Ikea RAST 6U rack case

For about a year or so, I've had a couple of rack sized effects units on my table that were being used for live jamming for my MiniBrute; a Behringer Virtualizer and an Alesis Microverb 4. For the longest time, they have been taking up space on the side of my room in a non-optimal place to store and use them, so I have been looking for another solution.

Step in the Ikea RAST, a cheap side table with an amazing feature: it's 19" wide, the perfect fit for a rack unit. Just add some 6U metal rack rails and M6 bolts and you can convert this into a 6U rack unit - the cheapo wood preserver from B&Q was a couple of quid so in total the project was only £15 if only.

I can't take any credit for being able to build this, as I completely followed the great Instructables how-to for the 6U version and managed to get hold of a Rast unit before they were discontinued in the UK.

Putting the unit together, but not fully together so we can take it apart easily for painting. 

Offering up the rack units on the inside of the side table. I measured 10mm at the bottom edge and used the racks and some pencil markings for the screw holes. After putting the marks in I used the tip of a wood screw to make some pilot holes.

Taking it all apart before using the wood preserver on each section

Putting it all back together once it had a good coat of wood preserver and screwing the rack ends on. As you can see, it comes together very easily - obviously your mileage will vary but it took about 20 minutes to coat all four pieces of wood and 50 minutes for this to dry. 

All done! Plenty of space for the couple of rack units I have and loads of space for other units, trays etc. What's nice about this is that I can put things on top of the table as was originally intended by Ikea, plus a unique way to put the rack unit gear in.

I've already asked my dad if he has any rack unit gear to add to this, plus there's plenty of cheap accessories for under a tenner each from Amazon.

Alternatives

If you want a cheap audio rack, there are some quite cheap alternatives on Amazon that are worth a look at. I have seen one of these in the flesh from Stagg that is also under £15, but the practical advantage of the Rast is that you can use it as a normal piece of furniture regardless of how many rack units you're using.

The biggest problem as I can see is the availability of the Rast side table. It's still available in the US, but as it's probably at least triple the cost to ship one to the UK, an alternative to the Rast needs to be found. Some ideas are:

HOL Side table: http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/70161320/

50cm wide, but not sure how wide the end legs are so potentially could be just too small.

LACK table: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60284213/

Cheap and would work, but apparently the legs are not constructed so that they are strong enough to deal with the weight.

Links:

http://www.instructables.com/id/8U-Rack-Case-From-IKEA-RAST-Table

Saturday Soundtracks: Launch Base Zone Act 1

Welcome back to Saturday Soundtracks for 2016, a look at video game music that I enjoy. 

Music Production Expo 2015

I just realised that I hadn't posted up some of the photos from the Music Production Expo that took place last month at the London Emirates Stadium. The show has definitely improved over recent years and now sports two seminar/presentation areas and tons of exhibitors, including Korg, Yamaha, Erebus, Roland, Bitwig...and of course, loads of instruments and gear to play. Here's a look at what you missed from this year's show and a tonne of synth spotting to boot.

In London and want to visit next year? Check out www.musicproductionexpo.co.uk for details of the 2016 expo - this usually starts to get interesting around the Spring time.

Stocking fillers for Christmas 2015 - Noisemakers

As I have been a fan of highlighting in the past, we live in an amazing time where there are lots of different synth and music production products out there to suit all budgets and uses. So with Christmas coming up, here's a quick look at some of the options at the lower end of the market that would suit a budget of under £100 for stocking fillers to make for a noisy Christmas morning!

On "Fake Synthesis" and more

Something written on Twitter from a synthesist I admire for his in depth demos and rather spiffy narration style stuck with me recently. He was upset that someone had used the term fake synthesis in the context of a comment on Synthtopia when describing the new Roland Boutique synthesisers, which are finally getting some official (ie: not retailer) demo videos.

Roland CM-64

From some of the most recent Roland releases to something over 20 years old, this blog sees quite a lot of different things here. In this most recent case, my dad has given me his treasured Roland CM-64 synth module on extended loan and now that I have the necessary hardware and software to drive it, I thought I would share what it does and what you can do with it.

Alternatives to Soundcloud

A recent announcement heralded the news that after a supposed 5 years of negotiations, the PRS for Music in the UK (Performing Rights Society, collect revenues and royalties for artists) are to open legal action against Soundcloud for lack of paid revenues and licenses. Initially I was incredulous at the entire news, especially that Soundcloud had stuck to a single defence for over five years and my first thoughts contemplated the death of the service as it buckles under the weight of a lawsuit - something made more poignant as I have only just paid for another year's subscription. 

NB: Apparently PRS' official name is "PRS for Music", but it is rarely referred to as this in the news. In this article, PRS and PRS for Music refer to the same organisation.

New Roland Boutique range

It's been a busy week for all concerned in the Roland world, with lots of speculation on Roland's Boutique new range of synthesisers - presumably from the video based on their popular JP-8, Juno 106 and JP-3X synthesisers from the 80s.

Despite people looking at and enhancing the end of the video for further insights into the trailer, very few details were forthcoming from Roland about their new product lineup - not even a date when the next teaser or announcement would be made. 

Much to the chagrin of Roland, that all changed over the weekend.

A case of cases

I recently bought a Korg Micro X that sadly didn't come with its signature case. As a collector as much as a fan of things that make wizzy noises, I resolved to keep an eye open in case one came on the market. Like a hunter waiting for the antelope to hit the watering hole, one recently came up on Gumtree so I managed to pick it up earlier this week. I had heard some comments and seen a few photos but nothing really prepared me for the reality of the Micro X's case. Which made me ask the question: whatever possessed Korg to make the Micro X case the way they did? 

Perler Jam / Bad Hama Jammer

Sometimes I get rather bored and instead of playing more video games or try making more music, I try doing something a bit different to break the cycle. Here, I thought I would revisit some older technology for a bit of fun.

In the UK, these things are called Hama Beads, though they seem to be called Perler Beads in the 'states, and I had them originally bought for me by my other half to make retro video game pixel art with. But rather than do more of the same, I wanted to try making something a bit different that was a little more...me. 

Twitter channel

In case you don't know, I'm on Twitter as @southern_trax and I tend to share music news, synthesiser stuff, highlight great Gumtree deals and reshare interesting things from Matrixsynth, If you haven't already, come take a look, follow and get more regular updates from me.

Hack-a-brute!

One of the more interesting things about newer style synthesisers is that their creators sometimes go out of their way to make their products slightly more tweakable and editable for the masses to enjoy. Korg are an excellent example of this, as they are well known for going the extra mile on their recent analogue gear (Monotrons and Volcas) to label the PCBs with convenient solder points to easily add further functions.

As an owner of both the MiniBrute and MicroBrute, in part due to the involvement of Grenoble's Yves Usson in the design as well as the sounds they can make, I am pleased to see that he has convinced Arturia to release PDFs of the internal schematics and is currently curating a list of hacks, modifications and alterations on his Hack a Brute website.

Matrixsynth turns 10

Amazing news from Matrix over at long-time blog Matrixsynth - the blog has just reached the ripe old age of 10 years old.

It's certainly an awe-inspiring achievement and amazing to think that the blog is updated every single day with new content from across the globe. While I wish I could do the same, unfortunately I don't have the time to do so but it's good to have the bar for quality raised quite so high for synth-related content. I still remember it was the first place I found out that George Duke had died, along with the original Volca press release and numerous other newsworthy items. If you haven't already bookmarked the blog, then you really ought to.

Some amazing site stats from Matrix himself:

• Formed in 2005, a year before Facebook became open
• 127,448 posts, all hand curated
• 46,832,215 page views (as of midnight EST)
• Only missed a single day of posting back on August 6, 2005

"I had no idea there would be something to post every single day of the year moving forward. Think about that a bit. There is something to share every single day. What an wonderful world of synths we live in."

Here's to another ten years!

Original post:
http://www.matrixsynth.com/2015/07/matrixsynth-turns-10.html

Helm - multi platform VST

Another day, another pretty VST to try out! Helm gets some interest for running as a multi-platform virtual subtractive synth with lots of interesting features that I haven't come across in a free VST so far. Whether you're PC, Mac or Linux, 32 or 64bit, VST or standalone executable, Helm has all the major options covered for all major DAWs, so it would be rude of you not to download it.

Tutorial: Korg Micro X and Windows 7

After having quite so much trouble hooking up my Micro X to my Windows 7 PC I thought what I would do is to give a bit of a tutorial / troubleshooting guide on how to get the machine working in harmony, just in case anyone else needs some help.

Korg Micro X - new toy!

As fortune often favours the brave, or in my case the persistent and damned lucky, I happened to see a set of posts on Gumtree featuring audio gear, mixers and synthesizers late in the day on Monday. So far so normal, what was different here was that the seller was in the next town away and as I'm based fairly far out from central London I was unlikely to get the usual competition from other eagle-eyed users.

Standing on the shoulders of giants: top 10 house samples

House Music's Top 10 Most Sampled Sources mixed by Chris Read by Whosampled on Mixcloud

Getting the same sound as your musical heroes is tough; without having the same equipment, playing style and production techniques, that elusive sound is often too difficult to accurately reproduce, though I have found that it can be a satisfying experience to give it a try. Easier then is to sample your favourite artists to get a solid base to work with that you are happy with quickly and then clear the clips later.

Saturday Soundtrack: Transistor

After a slight hiatus, I hope to be returning to my Saturday Soundtracks series, which highlights music in video games that have really stood out for me and are worth talking about,

Having only recently bought and played this title, I am in a mood to rave about it to people who perhaps haven't already had the chance to try it and to share experiences with fellow players. At the heart of Transistor, a real time and turn-based brawler in an isometric view (similar to SuperGiant Games' other title Bastion), is the incredible attention to detail that makes up the beautiful world and the soundtrack, which in the case of Transistor is an essential element of the plot as well as an excuse for a damn fine score.

Brighton Music Conference 2015 - Pics and show floor

Now that the dust has settled, here's a quick look at the offerings in and around the show floor at this year's Brighton Music conference on the Friday. While the size of the exhibition area is not as big as some of the larger exhibitions in Germany or the US, the exhibition area was split in two areas: one dedicated to music production (including synthesisers, keyboard controllers and the like) and the other half looking at club furniture (such as lasers, booths and DJ equipment), with lots of other organisations like the PRS, Loopmasters and music schools in attendance. 

4th May

In another wonderful "Today I Learned...", Google's front page highlights the birthday of the inventor of the piano, Bartolomeo Cristofori, in a charming little Google Doodle. 

It's amazing to think that the piano is nearly 400 years old and continues to influence all manner of music.

External Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartolomeo_Cristofori