Music Technology

Top 10 MIDI Keyboards 2021 – Unlock Your Flow

Top 10 MIDI Keyboards 2021 A MIDI Keyboard is a useful device that allows music producers to intuitively input chords, melodies, and even drums into their DAW. They usually come with velocity-sensitive keys, pads, and knobs to help provide that human feel to your electronic tracks. This article rounds up the top 10 MIDI keyboards of 2021 and will help inform you about what to consider before purchasing one. Why Do I Need A MIDI Keyboard? Have you ever seen an instrumentalist ‘lose’ themselves in the music they are creating? Eyes closed, head pointed to the sky, and absolutely surrendered to the piano, guitar, or drums that they’re playing?   (Source: Tash Sultana, Image by Jim Bennet/FilmMagic May 2020) This is the feeling that we musicians like to call “the flow state” – and it’s one that music producers can find hard to reach behind the clickity-clack of a mouse …

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Top 10 Studio Headphones 2021 – A Producer’s Best Friend

Top 10 Studio Headphones 2021 If you’re just getting started on your music production journey – you might be listening to your mix on desktop speakers, cheap earphones, or even laptop speakers. However, after you’ve picked the best laptop to produce music with – the next purchase to consider is the right pair of headphones for you. su_divider top=”no” size=”1″ Why Are Studio Headphones Important?  The best studio headphones help inform you how the track you’re working on in your DAW truly sounds (i.e flat sound.) Laptop speakers are simply too small to accurately recreate bass sounds below 200 Hz. Consumer speakers or headphones are usually bass boosted or colour the sound in different ways to entertain the listener. The best studio headphones, on the other hand: Recreate the entire frequency range that we can hear (20 Hz to 20,000 Hz) Accurately represent the frequency response of your track – …

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Non-Fungible Tokens – Hype, Flaws, and Innovation

(Cover Image derived from Consensual Hallucinations by crypto artist Serwah Attafuah)  A digital certificate for intellectual property is sweeping the music world. Known as a Non-Fungible Token, or an NFT, these cryptographically verified digital collectibles allow artists to store unchangeable versions of their music/art on the blockchain. This article explores the hype, the flaws, and the innovation of this new technology and what it means for you as a producer, artist, or musician.  su_divider top=”no” size=”1″ What is Blockchain technology?  At this point, we have all heard about Bitcoin. But what many don’t know is that it is the technology behind Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that holds the power and potential to revolutionize all aspects of our digital exchanges.   su_quote cite=”Shermin Voshmgir (Author of Token Economy)”If we assume that the WWW has revolutionized information and the Web 2 revolutionizes interactions, then Web3 has the potential to revolutionize agreements and value …

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All About Max for Live Packs | PitchLoop 89

All About Max for Live Packs | PitchLoop 89   Created in collaboration with Robert Henke, this Ableton 11 Max for Live device is based on an early digital effects processor. The outcome is jittery glitch effects, delayed digital shimmers, and outlandish vibrato. Watch guest host Lillian Frances breakdown this unique device for sound design and beat making. Video Tutorial su_youtube_advanced url=”https://youtu.be/CeLxElsRTPc” width=”400″ height=”200″ autohide=”yes” rel=”no” fs=”no” modestbranding=”yes” For more on Max for Live Packs check out our All About Max for Live Packs Playlist. Subscribe for more awesome tutorials! divider style=”clear”   About Lillian Frances Lillian Frances is a sonic collager hailing from Sacramento, CA. Frances attended Beat Lab in 2015 and 2019 and has since taught Ableton courses at The Library of MusicLandria in Sacramento. Her unique alt-pop style has been compared to Lorde, Sylvan Esso, and Billie Eilish. Her 2018 EP, Timeism, was praised by NPR’s Heavy …

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Support Local – 9 Music Tech Retailers to Support this Winter

Support Local – 9 Music Tech Retailers to Support this Winter   Some things are worth keeping around.  Los Angeles has entered another week of restrictions and lockdown and businesses are feeling it.   The pandemic has been especially hard on small and independent retailers. To keep alive the communities these retailers foster and the legacy gear they preserve, we have put together a list of 9 Music Tech Retailers here in Los Angeles worth your support this winter.  su_divider top=”no” size=”1″ 1. Perfect Circuit     Located in Burbank, Perfect Circuit is an independent music retailer that carries a wide variety of music tech from modular synths to Drum machines and sequencers, to streaming and DJ equipment. Before the pandemic, PC hosted multiple community events a month including manufacturer demos, community discussions, and in-depth clinics but has since moved these events to live stream on their Youtube Channel. You can still …

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Ableton PUSH – Go Beyond with Max for Live (Free Download)

Top 12 Max for Live Devices for Ableton PUSH Ableton PUSH 2 is the most comprehensive controller for Ableton Live. So much so, it feels like an instrument in its own right. With all that the PUSH has to offer, you can go above and beyond with the help of Max for Live. So if you own Ableton Suite 10. Check out these awesome free devices.   su_youtube_advanced url=”https://youtu.be/_wrLGxD5IQY” width=”400″ height=”200″ autohide=”yes” rel=”no” fs=”no” modestbranding=”yes” divider style=”clear” Expression Control   This device is Built-in the Core Library and is often overlooked. It gives us access to the most common MIDI Expression control. Most notable for us PUSH users is the Aftertouch (Pressure Sensitivity). This can give us the ability to map the Aftertouch to anything we want. Some common mapping would be to the Filter Cutoff, Fine Tune (Pitch), and Reverb amount. Use the Ableton search bar to find this …

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