rэs

Observe Moon, Hear Sounds

2010-09-17T18:44:00.002+03:00

First International Observe the Moon Night

18.09.2010, 20:00

Varna, Bulgaria

on the lawn next the astronomical observatory, lying on the grass or observing through the telescopes, we will plunge into the cosmic realm of the moon, into deep ambient and atmospheric sounds...

music: ambient, atmospheric, idm

rэs /jisatsuken, varna BG/

mloski /jisatsuken, varna BG/

Ambient Live Set @ International Observe the Moon Night, Varna BG by rэs

Live @ Artmospheric Festival 23.05.2010

2010-05-28T05:58:00.002+03:00

Download.

New Recruits: Korg Pad Kontrol

2010-03-06T05:07:00.003+02:00

It's another ebay purchase, an used Pad Kontrol that looks as if it has never been slammed by a wicked drummer, rather it has been played by a gentle pianist. In other classical terms - MINT! First impressions - the PADS! Although made by rubber, these feel as if they won't move an inch even if hit by a sledgehammer... And yet they are velocity sensitive and one can track the velocity of his fingers hitting the unit by the small screen on the upper left. And while the Pad Kontrol lacks the functionality of its main rival - Akai MPD24 (no faders, only two assignable knobs), it is more than enough for the main purpose a pad controller should have - to quickly and easily sketch out some beats in your preferred software. Another teaser here is the touch-sensitive x-y pad which normally is used for flams or rolls but it can also be assigned with many other controls within the software (i.e. filter)...

New Recruits: (The) Bitstream 3x

2010-03-02T14:06:00.003+02:00

Ok, this one came from an Ebay auction I won recently - and I got a real bargain with it! The Bitstream 3x fell into my radar a couple of years ago, but it wasn't until now when I managed to save some coins and to realize the need of such kind of unit to enter my setup.

So here comes to box, carefully packed to sustain any kind of hells rainstorm ;;

The original box ya'll, didn't expect that...

Wow, here it is, sticking its head out of the box...

So, here are the basic contents - his majesty, the equally rigid USB cable, a power supply, a CD and the notorious manual... and before plugging the Bitstream in, I had to carefully dust it off, seemingly the previous owner didn't care much keeping dust away...

This thing f*cking rocks! Someone else said it looks as part of a submarine equipment, but that's just underestimating the Bitstream's build! I'd rather expect to meet it in a Soviet tank tramping deep in Siberian mud! Nearly 5kg and one can feel the weight just by twisting the knobs around! My only concern - the joystick - also feels better than it looks on all those pictures you'll find around the internet...

All I need now is time to carefully program it to work with Live as smooth as I want...

Feel the power of the heavy metal :)

... aaand the screen! The equally sized screen of my UC-33 couldn't provide a tenth of info the Bitstream displays any second!

New Recruits: Novation Launchpad and Akai LPK25

2010-03-02T13:43:00.006+02:00

Allright, seems today's my lucky day, I had two awaited deliveries from UK, which will significantly refresh my studio and live setup, so let's start unpacking the first one, coming straight outta Digital Village's store...

Opening it up, some green packing filled with air to protect the precious contents...

Then first comes the LPK25, in its childish packing (making you to underestimate its powers...)

Then here comes the Sleeve, Novation's dedication to protect the Launchpad's surface when carrying it around...

The Digital Village's feedback from just beneath the Sleeve...

Oh, yet another box...

Aaand another one, this time properly branded :)_

Easy to open-up... and here comes the treasure!

... Hello, sexy!

Just a short installation process... I'm not installing Live 8 Launchpad edition, as I don't need it for now, but wisely upgraded to 7.0.18 before plugging it in...

Getting the Launchpad acquainted with Live... As simple as that!

Now letting it have some rest inside the cushy sleeve, before unleashing it at my gig tonight!

Now time for the LPK25, let's remove that funny packing...

The contents of it... nothing unnecessary...

Plug it in and here it goes, small, handy, comfortable to use, great feel of the keys... I'll definitely have the LPK25 in my pocket wherever I go...

The end is important for all things...

2010-02-08T18:20:00.003+02:00

It's officially over. On Friday night my good old headstrong BCR-2000 died peacefully in its unique manner, little after being programmed and mapped for few hours in a preparation for the DJ set I was to have on Saturday night. The BCR has never powered on since that sad cold morning, so it was officially proclaimed dead. As I don't have the relevant proficiency, comprehensive autopsy was never performed on the remains, however I would readily excavate and provide it for such manipulation to find out the exact reasons of the death. I even would appreciate if anyone with exorcist abilities would have it for their unholy experiments in return of a very small remuneration...

Since the BCR (when working) was the center of my live set up, the next question is - what should I have as replacement? The Novation Zero SL MK2 or a Bitstream 3x would be an obvious solution, but then there is also the Novation Launchpad that could greatly supplement a live setup... Also, as a result of this sad loss, I might entirely reconsider the contents of my studio setup, which means I might soon be making rather appealing offers for my M-Audio Ozone and the Alesis IO2, so stay tuned...

rэs DJ set @ HMSU & BassWarriors presents: Drum'n'Bass X-MAS, Comics Club, Varna, Dec 26th 2009

2009-12-30T08:31:00.002+02:00

Here's my dj set from one great event closing this otherwise dodgy year 2009 - HMSU&Basswarriors presents: Drum'N'Bass X-Mas. The Basswarriors crew was blasting the small room of Comics Club in Varna, with ill downtempo, hip and trip hop, dub and other sounds to help the audience to get themselves together outside the main room.

DOWNLOAD

There goes the tracklist:

Modeselektor - Das Claudia Woelkey Massa
East Flatbush Project - Tried By 12 (Autechre Mix)
Die Fantastischen Vier - Krieger (Aphex Twin Baldhu Mix)
Prefuse 73 - Nuno
Modeselektor and Pfadfinderei - Tits of My Origin (Black Barbie Rmx)
Chris de Luca and Peabird - Horns Of Jericho
Dr. Octagon - Waiting List (DJ Shadow/Automaster Mix)
Beastie Boys - So Watcha Want (Soul Assassin Remix Version)
Del Tha Funky Homosapien - Fake As Fuck
Mos Def and Talib Kweli - Definition
Poor Righteous Teachers - Black Business
Mad Lion - Mad Contacts
Kali Ranks - Kill Dem All
Whitey Don - Artical (Original Posse Mix)
Kool Keith - Livin Astro
Mad Lion feat. KRS-One - Double Trouble (Remix)
Fu-Schnickens - Ring The Alarm
Kool Keith - Lost In Space

Bleepshow's Jisatsuken Podcast

2009-12-23T07:32:00.004+02:00

It might be a little late feedback as the podcast was released in July this year, but it was not until last night when a friend of mine sent me the link to Pete Cooper's website Bleepshow. This nice chap compiles podcasts with free tunes from all around the web and quite unexpectedly had come across our small and annoyingly frugal label - Jisatsuken. Pete has selected 11 tracks out of 17 releases ranging from 2003 until now, to present us to his listeners and I think his choice has been quite good since the entire podcast sounds as one album by one artist containing ongoing and developing ideas.

Big thanks to Pete for noticing Jisatsuken (and yes, you pronounce it correctly :)))

Enjoy the podcast right here.

there goes the live mix: rэs at Selektah!, 20091024 Comics Club Varna BG

2009-11-06T22:59:00.006+02:00

Here's the live recording from my so-called "dj" set at Selektah! party at Comics Club, Varna, 24 Oct 2009.

Who'z-n-teh playlist?

jega - aerodynamic

µ-ziq - ease up
m-beat feat. general levy - incredible
tenor fly meets congo natty - alaska ride
mr rippertone - coolbass (kink mix)
squarepusher - come on my selector
badmarsch - tribal warfare
bitbasic - emaze
black dog & black sifichi - mental health hotline
saul williams - coded language
killer feat he-man - the rootsman
shy fx & t power feat. top cat - everyday
aphrodite - urban jungle jeru the damaja (dillinja remix)
chase and status - is it worth it
clark - urgent jell hack
boxcutter - bad you do
µ-ziq - approaching menace
squarepusher - full rinse (feat. mc twin)
squarepusher - the exploding psychology
aphex twin - 54 cymru beats

rэs at Selektah!, 20091024 Comics Club Varna BG

2009-10-15T21:00:00.002+03:00

Download Festival, Zvolen, Slovakia

2009-07-25T17:20:00.008+03:00

G'day mates! It's been two weeks since my performance at Download Festival in the beautiful relaxing town of Zvolen in Slovakia, and I can not stop thinking about the good moments that I enjoyed there and the good people I met. Special thanks to Jano and his friend who picked us up from the bus station, and the sound technician who was absolutely on point with everything and kept me away from thinking about small matters in a moment when I only needed my clear thoughts on the performance.

Speaking of which I had my BCR again playing tricks on me :) I hadn't enough time to send it to the local distributor as I needed the unit permanently to rehearse and perform with it. In the night before the live gig I tried to turn it on in USB mode and - surprise - it worked :))) Restarted it several times, connected and disconnected, changed the Ableton Live's preferences, the BCR kept working. And even more sinister - it worked again on the next day, two hours before the sound check I was even able to play with it in U-1 mode, without any midi cables and stuff! How strange! But my troubled mind could not allow much trust or confidence, so I got with me the entire set-up, midi cables and Alesis IO2 included, just in case. Prudence I have been thanking to myself for many times since then :)) So 10 minutes before my live set I am connecting the BCR to the MBP via usb cable only aaaaaaand... no data passing from the former to the latter whatsoever, as usual... OK, I had the crowd waiting in front of me, and the last track of the previous DJ going to its end, so I started sweating like horse. Three useless restarts later I grabbed the midi cables and the IO2, connected everything, switched the BCR to stand-alone mode and started my live set... 10 minutes later than scheduled.

What the hell, I had much fun except for the first four of five minutes when I was expecting a thunder from the skies to fall on the BCR and fuck up everything again :)

Now, I had my Live set distributed in six channels of audio, all tracks split in sets of beats, percussions, bass, pads, and other stuff. I learned how to organize my set by this great aussie guy Tom Cosm, it's worth checking out his website, register, donate and learn from his comprehensive knowledge on Ableton Live and electronic music in general.

Here is a screenshot from my live set (click for larger view):

I had "empty" clips of muted audio, so I could easily go through the sessions. As I wanted to keep my mind out of thinking about constant clicking through the clips and sessions and concentrate on effects tweaking, my live set was based predominantly on follow actions, so entire rows of clips have been following the previous and passing it on to the next. It is rather similar to working within the arrangement view, but it feels better to know Live is taking care of changing the clips sessions instead of you while you have both your hands tweaking the knobs on the controller. Of course, it takes hours to program and rehearse the entire set, but it pays big time on stage. And yes, this still remains a live performance and not pre-programmed dj session, as with all your attention concentrated on the complex effects and channel volumes you are able to completely alternate the entire idea in a song and finish it in unpredicted way before Live's follow actions reach the next song.

Here's how my BCR was programmed to communicate with various effects (click for larger view):

I had also the neighbouring preset programmed to take care for each channel's low-, mid- and high- frequences just in case I had my bass kickin' to much low end in, or my pads swallowing up the entire mids.

So, at the end, I was even able to record my live set, you can listen to it here. It contains some of the tracks I am working on for my upcoming release for Jisatsuken. There is also a short YouTube video with awful sound, check it out:

Needless to say, I am sending the BCR to the local distributor the next week for some refurbishment or whatever, as I plan to concentrate on the completion of my next release ad I'll be using mostly my M-Audio Ozone for the compositions.

At the end, here are some nice pictures from Zvolen and the Festival. I wish towns in Bulgaria looked like this...

Plaid Live

2009-06-23T06:37:00.007+03:00

It's the first time a major Warp artist performs in Bulgaria, so this particular event was something more than just a music festival. Prior to the release of their new and long-awaited album Scintili, Ed and Andy of Plaid accepted the challenge of a rather unusual line-up and brought their overwhelming music under the grey rainy skies of Sofia. It's the first time I see them playing live, and their performance left me speechless. I left the venue almost immediately afterwards. Couldn't imagine I would listen to anything else for the rest of the night. Some pictures and videos following:

Behringer Support Strikes Back

2009-06-18T07:01:00.010+03:00

[click for larger view]

Well, #$ck me, it's been two months since I ranted on the Behringer website, and I have almost forgotten about it until early this morning when a reply hit my Mail.

The reply is far from supportive. Contact my local distributor? C'mon, this was naturally the FIRST thing I did! When I first plugged the BCR in my laptop and after following meticulously the user guide, it just didn't work, so what did I do? - called the people at ProTechnica who had sold me this piece of crap. What did they tell me? - "You must be doing something wrong. It worked fine with us. No one else have complained so far. Have you tried it in Midi-mode" - No, people, it is supposed to work in USB-mode, why should I try anything else, when this is obviously not working?

Well, they convinced me to try to fire the unit up for another couple of days and then call again. And I did. Only to hear from them afterward that since it had been more than 3 days after the purchase, I can not return the unit and can not claim my money back, nor can I replace the unit with another working one.

Now they bullshitted me - I do know something about consumer laws and protection, and it's nothing like that! The only option they gave me was to return the BCR to be resent to the manufacturer for repair. What? I'm having a live gig in two weeks, people! No way, I kept it and promised to think again after the live performance and after some final attempts to get it working. Lucklily within this period of time a friend of mine helped me to find a way to Midi-route the BCR via my Alesis IO2 and - surprise - it worked flawlessly. Since then the BCR and the IO2 have been married. Which is a somehow funny situation how to make two malfunctioning units working as one.

So will I contact ProTechnica now? Damn if I do it again. I am not even buying a chewing gum from them! And guess what - I am avoiding any Behringer product from now on. They just can not enjoy my trust again.

JSK 017 - Trx - Mist Chances LP

2009-06-17T22:24:00.002+03:00

A great new release by our friend Trx /Vassil Vladimirov from Plovdiv, Bulgaria/ for Jisatsuken. Check his tracks out on last.fm, and/or downolad them from the label's website.

Download Festival, 20090711, Zvolen, SK

2009-06-13T06:00:00.007+03:00

It's the second time I'll be hitting the stage in Slovakia. I had wonderful experience back in 2007 at the Wilsonic Festival, and I hope that it'll be even more fun now. Download Festival will take place in one of those awesome castles that seemingly each Slovakian village is equipped with :) So although I had decided not to tour this year and declined several offers to do live performances, I just could not resist when Jano got in touch and showed me the place.
I'm preparing a entirely new live set, in the range of 130-135 bpm, to match the stage, hopefully you'll like it ;)

things in the post 2

2009-05-07T20:09:00.002+03:00

things in the post

2009-04-22T17:49:00.003+03:00

I have just received two Boards of Canada CDs I ordered few days ago via Discogs website. They are in Mint condition, meaning virtually never opened or played by the seller. This delivery is the opening of my endeavour to collect original copies of the most admired releases... and get rid of all home-made copies of CDs I borrowed from my friends through the last 10 years.

Elektron's Machine Drum

2009-04-16T08:04:00.003+03:00

Last night I dropped by my friend's place and got the chance to experience in first person some of the capabilities of Elektron's Machine Drum. It's a really wicked piece of gear with great and very accessible interface, intruitive controls and very compact size. It's loaded with its own sound banks, but don't get me wrong, it's not meant to produce identical and easily recognizable beats and tunes, as each of its sounds allows you to modify various parameters - deep down to the core of its synthesis. Once you start tweaking waveforms and LFO's, your sound will never sound the same or alike any other musician.
Certainly one can not expect an unit with such abilities to be sold cheap, the pleasure to increase your studio's strength will cost you USD 1790, when buying directly from Elektron.
Machine Drum is accompanied with a detailed bible-sized manual, and learning how to use it effectively will probably take you several weeks, provided that you don't have any other occupation :)
Here's a YouTube video /probably the best out there/, displaying some of Machine Drum's powers.

Sugar Bytes Effectrix

2009-04-10T07:43:00.004+03:00

If you are recently converted Mac user like me, you will probably mourn the loss of one of the recently most used vst plugins - the DBlue Glitch, available for PC only. Controversial as it might be, the Glitch has rapidly become widespread and its recognizable effects could be heard /sometimes annoyingly/ in each event featuring electronic music. The otherwise great combination of free distribution and do-it-like-aphex-twin interface has only one flaw - it's Mac incompatible /yet/.

Well, actually there is a replacement which will probably suit you even better - Sugar Bytes' Effectrix. It will provide you user-friendlier interface, simultaneous control over various parameters of 14 /!/ individual effects, and the opportunity to map virtually anything to your midi-controller. The only thing which will probably trip up your enthusiasm about Effectrix is its price. Well, Effectrix is not for free. It's developers know they did more than decent work and they follow a well-established policy of charging their plug-ins users. I wouldn't complain if I were you, just check out the youtube video and witness the great amount of work this handy piece of software is able to spare you.

The sexiest Ableton Live tips

2009-04-08T07:54:00.007+03:00

If you are Live die-hard fanatic, you have probably watched listened to these these tips over and over again. Not ignoring the tempting voice, the 10 chosen shortcuts are really useful and a start-up point for any Live user. Note: if you are Mac-less musician, replace the sexy [apple button] with the not-so-sexy Ctrl :D

BCR-2000 Mackie emulation

2009-04-05T16:46:00.003+03:00

At first sight and having tried it for couple of hours only, I find the Mackie emulation a rather slow way to do your thing in Ableton Live. I'll probably get used to it, however I don't think I would count on it during a stage performance, where things happen quick, often hectically and half-brained:) Mackie emulation is designed for the bedroom studio, in a quiet and calm atmosphere and lots of time. I prefer building my own preset for stage performances.

Here is just a glimpse at what this emulation does for you in Live. I'd mute the sound if I were you /irritating narration and music, you know/.

Major success with the BCR-2000

2009-04-05T16:20:00.004+03:00

Well, you probably already know about my drama with the BCR-2000.

Today is the historical day I managed to force the BCR to work according to its purposes and receive and send midi data which is its main function it's being sold for to people like me.
To make the long story short, the BCR didn't work well from day one /spring 2008/, under any of its USB-based modes. Changed cables, changed ports, hell I even switched from the HP Compaq NX 7010 to Macbook Pro - same sh*t. At the beginning of its relationship with the MBP it showed more enthusiasm and responsiveness, which however unexpectedly ended some 10 minutes before mloski&rэs live gig in Sofia at the Drum and Jazz Fest'08. It took me nearly 20 restarts and 15 minutes delay to get it back to life due to some unexplainable magic, it wiped out all my energy and inspiration during the gig, and once I got off the stage I was confident to never use the bloody thing again.
Another attempt to fire it up two weeks ago had been even more disappointing. Live 7 couldn't recognise it at all. Normally, software and hardware should be connected this way:

however no inputs or outputs were recognised this time. Last night I finally switched the BCR-2000 off, confident about replacing it immediately with a Novation or even a Bitstream.
Well, this morning I decided to try just one more time, as earlier advised by a friend of mine, and connect the BCR via its midi-ports to my Alesis IO2, which is connected via USB to the notebook, and then assign the BCR's midi in and out ports via the Alesis IO2 ones:

IT WORKED! Restarted it about 14 times to challenge it to crash, but no. The bloody sturdy black red-ledded piece of sh*t just worked flawlessly.
I immediately loaded up the Mackie emulation preset and to my astonishment, it didn't crash as well.
So I now have the BCR-2000 finally working. It took me two pieces of malfunctioning devices /the IO2's sound is quiet and its original drivers are of no use at all/ to have one working item :) So, my formula is: BCR-[midi in/out]->IO2-[USB]->MacbookPro.
I'll have a couple of beers tonight.

Live 8

2009-04-05T10:46:00.005+03:00

Yes, they did it again - Live 8 has been officially unleashed. I'm not your typical rapid updater, and will probably wait several months before I am really convinced I can not live without spending another couple of hundred euros for an update which will be updated again in an year or so.

They also got this new and rather pricey AKAI APC40 controller, which will probably soon be upgraded as it lacks some depth in my opinion. Just browsing and firing clips without using a mouse or notepad's touchpad is not enough appealing to me, so I sit and wait patiently. Moreover - the controller's size! It is a definitely studio equipment, or you'll need a serious bag or case to bring this unit to your next live gig. Since I presently lack enough space on my desk and I tend to pick small size equipment, I pass the APC40.

Meanwhile, there's a nice sneak peak video of Chris De Luca and Phon.O's live setup right here. While their new musical direction is not exactly my cup of tea, I find the video quite amusing... Probably because of the view of a WORKING BCR-2000 /grr/.

Tools: [DISREGARDED] M-Audio MK461

2009-04-05T10:15:00.001+03:00

My first Midi Keyboard and controller. Bought it from my friend Shamanez in 2005 and sold it three years later to another friend of mind - Trx, who later transferred it to another friend - Brokoli. So this unit has a really famous family tree.

Tools: [DISREGARDED] M-Audio X-Session

2009-04-05T10:11:00.001+03:00

It's a nice and sturdy piece of Midi-controller which I bought in 2005 when I didn't have any small and easy to carry around controller at all. Few months later I got the chance to have an UC-33 from a friend coming over from the USA, so the Christmas after that I just made a small present to my friend Mloski, who has been using the X-Session since then.

Tools: [DISREGARDED] HP Compaq NX 7010

2009-04-05T10:08:00.002+03:00

I have millions of stories to tell about my three-and-a-half years of relationship with this laptop. Few of them have been a subject of desperate rants in my Bulgarian blog. It is currently enjoying the fate to be my mother's mobile workstation :)

Tools: [Disregarded] Alesis IO2

2009-04-05T10:04:00.002+03:00

This is truly the last piece of equipment I’ve ever bought without previously conducting thorough investigation of the product around the internet with keywords “problems” and “reviews”. Should I had been done it, I’d think twice before giving my hardly earned euros away.
The thing is, this otherwise nice looking device comes with drivers which will never work. The perfect example of how a few-KB file can make your hundreds EUR purchase pointless. Its drivers will spice your sound with loud noise of pumped up ring modulator. No escape.
Endless credits go out for the people who had invented the Asio4All application. Installing it is the only way to use the Alesis IO2. Even then, its sound is somehow quiet, which I discovered during our gigs with Mloski, where his sound /through an M-Audio audio interface/ was coming out twice as loud, at both my IO2 and laptop set at maximum volume.
My Alesis IO2 has been entirely ignored since I had the M-Audio Ozone, but still I wouldn’t discard it just in case.

Tools: [Disregarded] Behringer Xenyx 802

2009-04-05T10:02:00.003+03:00

The need for this small mixer arose when I discovered that in most cases one simply can not rely on the people who organize music events to prepare the stage to the last detail, more specifically to supply the necessary cables and/or mixers. Almost every time I set on stage they are not able to find the correct cable to connect my audio interface to the main mixer. Fine then, there’s my small Xenyx802, I have the pair of cables to connect its mains to the stage mixer, so stop bugging me about something which should have been your responsibility to arrange.
With two mono and two stereo channels on board, the Xenyx802 has been the important device to make the Mloski & rэs live gigs possible, and it’s just a tenth of what this small thing can be used for.

Tools: Alesis M1 Active MK II

2009-04-05T09:59:00.001+03:00

This is the first pair of monitor speakers I have, and I always admit that I have started HEARING music since I bought the Alesis M1 Active MKII. Yes, they are active, and yes, they deliver sound which comforts me enough.
Shame on me, I haven’t yet tested their full capabilities /read: never volumed them up to the max/, since I still live in block of flats and I care about the neighbours’ temper in the late hours. However my sound has significantly improved since I have these speakers.

Tools: M-Audio UC-33

2009-04-05T09:58:00.001+03:00

UC-33 is really straightforward to use. Almost any of the present DAWs will recognize it immediately and from there on it’s up to your imagination and flow how and what to assign. At its simplicity and sturdiness, my only complaint would be the lack of Toggle On/Off function for the buttons which have put some limits for couple of ideas for its use.
Since I have the BCR-2000 /working/, I wouldn’t use this unit very often, but I wouldn’t also dare disposing of something which never disappointed me seriously.

Tools: [Deceased] Behringer BCR-2000

2009-04-05T09:55:00.004+03:00

Well, this particular fellow gave me lots of headaches while still using my old HP Compaq nx7010. Later discovered the fault was in the laptops motherboard and the USB ports, but it took me 4 months, 2 gigs without using the device, and lots of friends being pestered for advice /apologies due/. I’ll try to spare you what I’ve been through all these months, but will just admit - since I got the MacBook Pro, the BCR finally gave up and started working as supposed to.
/edited one year later/ OK, I lied. It didn't. It just appeared to have this rare decease - after 20 restarts it would work well for a minute and then again lose connectivity. In most cases, when responsive at all, the BCR would receive signals from Live, but would not be able to send sh*t back. Digged in forums real deep to find out there's no remedy but to return the bloody thing back to Behringer. Which is rather uncomfortable situation for me being based in Bulgaria. So came the despair.
Then a friend of mine suggested using the BCR's Midi ports instead of the USB one, via some Midi interface. The only one I had then was the notorious Alesis IO2 audio interface I also complained about which luckily had Midi in and out ports. A pair of cables later, I was able to use the BCR as it was supposed to. Which lead me to the funny situation to have two malfunctioning units working well when connected together...
I am on the verge of my patience though, and next time the BCR makes a fool out of me, I get rid of it right away.
To summarise its overview the thing seems rather big /it requires significant real estate on the desk/ and a bit awkward at the beginning, especially if you’re used to other smaller MIDI-controllers /the UC-33 for example/. The big knobs take more than a twist to reach the 127, there’s LOTS of space between the knob rows which might lead you to the desire for the designers to had included another row of knobs instead.
However 56 knobs are more than enough since while gigging you’ll probably not be physically able to use the half of them. That's the reason I prefer using the BCR for studio production, rather than to carry it around. The endless rotaries and the led indicators give you perfect feel about where exactly do you stand while playing. You could assign almost every button to whatever you like in your DAW, which in my case means that during live playing I would not even need to touch my notebook’s keyboard and forget about the mouse. To make it even more easier, there is a Mackie emulation sysex file which once installed would make you forget the mouse.
The device feels really steady and somehow Deutsch, and the main LED screen gives you the oldschool feel. And yes, it’s a real show-off in the dark.

Tools: [Disregarded] M-Audio Ozone

2009-04-05T09:51:00.002+03:00

The need for a small and easy-to-carry-around MIDI-keyboard made me seriously consider something with not more than 2 octaves. You would be right to dismiss the M-Audio Ozone keyboard for being not USB-powered, but I am a firm believer that having a three-socket doesn’t take much space inside your backpack. Plus having this small device throws out your separate and bulky audio interface unit out of the bag. Two octaves at a time is perfectly enough if you’re not professional piano player and producer of elaborate symphonies. The knobs are covered with rubber and feel steady so me being a typical fat-fingered Bulgarian will never be endangered of unintentionally changing a knob position while twisting the neighbouring one, something which quite troubles me with the UC-33. In its capacity as audio interface the device produces sound which will satisfy enough your needs of a bedroom musician.

Tools: Macbook Pro

2009-04-04T20:11:00.000+03:00

The super mastermind of my studio as of August 2008. The engine behind its heart is the 2.4 GHz Intel Core Duo. Upgraded it to 4 GB RAM simultaneously with the purchase. The Leopard 10.5.4. OS makes the experience of making music delightful and incomparably easy, entirely independent from any other processes that run at the same time. Armed with Ableton Live 7, Logic Pro 8, Reason 3, Reaktor 5, Absynth 4 and Amadeus Pro 1.3.2, my MacBook Pro is anxiously waiting somewhere in the room to accommodate my free time and talent.
All technical matters and issues of this notebook are subject to endless discussions all over the net. As far as I’m concerned, its the best piece of computer technology I’ve ever put my hands on. And it works flawlessly.