New studio geekology

As many of you know, I create my music with Renoise.  Renoise is a tracked based DAW (I hate that term, ugh) with one of the best audio engines you're likely to hear.  Anyway, without praising it too much and boring the shit out of you, v2.6 went into beta testing stage recently, and I'm currently messing around with the 3rd beta.

Now normally, this wouldn't even warrant an article being written about it, but 2.6 has thrown a whole heap of new features my way, some of which may influence how I write my music.  Just as I got 2.6 through the download pipes today, my Novation Launchpad also showed up at my doorstep.  The main new feature in Renoise 2.6 offers users the option of now making scripts, which you then load from the new 'tools' menu.

One of the main tools that Renoise are promoting on their website, is Duplex.  Duplex allows you to map midi controllers, like the Novation Launchpad I just got, to control Renoise's pattern matrix, mixer and transport controls.  The good thing about this, is because it's 'open source', users can now create their own scripts within the program to come up with interesting new tools, or to simply tweak an existing tool to their own preference.

So yeah, fun times.  I've only had both of them for around about 8 hrs so far, but I've already come up with ideas for a live performance.  I even did a live mash-up retake of Porcelain earlier, just messing about, and it was a lot of fun to do.  Whether I take this show on the road is another thing entirely, but the fact I've got the idea, and Renoise 2.6 is giving me plenty of more options and ways to think about approaching making and performing music, can only be a good thing.

Resident Advisor & S.T. Holdings: Auxiliary

http://www.residentadvisor.net/news.aspx?id=12578

and

http://www.stholdings.co.uk/2010/07/29/coming-soon-asc-presents-his-new-label-auxiliary/

Competition Winner

Congratulations Beastie Respond, who guessed the correct answer, which is 22.  Please drop me an email to ascnonplus (at) gmail (dot) com with your real name and address.  Thanks to everyone else who entered!

Knowledge Feature & Mix

A little Q & A I did for Knowledge, plus a tasty mix full of upfront business.  Here's the link:

http://www.kmag.co.uk/editorial/features/asc-guest-mix

Win a signed copy of 'Nothing Is Certain'

I've got one copy of the CD up for grabs, and It'll also be signed for authenticity.  To stand a chance of winning this, all you need to do is click 'follow' on the main page first, and once you've done that, answer the question below:

How many tracks were recorded for 'Nothing Is Certain' before the final tracklist was decided on back in November '09?

The closest to the correct number, without going over, will win the signed CD.  The winner will be announced a week from today, Monday July 26th.

Leave your answers in the comments section of this post!  Thanks

Insert Image

Microsia Video

A really cool video for Microsia made by Quinton Aiken. 

N.I.C

Nothing Is Certain

OUT NOW ON 3 x 12" VINYL, CD & MP3!

Dogs On Acid Q&A

Short but sweet Q&A for Dogs On Acid:

http://www.dogsonacid.com/showthread.php?threadid=683282&mode=article

Auxiliary

I'm not gonna say the usual crap about how 'I thought it was the right time' or how it's 'time to expand on this and that', but I am starting a new label.

The label will have all sorts of music on it, but at first I'm mainly using this as an outlet for my own productions.  Auxiliary is the name of the label.

AUX001 - ASC - The Touch / The Touch (Vaccine feat. Riya Remix)

Starting as I mean to go on with what has turned out to be a very popular tune over the last year and a bit, The Touch finally sees a release.  It's become a bit of an autonomic anthem and Vaccine's lush 140 retake on the flip enlists the vocal talents of Riya, and makes sure that this plate gets maximum exposure from heads pushing different tempos.

The good people at S.T. Holdings will be handling the distribution for the vinyl and the digital side of things, so keep your eyes peeled for more news, as 001 is not far away. 

If you haven't heard these two tracks yet, then go here:

Auxiliary Soundcloud

Interview for onethirtybpm.com

Here's a recent interview I did with Andrew Ryce from onethirtybpm.com.  It's probably the most in depth feature that's been done on myself and my music so far, so grab a drink, sit back and have a read.  Here's the link:

http://onethirtybpm.com/2010/07/09/interview-asc/

Mary Anne Hobbs plays Against The Grain

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00sy4qq

Also check out the Pinch mix on the listen back section. Some good stuff in there.

Coming soon

Music For Pictures

It gives me great pleasure to announce a project I've been working away on for most of this year so far ; Music For Pictures.

It's a library that was written with TV, movies, adverts and trailers in mind.  Each piece is short in length, usually clocking in at around about the 2 minute mark on average, and the library covers a bunch of themes, emotions, tempos and moods.  There's 33 tracks in this library - 15 original pieces, and then 18 alternative versions in total.  The company behind this is Jeff Rona's Liquid Cinema.  For those of you who may not be clued up on the name, check out his IMDB profile for his impressive resume:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006258/

Originally, this project was only going to be offered exclusively to film studios, TV networks and such via EMI, but Jeff thought it might be wise to make it available for download also via iTunes, so for those of you who might be interested in getting hold of this, it should be publicly available early August.  Of course, I'll keep my blog updated with further developments.

Anyway, this is the first project of this kind for me, and will be my first foray into soundtrack and film score work.  Finally, for all the Eno fans out there, the title of the library and the simple design of the art are in homage to Eno's 1978 album entitled Music For Films.