spinstar

good call on Murk. hands down best local DJ duo. (fx and meng come in a quick local 2nd).

me + amateur lingerie model

There was an article in New Times Broward about this event. I think it's going to be refreshing to hear some different DJs other than the same old tired usuals.

Predictions for best setz: MOTORCYCLE ACOSTA PVD

No -- but it's hot as balls. Go to wtvj.com click on weather, click on cam images, find Coco Walk cam and see for yourself. Don't be misled by player haters!

progressive trance

the sounds are great. but they have another electribe S that came out a few years ago that is equally nice and could purchased brand new at guitar center in hallandale for probably under $300 bucks. My Korg products for live/production work: ER1 (drums) EA1 (bass and synth lines) DW800 (main keyboard) Also check out the Akai sampler series. You can find stuff from on e-bay super cheap.

cool edit pro is the easiest program to use with the highest quality yield possible. word to the wise... when recording to digital (computer) make sure that you're not too loud. you can always use the amplify/normalize function after you're done. otherwise it will sound very amatuer.

for those of you who missed Junkie XL's sweet PA at Ultra's mainstage, he will be performing live at Nerve on April 16th. massive props to the boys involved at nerve for bringing in some of the most impressive live electronica sets to soflo. let's not forget that they were the first to lend the stage to infusion. i think this year they will bring even more live electronica acts to miami than ever before. peace

where is the closest parking lot for opium?

word to the wise... don't plug your guitar directly into the computer. mic it. put a microphone about 2 inches away from the front of your guitar amp and med to low volume and record wave into any numer of the dozens software programs out there. unless you want an over-distorted sound (andrew wk, nin, rammstein) go for it. experiment. the electric guitar is the root of all evil. go to hitsquad.com for free programs....

GODSKITCHEN Mansion 1235 Washington Avenue Monday Night Armin Van Buuren, Crystal Method (live), Armada featuring M.I.K.E., Remy, Harry Lemon, and Markus Schulz. $35. Where's the beef baboo?

Name your largest venue, name your favorite house DJ, and I can name at least 5 trance DJs that will sell more advance tickets.

Let's not get personal mates about the age issues and such. Focus on musicianship and technical proficiency. Since most of you in here are aboslutely clueless about notation, musical scales, chordal progressions, and time signatures... I'l try to keep it as elementary as possible. Downtempo music can be very entertaining if it is done right. House music in its most primitve form consists of primarily three things: a standard 4/4 beat that goes on for about 7 minutes (ocassionally muting the kick) a bassline that rarely strays from a 4 measure length a synthsized drone somewhere in the middle an occassional voacal, but for the most part an organic feel and utilization of organic-sounding percussions and such. Trance can build and offer a dynamic range reminiscent of the great composers. It offers sonic textures in its rhythms. The melodies change around and are not monotonic. And most of all the melodic structure is not restricted to 4 bar measure max. I've been to Chicago, Detroit, LA, Washington, NY, of course, Miami. I have seen it all. I'm older than most of you, and have seen producers make house music when it was all we had. Unfortuntely, the bar has been raised and the 80s are over. House music doesn't generate crowds. Nor do house CDs fare very well at sales counters. It doesn't compare. Get off the band wagon, and the crack.

TRance never died. It went to the store for some munchies

Classics are meant to be remembered, not played. This is the 21st Century. Get out of the 80's boys and girls. Listeners tastes have advanced.

Nothing can put a crowd into slumber faster than house music or rohypnol -- and I don't like either. House music fans were few and far between at this year's Ultra. People graviated to trance, techno, and breaks. Edgar V Sounded as if he were personally reviving techno. Very nice set = Detroit sound with German flavor. Oscar G No comment. Perry Farrel Trainwrecked numerous times during his set and at one point had a mate comeover and mix a couple of tracks while he got his bearings straight. Horrible. Way Out West No comment. I made way for my cohorts and quickly went over to the main ampitheatre for a more agressive sound. Junkie XL One of his best live performances yet. Etheral and thought provoking with a violin fugue intro and outro and star-quality stage presence. Thumping beats and genre bending tunes do nothing short of making this guy likeable by everybody, considering he has remixed almost everybody who's anybody. Did I mention he played LOUD? Tiesto Aside from the sound getting cutoff during his second track, he trainwrecked only once, but gave a nice dishing of energetic melodic trance. Which raised spirits and got the crowd moving. Paul Oakenfold Flawless mixing, intuitive tweaking, no sound hiccups whatsover, the founder of Ultra (I always forget his name and I believe it was his brother -- the guy with the pony tail) came over to the sound engineer's booth where I was to catch some of the show. Albeit Oakey's set was dashed with acid tracks as well as commercial numbers, it just seemed to lack the hands-in-the air mentality of Tiesto's. Chemical Brothers Completely lame. This clearly should have been a live set and not a DJ set. They lost my vote. Ferry Corsten As predicted, he put people in a very upbeat mood. Staggering 140 beats, appregiated synth lines, and all around joy to watch spin because of his crowd participation and promotional activities ("Punk") he got the crowd chanting and singing along. RITM As usual, did nothing short of keep people with their jaws on the ground and photographers and filmakers scrambling to get a good shot. Richie Hawtin initially stood on the side of the stage scratching his head and eventually going deeper backstage as Bunny paved the way for electronic groups everywhere. As many of you know, this years Ultra was filmed for Pay-Per View distribution. The overall frenzie graviated towards the performances from people who know how to get crowds going and the traditionally house folks weren't doing it. The progressive tent was playing some nice tunes, but lacked, together with a better location, crowd energy. Don't get me wrong house sounds great when you're at home, or washing your car, but it truly sucks in a venue. A recent scientifc study revealed that people dance more often, and for longer periods of time without sitting down, when beats per minute clock in at 138+. Slower beats make people want to relax or grab a drink. The only thing that will save house music is live PAs. Otherwise, it's dead.

attention DJs: anything that has Cosmic Gate or Green Court attached to it, get it.

a couple of years ago Cosmic Gate preformed at Level and tore the roof off. Y-100 did a live broadcast and there are copies of the set floating around on the net.

I've got some of new tracks posted up at soundclick.com/d3000 for those of you who have never been there, it is an artists site where people are allowed to freely post and download tracks in every genre imaginable. d3000 forever...

audioslave bob marley NIN (although some of their tracks are dance/industrial) Jay-Z beastie boys radiohead

Ramon-- did you ever get the demo CD that I sent you? I've got some new material tracked and if you need another CD, let me know and I'll mail you one... keep in mind that everything laid down was done with a drum machine and two synths -- no samplers, no CDs or vinyl, no lap top -- simply electronica in PA mode.

a little off subject but... has anyone tried Ableton's Live? i hear that it is really good for dopping in samples, loops, cuts, and pretty much anything else. the beauty of the program is that it syncs eveything in real-time. great for DJs... check out hitsquad.com for a big list of freeware and shareware.

just curious - does that particular version have a 64-note per pattern limit? my problem with some of those programs is that, you basically get only 4 bars of music -- 16 notes per bar x 4 = 64 notes. some even less. it can get a little repitive using the same formula. however, most progressive house, which i'm really into uses this... 1234 1234 1234 1234... loop

i love reason because all of the input routing you can do. unfortunately, i have spent most of my free time writing music on hardware synths and sequencers -- which will help you in the long run. reason and acid will only take you so far...