the site then the best way is probably on Twitter, you can find me there as @Dan303 I feel I've been neglecting Twitter a bit over the last month or so but I'm still fairly active and I post all the important stuff there. If you're not on Twitter then you could always bookmark Voltage-Controlled and check back now and then. I'm afraid there's no actual Voltage-Controlled Facebook or Twitter page at the moment but that's something that I could probably be working on in the near future. 

Now that I've had a bit of a ramble I'll let you good folks get back to your lives. 

Thanks for reading, 

-Dan.

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Creating a Tech House Track in Ableton Live with Radio Slave Loops - Point Blank

In this weeks video from Point Blank we are shown a few tips and tricks while creating a tech house track using samples and loops. They also have a pretty cool competition running where you can win the sample pack used in this video, a copy of Ableton Live 8 and a place on a Point blank Pro Producer course.





"Win this Radioslave pack, Live 8, and a Point Blank Pro Producer course here: http://ow.ly/c0BAS

In Ableton Live we have a fantastic tool to manipulate, chop and twist loops into your own interpretations all in real-time. This gives you the ability to create limitless unique tracks with the same loops and samples. In this tutorial Danny J Lewis shows some simple but very effective techniques to do this such as adjusting the clip start position and transposing the key up and down.

The pack he is using is one of Ableton's latest partner instruments, put together by Radioslave and Sample Magic. As well as a collection of drum, percussion, and musical hits and loops, the pack contains some great custom instrument and effects racks which, if hooked up to a midi control, can give a really tactile method of experimenting with the sounds. 

Check it out here: http://www.ableton.com/library/radio-slave-live

Racks such as the Kit Creator use macro controls to scroll through the various samples and adjust parameters like attack, decay and low cut to mould the sounds into something new. It is a great example of the type of racks that we teach you to build from scratch on Point Blank's Ableton Live Sound Design courses.

Check out the sound design course here:http://www.pointblankonline.net/ableton-live-sound-design.php

Watch more free tutorials on our sample course page:http://www.pointblankonline.net/sample-a-course/

Please subscribe to our channel to make sure you don't miss future exclusive tutorials from Point Blank Online school."

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