AP - An attorney says The Smashing Pumpkins have settled a pair of lawsuits filed against Virgin Records over use of the band's music.

Link love, chip love, software love, music love – Create Digital Music is celebrating five years, and it’s time to spread some of the love back to you here in New York City. Wednesday night, we’ll be celebrating five years made possible by our incredible readers with a big party at Love Nightclub in Manhattan.

We’ve got one of the best sound systems in the city. We have eclectic, handmade, heavy beats from the likes of David Last, King Britt, Ganucheau, and IJ Catling (and me, opening up the sets). And because the Honorary Official Language of CDM is Portuguese, we have the baile funk princess Zuzuka Poderosa on vocals. (pictured below)

Zuzuka is singing. Prepare to dance – yes, even us computer nerds, really.

There’s an open bar (beer + house), 7p – while it lasts (get there early).

We’re supported by HP and Intel, featuring the HP Envy 15 Beats Limited Edition laptop, which I’ve programmed to take advantage of its low-light/no-light nightvision webcam. I don’t get to keep mine, though – I’m giving it to you. Limber up and compete in our Twitter Twister contest – enter for a chance to hit the mats and out-twist your friends as we emcee and DJ behind you. Whoever wins takes home the Envy and loads of bragging rights.

Wednesday, December 2
7-11pm
Cover: FREE.

Love Nightclub, 179 MacDougal St in Manhattan [Map], near Washington Square (BDFV-ACE to West 4, RW to 8th St)

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Do you have what it takes to win yourself a new Core i7-powered HP Envy 15 Beats Limited Edition laptop (and enormous pride and bragging rights)? Start limbering up. Photo (CC) Mad African.

ZUZUKA PODEROSA

Zuzuka Poderosa drops Brazilian bred, Brooklyn based swagger like no other. A stylistic blend of Funk Carioca and NYC rumble add a breath of fresh air to today’s international music scene. She’s hard to miss with her unapologetic sultry Portuguese lyrics. This, coupled with booty bumping basslines, she packs New York nightclubs like sardines. The early 90’s NYC Drum n’ Bass scene inspired her to master the wheels of steel. Now, under the alias of "DJ Babyfresh" she spins rare vinyl and Brazilian gems alongside DJ partner Joel Stones ( Tropicalia in Furs Records ). It was a natural progression for her to grab the mic – her passion for writing and poetry could no longer be ignored.

Expect an extremely SWEATY extremely SEXY crowd shortly after this woman hits the mic!

Zuzuka Poderosa (Vigarista Collective)  music, facebook, myspace.

http://twitter.com/ZuzukaPoderosa
www.myspace.com/zuzukapoderosa
www.facebook.com/people/Zuzuka-Poderosa/585267690

Video:

http://www.vimeo.com/5388139
http://vimeo.com/4363268
http://www.vimeo.com/3974321
http://www.vimeo.com/3968169

DAVID LAST

Brooklyn NY resident David Last makes tracks which combine dancefloor energy with the deeper-leaning funk of dancehall, dub, latin music and hip hop. David has become known for his instantly recognizable soundcraft and deeply funky rhythmic sense. His full length CDs for The Agriculture (NYC) and Staubgold (Berlin) have gained critical acclaim and a sizable cult following in the USA, Europe and Japan. He has contributed EPs and remixes for prominent indies worldwide, including Francois K’s WaveTec (NYC) and The Social Registry (NYC).  In 2008 he began the dance music and experimental sounds label KONQUE with Sasha Kaline of Alka Rex.

http://www.myspace.com/davidlast

http://www.davidlast.net

http://percussionlab.com/sets/david_last/live_from_jet_lag

KING BRITT

Well, bios are funny because they tell the story of the past of who you are in the present. I try to only live in the present and the future (as I said, try). Even though beginning my career in 1990 on the now legendary house label Strictly Rhythm as E- Culture, being Silkworm in the groundbreaking, Grammy winning Digable Planets, starting Ovum Recordings with Josh Wink, producing platinum remixes for Macy Gray, Solange, Donna Lewis and hundreds of others, winning the highest grant in the country as the first dj/producer, The Pew Fellowship or starting my empire, FiveSixMedia, I still try to live in the NOW and not the then.

So of course, now, I am a father, fiance’, musicologist of sorts and media revolutionary. My label and company FiveSixMedia, set the example of an individual who is able to live outside the box and show what freedom truly is. Last but not least, co-founder of the amazing Saturn Never Sleeps with my fiance, Rucyl Mills, pushing the boundries of sight and sound.

Doing my own thing on my own time and assisting other to move into that space as well.

The future is bright because I say it is. Stop and smell the flowers

It’s the most wonderful time of the year in New York. Mark your (advent) calendars. And for non-New Yorkers, let me know – who do you want interviewed? What do you want covered? Whose music do you want us to podcast? Our gift to you will be coverage of these events. New Yorkers and metro-area residents of the Northeast US’ Megapolis, I hope to see you there.

Wednesday, December 2: CDM 5th Anniversary Party. At Love Nightclub, CDM celebrates its 5th anniversary at Love Nightclub with Philly’s own King Britt, David Last joined by Brazilian baile funk vocalist Zuzuka Poderosa, laptronica artist and CDMer Ganucheau, and IJ Catling DJing, all one one of the city’s best sound systems. Compete in Twister and you could walk home with a new laptop yourself (HP Envy 15’s Beats Limited Edition). Free + open bar, Manhattan. (Facebook)

Thursday, December 3: TurboTax. Our friends at XLR8R Magazine continue their monthly with future-bass Dub War resident Dave Q and friends, proof that NYC can do dubstep, too. Free + free beer, Williamsburg.

Saturday, December 5: RjDj + Pd Skill Share @ Eyebeam. Brush up your patching skills in the free and open source patching environment Pure Data (Pd) with some of its best developers, Hans-Christoph Steiner and the team behind reactive music environment RjDj. See also RjDj’s hackshop (hoping we can add some extra sprint time not opposite in/out fest) and a party for their new creation on 12/11. All events at Eyebeam. Free, Manhattan.

Friday, December 11: Saturn Never Sleeps. A live beats lineup wrangled by King Britt hits the new Knitting Factory; I’m doing live generative visuals for the evening. DUMBO, Brooklyn.

Saturday, December 12: in/out Festival at The Tank. A new entry this year, in/out Festival looks to be a packed day of unusual music control. By day, the fest features workshops on Jitter, Reaktor, Max for Live, and … felt. (Yes, the Grant Sisters are back with felt as a music controller.) I’ll talk about OSC and visualizing music and musical messages. By night, we make music and visuals, with a lineup ranging from Lori Napolean on appropriated telephone switchboard to monome creator tehn. Tix are cheap at $10 for the whole day. Tickets. Manhattan.

Thursday-Saturday, December 17-19: Blip Festival. The annual 8-bit music and visual chipfest returns with three nights of events. Gowanus, Brooklyn.

That’s just the fests and special events. I know The Glitch Mob play Webster Hall on December 10, among others.

So we have very little to complain about in NYC, and it’s my duty to bring the goodness to the world beyond our Megapolis.

BLIP FESTIVAL 2009 from 2 Player Productions on Vimeo.

Online retailer audioMIDI has begun a new sale I really love called the “No Brainer” series. They offer some carefully-selected instruments and effects for prices like $5, $15, or $20. These aren’t clearance bin deals, either; they’re some of the best plug-ins on the market, in either full versions or slightly stripped-down (but fully-functional) editions. audioMIDI has exclusively released details of the deals they’ll offer Monday to CDM, and among them is the wonderful XILS 3 – a virtual instrument with the matrix editing of the classic EMS synthesizers.

Expiring

First, you have until midnight 11/30 to grab AAS’ fantastic modeled virtual analog, Ultra Analog, for $15 (instead of around $200). Ableton has their own version of this instrument called Analog, but if you’re using other hosts (or you don’t have Live Suite and want to save some cash), this is a great option.

AAS Ultra Analog VA-1 for $15

Ongoing

The Overloud Breverb is a multi-function reverb plug, normally going for $369. The audioMIDI edition comes with room and plate reverbs – nicely matching the free TC Electronic hall reverb we got last week – for five bucks.

Breverb audioMIDI Edition

Rhetorical question: could a great Breverb inspire a profound Bromance?

Monday

It’s actually the upcoming deals that go live Monday that have me especially enthusiastic.

Blue Analog Trackbox from NOMAD Factory is a tube-emulating multi-effects unit with loads of timbral options and modules for gate/expander, compressor, and EQ. After a quick play-round, it seems to sound great. It’s normally US$189, but from Monday, it’ll be $15 through AudioMIDI. Expires December 6. 

Trackbox offer link (will go live Monday, won’t work any earlier)

XILS 3 is a virtual modular with matrix editing. The creators don’t mention it by name, but the hardware in question is the legendary VCS 3 – a brilliant analog synth from EMS. The EMS synths are overshadowed somewhat here in the States by the likes of Moog; if you don’t know the VCS 3, go look it up.

Matrices were a great idea back in the day on hardware, and they remain a great idea now. Lovers of the EMS or synth sounds in general won’t want to miss this, especially with sequencer and synth modules and the ability to use the XILS 3 as an audio processor on live input. You’ll get a slightly stripped-down version, but at a steep discount – US$20. Expires end of December.

XILS 3 offer link (will go live Monday, won’t work any earlier)

I’m playing around with all of these, so if I have tips to share, I will. Let us know if you bite on any of these offers.

Winter is coming. If you had to hole up with just one instrument, getting deep into programming sounds while venturing out of your abode only for essential supplies, any one of these instruments would easily fit the bill. Yes, Native Instruments bundles (nearly) everything they make into the Komplete bundle. But truly, any one of these creations would be a sonic rabbit hole into which you could climb. In ascending order of rabbit-hole-ness:

Massive: Drag-and-drop modulation, rich wavetables, and an emphasis on bass and leads make this a sonic favorite.

FM8: There’s simply no deeper frequency modulation instrument on the market.

Absynth 5: This instrument’s presets alone can be heard in scores for games and film, but those willing to brave its atmospheric sound mangling features and become ninjas with its envelope could wind up making it their only instrument if they had to.

Reaktor 5: The patching environment allows custom synths, effects, sequencers, and other tools; its granular sound engine and DSP programming stand apart.

All are now US$ / EUR 99, but only through the weekend.

Reaktor in particular is an incredible deal – you get a huge library of instruments, effects, sequencers, noisemakers, and unusual sonic creations, plus access to the User Library and all the Reaktor community has done. That’s even before you delve into one of the deepest sound development tools on the planet.

Now, of course, this prompted one reader to ask if NI were clearing out Reaktor inventory prior to releasing a new upgrade.

Reaktor is certainly long overdue for an upgrade; as other NI software has gotten repeat, ground-up rebuilds, Reaktor 5 is now a number of years old. That’s not to say you’ll run out of capabilities in Reaktor – it could take a lifetime to do that. But loyal Reaktor fans understandably want improvements, especially as they’ve watched rival commercial patcher Max get an entirely new UI and now a version integrated with Ableton Live. (Reaktor, for its part, is still a candidate for Live users, as Reaktor owners can run their creations as plug-ins.)

Whatever the status of the next Reaktor, though, this is a download version, so there’s no inventory, period. And Absynth 5 is a brand new piece of software. The good news here is, any of these purchases should qualify you for the upgrade path.

Any one of these could make a good deal.

Synthsgiving Special

Incidentally, I have the same complaint about Reaktor that I do about Max for Live – creators need a run-time to distribute their work. It’d be fantastic if a future Reaktor could make instruments playable in NI’s free Kore Player. And it seems like that would be the perfect compromise between allowing distribution of Reaktor creations and protecting the value of the Reaktor crown jewels. But when it comes to making things for yourself, these are all great choices. Let us know if you spring for one.

“Black Friday” has become a traditional date for talking discounts, but one price you can’t beat is free.

Cakewalk is giving away some of their older effects and synth plug-ins. These aren’t just hand-me-downs – Cakewalk forum members lamented that a couple of these didn’t receive greater development attention. They’re eminently usable on Windows systems now. Available free:

• SFZ+: The real highlight here, rgc:audio’s excellent SoundFont sampler player, with built-in effects, various performance options, and an all-in-one interface
• Square I: A very lovely analog subtractive synth
• Audio FX 1: Multi-effects including compressor/gate, limiter, expander/gate, dynamics 
• Audio FX 2: Guitar amp and tape simulation
• Audio FX 3: A unique reverb / room emulation plug-in that allows you to design your own soundstage

Audio FX 1-2 have been easily supplanted by newer options from Cakewalk, but Audio FX 3 is fun to play with. And Square I and SFZ+ are both good bread-and-butter additions to your plug-in library. Note that the FX plug-ins are all DirectX plug-ins, not VST, but the two synths will work as VSTs – meaning they can also work on Linux, making them a nice choice for your netbook.

Holiday discounts

Cakewalk is also discounting software in their Holiday Guide – and offering savings on new, music-optimized PCs. Native Instruments is running a $99 sale on their synths, which is repeated here, but Cakewalk has some deals, too:

• Rapture for $49 or $99: Easily on par with NI’s better instruments now on sale (like Massive), Rapture is a favorite electronic instrument, capable of some gorgeous sounds and with a friendly but deep envelope editing window. Current SONAR users get it for $49/€49/£34.50, and any registered Cakewalk customer for $99/€99/£82.50.
• Kinetic 2 for ten bucks: Kinetic is actually a fun but overlooked little drum machine packed with Roland groove box samples, VST and ReWire support, and simple sampling. At $10, this is a nice stocking stuffer for yourself.
• Beat Fetish for $20: Martin Atkins-produced beat soundware at a steep discount
• Elite Packs for SONAR: Bundles featuring notation, reverb, sound restoration, guitars, and piano are now discounted for SONAR 8.5 users to US$/EUR 79-199.
• And a new computer: Through Sunday, SONAR 8.5 users get a 20% coupon off of PCAudioLabs’ excellent, music production-optimized PCs. And yes, this sort of thing is a good thing to squeeze in before the end of the tax year as a writeoff, especially for freelancers and the self-employed.

For all the deals:

Cakewalk "Black Friday" Holiday Deals

By the way – for the record, “Black Friday” is not some sort of goth-tinged day in which retailers offer deals so cheap they horrify even themselves with bargains as black as the night. No, it’s a reference to the day on the retail calendar at which businesses traditionally broke even, with the holiday shopping season the time of year to actually turn a profit. So here’s to the move from red ink to black ink – something we’d all celebrate in this economy.