First of all, I’m writing this when the most recent firmware version is 1.22. It is important as you may guess from version to version things change, and in case of TC, not necessarily to good.

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So you bought one of these Firewire audio-interfaces and tried them with your PC, but you can hear crackles, drop-outs (pauses) and all that unpleasant stuff. Let me show some possible reasons, and see if your setup has similar problems.

All three versions of audio-interfaces use Firewire bus to exchange data with a computer. All of the devices are very sensitive to what’s going on in this bus. When data stops coming, you hear the silence. When an audio stream resumes, you don’t hear silence. These pauses are called drop-outs and happen because your PC is busy with something that claims to be very important while on practice it’s usually a malfunctioning device driver.

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I wrote two or three posts ago that I played at the TechnoSphere 2007 pre-party live with my new MIDI controller console and it was spectacular. Now you can see it with your own eyes.

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This Saturday I played live for the first time! Certainly, I tried it in the past, but it wasn’t a real thing — just some simple toying with the software. This Saturday thing was different.

It wasn’t a huge rave that would be definitely over the top for the first-timer, however they put together a small yet convenient stage, added some lighting equipment and sound. There were about 200-300 people when I was performing and it’s more than enough to see how it goes and get the idea of what has to be improved and how. I liked the audience. Many of them didn’t know what “live” means and came asking the same question. It’s good when people care to ask if they don’t understand; it shows they wish to get the picture, learn something new… It was my pleasure to educate them a bit and show how it’s going to be on fingers.

Here I am in the middle of my hour and a half long set. I had huge butterflies in the stomach until the last minute, but eventually it went very well. You can see, I was playing from the HP notebook though the TC Electronic Konnekt 8 firewire audio interface (Andrew, thanks for a hint on this hardware, it’s a dream even though it has some driver problems) and controlling the setup from my custom-built 8-channel midi controller board. The sound was crisp, bright and very clean as the interface is capable of 192kHz/24bit. I didn’t use this much as the CPU in my poor old laptop was almost overloaded, but the potential of the interface is unlimited and I wish to find a way to record the stuff next time for your “offline” listening pleasure.

I would say, my compositions went great and much better than I expected. People were cheering and jumping all around me and the dancefloor. That definitely gave me an inspiration, new ideas and the willingness to go on with performing.

That was a nice start indeed! The next step I’m planning is to create more material for another, better set and climb on a slightly higher stage. :)

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May 20, 2007 is an official birthday of the MIDI controller we were struggling over with my farther since September 2006. In fact, it was he who struggled most of the time elbowing his way through the technical obstacles. My part was only in the original design and programming of this babe. Just have a look. Isn’t it beautiful. Let’s admit it, the front panel looks gorgeous. I was planning to use the device with Ableton Live and it drove the design almost completely. There are eight channels with five knobs, three buttons, two LEDs and a slider for each. All elements can be flexibly assigned to any controls within the application. Originally, I planned the yellow knobs for sends, red for EQ and green for panning, but as I play on I feel that the function may change sometime soon. The top row of buttons with LEDs (right below the knobs) is mutes.

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Sometimes it’s even hard to imagine what will be the next gem you find on the net. This time it’s something really amazing and fun (as usual). I was just clicking here and there having a good time after my evening studies at Linguist Centre when one site grabbed my attention. The site is a large repository of links to different sounds. Yeah, it’s the well structured catalogue — FindSounds. The catalogue of various shrieks, beeps and clicks from all around, no matter whether it’s natural or artificial — anything you can ever think of.

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Have you ever heard Microtechno music? Everyone heard about Techno, Trance, Acid, Jazz, Classics etc etc, but I bet there are very few listeners aware of Microtechno, Microhouse and the whole family of micro-styles.

What’s the difference? The difference is in approach. While those traditional styles are mainly fighting for making music more powerful and rich with special effects, their Micro siblings are aimed to bring simplicity of sound and structure to the final listener, avoiding false complexity of representation. They keep it simple and that attracts. The simplicity of their world is somewhat different from what we are used to deal with. It lives, evolves and behaves as a living creature. The simplicity which absorbs you entirely, giving you a new sense, new motives to live and percept. OK, that was probably too deep, but it is what I actually think when listening to this amazing stuff.

I wouldn’t pretend to be your guide in this complex world of Micro-sound. What pushed me forward writing this small post was an unexpected discovery of one extremely typical and very tallented artist — AcidRain — and his album “Maridia”.

Have a good listening time!

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On Sunday we got back from our trip to abandoned power plant. It was very bright performance and we had a very good time. Here’s my small photo-report about what had happened. The dj-guy in the t-shirt with red sleeves is me.

See photos inside…

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