Jikkenteki

Hydraglyph is my favorite of the S.A. guys at the moment. There last album was pretty solid although I think their next one, due out fairly soon, should blow it out of the water.

For me Hallucinogen - Angelic Particles ..... no doubt about it (although Thugs In Tye Dye is fairly close)

Ummm.... no no, someone with have a sign saying "Mixi de mita" hidden somewhere and the person who finds it gets a free discogs account.. yeah, that's it....

When you come, say "Mixi de mita". There is a discount for people who came through seeing it on Mixi (mikushi- in proper Japanese pronunciation)

Not too bad. Heavy but not brutal and it doesn't take itself too seriously like a lot of crap these days. The Rush album is better, but that's because its Rush.

Rush - Snakes And Arrows Hellyeah - Hellyeah

VA - Invisible Connections from Cytopia.org http://www.cytopia.org/album.php?AlbumNo=66&

Penta - Pentafiles

Sitting around fighting off a cold waiting for my girlfriend to get home while listening to Artifakts II

Sweet, thanks! I was aware of the audio track widening thing, but I never thought to drag the fader channel longer. You learn something new everyday. And to think I've been using Live since version 2 (hangs head in shame).

Well if you want classics, you can't forget this one http://www.par-2.com/choons/Jikkenteki%20-...argh%20Mix).mp3

For a proper soothing experience, I recommend one of my more chill tracks like Stepping Forward or Anger Management. As for what I'm listening to, I'm doing a last listen through to a remix I just finished for Noise Anomalie. Provided that is ok, I'll starting loading up some files some guy named Filteria sent my way to and see how I can destroy them Prior to that though I was listen to Benza's new album. Pretty good stuff there. I like the bass lines a lot and the general groovy funky factor is high.

I'd say your best two option for "gateway" programs that can still get you a long way would be Reason or FL Studio. Of the two, I prefer FL Studio, but Reason is also just as good for the new artist. The major differences between the two are basically that Reason is self contained and you don't need really anything else out of the box. Since it is self contained and doesn't support any of the major software synth types (VST and such), it is also very stable. FL Studio's advantage is that is does support VST and such, so it is more expandable soundwise while still being easy to use. This flexibilty has a cost in that poorly written effects or synths can effect how stable the program is. Try each and see which one feels better for you at first, choose that one and then spend at least a year focusing on only making tunes with that program and getting to know it deeply. Once you have a solid depth of knowledge within your chosen program, you can branch out to more complicated programs like Logic, Cubase, Live, etc and since both Reason and FL Studio can be rewired to these programs (well, maybe not Logic since its Mac only now, I'm not sure), your skills with your original software will still be usable in the long run.

An old friend of mine, who was one of the smartest people I even knew, once said that there are three things in the world you can never have too much of, regardless of how high quality your current collection is, books, music and porn. As the years go buy, this is one of the few statements I have found that has remained true.

I own and use both and would say for all intents and purposes they are pretty even in creative potential. My preference for creating music is Cubase, but Live is more than up to the task as well. For ME (and only me) some very general good and bad points might be... Live: + Generally easy to use. Only two major screens Warp feaures for audio easy to use Excellent for both live and studio use Midi mapping to controllers very easy Includes a small but usable drum sampler (good for new guys who haven't bought something else yet) No dongle so easy to use on the road - Monitoring on the mixer is difficult for knowing exact levels Automation is easy to record, but I find it difficult to precisely edit, especially with bpms and such Older versions had some audio quality issues, but they've been cleaned up in the last couple versions Manual isn't the clearest on some various points so some features can be a bit tricky to figure out at first Generally solid, but a few vst's have made it crash on me, usually with the program just suddenly and completely disappearing Need to buy more synths and effects as the included bunch is a mixed bag Cubase: + Depth, can do just about anything with it Offline effects processing Exactly level monitoring and adjustments on the mixer are simple and easy Automation and be edited exactly very easily Very flexible On my computer, my purchased copy is very stable, but your mileage will vary depending on your setup and the "source" of your copy - Depth, it can overwhelm a new user quickly Dongle, fine for studio use, but not something I like to take on the road. Need to buy more synths and effects as the included bunch is a mixed bag No drum sampler included Has a number of different windows you need to get used to. Midi mapping can be difficult for controllers. There are more that other people will surely add more and disagree with everything I've said so keep in mind that a lot of this is very individual. Many people say that Switching to Cubase is difficult, but I think this mostly an issue for people who haven't used any audio sequencer to any real level of depth knowledge-wise. Like you I used Fruity for a number of years and generally knew it inside out. Because of that I found the transition to Cubase actually extremely easy. Live was pretty easy for me to use straight out of the box as well, but I did have to fight with it and manual on a few obvious points that I found weren't so clearly documented at first. For me the generally imprecise monitoring on Ableton Live is kind of the deal breaker for me in making it my "main" production sequencer, although I use it on the road for that often and then usually rewire or import the parts into Cubase to finish it up.

The vinyl version is unmixed (as is the vinyl version of the Twisted album). I haven't checked in a while but they were both still available on Twisted's site not so long ago.

My order from Saiko Sounds this month included... Aphid Moon - Global Culture Artifakt - Artifakts II Benza - Schwarze Now, The Defender Penta - Pentafiles Rinkadink - Pirate Signal Various Artists - Analogue Various Artists - Geospirit1 - Virtual Vortex Various Artists - Get Your Wonk On Various Artists - Nekton Falls

I bought this a few weeks ago and commented on it then, but to recap, I rather like the majority of it. I am sure a bunch of people will hate it for whatever reasons, but I think Talamasca's been on the top of his game for what he does (i.e. make banging tunes for the dancefloor) lately. Basically if you liked tracks like Overload, then you will like it I think. There are a couple of tracks that aren't entirely my cup of tea, but he still manages to make something good out of them. Like many I didn't have much expectation-wise for the second disc, but I ended up liking it a lot more than I thought I would.

I do agree that limitations can be a benefit and that the person using the software is more important than the software itself. Reason is a great place to start making tracks and you can keep using it as you upgrade due to rewire, but as a stand alone product I find it fair to limiting for my taste (and the tastes of just about every artist I know you started with it). But different strokes for different folks... Use what works for you.

I also find FL Studio to be far superior to Reason in the long run. Reason is maybe quicker to use out of the box, it looks cooler and, its strongest point, it is very stable, but in the long run, Fruity I found to be much more flexible. If for no other reason than the fact that Fruity supports vsti. Reason can sound good as well, especially once you rewire it through Cubase or such and get the Reason mixer out of the picture, but as a stand alone choice between Reason of Fruity, I'd give my dollars to Fruity any day of the week. Looking at the release track record as well, I've heard plenty of tracks and full albums made on Fruity alone, but I've yet to hear of anything made and released solely on Reason. That's not to say there isn't anything, just that I've never heard of it happening.

Velocity with snares and hi-hats in particular is very important too so you are thinking correctly there. If you are looking for a more DnB type sound a lot of this still works. Obviously you won't cut the low end as much. You could try layering versions of the same loop. For example have a clean version more forward in the mix, with a more heavily compressed version and maybe a distorted version further back in the mix. Getting a solid base of good samples obviously one of the more important factors. Good samples just sound good without doing much to them, where as bad samples you often have to fight with and add effects and such just to get them listen-able. I think a few dollars well spent on percussion sample packs is probably one of the best investments an artist can make. Over the years I've been buying and collecting free sample packs from various source and find that not having to dig for hours on end to find decent sounds makes the whole music making process much more enjoyable and go faster. In my opinion, THE best single one stop resource for percussion related samples would be Thomas Penton's Percussion sample pack available here http://www.resonantvibes.com/samples.php?id=9 Other good sources include Native Instrument's various sample packs (buying Battery 3 for the huge collection of samples alone is money well spent I think), the samples that come with Linplug's RMIV and any number of the free sample sets floating around (Nano Records has a couple of good ones, as does Hydraglyph's label's site... can't recall the correct spelling at the moment). Isratrance.com had a great shared kick collection floating around a while ago. Not sure if it is still entirely active, but I uploaded it, along with a few other free sets I found, awhile back here http://www.par-2.com/choons/Kick.zip Anywho, off to lunch....

Assuming you mean the kind of breakbeat loops that are often used as background percussion loops, they aren't so hard to make and anything goes really. I generally find simple is better. Pick a kick, a couple of snare type sounds (generally use one harder and longer one for the back beat bangs and another shorter one for the rhythmic interest fills) and a hit-hat or ride cymbal or two and pound out some sort of beat, focusing on the kick and snares. Make sure the kick isn't only just on you down beats (1,2,3,4) or it will get lost under the main thumping kick of the track. Also ALWAYS doing this sort of writing with the track you are working on running in the background. If you only work on the loop by itself, you'll end up with a loop that sounds great solo'ed, but sticks out like a sore thumb or is completely buried in the mix. Once you have the basic loop done, its time for effects. Again, anything goes, but some general things I find myself doing all the time would include... EQ and filters= roll off a lot of the low end, especially important with the kicks. Distortion and more filters= I tend to like these kinds of loops dirty and somewhat lo-fi in sound. Compressor= These kind of loops tend to sit a bit back in the mix, so I'll often compress them a hell of a lot more that I would other parts to get them somewhat "poppy" Effects= Add to taste. Delays, flangers, chorus, etc. Any of them can work in the right situation. Again, I stress do most of this work with the rest of the track running. This is extremely important when it comes to the eqs, filters and compressor bits... Here are some screen captures of some breakbeat type loops I was working on last night for my next live show. The top half shows the midi and percussion data and the bottom half the effects chain and some of the effects I often use for these kinds of parts. Finally hear is an audio example of one of the resulting loops solo'ed. By itself it isn't such a huge deal, but in the mix it fits in just right.... http://www.par-2.com/choons/breakmaker.mp3

For the record almost all "triplet" tracks in psytrance are in 4/4. The triplet comes from how the notes are subdivided between the 1,2,3,4 beats (standard straight 16th notes.... 1bbb 2bbb 3bbb 4bbb, triplet 16th notes, 1bb 2bb 3bb 4bb)

It really depends on the track and inspiration in general but I'd say recently an average track these days takes me about 10 to 15 studio sessions of varying lengths. Usually in those sessions for a track there are one or two days were I have a day off of work and I work on and off on the tracks for about an hour at a time all day. Obviously my longer tracks like An Angel Takes Flight and Symplicity on the next album take longer, each of those taking about 3 months each to complete.

Nerve - Nervous and any number of Rastalien's early tracks.