Here’s the .tsi file for the M-Audio X-Session Pro for Traktor Pro that I used on my latest mix: “The Consequences.” The photo shows how I set up the top knobs and the rest is pretty standard, with soft-takeovers on the faders and effect knob. The file is not backwards compatible for earlier versions of Traktor.

Speaking in Code is an intimate account of people who are completely lost in music. A heartbreaking and lighthearted documentary, it’s a vérité glimpse into the world of techno.Captivating and entertaining, the film takes you around the world, following the people who make electronic music … their lives. I’ve watched it and could really relate in a lot of ways, from the experience of being a festival-go-er, DJ, musician, and promoter who’s passionate about electronic music. In particular I found one scene where the critic Philip Sherburn becomes emotional while talking about his dead father very moving. It’s a great documentary to add to your collection if you love music. Own yours now for $19.95.

“One of the most need-to-watch music docs in recent memory.” — Urb Magazine

STARRING: Modeselektor, Wighnomy Brothers, Monolake, Philip Sherburn, Ellen Allien, Tobias Thomas, Marc Leclair AKA Akufen, Wolfgang Voight, Michael Mayer, Reinhard Voigt, Sascha Ring AKA Apparat, Sascha Funke, Miss Kitten and more.

Here’s some news from my Quantazelle production product. I’ve got two new tracks to share with you, “Quantum Gazele”and a cover ofBeyonce’s”Halo”

.I’ve also released a bunch of my samples as a free download, and I’m holding a remix contest with prizes. I hope you download it and play around with the weird sounds I’ve made, and I look forward to hearing what you’ve made.

And if you’ve been link-clicking you might have noticed I have a new website.I’ve also got some posters and t-shirts for sale if you want to go check them out.

Thanks for your support! Enjoy,
Liz

Circuit Bent Saturdays, The eSymposium
EVERY Saturday, 12:00 noon – 3:00 PM
Lizard’s Liquid Lounge, 3058 W Irving Park Rd, (773) 463-7599

To nurture the Midwest experimental electronics community, we host a free weekly “eSymposium,” a lateral lecture series where participants are both teachers and students. There’s soldering, tinkering, Q&A, show-&-tell, bending circuits, hacking toys, and Chicago’s only weekly Circuit Bent Open Mic. Stop by, join the eSymposium’s Google Group, or check out what we’ve been up to at youtube.com/eSymposiumChicago and soundcloud.com/eSymposiumChicago.

Here’s a great review of the Digital DJing Workshop where I did a presentation on Branding & Marketing yourself as a DJ. I’m glad people found it helpful and interesting. [English translation]

Rusko shares his views on sound design and his process of beat wrangling on the making of “Rats in My Kitchen.” (Thanks, Michael)

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Check out another fun flash audio toy from Hobnox, the creators of the Audiotool (that I’ve written about before) called Nudge. The above is my little creation. (You have to hit the triangle at the bottom right 2x to turn off playback)

Nudge is a virtual-instrument widget designed for self-expressive online music making & sharing. It’s fun and simple to use and you don’t need to know a single thing about producing music to make your own individual songs in minutes!

Brought to you by the developers of the Audiotool, nudge is yet another example of the pioneering work of the team dedicated to creating the best online music production tools.

Joshua Schnable have me the heads up and he did his own remix:
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Watching this documentary on the contemporary techno movement gave me goosebumps. And I recognized every single track in this trailer (yay for those technerd points).

Speaking in Code is an intimate account of people who are completely lost in music. A heartbreaking and lighthearted documentary, it’s a vérité glimpse into the world of techno.Captivating and entertaining, the film takes you around the world, following the people who make electronic music … their lives.

Starring: Modeselektor, Wighnomy Brothers, Monolake, Philip Sherburne, David Day & Amy Grill

Also featuring: Ellen Allien, Tobias Thomas, Marc LeClair AKA Akufen, Wolfgang Voigt, Michael Mayer, Reinhard Voigt, Sascha Ring AKA Apparat, Sascha Funke, Mario Willms AKA Douglas Greed, Miss Kittin, Dan Paluska AKA Six Million Dollar Dan, Mike Uzzi AKA Smartypants

Featuring music by: Modeselektor, Wighnomy Brothers, Robag Wruhme, Ellen Allien & Apparat, The Field, Monolake, Michael Mayer, Gas, Jonas Bering, SCSI-9, Gui Boratto, Superpitcher, Steadycam, Dettinger, The Rice Twins, Reinhard Voigt, Oxia

Although the artists featured are mostly based in Germany, the internet has spread this particular sound throughout the world through niche-oriented internet media. Germans aren’t the only ones generating the energy of the new movement, but their scene is very visible. We do need educational vehicles like one this to explain to the world why we’re so passionate about something so abstract, yet moving and emotional. Can’t wait to see the final product.

ALSO: Here my more-academic rant on Gaper’s Block: “Speaking in Code: A Documentary on the Passion-fueled Lives of Contemporary Techno Creators”

Techno enthusiasts, I would propose, operate on a generally more abstract level than just “having a beat you can dance to” along with a sung allegory of lost love or pursued-yet-unrequited love. Much along the lines of Western Classical enthusiasts, they giddily freak out about an unexpected bass-modulated, gated atonality, and derive blissful pleasure from well-placed syncopation and juxtaposing the minimal alongside the maximal.