Free Bootleg: Cowbell Matters

One of my first tracks on Different Pieces/Armada was a deep techno groover called "Less Cowbell". Earlier this year, I fluffed it by mating it with the drums from Mark Knight's dub of Faithless' "Music Matters".

This month, I included the "Cowbell Matters" reboot in my May podcast - as well as posting the original Ableton Operator 808 Cowbell preset to my blog as a download.

Makes sense to post the bootleg to my Soundcloud page too, so here it is.

Enjoy!

Download "Cowbell Matters" - Francis Preve 2011 Reboot - Prève vs Faithless vs Knight

Less Cowbell Operator Patch

Back in 2009, I released a track on Different Pieces/Armada called Less Cowbell

Earlier this month, I rebooted the track with updated drums and used it in my May podcast. [Update: I've since posted the full reboot as a free download.]

The core sound in Less Cowbell is based on an custom Ableton Live Operator patch that deconstructs the original TR-808 analog cowbell sound.

To commemorate the original release in 2009, Peter Kirn's Create Digital Music blog posted a piece on the making of the track - along with a downloadable version of the Operator patch - so producers could see how it was done and tinker with the sound itself.

I was going to post a link to the original article here, but I've since made a few revisions to the info and download, so I'm posting a new Live Set that includes the patch - and a sequence to get you started with the macros.

The set is compatible with Live 7.0.18 or higher - and requires Operator (but it will still work in demo mode, even if you don't own this little wündersynth).

William A - Push The Umbrella (free MP3)

One of my star pupils and Armada artist, William A, had a bunch of great releases last year: "Tall Glass", "Shot Glass", "Umbrella", along with quite a few well-received remixes.

Maybe I'm a tad biased, 'cause we've spent so much time hanging out in the studio - but it's obvious that I'm not the only one who's into his sound, since he's received support from superstars like Pete Tong and Dave Seaman.

For my February minimix, I played his latest bootleg, "Push The Umbrella", which mashes up William's "Umbrella" with Nightcrawlers' "Push The Feeling On" - a totally unexpected combo that works really, really well.

I asked William if he'd post it to his SoundCloud account, so I could share it with ya and he was 100% down, so here it is.

Download William A - Push The Umbrella

This & That #2

Now that the Super Bowl is over, time to go back to being a geek...

Analog Badassery Alert

Tom Oberheim is at it again. This time he's recreating the original Oberheim four-voice as the "Son Of 4 Voice" - a modern-day take on the legendary semi-programmable behemoth.

Here are a few tidbits about it to whet your appetite:
- Son Of 4 Voice image
- Son Of 4 Voice audio examples
- TomOberheim.com main page

Beatportal Tutorials Permalink

Just posted a permanent page to my blog, so you can easily find the Beatportal tutorials and RA glossary.

William A February 2011 Minimix

Armada recording artist and good buddy of mine, William A, has posted his latest DJ set here.

More linkee goodness after the jump...

Francispreve.com Arrives :D

www.francispreve.com

Rather than whipping up a fancydancy ultra-redundant site that duplicates all the other social media stuff I'm doing, here's an easy way to get to my Blog, Twitter, SoundCloud, Facebook, Beatport artist page, iTunes artist page, Beatportal tech tutorials, Amazon books, and news.

Simple, direct, and iOS compatible. One page to rule them all.

Old-school Automation Shortcut

This trick is really old school, but in many cases it's way more efficient than screwing around endlessly with automation and fx sends.

If you want to echo or verb only certain words of a lead vocal, just duplicate the track, add the desired effects (making the echo or verb 100% wet) and chop out everything you don't want to process. This is - for me - the quickest way to process only specific words and syllables.

Here's how I'm doing it on my remix for the upcoming Winter Kills single "Hot As Hades":

Speaking of... I gotta get back to work.