Bassdrum Murda Distocore VSTi Version 1.0

From the maker of the BassDrum Murda distortion plug-in, Bula, a new great virtual instrument: DistoCore.

With the aid of I:Gor he came out designing a VSTi totally oriented towards Hardcore and subgenres creation. In fact the first feeling I had playing around was to have a super-pimped Microtonic with ANY knob actually making something interesting to the final sound.

The hardest bassdrums on earth.
Don't steal and sample bassdrums, be creative and design them from scratch with the new "DC Bassdrum::Murda" VSTi.

The plug-in itself is composed by three main oscillators, each with separate filters and saturations. Every oscillator has a plethora of waveforms to choose from plus the ability to load up sampled waveforms. They also have separate panoramic positioning so it's easy to create interesting stereo-wide sounds. All the three guys go thorough an envelope follower, a resonating filter, a ring modulator, an overdrive + bit-crusher section, and an equalizer before being outputted to the host. This part ensures the most extreme and optimized distortion and punch!

From my personal experience with it I'd say that there's some sort of inner modulations between the oscillators, because when adding more volume to one it's possible to hear the other ones shape themselves so that the result is always coherent.

Hearing the overdrive + bit-crusher section at work really makes me suspect the code behind is the same of the original Bassdrum Murda plug-in and this can only be a good thing!

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KONEY PRESETS

Multi band BIT Crusher VST

There are thousands of bit-crusher plugins and most of them don't add anything important to the ones shipped with most sequencer applications. This one adds something: multi band support!

Multiband Bitcrusher I is a multiple bitcrush & downsample plug-in. It selects 4 frequency bands from the incoming signal - Low; Middle Low; Middle High; High - and then processes them through the bitcrusher and/or the grinder. Frequency cut-off point for each band is selectable in a variable range depending on the band; unselected frequencies are cut.

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ROLAND TR-909 BASS DRUM RECORDED THROUGH 13 DISTORTION UNITS from thegearfiend.com

This is something yummy to repost: the TR-909 bassdrum sampled through some distortion units:

I recorded a TR-909 Bass Drum through the following distortion units to compare and contrast the sounds.

1) Dunlop Fuzz Face
2) Electro-Harmonix Metal Muff with Top Boost
3) Maxon OD-9
4) Boss OS-2
5) Boss DS-1
6) Boss DS-2
7) Pro Co RAT
8) Tech 21 VT Bass
9) MXR Bass D.I. +
10) Electro-Harmonix English Muff'n
11) Moog Moogerfooger Lowpass Filter
12) Electro-Harmonix Bass Big Muff Pi
13) Elektron SidStation

I like  this way of sampling because it involves both the Roland TR-909 and some BOSS pedals although I wish the guy had sampled it through 13 distortion units IN A ROW!! :)
Besides this, my favorite distortion comes from the Elektron SidStation: I love the SID background noise in action.

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TR-505 thorough BOSS METAL ZONE samples

I'm glad finally someone replied to my call for material for the blog
Today Dj Quartzlocker sent me these samples he made running a Roland TR-505 thorough a BOSS METAL ZONE pedal

The MT-2 Metal Zone™ is one of BOSS' most popular pedals. This stompbox provides some of the most over-the-top, insane distortion tones in the world—with huge mids and lows and an ultra-saturated sound. 

The 505 works well with a computer and sequencer or as a stand alone drum machine. It is extremely basic and unexciting but does make a good starter or play-along drum machine. Vince Clarke and Aphex Twin has used the 505.

I'm happy of this combo because I used to own both devices but not simultanously so I never had the chance to make any samplekit with them. This also confirms what I said about pedals in the past.

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Utterly distorted Japanese vocal samples

Obviously my PSX emulator needs some fixes on the sound driver configuration. Obviously I’m not going to fix it, because it creates some stunning distortions!



I realized this when I tried to run an old Japanese videogame, the music was ok but the voices were all gritty. The misconfigured audio driver had a “save to disk” option so it was easy to obtain a .WAV file with all the sounds recorded. A DC-Offset removal was definitely needed to be able to normalize the samples.

So I compiled this collection of utterly distorted Japanese vocals that will sound perfect in any Industrial composition.

DEMO

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Alesis SR-16 through BOSS OVERDRIVE samples

As promised in this post this is the first Industrial samplekit made with the Alesis SR-16 thru a BOSS Turbo Overdrive OD-2r pedal (a classic!)



The noise "problem" of my unit sounds great when distorted and this can be heard clearly on every single hit. The best sounds came out of Toms and Snares.

I sampled the whole instruments list using this great editor:


Enjoy!

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Thrummaschine distortion VST

Finally a good distortion plug-in, capable of band separated modulations:



The signal is splitted in 3 adjustable bands and can be distorted quite strongly. Indeed, every band filter can be modulated with an LFO. Band can be panned freely so to transform any MONO sound in STEREO.

- 3 user-defined bands for bass, mid and high freqencies, with overlap if required
- 3 filters with tempo-sync LFO, for each freq band
- overdrive, distortion and bitcrush effects
- send level for each band to each effect
- pan and volume for each band

I got some very nice results by layering two or more instances of the plug-in in the same channel, that way the amount of controls and automation is widened.

More informations and DOWNLOAD

FerricTDS - Tape Dynamics Simulator VST

I had this FerricTDS VST .DLL sleeping in my plugins folder for a few months now. I did think it was good for whole mixes and never thought it could have any employment in industrial music.

Inspired by the smooth dynamic shaping capabilities of some high-end reel-to-reel tape recorders, this plug-in simulates three of the most distinctive and much appreciated sonic effects generated by these devices:

DYNAMICS
- gently shaping the overall dynamic response
SATURATION
- adding extra harmonic-related content
LIMITING
- controlling peak performance

But a few days ago I accidently watched a presentation video on YouTube and realized it was sounding incredibly good on snare drums:

So I spent the last weekend testing it on them and I was right: the correct sampled snare (mostly from '80 drum machines) processed with the right reverb and fed into this plug-in will produce the classic industrial snare, also the loudest ones from modern EBM.

I am going to test the plug-in on whole mix anyway, as it is said to work very well on enhancing loudness.


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Radio Effect VSTi

More VSTi noisy craziness from the Japanese website. I'm not stunned about that knowing how a strong noise culture Japan has, since it gave birth to a band like The GeroGeriGeGeGe...



This plug-in emulates the tuning of a radio set. You can load samples that will be your "stations" and tune the radio to them with the usual knob. Sounds simple, but the implementation in industrial music are wide.

DOWNLOAD DEAD LINK
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Beat Burner VST

More interesting chopping solution are coming out finally, this one from Lee Stacey is the most interesting after Dblue Glitch came out six years ago.



It acts as a sample based synth but centrifuges the waveforms as if in a blender. Something that IDM and Industrial freaks out there will love.

BeatBurner VSTi is a synthesizer plugin which generates its output by processing wav files. These files can be anything from percussive loops to vocals. This output is produced by passing the sound through a number of modules including a synthesis module, a number of variable filters, a waveshaper and some effects.

All of the processing is synchorinzed to the wav file which is looped. This can in turn be synchronized to the host.

The degree of sound degradation is sometimes embarrassing and what is outputted is often quite uncontrollable, so it is advisable to use it by bouncing out audio and cutting only the most interesting bits.



Any kind of sound can be loaded but I found it more effective with metallic ones as they make it act like a "metallic synth"...

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HASK Sampled feedbacks

My friend Hask Haskore is into Techno and Schranz since ages. His small studio is crammed with cool analog stuff and one day I asked him to make a few industrial samples for my blog.



There are many industrial things that can be done with his hardware:

Jomox X-Base 09
Akai XE8
Yamaha TX81-Z
Spectral Audio Neptune
Elka EM-44
Aria AR-525
Zoom 9150
Zoom 2100
Alesis 3630 Compressor
Boss OD-2r Turbo Overdrive
Boss Flanger BF-3

...so more posts are planned...

But what best to begin with than a bounce of crazy feedbacks?

All the samples came with a exaustive explaination on how they were obtained:

Feedbacks 1,2,3,4: Alesis 3630 Dual Channel Compressor/Limiter with gate with manipulation of Threshold and Ratio and filtered on the Neptune Spectral Audio Analog Synthesizer.

Feedback 5: Boss Turbo Overdrive OD-2r thorough Neptune and reverberated with Aria AR-525 Stereo Spring Reverb Unit.

Feedbacks 6,7,10: Zoom 9150 Valve DSP thorough Neptune plus additional feedback from Boss Turbo Overdrive OD-2r and reverberated with Aria AR-525 Stereo Spring Reverb Unit

Feedback 8,9: Same as 6-7-10 with no reverb but compression.

Something worth mentioning here is that since all sweeps are live performed he ran our of...hands... and had to borrow one from his father to tweak three knobs simultaneously. I like when doing music becomes a family affair :)

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KORG MS-20 VS BLACK AUDIO DESTRUCTOR Samples

"Me next! Me next!!"... this is what the KORG MS-20 seemed to shout after seeing me sampling the JoMoX thorough the Black Audio Destructor! The big old toy is on the list of the borrowed things, so anytime I can get a phone call that will take it away from me. Since I know that I will be committing suicide when this happens, I decided to exploit it a bit more.



So I spent a nice evening filtering the KORG MS-20 thorough the BAD, trying some unusual (actually ranging from weird to completely insane) patches including the outputs of the White and Pink noises.

In this collection of industrial sounds all samples are in MONO but I advise to couple similar sounds together into a STEREO file for some nice spatial effects.


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BLISTER Distortion VST

I stumbled upon this VST plug-in from TLR while doing a techno track a few days ago. Itself it's a nice piece of software but the characteristic that has cached my attention is its SERIABILITY.



Usually distortion plug-ins, after putting two or three of the same in the same track, sound nothing more that a big squared waveform. This plug-in starts to make interesting sounds after three or more instances are loaded in the same track. This is probably because of the oscillator there's inside:

Something important to mention here is the utilization of a Synthedit module called NewWave (by Ralph Gonzalez). Basically it detects an input frequency and then uses that information to spit out a synthy waveform based upon it. This technology works
much better when used along with a very simple input signal.

I arrived at five instances on a single track and actually getting some fun artifacts.

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MP3 encoding artefacts as a creative effect

Lossy encoding creates unwanted and weird effects. The MP3 codec tries to recreate the full frequency spectrum regardless of the encoding frequency, so at very low values it develops weird artifacts that I always found interesting in a creative way.

I've been looking for a VST plugin that encodes and decodes audio in MP3 format but it seems like it doesn't exists. Also normal codecs like LAME or Fraunhofer don't create enough artifacts to satisty my needs except the one that comes with Macromedia/Adobe Flash.



Also older version work as far as they can import WAVS.

Here is how it can be done:
Load up the .WAV into the library and put it into timeline. Edit the properties and start playing a little. Basically very low frequency work well for this. It is possible to load single tracks or entire mixes, but more variegated material will create more fractalization after the encoding.

Export the .SWF and use something to convert it back to .WAV. This appears to work well but there are surely alternatives to test out also on other platforms.

Put the result together with the original track on your preferred audio sequencer and start mixing them. You really don't need to be an EQ wizard to be able to enhance the artifacts frequencies.

This is the .SWF version of my latest song (just as an example). The resulting file is less that 300kb, so it is clear that the codec is "inventing" back most of the audio!

The AKAIZER Project

Akaizer v1.7
+--------------------------------------------------+
|    _____   __            __                      |
|   /  _  \ |  | _______  |__|_______ ___________  |
|  /  /_\  \|  |/ /\__  \ |  \___   // __ \_  __ \ |
| /    |    \    <  / __ \|  |/    /\  ___/|  | \/ |
| \____|__  /__|_ \(____  /__/_____ \\___  >__|    |
|         \/     \/     \/         \/    \/        |
|                                                  |
+--------------------------------------------------+
Copyright (c) 2005-2010 Ben Burchett

I discovered this little piece of software thanks to the author, Ben Burchett, who posted about it on a comment on my other blog about AKAI S900



Its aim is quite simple: emulate the time stretch function of old AKAI samplers.

Akaizer is a freeware audio processing tool which can 'time stretch' any 8/16/24/32-bit WAV sound file in the style of the 'cyclic mode' time stretch, which featured on old Akai sound samplers, like the S950 / S1000 / S2000 / S3000 series.
This is ideal for computer-based dance music producers who want that classic metallic-sounding time stretch effect, as used in many old school Jungle / Drum and Bass / Speed Garage tunes from the 1990's, without the need for an actual Akai sampler.

Since it claims to make " that classic metallic-sounding time stretch effect " I immediately tested it by slaughtering some samples out of my JoMoX X-Base 09 kit.
The results are convincing: percussive material gains lot of craziness and I haven't tried with voices yet! Anyone serious in Industrial sound research should give it a try.

Find it for Windows and other platforms here: http://akaizer.blogspot.com/

DOWNLOAD MY SAMPLES

JoMoX percussions through Black Audio Destructor samples

The Black Audio Destructor (BAD!) does exactly what its name suggests: destroys audio! Anything fed is reduced to shreds.

The mode switch selects between Crunch mode, Saturated mode and Tone mode. In every mode the audio is distorted and ground up at a frequency selected by the frequency knob, Selecting Crunch mode with the switch in the upwards position gives a spluttering crunchy distorted sound that can sound like anything from an old fuzz pedal with a nearly dead battery, to a mixing desk with every light running in the red. In Saturated mode with the switch in the central position you get a much more intense effect, where the input signal and the effect signal start to blend into one mighty noise. In this mode you can get brutally saturated and distorted synth like tones running at the frequency of the input signal. The final mode is the Tone mode with the switch in the downward position. In this mode the box starts playing a constant tone at certain settings, with the input signal interacting with the tone in bizarre ways. With an input signal as a sweeping synth waveform we have managed to get pseudo ring modulator tones in this mode.

To test its full potential I needed something with a fierce output, something analog that can withstand this degree of audio degradation. A JoMoX X-Base 09 would be perfect!



So I borrowed the one from my friend Hask and started to experiment with snares, kickdrums and different layerings of them together, to see where how far the boundaries of harshness were.

The result is a unique and huge collection of Industrial hits, suitable for Powernoise, Techno, and maybe some hard EBM.

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Ferox tape saturation modeller VST plugin

I mentally divide distortion effects into two breeds: simple audio "inflaters" and "spicers". "Spicers" are the ones that can add "spice", usually with a knob that sums some kind of harsh noise.

This VST plug-in from the same author of Timemachine is definitely of the second, more rare, breed. It doesn't produce raw sounds only by exploding the existing waveforms but can add something of its own with the usual "noise" knob.



I found it effective on both long synths and short percussive material.

Ferox is a free tape saturation modeller VST plugin. It has separate controls for saturation and hysteresis effects. Feedback with variable tape speed is provided to simulate vintage tape echos.

Nice to see that it also does its original job flawlessly: an analog tape emulator.

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My BLACK AUDIO DESTRUCTOR is on its way!

This nice piece of hardware from Circuitsbenders should be at my door in a day or two! I expect to spend all my weekend using it to process harsh percussions out of a JoMoX X-Base09!

Essentially this small black box eats audio alive, then chews it up and spits it out in what can only be described as a deeply offensive manner. Basically its a wrong'un! The box can create a wide range of bitcrushing style, gating, distortion and synthlike frequency effects with an intensity that can be anything from a gentle thin crunch to a terrifying wall of unstoppable noise.

"...a terrifying wall of unstoppable noise." ...YESS!!

TriDirt filter VST

The TriDirt is sold as a filter. It is actually a filter, but its true strength is in the gain sections. What I'm saying is that it's a very powerful distortion plug-in, and we love distortion, don't we?



My friend Dredd revealed me the secret of this plug-in when we made together an industrial-hardtechno tune that is due to be released soon.

It's really sad that the developer's site, Noizeware, is unreachable since a lot of time, this will probably mean the TriDirt is not getting anymore development. What a pity!

More info about the TriDirt can be found on it's KVR audio page while a download is available here.

My Thoughts about pedal FXs

Since a very long time I own the pictured pedals and now plan to get a few more to eventually circuit-bend them.



Back in the nineties, during my livesets, I used them to pimp a bit the audio output of my Amiga computer and they worked great, apart from a unbelievable background noise!

I see now a lot of interest about these old-school distortion pedals, BOSS or any other brand. This is maybe for these very strong points:

• They are cheap and sometimes even free, as lot of people get rid of them easily


• They are modular


• They can be Circuit-bent


• They are analog


• There are many of them, of many brands and many different effects


• They sound harsh, very good for industrial music

Plus there are many already circuit-bent units for sell on the net or E-bay.

So my opinion is that this machines will have a new life since they can be described as the analog plug-ins for the future!