Sound Samples – Blue Distortion

Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 and Waldorf Microwave XT Samples!

Allow me to nerd the hell out please. The Prophet 5 was one of the first commercial polyphonic synthesizers available; it was released in 1978. Such an awesome sound thick sound. Hopefully one day I’ll have some Prophet ’08 PE samples available. So, check out the Prophet 5 Zaps pack, it’s one shot samples!

Also available for download are a few Waldorf Microwave XT kits: Echos and Sweeps. All of these were originally on the forums for registered users, so, you might have them already. These will also be available on the sound samples page shortly. The rest from the old forums coming soon, such as the JP-8000 packs. Enjoy.

Nice Collection of Drum Machines Sound Samples from Milk Crate

I’ve decided to start linking to other sample sites as well when I find something awesome, check out this post here from Milk Crate Breaks. The download contains drum kits from the following samples! Go get them!

Waldorf Microwave XT Sound Samples

Well, I am back sooner than expected with even more Waldorf Microwave XT Samples, a continuation from the previous entry. I have been getting some great sounds out of it lately, working the XT much like a an old school analog modular synth. Digital, strange and evil sounds have been emanating quite easily from this orange monster. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did making them.

New Waldorf Microwave XT Samples, Site Update

The Orange Wavetable Monster!

Well, it’s been quite a while since there has been new samples uploaded to Blue Distortion. As much as I would like to keep up with this site, it unfortunately sits on the back burner for long periods of time. I do apologize for that. More importantly, I would like to apologize to all of those that have emailed us in the last few months with tracks for the podcast. I haven’t been updating it recently.

I am currently working on writing a system that will streamline the submission process and make it much easier to add tunes to the podcast. Till then, please hold tight. Now, finally, on to the new Waldorf Microwave XT samples.

James Brown, Sampled to Death

James Brown, lol.

James Brown is a household name, one of the godfathers of funk and soul. He was admitted into the Emory Crawford Long Hospital with ‘severe pneumonia’ yesterday and passed away around 1:45 AM this morning. He was 73 years old.

It is safe to say that James Brown rode the downward spiral in the last few decades. He was repeated arrested for drug possession and domestic abuse. For example, did you know James Brown spent 3 years in prison for threatening pedestrians with firearms while high on PCP? It’s the classic case of genius that self destructs into malignity. It’s easy to give respect when considering what he has done for music, but, in most cases his dark persona proceeds him.

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.

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).

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.