Saturday 21 September 2013

30 Years of MIDI - NAMM 2013 Panel


An amazing lineup of six people on the NAMM 2013 panel, featuring a good collection of artists, technologists, keyboardists and more. Anyone starting to watch this panel should know at least one or more of these influential panelists, but this panel also includes the surprising inclusion of the late great George Duke.

Now that 30 years have passed, it's amazing to see that MIDI in its original format is still going strong and while it still continues to do what it was designed to do, there are definitely some limitations with the specification that need addressing. Judging from comments and conversations, there does seem to be a need to be able to implement better parameter control from synthesisers and other MIDI-enabled instruments. As Dave Smith points out at around the 18 minute mark, MIDI was developed and optimised with what was available in the 70s/80s and to work well for keyboard synthesisers specifically, though he appreciates that the demands of artists are growing.

A fascinating panel to watch and quite informative to the modern artist/engineer, not least for the combination of panelists that will never be eclipsed.

Sunday 8 September 2013

Korg Volca Beats - Review!

So much fun crammed into such a little box!
After much waiting after the NAMM 2013 announcement, I finally put down £240 to pre-order the Korg Volca Beats and Bass with a lovely little shop on Denmark street called Wunjo Keys (on the former site of London Pro Audio, more on Wunjo later on). Whilst sitting having a meal with my family in a rare moment of togetherness in our busy lives, I got a call to say that one of the Volcas had arrived and did I want to pick it up?

Well, what do you think I said?

SW4 2013 - reviews and photos

Lens flare = fuck yeah!
Another year and another very wet bank holiday weekend at Clapham Common - I've still the muddy trainers and jeans to prove it!

Congratulations to Lock n Loaded for 10 years of SW4 and of course, I was there to cover the weekend for Efestivals.

Some excellent performances this year, especially Knife Party (which I have a few videos of that I will have to upload), though the headliners weren't as good as Chase & Status / Skrillex in 2012.

Roll on 2014!

Review Day 1:

Review Day 2:

Photos:

Wednesday 4 September 2013

Amen brother


A bit of a history lesson for those who are interested in contemporary music history across a number of different musical genres. The narrator/creator also created a little documentary into the TB-303 and its impact and is worth having a look at as well.