Voltage-Controlled. New name, new domain.

So as you have probably noticed, there's been some major changes to the blog. The biggest being the new name. I feel that 'Voltage-Controlled' suits the blog a lot better, it tells new visitors what the blog is generally about and what they can expect to find here.

It was nice to have the blog under the same dan303.com domain but in recent months I've found that the blog has taken on a life of its own, mainly with the many iOS music reviews that I've been doing.

I've decided that it would make a whole lot more sense for the blog to take on its own course, allowing it to grow and expand much further than my own personal space on the Internet. I think the new name will give it a new burst of life and appeal to new and old visitors.

Along with he new name I've updated the look of the blog, the most noticeable aspect being the new banner and side menu icons. I've also made the blog a bit wider because when viewing on a wider screen the blog comes out as a tiny strip in the middle of the screen.

There is still a little work left to be done here and there are probably still a few little bumps and dead links floating around. If you spot anything odd please don't hesitate to contact me.

-Thanks, Dan.

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Happy 100th

I started writing this blog back in august 2009, the main point of it was to promote my own music and write a little about what I was interested in (synthesizers and stuff). It wasn't something that I updated all the time and I have to admit that I forgot about it a few times.

About a month after I started the blog I recorded and uploaded a set of samples. The samples were really just some drum loops and bass lines that I recorded for a track I was working on (it never actually got finished). I thought it would be cool to upload them to the blog and allow people to download them to use them in their own productions. After a while I noticed that that one post with the samples had quite a lot of traffic, so I did a little snooping around the Internet and I found that I was being linked to from various websites and forums.

Soon, uploading samples here became a regular thing for me and the blog got more and more hits. Along side the samples, I also put up a few reviews and writings of my own and kept the blog running at a steady rate; posting updates, samples and reviews every time I got my hands on a new piece of music gear or software.

That seemed like ages ago but I still can't believe this will be the 100th post from me. Fair enough 100 doesn't really seem like a whole lot but when I think about all the time that I've put into writing the reviews and recording the samples I still find it hard to believe.

As I posted before, I'm in the middle of a re-imagining of this blog. The name will be changed eventually to something that relates more to the content of the blog (not just my name and a few numbers). There will also be some changes to the blog itself, I want to make it easier for new visitors to find their way around the blog and access older content without hassle.

To celebrate this milestone I've put together a new sample pack. The pack will contain synth hits taken from two of my favourite iPad synthesizers, the Animoog and Sunrizer.

You can find the new sample pack in this post.

-here's to the next 100, Dan.

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Blog/Website Updates

Updates to the site/blog

Over the next week or so you will probably notice a few updates to the Dan303 site and blog. I want to make the site a lot more user friendly for you guys so I will be changing a few things.

The main thing that I would like to to is make the site a lot easier to navigate so that content will be a lot easier to find. I might split the blog into a few categories such as News, reviews, updates, iOS apps, music, samples and synthesisers, etc.

Along with the navigation improvements I'll also be changing the about sections, side texts and main page. This will make it a lot clearer to new visitors and let them know and get a better feel about what to expect from the website.

I'm looking forward to making these improvements and I hope that they will help to push the site forward.

-Dan.

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Free Album, Liable Mutt

Liable Mutt is the title of my new mini album which is available to download via this blog. You can download each track individually or the whole album as a .zip file.

The album is completely free which means you can take it, share it, give it away or do whatever you want with it.

Track list

1. Cake Torn FREE DOWNLOAD
2. Watt Cork FREE DOWNLOAD
3. Kart Etcher FREE DOWNLOAD
4. Croak Turf FREE DOWNLOAD
5. If Rack Vet FREE DOWNLOAD
6. Sax Trick FREE DOWNLOAD
7. Canker Vest FREE DOWNLOAD

Download full album [.MP3]
Download full album [.wav]

About the album
You have probably noticed the unusual track names, this is because they are all anagrams of themselves. For example the first track "Cake Torn" is an anagram of "Track one" and the title of the album "liable mutt" is an anagram of "album title".

Thanks to dave for helping out with the artwork for the album, you can find him on Twitter HERE or on Blogspot HERE

Production techniques
I didn't want to use a lot of equipment while recording this album as I wanted it to have a raw minimal feel to it.
The whole album was recorded on my Fostex D-80 8-track and mixed roughly with a basic Tapco 8 channel mixer. There was no computers involved in the production.

My Roland MC303 groovebox provided all drum and percussion sounds on the album, using mostly the 808 and 909 kits.

Most of the basslines were produced using my Freeform Analog Technologies FB383 [clone of the Roland TB303].

All other synth sounds came from my Korg Microkorg [apart from the strings on "Sax Trick" which came from the MC303].

For effects like reverb and distortion I used my korg Mini KP, Boss MD2 and Boss DS1.

Hope you enjoy listening to the album. You can find me on Twitter HERE or Myspace HERE

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First post

Right then, just started this new blog.
I will post various things on here including a lot of my older music and projects along with other stuff I have been recently working on.
I will upload links to Soundcloud, Facebook, Twitter, vampirefreaks, Last.FM and myspace accounts.
Basically anything on and off the net that I'm involved with.

Also lookout for links to friends projects for more music, art, video etc.


But until I upload all that stuff check me out on Twitter at; www.twitter.com/dan303
You can also keep up to date with the twitter widget in the upper right hand corner. This will display my 4 most recent tweets.

-Thanks, Dan.

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