The Spank! Records Blog

Ecler Mixers. DJ Tech Award Winners.

See, it's not just us that think ECLER mixers are amazing in both value and quality, judges (not the legal kind obviously, what would they know, more the 'persons possessing in social capital' kind) think so to!

EVO 5 and NUO 4.0 mixers have both been awarded by the prestigious DJ Magazine. DJ Magazine www.djmag.com is an English publication and probably the most influential and popular magazine worldwide for DJ culture. Distributed in the five continents, its annual Tech Awards are the most reputed worldwide in its kind for DJ equipment.
 
During a ceremony held at BPM Show in the UK last October 18th, the EVO 5 won the Best USB/FireWire Mixer 2008 Tech Award. Selected online by internauts all over the world to be in the finals, the EVO 5 went through a presentation in front of the show public and a panel of judges composed by 5 reputed industry gurus (aforementioned respectable types).
 
Aswell of this the NUO 4.0 won the Best DJ Mixer Under £500 2008.

That's some high praise. You can check out these excellent mixers instore or online here.

Thanks Matt,

Spank! Records.

Traktor Pro! What's it all about?

 

As you may or may not be aware, it's new product season! Amongst the many next generation hardware/software products that are about to drop, one of the most exciting has to be the new Traktor interface, salubriously named Traktor Pro.

And doesn't it just look shiny and impressive. And I don't just mean the enthusiasm with which the Grandmaster Flash talks in the commercials.

Quickly for those who haven't used a Traktor program before, Traktor is one of the top of the line digital audio DJ solutions, allowing you to directly DJ across four (1,2,3,4) digital decks directly from your mp3's on your laptop. You can control the program by using a time coded (i.e. special) vinyl from your existing turntable rig (this is the 'Scratch' software) or completely using midi control. There are almost limitless hybrid combinations between the two control formats (you only have to look at a modern mixer to see the possibilities) and dare I say, this is where the fun really begins.

So what's new about this version?

First up, completely redesigned GUI (the screen you look at). Bigger fonts, better contrast colours to make it easier to see (though possibly not as pretty to look at, a very good idea for badly lit environments like DJ booths), the new Crate Flick function, which is like the cover flow on iTunes so you can see the record art along with the track info when picking tracks (very useful if you're visual person like I) and all your decks/track list/and FX information condensed onto the one screen. No more flicking through that drop bar of layout preferences.

More FX! Traktor have always lead their competition in terms of software effects options and the new version has taken the FX capabilities too the next level. You now get 21 high powered digital effects, digitally synced to your tracks opening up a wide range of interpretive possibilities with the full bag of tricks in terms of delays, reverbs, beat pushers, phasers, flangers etc. etc.

Looping. Fact. With mp3's it's easy to loop sections. Fact. With four decks you can run four loops from four tracks. Fact. This sounds cool and looks impressive. By the looks of it Traktor have really tightened up their algorithms for beat matching, now offering glitch less quantized punches for your looping pleasure. In many ways this is the cutting edge of modern DJing, allowing you to effectively produce new unique remixes on the fly, sampling, looping and re-arranging from literally anywhere and everywhere.

If you have time and you're this way inclined, I highly suggest you check out the very illuminating tutorial and demo videos on the Native Instruments website. I'm sure it'll have your head spinning with the possibilities! Or at the very least, the Grandmaster is uber cool.

Link is here.

Thanks Matt,

Spank! Records.

Free copy of Ableton Live 7 with any Korg Zero 4 or Korg Zero 8 purchase.

 

Korg's excellent all-in-one "core stations" designed for live performance artists, remix producers, and serious computer musicians the Zero 8 and Zero 4 now ship with a free copy of Ableton Live 7, providing a perfectly matched software/hardware interface quickly and easily.

 

Both of these units provide highly professional midi control, high quality parts and innovative design modeled on traditional mixers. The ZERO4 is a four-channel version designed for the needs of the modern DJ, and ZERO8 is an eight-channel version covering the needs of advanced laptop musicians, studio remixers and DJs requiring more channels.

 

Ableton Live 7 is the world leader in home production and live music performance software, providing innovative wave mapping, sampling, recording and midi that are constantly inspiring musicians and DJ's to work in new and exciting ways.

 

You can purchase either of these units online here or instore.

 

Thanks,

Matt.

Spank! Records.

 

 

Free Headphones & Midi Controller with Live Suite or Reason Premium Edition purchase.

Just when you thought no further value could be added to the purchase of Reason or Ableton's premium release software bundles, until the end of December Reason Premium Edition & Ableton Live Suite now come with a FREE Carillion Control25 midi keyboard ($179 RRP) and Legacy PH250 ($99) headphones.

Utilizing good midi control and monitoring are key to getting the most out of these two excellent products and creating the best possible productions at home or on the road. 

Reason 4 Premium edition includes all the amazing features of Reason 4 plus four of the most popular (dare I say essential?) ReFill Packs. Reason Drum Kits, Reason Pianos, Abbey Road Keyboards, Reason Electric Bass.

Ableton Live 7 Suite is Ableton's deluxe set-up for production, including all the Ableton 7 interface features aswell as the Operator, Sampler, Electric, Tension, Analog, Drum Machine & Session drums sampler and synthesizer plug-ins to give you a wide range of professional sounds to create innovative productions.

You can purchase either of these two software collection in store or online here.

Thanks Matt,

Spank! Records.

Free Operator synth from Ableton worth over $200

 

There's a great offer from the gang at Ableton HQ at the moment, but you'll have to be quick as it expires at the end of this month (i.e. October 31st).

If you buy a full version of either Ableton Live 7 or Ableton Live 7 LE, you can grab yourself a FREE Operator synth directly from Ableton's website simply by registering your new software.

The offer is also valid for anyone upgrading from Live 7 LE or Live 7 Lite.

Operator is an FM synthesizer that fully integrates into the Live environment. It's capable of producing a wide variety of sounds, from bass to lead sounds, and even percussion. Those of you who attended our Live clinic a couple of years ago with Ableton's Robert Henke (aka Monolake) will remember his amazing demonstration of Operator, including how to produce the sound of rainfall!

Operator usually sells via the Ableton website for $159USD (about $240AUD on the current dismal exchange rate), so it's a really great offer.

You can buy any of the abovementioned software from us here.

Word And Sound Digital Catalogue

We have just scored Word And Sound's entire digital catalgue for our digital site and content should be up next week.

Word And Sound is Germany's leading deep house/tech/minimal distributor and features labels like Cadenza, Dirtybird, Electric Avenue, Dirt Crew, Antipop, Poker Flat, Bear Funk and many many more.

Two more distributors will follow so we can assure you that by the end of the year we will have some quality labels and a stack of new releases every week.

Stay tuned.

FBi Supporter Drive Winner

A big congratulations to Elizabeth Cranston who won the Ableton prize pack courtesy of Spank Records during the FBi Supporter Drive week.

Elizabeth won a copy of Ableton Live 7 as well as a spot in the next Introduction To Ableton Course here at Spank Records, run by producer-of-the-moment, Matt Rowan.

A big thanks to Musiclink and Ableton and keep supporting FBi as it promotes and nurtures the best in Australian underground electronic music.

November Ableton course now taking applicants!

Our very popular introduction to Ableton course is taking a fresh round of enrollments for November. 

The course consists of 4 x 2 hour sessions held on Wednesday nights. Your teacher Matt Rowan will take you right through all the basic features of Ableton and set you up with the fundamentals you need to start your own music production or digital live performance.

All the information can be found online here.

Enquiries and applications can be made via e-mail to training@spankrecords.com.au or you can come see us in-store or give us a call.

Thanks, Matt.

Spank! Records.

New Product! Korg Electribe MX and SX.

 

Introducing to Spank! two of the Korg Electribe production stations - the MX-1 drum and synthesizer workstation and the SX-1 sampling workstation. Ideal for writing music on the fly, programming drums and synthesizers for use with a live group or as part of your hardware production rack.

The MX-1 allows you to create up to 256 patterns that can be combined and saved into up to 64 songs. This powerful synthesizer engines allows you to compose using simultaneous patterns on nine drum parts and five synth parts. Further accent options let you add dynamic velocity variations to the drum and synth parts (for a total of 16 parts) that really brings your music to life.

The SX-1 utilizes 285 seconds of memory (at 44.1kHz) to create up to 384 of your own samples that can be manipulated, arranged, sliced and time-stretched to build unique patterns and songs. The SX includes a wide variety of preloaded samples – 196 in all – so that you can start producing dance music immediately. Samples (.WAV/AIFF format) can be imported and exported via SmartMedia.

Both of these products are available instore or online here .

Thanks, Matt.

Spank! Records.
 

Focusrite Firewire Saffire Soundcards

Utilizing the extra low latency and added stability of a firewire connection, the Focusrite Saffire and the Focusrite Saffire LE provide that extra level of reliability for your home studio or on the road soundcard.

The Saffire LE includes 4 simultaneous analogue inputs, two Focusrite preamps, two balanced line-ins and stereo S/PDIF ins with eight outputs, six balanced for either 5.1 mixing or multiple headphone mixing and two S/PDIF outputs. Included with this soundcard is a plug-in suite including EQ, Compression, Amp Simulation and Reverb, in both VST and AU format.

The Saffire soundcard includes four balanced inputs and ten outputs, with two independent headphone monitoring channels and a total of ten outputsl. EQ, Compression, Reverb and Amp Modeling DSP plug-ins are integrated with this unit, minimizing the CPU drain and allowing better control of your recording input.

Both of these units are available in store or online.

Thanks, Matt.
Spank! Records.