Howdy peeps! Here's something i've been curious about for AGES! In most of the Chems' DJ sets (e.g 'Brothers Gonna Work It Out', 'Heavenly Social', etc) I've noticed they use a rather handy little DJ tool to mix between some tracks and I would love to know what it is! X-D



For those with a copy handy, it appears on the 'Heavenly Social' CD towards the end of the set, as they mix out of 'Mirrorshades' (trk 17), and into 'Wede Man' (trk 18). It's kind of a 'woo woo woo woo' sound that gets higher in pitch and frequency as they use it, and seems to work really well to raise the energy of the mix, as well as a handy tool to mix two tracks that are otherwise difficult to mix together.



This 'DJ tool' also appears, I think (!), on their 'Brothers Gonna Work It Out' CD, as they mix out of 'Doin' After Dark (D-Ski's Dance)' into a breakbeat loop followed by 'Don't Stop The Rock' and eventually 'To A Nation Rockin' by Metro LA.



That's about all the info I can give unfortunately! I assume that this sound was created by the chems on a synth of some sort with the intention of using it as a DJ tool. As a DJ myself, I would love to be able to emulate it as it would be a very handy DJ tool to use in my own sets :)



So... does anyone know what this sound is, and how it is created? Any help would be greatly appreciated!



Cheers everyone! :D

you mean the sort of electonic WAAAAAHHHHHAAHHHHHHHHAHHHHHHH, comes before the Metro L.A beats on BGWIO and before starguitar in the Heavenly Social New Years Mix (aswell as before Metro L.A.)



i honestly dont know im afriad, i always thought it was part of the previous song but if its in other dj sets it probably isnt, ive tried making my own sort of sounds like that, kinda worked with a finely looped section of a sound in Fogma by G-A

Maybe it's a theremin.

did anyone else noticed in mirrior shades mix into wede man they use parts of there open up remix.

It must be some sort of effects machine obviously, i have tyed using them before and i find it hard to do a good mix and use effects well over it too,

It's a synth, set to use an LPF, with fairly high resonance (2/3 -> 3/4), with an LFO linked to filter cutoff. Set LFO frequency and amount, and filter cutoff to taste. Oh, you want a triange wave on the LFO. Not sure about the oscillator waveform, probably square.....

Yeah man that's what i wanted to say.

chemicalfan Escribi�:

It's a synth, set to use an LPF, with fairly high resonance (2/3 -> 3/4), with an LFO linked to filter cutoff. Set LFO frequency and amount, and filter cutoff to taste. Oh, you want a triange wave on the LFO. Not sure about the oscillator waveform, probably square.....

Yeah, it exactly is that thing!I love to play with the LFO frequency modulations section on my Native Instruments Prophet 5. Wonderfull instrument. This effect was and is using by Jarre on large scale on his compositions. He made on it (LFO) his famous "metalic rain" in equinoxe album in 1978.



:)

I think you'll find he used an actual Prophet 5, not a soft synth emulation of it. He used all kinds of crazy analogue gear, lucky c***!!



Jeanie: Sorry I beat you to it :P X-D

Yes, ofcourse he used a REAL Prophet 5, because in 1978 did not even exit this kind of software :) I'am using the soft Pro-52 and Pro-53 to making a music, because i haven't the proper amount of money to buy a real instrument :'( BTW, Chemical Brothers are using a multum of analog synthesizers and machines to making music as Jarre: 2600 ARP synthesizers,

AKS, VCS3, Yamaha polyphonic, theremin, Korg polyphonic ensemble and sequenzers like Oberheim Digital Sequenzer or ARP Sequenzer.

chemicalfan Escribi�:

It's a synth, set to use an LPF, with fairly high resonance (2/3 -> 3/4), with an LFO linked to filter cutoff. Set LFO frequency and amount, and filter cutoff to taste. Oh, you want a triange wave on the LFO. Not sure about the oscillator waveform, probably square.....

Cheers Chemicalfan! Thats the kind of info I was after! Do you have any suggestions for which specific synths are good for making this sound? I'd prefer to use a hardware synth so that I can run it through my mixer for DJing.



I've been told that all sorts of synths should generally be able to create this sound, but could you name any in particular? Preferably not classic old synths (like the SH-101, ARP 2600, etc) that require a second mortgage to afford!



Thanks for your help! :D

I've got a Roland SH-32 - it's f***ing brilliant!!!

Got mine for �150 off of eBay, it's a quality synth.



You could also check out the Yamaha AN-200, and if you're not put off by rack gear then check out the Novation A-Station (though that's got no sequencer, you'd have to play it using the audition button during DJ sets). The Korg MS2000 would also do you, but it's a little more expensive. Oh, and I've never played with an Alesis Micron, but that might be ok, I'm not sure of the spec. But people rave about it, so it can't be all bad :D

Once again Chemicalfan you're a big help! Cheers mate, good on ya!



You mention the Novation A-Station as a good option - I'm considering the K-Station as it is within my budget, however I haven't had a chance to play with one yet! Is the Novation K-Station any different from the A-Station?

chemicalfan Escribi�:

I think you'll find he used an actual Prophet 5, not a soft synth emulation of it. He used all kinds of crazy analogue gear, lucky c***!!



Jeanie: Sorry I beat you to it :P X-D

Well offcourse i was being sarcastic cause what you posted there is like soup to me haha.

Besides the small keys, I've heard nothing but good about the MicroKorg, which can be had for quite the reasonable price and features the same synth engine as the more expensive MS2000. Plus it has a vocoder. Nifty.



Me, I've just got a Korg EA-1 as my first piece of equip. Honestly haven't had the time to play with it much yet because of school and work, but as soon as exams are done this week I want to get down to it. Made a pretty cool track (well, pattern, I guess) the other day, but accidentally deleted it before saving. I was choked. Wish it had an LFO though, and an arpeggiator, but I just wanted the cheapest piece of beginners' equipment I could get (around 65 quid fit the bill nicely). I need a drum machine, and then maybe a MicroKorg (so I can have a proper keyboard to slave the EA-1 to).

I've got an EA-1, my fave synth coz of ease of use. But it has no envelope control and no LFO (big no-no really).



Not sure about the MicroKorg, it looks like a preset synth. It's much better when you can change stuff on the fly, especially for DJs.

Yeah, I definetly wish the EA-1 had a few more features, but I couldn't argue with the price and I just wanted something to get started with.



I agree the MicroKorg probably isn't the best for a DJ setup, but it does look like a pretty decent synth compared to the competition in its price range (is there any competition in its price range really?). I think it could do a job.

the microkorg has the same sound engine as the ms2000, and does sound amazing.



but like chemfan says, it's not really good for live use as its only got 4 knobs on it!!



u can edit the presets using the matrix editor, but its quite a cumbersome affair.



but for the price, def worth a look - shit, if my flatmate didnt have an ms2000 id probb consdier buying one!!

It's interesting you've all mentioned the MicroKorg as that's another synth I've been considering. I had a play with one at Turnkey last week and, while I had lots of fun with it, I found that it was a bit limited in the context of live performance potential, as Chemicalfan said. Secondly, in the short time I was playing with it, I was unable to create, or even come close to creating, the sound that I so dearly want to create that I mentioned at the start of this thread!



What do you all think of the Novation K-Station? Is that synth any good?



Cheers all :D

I had a play with a K-Station at Digital Village, and if I remember correctly, you can't assign the LFO's freely :(

I think this is addressed in the KS-Rack though, but I'd check out Novation's website to be sure.



The sound was good if I remember rightly, in fact, I know LFO1 is locked to pitch, and I think LFO2 is locked to PWM or something. That's why I didn't buy one, not enough flexibility for me. I reckon the KS-Rack fixes those issues though, I'm pretty sure it does.