Where's Francis?!?

Oh god, where do I begin? My last entry was in August 2011, FFS!

Since then, I've decided to focus ALL of my energy on Academik Records. Not that I don't love making and giving away free sounds and tech tidbits, but between music, DJing, running a label, writing for Keyboard Magazine (and soon, a very cool EDM blog you may have heard of ;), and being a college professor, something had to go.

So it's this blog. Don't worry, I've actually been working on a few cool goodies for Live users. That's coming later this spring.

But for now, I'm all about Academik and making killer tracks with heroes, colleagues and protégées. When I take a break, I'll get back to blogging regularly. Promise.

Until then, friend me on Facebook, like Academik on FB, and follow me & the label on Twitter. I assure you, I'm making a LOT of noise in those channels.

Much love and thanks for the support last year.

Vibelung: Circuitflu - Now available at Beatport.com

Changing things up a bit, Academik's second EP veers into techno territory with the contagious vibe of Circuitflu.

The original mix is a mutant hybrid of minimal techno fused with hints of clever IDM, courtesy of Dallas-based electro/techno DJ, Vibelung (aka Jimmy Freer). With Circuitflu, Freer's approach to minimal blends clever robot voices with pounding 808-style kicks and a synth riff that evokes the Knight Rider theme without reeking of irony or litigation.

Francis Prève's reinterpretation of Circuitflu turns up the boom with his infectious brand of techno, gene-spliced with a strand of DNA from the better strains of electro. Starting with a handclap-heavy dark groove reminiscent of classic Peace Division, Prève's remix builds to a massive peak that bounces and throbs its way into one of Preve's trademark rising leads. The result is a big room monster that's guaranteed to pack summer floors both at peak-time and after-hours.

Here's what some of the world's top DJs are saying about the Circuitflu EP:

Ableton Preset: Mattel Synsonics

In the pantheon of vintage analog drum machines, there's an unsung classic that isn't from a big name manufacturer like Roland or Korg, but from a toy company. Released in 1981, the Mattel Synsonics was an affordable black box that housed a fully analog kit consisting of kick, two toms, snare, cymbal and hi-hat - all playable via velocity sensitive pads.

Of course, since it was a "toy", few artists took it very seriously - with one notable exception: Kraftwerk.

Freeware: Togu Audio Line synths & effects

When it comes to free - and I mean literally free - plug-ins, one of my favorite companies is Togu Audio Line.

Their filters, vocoder, reverb, and softsynths like Bassline (pictured above) and Elek7tro ooze presence and character. In fact, I'm using the TAL-Bassline on one of my newest tracks. Their Juno-60 emulation's pretty darn good too.

Available for both Mac and PC.

Here's the link. Check 'em out.

http://kunz.corrupt.ch/home

SoundBible.com

Just stumbled across this site yesterday.

Definitely worth checking out.

soundbible.com

Magic New Wave Time Machine #5

Now before you accuse Spandau Ballet of ripping off early Duran Duran, you might want to check the date on this track (1980) since it came out a year before Duran's first album (1981).

Yeah, it's like THAT.

Before they got into producing pop that even my Aunt Suzi likes, Spandau Ballet were purveyors of edgy New Romantic brilliance like this barely-known gem: "To Cut A Long Story Short"

(And for synth trivia buffs, it's a Roland ProMars Compuphonic that Gary Kemp's playing.)

Free Bootleg: This Back & Forth Rhythm

This month's bootleg is a bit of a departure - and very much a labor of love.

Last month, one of my favorite area DJs, Remington Steele, dropped this track at the Academik Records photoshoot at Austin über-club, Kingdom. I kinda dropped everything and ran to the DJ booth and asked "What is THIS!?!"

Ableton Preset: Sine Of The Times

Ah, the sine wave...

For years, I have referred to this wonderful little waveform as "the atom of sound". Without the sine wave, no other waveform could exist, since every complex or single-cycle wave is comprised entirely of sine waves - whether they are harmonically related or a cacophony of chaotic tones.

So, as an exercise, I created this month's preset - Sine Of The Times - out of two single sine waves an octave apart, just to see if I could make it do as many tricks as possible via clever macro assignments.

The result exceeded my expectations and hopefully yours too.

To prove this, the Sine Of The Times Live set is comprised of four sequences that all use the same patch as their starting point.

Track 1 is a hip-hop style jeep bass that consists of a single low sine wave. Classic. Timeless.

Track 2 is a soprano/choir patch that's reminiscent of the lead from Real Life's "Send Me An Angel" (or if you prefer, the original Star Trek theme).

Track 3 is a plucky sequence with a touch of pitch bend in each note's attack.

Track 4 is a fairly accurate recreation of the legendary Roland TR-808 tom/conga that can be further modified via the macros.

All from the same pair of sine waves, with a touch of chorus and reverb.

TECH NOTES

- I'm posting the patch within a Live Set, as opposed to a Live Pack or single preset, so you can hear the patch with example clips and twist the macro knobs to see what's what. If you like it, then hit the preset save button on the macro and add it to your Library.
- The patch will run on Ableton Live 7.0.18 or higher.
- What you see/hear is what you get. I tested it on a couple of systems and the Zip file works as expected.

Download Sine Of The Times