Stealthgear Track: Lucky Shoes

Stealthgear has released a new track.
Instruments Featured: Roland JX-8p, a Yamaha Dx200, and a Korg Electribe ER1.

Lucky Shoes: Click to listen

Hack an old Nord Modular to a G2

Not too much going on right now except holiday goodness! I hope most of you are enjoying yourself till new year instead of reading blogs. But, I thought I'd drop in and post this hack which I found was really interesting. Anything that adds useful functionality is a sweet hack!

converts old Nord Modular ( Clavia NordModular, NordModularRack) to G2 Clavia NordModularG2, g2x, G2engine.. not bad.

Clavia Modular Forum
Clavia Modular Converter from Sequencer.de

Abletone Live 6.03 update

Ableton goes to version 6.03 with some bug fixes.
Update fixes crashes when loading presets and dragging and dropping of vsts & waves.
Performance is improved.

Link: Downloads

Free Reason Refill

The second installment of the James Bernard Free ReFill series is here. This ReFill is called Modular Madness, and rightly so. The ReFill consists of a collection of heavily processed synth and drum loops that have escaped the Propellerhead labs. The loops were created using Reason in a modular approach, which you can hear from the results.

you must have a valid copy of Reason to download from the member's section
link: JB Vol.2 - Modular Madness

Limewax - Scars on the Horizon LP

I got a hold of this limited edition release of Limewax - Scars on the Horizon, a very good drum n bass album that I had never heard of until now. The music is extremely hard sounding drum n bass, but the rhythms contained, make it very enjoyable. Like listening to a million drum marching band on speed. Somehow I am able to listen through the entire cd! Very rare. Very good. I guess the full release comes out in 2007.



here is an ebay auction of it:
eBay.co.uk: Limewax - Scars On The Horizon 5LP VERY LIMITED PROMO!! (item 130059490987 end time 24-Dec-06 16:30:20 GMT)

Adobe Soundbooth Beta 2 Out

December 19th, Adobe releases the next beta.
I'm hoping this one doesnt crash every time I use it.

Download: Link

New 8bit Peoples Compilation released.

8BP050


8 bit Peoples CD Link

At least it has my favourite artist: Mesu Kasumi, on CD1

Pure Progress - Free mp3 musik

Pureprogress.net looks like a single artist's mp3 site. He has some very nice, clean sounding, electronic music! Good for an afternoon download.

Link: http://pureprogress.net/music.html

Native Instruments releases Akoustik Piano 1.1.1 with Intel Binary

Link: Akoustik Piano Intel Binary


MORE Intel Binary goodness from Soundhack

Spectral Shapers Plugin bundle fro mac.



Link

Also check out the Sound Hack freeware!!!

Steve Urkel Limited Editon Synthesizer Speculation

Jaleel White, recently age 30 and former star of ABC's Family Matters is reported asking Moog Synthesizer for his own limited edtion branded synth. It is not known whether Moog will comment on the matter, but sources indicate that they are considering a small release of a couple hundred units if there is enough interest. Urkel was most remembered for his unique snorts and catch phrases "Got any cheese?" and "Did I do that?"

Who knew he was into synths?

Mixing Electronic Music for big Soundsystem

Something to think about is how your music will sound amplified multiple times over in a club or live. Some good comments and tips for music makers brought up by this post!
Link: Gearslutz mixing electronic music big soundsystems.

Miroslav Philharmonik updated for intel macs

A powerful integrated Orchestral Workstation combining the legendary Miroslav Orchestra and Choir sample collection masterpieces with a dedicated plug-in instrument.
VST, AU, and RTAS.

Looks nice!


Click here to listen to demo songs made entirely from using Miroslav Philharmonik.

Moog Little Phatty Demos

I've seen pics of the Moog Little phatty, and some video demos, but I can say that I've never been completely won over by it. This is mainly because I haven't heard what it really can do. This is a really good mp3 demo directory for the Moog Little Phatty. You can decide for yourself if its worth the purchase. I think it just might.

Links:

Directory: Trippler Moog Little Phatty mp3 Directory
Song: Trippler - Lil Blue mp3

Added to the Synth Archives: Elektron Monomachine SFX-6

Go to the Chip Collection Synth Archives and read about the Elektron Monomachine

Sonic State's Top 20 Greatest Synths of All time

Sonic State is allowing you to pick three of your all time faves. Please vote for the TX816!! The sole instrument used for the the movie:

Starring Tom Selleck.
Well you know the TB-303 is going to win, lets give it some competition. JX-8p for third.

GO VOTE!!

Uneducated college girl blogs about techno music

I think that Techno music may be the music of the future...

No Way.

Someone go over there and give them a clue.


While the first sentence made my day, this girl's entry brings up some really old feelings I'm sure you've all had. My question is how did rap music become mainstream, while electronic music has been around for much longer?

Link to Krist14326's blog on Progressive U

Thomas Dolby leaves nasty comment on Kevin Federline's Myspace

"...I think there's some kind of filter where words more than one syllable get deleted," he says. "Which doesn't leave very much for a cease-and-desist letter."

-Thomas Dolby, referring to his stolen sample placed into K-Fed's rap music.



The article talks about synthesizers, his fans, and his mad scientist look as well. I'm not quite a Dolby fan, but this is an excellent read!
Photo of Mr. Dolby from Synthopia.

Read the Full Interview at Miaminewtimes.com

Bad Synth Video Thursday - The grand finale

Happy Children - P Lion
Nonstop train action. Love this song.

Bad Synth Video Thursday - Vectorized!

Via Malario77 on YouTube

Bad Synth Video Thursday - Woodpeckers from Space

Best plane synthesizer ever.

Alesis A6 Andromeda added to the Synth Archives

Synth Archives is a new feature to the site:
Link: Chip Collection Synth Archives - Alesis Andromeda

Control Your Mac with a Korg Kaoss Pad 3

Okay this is way better than nintendo wii or ds.

It sounds like he is using a Korg Kaoss Pad along with Apple's Quartz Composer!!




Just a sweet image of the Kaoss Pad 3 from Sequencer.de



Product Link

Guy shows you how to use an Electribe MX - 50 minute tutorial

via http://matrixsynth.blogspot.com/
get the rest of the Electribe MX tutorial videos here

Synthmaker

http://synthmaker.co.uk/index.html updated. Looks like a nice program! super nice interface compared to synthedit.

Yamaha Dx1

Description: The largest FM synthesizer on the entire planet at over 100 pounds. Only 140 of this model were made, making it quite rare. You might see one on ebay or in classifieds rarely. Unlike the Yamaha DX7, it has its own red light up LED displays which tells you which parameters are being modified. Inclusion into the chip collection out of pure silly-ness. The only improvement I could think of on this was if they made it out of gold...or if it talked to you in the voice of K.I.T.T. Yamaha must have gotten their engineers together and said "hey lets make the most extravagantly heavy digital synthesizer ever". Its still really lovable though. If you want these types signature digital of sounds nowadays, your better off getting a DX200, Native Instruments FM8, or just your computer's generic VSTs. Its almost exactly the same because FM synthesis uses mathematical calculations instead of analog circuitry or analog modeling.

Year: 1985

Why: To make a redicoulously more expensive version of the Dx7.

Photos:

Super nice wood finish, and really nice keys.

Estimated Price: $4000ish U.S.

Sound Demos: I can't find any claiming to be directly out of a DX1.

Links:

DX1 Plugin Board! Accepts Dx1 and Dx7 sounds.

Very Nice Photos showing its wood frame and inner circuits. Awesome hatch opening action...

Free Malstrom Patches

I'm giving away some free malstrom patches.
Most are really weird. I just stopped developement on them for now...Test em' out.

Chip Collection Exclusive. Reason Refill. 48 Malstrom Patches.
Download:
Free Chip Collection Malstrom Patches

MC-505 Review

I just bought this beast from ebay. Yes I am a little late in the game...This machine is kind of old now, but its a good one. Roland outdid themselves way back in 1998. Its really nice to be able to afford it now because when it came out I was a kid with no money.

The MC505 very impressive when you first get your hands on it. It looks very good and intimidating, as well as fun. I was in heaven until I noticed something a little wrong...THE KNOBS WERE BROKEN. I had made the mistake of buying from a pawn shop ebay "powerseller". More like power asshole. I was lied to.

Anyway, I promptly opened it up to see if I could super glue the busted Filter/Amplifier knobs back in place. After all the unscrewing I finally saw that the potentiometers were ripped right out of the circuit board. NICE. Well at least it only needed a resolder. I decided I would resell it on ebay to someone who wanted to fix it.

SOUNDS: Okay these are A+ sounds, I don't care what anyone says. Awesome for making techno music. Just muddy enough to fit in any mix and with the right tweaking from the awesome envelope controls you can make some F-'edup sounds. It also has all the cheesy groovebox sounds you'd expect. Very silly voices and some analog style presets that are mind blowing. This thing is awesome for digital grimey sounding techno or dance. Just play with it for an hour and you'll realize the sound shaping makes it not a toy. I am so into the envelopes that I wish that they had put this on the Yamaha series of grooveboxes.

Its been sitting in my room the past couple of days and whenever i get bored I just turn it on and start playing. Its waaaaaay more accessible than all the gear on my computer. Still its not in perfect condition, and compared to say a RS7000, its not good for sequencing. I have to give it up despite the awesome sounds. So its on ebay going to a new home. I'm glad I bought this thing its FUN.

Man creates entire album with a Moog Voyager on his Mac

Moog Voyager Guy from Create Digital Music




Moog Voyager Guy from Create Digital Music

SH-32 Amazing!

Minor Site Update

Chip Friends free Link Directory located on the right section near the RSS feed button. Anyone with a music related site can get on can list their website on Chip Collection.

Lazy Monday Updates

Good stuff, All Via SonicState:

Virsyn has CANTOR-2 Vocal Synth
Free Pitch Shifter Plug FREE!
Kenton Killamix Mini USB Killaaahhh


20th anniversary.
Have a gooood day guys.

Free Online Class about Composing/Orchestration with Prizes

Free Online Orchestration Class
Best students will win prizes for electronic orchestration work 30-Nov-06
Music technology leaders EastWest, Tascam, and VI-Control.net are sponsoring Alexander Publishing's new Orchestration Class of the 21st Century with contests, prizes, and virtual classroom space.

At the conclusion of a standard semester of this free online course that starts on December 11, 2006, students will have written and produced more than a dozen original works, giving them a start to a publishing portfolio and possibly their first album.

Read more direct From SonicState

It sounds kind of cool, except that the prizes are a little crappy. I don't think contests are appropriate when learning is involved. Anyways its free.

Guy Emulates Terminator 1 Bassline on JX-3p

The Cheapest Wireless Midi Controller discovered

DSMIDI Wifi!


Yes its the Nintendo DS converted over to a midi controller. I saw this yesterday, but thought I'd repost.

Retarded synthesizer kid with Polysix and C batteries

TB-303 DIY Clone

Comes with all the original parts! Somehow I think this is the coolest and closest to the original Roland that I've seen.
$315. If I knew how to solder better, I'd totally get one.


x0xb0x

EMS Synthi for Kontakt 2

I recently saw one of these on ebay. The 70s suitcase synth! Now you can get a virtual version from Soniccouture

Do these vintage drum machines by Audio Realism compare to the real thing?

Audio Realism contains two different drum machines modeled after roland. The interface looks really nice
Coming out in 2007:



If thats not cool, check this piece out! AudioRealism Bassline PRO! Its like a super-modded TB-303!


Mac Demo or PC Demo

From Audiorealism.Se

Free soft synth: Synthmaster

SynthMaster is semi-modular software synthesizer and multi-effects plug-in that combines many different synthesis methods such as additive synthesis, subtractive synthesis, ring modulation, amplitude modulation, frequency / phase modulation, pulse width modulation, osc sync and waveshaping.
Check out the Downloads Page from Kv331audio.

Guide to making usable samples

Covers basic guidelines, technical & microphone info.

From Reason Freaks Click Here

Alesis offers free M1 Active MkII Studio Monitors

....with a purchase of any Fusion keyboard.
Awesome deal!


Offer available Here

Top Ten Drum Machines of all time

There is no real news of drum machine releases by main manufacturers on the horizon. With advent of computer based recording setup hardware, drum machines have not been in the spotlight as of late. A look on ZZounds and froogle is almost barren and a closer look shows that some of the top sellers are over ten years old. Is this a testament to great drum machine hardware? Or is the drum machine of a dying breed?
With that in mind I give you the Chip Collection - Top Ten Drum Machines of all Time
after the break...

DIY Synthesizer Pages

I love the skull and cross bones warning text of the tube synth section:

Warning: The voltage levels in this circuit are lethal...

via make blog

Link

Guy makes awesome laser-whip sounds on rack synths

Check out this guy's amazing laser sounds!

He's using:

• Plan B VCO's (warning has sound)
• MOTM Triple Resonator
• Doepfer A149

This makes me want to buy more analog gear and get creative by staying off my computer!

Click here for the video

Free discoDSP Highlife VSTi / sampler

This thing looks awesome!


From KVRAudio.com

discoDSP has announced that HighLife is now freeware. It previously retailed for $99.

HighLife is a "VSTi freezer" and Sampler. It loads into your VST Host as a VSTi but it also allows you to load another VSTi into it and then "Freeze" the current preset and save this as its own preset. You can then unload the hosted VSTi to free up resources. It features a sample editor, five built in effects, flexible modulation, parameter morphing and high offline resampling quality using 512 point SINC.

discoDSP

Free Phaser VST

KR Phaser version R.1.1.0

Looks like it does all the normal phaser functions. I always love free plugins, even if its for Windows.

Available at K Research

JX-8p Reason Refill

JX-8P Complete Reason Refill 2.5 GB
Now available in the Chip-Store!

Buy Now

5.1 Channel Surround in Reason

A quick tutorial on how to set up 5.1 audio mixes in Reason.

• Features quadraphonic reverb & pans.

My wish list for Reason 4 would include better surround support, but this tutorial is pretty cool until then.

Also on my wishlist for Reason 4:
Optical Audio plugs on the back, so I don't have to keep wiring stereo channels.

From Reason Freaks Click Here

Anthology 2

I have never used Anthology before, but any release optimized for Intel Macs is a good thing!

Eventide say that this new Mactel upgrade will allow users to take full advantage of Apple's newest computers, including the Mac Pro with quad-core architecture, for faster processing speeds when operating the company's digital plug-ins.

Click to Read Sonic State Article
Check Out EvenTide (what a crummy page!)

Native Instruments Massive and FM8 released!

The successor to the FM synthesis software FM7 is here: FM8!
Also a new "wave scanning" synthesis instrument Massive has been released



Massive For PC Demo
Massive For mac (intel binary!)

and

FM8 for PC Demo
Fm8 for mac (intel binary!)


It should be really interesting to demo Massive. Full review of the demo coming soon.

Outsim Synthmaker - Create your own synth!

Synthmaker 1.0 has been released. It will allow you to create a synthesizer without writing any program code, like SynthEdit. Graphics are vector based, which allows you to resize easily. It also features a way to directly write your own DSP code into the machine. $125 GBP It looks really interesting, I can't wait to try it out and compare it to SynthEdit. Click Here

Chip Collection Sweepstakes

just a reminder you can still enter the Reason Refill giveaway Here
One person will get all the refills in the store burned to DVD/ and mailed to their house.

Reason Song Tutorial Part 2

Propellerheads Reason Song Tutorial - make a full track in less than 20 minutes!

Here is part one of a free video tutorial I made on how to use Propellerheads Reason. Goes through recording, composition, and even a little bit of mastering at the end. You can use these tips in your own songs and expand upon them. The quality is a little shoddy because its youtube...google video version coming soon. Part two will be posted tomarrow.

NES Wave Pack Reason Refill - Chip Sound!

Now available:



NES Wave Pack Reason Refill as well as other cool refills by Chip Collection. Designed to give you a fully recreated NES to make chip tunes. I just wanted to remind everyone and that we also have other sweet handmade refills for download with Paypal. Click here

Also be on the lookout for a new Reason tutorial video to be posted here for free later this week.

Vector-Synth VST by Hercs Music Systems

• Viktor
• Windows VST
• Vector Morphing Synth
• Its in development
• 
  There is not much else known about Viktor as It has only been just anounced. Vector synthesizer technology is very cool, so I can't wait till we know more.

HercMusicSystems

1 Bit Audio Interface & Mobile!?

This Looks pretty fresh. A mobile recorder from korg. Whats so special about it? 1 bit recording!!! Supposedly these recorders double the bitrate of my current audio interface. Thats really sad (for me) with my edirol audio interface. I want it!!!

Korg M1000 Product Page

Korg Announces K61P USB-MIDI Studio Controller

K61P combines computer controller features with built-in, high-quality, stereo-sampled acoustic and electric pianos

So its a midicontroller that they put some piano sounds into. Korg is scared that people are going to stop buying their keyboard workstations, so they are marketing a regular keyboard as a midi controller I see.

Like other K-series models, the K61P comes bundled with Korg’s M1 Le software synthesizer, a complete software version of the classic M1 Music Workstation. As a bonus, K-series users can upgrade at a special “Preferred Owner” price to the Korg Legacy Collection – Digital Edition, which comprises a significantly enhanced version of the M1 software synthesizer, the WAVESTATION v1.6 software synthesizer and the MDE-X v1.2 multi-effect plug-in.

Ah! I this is also a product intended to get you purchasing their software.

Whatever happens I hope that its a really good midi controller, because it seems kind of expensive for a keyboard with a couple of piano sounds. Full press release and links after the break.

Why digital samplers sound like crap

A neat technical article on why samplers that use cd-quality 44.1khz sound are crappy.
Digital Sucks

Adobe Soundbooth

Adobe just released an audio editing program called Soundbooth. Pick up the beta at versiontracker.com

Music Gear in Second Life

Wired has an article on music gear is being sold in second life.
Wired Article

This is not new at all, however. I was one of the first people to do this months ago, selling boxy 3d drum machines & remixing tools. Of course you can't actually use them, because its in Second Life. Second life lures you in with profit, but its actually the game makers who are really getting rich. Thanks Wired for more news about a really boring game!!!

BlentWell - The peoples dj mixset link collective

Check out the best site for DJ mixsets on the planet. Its almost like a free lifetime subscription service when enabled as a podcast. Its more than that however.

Budget Musician's Guide

I have setup a site called the budget muscian's guide site on Squidoo, a very cool portal / recommendations site. It contains all of my favourite gear and software for making music. Click Here to check it out.

Welcome to Chip Collection

Welcome to the best synthesizer blog ever! I can't wait to continue updating this site. We also sell Reason Refills in our store! Have fun.