Well, I’m back but this isn’t gonna be that another latest drum n bass production wonder vst plugin article. That was last week! You can check it out here just in case you missed it. No, this one  is gonna be an article on the other programs I like to use to help me out in my daily drum n bass production superstar life! lol These are the little helpers (or not so big) that help you out in big ways. Lets get cracking then shall we?

CCleaner – This program is definitely a handy little ap available from here. I run this program every few days, maybe once a week then. Its great for making sure you’ve got maximum HHD space and keeping your registry bang up to scratch. Another really cool feature is the way it can uninstall difficult programs and yep, its free.

Winrar – This little program has been around for ages and definitely over took Winzip (in my opinion) for unzipping shit. When I learnt that you could right click and “extract here” my life was all good. Also the way you can extract different folders separately is awesome.

NFO Viewer – Awesome little app that comes in handy when you need to look at those .nfo that comes along with certain other files from the web. To be honest I don’t use it that much these days but I like the pretty pictures and effort that they put into the .nfo files. Oh by the way I use Notepad to open up the .nfo files.

Daemon Tools -  You need this app if you deal with ISO’s from the web because of its virtual drive feature. Just mount the .ISO in Daemon Tools and your computer will think the original is in the “drive”. Very handy indeed.

Microsoft Defrag – Yep, I said it, the big M word,  Microsoft. They actually did something right for once with this little app in XP. I run it every now and again and it just works. Defraging actually makes the computer run smoother and that’s a good thing cause music production takes it out of the old computer.

VLC player – Awesome program that nearly plays everything. There has been only one file that it couldn’t play, one. They’re always updating it too so that keeps on playing everything. This player is FREE!

Foobar2000 – One of the best audio players out there for the PC. Plays 24bit files or whatever you throw at it without skipping a beat. Real simple interface and dead small in size but best of all its totally free, love it!

Having a properly kitted out studio with all the latest vst plugins and hardware made for drum n bass production isn’t the entire picture. Making sure you have the right software to speed up the day to day chores is critical when it comes to improving your beats. Freeing up more time to get on with what’s important  “drum n bass production”.

See you on the dancefloor

Dauntless

P.S. When I was growing up I was a bit of a Hip Hop Electro funk rat. Running around the neighbourhood breakdancing with my fat laces in my Adidas shell toes listening to Run DMC and LL Cool J.  If you feel like reliving some of those memories check out my homies site coldcrush.com.au for some electrofunk madness.

Simon V Mastering Tutorial

Our favourite Santorin producer Simon V gives us some excellent drum n bass production tips on how he masters his tracks for commercial release. Simon kindly gives up audio snippets to download at various stages in the production so that we can hear hear the processes he applies and how they colour the sound. I love the before and after snippets of the tune, dramatic or what? Damn!

What I really love about the  tutorial is the way he breaks down all the different plugins he uses for drum n bass production and the audio snapshots are gold. Oh and like the way he includes a snapshot of the plugins at each stage is cool. The tutorial clearly shows that Simon loves his UAD plugins and I’d have to agree with him there, all the way to the bank on that one! Its also really clear that Simon knows his plugins in his Cubase folder really well. I mean the way he explains the Neve 88RS and what it can do is eye-opening. Even though I love the smell of new plugins I also encourage getting to know the plugins you already have first. The only problem with the tutorial is that some people wont have access to these plugins and he doesn’t offer up any alternatives! Doh! Oh well, I suppose we’re getting the skinny on how he works so if we keep that in mind we can forgive him for that oversight!

I think the tutorial is really clear and really well written for all levels of drum n bass production and so should appeal to all. I certainly got something out of it. (His use and explaination of certain UAD plugins was awesome!)

Well, enough of me gas bagging about it, go check it out here.

See you on the dancefloor.

P.S.  Catch DJ Chook from Luxembourg playing in Sydney on the 18th of December 2009 for the No Frills Xmas party!

VST PLUGINS POWER!

Howdy, well its a few months on from my last post about drum & bass plugins, so for all of you that missed the 4 part series you can check them out here but click here for all other drum & bass production goodies.  A lot has happened in the last few months plugin wise, so that means a lot  of sonic goodies for us to play with. Oh yeah baby! As the title of this post suggests I’m not going to work my way through the 9,000,000 new plugins that have hit the market, just the few that have grabbed my attention and the ones I thought would improve your drum n bass production. I’ll  break shit up into sections for your reading pleasure.

Compressors

Well, when it comes to compressors I’ve been trying out a few new ones. The PSP Oldtimer is a nice quality comp that sits well over a drum bus or individual channels. I’ve only really tried it out over a whole mix a few times but its sounds pretty good on the Glue Preset. The Valve and Clean switch is cool for dirtying up the sound a little or adding that little bit of grit. Everyone probably knows by now that I love the Sonnox Dynamics on the Drum Bus. Very transparent and so easy to use its not funny. Also love that Warmth control and the way that Ian Carey uses it as a send effect is brilliant. Check out the videos here. The Waves SSL G-Buss is still an awesome plug that deserves a mention as well. The way it glues stuff together is legendary. Another plugin I use sometimes is the UAD Neve 33609. It could quite well be my new favourite. 

Equalizers

When it comes to equalizers in the last few months I haven’t really been blown away by anything new I can think of. I’m still using my faithful UAD-1 Cambridge EQ for most of my EQ work. I’ll switch that up with the Cubase EQ’s every now and then just for convenience sake. The UAD Pultec Pro pops its head out every now and again on the drum buss for a little magic on any kicks and hats. The cut and boost feature on the plugin is amazing.

Reverbs

Wow, is the only damn thing I can say right now. Wow! Now years ago people were all up in the house saying that there was no place for reverbs in Drum & Bass Production but how wrong they are! With the move towards everything in-the-box a good quality reverb is becoming even more important. I always wondered why samples that I was making didn’t have that special vibe about them. Now I know why…. its all in the verbage! The amount of quality reverbs to grace our presence is simply amazing. My favourite would have to be the 2caudio Aether plugin. This plugin at first looks a little crazy but believe me it is the goods. Once you work out out where the mix level is and how to call up the excellent presets its “all good baby”. The plugin adds that little bit of space/vibe/atmos/magic to what ever you put it on. It even can get totally whacky if you want it to. Check it out here. Now the Space Designer in Logic 9 is always always always worth a proper mention. The new Logic 9 has added some more features to it with the warp impulses. Did I hear the word tasty being thrown around? Because trust me… Space Designer is tasty indeed!

Synths

There are some new synths around like the Native Instruments Komplete 6 pack with Absynth 5 and Kontakt4 etc but I haven’t had time to play with them yet. When I do I fill you in with the details or better yet, if you want to write a review please be my guest! Just drop me an email at info@dnbbeats.com. There is a few more synths worth mentioning like FXPansion’s DCam Squad synth, Camel Audio Alchemy and Sylenth2.2 but I’ll let you check them out. I think all of them are brilliant.

All in all a crazy few months of plugin madness to really help you  produce them quality beats you’ve always wanted. I highly recommend the plugins above if you want to glue your mixes together, bring out/balance certain elements or add that bit of magic space to your tunes. Definitely try out the reverb it will improve your tunes instantly taking them up towards professional level for sure.

See you on the dancefloor.

Dauntless

P.S. If you’ve wondered why the amount of stuff I’ve written lately has been a bit on the slow side I’ve been working  my ass off since I’ve gotten back from Europe. I’m going to take some time of this week to get back on the beats and get on with my drum & bass production.

Mistabishi – Drum & Bass Vol.4 Sample CD Review
So you’ve been trying to write Drum n Bass for a while now but your tunes just don’t seem to be getting anywhere, right?

You’re bass sounds weak and your drums just don’t have that punch and weight that most commercial drum n bass does right?

Where do I even begin with Drum n Bass Production?

Well, luckily for us the good chaps over at Loopmasters have stepped in and wrangled in Hospital heavyweight “Mistabishi” to supply us mere mortals with some of his finest samples hot from his very own hardrive!

Check out the Video Overview on the Mistabishi Drum & Bass Vol.4 Sample CD Below

Grab the Mistabishi from Loopmasters HERE!

Okay, normally I have little faith in Drum & Bass sample CD’s. I’ve been let down with the quality over the years but in all honesty the quality over the last 12 months has been getting better and this Mistabishi sample cd from Loopmasters is a prime example of what I’m talking about.

I mean, its an awesome idea right? Get some of the best producers in each genre to offer up some samples for us to use in our own production, brilliant! These samples are absolutely perfect for adding weight to your drums or nastiness in your bass or just kicking off a whole new tune idea!

Here’s a run down of what’s in the pack. Personally I think its a big light but to be fair its all quality through and through.

New Drum n Bass Production Standard?

Logic Audio was always a favourite DAW for drum n bass production but does Logic 9 stand tall?

Its an interesting question since I’m a die hard Cubase user, however,  every now and again I find myself wandering around and checking out what’s happening with the other sequencers out there. I find it refreshing to explore other DAWs and experience a different kind of work flow (or pull my hair out in frustration trying to figure them out!). This helps the creative juices flow a little more readily which could only be a good thing. I managed to finally get a copy of Logic 8 when I purchased my wife an Imac24 a year ago, so I’ve had some time to dig around a little and get my hands dirty. Well I must say that I wasn’t at first really impressed with what I saw, so it was back to Cubase land for moi! I found the audio editing to be “illogical” and some of the work flow to complexed.

Then Logic 9 came out and to be honest I wasn’t fussed at all with its arrival.

I mean, the feature list basically put it on par with the rest of the other DAWs. out there. However all was not as it seemed for lurking in the program lay some very cool new features/plugins just perfect for drum n bass production.

1. Amp Designer – Very cool plugin allowing you to mix and match 25 amps, 25 speaker cabinets and 3 mics you can place around the speaker cone. The sound of the amps are brilliant. All of them have there very own flavour and all very very useable.

The cabinets and mics sound great as well. Insert the Plugin on your bass channel and volia! You have instant access to a wide variety of sounds and textures at your disposal. I found the plugin perfect on my mids (reese bass) and awesome on my sub bass. I’ve yet to put it on my drum buss but I have all the confidence in the world that it would sound great.

2. Pedalboard – Here you have a collection of 30 stompboxes from all over the place! Fuzz, Delay, Chorus, Flanger, Treble, Wah, Overdrive and Boost. The pedals themselves sound wicked, alone or joined up together. The majority of them have a real analog sound to them. The developers over at Apple didn’t hold back on these ones. Even though we have the likes of IK Multimedia Amplitube and T-Racks and Peavey’s Revalver I do wish these plugins were available to everyone! Damn you Apple! In particular the chorus, phaser and flanger pedals sound best. Really lush sounding and warm. Quality all the way!

3. Convert to Sampler Track – I’m not really sure if Logic was listening to us drum n bass heads or not when they implemented this one but its just what the doctor ordered. Mucking about with Recycle and the EXS24 was down right CRAP! So I’m really glad they took the bull by the horns and did something about chopping up beats!

They really did a nice job of it too! Except they should have given you the option of having a multiple out EXS24 when you sliced up the audio track. This would have made more sense but hey, lets just cross this bridge first. This little feature makes chopping up old funk breaks just perfect for drum n bass or any other breakbeat orientated music. The EXS is a very capable sampler even if its a bit long in the tooth now! This feature alone is going to save you plenty of time! Trust me!

4. I wont go into detail about every new feature but some other worthy of mentioning are:

Bounce-in-place. I say FINALLY! EPIC WIN!

Flex time – Not bad at all.

Selective Track Import – very interesting.

Drum Replacer – Could be interesting

All in all the new Logic 9 is a nice surprise. Its not say, perfect but no DAW out there is. I still love the automation system in Logic and I personally still love the way it looks and lets not get me going about the awesomeness of Logic’s Space Designer Reverb and Delay Designer! In fact I would say that it has never ever looked and sounded so good! Plenty of top notch drum n bass producers cant be wrong! Now get over to the Apple store and check out the videos if you haven’t already. Definitely worth a look.

See you on the dancefloor.

dauntless

No Frills Locus Sydney

P.S For some great Q&As with big Drum n Bass artists or some general chit chat head over to sydneyfriction.com.

I regulary post and hang out there.

Peace