29.3.15

Bass Mekanik ~ Subsonic Bass from JA to Miami

Bass Mekanik is a legendary car audio producer. His career started in Byron Lee's studio in Kingston, Jamaica. Then he went to Miami and discovered the 808 boom. "All things have a resonant frequency. For example, the resonant frequency of planet earth is like 7.83 hertz." Check out this interview.

28.3.15

Visual tools for mixing sound


If you have a small studio, or if you’re still learning to trust your ears when listening to a mix, visual aides are really helpful. The frequency analyzer is a budget producer's best friend. The phase scope is also quite useful. But why stop there? Lissajous curves are big fun! Here's a roundup of basic spectrum analyzers and some specialties.

John Chowning ~ Composer and inventor of FM Synthesis



Want to hear proper FM sounds? Try the original compositions by John Chowning. He's the inventor of the technique used in the Yamaha DX7. Here's a nice article about Chowning and the history of FM.

15.3.15

Oskar Sala's frequency shifter



Not your average frequency shifter. This is a one off, custom built, nothing but tubes inside, and it sounds great. You may have heard about Mr. Sala's Mixtur-Trautonium, which is a really nice vintage synth, but his frequency shifter is just as interesting.

11.3.15

Play EDO's using 'pitch slope' or 'pitch keyfollow'

Here's a little trick for hardware synth owners who want to try out xenharmonics. Even if your synth doesn't have proper tuning capabilities, you might be able to get some EDO's (equal divisions of the octave, or equal temperaments) out of it. This trick works if your synth has an option called pitch slope or pitch keyfollow.