machine quotidienne

Rack-mounted audio equipment – once fairly vanilla stuff, now it’s turned to high voltage coils. Meet PLASMA Rack, now in a new full-length video tour from Gamechanger Audio.

When we last caught up with Gamechanger Audio, they were screwing about with motors:

PLASMA RACK is a rack-mounted larger sibling to the company’s PLASMA Pedal. The rack form factor accommodates even more power – a big xenon tube with voltages of up to 5500 volts. (Don’t, uh, lick it.)

This really is a bit like bottled lightning. The rapid discharge gives you instant, ultra-heavy distortion with unique harmonic saturation characteristics. And because it’s lightning-quick, you also get a sort of noise gate effect out of it.

That is … absurd. But as with the Motor Synth, the folks at Gamechanger have managed to wrap some smart extras into the package:

• Tremolo/ring modulation
• Drive (powered by Op Amps)
• MIDI sync
• Oversaturation (Octa-Fuzz-esque)

You also get ample I/O, including three external effects loops, for patching this into a larger rig. If you’re really feeling flush, you can get two of these and work in stereo; they can be configured with one as master timing source.

I have no idea who you are, people who can spend EUR1499 on this, but – I’m jealous of you. For the rest of us, though, there’s also the 299EUR PLASMA Pedal, which has the same bonkers idea but at a price that’s musician-friendly. Regardless, it’s a very fine concept. I’m happy it even exists:

The post A tour of a high voltage coil in a rack: Gamechanger’s PLASMA appeared first on CDM Create Digital Music.

Signal from Isotonik was already a revelation – a powerful toolkit for adding modulation to Ableton Live. But curves, step sequences, and crossfades add real motion and transformation to your music.

Darren of Isotonik Studios has been busy documenting how to use this with some no-nonsense, clear video tutorials. It’s the latest episode, adding Steps and Crossfader module, that gets really exciting:

The new module Steps alone is reason to write home. It’s capable both of the titular step-sequenced, fixed steps, but curves, as well. And while you’ll find modulation built in in tools like FL Studio, Reason, and Bitwig Studio, the implementation via Max for Live by Isotonik has some really lovely usability that stands alone.

The Crossfader is unique, too – this isn’t just a mixer for audio signals, but modulation sources, as well.

It’s worth checking the other videos, too. Episode two looked at the cult hit VST plug-in Serum, creating sound design with Signal in combination. And even with Massive X just out, this is some interesting stuff:

You’ll probably want to start at the beginning, which introduces Freeze and LFO (since I’m listing these in reverse chronological order):

You’ll notice the Chaos Culture moniker on there; this is their creation. You’ll probably want Live 10 Suite, but anything Live 9.7.5 or later, plus an active Max for Live 8.0.2 license, will work, across Mac and Windows.

It’s so deep, it suggests whole new workflows and compositional ideas, so I’ll be sure to start some music from scratch with this one. But it’s really quite well done, and a rich enough approach to modulation that developers on other environments may well want to have a look.

Signal is €88.05 – pricey for a Max for Live creation, but then possibly even bigger than any recent Live upgrade from Ableton themselves. If you have a go, let us know how it works; I’ll try to post some more impressions in August.

https://isotonikstudios.com/product/signal/

The post Signal adds the modulation Ableton is missing – and now does steps, crossfader appeared first on CDM Create Digital Music.

It’s the Detroit-Croydon connection. But for innovative electronic dance sounds, you really don’t want to miss James Ruskin – either his new EP or the refreshed Bandcamp page for Blueprint Records.

First, out today, you get a new James Ruskin EP – and it’s brilliant, worth the five year wait from the last one. This time, we’ll get a second solo Ruskin by the fall, plus something new on 12″ from the always-excellent Truncate, all on Ruskin’s stalwart Blueprint Records (founded back in the storied 1990s with (Richard) Poison.

I mean, blah blah, techno is dead, nothing new is happening, I can’t hear you over this track, just for example –

Yes, techno is perhaps overly driven by influencers and Instagram accounts, except I can’t really think of anything intelligent to say other than “go hear it.” Maybe I should work out my wardrobe and just tell you that from Instagram and adapt to the times.

You can have it today on vinyl – still in stock at Decks for a slim 9 bucks:

https://www.decks.de/track/james_ruskin-reality_broadcast_off/cf2-g0

But don’t stop there, as it appears the full Blueprint Bandcamp page has gotten a refresh, chock full of re-released back catalog. Also this week is this lovely collab with Mark Broom:

And then Blueprint just goes on and on from there, from Samuel Kerridge and Surgeon, whose St. Petersburg sets last weekend are part of the reason CDM news has been a bit slow on the road this week, to Lakker and O/V/R and (obviously) Sigha. Have at it then. It’s summer (for one hemisphere), and music is still endless joy (for everyone, I hope).

https://blueprintrecords.bandcamp.com/

James Ruskin will release his first solo EP in five years later this month.

Reality Broadcast Off, the influential UK techno artist’s first solo EP since 2014’s Nan Nife,
has three tracks that find Ruskin in the sort of deep techno mode of
Ostgut Ton peers like Marcel Dettmann, who played “Disaffection” on a recent mix for BBC Radio 1. The EP will come out on Ruskin’s long-running label, Blueprint Records, on July 19th.

Blueprint also has two more releases in the works. A second solo Ruskin EP is scheduled for this autumn, followed by a new Truncate 12-inch. More details will follow soon.

The post Techno lovers, don’t miss James Ruskin’s new EP and updated Blueprint catalog appeared first on CDM Create Digital Music.

For all the app choices in music, a lot feel like plug-ins crammed onto the mobile screen. Auxy may have the essential combination of ingredients – a simple, quick UI, but now the ability to make sketches you finish in Ableton Live, and sounds you can more easily tweak.

Auxy always had an elegant, approachable UI. The tool basically strips the essential function of the familiar piano roll-style view so you can quickly sketch ideas with your fingertips.

But just being simple isn’t quite enough. Mobile apps all face the common problem of having to satisfy two very different use cases or workflows. Some people want to focus on music making right on the phone or tablet, stay away from their computers (or other gear), and yet make finished tracks. Others want the app to be a rough sketchpad for ideas they can use on the go, then finish in the more comfortable environs of their computer rig or studio. The problem is, of course, those come with different demands.

Swedish app Auxy has had two updates that address some of these cases.

First, Auxy 5.4 in April added direct export to Ableton Live projects. Cleverly, this exports both audio and MIDI, so you retain your sound designs from the app as stems, but can also use patterns to work with new sounds inside Live.

Auxy 5.4 also represents a new high water mark for Ableton’s SDK. Auxy encouraged Ableton to add features for populating the Arrangement, so that song ideas and arranging choices you make on the go are reflected when you open up your project in Live. These features will be available to other developers, too, so if you’re a dev, you can get in touch with Ableton. (And that’s important, too – the better this support works in different apps, the more useful mobile-to-Live workflows become.)

5.4 also added improved import/export for samples, imported samples that share when you share projects, and updated Ableton Link support.

Auxy 6 is a major update just released this month, focusing on giving you more control over sounds and effects. And that addresses the other thing that might have kept you from adopting Auxy in the past – the simplicity is great, but you might feel constrained by the available sounds.

Auxy launched as a kind of preset machine. That makes things simpler, but might be uninspiring if you feel like you can’t shape your own sounds. That changes with some significant features:

More effects for instrumental sounds: distortion, delay, reverb, chorus, filter, ducker, and EQ sounds everywhere – customizable, not locked to presets.

More effects for drums, too: delay, distortion, compressor, filter, EQ, and ducker are now available on drums.

Shape sound envelopes: attack, release, glide, offset. (works on drums, too)

Free grid mode: move notes and automation freely as you edit.

Browse sounds by category.

This isn’t going to sound so revolutionary, but of course that is always the challenge when trying to keep things simple – there’s a lot to think about adding even simple features.

All in all, Auxy has really evolved into one of the easiest, most elegant sketchpads for music on mobile. There’s many things it isn’t – it’s not really about live playing, it’s not a full-featured DAW (and doesn’t try to be), it’s not really an audio multitrack. But what it is, it really focuses on. And with Live export, that could prove invaluable.

Auxy regularly select favorite user tracks, which is a nice way to get a feel for what people are doing. Here are the Staff Picks for last month:

Plus one creation made in this latest release:

Check out Auxy for iOS (no Android version, sorry):

https://auxy.co/

The post Music on the go – Auxy app now has tweakable sounds, Ableton export appeared first on CDM Create Digital Music.

Focusrite went public in 2014, but this week brings its first major acquisition – and it’s a big deal. Monitor maker ADAM from Berlin joins the UK’s Focusrite / Novation / Ampify.

Publicly traded companies and fast growing business empires have a bit of a challenge in the music tech business – music creation is still specialized and places a high standard on quality. So ADAM is at least encouraging as a choice; the boutique maker is highly respected and many studio swear by their monitors.

The ongoing question here is really growth, but of course revenue growth isn’t necessarily limited to downmarket tools with thin margins. ADAM’s strength is building an upmarket, boutique product for music makers. And while the studio in the traditional sense has been in decline, “studio” as in independent producers has potential. Just as Eurorack and boutique synths have proven in the electronic arena, that growing population does have a portion of the market who will pay a premium for perceived quality – just as every market has luxury.

That may seem obvious, but I’ve been surprised that so many conversations about growth in our industry are focused at the low end or beginners. The problem with that commodity end is that competition gets fierce. I find it especially strange, because by contrast, you wouldn’t expect the automotive industry to focus exclusively on cheap cars and first-time buyers. Auto is perfectly comfortable describing engines as things only engineers understand, and marketing that specialization. And they make products for specific, high-end customers (think Formula One racing). And that in turn drives interest across the market, because it strengthens the brand (think Mercedes-Benz Group). But I digress.

Maybe the greater ambition in this acquisition is the talk of the two companies working together. I think it’s fair to be skeptical any time there’s talk of that in acquisitions – the reality is often far tougher. It’s unclear for now what Focusrite Group imagine that collaboration to look like, on what products, or if they’ll be able to deliver. But here’s Focusrite’s CEO Tim Carroll on that topic:

“ADAM Audio is undeniably a leader in the field of electroacoustics. The A7Xs and S3s have become standards in recording spaces across the globe. Even so, I know the team have no interest in resting on their laurels. We need to ensure they receive all the support they require to continue raising the sonic bar. That our two companies are so aligned from a cultural perspective reassures me that, as we increasingly work together, great things will happen. With so much expertise between us in acoustics, sound reproduction, DSP, and control, the opportunities are abundant to refine recording and production workflows together.”

For the time being, ADAM Audio stay in Berlin and keep Christian Hellinger in charge. The 20 year-old company are known for their A7X and S3, and now cover a range of potential markets with the T, AX, and S Series.

I’d actually love to see the kind of collaboration described above – and I’m sure the Focusrite Group engineers would love a trip to Berlin. (Come visit, please!) But while it’s not emphasized in the press release, I imagine the immediate benefit to ADAM will be Focusrite’s international marketing operation, which looks increasingly global with LA and Hong Kong alongside the UK. ADAM Audio already spans the Asian manufacturing world (Dongguan), Berlin’s ongoing dominance in engineering, and then the ever-lucrative US market – Nashville.

And oh yeah – Focusrite is traded on the AIM market, London Stock Exchange. So I imagine some reader of this site just had your stock go up. (No disclosure needed here for me; I would make that statement if I did.)

https://www.adam-audio.com/en/

The post Movers and shakers – Focusrite just bought ADAM [Analysis] appeared first on CDM Create Digital Music.

It’s one of the first challenges with any modular – you get a wild banging groove, but then… you’re stuck with it. One new video tutorial suggests a way to arrange your modular with Ableton Live and free VCV Rack software.

Live’s real-time arrangement and triggering features have always been part of its appeal – something exploited by everyone from live electronic musicians to those triggering sounds for radio and theater. Here, it’s a great way to take your cabled modular concoctions and actually turn them into a song structure or live performance. But it may not be immediately obvious to beginners how to go about it.

The inspiring VCV Rack ideas comes to the rescue here. It’s been updated for the just-release VCV Rack 1.0.

Now the audio advice here is actually soon to become outdated – Bridge will go away later this year, and you’ll be able to run Rack as a plug-in. But you can actually skip that part if you want to go another route, and just let Rack control your audio interface and send MIDI from Ableton Live.

(You could also apply this on Linux easily, with Bitwig Studio in place of Live – think I’ll try that myself, in fact.)

But the basic idea here is, run MIDI from Live to Rack, and use clips and scenes to trigger changes. There are some clever ideas about how to map control via CV and MIDI, and then the really important step is adding a physical controller, so you can get your hands on the live performance and improvise.

Note that while this example uses VCV Rack, you could apply the same ideas to any modular with MIDI input – or even mix in a partial or complete hardware set with the same rig. And watching this I also imagine some other ideas for where to go; this is by definition an open-ended process. Have a look:

Have you got another way of working? We’d love to hear about it in comments.

By the way, if you’re at SONAR this week, I’ll be giving a workshop with VCV Rack on Friday. (You need a delegate pass / pre-registration. But of course I’ll share some of how it goes here on CDM soon.)

https://sonarplusd.com/en/programs/barcelona-2019/areas/workshops/the-no-money-modular-synth-for-beginners-with-peter-kirn

Previously:

The post Learn how to arrange your modular tracks with VCV Rack, Ableton Live appeared first on CDM Create Digital Music.

Bonjour tout le monde!

Le site de Kollectif est en vacances à partir du 12 juillet 2019 et sera de retour vers la mi-août.

Nous serons également un peu moins actif durant cette période via notre page Facebook de Kollectif et via nos comptes Twitter et Instagram.

POUR LES NOUVELLES ET LES OFFRES D’EMPLOIS…

SVP prendre note des indications suivantes concernant les différentes publications:

• Pour une nouvelle, vous pouvez toujours nous les envoyer durant la période des vacances en suivant les instructions du lien « Soumettre une nouvelle ». Nous en prendrons connaissance à notre retour.
• Pour les emplois à publier, vous pouvez également nous les soumettre durant les vacances, mais à noter que celles-ci ne seront publiées sur le site qu’au retour à la mi-août!
• Pour les emplois présentement sur le site (en date du 5 juillet et du 12 juillet 2019), ceux-ci resteront sur le site jusqu’à la mi-août!

AU RETOUR DES VACANCES – 5@7 dans Hochelaga avec Le Comité!

Nous aimons notre quartier, nous l’avons adopté.

C’est pour cette raison que Kollectif et la coopérative de design Le Comité organisent un événement « pas compliqué » qui aura lieu à la fin du mois d’août afin de réunir la communauté de l’aménagement du quartier pour jaser, se rencontrer et tisser des liens. Car c’est une des caractéristiques principales d’Hochelag’ (pas HOMA, un terme utilisé par ceux qui n’y habitent pas): connaître son voisin, parler aux gens du quartier et discuter des choses qui nous concernent tous, peu importe qui tu es.

Si vous êtes intéressés à l’événement en tant qu’architectes ou designers qui habitent, travaillent ou réalisent des projets dans le quartier, simplement nous envoyer un courriel à l’adresse info@kollectif.net afin que nous puissions vous fournir toutes les informations.

Pour visiter le site internet de l’équipe Le Comité…

D’ici là, Marc-André Carignan, Grégory Taillon et moi-même vous souhaitons une bonne dernière semaine de « rush » avant les vacances de la construction – ne lâchez surtout pas!!

Au plaisir cher lectorat,

Martin Houle, architecte MIRAC
Directeur-fondateur | Kollectif

Cet article En vacances d’été + 5@7 Hochelag’ en août! est apparu en premier sur Kollectif.

Extrait du communiqué de presse :

« Granby, le 9 juillet 2019 – Localisée dans les Cantons-de-l’Est, à mi-chemin entre Montréal et Sherbrooke, la Ville de Granby est à la fois reconnue pour sa vitalité économique et culturelle. Outre son riche passé industriel, la Ville est aujourd’hui une destination touristique de premier plan qui allie qualité de vie, avant-gardisme et audace.

En avril dernier, elle a annoncé la réalisation d’un projet majeur de réfection et de réaménagement de sa rue principale. Ce projet, initié dans le contexte de la réfection des infrastructures souterraines, a généré une réflexion plus globale sur la qualité de l’aménagement du domaine public dans le but de rendre son centre-ville plus attrayant et structurant.

Afin de transformer un des espaces situés au centre de la ville en un lieu de vie accueillant et intelligent, la municipalité lance aujourd’hui un défi aux équipes et aux firmes d’architectes de paysage du Québec en les invitant à participer à un concours d’architecture.

Vous croyez avoir la vision et la créativité requises pour transformer un espace libre en un lieu vivant, animé et ludique qui tient compte des rêves de toute une collectivité ? Alors nous aimerions connaître votre vision de ce qui deviendra une importante place citoyenne.

UNE VISION REPOSANT SUR QUATRE ORIENTATIONS

C’est afin de commémorer la vie politique et médiatique du réputé député de Shefford Jean Lapierre qui a su toucher le coeur des Granbyennes et des Granbyens que la décision de donner son nom à l’une des quatre places citoyennes érigées au nouveau centre-ville a été prise.

La vision d’aménagement de cet emplacement repose sur quatre orientations :

• un espace ouvert d’échange, d’apprentissage et de transmission des connaissances ;
• un lieu vivant et vert où les citoyens et les citoyennes de même que la population étudiante se rassemblent et socialisent ;
• un pont entre le campus du cégep de Granby et le nouveau centre-ville ;
• un rappel au patrimoine.

[…]

DEUX GRANDES ÉTAPES
Le concours se déroulera en deux grandes étapes. La première étape consiste en un appel de propositions qui débute en juillet 2019 pour se terminer à la fin du mois de septembre.

Est admissible à cette étape du concours, tout architecte paysagiste, équipe ou firme, qui respecte les conditions suivantes :

• est composée minimalement de deux professionnels parmi les suivants : architecte paysagiste, designer, architecte ;
• est composée d’un architecte paysagiste, membre agréé de l’AAPQ ou membre en règle d’une association canadienne en architecture de paysage (associations constituantes de l’AAPC) depuis plus de trois (3) ans ;
• exerce à partir d’un bureau situé au Canada au moment de concourir.

Les firmes ou les équipes sont invitées à soumettre leur proposition comme il est décrit au règlement. Elles devront se procurer les documents sur le site du Système électronique d’appel d’offres (www.seao.ca). Le dossier doit présenter une idée d’ensemble traduisant la vision et la mission du projet suivant les objectifs du concours.

Le jury retiendra trois propositions. Lors de la deuxième phase, les finalistes pourront approfondir leurs idées et devront présenter leur concept/esquisse à un jury. Cette présentation se déroulera devant les citoyennes et les citoyens de Granby.

Au terme de cette étape, le jury choisira et recommandera à la Ville une équipe lauréate.

Le jury est composé de personnes représentant la ville, de professionnels de même que d’un représentant ou d’une représentante et d’un étudiant ou d’une étudiante du cégep de Granby. »

Date limite : le 19 septembre, avant 14h.

Pour lire la suite du communiqué de presse…

Pour consulter l’appel à concours sur SEAO…

Pour visiter le site internet de la Ville de Granby…

Cet article Concours d’architecture de paysage pluridisciplinaire pour la Place Jean-Lapierre est apparu en premier sur Kollectif.

Annonce :

« Le Conseil du bâtiment durable du Canada – Québec a plaisir de vous inviter au lancement de sa programmation annuelle 2019-2020 qui se déroulera entre 17 h 30 et 21 h, le 10 septembre 2019 à la Maison des régions, 500 rue St Jacques à Montréal.

En plus de découvrir en exclusivité les nouvelles activités, conférences et formations du CBDCa-Québec, vous aurez la possibilité de réseauter avec tous les professionnels de l’industrie du bâti vert, rencontrer les membres de la permanence, les comités. Profitez de ce moment privilégié et unique pour tous les passionné(e)s de bâtiment durable au Québec!

Rencontrez l’équipe de la permanence et les comités dans une ambiance des plus conviviales.

Une belle occasion de célébrer ensemble les 10 ans de la politique de développement durable dans un des édifices municipaux de la Ville de Montréal.

Plus de détails sur le déroulement de la soirée sont à venir. Cet événement est GRATUIT.

Inscription obligatoire en ligne, inscription sur place 10 $. »

Pour s’inscrire…

Pour visiter le site internet du Conseil du bâtiment durable du Canada – Québec…

Cet article Lancement de la programmation 2019-2020 (Montréal) est apparu en premier sur Kollectif.

Annonce :

« Vivre en Ville est actuellement à la recherche de développeurs immobiliers ayant un projet, en cours ou à venir, d’habitat à destination des populations vulnérables aux changements climatiques.

Le projet «Construire avec le climat» aidera des développeurs immobiliers québécois à mettre en place des projets qui luttent contre les changements climatiques et s’adaptent à leurs effets, afin d’accélérer l’atteinte des objectifs municipaux et nationaux fixés à cet effet. »

Pour plus d’information…

Pour visiter le site internet de Vivre en Ville…

Cet article Construire avec le climat : Appel aux développeurs immobiliers est apparu en premier sur Kollectif.