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markoos

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About markoos

  • Birthday 12/31/2007

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  1. UK based, immaculate, boxed, all manuals, latest OS, home use in non smoking studio. Based in Durham area, North East UK. £900. THE psytrance producers dream machine! Email me at MARKOOS-AT-LEKATRIK-DOT-PLUS-DOT-COM.
  2. A really nice review of the album - thanks, you've got me really interested! I've been working on my own album over the last year...haven't bought any psy in 2008 - but this review makes me want it bad!!
  3. If you read the terms and conditions of these sites (which you agree to when you create an account) I'm pretty sure that somewhere there's a statement which reads that basically, everything uploaded to: thou_sendit, blowload, supatronic_fileit or whatever file host, now belongs to them - or if it doesn't, that you give them permission to do whatever they want with your uploaded files. Do you really want your creations to be distributed and used in ways that you don't even know about?
  4. Shaft, you probably know about this already, but have you spent much time at KvR? In my opinion, probably the best place to get news on virtual synths/instruments/effects, etc - well, apart from OSXAudio for us mac heads!
  5. Or instead of inviting bad karma into your life by stealing, get a free synth (crystal) and make sure developers of 'paid' software continue to develop, feed and clothe their kids, and of course make even more amazing software for you to buy and use when you can afford it - and lets face it, software synths are WAY cheaper than hardware synths. If you can't afford something, there are other ways than theft - there is an amazing amount of real freeware available, SUBSONIK!!! But if do have a budget, SHAFT: TERA2 does amazing pads, and is an amazing modular synth with too may features to list here (except that one of them is that it does six different types of synthesis, all at the same time if you want it to) - I loves it TERA2 ZEBRA I haven't tried but is loved by many ZEBRA REAKTOR - if you buy this, then YOU WILL NEVER NEED ANOTHER SYNTH, or software effects processor - the reason being that there are over 1,800 ensembles (software instruments whch load into REAKTOR) available for download from the NI website, which have been created by REAKTOR users - but its very powerful and complex. Incidentally, ATMOSPHERE isn't really a synth, its a library of pads, like a pad machine - from what I've read you can edit the presets to some degree, and layer them in a huge number of combinations, but it isn't a synth; you get a finite amount of material to work with. Another 'library' based instrument is UltraFocus - this one contains a lot more material to work from/blend etc. Personally, from a ease of use point of view, I think TERA2 is great - I have this and absynth, and for price and ease of use I think TERA2 is better. I haven't gone that deep into absynth yet because of the complexity, but from a look at the presets I know it beats TERA, but not by a really huge margin. Hope this doesn't ruffle too many feathers BTW I totally agree with Albino2 as a definite contender - another great synth, with an easy to edit arpeggiator amongst many other things, including a great sound.
  6. There's a great book called 'Mastering Audio' by Bob Katz; its obviously pretty tekky, but the stuff I do understand is really helpful; it also includes a great chart which gives the relation between keyboard note and frequency in Hz, which is a fantastic help when you're EQ'ing - so you know exactly which frequencies you should zoom in on to enhance your sounds in mixdown. But there's another book which is supposed to be great, not really aimed at mastering but mixing - and these days the two are getting more and more intertwined (Katz says that if the mixing engineer has done a really great job, the he (Katz) won't have to do anything at all to the sound, except make the actual data on the CD industry standard (PQ codes, song IDs, fades etc). So that says yes, an engineer COULD make a mixdown which needs no mastering. Anyway, this other book, Mixing With Your Mind-let looks too good not to have - although some of the instruments referred to might not directy relate to psy, the mixing/engineering methods are the same. i wants it. ps here's a link which will give anyone interested a sample of what its about: mixing with your mind - compression settings
  7. Yeah, the article is really helpful - I refer to it whenever I finish a track; About T-Racks, I totally overdid it when I used it on one of my earlier tracks and it got destroyed due to my own inexperience - I agree that you could use it to build up knowledge, but it seemed to me that it is very/too easy to 'over do' it... that damage to your sound can happen really easily. I've since learned that subtlety is the key when attempting mastering, its definitely not an effect!
  8. This is a really good article from a well respected music technology magazine in the UK: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug04/arti...ermastering.htm From my (limited) experience with T-Racks, I feel that its more suited to other types of music than the psy genres, ie rock-type stuff; posts on the Sound on Sound forums from a year or two ago seem to support this. But saying that, if you used it very carefully you could probably get some results from it if you knew what settings to apply (ie, not going overboard with limiting /compression /EQ /tube & tape saturation)
  9. You really REALLY need to spend longtime over at KvR audio. There are a HUGE range of PC-related music posts over there that will help you find what you want - every PC synth under the sun, and a thousand other things besides. I hear FANTASTIC things about Z3TA (I have Logic 7.1, NI Komplete2 and I still want that synth!) Personally I wouldn't choose Reason. I would feel much happier with a handful of quality synths and something like Battery II for your beats, or one of the many other excellent drum samplers/libraries. There is so much to choose from - I think its wrong to buy something if its main purpose is to get you started. There is a chance that one day you'll feel like buying everything over again because you've 'outgrown' it, or no longer feel inspired. My first piece of equipment was a sampler, my second a hardware sequencer. I squeezed as much as I could out of both; however, I haven't switched the sampler on in three years, and I rarely use the hardware sequencer, other than for quickly sketching out a two bar sequence. It doesn't get used as a source of sounds. A flexible synth like Z3TA, or one of many others, plus SX3 and a set of drum tools will allow you to sculpt your own individual soundscape. Try not to rush your software choice!
  10. obeah! I know of loads of people who have had some terrible service from turnkey, I think I'm one of the lucky ones! There was big discussion going on, on another music tech forum a year or two ago - it got to such a size that the manager of the store had to step in and apologise and sort things out for people, coz it was so bad... sorry to hear you were one of them. Incidentally, the KRK RP8s go down to 45Hz, which I think is pretty handy for people like us (bassheads!)
  11. Have you tried using compression either before or after EQ?
  12. To add to whats already been said, you can basically think of a compressor as an automatic volume control. By using the threshold control, you decide at what stage of the loudness the compressor should start to work. By using the attack control, you allow none, some, or lots of the sound to 'come through' before the compressor starts to work. If you choose an attack time of, say 60ms on a kick drum or bassline or any percussive sound then you'll have a more prominent attack. By using the ratio, as already mentioned in previous posts, you decide by how much the volume gets reduced by, one it reaches the threshold you've set - 2:1 subtle, 5:1 moderate, 10:1 lots - at this ration the compressor starts to act as a limiter, and stops sound from exceeding the threshold totally. But sometimes compressors can't react fast enough, so a dedicated limiter might be needed for this type of 'job'. By using the release control you allow the compressor to 'let go' of its volume reduction. By using the make up control, you can increase the gain of the overall signal after it has run through the other controls, ie, once it has been compressed, you can increase the level because the 'loud parts' have been 'brought down'in volume, relative to the quiet parts. So what this last stage means, is that you can use compression to reveal 'inner detail' in a sound or mix - if the louder parts are reduced, the overall sound becomes quieter. By using the make up/gain, you boost the overall level of the signal including the quieter parts. BUT this can also boost any noise in your sound. AND as said, compression can really destroy a mix. I listen back to my earlier stuff, and although the sound programming and sequence is okay, I've really damaged the 'life' of the recording - some individual tracks have no life, the overall level is very constant and very boring/irritating. Beware, bad compression technique does more harm than good. I know!! PS you can also use compression to make your sounds thicker. I don't want to use the word 'punchy' but used carefully it can make the impact of the initial transients of your sounds more... impactful?! For a full guide to basic compression techniques, search the Sound on Sound articles for Basic Compression Techniques. There's tons of info over there. cheers markoos
  13. ps check this thread out, especially post number 4: http://www.01xray.com/forums/showflat.php?...o=&fpart=1&vc=1
  14. I'm still waiting for them to arrive; but I know for sure they'll be a fantastic improvement over what I'm using now - Tannoy 605/2 hi fi speakers! When the RP8s arrive, I'll play my last two tracks through them once they're run in, and I'll post what I find. I'm hoping that I'll be able to hear mistakes, glitches, and a more accurate low end.... cheers markoos & good luck on your quest for The Sound
  15. I would avoid behringer too... I find some of the cheaper stuff noisy... what about buying a better used mixer...?
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