Posted by & filed under Blog, Featured, Interviews.

Amir Ziv uses a pair of BopPads along with a Bome Box, the Sonoclast MIDI/CV Drumming Friend plus MAFD, and Triple Expresso by Avi Ziv to control the Moog DFAM in a really exciting electro-acoustic rig that we just had to ask him about. Amir was kind enough to field our questions, and his answers are as interesting as the new sonic territory he has struck out to find.

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Posted by & filed under Blog, Featured, Keys, Tutorials.

The new QuNexus RED is a powerful 25-key MPE keyboard controller and three track Arpeggiator/Step Sequencer with USB, MIDI, and CV outputs. The keys detect velocity, polyphonic aftertouch, and per-key tilt, giving you unprecedented control and musical expression. QuNexus RED also features our new, ultra-durable ABS-Polycarbonate finish.

The QuNexus 2.0 firmware update is backwards compatible with the original QuNexus (with black enclosure). The new firmware adds exciting new features to the QuNexus, including an arpeggiator, 3 track step sequencer, and MPE compatibility.

This video by Kevin Mah (SolidTakes), Ableton Certified Instructor from Vancouver BC, is a demo of how to use the QuNexus MPE Sequencer to create dynamic patterns and sequences with a Roland modular synth.

You can find more info about Kevin by visiting his Ableton Bio and YouTube Channel: https://www.ableton.com/en/certified-training/kevin-mah/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5MoKyfag5ylqryLZM4Bz0A

Posted by & filed under Bitwig Studio, Blog, Featured, Tutorials.

Did you know that every K-Board Pro 4 ships with a free license for Bitwig Studio 8-Track? That means that everyone with a K-Board Pro 4 can start exploring the exciting new world of MPE synths right out of the box! The folks at Bitwig have made the process of mapping MPE Expression controls simple. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to setup Bitwig to work with MPE and the K-Board Pro 4.

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The Department of Music and Professor Ed Campion have created an undergraduate music and technology curriculum built on the history of technological innovation coming from the Center for New Music and Audio Technologies from 1990 to the present.  The CNMAT tools run in cycling74’s Max/MSP environment and are focused on real-time musical applications and best-practices for low-latency human-computer interaction.  

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K-Mix is a handy audio multi-tool to have around; its combined feature set makes it a flexible and adaptive piece of gear to have around the studio. With the release of the BopPad we’ve been thinking a lot about drums and ways to integrate more KMI gear into drum rigs. One of the most exciting examples we’ve come up with takes advantage of the special µPre mic preamps we’ve developed for K-Mix. The line channels on K-Mix benefit from the same preamp architecture as the mic inputs, which allows dynamic microphones to be routed into the line inputs.
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Posted by & filed under Blog, Featured, Interviews.

Brain is the nom de guerre of Bryan Mantia, a drummer, composer and producer known for playing drums in Primus and with Tom Waits, Guns N Roses, Buckethead, as well as scoring and recording music for movies and video games. We caught up with Brain to talk about his life behind the kit, the world of electronic music production he’s built, and how he began to grow beyond the role of a drummer with an intense exploration of a wide array of composition techniques. Read more »

Posted by & filed under Blog, Interviews.

A few months ago we had the opportunity to team up with Dan the Automator to realize a project that he had been thinking about for a while; a realtime multitrack playback system, a way to play and mix the stems of the many many records he has produced over the course of his career. The resulting project we completed doesn’t have a name, but at the heart of the system is a K-Mix to run all the audio. A touchscreen and the insides of a Mac Mini run Logic and arcade-style buttons trigger and mute clips; all of it housed in a sleek case reminiscent of an old computer console or arcade game for retrofuturistic flair. We also had the opportunity to check out the soundcheck at the sold out Dr. Octagon show in San Francisco and to sit down with Dan and DJ Hard Rich to talk about the K-Mix project and the return of Dr. Octagon. Read more »

Posted by & filed under Blog, Tutorials.

One of the most often requested features for the BopPad is the ability to send out multiple notes per quadrant. In a previous article we discussed setting this up in Ableton Live, but what if you don’t have Ableton Live? I’ve coded up a Max application (mac only for the time being) that can act as a middle man between the BopPad and music software. This app will allow you to send out multiple notes per quadrant to any DAW, synth or sampler on your Mac OS system. You can download the app and project here: https://www.keithmcmillen.com/downloads/#boppad Read more »

Posted by & filed under Ableton Live, Blog, Featured, Tutorials.

The BopPad is a highly flexible MIDI device that can spit out a variety of data to control MIDI capable software and hardware. One thing that users have been wondering about is how to play different sounds based on the location in a particular quadrant. This is usually done with notes, and while the BopPad cannot send out different notes from one quadrant based on location, it can send a CC based on the distance you are from the center of the pad. With some creative MIDI mapping in Live, we can quickly set up “zones” on our BopPad in Ableton Live. Read more »

Posted by & filed under Blog, Interviews.

I had the opportunity to interview Jeff Kaiser, the trumpet playing experimental electronics wizard, pfMentum label head, and professor of Composition and Music Technology at the University of Central Missouri about his musical practice, the relationships in which he finds inspiration, and the questions that drive his unique and towering musical accomplishments. Read more »

Posted by & filed under Blog, Interviews, Picks 10 Albums.

Scott Amendola is a drummer and central figure in the SF Bay Area music scene. As a founding member of the Nels Cline Singers and through his work both leading his own bands and with other legends the likes of Charlie Hunter, he has expanded the field at the intersection of jazz, experimental funk and avant rock. We’ve been working a bit with Scott to get the BopPad dialed in, and took the opportunity to ask him to tell us about some of his favorite albums; the lauded or sometimes under-appreciated recordings that were formative and impactful to his musical sensibilities.
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Posted by & filed under Blog, Featured, Tutorials.

K-Mix is a very flexible device covering audio input and output over USB, standalone mixing, and MIDI control. Having control over the audio going in and out of the K-Mix, as well as control over software all from the same box, can be extremely handy. Some software allows for third party integration through their own APIs or more covert means; some software has their control surface implementation wrapped up in a black box. Luckily, most music software allows the user to map and customize the MIDI input and interaction. Logic has a fairly robust- although daunting- MIDI implementation, and in this tutorial we will cover setting up a custom Control Surface through Logic’s Controller Mapping functionality. Read more »