Digital Soundboard - Live harmonic drum and bass mix recordings

Sadly my time at Bassdrive radio has come to an end. The reason I was given was that they are looking for 100% reliability from their show broadcasts, which I could not offer anymore. I had worked closely with them to try and improve my setup but to no avail. The technical problems were frustrating for the station, it's listeners and for me... One limitation of Traktor is that it can only stream in ogg format. One limitation of Bassdrive is that it would only support mp3 input. This meant I had to either prerecord, transcode in real time to mp3 or broadcast my "what you hear" channel. None of which were very prosaic solutions in the end. I have had a great 5 years on Bassdrive moving from a weekly to a monthly show last year. Like Dfunk said though, "all good things must come to an end". I'd like to thank the whole Bassdrive crew for having faith in me to begin with and I'm sorry things didn't work out. There are no hard feelings and the brigh...

Apologies to any of you that tuned into Bassdrive yesterday to listen to the show live. For some unknown reason, my stream was coming through too fast so had to be cut off. All is not lost though - I recorded the set for your exclusive listening pleasure. Please check it out and let me know what you think, I missed having direct feedback from the Bassdrive chat room. This month's episode is named after the iconic sound-byte from Modern Warfare 2, read by Craig Fairbrass of EastEnders fame, playing alpha male cockney SAS sergeant Gaz... MW2 as it's annoyingly abbreviated is the sequel to a highly over-rated first person shooter with silly pink sniper rifles, indesctructable scenery and a well above average share of what sounds like, screeching chimps. Having played it over the weekend, it seems the same game as before with a few extra bells 'n' whistles. Extra bells in more ways than one. This game sold 7 million copies on its first day...very clever marketing ...

I submitted this 128kbps '8-10 minute Mega Mix' into a competition to perform live at this summer's Urban Art Forms festival in Austria. It might not be the kinda thing they are looking for but I thought I'd share it with you anyway (despite it's brevity!). What do you think to this entry? I tried to make sure the end leaves the listener wanting to hear more :) Klute - Ashram - Commercial Suicide Command Strange - See In The Sun - Influenza Media L.A.O.S - We All - Spearhead Steve Angello, Laidback Luke - Show Me Love (Blame Remix) - Ministry Of Sound UK Shinichi Osawa - Star Guitar (Brookes Brothers Remix) - BBK

Mixed live and broadcast on Bassdrive yesterday. I had over 1,450 listeners this month - 200 or so above my previous record so thanks to all that tune in. I quite agree with Paul SG who said in the chat room "Sundays are the new Fridays!"... Look out for the new Kubiks LP "Blurred Vision" coming out in November. Remix below "Bamboo" is one of my favourites from it. Enea - Feel That High - Have A Break High Contrast - Natural High - Hospital Blame, Selah - Because Of You - 720 Degrees Music Donnie Dubson - Battlecat - Influenza Media Sub Focus - Splash - RAM Muffler - Falling 2009 - Big Riddim Netsky - Tomorrow's Another Day - Liq-Weed Ganja Nero - Do You Wanna - Viper Atlantic Connection - Everything Changes - Westbay Digital HoldTight - Girl Next Door - Industry Shinichi Osawa - Star Guitar (Brookes Brothers Remix) - Data Simplification - Trilogy - Digital Blus Davide Carbone - Bamboo (Kubiks remix) - Rubik Ikon - China Crash - Ren...

Advisory, Scenic - Afterglow - Urban Chemistry Kubiks, Lomax - Spirit Filled - Phunkfiction Crystal Clear, Netsky - King Of The Stars - Liq-Weed Ganja State Of Mind - Floor 14 (Bungle Remix) - Syntax Audio Trei - Livewire - SGN:LTD Noisia - Last Look - Metalheadz Atom - Automatic - Sonorous Seba - Snow - Hospital Lenzman - The Blues - Spearhead Calibre - The Blues - Signature Young Ax - System Of Survival - Santorin SpectraSoul - Insignia - Exit Metrik - Time To Change - Viper Sigma - Nexus - Life Logistics - Warehouse - Hospital A Sides - Aryze - Eastside Music

My trusty original X-Session MIDI controller had been playing up in the lead up to this months show. Several of the rotary dials on it began to malfunction, causing them to have a life of their own and start changing values for me during a mix... The offending article - My long-serving original X-Session I've unceremoniously retired it to the dustbin now but this then gave me the problem of what to replace it with? I did my research on what was available and ended up going for the compact and relatively inexpensive elder brother to the X-Session, the X-Session Pro. I was tempted to spend more on one of the posh Vestax's controllers, but they still haven't really got it right for me yet... not for that kind of outlay anyway. The VCI-100 is nice but I don't need or want platters. The VCM-100 is nice too, but I don't need another audio interface and I want 4 faders. Faders are what I missed most about using the original X-Session. The most tempting I found was...

As Frank Zappa explained it, "The creation and destruction of harmonic and 'statistical' tensions is essential to the maintenance of compositional drama. Any composition (or improvisation) which remains consistent and 'regular' throughout is, for me, equivalent to watching a movie with only 'good guys' in it, or eating cottage cheese." In other words, a composer cannot ensure a listener's liking by using exclusively consonant sounds. However, an excess of tension may disturb the listener. The balance between the two is essential. Contemporary music has evolved in the way that tensions are less prepared and less structured than in Baroque or Classical periods, thus producing new styles such as Jazz and Blues, where tensions are usually not prepared. New show coming up this weekend folks!

If you cannot see the audio controls, your browser does not support the audio element Hey all, here's this month's mix and playlist. Digital Hunters - Red Glass - Innerground Muffler - Hear Me Scream - Hospital A Sides - Tokiado - Eastside Music Amoss - Lost In Tokyo - ??? Mistabishi - Talk Me Down - Hospital Peyo - U Can Make It - Vandal Eros, Paul Sg - Finding The Right Words - Innerground Redeyes - Kashmere - Bingo Beats Atlantic Connection - Everything Changes - Westbay Digital Telmo A - Winter Lights - Santorin J Laze - Nod To The Godz - Strictly Digital Mace - Light Up The Darkness - Planet Funk B-Complex - Beautiful Lies - Hospital Brother - Everything To Give - Fokuz Q Project - Five 13 - CIA

If you cannot see the audio controls, your browser does not support the audio element A new beta of Traktor Pro came out last week so I bit the bullet and mixed with it for this months show. Still a few bugs to fix but in general a much faster performance than previous versions. Tracks seem to load much quicker into the decks but there are still some problems with the FX units when used from cold (as you may be able to detect!) I still need to collate a track list for you guys but in the meantime help yourself to the audio. This week features new music from Undersound, BCee and Redeyes among others.

If you cannot see the audio controls, your browser does not support the audio element Brookes Brothers - Desert Island - W10 Records Crystal Clear, Netsky - King Of The Stars - Liq-Weed Ganja L.A.O.S. - GTGD feat. Kaleb - Spektra S.P.Y. - Sunship - Spearhead SpectraSoul - Organiser - Critical Alix Perez - Melanie - Shogun Audio Bungle - The Need of Being Alone - Soul R Silent Witness - Poster Girl - Critical Redeyes - Soul Brother - W10 Records Random Movement - The Student - Westbay Command Strange - In My Heart - Influenza Media Calibre - In Denial - Soul R Break - Combination Style - Metalheadz Paul SG, Eros - Midnight Rain - Golden Orb BU - Broken Planet (Syncopix Broken Planet Remix) - Digital Colours LSB - Lost Now - Deep Soul Music Basic Operations - Sold Hold - Nu Directions Donnie Dubson - Rolling Home - Have A Break

If you cannot see the audio controls, your browser does not support the audio element Eros, Soulgrifter - Lemme Love - Liquid Brilliants Dan Marshall - Fools Paradise - Deep Soul Music Blame, The Pedge - Avalon - Hospital Logistics - Jungle Music - Hospital BU - Broken Planet (Syncopix Broken Planet Remix) - Digital Colours Implex, Medicin - Closer To The Stars - Formation Command Strange - Don't Touch - Influenza Media Calibre - Can't Get Over You - Soul R Contour - If All You Need Is Time - Sole Digital Mutt - Over - Inside Stress Level & TC1 - Lost In Music (Part 2) - Dispatch L.A.O.S. - We All (Blame Remix) - Spearhead Ross D - The Music - Liquid Brilliants Matrix, Futurebound - Strength 2 Strength - Metro Big Bud - Kiki - Soundtrax

I entered a competition last month to win an all expenses paid set at the Urban Artforms Festival in Austria to be held this May. 100 DJ's were nominated to participate and the results were announced today. We had to submit an 8-10 minute drum and bass mix and the competition organisers chose the winner which was DJ Insular . I thought I'd let you have a listen both to my entry and the winning entry so you can make your own mind up. My view is that I did not expect to win but hoped that the winner's mix would be seamless, full of energy and leave me wanting to hear more. While it has some good tunes in and is quite smooth for a vinyl mix I'd hoped the mixing in it would inspire me but it didn't really. Anyway, I'm sure the judges know what they were doing and chose their favourite. Congratulations to Insular and readers please let me know what you think to both mini/mega mixes. I always value your feedback! Playlists Seth Insular Mix 1. Allied Forces -...

Couldn't resist squeezing in two new digital releases by a young, up and coming Kazakh producer by the name of Command Strange . Really liking what I've heard so far... nice work from Influenza and Golden Orb signing him up! Command Strange - Don't Move Down - Influenza Media Contour - Shine - Rubik Eveson - Spirit Song (Silent Witness Remix) - Digital Tunes Dubs S.P.Y. - Monochrome - Soul R Trisector - Morning Rain - Medschool Command Strange - Goa - Golden Orb Lomax - Resist - Soul R Big Bud - Kiki - Soundtrax Spirit - Fantasy - CIA SpectraSoul - Tectonic - Deep Soul Music Atlantic Connection - Echo Park - Influenza Media Sabaruko - Love Sensation - Sonorous Implex, Medicin - Closer To The Stars - Formation Lenzman, Treez - Bear Trap - Deepkut Naibu - Opium Lady - Horizons Music Commix - Life We Lead - Soul R LSB - Lost Now - Deep Soul Music Klute - Ashram - Commercial Suicide

If you cannot see the audio controls, your browser does not support the audio element I have really enjoyed the recent celebrations of the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth. It is truly staggering what evolution can produce if given long enough. Many of the evolutionary principles such as adaptation, mutation and natural selection apply not only to species but to cultural phenomena like DJ software. Instead of the transmission unit being a gene, Richard Dawkins coined the word "meme" to describe how one might extend evolutionary principles to explain the spread of ideas and cultural phenomena. This mix is my first with a new species of DJ software called Traktor Pro. It's direct ancestor is Traktor 3 (which I was using up until now) but it has been influenced by many other meme-pools. I held off using it live for a while because it had too many bugs (mutations??) but this latest beta (1.1) is much more stable and usable. I'm still getting used to t...

I stumbled upon this fascinating paper while rambling around Google for an image of the circle of fifths. For a couple of years now I have been suggesting to Native Instruments DJ division that they build upon the tools in Traktor to enhance live harmonic mixing. So far, I haven't had much success but I think this may be down to me not explaining myself very well and not campaigning hard enough. This paper has helped me to crystalise my ideas for a tool that can link tonality with colour within Traktor (or any software DJ application). Extract from paper: This correlation is mirrored by the testimony of chromaesthetics , those afflicted by a common form of synaesthesia in which neural pathways are crossed and auditory stimulus also evokes a visual response – flickering colored hallucinations dubbed “ photisms .” Although the color of any particular note varies between chromaesthetics , these phenomena do have universal qualities, or form constants, which include inverse rel...

If you cannot see the audio controls, your browser does not support the audio element I've only just realised in iTunes you only see reviews of podcasts according to which iTunes country store you are browsing. When I switched from the UK to the USA store (using the drop-down box at the bottom of the store page) I was amazed to find I had 9 reviews, all rated 5 out of 5! Thanks to everyone that has commented and reviewed this feed, I'm really chuffed you are enjoying it! Metrik - Your World - Intrinsic Brookes Brothers - Hard Knocks - Breakbeat Kaos Q-Project - Electric Lust Orchestra - Hospital Spirit - Fantasy - CIA Lenzman - String City - Fokuz Trei - Too High - Critical DJ Samurai - Outsider - Viper Atlantic Connection - Disco Shit (Bass Anthem) - Westbay Q-Project - Just Chillin - Machine Funk Mixmaster Doc - Mr Scott - Sonorous L.A.O.S. - Star Soul - Have A Break Logistics - Intervention - Hospital SpectraSoul - Peninsula - Shogun Audio Lomax - Come And...

I found this really nice new 2 hour harmonic mix from DLM (myspace.com/dlmdj). DLM performed it using 3 Serato-driven digital decks. DLM said " Its slightly different to my previous ones with a good deal less 'anthemy' dancefloor type stuff on it and a lot more rolling, liquid type beats instead. Let me know what you think - spent a LOT more time than usual planning this one to make sure the mixes roll as harmonically as possible. " Well, I appreciate his efforts and I thought you guys would to. dlmdarklight · DLM 3 Hour 'Harmonic' Liquid Mix 2009