Vince Clarke Auction

Vince Clarke, founding member of Depeche Mode and Erasure has announced he will be selling off his entire studio collection to the public as he will be relocating from England to America, and will most likely be focusing more on using software synthesizers. CAN IT BE? THE KING OF TECHNO POP IS MOVING INTO DIGITAL?

Now this is an auction that I am interested in.

FOR SALE:

Gentle Electric Model 101
Ear 822Q
Drawmer DS201 Gate x2
DBX 166A Comp x2
Roland SDE3000A
Eventide H3000-D/SE
Bel Electronics BD-80
Lexicon PCM70
Bel Electronics BA40
Korg Stage Echo
DeltaLab Effectron ADM1024
Orban/Parasound 106CX
Korg Signal Delay
Roland Space Echo
Lexicon Primetime
Peavey Reverb
Ear 823MQ
Drawmer DL221
Roland GS 6
Otari DTR-7
Aiwa XK007 Excelia
Denon DCD 595
Furman Sound RV-1
Astorias Classical Accoustic GTR JM155
Martin&co Steel String Accoustic
Yamaha NS-10 Pair x2
Ear 509mkII Amplifier x2
Ear 549 Amplifier x4
Un-named Studio Control Speakers
SAE P50 Amplifier x2
NAD 3020A Amplifier
Akai S1000
Roland A110 Midi Display
Alesis DATA DISK
Dual 505-2 Turntable
Revox 1/4 inch 2 Track Recorder
David 9000 Speakers
Studer C37 Type828 2 Track Recorder
Studer A80 24 Track Recorder
EMT 140 Plate Reverb
UMI Computers x 8 with drive and memory cards
Optikenetics Solar 250 Light
Speaker Stands 45cm High
AS Filter Bank FB3
EMO RackLight RK1
Sycologic AMI
Sycologic M16x
Sycologic PSP
FriendChip SRC
FriendChip SRC/AT
Ensoniq KMX-16
DAC High Capacity Storage System
Amek Mixing Console
Groove Electronics MC-Lites Midi Box
JBL M553 Crossover
Tascam DA-P1 DAT
Arun Oxley Pin Patch
Otari Radar 24 Track Hrd Drv Recorder Plus SCSCI Drive
Otari RE-8E Controller
Amek Mice Controller
Studer A80 VU Remote Control
Studer AutoLocator
Bantam Jack Patch 6 1U units of 96 inputs
A/DA GTR Flanger
ProCo GTR FX RAT
DaneElectro Tuner
Signex CPM22 MIDI Patch
Symetrix Headphone Amplifier SX204
Fairlight C.M.I
Erasure MIDI/Gate System
Beckmann9020 Oscilloscope
Roland PMA-5 x2
Roland MC-4 Micro Composer x6
Roland CV Interface 0P-8M x5
Roland Digital Cassette Recorder MTR100 x3
Roland SBX-80 Midi Sync Box
Roland MC-300 Micro composer
Roland MC-500 MKII Micro Composer
Behringer Ultra X crossover
BSS DPR522 Gate
AB 215 EQ x2
Behringer ULtra Q Pro
BSS FCS 926 Varicurve x2
BSS FCS 920 Varicurve
Klark Teknik DN514 Auto Gate
Behringer Multicom 4ch Compresser x2
Behringer Composer Pro 2ch Compresser x2
Roland SDE 3000 x2
Yamaha SPX90 x2
Yamaha R1000 Reverb
DBX 120-DS
BSS Soundweb 9088i Signal Processer
BSS FCS 920 Varicurve
Yamaha SPX90MkII
Behringer Virtualizer Pro
BSS DPR502 Midi Noise Gate
DBX 500 SubHarmonizer
DBX 160 2ch Compresser VU Meter Version
AB 215LT EQ
Yamaha PM180 Rack Mixer
Behringer Tube Ultra Q x3
AB 231 EQ
Roland Dimension SDD-320
Citronic V-4.5 Conquest 2ch Amplifier
White Parametric EQ x2
Crest Century 24ch Mixing Console
Crest 32ch Mxing Console
Duke Box

If anyone is interested in bidding for the aforementioned items, visit

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Vince-Clarke-Studio-For-Sale

Good luck!

The Twelve Inch Wax

Just a little clip taken from the Discovery Channel on how vinyl records are pressed and manufactured. Pretty interesting stuff.



Don't ever sell your records!

Many "Reasons"

FINALLY IT HAS FUCKING ARRIVED.

Version 4.0 of the critically acclaimed Propellerheads "Reason" software.

Ordered this software about 45 minutes ago through online credit card payment and hopefully this will arrive at the office later this week. Only bad thing to come out of this is that I will be so excited when I receive it during the day, I will pretty much not be able to function properly at work.

OK SO LETS TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT NEW FEATURES THEY HAVE:



We all know that Propellerheads has refused to support audio recording technology nor is it going to support VST/AU software plugins and instruments anytime soon. However, in the grand scheme of things, you can pretty much tell that they have NO other choice in the future but to do so.

Many people have thought that the only thing lacking about Reason is the sequencer and lack of VST support, but i believe this will all change. With the introduction of 4.0, the sequencer is MORE than enough to keep anyone happy. Having said that, in the long-term, I really see no other option but for Propellerheads to introduce VST compatibility. The program is already too good and there is almost nothing else to improve on. If it wants to continue to be a dominant force in the DAW market, it will have to support VST. Once it does this, the sky is the limit for Propellerheads as I know of at least 25 other producers from back home that will abandon their current setup and migrate to Reason - including myself.

We can only wait that to see if my assumption is correct, but even if it doesn't come true anytime soon, I highly suggest anyone serious about making beats to at least incorporate Reason into your bigger setup (maybe "rewiring" it to your DAW host so that you can treat it like a seperate VST instrument).

Downtown East Side

"Umfeld"

Oh my God! My favorite producer and my favorite visual artist has collaborated and are releasing a DVD in High Definition and in 5.1 surround sound to showcase both of their visual and audio talents.

This is seriously like a dream come true.

There were talks on many message forums about this DVD in the making but i passed it off as just rumors. Then today I discovered on BOA message board that the DVD is up for grabs for free on www.umfeld.tv

Anyone into abstract soundscapes and from Rotterdam will know who Jochem Paap aka Speedy J is. I distinctly remember seeing him do a live show in a 'hole in the wall' in Toronto last year and my eardrums just pretty much blew out after the show.

But it was totally worth it.

Scott Pagano is a legend in the making and he is pretty much self explanatory. He has worked with Kronos Quartet (think of the Quartet that made the haunting soundtrack for Requiem For A Dream) and countless others. You wanna see 3D abstract art? Look no further.

Check out this link:

http://www.apple.com/pro/profiles/pagano/video3.html#

Minus Orange

Arguably one of the most popular Detroit Techno classics of modern day dance music, "Minus Orange" was produced by Richie Hawtin in 1999 when Detroit influenced techno was beginning to spread across the world like wildfire. You won't hear techno nowadays in many clubs where I'm from unless you live in Germany, Rotterdam or Belgium, but godamn were those days good. The glory days of Detroit are over (known to many as the Jerusalem of techno music) but the music still lives on.

I remember being at an afterhours in Montreal called Sona in 1999 when Stacey Pullen dropped this track (it was a white label record, so it wasn't released to the public yet). My jaws dropped when I heard it.

There are many rumors of the origins of the song, but many believe that it was sampled from Yello's 1985 produced "Ohh Yeah" track that was made famous in the Snicker Bar commercials and from the soundtrack of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off". Who knows where Hawtin got the sample from, but throw that into the mix with some compressed TR-909 drums and it was an instant classic.


Since 1999, Richie Hawtin has progressed into a more mature style of minimal techno. You will rarely hear him play songs like "Minus Orange" anymore. His recent work has been more experimental, abstract and dark sounding minimal techno. Him and Ricardo Villalobose have been going ape shit pushing that minimal sound in Europe when the masses were still heavily into German Schranz and hard industrial techno. I guess their hard work paid off, as most of Europe now is mainly into minimal and electro.

I picked up a copy of his latest album called "DE:9 Transitions" (Short for "Decks, Efx, and TR909"). The first DE:9 album was originally a concept album that showcased Hawtin's turntablism skills, mixed with live effects from his effect racks, while simultaneously incorporating hands on drum machine programming. Since then, it has evolved into something completely different. "Transitions" was an album that was completely mixed from Ableton Live where he spliced and diced loops from hundreds of different minimal tracks and blended them together in different orders, while using Ableton's built in software tools.

Anyhow, enough of the bloody lecture, we're not here to be educated. The two songs are taken from "DE:9 Transitions". Tracks have been incorporated into the videos he made that were released as a DVD version on his album. Enjoy.

"The Tunnel" - Richie Hawtin


"We (All) Search" - Richie Hawtin

Kid Beyond using Ableton Live

Haven't checked out the Ableton (www.ableton.com) webpage in a while, but stumbled onto the "Artist" page and saw that Kid Beyond uploaded a new video showing him making crazy drum 'n bass and techno with nothing but a microphone and midi controller hooked up to Ableton software.........SIIIICCCKKKKKKK.....


Ohhh yah, new features of Ableton Live 7.0 introduces:

-side chainer for making your drumkicks duck underneath that bassline.
-spectrum analyzer......perfect for audio engineering.
-new compressor for your drums.
-EQ Eight, brand new EQ's for mixing down.

Digital Is Evil. Analogue Is Your Friend.

I just bought a vintage analogue synthesizer named the Roland Juno 106 the other night after a rather aggressive bidding war with someone on eBay. Unfortunately I am not shipping this machine to my home in Hong Kong yet, as shipping costs are too high. I plan on sending this back home to my parent's house in Vancouver where i will consolidate this with the rest of my studio to be packed up and sent to my shoebox apartment in Hong Kong.

You would not believe how excited but disappointed I am with this purchase. Excited because i have finally gotten my hands on a warm sounding analogue synthesizer for many years now. Disappointed because I cannot play with it until it arrives in Hong Kong.

The Juno 106 was released in 1984 by Roland as a semi analogue-semi digital synthesizer tool. It has been used by Dr. Dre, Aphex Twin, Daft Punk, Depeche Mode, Joris Voorn, and countless of other producers of all music genres.

In terms of sound, it has the capacity and flexibility to produce mind boggling sound effects, aggressive sawtooth basslines (think of the cheesey music you hear at Volar), and legendary leads. I got into a heated debate with my partner in crime from Toronto on a long distance call, where he advised me that there is nothing the 106 can do these days that my computer cannot do.

This is true.

But nothing beats hardware. Software technology can be overwhelming at times, and yes i am aware that it is CAPABLE of being more flexible, but in reality, is this truly the case? I know TONS of producers back home that swear by software synthesizer technology, but because the capability of software technology can be so vast, people can be caught up spending hours in front of the computer messing around for 6 hours rather than actually getting anything done. It's one thing to be constructive and actually get something done. It's another when your sitting in front of your Apple monitor debating what to do with so much software technology. You may also be asking yourself how the fuck to move rotate that button on the screen without using your mouse. It's when I think of these kind of things which make me appreciate the physicality of touching a hardware synthesizer.

Digital is evil. Analogue is your friend.

ohhhhhhhh shiettttttt......

Guess who's back? KOVER from DFA

W.E.E.K.E.N.D.

6AM. Clearly still going strong...

A Different Kind of Evil

Props to the DFA CREW members KOVER and my boy ZEUS who is still incarcerated. DFA always.

The Palestinian Question

According to the Jerusalem Post this morning, there was an article that read "Increased signs of anti-Hamas intifada in Gaza".

I sincerely hope that one day, this tragic predicament can be resolved for once and for all. I, for sure, would like to visit parts of Palestine one day (except for Gaza Strip and the West Bank of course), but it doesn't seem like that is going to be a reality anytime soon.

The current situation is volatile and potentially explosive in nature. On one hand, you have the larger conflict between Israel and Palestine. We all know Israel was essentially a gift to the Jewish population after the Holocaust, which came at the expense of Palestinian territory that was annexed under the British mandate post-World War II.

I think we can all agree that if they have been fighting since Biblical times, there's no tangible reason to believe that they will miraculously stop anytime soon. I don't believe in miracles - at least when it comes to Middle Eastern politics.

Then you have an even more dangerous conflict that is brewing within Palestine itself. The ruling party of Palestine had historically been the the PLO, spearheaded by the now deceased Yasser Arafat. In 2004, I was in Hong Kong flipping through the channels on my TV when i noticed a CNN breaking report that Arafat had died. It was then that I KNEW this conflict would spiral out of control.

Arafat had ruled Palestine up until that point. The PLO, being a multi-party confederation had many different factions beneath it. One of them, was Fatah, a sub-wing of the PLO that can be seen as the 'muscle' or militant arm of the party. Every analyst knew that Arafat's death would create a political vacuum in the party which would destabilize the entire region.

Analysts were right.

In 2006, the unthinkable happened when Hamas, a globally recognized terrorist organization responsible for scores of suicide bombings in Israel had been democratically elected by the Palestinian people.

Let's think about that for a moment.

A global terrorist organization had been democratically elected by the people to administer rule over the state. I think that pretty much is a reflection of the desperation faced by the Palestinian people.

This brings us to the current situation.

I think it can be acknowledged that the Fatah movement and Hamas are engaged in a full blown guerilla war at the moment, with Hamas being funded by Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Not surprisingly, Ahmadinejad has been known to fund Lebanon's Hezbollah Organization to attack American troops in Iraq. The U.S government and Israeli regime have countered this threat by funding Fatah in Palestine, mobilizing its troops with American made weapons to fight Hamas.

If you look closely at the situation from a macro point of view, you are now witnessing a potentially dangerous situation where large powers on the outside are essentially playing chess to serve their own interests using Palestine as the chess pieces. What you are seeing now parallels closely to US-Soviet conflict during the cold war era, where the two sides were careful not to confront each other directly, but did everything they could to spite each other by funding weapons and money to the other side . In a sense.....it's the classic ideology of "my enemy's enemy is my friend" (think when American troops armed South Koreans with M-16s, and the Russians arming the North Koreans with Avtomat Kalishnakova 47s during the Korean Civil War).

Fatah Party (PLO Loyalists)


Hamas Party

Now, I'm naturally quite a hopeful and optimistic person, but given the complexity of the situation in Palestine, I can't help but feel cynical about everything.

Here is what I would do if i had a choice (although i clearly don't):

Israel and U.S should recognize Hamas as the legitimate ruling government in Palestine. Israel must come up with an agreement with Palestinian authorities to create an official Palestinian state using Jerusalem as the shared capital between Israel and Palestine (easier said than done of course). On top of that, Israel should withdraw from the "Green Line" all of the land it annexed from Palestine during the "Six Day War" in 1967.

Palestine should do its part by officially curbing the 'infitada' they have launched with Israel, declare an end to holy war, and control Islamic Jihad, al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, and scores of other sleeper cells to put an end to suicide bombings in Tel Aviv. The U.S. government should play a pivotal role in encouraging both sides to conduct discourse with each other, while staying neutral during bi-lateral talks.

The reason why I believe solving the "Palestinian Question" is of the utter most importance right now, is because much of the broader conflict in the middle east STEMS from the problem in Palestine. Many neighboring countries that surround Israel/Palestine have openly acknowledged that Israel's border patrolling and containment of Palestinians has created one of the largest state-prisons in the world. It is this mistreatment of Palestinians that is sowing the seeds of hatred, causing young children to grow up with the idea that killing Jews for religious reasons is justifiable. Generally speaking, Arabs are fueled with hatred that their Muslim neighbours are subjects of Israeli humiliation.

Ultimately, Palestine must be given their own state, and Hamas, a democratically elected government must be recognized as the official ruling party, regardless of whether or not it is labeled as a terrorist organization. Western nations should not have the privilege in refusing to recognize a democratically elected government, when it is these same nations that are the ones to harp about the greatness of democracy. Doing so, would be a double standard.

This is the only solution I see.

The Dark Side of the Rainbow

The Dark Side of the Rainbow is actually one of my favourite movies. Well - to call it a movie is quite the understatement. I should correct myself in saying that it is more like an experience.

In 1994, there was numerous chit-chat in multiple underground acid-rock websites, where users swear that they discovered a new way of watching the classic Wizard of Oz. Apparently, rumors were leaked by the legendary band Pink Floyd, that their multi-platinum album titled "Dark Side of the Moon" was meant to be played along with Wizard of Oz. While the band later refuted such claims, the coincidences between the movie and CD were surreal. In short, it really DID play together.

I first experienced The Dark Side of the Moon in 1996 when myself and a buntch of skater friends decided to cut class, smoke trees, and play Daft Punk at my friend's basement. My friend had learnt about the Dark Side of the Rainbow through his older brother (who was a drugged out rocker in our city).

Maybe it was the fumes of the marijuana that had be straight trippin, but i could of sworn that the visuals matched the music. It was a match made in heaven; to this day, i STILL cannot watch Wizard of Oz in its original form without popping in Pink Floyd's CD....as a matter of fact, i have NEVER seen the original movie from beginning to end.

Hence, the name i decided to choose for the blog is The Dark Side of the Rainbow (well, that's also a bit of a lie - "Hong Kong Trash" was already taken).

The good news, is that you no longer have to clumsily sync the CD and movie together to experience this (although i suggest that you should). In case you do want to, just turn the TV volume down and press play on the CD when you see that the MGM lion has roared for the 3rd time.

Some lad on Youtube had the courtesy of doing all of this for us. It is divided into several parts (each part is a seperate track on the Pink Floyd CD).



Listen to the music in this 3rd video. Its called "The Great Gig in the Sky". What an amazing track...





I should go now, the boss is suspiciously giving me that evil eye.

27

27. I finally hit 27 yesterday. To be honest, I'm not quite sure of what to make of it. 27 is old enough to be called a full-fledged adult, but still young enough to do immature things and get away with it.

Of course accompanying the hitting of 27 is the celebration that follows. Now let me be the first to say that I am no fan of 'casual drinking'. I don't like sipping on drinks in social atmospheres. I either don't drink at all, or i go all out.

Last night, i went all out. I don't know how I got home, at what time, and whether or not i was making a complete fool out of myself (again).

And the miraculous thing, is that i only took one picture, which was from the beginning of the night.

Well, here comes another exciting year. Time to grab the damn bull by its horns.

Finding a Gem After 14 Years

I haven't truly listened to Hiphop music in over 7 years now, but the other night i was bored at home and looking at videos through Youtube.

I stumbled upon this song from Above the Law called "Black Superman" that i listened to all the time when i was 13 years old. It was one of my favourite songs at the time, and I couldnt believe it when i found out that they actually had a video for it too. For those of you who don't know, Above the Law were the original pioneers of the G-Funk westcoast sound with the high-pitched synthesizer rides. They were signed to Eazy-E's Ruthless Records before he passed away shortly. Many will dispute Dr. Dre's claim that he was the originator of the G-Funk sound and say that he had actually bit ATL's productions.

Listening to this song really brought back nostalgic feelings. Gone are the days of good hiphop. They simply just don't make these kind of beats anymore. Above the Law was the truth...

Ohhh yeah, check out the second video too. CLASSIC TRACK with cameos from Eazy-E and pornstar Janine......UNTOUCHABLE!!!

Above the Law - Untouchable

Sounds Like Techno

I caved in last night after coming home drunk from singing Karaoke and bought myself a software copy of the TR-909 in its resurrected form of the "Drumazon". The first picture is of the real machine at home, and if you look closely at the second picture, on the right hand side of the screen you will see the reincarnated form of the TR909 in a software copy on my monitor.

1984 (the past)


2007 (the present)


Just a brief history on the machine that I am so obsessed with. The Roland TR-909 Rhythm Composer was originally built and manufactured by Roland; more importantly, the mastermind behind the creation of this stunning drum machine is a man by the name of Tadao Kikumoto, the same man that created the Roland TB-303, the same machine used to create the signature acid baselines and squelches in acid dance music.

In 1984, Roland decided to build a machine that would be used for aspiring guitar players to practice the guitar with. It flopped. Badly. To put everything into context, the mid 80's played a pinnacle point in the revolution of modern day electronic music. Depeche Mode, Tangerine Dreams, New World, and scores of other "soon to be famous" groups were the brink of discovering something truly amazing.....the TR-909.

When artists finally began realizing that this cheap and affordable machine could produce bone rattling drumkicks, hissy sounding hihats and warm snares, the 909 blew up in popularity. Little does anyone know that this machine was actually meant to play the guitar with, and NOT to be used as the backbone of modern day dance tracks. Nowadays, rarely will you ever listen to a song that doesnt have the signature sounds of the 909 drums. From drum and bass, trance, chicago house, detroit techno, down tempo, dub, triphop, to even rock music.....the sounds of the 909 can be heard.

Interestingly, while only 10,000 units were produced worldwide and were sold for only $50, this prized machine is now so in demand from producers, that it can be fetched off eBay for at least $1000.

Anyways, enough of the music lesson. I'm off to play with my new toy!

Everybody Wants to be a DJ

Arguably the most overrated profession in the world, the DJ is another word to describe someone who is basically unemployed. I sold my turntables some years back after realizing that it was no longer fun to play other people's music, and that for one to push himself creatively, he must create, he must produce. Shortly after selling two of my three turntables (I keep one for sampling records), i jumped into the dazzling world of production. Ever since moving to Hong Kong some years back, my studio has been confined to a small dusty corner in my mom's basement back at the house i grew up in. I would do anything to ship all the hardware back to Asia, but due to the limited real estate space i have in my room, i'm better off utilizing music software in my computer as a tool rather than a hardware synthesizer.

My Access Virus KC (that needs dusting)


Red keyboard is the amazing Nord Lead 2X and in the front is the vintage Roland TR-909 drum machine


The top rack is my beloved patchbay (shown without the patchwires). The next rack is my MOTU 828 audio interface. This is the single most important piece of equipment. It basically serves as the recording soundcard, where the signal is then fed directly into my sequencer, Cubase SX in the Mac for recording. Next up is the my MOTU Midi Express 128 which connects all my hardware synthesizers, drum machines, midi controllers into one unit. The third rack is a TC Electronics reverb unit to breathe more life into the TR-909's drum kicks and snares. It is also amazing if you run a synthesizer right through it and mess around with the settings. The last rack in the box is a TC Electronics M-One compressor unit. This may sound like Egyptian to you, but its there to compress the signal. Simply put, whenever you are running a 16 track sequence in your mix, there tends to be "mudiness" in the song as the different signals compete with each other. Compression (and lots of EQ'ing) tend to fix this problem. Compression is best used in dance music mainly on the drums. If u listen closely to a 4/4 signature dance song, when the drums get cut out of a mix, you will notice that everything else becomes slightly louder. When the drums kick in again, everything else becomes softer giving way for the drums to sit nicely in the mix. You can also notice this the next time you turn on your radio station and listen to the host of a show speak. When you hear his voice cut into the mix, whatever music was playing in the background will automatically sound softer in the background. This is compression ladies and gentleman.


Another closeup shot of the legendary Roland TR-909 drum machine



Looking at these pictures really make me sad. There is something different about using analogue equipment, as opposed to the newer generation of digital software technology. Clicking on a mouse on the screen is not quite the same as listening to the sound you are hearing blasting out of the speaker monitors and playing with knobs on the keyboard. I miss my gear!!!