DIO Rest In Peace

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Another Samples In Hip Hop List (And Still Awesome!)

You ever wonder where the samples from your favorite Hip Hop, Rap or what the kids call R&B these days albums? Well, here is yet ANOTHER list of the most awesome samples used.

Call me old skool, but I love these lists simply to comb through the archives and listen to what makes the otherwise subpar music great without listening to some dumbass MC phoning in “uh huh uh huh” to the beat. I’m sorry, that’s MY job to be singing along to the tune, I don’t need another tone deaf idiot helping me with giving me verbal cues, or agreeing with the lyricist in the hook, “aw yeah, dats right”. Most of the later songs that borrow from these classic hits don’t do them justice, but every so often…yeah…they get it right.

Check out Kon and Amir’s 50 Greatest Samples of All Time over on Complex.

[via Waxy]

8-bit Guitar

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Sonikmatter Releases 2nd in Logic Video Tutorial Series

We’ve released the 2nd in our series of Logic Video Tutorials, created for Sonikmatter by James Muir.

The tutorial focuses on “Dynamics Processing” within Logic. It joins the “Sidechain” tutorial launched in April and is also available in the Backstage area.

Backstage is available to Sonikmatter Supporters and Benefactors. You can become a Supporter or Benefactor by visiting the Sonikmatter Store and selecting your choice.

Future tutorials in the series include:

- Guitar Amp
- Beat Slice/ EXS 24
- SD IR
- Groups Comp

and others.

Crazy Sumnabech Convicted of Second Degree Murder

Phil Spector, the OJ Simpson of the music world, is guilty of murder.

Long known for how to write a catchy tune or to shoot someone just because…well…there really isn’t a story here. He did it…got caught…and now probably going to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

His wig, however, remains out on bond awaiting conspiracy and destruction of evidence charges. The prosecutor has vowed to “spray that sucker”.

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The Chanel Guitar

Karl Lagerfield says, “Coco Chanel had an affair with Stravinsky, mine was with a guitar.”

http://ifitshipitshere.blogspot.com/2009/02/rocking-runway-literally-chanels.html
http://www.justluxe.com/fine-living/fashion/article-240005.php

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Nurds: In search of the click track

Over at the Music Machinery blahg, Paul Lamere explores the use of the click track in music production.

Sometime in the last 10 or 20 years, rock drumming has changed. Many drummers will now don headphones in the studio (and sometimes even for live performances) and synchronize their playing to an electronic metronome - the click track. This allows for easier digital editing of the recording. Since all of the measures are of equal duration, it is easy to move measures or phrases around without worry that the timing may be off. The click track has a down side - some say that songs recorded against a click track sound sterile, that the missing tempo deviations added life to a song.

Blah blah blah…being a child of the industrial (music) revolution and one that has never felt the need to practice relentlessly to the strong armed overlord that is the metronome, my own sense of time is, how you say, lacking. Four on the Floor is the only way we do it and then judicious use of the quantize button. Either way, this is rather interesting seeing which artists obviously use clicks, and which don’t. Hell, I’d be hard pressed to even say ‘played to click, as tools like Mixosaurus/ make it very easy to replace these stick monkeys with something virtual and on time.

Read more at Music Machinery.

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The Laptop Warriors Last Stand

Found over on the Cool Hunting site, a website entirely devoted to proving that you and your bitchin camaro are not trendy, have never been trendy except for metal heads and pot addicts, and shoves your lack of cool in your face:

Thanks in part to laptop stands like this two-tiered one by Staton, the days of lugging around crates of vinyl are slowly fading as DJs trade their decks in for laptop setups. Although we’re the first to argue that nothing quite compares to a record, advancements in programs like Serato and the ease of carrying thousands of mp3 tracks have made going digital more palatable to audiophiles.

The Uberstand solves the issue of what to do with your laptop when you get there. After several precarious situations, I upgraded to Staton’s Uberstand Laptop Stand. Unlike most stands on the market, it’s made of aircraft grade lightweight aluminum and quickly folds flat into a 12” zippered bag. An included shelf makes a good spot for amps or external hard-drives, minimizing the entire footprint of the setup and allowing for cramming into small spaces. While it suffers a bit from stability issues, it is by far the best option we’ve seen for the traveling DJ.

Find out more at Coolhunting or buy it at Amazon (and help a Sonik brotha out…$75 at last price check).

For those of you that cannot and will not ever believe that your and your ratty trans-am wannabe will never not be cool, nuh-uh man, we have a value added item, the Meritline Faux-Wood Laptop Desk:

It comes with no joy that you will ever be anything more than who you are. Fake wood graphics, harsh welds, a build that makes Ikea say Damn! It’s so bad, I had to buy two…one for the studio and one for my living room. Priced at right around $40, it is a great buy, but an even better buy if you sign up for that annoying and near daily spam mail letter from the ‘line where you can occasionally snag these for about a Jackson including shipping.

Buy the Meritline Laptop Desk and show the cool kids it really isn’t about looks or style or the ability to have a physical relationship with someone you find remotely attractive…