TURNTABLE LAB

Ableton
Ableton Suite 8 Production Software

OVERVIEW
Ableton Live has proved to be extremely popular with producers and DJs, making it easy to produce remixes on the fly, DJ, or do a live performance. Live 8 enhances the Ableton vision of creative, real-time digital music with a wealth of new techniques, effects and most-wanted workflow improvements. These include a new groove engine, revamped warping techniques, live looping, five new effects (including the Ableton Vocoder), crossfades in the Arrangement View, group tracks and a reworked MIDI editor. Suite 8 includes all that plus a massive, inspired sound library and all the instruments a musician could hope for, including a wide range of synths, a sampler, electric and acoustic drums (new: Latin percussion), mallets (new: Collision), numerous sampled instruments and a new, even mightier Operator.

FEATURES
New in Ableton Live 8:
- New groove engine: new groove library, extract grooves from audio or MIDI, real-time groove quantize. Includes grooves from the legendary Akai MPC and E-mu SP-1200 machines

- New warping engine: warp audio events by adjusting the events on the timeline, updated Beats Warp Mode, new Complex Warp Mode, slice audio files to MIDI tracks based on transients

- Looper: classic sound-on-sound looping without the limitations of a hardware device. Record, overdub, undo and more without touching the computer. "First loop sync," simple loop management

- New effects: Vocoder, Multiband Dynamics, Overdrive, Limiter and Frequency Shifter

- Workflow enhancements: including real-time crossfades in the Arrangement View, enhanced MIDI editing, group tracks, multiple track selection, a screen magnifier and more

New Features Exclusive to Suite 8:
- World-class sound library: completely new sound library with real-world "Sound Objects", presets, grooves, templates and, above all, over 1,600 beautiful sounds

- Collision and Corpus: a unique physical-modeling instrument for authentic mallet sounds and creative percussion. Includes Corpus, a separate effect that reproduces Collision's resonator section

- Latin Percussion: a collection of acoustic percussion instruments from the worlds of Brazilian, Afro-Cuban and African music, plus a wide selection of clips and grooves for authentic usage

- Operator, Ableton's renowned do-it-all synthesizer, has been given a major overhaul. New filter types, more modulation routing options and additive wavetable synthesis with drawable partials make Operator more powerful and flexible than ever.

Plus these existing Ableton instruments: Sampler, Electric, Tension, Analog, Drum Machines, Session Drums and the Essential Instrument Collection

All other great features from previous versions have been adopted into 8 and inludes built-in interactive lessons so you can learn as you go. Ableton is extremely versatile, professional, all-in-one software that will suit all your production needs.
reviewed by the mgmnt

file under:
reviewer recommended / reviewer reccomended / dance - lab recommended

go to detail page | close window

Ableton
Ableton Live 8 Production Software

OVERVIEW
Ableton Live has proved to be extremely popular with producers and DJs, making it easy to produce remixes on the fly, DJ, or do a live performance. Live 8 makes all those things even better by enhancing the Ableton vision of creative, real-time digital music with a wealth of new techniques, effects and most-wanted workflow improvements. These include a new groove engine, revamped warping techniques, live looping, five new effects (including the Ableton Vocoder), crossfades in the Arrangement View, group tracks and a reworked MIDI editor.

FEATURES
New in Ableton Live 8:
- New groove engine: new groove library, extract grooves from audio or MIDI, real-time groove quantize. Includes grooves from the legendary Akai MPC and E-mu SP-1200 machines

- New warping engine: warp audio events by adjusting the events on the timeline, updated Beats Warp Mode, new Complex Warp Mode, slice audio files to MIDI tracks based on transients

- Looper: classic sound-on-sound looping without the limitations of a hardware device. Record, overdub, undo and more without touching the computer. "First loop sync," simple loop management

- New effects: Vocoder, Multiband Dynamics, Overdrive, Limiter and Frequency Shifter

- Workflow enhancements: including real-time crossfades in the Arrangement View, enhanced MIDI editing, group tracks, multiple track selection, a screen magnifier and more

All the other great features from previous versions have been adopted into 8 and the box even includes a selection of loops to start with, Essential Instrument Collection 2: a wide range of sampled instruments for use with Live, and built-in interactive lessons so you can learn as you go.
reviewed by the mgmnt

file under:
reviewer recommended / reviewer reccomended / dance - lab recommended

go to detail page | close window

Nooka
Zot Al Watch - Night

Nooka's Zot AL watch is a higher-end model from the people who like to re-think the way we tell time. The face is aluminum, and the band is constructed from polyeurethane. As with all Nooka watches, it features an unconventional LCD display, that may take some adjusting to (don't worry, detailed instructions are included). Also features chronograph and alarm features.
reviewed by Hires

file under:
nooka watches / watches /

go to detail page | close window

Nooka
Zub Zenh Watch - Clear / Black Face

The Nooka watches are designed by Matthew Waldmen, who took it upon himself to think outside the box regarding the way we tell time. I'll let him explain how it works: "The linear and graphic representation of time with Nooka watches presents a more intuitive way to view time. The visual mass increases as time passes, giving weight to an ephemeral and abstract concept. Once you're used to the new visual paradigm you may never go back to standard analog and digital time displays for your wrist."
reviewed by Hires

file under:
nooka watches / watches /

go to detail page | close window

Nooka
Zub Zenh Watch - Heather Grey

The Nooka watches are designed by Matthew Waldmen, who took it upon himself to think outside the box regarding the way we tell time. I'll let him explain how it works: "The linear and graphic representation of time with Nooka watches presents a more intuitive way to view time. The visual mass increases as time passes, giving weight to an ephemeral and abstract concept. Once you're used to the new visual paradigm you may never go back to standard analog and digital time displays for your wrist."
reviewed by Hires

file under:
nooka watches / watches /

go to detail page | close window

The Venture Brothers
The Music Of JG Thirlwell (Adult Swim) LP

In case you're not a late-night cartoon observer (that would put you in the minority around these parts), The Venture Brothers is a Johnny Quest parody/tribute, one that rekindles all of the old elements of the old Hannah Barbara spy cartoons with huge helpings of light-hearted sarcasm and snark on the side. One of the great parts about the show is it's original score, which draws on old spy themes and classical elements while adding modern flourishes. According to the show's creator, it was a CD by JG Thirwell (recorded as Steroidus Maximus, just one of the composer's many pseudonyms) that inspired him to animate these characters and begin the process of bringing his vision to life. In terms of the songs themselves, you'll find fast paced action themes like "Tuff(1)," "Gawker(2)," and "No Vacancy(3)" that evoke car chases and fight scenes while songs like "In A Spaceage Mood(4)" and "Damion(5)" provide moody, more classical settings. 16 tracks total, packaged with detailed liner notes in a pic sleeve.
reviewed by Hires

file under:
downtempo + electronic - vinyl / downtempo + electronic - all

go to detail page | close window