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Live and Unsigned alumni play summer festivals

Fri, 25 May 2012 15:54:00 +0100

PRESS RELEASE: This year's summer festival season features the alumni of Live and Unsigned, with previous acts bagging festival slots from all over the country.

Winners of the competition alongside runners-up and guest performers have found themselves spaces on line-ups of a number of music festivals including Bestival, Strawberry Fields and Sundown Festival, playing along the likes of Stevie Wonder, Dizzee Rascal and The XX.

Folk-pop artist, resident guest performer and 2011 runner-up Lucy Spraggan has achieved a range of festival slots this summer, after her performance at 2011's Sheffield Regional Final inspired promoters of Danson and Strawberry Fields Festival to give her slot at the Leicestershire and Bexley events. Other festivals that have been confirmed for her throughout the summer include Beatherder, Folk on the Water, Glade, L Fest, Osfest, Y-Not and Whaley Water Weekend.

Nineteen year-old artist Charley Macaulay will be showing how far she has come since her 2009 Live and Unsigned Under-18 category win by bringing her brand of soulful pop to Bestival this September, which this year is headlined by Stevie Wonder, and in previous years has been headlined by acts including Amy Winehouse, Beastie Boys and The Cure. 2011 Alternative Category Winners The Robbie Boyd Band has also been announced for Just So Festival. Among all this 2009 Live & Unsigned winner Danny Shah is lined-up to play Glass Butter Beach festival.

Live and Unsigned partners Cockermouth Rock Festival, or 'CockRock 2012' headlined this year by Tinchy Stryder and Fun Lovin' Criminals, will feature three acts from Live and Unsigned this year, including 2010 victors The Lottery Winners, 2011 finalists Top Boy Round Here and guest performers The Dub Pistols all being set to play as part of the main line-up.

As part of the Live and Unsigned Winners Festival Tour, the Live and Unsigned 2012 champion will get the opportunity to play 14 festival slots to play throughout 2012. So far the tour consists of: Cockermouth Rock Festival on the weekend of 20th-22nd July, Stockton Weekender on the 3rd-5th August, the following weekend the winners will be playing Relentless Energy Drink Boardmasters, Cloud 9 Festival, Strawberry Fields Festival, and Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Just So Festival will be next up, before the first weekend of September when the winner plays Glass Butter Beach on Friday 31st August, then Brownstock Festival on Saturday 1st September and Bingley Music Live on Sunday 2nd September!

For more information on Live and Unsigned go to the website and for tickets click here.

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Information taken from official press release, for more visit Live and Unsigned

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MusicRadar Deals Of The Week

Fri, 25 May 2012 15:19:00 +0100

Killer guitar, tech, amp or drum bargains from our recommended retailers

What's the best format for putting out your music?

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:14:00 +0100

It's no secret that old certainties in the music industry have crumbled away over the last decade. The notion that you can sign a record deal, make an album and then sit back and reap your fortune is now laughable for most aspiring musicians. Even if you are successful, there's no guarantee that your fickle audience will stay with you for long.

But while everyone agrees that things have changed - and that they continue to change - there seems to be very little consensus on how up-and-coming artists and producers (we're looking at you here) should go about releasing their work in this brave new musical world. Talk abounds when it comes to 'building an audience', 'connecting with your fans' and 'exploring multiple revenue opportunities', but the question remains: if you want to send your completed tunes out into the wild, how should you do it?

Let's start by considering some stats (don't worry - we'll make it quick and painless). According to the British Recorded Music Industry (BPI), 2011 saw music album sales in the UK fall for the sixth consecutive year, with combined physical and digital sales down 7% from 128.9 million to 119.9 million.

However, single sales actually reached a record high: the year's total of 161.8 million comfortably beat the previous best of 152.7 million, set in 2009.

Single minded

You don't have to be a genius to work out what's happening here: fewer people are buying albums, and more are picking up singles. But when we say singles, for the most part we just mean individual tracks that have been purchased as downloads. And of that 161.8 million sold last year, only a paltry 1.9 million were physical CDs.

This raises the question of whether - in the short term, at least - unsigned artists should even think about trying to release their music in the traditional album format.

We put this question to Scott Allen, a rising star in the liquid DnB scene and the co-owner of Soul Deep Recordings. He thinks that the long player does still have a place for electronic musicians in the internet age, if mainly for creative reasons.

"Fewer people are buying albums, and more are picking up singles."

"I like the idea of doing an album once every year or two," he says. "I feel like an 'album' gives the artist some freedom to do a few tunes that are different and maybe not as club-orientated. Three- and four-track EPs are typically meant more for club/dancefloor use and tend to fit the trademark sound of the artist.

"I personally like the idea of doing albums, but it is a little intimidating knowing that I need to prepare about 15 tracks to choose from. So to avoid the feeling of being overwhelmed, I just try to write the album one track at a time, in order to help keep my focus."

It certainly is true that single tracks and EPs can have a much bigger impact than albums in this fast and furious internet age, particularly if you're making music primarily for the clubs. No DJ is going to play your 15-track opus in its entirety; they're all looking for the stand-out banger that's going to improve their set.

So, there's an argument to say that - in the beginning at least - you should pour your creative energy into a couple of solid tracks rather than trying to create a larger body of work and spreading yourself too thin.

Rock artists may think differently, and for good reason. The album format has always felt more significant to bands of this ilk, and sales of vinyl LPs - the rock act's spiritual home - actually went up in 2011. If you're a pop/dance producer, however, it's perhaps best to use the transient nature of contemporary online distribution to your advantage.

Cloud covered

Where, though, should you put your music? Well, we think that there's a clear winner on this side of things. One of the fastest growing audio-sharing platforms over the fast couple of years has been SoundCloud, and we suspect that the majority of up-and-coming producers will already have a profile there.

But while where to go for online exposure is obvious, it can still be hard to know how you should use SoundCloud. Should you upload demos to solicit feedback, finished tracks for streaming/download, previews of work that can be purchased elsewhere, or a bit of everything?

"I think SoundCloud is great for promoting songs and getting feedback from other users," says Scott Allen. "I don't put up whole tracks for preview because you have to leave some anticipation for the actual release of the tune. If someone can hear the whole thing, then they won't be anticipating the release of it quite as much. If there is only a two-minute clip on the 'Cloud, then people will be waiting to purchase it so they can hear the whole thing.

"You might get a track released or included on a compilation, but you're unlikely to make serious money out of it."

"Also, there are programs that can record the music that's playing on your computer, so with these programs, people can rip tunes from SoundCloud that might not be out for months."

A similar way of generating some buzz around a track can be carried out via YouTube. Yes, it's primarily a video site, but it's massively convenient for listeners. In addition, the audio quality is now pretty good, and you can get away with substituting moving pictures with a still of your song's artwork alongside some release date/purchasing information (if, indeed, you're planning to sell your production). Even established artists now preview tracks like this.

Shifting expectations

It's probably fair to say that, unless you get very lucky, you're going to struggle to make much of an impression on the UK Top 40. However, that doesn't mean that you'll never see any kind of recognition. As the music business has diversified, so new indicators of success have been born. In the dance music world, a high placing in the chart at a site such as the award-winning Beatport - a downloadable dance music specialist - can also be significant. What's more, there's a community feel to many of these sites, as Scott Allen confirms.

"I especially like the [Beatport] feature where you can sign up to get notified when your favourite artist or record label releases new material," he says. "Sometimes people get caught up in their busy lives, and it's nice to be able to check in and see what your favourite artists have released recently."

Of course, to get on sites like Beatport, you'll probably still end up having to sign with a label, but this doesn't mean sending unsolicited demos to the majors. There are now countless genre-specific digital labels out there: find one that releases the kind of music that you make, and try to get in contact.

We can sum up by saying that, while are no hard and fast rules when it comes to choosing where and how to release your music, the most important thing is to be realistic. You might get a track released or included on a compilation, but you're unlikely to make serious money out of it and the chances of having a multi-million-selling album are slim these days.

The key is to enjoy what you do and explore as many ways as possible of getting your music heard.

This article originally appeared in issue 177 of Computer Music magazine.

COMPETITION: Win two tickets to Glade festival

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:06:00 +0100

Since emerging as an offshoot of a soundsystem at Glastonbury Festival in 2004, Glade has grown to become one of the UK's best dance music festivals.

Now helmed by Secret Productions, the team behind Secret Garden Party, Glade 2012 is set to be an immersive electronic experience nestled in the Norfolk countryside. Headline acts include Sven Vath, Andy C, Rusko, Jimmy Edgar and loads more.

Glade 2012 takes place 14 - 17 June at Houghton Hall, Kings Lynn, Norfolk - see the site taking shape in the video above.

Check out details of Glade, and all of the summers other festival action, in the MusicRadar festival guide.

The competition

To win one of two pairs of tickets to Glade 2012, simply answer the following question:

Glade began life as a stage at which UK festival?

V Festival
Glastonbury
Download

Enter here

Competition closes Friday 1 June

10 classic guitarist stage moves

Fri, 25 May 2012 13:32:00 +0100

Rock guitarists and ludicrous onstage antics go hand in hand. Whether it's Jimi Hendrix's innovative approach to flossing, Justin Hawkins tendency to mount the security, or Townshend's armoury of acrobatics, here are 10 classic guitarist stage moves…

SampleRadar: 586 free analogue drum and bass samples

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:39:00 +0100

Digital musicians we may be, but for many, analogue sounds are still where it's at.

SampleRadar knows this all too well, which is why this week's collection is stuffed with clean and processed sounds that were created using a selection of vintage analogue drum and synth hardware.

What you need to know

The analogue drum and bass samples are split into seven folders, each of which is labelled to indicate the type of sounds you'll find within it.

All the samples are supplied as WAV files so can be imported directly into your DAW or sampler of choice. Because they're royalty-free, you're welcome to use the samples in your music in any way you like - all we ask is that you don't re-distribute them.

The analogue drum and bass samples are supplied in a zip file, so you'll need to extract them before you can see them. Enjoy!

Example sounds

MBase Bug Crushed

PCK100 Big Muff

Vermona Misc

Synare

Analogue drum and bass samples: click to download

Analogue drum and bass samples (44MB)

These samples originally appeared on Future Music magazine's cover DVD. Check out the latest issue for many more.

Tutorial

How to give your music analogue-style warmth

Interview: Skrillex talks production, plug-ins and power edits

Fri, 25 May 2012 09:47:00 +0100

The ubiquitous Skrillex – Sonny Moore on his birth certificate – is possibly Electronic music's hardest working artist/producer, with a relentless touring schedule and a speaker-bursting editing and production technique. Recent EPs Bangarang and More MonstersAnd Sprites only served to cement his reputation as a sound-mangler of the highest calibre.

Over the past 18 months, he's served as one of the most recognisable poster boys of Electronic music's rapid rise in the US. It's not just his countrymen and women who have taken to the sound though – he's been playing to sell-out crowds in huge venues across the world.

With a recent project involving the surviving members of The Doors under his belt, three Grammy awards resting on his mantlepiece and plenty of other high-profile collaborations and epic live shows on the way, you can't help but be impressed with what the 24-year-old has achieved so far in his short career.

We caught up with him on perpetual tour in the States to find out about his live show, his production on the road and his hectic schedule.

"I love Ableton Live but I use a ton of other plug-ins and soft synths along with it."

You seem to be permanently on tour. How's that going and do you use the tour to let tracks change and evolve?
"It's going really cool... the last EP [Bangarang] is killing it and I've got a bunch of unreleased bits and pieces that I'm playing out that seem to be going down really well. I'm always on tour so I'm always trying new tracks out live before they're released. That's more necessity than anything, because I don't get a proper chance to sit in a studio and work on tracks like other producers do.

"I was only home for about four days in the second half of last year... And one of those was a show day when I was just hanging out."

So you must have a little studio set up on the road with you at all times?
"Yeah... I've got a MacBook Pro running Ableton Live with two little KRK monitors and a Focusrite Saffire Pro 14 interface. I've got a little two-octave Alesis controller, which I never even seem to use because I end up drawing everything in with the mouse. I've got a guitar too. I love Ableton Live but I use a ton of other plug-ins and soft synths along with it. I started with Fruity Loops back in the day, then Reason and then I learnt Pro Tools but I kinda hated it so I got Ableton Live, which is just so incredibly intuitive."

Have you had a look at Fruity Loops recently? With the beefed-up FL Studio?
"Fruity Loops is an amazing bit of software but I'm Mac-based now so I can't run it. I started out running some PC I got for Christmas but I'm a Mac guy now... Otherwise I'd love to be able to jam with FL Studio.

"I know in Europe there are still a lot of PC users, which is cool as there's some great third-party software. When I was working with Noisia in their studio they had a ton of crazy plug-ins that I'd never even seen before. You can get some crazy freeware shit for PC too, which you can miss out on with OS X."

"If you saw how I work, I think it's definitely quite unconventional just because it's all self-taught"

Has your gear setup changed much from your Kill Everybody days?
"Not really, no. Mainly because I've never had a chance to sit down and find out how I'd like it to change. I was never really a DJ... I just kinda figured it all out at once as I started to tour. I was making music and producing and I just had to start to DJ as I got more into touring.

"I'm still trying to figure out what being a producer/DJ really means to be honest... But it's kinda working out though and I'm happy and excited by it."

And you have a tour schedule that might finish off lesser mortals...
"Dude, you have no idea! Sometimes it's the flying schedule that can really fuck you up. I've played at festivals in Budapest, slept for an hour at the hotel then got up to fly toSouth Texas the next morning to sound-check at another festival. It can be really crazy. I seem to spend a minimum of eight hours a day in transit of some sort or another... that's eight hours of your life gone. People always ask if I suffer from jet lag but it's kinda become really normal for me... Although the jet lag does become a factor and you're pretty much always tired."

Those KRK monitors of yours must endure some serious punishment?
"Yeah... [laughs] When I did the last EP [More Monsters And Sprites] I did it all so quickly that I actually did the whole thing with the right speaker blown! I'm pretty happy with my sonics though so, if it does ever cause any grief live it's a good grief, for sure."

You're famed for your ferocious editing skills – are those all self-taught?
"Pretty much all self-taught, man. Back when I was using Pro Tools I had a friend kind of mentoring me in the very basics of mixing, compression and EQ. He was a Rock producer though, so it was definitely a lot different from the sonic direction I try to head in now.

"If you saw how I work, I think it's definitely quite unconventional just because it's all self-taught – I didn't learn conventional production methods. I'm kinda stubborn in some ways too in that, at one point, what I do would definitely not be considered 'production', it would just be considered noise, which is so wrong.

"I like the fact that I do things in very minimal, unconventional ways and that I can carefully craft records on laptops – and blown speakers!"

Care to impart any editing tips or tricks to the readers?
"You know what, I work really fast and I've come to realise that the reason for that might be because I don't use a mouse – I just use the trackpad. It feels a bit like Minority Report when I'm touching and sliding everything [laughs]. Other than that, for editing it all depends on what you want to do on each track. On some tracks, everything is audio by the end of a mix-down whereas on others I have live synths MIDI-triggering whatever soft synths I'm using, with automating parameters going wild all the time. So, as far as actual editing tips go, I'm not sure, really.

"At the end of the day it's not so much the editing style that matters, it's more about having a real cool, concrete idea. Even if it's a whole line of bits and crazy parts, it still has to stick with you and have... almost like a phrase."

Is your modus operandi set in stone now or is it something that can change depending on how you feel at any given time?
"It's usually about how I'm feeling at the time... I'll never abandon what I've done before but I want to keep growing. I'm always creating new synth sounds and samples when I work, which often take me off in a certain direction, but it's always about who I am."

"You open up an oscillator, fuck with the wavetable and for some people that can be your sound."

How do you go about choosing what software and plug-ins you use?
"A lot of it is word of mouth... I knew Noisia were using NI's FM8 and as they're such brilliant producers, that made me want to try using it too. Word of mouth works because I'm always moving so fast that it's hard to sit down and completely learn something new. Native Instruments are pretty standard, and for good reason – Massive, Reaktor and FM8 are all amazing.

"If there's one company that can do it all then it might be Native Instruments. Massive and wavetable synthesis is more plug-and-play... you open up an oscillator, fuck with the wavetable and for some people that can be your sound. FM synthesis though, especially from scratch, is so elemental and fun to build sounds with."

How do you bounce back from having your laptop and hard drives – with an entire unreleased album on them – stolen a year back?
"You never bounce back from that, man. It wasn't just my album it was four years' worth of all my other work too. There's not a night that passes when that doesn't still sting. You move forward and you make new records but I've honestly never been more devastated."

How do you create those brilliantly mashed-up vocals that you use?
"I do most of my vocals – aside from a couple of little one-shot vocal samples. I record everything into the Saffire with an SM58 then scratch it with loads of plug-ins. I don't do much vocoding to be honest. All my vocals are usually done with Melodyne and a ton of other plug-ins to make it sound weird. I've used vocoders with guitar notes and fucked up all the formants, which is pretty cool, but I don't tend to use them for vocals."

iPhone/iPad iOS music making app round-up: Week 65

Fri, 25 May 2012 09:46:00 +0100

One of the great things about iOS devices is that pretty much anyone - regardless of age or ability - can use them to make music. This week's apps demonstrate this, running the gamut from a child-friendly composing tool to a full-on virtual studio.

Also make sure you check out:

The best iPhone/iPad music making apps in the world today

If you've got a new iOS app, make sure you let us know about it by emailing musicradar.pressreleases@futurenet.com with all the details.

NEXT: Morton Subotnick Pitch Painter

Interview: Alex Lifeson talks Rush's Clockwork Angels track-by-track

Fri, 25 May 2012 07:20:00 +0100

"We wanted something that was bold and stripped down," says guitarist Alex Lifeson of Rush's Clockwork Angels. "The goal was to make it real in your face and very much the sound of a three piece – a hard rock record in the classic sense. I'm happy to say that it really did come out the way we anticipated and hoped for."

Prior to recording the bulk of the album, Lifeson and his Rush mates – bassist-vocalist Geddy Lee and drummer-lyricist Neil Peart – got together with co-producer Nick Raskulinecz (whom they collaborated with for 2007's Snakes & Arrows) in Nashville and knocked out a smashing pair of teasers, Caravan and BU2B, both of which make the full set in remixed form (the latter song has a previously unheard intro).

Traktor Pro 2.5 now available

Thu, 24 May 2012 16:08:00 +0100

Announced last month, Native Instruments' Traktor Pro 2.5 DJ software has now gone on sale. This adds Remix Decks, each of which has 64 slots and can contain loops, one-shot samples and complete tracks.

There's also compatibility with the new Traktor Kontrol F1, which is designed specifically to take advantage of the Remix Decks.

The upgrade to Traktor Pro 2.5 is free for owners of Traktor Pro 2. The full version costs $89/€79.

Native Instruments Traktor Pro 2.5 press release

Native Instruments today announced the availability of TRAKTOR PRO 2.5. This latest version introduces the innovative Remix Decks™, giving access to a powerful loop suite made up of 64 slots, each able to hold loops, one-shot samples or even tracks.

DJs can control up to four Remix Decks™ at once and save their work as an entire Remix Set™. To help DJs get started with the new technology, Native Instruments are giving away a selection of Remix Sets™, many of which were prepared by renowned artists. The free content, which amounts to 1.4 GB in total and covers a diverse selection of genres, is available to all users once they register TRAKTOR PRO 2.5.

Users of any TRAKTOR Generation 2 product will receive a free upgrade to the new 2.5 version. It also comes bundled with any TRAKTOR hardware, including TRAKTOR KONTROL F1 – set to hit stores worldwide on May 30th.

TRAKTOR KONTROL F1 was designed specifically to control the Remix Decks™ and provides full and tactile control over the new feature, benefiting from seamless bi-directional software-hardware integration and offering full visual feedback through the multi-colored LED pads.

Traktor Pro 2.5 can also be bought individually from the NI Online Shop, and costs $89 / 79 € / 7800 YEN. All owners of TRAKTOR PRO 2, TRAKTOR SCRATCH PRO 2, TRAKTOR KONTROL S2 and TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 will receive TRAKTOR PRO 2.5 as a free update.

A brand-new TRAKTOR KONTROL F1 performance video with techno explorer Stewart Walker is now available at YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N0Mt6eLHes

Additional information on TRAKTOR PRO 2.5 and KONTROL F1 is available at www.native-instruments.com/traktor

Six Of The Best: Full-sized guitar amp heads

Thu, 24 May 2012 11:34:00 +0100

The trend of late may be towards mini amps, but sometimes full-on wind-in-the-hair power is the only way to go. Here Guitarist magazine presents its pick of the latest and greatest…

Moog chief engineer Cyril Lance demonstrates the Google Doodle

Thu, 24 May 2012 09:38:00 +0100

As we reported yesterday (23 May), Google celebrated what would have been the 78th birthday of synth pioneer Bob Moog by turning its homepage logo into a playable Minimoog-style synth.

In the video above, Moog chief engineer Cyril Lance demonstrates how the doodle works, giving a quick lesson on the basics of synthesis in the process.

Want to really see what the Moog Google Doodle can do though? Then check out MusicRadar favourite (and occasional contributor) Brett Domino jamming out a rendition of Daft Punk classic Aerodynamic in the clip below.

In other Moog news, the company has reduced the price of its popular Animoog iPad and iPhone wavetable synth apps. The iPad version is reduced to £6.99 (from 20.99) and the iPhone edition is just 69p until 29 May.