HISTORY: Broken beat is usually traced back to west London in the early 1990s. With influences as diverse as jazz, dub, hip-hop, funk and drum and bass, its eagerness to hybridise reflects something of the broadly multicultural context in which it bloomed. IDENTIFYING FEATURES: The name Broken Beat is actually [...]
Good minimal strikes a balance between simple and complex sounds and rhythms, often without the listener really grasping what it is that they’re hearing. We’re going to build a phrase in Ableton and dirty it up a little, turning it from something plain to a whirling, psychedelic centrepiece and back [...]
Released in 1994, Plastikman’s Musik was a game-changer. It was like a study of the 303, and ranged from swirling, creamy dreamscapes to piercing acid – and it did it without sounding haphazard. Given the breadth of its dynamism, it’s hard even today to understand how it’s so cohesive. But [...]
HISTORY: Modern minimal can be traced back through early Detroit techno to Steve Reich’s experiments with tape-loop phasing in the 60's. Even then, it was a rebirth more than the dawn of something new: minimalism is a meta-genre, a framework, and it usually blooms when overelaborate pomp and opulence are [...]
Remember back in the day when schools actually took polls before high school graduation? Everybody was allowed to vote within the senior class, with each winner of a specific section grabbing a spot with their name and picture “Biggie Sized” for all to see. Most people wanted “most likely to [...]
It’s time folks! This article is long overdue and definitely represents the feelings most of the DJ/Producer community has towards labels. They sit there acting all high and mighty, dictating what you need to do in order to get your music to stand out and be heard. Yet, when you [...]
Numark’s NS6 4-Channel DJ Controller will be permanently installed at Juliet Supperclub during a one of a kind, open to the public celebration. (New York, NY)-August 16, 2011 - Celebrate with Numark in West Chelsea, the epicenter of contemporary art, as Juliet Supperclub makes the NS6 4-Channel DJ Controller a [...]
Auckland, New Zealand (August 10, 2011) - Serato Audio Research announce the release of Serato Scratch Live 2.3, the latest free software update for Serato Scratch Live DJs. This version includes a number of new additions as well as a healthy dose of maintenance, to continue the unparalleled level of stability [...]
Deciding how important it is to keep your bitrates under control will be much easier if we brush up a little bit on the technical side of things. An MP3 is compressed audio, and the compression is achieved by chopping out the sounds we can’t, or don’t, hear – frequencies [...]
The American economy is all over the news at the moment and for good reason – it affects all of us, from the Wall Street brokers teetering on the edge to homegrown bedroom DJs from the land down under. If you live outside the States, you’re probably rejoicing in the [...]