Ninja brethren of the leaf and root:
Beware the machinations of the leafcutterjohn. His new sampling software “Forester”, provides a glimpse into a world of spatial temporal awareness forbidden to mankind.
This trove of unspeakable musics derives its knowledge from whole folders of samples, or an entire CD worth of music (straight from your primitive earth-based optical devices), allowing even the most clueless of beatsmiths a chance perspective at musical creation several orders of magnitude beyond their ken.
Nonetheless, if we are to be prepared for the creations that this program will no doubt manifest, we must look into the abyss without fear, lest we fall victim due to our ignorance. Be sure you have something set up to reroute the audio signal, and learn to recognize the different life-forms within the forests of your fragile, human mind. Witness the effects on the r0b0tninja outpost, and despair.
Listen to the Flower
Spendthrift and frugal ninjabots,
Here at R0b0tninja I try to bring new synthesis and audio production techniques to the forefront of human liminal understanding, ignoring the bullshit and bringing only the juiciest gems for your consumption.
But I must make an exception in this one case: the Percussa audio cubes, midi controllers for such popular programs as Ableton Live and Reason, seem to your humble r0b0tninja the embodiment of an electronics retail industry run amok. I mean, what the fuck. Here’s the absolute greatest thing a site selling it has to say:
They look way-cool in a dark room. Physical interaction between the cubes. A very portable system.
Really? That’s why I’m going to spend 1300 US dollars? These things are proximity based midi triggers, finally bridging the world of boardgames to the world of music production. While I must admit a passing curiosity as to the inner workings of these wastes of space, I also can’t believe that anyone would find any real use for these chunks of stanky demon taint in the first place. Maybe if I wanted to impress a dozen japanese teenage girls, I would buy these and play some jungle beats or something, smoke machine going strong, lasers blasting off all over the place.
In fact, forget about the jungle and the lasers. I’ll be the smoke machine, ladies.
Ninjablasters and blastees,
It pleases me to announce that a group of Super-scientific Spaniards have discovered that which your only r0b0tninja friend has known for countless millenia: that the atmosphere of Titan, the only moon in the solar system with an atmosphere, has electrical storms similar to those on earth. From the article at Physorg:
Physicists of the University of Granada and the University of Valencia have developed a proceeding to analyse specific data sent by the Huygens probe from Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, proving “in an unequivocal way” that there is natural electric activity in its atmosphere. The scientific community thinks that there is a higher probability that organic molecules precursors to life could form in those planets or satellites which have an atmosphere with electric storms.
Keeping with the plebian experiments conducted by Russian biochemists Alexander I. OparÃn and Stanley L. Miller, who managed to synthesize organic compounds from inorganic ones by using electric shocks, these Swarthy Spanish Scientists believe that Titan could be home to an alternate evolutionary process, one based on the same macro-molecules that comprise your fragile human minds.
The data they used to draw such a conclusion? Why the combined audio/visual output of the Huygens probe, launched from the Cassini spacecraft in 2005, retransmitted here, for my amusement. Of course, my superior r0b0tninja uses for such data can be found elsewhere, and with much more dire implications…
R0b0tninja superscience conquers all
The pirates and feminazis over at Macidol have inadvertently earned my wrath once more–in an almost inconceivable gesture of antipathy, the Robotninja page was somehow offline for several days at a time! I know…Aside from the implicated various world-wide calamities and economic perils, the resulting pressure wave unleashed by my contempt alone will send out a wave of destruction in all directions, several kilometers in diameter.
Nonetheless, I the samples are now back online, and you can feel free to check out an example of Thor’s synthetic godpower at the sample page.
And balance was restored to the multiverse
so serious, myninjas.
The norsemen over at Propellerhead have always made the earth tremble with their might, pillaging England and discovering America nonchalantly. But they continue to out-man their heritage by supplying us with their software Reason, and we thank them for that. What’s more, now they’ve granted mortal man the powers of the sun of Asgard, Odin’s beak, the All-powerful mangod Thor. They even show you some interesting shit about using white noise in this tutorial, and using Thors noise oscillators to manifest some pretty tasty jimmy-jams. Peep the sample page to sample Thor’s Hammer, no homo.
I like this graph, because it looks like a technicolor asshole and is to-the-point.
Sincerely,
Robotninja, spoken while dropping herbal smokebomb manuevers, but not read
Indeed, esteemed ninjamen.
The good people over at the National Beatmakers Association have constructed a portable music making device sure to offset the delicate balance of the cosmos. This little bastard might be the anti-christ, but it might also be mankind’s last and greatest hope (like Obama!), enabling seasoned pros and neophytes alike to record and sequence their music on a solid and portable jambone (unlike Obama). From the site:
Software
- Linux Multimedia Real Time Operating System (OS) – (Low Latency)
- Pre Loaded Software ‘Suite’ (no software or drivers to load)
- Free Software Updates
- Customizable (Open Platform)
- Faster Editing With Touch Screen
Hardware
- Small Form Factor – Ultra Portable
- 40 Gigabyte Hard Drive
- Robust 7.0″ Display at 1024×600
- Hold Switch (Lock Function)
- VGA Port For External Monitor
- Two USB 2.0 Ports
The fact that it’s linux based makes it as stable as the spatial fabric upon which your delicate dimension is nestled. A quick look at the number of plugins they give you (260) and the fact that you can use it to host any other VST you have, and you realize how easily this thing could merge with some punk biker kid from Tokyo, enhance his latent telekinetic abilities and usher in the higher evolutionary capabilities of mankind long before its time. Add the usb ports and touch screen, and it becomes clear that a demon-machine, capable of blasting through the ass of any mortal man, woman or beast of the field, is now upon us.
The price tag gives me pause ($1100), but I get a lot done during those pauses.
Robotninjas don’t sleep
Yes, myninjas.
The Ambrosia Software ninja-team has constructed a seamless and foolishly capable piece of software, which if left in the wrong hands, could easily lead to the destruction of all audio in the known megaverse. WireTap Anywhere allows users of Apple’s Core Audio to connect any audio source to any audio destination, allowing non-robotninjas to sample any sound their primitive computers can produce.
I always pulled a similar maneuver using an external digital audio interface–I’m prone to route my movies and other system audio out to a light=pipe usb connection. Also, any ninja with an mpc (or lesser hardware sampler) can do the exact same thing, all without having to pay out the ass for a soft version ($129). Still, if I were into podcasting and interviews, it would be nice to be able to record both ends of a skype call, say, or just an ill internet radio station (free of AD/DA conversion, no less).
…blessed are the robotninja–the robotninja will inherit the earth
What it is, maninja
In accordance with the elders of the dojo, I have been instructed to inform you that the virtual instrument suite from Native Instruments, Kore Player, is available for download from their site. I stumbled across this fact only after experiencing the Rhythmic Oscillations from the other day, rejoicing in its ability to fucks with VSTs.
Anyway, turns out that Kore player can be used as a kind of meta-suite, allowing you to use mutliple NI instruments within a single, epic virtual instrument. The download comes with 300mb of sounds, including some pretty decent drum samples. Of course, the r0b0tninja normally chooses to telekinetically manifest his own samples, the implications of which I will leave for you to work out. Or see for yourself on the sample jam.
The Robotninja, master of magic skills and illusions
enemies crumble in fear and confusion
For all my ninjammy-jams,
Apple’s got an interesting little app called Oscillating Rhythms for you, available for free from their site. This little jam caught my attention, not so much for the four track midi sequencer, or the simple eq and filter effects. No, what interests the robotninja about this, is that you can use any number of different Audio Units and VSTs within its form. We robotninjas tend to rely heavily on plug-ins, and for such as small program to play host for them brings up a number of interesting possibilities.
We also like to sample randomness, here at robotninja hq. And, when I’m not deep within the heart of a black-hole, retrieving some ancient artifact that when gazed upon would result in the instantaneous face-melting of a lesser being, I enjoy stringing together randomly generated midi data and adding the resulting sound file to my collection of skulls and spines, to use at my leisure and purposes beyond.
One thing to watch out for, is that the default file format is m4a. Kind of weak, if you ask me, but nothing that can’t be fixed with the proper techniques.
Life is hard, but the robotninja is much harder.
Oh my robot jesus,
The madmen at Celemony have brought the state of digital audio manipulation to a new frontier–pitch correction within complex harmonic instruments like guitars and pianos. For the last few years, lesser vocal ninja-musicians have been able to supplement their lack of skill and grace with digital manipulation. These effects can be heard in anything by robot singer T-pain or Cher’s “life after love”. Now the recordings of the amateur can be re-tooled towards perfect correctitude, the notes refined by some monstrous computational beast.
The Robotninja cringes at the music of tommorrow.
