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Dizz1 has put together a fantastic little promo video showcasing how he uses Ableton Live and Serato. I've had the pleasure of watching him perform live a few times now, and it really is quite impressive! You can check him out at www.myspace.com/dizzleone

 

 

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Last month I held a remix competition for Pro Members of this website. An Ableton Live pack was made available and people were encouraged to make their own remix.

We had three entires, and they were all excellent, but after talking with the Delicious Music boys, we have decided that this one takes the cake and wins the lifetime pro membership!

Batman Smells (Mr.Bill Remix) by TomCosm

Well done Mr.Bill! Very fat tune indeed :) Check out the rest of his tunes, equally as polished at http://www.mrbillstunes.com/ or http://soundcloud.com/Mr-bill

For the other two, I am going to give a 6 month membership on the house to say thanks for the great effort. Both the tunes are fantastic.... and here they are

First is one from Bloop

Tom Cosm - Batman Smells (Bloop remix 1st mix) by Bloop

And the second is from Zach V

Thanks again guys! I will sort out that Pro Membership for you.

There will be another one of these shortly, but I'm thinking of making it public next time.

Cheers!

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I'm going to share a little tip that came to me a while ago, which has really speed up the rate in which I produce ideas that I consider to be quality. It's a very simple thing, requires a little bit of self control, and may even sound a bit hard to believe, but I highly suggest you give it a go and see if you get the results too.

The tip is this, next time you've nailed something in your track to the point where you get that F#@K YEAH feeling, listen to it once or twice in it's entirety, and then keep working on adding something new to it, or move on to something else,

If you get your bassline and your kick sitting perfectly, don't sit there looping it over and over, enjoying how good it sounds. Tease yourself! Start adding some new elements (percussion or some synths etc) straight away while it still sounds super cool.

The more you listen to that loop, the less special it is going to sound to you, and that will ultimately decide how you put the rest of the elements together later on. You will be adding things to a loop that is less exciting that it actually is.

You want the people who hear your tune to be hooked when they listen, so if it sounds excellent right now, it most likely will to them too, but if you rinse it out in your ears, it will bring everything down and you will try adding new things to make it exciting again, instead of adding new things to accompany how exciting it actually is.

It's a hard thing to do.... there's nothing like sitting back and enjoying the riff you've created again and again... but save it up for the end. Chuck it on your iPod and listen to it everywhere you go once it's done.

Obviously go ahead and listen to it to try and get new ideas, but for pure listening pleasure, hold yourself back and see what happens.

Challenge!

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So you may have gathered from the title, I am coming back to Europe! F*#K YEAH. I have had a meeting with my manager and we have locked in a travel period for this year.

That period is 20th of May until 25th of September. A big trip, but I want to see as much as I can and meet as many people as possible this time around!

I have a handfull of workshops and gigs already locked into place, however I want to plan this trip in true COSM style by making it as open source as possible, by asking each and every one of you to help make this the best tour yet.

Are you a promoter? Do you know a promoter? Does your mate's girlfriend look after the dog of a club owner? if so... I need you to email me once you've finished reading. At this stage any country in the continent will be considered.

Of course I am not just looking for performances... you know I love teaching, and now I am an Ableton Certified Trainer, I would love to give as much as I can while traveling around. One of the most enjoyable parts of the last trip, was being invited to small towns to talk about audio to people who wouldn't be able to make the main centers and festivals. So if you are in a small town, I want to come and stay with you, teach your crew and drink at your local pub :)

So please email me and let me know if you can lend a hand. Any help is greately appreciated.

tom@cosm.co.nz

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The next few video series I will do on sound design are going to be heavily influenced by the input of the people who will end up watching them. So, for the next series of 10 videos and 10 Ableton live racks, I am going to recreate that bassline that you love so much (or die trying!). I am after 10 basslines, which I can sit down, dissect and recreate using all native Ableton instruments and effects.

Each rack will have an accompanying tutorial video showing the entire process from start to finish.

So, jump in and let me know which sound you would like to know how to make. I am looking forward to the challenge.

Here are a couple of quick guidelines so I don't have a mental breakdown.

• The phrase of the bassline can be a maximum of 2 bars long
• It has to be Synthetic
• Just basslines this time around, if this is a success I will do different things later on.
• Out of all the suggestions, I'll choose 10 of the most interesting/diverse
• IMPORTANT! - You need to post a link where I can hear the tune, and be very specific as to where the part is, I need a timestamp and a link

And as an incentive, the ten people that choose the basslines will get a short pro membership on the house once their bassline has been created.

So if you have one in mind, let me know! Post a comment in this thread, with a link to the tune and an exact time (MM:SS) as to where the sound starts, and how long it goes for.