Are we alone now?

“Hey, breaking up is an idea that has occurred to far too few groups. Sometimes to the wrong ones.”
–Steve Albini

Just as I don’t really “do” Christmas, I’m not a huge fan of the traditions that usher in a new calendar year. Getting blinding drunk for too much money? No thanks. Thus, not a big fan of the New Year’s resolution.

However, I am a big fan of reflecting on one’s life, taking stock, adjusting one’s life goals. And I’ve been doing that over months leading up to 2009. Specifically, about my music, my life, this blog, my studio. More specifically, this blog in relation to my music, my life and my studio. And this blog in relation to world at large.

Just the other day, the great MusicThing blog closed up shop indefinitely. Like many a gear geek, MusicThing was one of the first music production blogs that I came across – if not the first. And what a delight. It got me more excited about the possibilities of production, the joys of finding and creating sound, than anything outside of actually making music myself. And, yes, it probably pushed me closer to opening my own blog.

But there’s one thing that MusicThing’s open-ended hiatus and possible demise easily illustrates: blogging, while not hard per se, is time consuming. Not just the writing – which it can be, especially for long-winded, discursive fuckers such as myself – but the actual time it takes to digest information. You know, to have something to write about that is of possible interest to people other than you and six of your friends. Setting one up is easy enough; coming up with an idea or an “editorial” mission is even more simple. But keeping it going for any length of time past a year or two can be tiresome, even if you’re not doing your own coding (which I am).

And MusicThing had a clear editorial vision, a keen eye for the interesting, and a strong authorial voice. Someone like me, what exactly am I bringing to the table? Other than I can type well. And I’m reasonably literate. (If overly dependent on adverbs.) Other music tech sites cover releases and how-to and such with far more efficacy than I ever could part-time, esp. on my own dime. So that just leaves me as a feeble editorial voice out here on the edges of CreateDigitalMusic and KvR.

I don’t generate enough traffic to warrant any google revenue or to solicit targeted banners. And at some point I have ask, in a word, why? What I set out to promote – the music I’ve been chiseling away at for pert near a half decade; over 25 years if you count all my years before home recording and digital lofi production – is so lost in the haze of technology and trainspotting as to be almost obscure to me now. I’ve become, more or less, a minor advocate for a small cadre of developers that never really asked for my participation. I’ve had some good conversations with a few of these developers, whom I respect a lot (annoyed a few of the same, I’m sure), I got to review/test drive a couple of awesome products, and hopefully I’ve helped them in some way or another. But the truth is what I need to be concentrating on doesn’t translate into a blog quite so easily as “let me talk about cool music tech”. And even that never turned into quite the conversation I had hoped for.

Beyond this, if you read back a few months, you might divine that my relationship with new music tech is, erm, changing. I’m tired of being a beta tester, of buyer’s remorse (whether for pay or freeware), opening an interface and quickly realizing that despite whatever internet/magazine chatter it’s just another piece of software. In some ways, we’ve hit the point of diminishing returns. So unless I’m just going to comment on a lot of shit I won’t necessarily use, ever, I’m doing what again? It’s not like people are turning to me for advice.

Going into this new year, this new post-birthday, I want to get back to making music. I want to play guitar. I want to write songs. I want to finish CDs. Maybe even play out in some regard.

Already I was leaning toward just using what I have. The tools I want/need for my studio at this point aren’t really impulse purchases. Of course, let’s be honest, I’m sure there will be updates and a few goodies I’ll purchase, mostly from the developers/companies I’ve been championing over the last few years (I’m looking at you, Rough Rider Pro); but, by and large, I’m going to force myself to be way more practical and deliberate in my studio. And, thus, I want the software upkeep to be way more minimal.

So, yeah, this blog. At first I thought I could blog about the process of sifting out the chaff of my plugin folder, reviews of the software/soundware I was keeping. I could to try to revive my Album a Day in a less demanding format. Plus I have a bunch of drafts that I could try to revise into shape. But all of this is time I don’t really want to be putting into something that’s more like a job (keeping up the post count as to not fall of the radar) than something that’s bringing me any joy, or at least bettering my life. I am glad that this has given me an outlet for my writing and helped me rediscover my love of that, albeit in an unexpected form. But I think it’s apparent that even that is better spent elsewhere.

The proverbial ice awaits. In a final act of Me-too-ism, I’m going to follow MusicThing’s lead into the greater unknown. O, I may be over-come by a desire to post something. Maybe I’ll finish off my epic over-view of Poi Dog Pondering’s complete recorded output. Maybe an open plugin standard will finally come to fruition. But once I fall off people’s RSS readers then I truly am writing for myself.

At some point I’ll figure out how this fits into my overall plans, such as they are. With a new mission maybe, or at least new sponsorship that will provide me with the time to type away about my peculiar and narrow obsessions. I’ll be around, and I’m sure I’ll be unable to control my urge to not just shut the fuck up, but this place will most likely be quite for the foreseeable future.

Thanks to those who commented. Thanks to the readers who came here deliberately rather than just following some errant google search. Thanks to the other sites that kept me going even when my ADD (not really) pulled my attention elsewhere. Thanks to the developers who put up with me or encouraged me. And, fuck it, thanks to me for making it this far and knowing when to bow out.

So long and thanks for all the fish.

Peace,
C. Puffer

I was thinking that I wasn’t going to do this. It’s not like I have that much to say throughout the year, so “wrapping up” seems a tad redundant. But, really, it’s bitter cold outside, the coffee is strong, and my girlfriend is sleeping off her New Year hangover¹, so why the fuck not?

Top digitallofi.com posts of 2008²:
1. Well, I’m happy to say that a significant portion of my traffic comes through various subscription services, stumbleupon, off my favorite sites, and I have a good number of returning visitors. So, cheers to you all. You’re among probably about a couple hundred other “regular” “readers”.
2. My unintentional backhanded compliment to SynthEdit and some of the better SE authors.
3. A Pre-Sonar8 launch bitch-list of what I thought was the most ripe for updating, and which missed the mark pretty vastly. Really? That had to be one of my weakest posts all year.
4. I’m just going to go ahead and roll up my 2008 Holiday Gift Guide for the Disenfranchised posts into one big pat on the back for myself. Most of this traffic the result of a mention on CreateDigitalMusic.com, which just further illustrates how necessary that blog is. If only on a personal level.
5. Again, thanks to CreateDigitalMusic and the dude who made BeatBurner and released it as donationware.
6. My “review” of SonicCharge’s delightful, “controversial” new musical sound generator. Again, mostly thanks to cdm.com; Peter, if I made any money I would pay royalties or something.
7. SonicCouture’s Gamelan: Believe the hype. Coming in 2009: The Digital LoFi Gamelan EP.³.
8. Found Sound.
9. Part of my misguided, half-hearted but on-going campaign for an open plugin standard.
10. Yeah, even I don’t know what I’m thinking sometimes.

Digital lofi’s top software instruments of 2008:⁴
I don’t know, I guess I’m going to go with the 1-2 punch of GForce’s VSM & MTronPro. And Synplant. And didn’t BFD2 come out in 2008?

digital LoFi’s top DSP plugins of 2008:
Good God this is a tight field. Let’s just give the title to the fuckers at AudioDamage. If they made an EQ there would be little debate their absolute Godhead status among purveyors of DSP. No actually, there would be lots and lots of debate. And let’s give props to Voxengo for continuing to make waves for the rest of us. And the donationware/freeware/perpetual-betaware developers who just keep raising the bar every year.

digitaL LoFi’s top soundware of 2008:
Do I even need to discuss this? Goldbaby, SonicCouture, NineVoltAudio. Independently owned and conceived all. Honorable mention to Homegrown Sounds; I’m looking to see what they have in store. And I look forward to kicking myself for neglecting PureMagnetic for so long.

Puffer’s favorite album of 2008:
Didn’t buy too much new music this year. I want to say Poi Dog Pondering but shamefully I haven’t purchased that yet, only listened to their stream of it. I really was digging the new Slipknot album⁵, but I have a feeling once I really hear the older, harder stuff I won’t find it quite so satisfying. The Eno/Byrne joint really rocks the party. But I haven’t had enough time with it. I’ve probably listened to the General Fuzz catalog more than any other single artist outside my playlist shuffle mode.⁶ And Boards of Canada: Always BoC.

Digital Lofi’s top hardware acquisitions of 2008:
Most definitely my pawn-shop MPC1000. I barely know how to utilize it to its fullest, but I’m determined to learn it and to use it live.

Saddest non-Trend of 2008:
This Was Grindhouse: A site in search of movement and a guiding hand. A movement in search of…

DigitalLoFi’s no-brainer digital audio industry predictions for 2009:
Alas, Project5, we hardly knew ye.

The Digital Lofi Audio Blogosphere 2008:
*CreateDigitalMusic.com: The check’s in the mail.
*AnalogIndustries.com: Jesus, dude, get over yourself.
*MusicThing: Tom, as far as I’m concerned you could post once a year and still be one of the best music blogs out there.
*MatrixSynth: I get tired just thinking of all the posts they’ve put up just while I’ve been writing this. What’s not to love about synthporn? And what could make synthporn even better? Babes!
*http://rekkerd.org/: The only thing that could make ronnie’s site better would be if more people joined in the discussions. And this year I’m going to take part in one of your competitions, I swear.

Most unwelcome Digital Lofi blogging affectation of 2008:
Footnotes.⁷ It didn’t start off as a tribute to David Foster Wallace, more just a ripped-off conceit, but I’m fine with it turning into one. He is a writer I will truly miss.⁸

So, I guess that’s it. It’s approximately my birthday this time of year, so wish me a happy birthday in the comments.

PS – I’ll most likely be updating, correcting and revising this post over the next week or so while I get together my New Year’s Ambitions and Ruminations. Hell, it will take me a week just to sort out the footnotes on this Hindenburg.

^{1I stayed in. For what’s it’s worth. I’m going out on my birthday presently.
2Mostly according to Google Analytics. I really should look more closely at my server reporting. I’m also discounting any older, perennial posts that keep generating traffic. But other than that, these are really the top posts.
3Don’t hold me to that.
4Let’s not be sticklers for release dates, okay? I got ‘em in 2008 and they are all pretty recent.
5Go ahead and mock me. My girlfriend does. As does pretty much everyone else. I don’t know, something about their shtick appeals to the 13 year-old boy in me.
6Honestly, some of it gets a little lite-jazzy in places for my taste. But it is top music, really. And great for coding. Music for coding is important.
7 Really, they’re kinda of a pain in the ass, and roughly double the amount of time to post, no matter how entertaining and useful they are for my long-winded style.
8Though I suppose it could compete with not deciding how I want to type out Digital Lofi/digitallofi/digital lofi/Digital LoFi/Digital Lo-Fi/et al. But I won’t even go into my reasons behind this.}

Well, I know I said I was done for the year, but what the hell. Besides, who doesn’t love to use “Coda” in a blog post title? Really, these two are very cool little gifts, and neither will set you back anything (depending if you own either of the products I’m discussing).

First up, another Digital Lo-fi favorite, for the mighty Zebra2, some kind muso posted a bank of just stellar sounds. I mean, really remarkable. If you spend any time downloading soundbanks for your soft synths you know what a gamble it is, sometimes little more than seemingly randomly generated and randomly named patches; or there’s the huge, elaborate one-finger patches that are all but useless in a real-world context. Anyway, these are playable and inspiring, not to mention aptly named and well organized. Not only are these sounds you’ll be able to use in your music easily but they are a real testament to the depth and breadth of Zebra2.

You can pick it up here: Zebra Food by Menno Meijer

And if you heeded my advice, you picked up the new SonicCharge Synplant. Well, do yourself a favor and fire up your DAW at some point before the clock rolls over today. SonicCharge are already known for the literal “easter egg” in microTonic. Well, this does that one better by, giving a whole new dimension to an already beguiling plugin. I won’t bother trying to explain it, and I’m not sure how “musically” useful it is ultimately, but it sure is neato.

I guess I’ll give a happy ending here.

As is news to no one but still such a cool gift I would be remiss to let it go unacknowledged, everyone’s favorite Goldbaby has fed digitallofi favorite µTonic onto his (one of his…?) tape machines. Man, I dig the way this cat thinks. You can pick them up at his new blog here.

Also, another Digital Lo-Fi favorite, and subject of one of my most popular posts to date, Dusted William Super Funky Ass Drum Loops are the subject of a good December discount. As I wrote back when these were first released, these are a powerful good collection of sliced beats. Just the right amount of sugar soundwise, and absolutely slamming grooves that lend themselves to all kinds of messing up, you really can’t go wrong setting these loose in your sampler sequencer of choice. And if you’re a sucker for breakbeats such as myself, these are the tits.

And, what the hell, KvR regular, synth patch proprietor and McCain supporter¹ Pro-Sounds is running a deal on a huge swath of his soundpatch product line – banks for such popular favorites as Albino, Korg Legacy Collection, Vanguard. I haven’t bought any of the banks – though I have and occasionally use the PS-1 softsynth – the demos I’ve tried have been top-notch. I may well have to pick up the PPG Wave 2.V bank. The details can be found on this KvR thread.

Edit: Oh, and SonicCouture have extended their holiday sale. So go nuts with that check you get from, erm, Aunt Matilda.

Anyway, Happy Whatever. Unless something monumental happens in the world of digital audio production, or I’m particularly bored with the girlfriend away, I probably won’t post between now and my birthday. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with this blog over 2009, but the time for introspective soul searching is later.

^{1Edit: I should have known that joke was doomed by the ephemeral nature of the internet. This was a lame jab at a leftover McCain ‘09 banner on the Pro-Sounds Homesite.}

Here’s another good one that will set you back under a sawbuck. Plus all the proceeds go to a good cause¹.

Nine Volt Audio: Chroma Rex: Electronic Edition

Basically, an extrapolation of their recently released Melodic REX: Electronic Edition; sort of the bonus ep that comes on the heals of the full length album. 350 loops, built from 33 different sounds, “based around octave and octave+fifth patterns, making every loop ‘chordally-ambiguos’ and flexible enough to create leads or tonal backdrops.”

If you’ve never used a NineVolt sound library, do yourself a favor and check them out. Absolutely the top-notch stuff, which particularly shines if you use StylusRMX. Seriously, their expansions are better organized and assembled, and vastly more unique, then the Spectrasonics’ expansion packs. (I’ll do a full “review” someday.) But you get all loop format flavors, so everyone gets to play.

What I’ve explored so far are as good as I would expect of NineVolt. And, as always, they lend themselves well to all kinds of cutting and mangling.

Good cause, good price, great product. You’ve bought these already, right?

^{1“Proceeds from all sales of Chroma Rex during this time will be donated to HomeSafe – The mission of HomeSafe is to work to end domestic violence by providing a safe place for survivors and their children, by helping survivors explore and develop alternatives to living in violent homes, and by working to change the systems and institutions that condone and support violence. HomeSafe is located in Tennessee.”}

Let’s keep this going with a couple of donationware plugins that are a wonderful little present to yourself.

the ((vacuumsound)) plugins.

Over at KvR they’re raving about the ADT – Artificial Double Tracking plugin, and indeed it looks to be potentially fun/useful. I actually haven’t tried it yet. However, the other night I dicking around with some of my new tools/toys, and was floored at the excellent sound of the Poor Plate Reverb.

I ran a drum loop from the Homegrown collection, through this and the ColorEQ, and the results were pure Portishead circa Dummy. I freely admit I don’t know my ass from elbow when it comes to the finer points of reverb. But this little piece of code that was designed to match the plate reverb algorithms of an earlier age, well, it just shines. My go-to room reverb will likely remain smartelectronix Ambience, but I imagine this will be my go-to plate.

These both come in all the essentials flavors, so everyone can play. There is no GUI. No problem for you Mac users, but we Sonar users are hosed in this regard. I can’t speak to other Windows DAWs but the Sonar host plugin GUI is fuggly beyond belief. It really looks like some engineer spent a day or two on it back in 1999.

But that’s neither here nor there. The point is that Poor Plate is a deceptively simple plugin that is fantastic.

Now, this is how it’s done: Create Digital Music » On Demand: CDM Winter 2008, with Gift Guide, Bending and Slicing Tutorials, More.

Rather than just assembling a collection of gear porn, deals and curiosities for his year-end/seasonal/holiday post, the estimable Peter Kirn over at CreateDigitalMusic.com has put together a full-on publication that covers some of his favorite topics.

This is the real deal. Fonts and design and print resolution and real articles. Free pdf and $19.99 for a print-on-demand publication.

So, thanks, Peter. This looks really wonderful. Thanks for another year of a great site.

Here’s a cool one for the Gift Guide that has nothing to with holidays, or specials or Q4 sales incentives. **** DDMF-The home of Equalizers-DDMF ****.

Try as I like, I’m not an EQ geek by any means. I respect the hell out of those that really understand this shit on a deep level but not only are the nuances lost on me but so is a lot of the science. I’m kinda a masher when it comes to EQs. I don’t use presets, but I just shape and sweep until it sounds like I want it to.

Nevertheless, I tend to follow these discussions like a good trainspotter. And I pick up little bits here and there. And fortunately there are developers and engineers out there that *do* get this, and who make this stuff available to punters such as myself.

In recent months a lot of discussion has been going on here and also at gearslutz about how all IIR equalizers are basically the same. While the topic is still not completely settled, it is clear that the differences are at most rather subtle and that the basic ingredient of basically all IIR equalizers is a variant of the good old RBJ cookbook formula.
This was the reason I’ve assembled ColourEQ: it is a 4th order IIR equalizer and follows a completely different approach to generate its frequency response. Nevertheless it is zero-delay and almost-zero-CPU. Due to it’s higher order there are more degrees of freedom to play with, which is why it is (to my knowledge) the first “super-parametric” EQ: basically there are four knobs per band instead of three!

What really makes this project a thing of wonder is that the developer has adopted a Pay-What-You-Will policy that is a total gift to we users. Sliding scale is something that more software companies should factor into their pricing plans.

A lot of minds and ears way better than myself are gushing over this new addition to the DDMF line. I bought it and tried it sight unseen and it’s a great EQ.

Well, it’s that time of the year. Companies start running specials, cutting prices on gear you’ve been looking wistfully at all year; we punters day dream about whatever toys we would really like to receive as gifts. And just because some of us are immune to the, erm, charms of Christmas doesn’t mean we can’t rejoice.

I won’t go into my jah-humbug routine again. Suffice to say, not a huge fan of Christmas, secular or observant. Oh, I do like some of the traditions and trappings, and the lights are awful pretty. But it seems even more garish and unnecessary now that we’re all about two paychecks away from selling pencils out of a cup. And since Grandma isn’t likely to get us NI Komplete or that FNR preamp, let’s look, over the next, oh, week and a half, at some of the smaller gifts you might be able to afford no matter your employment prospects or gift list.

Last year I sort of stumbled into what I called the Digital LoFi Holiday Gift Guide for the Disenfranchised. So why let a good name go to waste.¹

I’m gonna start off with a gimme:
Soniccouture’s seasonal offering is particularly excellent, especially if you’re getting in on the ground floor. Buy one get one free. So a couple of top-notch, inspiring musical sample sets for under a hundy. Really, I can’t recommend these sets enough.

Ends the 23rd.

^{1Before I’m reduced to posting “Top Ten Ways to Market Your Pencils in the New Economy.”}