Matthew Dear: “When tasked to list their 10 favorite albums one asks themselves, ‘Where do I even begin?’ These are the albums I find myself returning to most. Whether I’m at home, on a plane, in a hotel room late at night, or sharing some music with a friend, these are the ones that have… Read more »
Monthly Archives: September 2015
Simple Synthesis: Part 14, Wavetable Synthesis
In this installment of Simple Synthesis we’ll be looking at a technique that can achieve a wide variety of sonic results, while also having less computational overhead than a lot of more traditional synthesis approaches. Say hello to Wavetable Synthesis!
Got a Girl at Great American Music Hall San Francisco
Got a Girl is the musical duo of singer (and actress) Mary Elizabeth Winstead and super producer Dan the Automator. Their debut studio album, I Love You But I Must Drive Off This Cliff Now, was released last year. The album draws heavily from 60s French pop and marries it deftly with Dan’s signature Handsome Boy… Read more »
Interview with Jason Sole (Waveformless)
We caught up with synth shop owner Jason Sole to talk about his work with analog synthesizers, the resurgence of their popularity, and the appeal of opening up a physical brick-and-mortar location.
Interview with George Mattson (Mattson Mini Modular, MST)
George Mattson is a pioneer of synthesizer design, the inventor of the Syntar (the first ‘keytar’) and the guy behind Mattson Modular Systems. We caught up with George to talk about his views on the history of synthesis from analog to digital and back, the invention of the Syntar, and the process and inspiration of… Read more »
Daniel Mintseris (St. Vincent) Picks 10 Albums
Daniel Mintseris, the keyboardist and programmer who plays in St. Vincent, picks 10 albums that have influenced him as an artist.
Looping in Live with SoftStep: LED Feedback
In the previous two articles, we approached looping in Live in two different ways. Both have their advantages, and each offers a distinct workflow. One thing they both lack, however, is some sort of LED feedback so that we can tell what’s going on in Live by looking at our SoftStep. In this article we will look at… Read more »
Juan Alderete (Racer X, Mars Volta, Deltron 3030) Picks 10 Albums
Juan Alderete de la Peña is a highly in-demand bass player who has lent his talents to everyone from Racer X to Mars Volta and continues to actively explores the highest sonic realms of bass playing. His website pedalsandeffects.com is an amazing resource for effects reviews and pedalboards, and he’s an all-around great guy. We caught up with Juan… Read more »
Interview with Michael Travis (EOTO, String Cheese Incident)
Michael Travis plays keyboards, bass and guitar in the improvised live-looping electronic group EOTO and the drummer of the jam band String Cheese Incident. He caught up with Michael to talk about music, paragliding and the evolving coalescence of the jam and electronic festival scenes.
Looping in Live with SoftStep: The Looper Device
In the last article we created a very simple, bare-bones looping setup in Live using Session Mode, Audio Clips, and the SoftStep. In this article we will explore the other built in solution to looping in Live by exploring how to setup a looping template using the Looper device.
Interview with Olivier Gillet (Mutable Instruments)
Olivier Gillet of Mutable Instruments took time the answer some of our questions about his beginnings and inspirations, and to share some tips for getting started in modular synthesis.