Another Unreleased Kriece Re-edit

Here is my second most requested unreleased re-edit - previously only given to Digweed & Hernan ;)

Up for limited number of downloads so first in first served :)

https://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=batch_download&batch_id=RmNDak93NDQ0b0N4dnc9PQ

Don't forget to add me to your Twitter account as I will be announcing these first on Twitter soon...

www.twitter.com/kriece

(edit - have updated the expired link)

Nerve Impulse Remix Parts

Howdy all,

Due to popular demand (2 people asked me!), I am putting up more remix parts. This time its my track "Nerve Impulse"

Have fun!

https://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=YkxMa3NXcWZ0TWtLSkE9PQ

cheers
Kriece

Twitter

OK...curiosity finally got the better of me and I decided to get a Twitter account to see what all the fuss is about. For some reason my blog suddenly got hundreds of hits referred by Twitter (someone must have mentioned this blog on Twitter I guess) - so I thought I should check it out.

Anyway, I haven't Tweeted anything yet but please add me -

http://twitter.com/kriece

I promise to brighten your day with dry witticisms and cynical observations about the world. (actually, I can't legally promise that)

some new tips coming soon...I promise!

Another Unreleased Kriece Re-edit

Have put this up for free download for a limited time -

https://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=YkxJclVFMVg5eFd4dnc9PQ

AAS Ultra Analogue - $15!!

Hey guys,

For those of you who havent seen - Audio midi has the AAS Ultra Analogue VSTi for sale for $15 (usually $200). If you are a tightarse like me you will find that to be attractive value!!!

http://www.audiomidi.com/Ultra-Analog-VA-1-BR-No-Brainer-Deal-P12692.aspx

Mix Tip

Howdy all,

Sorry for being so slack lately - last week I was in South Australia driving around the beautiful Clare Valley & Barossa Valley wine regions - many a tasty Red was sampled!

Here is a tip on mix/loudness -

Quick Tip # 1

Regarding loudness - remember that your track is only as loud as its loudest peaks. So if you have sounds jumping out of the mix it will negatively impact how loud your track can be for two key reasons -

1. When you apply a limiter at the final stage the loud peaks will either become reference points for the limiter or will be distorted due to over squashing

2. The DJ will need to adjust the volume of your track when they play it so the punters don't get their ears blown by stray peaks

You need to cast a careful ear over your mix to look for things that pop out. Some of my usual candidates include - resonant peaks in basslines, percussion transients (ie - quick attack/quick decay sounds), resonant peaks from delay feedback loops

Here are some suggestions for getting rid of these peaks -

1. EQ - apply a parametric eq to the channel with the offending sound. Grab the nearest band which approximates where the peak sits on the spectrum. Narrow the Q as much as possible. Push the EQ for that band as high as possible vertically, then slowly move horizontally across the spectrum. When the noise peaks at its loudest you know thats where that sound is popping out. Then just pull the band back down vertically and eq out the peak

2. Compression - especially good for transients - but you need a quick response time to capture quick, peaky transients. Many compressors will not be quick enough and even at the quickets attack time, will let some of the transient through, creating a snapping sound.

3. Transient Modulator - these are really good for transients - they essentially smooth them out. There are a few out there by the usual plugin guys. A good one which springs to mind is Sonnox Transmod (http://www.sonnoxplugins.com/pub/plugins/products/transmod.htm)

Another trick I use is to gradually decrease the volume on my monitor speakers to almost nothing and slowly decrease further until the volume completely disappears. As you decrease the volume you can check which sounds disappear first and which ones still stick out. However you need to be comparing similar frequency sounds because bassy sounds will disappear before high end sounds like hi-hats, snares and claps. Often I will do this and notice that, for example, I can only hear the closed high-hats but the other percussion has gone - I can then adjust the levels so they are more cohesive.

A final word - you need to strike a careful balance between a nice, loud track and going to far - creating a hot, squashed mess with no dynamic range. Be careful about following mix/mastering advice from rock/pop producers or mastering engineers. They will warn you about squashing tracks too hard to get more loudness. It is known as "loudness wars" as each producer tries to squeeze more and more apparent volume out of the source material.

This is no doubt true, however with electronic music there are some caveats and exceptions. In my opinion, dynamic range is less important for dance music than rock & pop. Dynamic range can sometimes clear a dancefloor as quiet parts suck the energy from the room. It is also impossible to ignore Beatport. If your track is noticably quieter than others, when users are previewing tracks, yours will not stick out if it is quieter than others. So its about finding balance. If I could simplify all this to one piece of advice regarding loudness - check your final waveform - if it is a solid, unbroken block from start to finish, you have pushed it too far! Conversely, if your track is only sporadically touching -0.5 db or so, you could afford to push things a bit more. This may be an oversimplification but its a good place to start :)

Some new Soft Synths

Apologies for the lack of tips lately - I have been completely snowed under with various projects so have been short on time.

I will soon be putting up some more parts for remix so keep watching for those...

In my studio news I have recently bought a few new bits and pieces and tried out some nice demos. I got D-Cam Synth Squad (http://www.fxpansion.com/index.php?page=62) a couple of weeks ago and have been putting it through its paces. Some of the the patches make my ancient (1.5 year old!) Core2 Duo processor struggle a bit - this is the first synth I have tried which has made my computer crap itself so there must be some decent processing happening under the hood of this synth. I am dying to get one of those new i7 processors, however will wait to see what happens with Windows 7... ("GET A MAC" I hear you cry).

My initial impressions have been very positive - I won't do a full review on here as there are people far more qualified than myself to give a detailed rundown. However, just simply it is three synth in one which can be combo'd in a similar fashion to Korg's Legacy Synth. I won't attempt to say whether it sounds genuinely "analogue" as claimed by the maker, however it just have a nice gritty sound with a kind of 'analogue' flavour - don't ask me to try to qualify what I mean by this as I have no idea. The best I can do is say that some of the patches (especially pad & string) sound similar to what you could hear on a Prophet 08.

Also tried a demo of the new Largo soft synth by Waldorf (http://www.waldorfmusic.de/en/products/largo). The demo is fully functional for 30 days which is plenty of time to work out whether it is for you or not.

This is also a really cool synth - very different to Synth Squad. Largo has a shiny FM-style sound - a little like NI FM8 but also with its own character. Very tweakable and great for big fat synth basses and shiny pads.

I also downloaded a demo of Camel Audio's Alchemy (http://www.camelaudio.com/Alchemy.php). This sounded really promising however it kept crashing Cubase for me so I had to uninstall it. Not sure if this is a problem unique to me or not. Will maybe look at a future release/update or when I update to the new version of Cubase (I am still on 4).

One other cool piece of news is that you can buy selected Arturia Synths for half price at the moment and then you get a free upgrade to the new versions coming out soon. I bought CS80-V and Prophet V which arrived today so looking forward to having a play...I got mine from Audio Midi (www.audiomidi.com) but I am sure you can get them elsewhere too...

Stay tuned for the next tip - some more guest tips are coming too - so you may actually get some information from someone who actually knows what they are talking about....