Blue Distortion

Pidgin IM Sound Effects (Miranda, Trillian, Skype…)

It’s been a while since there has been a post on Blue Distortion, so, I decided to upload a pack of sound effects that were made specifically for Pidgin, a multi-protocol instant messaging (IM) client for Linux, BSD, MacOS X, and Windows. These can also be used for Trillian, Miranda and any other IM clients that allow you to customize the sound events.

The volume of the samples aren’t maximized / normalized so they won’t scare the hell out of you when you have the volume up really loud on your computer. There are 12 alert sounds and 4 separate login and logout sounds. More coming soon!

Pidgin IM Sound Pack (zip)
20 sounds – 2.8 MB

Frog Sound Samples and Tree Frog Macro Photography

Here is a small tribute of electronic media to our little green friends. First, we have some sound samples packs. The first is of a plethora of frogs going through random rhythms. This was sampled in the late summer of 2005. The second sample pack is processed one hits from the first pack.

Submit Your Electronic Music to the Blue Distortion Podcast

Blue Distortion is now accepting submitted mp3s into the electronic music podcast! If you are interested in getting some exposure on our podcast, send us some links to mp3s on the submission form.

In other news, Blue Distortion is now two years old! Stay tuned for more sound samples, music, artwork and photography in the upcoming year. Have a great new year!

Alesis Micron Sound Samples

Sorry for the lack of updates in the last couple of months, our server got the Avian Flu. It got better, though. I got to sample an Alesis Micron a few weeks ago. The Micron is an 8 polyphony synthesizer which uses the ION analog-modeling sound engine. It has a nice lofi sound. The presets are a combination of Korg MS2000 style strings and techno drum arpeggiations. Nice little synth for the price, but, would prefer more knobs.

Here are a couple of sample packs which can also be found on the sound samples page. The first sample pack consists of edited drum hits from drum loops on the Micron. The second is a mix of dirty electronic growls.

The Lightsaber Sound Effect

We came across an interesting found sound that resembles the tone and harmonics of the Lightsaber, every geek’s favorite weapon. The Lightsaber sound was one of the first Ben Burtt (sound designer of Star Wars) made for the famous sci-fi series. The original sound effect was created using a mix of an old projector’s hum and the warm feedback from a microphone passing an old television set.

Today, we are going to teach you how to recreate a different version of this sound using common household items. Well, more common than the old projector and television set. The items you will need for this sound experiment is an electric shaver and a water jug (the big ones used in water coolers).

Propellerhead ReBirth Free Download, Torrent!

Propellerheads Software has released ReBirth for free! You can download this program at the ReBirth Museum, a website setup to illustrate the history, community and development of ReBirth. It looks like Propellerheads will be focusing on Reason now.

The Propellerhead’s Rebirth Software Synthesizer.

On September 1, 2005, Propellerhead Software announced that the era or ReBirth had come to an end and create the Rebirth Museum to commemorate its history. Visitors are welcome to tour the website, learn about it’s developers and community, and take home a special memento: ReBirth RB 338- itself!

Buchla 200e Modular, Moog Synthesizer Demo

The 200e Modular Synth.

On this week’s podcast from Science Friday, Ira Flatow hosted a segment about Remembering Bob Moog. Check out the article or listen to the mp3 download. Some of the highlights are discussed below. The guest on the show was Lawrence Fritts, who is the director of the Electronic Music Studios at The University of Iowa.

He pointed out that there was actually simultaneous development of the first voltage controlled modular synthesizer at the same time as Bob Moog was working on the Moog Modular. On the other side of America, Don Buchla was busy with his own modular synth creation. Buchla and Moog had agreed to share credit for the development of the modular synth. A quick peak of Buchla’s site, I found this gem, the 200e Electric Music Box.

Podcast: Download (6.8MB)

We Will Miss You, Bob Moog

Bob Moog Eureka Bob Moog, known as the “father of the synthesizer,” passed away at the age of 71 at his home in Asheville, N.C. yesterday evening. Moog was diagnosed with brain cancer this April and was undergoing radiation treatment and chemotherapy. News spread in late July about his battle with cancer.

You would be hard pressed to find an electronic musician who didn’t admire Bob Moog or respect everything he did not only for the electronic music community, but, music in general. Moog synthesizers have been used by very big artists including, but not limited to: The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Beach Boys, Depeche Mode, Trent Reznor, Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Phil Collins, Frank Zappa etc.

Microrecordings, Sampling with David Dunn

I was listening to Living on Earth, which is a podcast focused on Sound Journalism, and thought this was awesome. David Dunn does microrecordings and had a segment on Living On Earth which documented the sounds of a beetle infestation in a pi