bryan.noll's blog

Found this on SynthGear:

As each metronome comes to a stop & reverses direction at the top of its swing, it transfers energy to the platform. This energy transfers through the platform to each of the other metronomes.

The energy transferred to the platform from each metronome starts out of sync, but the waveforms of the energy interfere with each other, and at the location of each metronome you end up with negative or positive waveforms which in turn have an effect on the interference pattern. This keeps going until there is a balance – this balance is only achieved when all of the metronomes are in sync. The interference pattern is now a standing wave, which keeps the metronomes locked in phase.

When the whole contraption is put on the table, the table absorbs all the energy, reducing the interference patterns. You can see this phenomenon in many different types of oscillating systems, which can cause some major problems, especially with traffic on bridges and wind around buildings. You could also do the same thing with ticking watches, or even watches, which will eventually tick in time if places on a thin sheet of cardboard help up something like the cans in this video.

Of course if you’re a synth fan, you know that waves like these have harmonics, and the synchronization will also work with multiples of the fundamental frequency. You could presumably set some metronomes to half-speed to double-speed, and they would all tick in time, with different rhythms.

Another post in my series of Ableton Live tutorials, this time on the subject of Compression. This tutorial was made by Jason Timothy: http://www.myspace.com/djjasontimothy

I find it very helpful how Jason uses the technique of first exaggerating the settings in order to find the right shape, then backing them off to get the final sound.

This particular tutorial is perfect for learning how to get that snap + pump sound on percussive sounds.

This past weekend, I hung out with Zach Saginaw (Frank Omura, Shigeto), Brian Lindgren (Mux Mool), and Jakub Alexander (Moodgadget) and Dubstep / Wobble Bass came up once or twice. So this BML Tutorial is a tribute.

The first video is re-posted from the Dubspot blog and it shows you how to create a dubstep bass in Ableton Live using the Simpler instrument. You can download the wave file used in this tutorial from here. The techniques can be used to get the sound using any synthesizer, just pay attention to the types of waveforms mentioned and what they do with the filter (BP, envelope, velocity sensitive freq).

The second video is something I found on YouTube made by The Synthesist. It shows how to use Reason to Wobble and also offers a slightly different Ableton Simpler approach.

Is it a harmonica? Is it an accordion? No, it's a Melodica!

Last week I finally bought a Melodica. It was something I had been meaning to do for a LONG TIME. It's such a great instrument. It needs NO ELECTRICITY, only air from your lungs. Therefore it has this built-in meditative thing that only wind players and singers get that someone like me -- a guitarist and a knob-twiddler -- just never gets a chance to experience. You have to breathe WITH your music. A novel idea!

This instrument has shown up on so many different recordings.
Just look at the Wikipedia page for Melodica!

If you want to buy one - or two like I did (one for a friend) use this link:

Hohner S32 Student 32 Melodica

Here's a little video of me using the Melodica to practice the synth part to 'Model Party' by Corbu.

I just had to share this: