SONOMA WIRE WORKS NEWS: APRIL 2006 EDITION
ANNOUNCEMENTS
- RiffWorks Demo at Blue Bear School of Music, San Francisco
- RiffRumble III Song Contest Starts May 10
- RiffWorks in PBS TV Auctions
- Free Upgrade to Version 2 of RiffWorks Line 6 Edition for Purchases of Version 1 On or After 2/1/06
FEATURED COLUMN
RIFFWORKS EVENT AT BLUE BEAR SCHOOL OF MUSIC, SAN FRANCISCO
RiffWorks will be demoed to the SF Bay Area press during the first week of May.
As part of our press tour, we are planning a fun, low-key demo event at:
Blue Bear School of Music, Fort Mason, Building D
May 7th from 5:30 - 8:00pm
Join us for:
- 3:00-5:00 Blue Bear School of Music Student Open Mic
- 5:30-8:00 Hands-on RiffWorks Demo Station in the Lobby
- 5:30 Beverages and Pizza
- 6:00 & 7:00 RiffWorks Shredding Demo in the Performance Hall
If you'd like to come, please RSVP to Michelle.
Directions
RIFFRUMBLE III SONG CONTEST STARTS MAY 10
The next RiffRumble song contest begins May 10th. Submit your song created in RiffWorks and you could win hundreds of dollars in prizes! No entry fee.
For more info on how to become a RiffRumble III contender:
RiffRumble III
RiffRumble Forum.
Thanks to the RiffRumble III Sponsors:
Line 6 - Music products that inspire creativity in both recording and live environments.
Disc Makers - CD duplication
and manufacturing made easy for independent musicians - and special freebies
for Sonoma Wire Works users.
CD Baby - A little CD store with the best new independent music.
IndiePodcasting.com - Using the latest technology to promote indie musicians.
RIFFWORKS IN PBS TV AUCTIONS
US and Canadian residents can bid for RiffWorks & RiffLink in dozens of PBS TV Auctions that will be online and televised this April thru June, then some in November.
Support your local, non-profit PBS station by bidding for it or telling your friends and family that they could get a great deal on RiffWorks & RiffLink.
Winning bidders receive a a gift certificate for RiffWorks Standard version 2 plus a one year subscription to RiffLink online collaboration, which will be worth at least $230 total. This is approximate pricing.
Check the forum for updated auctions.
FREE UPGRADE TO RIFFWORKS VERSION 2 FOR PURCHASES OF RIFFWORKS V1
ON OR AFTER 2/1/06
Purchase and activate RiffWorks or Line 6 GuitarPort RiffTracker with RiffWorks on or after 2/1/06 and receive a free upgrade to RiffWorks V2 Line 6 Edition from Line 6 when it's released. This offer includes purchases made on or after February 1, 2006 in any store that sells GuitarPort RiffTracker (like Guitar Center, Comp USA, Amazon and Musician's Friend) as well as online purchases of RiffWorks for GuitarPort and the PODxt line from the Line 6 store.
If you bought RiffWorks prior to February 1st, the upgrade pricing to RiffWorks Version 2 Line 6 Edition will be approximately $30.
SO MANY REASONS
I love RiffWorks. As a songwriter, it allows me to make use of more than my normal bag of tricks.
By Hayden Bursk*
Column updated on July 29, 2008
Usually, as a writing guitar player, I get locked into a routine of using chords and melody. RiffWorks frees me from that, making it easy
to write multiple parts that interact with each other. I can write for a whole band. As a producer, I can generate ideas quickly and
easily that are so complete, they could be finished recordings. I can write and record all at the same time. The important thing to
remember is that I don't need to be inspired to start up RiffWorks and lay down an idea. Starting up RiffWorks is the inspiration and the ideas will come.
Mainly, I work in the pop-rock genre. I like hooks and lots of them. I also love a big wall of sound. Creating guitar part upon guitar
part builds that wall quickly. To add another depth and dimension to my sound, I turn to Reason by Propellerhead Software. For those that don't know,
Reason is a music production instrument - a virtual hardware rack of gear including drum machines, synthesizers, and samplers that is
completely modular and expandable. If you want twenty drum machines and forty samplers, all with their own distortions, delays, and reverbs, you can have it. Reason 3.0 was often affectionately referred to as "Reasons" or "Reasons Thirty" most often by those working in the hip hop genre. Now, Reason Version 4 is available, but as far as I know, it's still awaiting a loving nickname. For those hip hop beatmakers though, Redrum works as the heart of Reason. It's a ten channel drum machine with a built-in pattern based sequencer similar to a Roland 808. Every compostion starts there. I'm a guitar based composer, so my compostions start in RiffWorks, but Reason allows me to fill out my sound. As a special note, there's no wrong way to say "ReDrum". It can be pronounced "Red Rum" as in the Kubrick film "The Shining", or as "Re-drum", or as "Red Drum". I'll switch pronounciations in the middle of a sentence, but I'm partial to "Re-drum".
Using a protocol built into both RiffWorks and Reason, called ReWire, allows me to run Reason and RiffWorks simultaneously. Their transports lock and audio from Reason comes into RiffWorks with
sample accurate timing (RiffWorks' ReWire Guide). So here's the fun part. I've created a riff or two with RiffWorks, and I want to turn one of the riffs into a big pop chorus. That means using a lot of airy pads. Reason has thousands of patches to choose from, and there are always more to create, purchase, or download for free online. I love using strings and synth pads from the Maelstrom or the Subtractor, or even a full orchestra. Sometimes I layer multiple sounds on top of one another. Simply playing the roots of my chords using a big pad can really add a whole new element to my composition.
Even though RiffWorks comes with the InstantDrummer we all love, using Reason for drums can make things a little more exciting. Some InstantDrummer sessions, when using a low intensity, will only play the hi-hat. This is great. I set up my InstantDrummer to play only hi-hats, and I set up Reason to play an in your face kick and snare pattern. I've just created a
hybrid sound blending the acoustic realism of a real hat played by a real drummer with the punchy attack of Reason samples.
If you really want to expand your Reason Version 4 drum sounds, you should check out the Jason McGerr Sessions ReFill created by Drummerheads
Here are some tracks I've created in RiffWorks and Reason using the above ideas.
Plasma Screen Dreams: The drums in
this track came entirely from Reason. I used a free refill I found online full of old drum machines. I believe I used an Alesis SR12
kit, ran it through a little compression and reverb, and played a lot of crashes during the chorus. Also note the keyboards that come in
during the chorus to give it that super happy uplifting feeling. This track ended up being used in a MTV commercial.
So Karate: This uses that hybrid approach to drums I was talking about. I'm using an InstantDrummer that's only playing hi-hat and laying a very
simple kick-snare pattern against it with Reason. You can't miss the running drone that's coming from a Maelstrom synth. This track makes
you want to start training for the marathon, do the splits, and bounce coconuts off your abdominals.
Vintage Tie: That's a horrible title for this song. I originally called it "So Good", but at the time I also had "So Karate" and "So Hot". This track doesn't use any keyboards or InstantDrummers. Just a kicking beat out of Reason and some killer guitar lines. Sometimes that's all you need.
Shaken Not Stirred: There's just a little bit of Reason in this track. but all in the right places. I used ReDrum to create some breath sounds and some shaker percussion. I also added some synth and horn lines. A friend of mine added a couple cymbal hits and a little extra touch of synth strings.
Retribution Scene: This track is included with the Jason McGerr Sessions ReFill as a demo song, so while it doesn't have any guitar parts from RiffWorks, it does show some of the great sounds you can get from Reason with just a MIDI keyboard. Sometimes adding parts in RiffWorks is just that very special bonus.
*Hayden Bursk was the Propellerhead Product Specialist for USA West Coast. He created the RiffWorks 1.0 help movies and the famous YouTube RiffWorks Looping video. He is the Emperor of Drummerheads and now works for Sonoma Wire Works. He also performs magic for children's birthday parties. He may be contacted at www.myspace.com/ohtravioso.
Propellerhead's Reason is distributed by Line 6.
RiffWorks' ReWire Guide
