Category: The Core is Getting Soft
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The Core is Getting Soft.10: Madrona Labs
There are some soft synths or plug-ins I’ve bought where I could have conceivably sprung for the hardware version instead. But there’s no way I could have ever afforded a Buchla synthesizer – until Madrona labs came out with their Aalto software synthesizer, which is inspired by the designs of Don Buchla, who invented the…
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The Core is Getting Soft.9: Ring my Bell
For many years now, I have been using software in my meditation practice. In Buddhist meditation, we traditionally open and close each sitting by ringing a bell three times. One is instructed to follow the sound waves until they subside, providing a gradual transition in and out of the silent state of awareness. In today’s…
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The Core is Getting Soft.8: Couture on the Cheap
When you have friends with similar interests and desires as you, sometimes you have to be willing to experience the pangs of jealousy. I’m not just talking about romantic jealousy – for us musicians, it can be about the gear. When I was in grade school, there was a bright and talented kid a year…
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The Core Is Getting Soft.7: The Kunst of Kunz
A quick look at ebay tells me that a used Roland Juno 60 can run you in the neighborhood of $550 to $1,195. If you’re really lucky, you can pick one up that was used on tour by Ministry, with their own presets still intact! I once considered purchasing a used Juno 60 at a…
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The Core is Getting Soft.6: Ohm…Ohm….Ohm….
While the last post in this series on plug ins and virtual instruments, “Tuba Time,” proved that there are some truly atrocious digital products out there, this should not cause one to give up hope. One of the best software developers out there, the French company Ohm Force, make fantastic products, and they are on…
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The Core is Getting Soft.4: Redwirez Rulez
It’s a tough enough job convincing folks that they shouldn’t look down on music software when it comes to stuff people use when holed up in recording studios. But the guitar amplifier is a public affair. Imagine a live rock band pulling out a laptop onstage instead of rolling out fearsome refrigerator size amplifiers. …
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The Core is Getting Soft.2: Unreal Reels
Continuing this series of posts on software and plug-ins, today’s post has praise for the one I use more than any other: Universal Audio’s Ampex ATR-102 plug-in. (On sale through the end of december for $299, or $499 as a bundle with the complementary Studer A800 24 track emulation, also mentioned below.) While I’m critical…
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The Core is Getting Soft.1
I’ve been thinking about starting a new set of posts for awhile about various kinds of music software – plug-ins, virtual instruments, etc. Digital doesn’t tend to get a lot of love in the indie world, historically speaking. Even the word “soft” carries negative connotations in a genre that followed in the wake of hardcore.…
johnhdavis / inundation records 