tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17816762708585423112012-01-31T08:06:26.780ZGroove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.comBlogger1201100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-6468654462640846282012-01-31T08:02:00.002Z2012-01-31T08:06:26.792Z

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-11380832431364205412012-01-25T11:42:00.002Z2012-01-25T11:49:02.638Z

We can only apologise but by some obvious mistake we (or the back of MR Hoodee's fat head) have made the cover of this months Future Music magazine. To add insult to injury we're also featured inside and are on the DVD as the nice folks from FM popped down to film us at GCHQ before Xmas.As soon as we get a min we'll sort a link or upload to the footage of MR H blabbing on but for now you can

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-24928951133856488152012-01-10T14:15:00.006Z2012-01-10T14:42:59.797Z

WotchaHappy new year and all that, another year's sneaked up on us when we weren't looking and kicked us up the arse before beginning to sprint away again.We were kept busy leading up to Xmas making a little gift for our mates at FXpansion to give away over the festive period - a circuitbent expansion pack for their sampling drum software monster Geist.We've a fair collection of bent drum

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-39353472989022319862011-10-26T16:21:00.004+01:002011-10-26T16:50:26.503+01:00

We've just finished putting together a set of classic digital synth samples for a forthcoming issue of Future Music magazine concentrating on a couple of synths from the (in)famous Yamaha DX range - a Dx7 (Mk2D) and it's smaller cousin a DX100.Oddly enough this was the first time we'd really used either of these synths and although we knew broadly what to expect sound and programming -wise, we

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-32598847954005249882011-09-27T14:22:00.004+01:002011-09-30T10:11:32.033+01:00

Afternoon.Just finished a large set of bass samples for a forthcoming Computer Music and whilst searching out some more unusual sources for lowend rumble came accross this 1U module hiding in a friends loft.It's a Professional Midi Bass module by 360 Systems (I know, I know we'd normally avoid anything with 'proffessional' written on the front as well as they are inevitably not but in this case

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-50370154878954506312011-09-09T12:32:00.005+01:002011-09-09T13:39:52.442+01:00

Perhaps the most vital element to try and get right when dealing with hip hop in any of it's varied forms are the drums; both in sounds and programming.A quick glance over this blog will show that we're lucky enough to be sat on quite a horde of hardware drum machines, both vintage and modern, including a few hip hop classics including the Oberheim DX and DMX. Both of these machines are punchy

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-48658723807813676132011-09-09T10:43:00.010+01:002011-09-09T12:31:06.425+01:00

Ok enough waxing lyrical, you want the gear porn right? ;)Well the first thing we wanted to make sure we did when taking on the classic hip hop expander commission was to make it as authentic as we could and at a basic level this started with the samplers.We knew we wanted to use old skool hardware samplers wherever possible before feeding everything into the computers to add some of that highly

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-58920459985015563642011-09-09T09:50:00.003+01:002011-09-09T10:37:59.815+01:00

Wotcha.Yes we know, another couple of months radio silence.We have an excuse. No really.Amongst the usual monthly sample goodness we cook up for our friends at Future Music and Computer Music magazines (look out for FM issue 245's set of 'Juke' samples, we had some fun with those), we also have been working on a classic hip hop expansion pack for the Geist sampling drum software from our mates

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-17985905124440307392011-06-24T14:20:00.005+01:002011-06-24T14:32:22.140+01:00

One of the duties we don't particularly enjoy that's involved with making the monthly samples for Future Music is having our photo taken every other month for inclusion in the samples page of the mag. Of course everyone ducks out on those days leaving MR Hoodee to take it on the chin ;) Anyway, here's a couple of shots from this months shoot with the talented Mr Ecki behind the lens. No

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-77121854035791036282011-06-20T20:32:00.002+01:002011-06-20T20:39:41.444+01:00

Just before we call it a day, we're just about to start on a month long commission for..urm, well we can't actually say for whom or what we're doing but it involves us going back to our musical roots....More info as and when we can let it slip but we're quite chuffed, a touch challenged and a bit nervous about the whole thing to be honest . All of which is good ;)Til next time.

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-80947189419974938232011-06-20T19:50:00.006+01:002011-06-20T20:20:58.459+01:00

Evening.Quick update on the what gwan/self promotion front. Please don't adjust your set...Just finished a set of analogue bass samples for DMS taken from the synth collection here at GCHQ. The list of beauties we grappled with in the name of low end bliss appears, er, below.Moog Little Phatty (Tribute)Roland SH101Roland Juno-60Yamaha CS01Yamaha CS05Jomox MBase 01Waldorf pulseNovation bass

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-63226444119622350012011-06-14T14:30:00.003+01:002011-06-14T14:56:10.373+01:00

So trying to make up for a 4 month dry spell with some quick fire posts (sad we know) we thought we'd post some links to some of the rather fine projects we've been rather chuffed to be a part of over the last few months.First up we were please to get our filthy wobble on (ohh err) for our friends at Sample Magic to contribute some samples for their rather splendid Dubstep sample library. We've

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-27681115840168002962011-06-14T13:51:00.004+01:002011-06-14T14:28:59.804+01:00

4 months! Bloody hell that's bad even for our rather lame selves.OK, no excuses (although we have been very busy ;) but rather time for a speedy catch up on all things Groove Criminal.GCHQ v2 is completely up and running now and after a few months we've settled in nicely and it's really being to feel like home. To be honest it's a home away from (well within MR Hoodee's) home as it is because we

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-69616513267600527422011-02-16T20:23:00.000Z2011-02-16T20:23:01.809Z

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-39171281018637895582011-02-07T08:15:00.001Z2011-02-07T08:34:06.717Z

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-31089106895562804282011-02-05T12:29:00.005Z2011-02-05T14:58:57.566Z

Happy new year! Okay a little bit...okay...a lot late but we still hope 2011 is finding you fit and well. Big things gwan here over Xmas as finally the beat lair, GCHQ v2.0 was finished and we moved the quite frankly frightening amount of audio tat we had stored in and got comfy in what we hope will now be our permanent home.As you can see in he end we still had to pack it in a little bit but

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-20571636813438995152010-11-16T11:28:00.002Z2010-11-16T11:38:55.764Z

Because we work to quite tight deadlines time wise each month, sometimes we fluff our plans completely and fail to get our mitts on bits of gear we've got our eyes on in time for the samples we want it for...err does that make any sense?Anyway, the above Flame Clockwork was one such toy we wanted to use for the recent set of control voltage samples for FM234. Even thought we missed the deadline

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-58383263096452248042010-11-16T11:21:00.003Z2010-11-16T11:28:29.176Z

Ok, so it might not look much now, and it was full of a roofers swear words last week trying to work out how on earth the roof he put on was leaking (so spooky as it's like every other studio we've had)...But this in a few weeks (touch wood) will be our new home. Obviously still a lot to be done but even so, beginning to get just a little bit excited about finally having a permanent base of

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-49945843944829912542010-11-05T16:09:00.002Z2010-11-05T16:45:41.946Z

Ahh the theremin, quite probably one of the most difficult things to play we've ever come across, of course it might well just be us. The above beauty is a Moog Etherwave Plus we managed to blag for this set of samples for two main reasons; one, we thought it'll be fab to have a go on one (it is) and two, it comes complete with CV outputs for pitch, volume and gate. This means it can be used as

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-79166349681707995322010-11-04T12:02:00.003Z2010-11-04T12:45:04.136Z

Next up in our CV fun day set of samples was our extensive range of Moogerfoogers. Regular readers will know we love these little beauties so really needed no more encouragement for a play. Because of all the extensive CV in/out options it's quite possible to chain the 'foogers together to create a very basic modular synth. The sound source was provided by a waveform from the CP-251 or Osc

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-18433692967859658122010-11-04T10:51:00.004Z2010-11-04T11:58:20.395Z

We had some great fun with this months samples for Future Music (issue 234). Theme was control voltage and analogue synths which gave us some great new and rather unique toys to play with. Some of which unfortunately we've got to give back (boo) .First up is a couple of creations by our resident genius (and not of the manic laughter category...well not all the time) Andy. The rather fab box above

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-24538283865744214202010-11-04T10:31:00.003Z2010-11-04T10:43:10.261Z

Another month flys by and yet more blank silence from us, by hey you know the score by now ;). Unfortunately silence is a rare commodity around here at the mo, as i type this a roofer is thumping merry hell just the other side of the wall! The building works (and ultimate creation of GCHQ v2) are going well but it does mean working and posting is becoming increasing difficult - but worse things

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-3760924785779156592010-09-21T12:44:00.006+01:002010-09-21T13:52:05.768+01:00

"ahh come in Mr Bond, I've been expecting you..."There's a good reason Mr Hoodee's sat doing his best Gold Finger impression in the above shot (taken by Ecki on our last FM shoot) and that's it was the last time GCHQ (v.1.2) was seen in all its slightly cluttered glory. Yup after nearly 3 years (see the blog entry for Jan 2008 here) in our 'temp' home, we've had to pack up and in preparation for

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-80903040986426480252010-09-21T12:02:00.004+01:002010-09-21T12:34:20.184+01:00

Just a quick few thoughts about the latest set of samples we've completed for Future Music magazine (issue 232). The theme was the soundtracks of the great John Carpenter, so lots of sparse synthy drones, minimal drumbeats and analogue 3 note basslines wrapped up in some tasty spring reverb.It was an enjoyable collection to work on and made a nice change to be almost entirely hardware (and

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-52774816761487094782010-08-29T15:24:00.003+01:002010-08-29T15:38:20.629+01:00

Another piece of rather fab kit that features some more traditional drum sounds in the analogue percussion samples is our Vermona DRM1 MK3 drum rack. We'd lusted after one of these for a while and can honestly say when we got hold of one last year, were not dissapointed (not sure why we didn't blog about it at the time).Featuring plenty of scope for hands on knob twiddling , we especially like

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-71794756402676713362010-08-29T14:07:00.002+01:002010-08-29T14:56:12.116+01:00

A quick video of us giving the Synare3 a swift thumping and random knob twiddling ;)

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-13226736718633696322010-08-28T15:18:00.005+01:002010-08-28T16:50:59.925+01:00

Oh bloody hell, 3 months since the last post, has it really been that long?! Well sorry for the obvious slackness, we would try to convince you it's not going to happen again but hey I think we all know it's not good to make promises we may not be able to keep. Anyway, onwards and upwards, we've just managed a couple of weeks away summer break but before we left we finished a nice collection of

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-60935686847961323802010-05-25T11:32:00.004+01:002010-05-25T12:00:36.595+01:00

We've slowed down a touch on the rabid gear buying around here at GCHQ lately err....well...a bit at least ;) This sudden tightening of the purse strings didn't quite stop us finally getting our greedy little hands on a Jomox Xbase 09.This little beauty has been on our want list for a while now and we managed to grab one just in time for an Early Chicago house set of samples for next months

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-58058256082945814942010-04-16T10:29:00.005+01:002010-04-16T10:48:16.069+01:00

As time and samples wait for no man we had no sooner packed all those fab little boxes away before we moved onto our next little sound adventure - some dark dub samples for Computer Music.As you can see from the pics we broke out the hardware effects to inject the right amount of analogue dirt into these samples. The drainpipe at the top is a Great British Spring reverb unit, we've mentioned it

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-15512652982097565072010-04-16T09:44:00.001+01:002010-04-16T09:46:53.319+01:00

Hi all, just a quick post to let you know that some preview examples of the FM 226 little boxes sample set are now up for you to download and abuse at our soundcloud page here.

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-80976986085557220122010-04-02T14:24:00.004+01:002010-04-02T15:01:58.383+01:00

Here's a couple of 'Buddha boxes', very low-fi playback boxes that contain various low bit-rate looped recordings of chants, mantras or music to aid meditation. How such crackly, hissy samples can aid any ones peaceful meditation is beyond us but they are an interesting starting point for some sound mangling. The packaging is really nice as well...And rounding things of with some more shocking

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-54020850880926367502010-04-01T21:25:00.006+01:002010-04-01T22:19:25.850+01:00

Here's a real treat, a trio of handmade marvels put together for us by our mate (and component/solder and all round audio genius) Andy Lemon. As well as making these little beauties together for us we also persuaded him to scribble down a few words about each , so over to you Andy... Tupperware Party Synth "This ones

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-52658662409808853072010-04-01T20:19:00.005+01:002010-04-01T21:24:17.460+01:00

Carrying on the 'white box' theme, here is a Monotoniclabs N37 seq/synth that combines a simple 4 step sequencer with a voltage controlled oscillator for your noise making pleasure. With the clock rate low you get some fab 4 note sequences, turn it up fast and you get into computer game FX-type territory. Check the guys website here..From crisp while lines to our favourite yellow box of peril -

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-39319300088420882392010-04-01T18:59:00.011+01:002010-04-01T20:18:43.860+01:00

This cheeky little devil is a Bleep Labs Thingamagoop. A rather fab sound/FX generator, the Thingamagoop contains an oscillator that is controlled by a light sensing photocell (the little buddys 'nose').As well as reacting to ambient light the 'goop' has it's own 'LEDicle' sticking out of the top of its bonce. This LED blinks at different speeds to make the little metal dude spew forth all sorts

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-44373474559853483252010-04-01T17:38:00.004+01:002010-04-01T18:57:55.972+01:00

One of the projects we had to get done before MR Hoodee headed stateside was the sample set for Future Music issue 226 - out later this month. The theme was sounds from out collection of little boxes that make noises (bleeps, bloops, squeekz, phartz ect and hardly a recognisable note in sight ;) and as we had limited space within the issue to go over what small but perfectly formed delights we

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-38437236236137439132010-03-29T15:08:00.008+01:002010-03-29T15:29:27.684+01:00

Okay so we vanished off the face of the blog-a-sphere again, can't believe our last post was in January! Once again in our defence February and march have been extremely busy at GCHQ with a chunk of projects we had to get finished before MR Hoodee buggered off to New York for a week as a late birthday prezzie.After much running around like headless chickens we managed to finish everything in

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-81407326728371909702010-01-12T09:14:00.005Z2010-01-12T10:07:19.368Z

We like twitter here at GCHQ as we don't get out of the studio much and it's always nice to have a chat (in 140 characters or less) with like minded people about gear, music, tea, that sort of thing. Another great love around the studio (as a quick flick through this blog will confirm) is quirky, modded or handmade gear. So you can imagine we were rather chuffed when we were sent a couple of

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-47595887091465938032010-01-06T11:25:00.002Z2010-01-06T11:30:51.207Z

Well 2010 and a new decade is upon us, all here at GCHQ hope you had a great Xmas holiday, apologies for the silence but ours started with our broadband connection being cut off (Xmas eve to be precise - great timing guys).Anyway we're slowly getting things back to normal (still having a few email hiccups) and just in case you missed it here's a late Xmas prezzie - 100 or so kicks for you to

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-30553499295409319852009-11-18T08:56:00.003Z2009-11-18T09:06:46.425Z

Hi all.Just a quick one to let you know that our old mate and sometime stickman Richard 'Doc Spoons' Spooner has be beavering away at his Swiss HQ and has put together a few videos for his youtube channel. He's also done a few instructional vids for setting up a drum rug for Baskey.Check 'em here and here

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-43089771287475422142009-11-11T09:09:00.011Z2009-11-11T09:52:58.758Z

Firstly apologies for the lack of updates (again), we've had a pretty intense few months here at GCHQ and had a huge workload to slog through before finally grabbing a week off to recover, get ill and spotty, re-introduce ourselves to our family's and kids, that sort of thing.Anyway as we're starting to think about getting back in the saddle work-wise here's a speedy update on what's been going

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-32358733922916224802009-10-07T09:02:00.005+01:002009-10-07T09:26:13.895+01:00

Just completed a Balearic-influenced sample set for FM issue 220 and as it was our turn to do the photo shoot to go with the samples.Funnily enough there didn't seem any budget to fly us out to anywhere sunny for the pics, so along with our snapper Ecki we had to improvise.So a couple of bags of builders sand and an attractive blue plastic sheet later and hey presto, errr, instant Mediterranean

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-89477932329629894332009-10-02T14:51:00.003+01:002009-10-02T15:01:23.573+01:00

As you may remember from our July post Mr Hoodee took part in a little project putting together a track from a single sound that was created from random parameters sent via twitter.Mr Hoodees track and 7 more have been compiled together and released by the fab chaps at Public Spaces Lab. It's all free to download and can be found here with a little more background. Enjoy!

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-26269672954621420712009-10-01T08:50:00.007+01:002009-10-01T10:09:54.321+01:00

Hi all, typically manic here at GCHQ as we've a few projects on the go this month and very little down time. That said I've grabbed 5 mins over a morning cuppa to fill you in on some of the guitar-based mangling we've just finished for the next issue of Computer Music.This months theme was electric and acoustic guitars so we thought we'd really throw ourselves into our stack of stomp boxes and FX

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-83698555015180565332009-09-18T19:12:00.005+01:002009-09-18T20:26:15.628+01:00

The welcome arrival of a Moog CP-251 yesterday (a voltage control unit to mangle and generally help take charge of the moogerfoogers and little phatty) has thrown up another slight cabling issue as my 5 'foogers were scattered around the studio (3 in the rather nifty rack mount kit) and they all really need to be together for patching.Sooo another quick swap around, re-patch, crawl about and

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-19131087896243441482009-09-16T21:34:00.004+01:002009-09-16T21:44:44.058+01:00

To help us in a forthcoming sample job that's going to need a pretty hefty amount of drum hits we picked up a Jomox Mbase 01.This rather nifty fully analogue little box makes kick drums of the 808/909 variety and can be triggered from a button on the front, midi or an external bass drum or pad. It uses the same synthesis engine as our rack mounted Jomox Airbase 99 but is a bit more hands on and

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-37596867943717805402009-09-09T16:38:00.004+01:002009-09-09T16:59:45.884+01:00

Bit of a manic few days here at GCHQ, after leaving the window open over night last week (in whilst it was raining of course) our faithful mackie mixer (32 line input rack mounted jobbie) developed a very noticeable amount of noise on both the outputs to the monitors and on the headphone socket.Things got so bad over the next couple of days we had to revert to our back up smaller mackie to finish

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-71062457500970573692009-08-27T18:43:00.004+01:002009-08-27T22:19:23.791+01:00

For this months Future Music sample collection (FM219) we've been all about synth strings - analogue, digital, hardware, software or a mixture of all four, it's all been fair game. On the Analogue front this month has given us a chance to show some love to our Roland RS-09 organ/strings machine. Although not exactly a classic, (the organ side of things hardly sets the world alight sound-wise),

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-82924788787702456062009-08-21T08:34:00.002+01:002009-08-21T08:39:05.329+01:00

Apologies for the lack of input to the blog over the last couple of weeks, we locked up GCHQ for a couple of weeks break in the sun to re-charge the ol' beat batteries.All back and raring to go now with a few rather tasty projects in the pipeline, some we can blog about and a couple we can't...ohh the suspense, stay tuned ;)

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-39979738263931162072009-07-27T22:06:00.002+01:002009-07-27T22:21:48.552+01:00

Although we're not ones to exactly force the ol' hard sell on anyone, we thought we'd let you know about a couple of projects we've had a hand in.First up is Sunrise Sessions from Sample Magic, sequel to their successful chilled out sample library Sunset Sessions, once again sees us on rhythmic duties providing some laid back drum loops and hits.Also from the GCHQ vaults are a couple of download

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-47678556222949043762009-07-16T22:17:00.005+01:002009-07-16T23:15:43.778+01:00

As well as the more involved effects chains we also went quite simple and really indulged our love for really cheap, bucket brigade , delays and reverbs.The beauty of these boxes is alongside the crusty, dirty sound, once you start maxing out the feedback level they start to scream. Normally this just makes a racket (not a bad thing around here by any means) but when a percussive loop is sent

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-36065707643323047372009-07-16T21:50:00.006+01:002009-07-16T22:16:27.966+01:00

As one set of samples hits the news stands another set gets made so we've been busy finishing off the samples for Future Music issue 217. And this months theme is a good 'ol dollop of drum machine abuse.We took a few of our vintage machines and threw them through a chain of hardware effects and stompboxes. Some of the chains were quite complex -below is a pic of a Boss DR220a (bit rubbish 80's

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-66227037994375951742009-07-13T17:16:00.007+01:002009-07-14T17:40:27.867+01:00

Roll up roll upFor your economic downturn-busting sampling pleasure:500 kick samples in WAV format (16 or 24 bit) on white label vinyl CDR plundered from our percussive vaults. Sampled from a wide mixture of both analogue and digital sources, the 1p kick lucky dip is suitable for all shades of electronic music from house to hip-hop.Go on get yourself a good kicking for just a fiver (including P&P

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-75431390503284224972009-07-05T23:11:00.002+01:002009-07-05T23:31:54.091+01:00

One of the things we love about Twitter is how it can introduce you to new and interesting people, ideas and projects.One that really caught our eye was this. Masterminded by all round good bloke Kieron James this twitter based idea involved tweeting numbers that were used as programing parameters that in the end made a sound. Named Cosecha (harvest in Spanish) the resulting sound is available to

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-88531162194614876942009-06-27T15:11:00.006+01:002009-06-27T17:52:00.955+01:00

Quick video of a random knob-twiddling session on our Chimera bC8.The bC8 was set in single-shot mode with the button at the bottom triggering the envelope. Although this doesn't really plumb the depths of what this little white wonder can produce, it should give you a taste.Also we've sorted around 50 (count 'em!) sampled loops, bleeps,bloops and droid incontinence samples taken raw from

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-6917148906626196332009-06-26T14:50:00.005+01:002009-06-27T17:08:02.394+01:00

We finished off the collection with some general recording of stuff around the house, not so much foley sounds as we've covered that before a couple of times in Future Music, but more interesting textures to throw through some FX. We also sifted through these recordings (made with the M-Audio Microtrack again using a couple of different mics) and took the most percussive sounding and made a

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-6822315595120367822009-06-26T14:38:00.005+01:002009-06-27T17:08:53.101+01:00

A short video of one of our shaker boxes in action. This is the plastic box filled with plastic BB shot run through an old, battered 80's Ibanez rack mounted delay, then into the moogerfooger phaser and moogerfooger MuRF. Perhaps not the best example of what these boxes can do but you get the general idea...

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-36843060257181833762009-06-26T10:03:00.005+01:002009-06-26T12:09:37.326+01:00

Continuing with our spot of rough and ready DIY, we finally got around to making a couple of passive shaker boxes. Basically all there is to it is a box of some kind, we used a plastic one and a metal one, with a piezo contact mic glued inside. This is then wired to some sort of audio output, we used an RCA (Phono) out put as it's small, simple to fit and we had a few knocking about. We then

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-79144440143860742342009-06-24T09:50:00.006+01:002009-06-26T12:06:14.998+01:00

After getting wet with the hydrophone we turned our attention to contact mics and a little bit of DIY. As they say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing so let me introduce to you..... the Thunderwonderverb. Pretty hi-tech huh? Basically what we did was take an old speaker (from a home keyboard originally I think) and wire it to a 1/4" jack. This was then clamped and pointed down the sound hole

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-36141555395881166422009-06-22T22:30:00.008+01:002009-06-27T17:09:35.093+01:00

Hi allJust completed a couple of weeks of audio nuttiness for Future Music and thought we'd cover what we'd got up to in a bit of depth here.First up we grabbed a hydrophone off Ebay -basically a piezo transducer (or contact mic) covered in waterproof liquid rubber, a hydrophone picks up vibrations in liquid rather than in the air (like a normal microphone).With the blue wonder in hand alongside

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-88405325634339611652009-05-30T11:28:00.005+01:002009-05-30T11:40:57.206+01:00

Here's a pic of the Gakken when it's put together - hopefully get some sort of video together at some point, I know we say that a lot but we do try...kind of. And here's a pic of yet another addition to our collection of vintage drum machines. This is a DR-55 which is very similar to our Soundmaster SR88 but the hi-hats are restricted to 8's, 16th's or 12th's, rather than being programmable on

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-68828720868678807392009-05-30T10:05:00.005+01:002009-05-30T11:01:15.329+01:00

Hi all.Ooops been over a month since our last log, and we were doing so well! Been a busy few weeks with interesting sample sets for CM and FM. CM wanted sounds of the carnival so we went for some booty shaking dancehall twinned with a load of latin percussion loops. We've a huge box of various percussion here at GCHQ but we surprised to find ourselves without a cowbell and our deadline looming.

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-37577307594857131272009-04-20T13:47:00.004+01:002009-04-20T14:07:14.339+01:00

Been a busy week catching up with sample work after our mini break. Set of DnB samples done for the next issue of FM plus it's our turn for the photo shoot. So it's off outside with a laptop, sh101 and our mucka and fab lens-smith Ecki.Disused railway bridge not far from GCHQ looked grimey enough for an atmos shot, so up went the lights and Mr Hoodee begins to look uncomfortable !-) The shot

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-11967914984659249022009-04-14T18:32:00.002+01:002009-04-14T18:35:47.991+01:00

Just finished uploading some videos to you tube. Some have appeared in this blog, a couple never made it.You can have a butchers here

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-58898898475807242742009-04-11T22:08:00.004+01:002009-04-11T22:22:45.053+01:00

Another reason for our lack of progress today (see post below) came in the form of a surprise from Ebay. We knew we were getting a Korg MR-16 midi drum module with some kind of pitch mod but when we fished it out of out blue wheelie bin (been away for a few days - don't ask) it appears to have been circuit bent to hell (a good thing).With no manual or instructions (the unbent unit needs neither

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-9695728637712886402009-04-11T21:02:00.003+01:002009-04-11T21:55:36.431+01:00

Okay so we should be working on some drum and bass loops for next months Future Music, but sometimes we just get sidetracked (sorry Will !-)In the video (sorry about the quality, it goes a bit mad for a few sec's for some reason - hey we're sound men not film makers !-) is the Android FX app on the ipod touch thrown through a moogerfooger Murf filter. Nothing really planned, just a couple

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-83171290484725299082009-04-04T10:02:00.015+01:002009-04-04T11:01:51.197+01:00

This week saw us pop over to a very sunny Germany for this years Musikmesse. As usual we stayed with MR Hoodees brother-in-law Paul and were joined by GC drummer and old mucker Richard 'spoons' Spooner who drove in from his new home in Switzerland.We were glad to see the usual big turn out for the messe, with the usual suspects all there and only a slight reduction in the size of some of the

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-61508192657140077522009-03-25T12:19:00.003Z2009-03-25T12:31:18.568Z

In accordance with a promise to ourselves to blog a bit more frequently, here we are in the middle of a sample set for Computer Music. Deadline's tight as we're away at the Mussikmesse for a couple of days next week.The theme is computer game/chip style samples so we've broken out the game boys (didn't realise we had so many laying about) and the Nanoloop and LSDJ sequencing carts for some bleepy

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-26754057932362549152009-03-24T13:02:00.003Z2009-03-24T13:13:06.000Z

For all you gadget heads with restless fingers, we thought you might like to know we've contributed a few kits to the rather fab digidrum app on the iphone and ipod touch. We treated ourselves to a touch for Xmas and can honestly say it's one of the few essential gadgets we've owned (this is big praise from us as we're not the most avid of Apple fans, far from it) - we've ended up checking our

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-48524709725162121982009-03-23T16:24:00.006Z2009-03-25T12:32:52.232Z

Another busy spell here at GCHQ as we've sample commissions flying all over the shop at the mo and limited time to get it all done... Hey, but what's new.Just finished up the dark dubstep set for FM, quite enjoy that dark slower style, nice excuse to get out the tape delays and spring reverbs - and to put pics of 'em on our blog!The dusty bit of pipe to the left here is a 'Great British Spring

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-51882739722030284702009-03-10T17:46:00.005Z2009-03-10T18:01:55.758Z

March already? Where does the bloody time go?GCHQ v.2 currently rocks to the sounds of hiphop and dubstep (for CM and FM respectively). On the hiphop tip we've decided to avoid the whole T Pain autotune abuse as with any luck it'll be all old news soon enough -beats and synthy loops are enough to be getting on with. Deadlines are tight this month so no time off for a couple of weeks, which is a

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-71983619560044273022009-02-25T14:21:00.004Z2009-02-25T14:41:26.905Z

Okay as slack as ever it's been a month since our last post. We do try, honestly and have been hammering twitter regularly (see post below).09 has actually started pretty well, been busy with assorted monthly sample commissions for both FM and CM and have so far covered MOR singer-songwriter toolbox, trance and just finished a load of bassline/4x4 garage. I'm not going to get into any 'one genre

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-64776999458840058082009-01-25T11:44:00.002Z2009-01-25T11:46:35.910Z

Anyone out there with a Twitter account who wants to keep up with strange, mundane, trainspotter and occasional zen single line updates from us here at GCHQ, check us out athttp://twitter.com/groovecriminals

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-76446838999252197612009-01-02T23:46:00.004Z2009-01-03T00:12:41.769Z

Wotcha.Hope you had a stress-free and enjoyable xmas and that the new year isn't looking to bleak in these tight times.As the new year starts to kick in, we find ourselves doing the very British thing of introspection and looking backwards, instead of looking forward to things to come as 08 clicks over to 09.Once again the urge to make some noize for ourselves has reared it's head, only to be

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-45379631402791760742008-12-02T09:43:00.004Z2008-12-02T10:06:00.145Z

We've just finished an electro sample set for next months FM and decided to hire in that ultimate electro machine a TR 808. Now we've wanted one of these funky beasts since being into early hiphop in the 80's and it was great to get our grubby mitts on it, even if it was only for a couple of days.First impressions? Well it's funny how it didn't really sound like what we expected an 808 to sound

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-13578110883920397172008-11-30T16:41:00.003Z2008-11-30T16:59:03.706Z

We'd like to throw out a huge well done to Mr Hoodee for completing this years Bury ST Edmunds 2 km Santa run for the East Anglia Children's Hospice charity. We're hoping this out of character burst of exercise will make him lay off the drum kit for a few days!

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-37891887624404278532008-11-12T10:07:00.004Z2008-11-12T11:05:28.096Z

Finally got our collective butts around to getting a full electronic drum kit installed in GCHQv2.0. Many thanks (as ever) to Simon Edgoose, from our percussive squadron, for making a custom rack to attach it all to (only had a limited space to squeeze it into) and helping us set it all up.This means a fond farewell to our Drum Kat which is on it's way to another drummer contact and plenty of

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-21489158218286417722008-11-12T10:01:00.002Z2008-11-12T10:07:50.554Z

Mood is a wee bit sour around GCHQv2.0 at the mo due to losing over half a months worth of work because of a single lousy email that never arrived at it's destination. Mr Hoodee was so furious that water was condensing around him from the air giving him his own cloud of steam.As a team that makes it's collective living from the joys of technology, it can still be a bastard some times and perhaps

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-48087134913677589162008-11-12T09:54:00.002Z2008-11-12T10:01:10.743Z

Here's a quick preview of lensmaster Richard Ecclestones latest snap for Future Music.4 Mr Hoodee's, oh how we shivered....... Moog looks nice tho!

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-11181129832610477802008-10-02T09:10:00.002+01:002008-10-02T09:20:32.412+01:00

We've been getting a bit nostalgic about the loss of GCHQ, or since the post yesterday, so though you might enjoy this.Yes that's MR Hoodee with his low tech set up (even for then!) in the bedroom that GCHQ would eventually grow above - nice curtains we thought. The fact he managed to produce quite a few released records from that set-up still tickles us today, especially when someones moaning

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-40712174578408039682008-10-01T13:04:00.004+01:002008-10-01T13:26:58.491+01:00

Okay we didn't get to post before October (see post below)!Things have been very busy here over the last month and we're just beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel that runs through sample mountain. Of course such a large amount of concentrated studio time has left us all pretty much ill and grumpy but pleased with the amount of work we've managed to churn out under some pretty

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-7815577666080646252008-09-10T15:16:00.004+01:002008-09-10T15:21:58.163+01:00

WotchaJust a quick post as we're up to our necks in loops for pretty much the whole of Sept!Had a great week away and managed to catch 7 days of sunshine - fab! Back to the grind however.Here's another great pic taken for FM by our mucka Eckie.Strap-on action baby - yeah!Cough - that's enough of that, got some new toys and other bits and bobs to tell you about when we get more time (hopefully

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-69100131827674568172008-08-19T09:53:00.005+01:002008-08-19T10:11:12.189+01:00

Hi Can it really be a month since we last posted - we do try to keep things up to date, honest.Well, we're nearing the end few weeks of the summer (already!) and it's still raining! Still work carries on here at GCHQ with the usual monthly commissions plus a new download pack of chilled out beats for Sample magic. We put in a huge chunk of the beats to their successful Sunset Sessions chillout

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-29860508457714619282008-07-24T08:54:00.004+01:002008-07-24T09:16:54.264+01:00

Wotcha.Been a couple of weeks since we last checked in so time for a quick update.Summers hols have now begun (even the sun has put in a brief appearance) which leaves us with the annual juggle of looking after our kids and trying to bang beats out all day. This normally leaves us with 6 weeks of guilt for working long hours in the studio and imposing children on Granny, when we feel we should

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-38898522508666008222008-07-09T13:48:00.006+01:002008-07-09T14:38:51.553+01:00

Another month, another set of samples.This month for Future Music we've been happily abusing drum machines and children's toys all in the name of art. Yep it's circuitbending time again! For anyone not in the know, circuitbending is the term given to modifying electronic toys or machines to basically short circuit the sound chips so they let out streams of glitches, squawks and other strange

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-74227331129833618742008-06-30T12:01:00.003+01:002008-06-30T12:15:44.077+01:00

As any regular visitors to this blog will have guessed, we've a bit of an analogue drum machine fetish here at GCHQ.To spread the love of these great machine a little we've teamed up with the guys at DMS to produce a download pack chokked full of totally analogue single drum and percussion hits from our collection of vintage and modern drum machines and synths.400 sample in WAV format (16 Bit

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-12879656345287705202008-06-26T12:45:00.005+01:002008-06-26T13:27:08.808+01:00

Hello again.Two posts in one day, unheard of!As you can probably guess there's not much work going on at GCHQ today, due to MR Hoodees daughter being ill and currently mooching around in her PJ's not looking half as under the weather as she did earlier....hmmmm.Anyway, it's a good time to put some more thoughts (okay, ramblings) down about recent goings on here at the lab. Due to having a Moog to

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-32322903279226879382008-06-26T12:05:00.004+01:002008-06-26T12:21:30.614+01:00

Wotcha. Well thanks to some fine media scare-mongering and the general slowdown around buying/selling houses it looks like our temp home (GCHQ v2.1) is going to be a touch more permanent than we were expecting. Not the end of the world as it's a pretty good space to work in, although as always a bit more room would be nice - of course not filling it with vintage drum machines and huge synths

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-4548724661260253752008-06-24T10:16:00.003+01:002008-06-24T10:40:25.155+01:00

Thought I'd put up the link to some old Future Music video of us (well Mr Hoodees foot) mucking about with some stomp boxes and a Stylophone and a BugBrand audio weevil (the insane yellow box).Check it on my myspace page here

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-49002078865396154982008-06-18T17:29:00.000+01:002008-06-18T17:30:31.576+01:00

Check the Godfather of soul ripping it up with his bad self (and band) here

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-52213124635061369072008-06-16T10:38:00.000+01:002008-06-16T10:50:19.829+01:00

Okay, we're pretty one dimensional when it comes to our interests, so when we decided that a prezzie was in order as a plain and simple bribe after a hard couple of months work it was going to be something for the studio. We kinda had our eye on a Moog of some sort and when this little beauty popped up for sale locally we just had to have it. It's a Moog Little Phatty (Bob Moog tribute edition),

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-79597116206792952502008-06-14T14:08:00.000+01:002008-06-14T14:31:53.931+01:00

A bit of a gap since our last post so lets get up to date.Been a very busy couple of months here at GCHQ and we've been pretty much working 24/7 on several sample commissions. Now we've finished (for the time being at least) the results of the work load have hit us firmly around the head and we've been good for nothing for the last couple of days.It's an odd feeling to have pretty much forced

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-14176224618441425062008-05-16T10:16:00.001+01:002008-05-16T10:53:12.247+01:00

In our (seemingly) never ending quest to collect as many drum machines as we've got space for, we've perhaps unsurprisingly stalked and captured a few more that were running free out there in ebay/secondhand land. First up is this pair of popular Alesis beat machines - the HR-16 and HR-16BAlthough not rare or analogue, we like the HR's and their chunky sounding samples. Out of the two we

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-1595098689130342782008-05-13T09:59:00.000+01:002008-05-16T10:16:06.229+01:00

Just finished another interesting sample commission for Future Music magazine - we made a junk/pots and pans drum kit. Roping in our good mate (and honouree Groove Criminal) Simon Edgoose, we knocked up a kit of watering cans, buckets, plastic bins ect.We had a bit of trouble getting enough high end on the kit so we had to compromise a touch by including a single, frankly mullered cut down crash

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-27958326665617223182008-04-26T14:30:00.000+01:002008-04-26T14:44:45.260+01:00

As some of you (if there's anyone out there !-) might have gathered we like a bit of circuit-bending or modding here at GCHQ.As we were luck enough to find ourselves with a few hours to spare (okay we should have been working but hey), Mr Hoodee got his tools out (ohh err) and got to work on our Realistic reverb.For anyone who's never come across this beast, it was made and sold in the UK by

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-89554806676703645122008-04-25T11:16:00.000+01:002008-04-25T11:21:37.018+01:00

We've never been very good at the whole self-promotion thing but here goes.We've just finished a HipHop/Urban beats download pack for The Loopmasters.If you're interested you can find more details hereTa.

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-17348991166424268642008-04-21T21:51:00.000+01:002008-04-21T22:09:10.141+01:00

We've forced ourselves to have a couple of days off here at GCHQ. Well our bodies have anyway as we've been beavering away for the last 3 weeks pretty non stop, doing dance samples for quite a large (and top secret - okay not really but we can't tell you) project.The result is pretty much bad tempers, yawns and aching ears - none of which is good for a creative atmosphere in the studio. Sooo a

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-58709777147636817882008-04-11T11:49:00.000+01:002008-04-11T12:11:29.137+01:00

As we post this blog the latest (and 200th) issue of Future Music has just hit the shops.For this issue we did a highly enjoyable collection of samples harking back to the early days of sound design and the work of the legendary BBC Radiophonic Workshop.To emulate the basic sorts of tools the workshop had to hand, we cut down on all the modern (and vintage) sound sources available to us and tried

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-9975909050783409622008-04-04T11:49:00.000+01:002008-04-04T12:14:29.230+01:00

Whatcha. As ever apologies for the slapshot regularity of our posts but 2008 has started off in quite brisk style work-wise, so it's been all hands to the wheel to get our deadlines done. Anyway we've a few things to post about so will try and get 'em up here as and when. First up we had another enjoyable trip to Frankfurt for the Mussikmesse, we ended up going on public day rather than blagging

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-2248283001329346192008-03-12T20:40:00.000Z2008-03-12T20:47:38.955Z

Just a quick hello to anyone blown into this site from our www.groovecriminals.co.uk site. The page was so old we've finally pulled it down and everyone gets re-directed to here for the foreseeable future.I'd like to say we'll have a new site up and running soon but lets be honest the last one wasn't updated for 4 years...so I wont.Anyway welcome.Only a couple bits of Groove Criminal news;

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1781676270858542311.post-33191312703394723292008-02-22T13:46:00.000Z2008-02-22T14:03:40.492Z

We've recently finished a dub commission for Computer Music magazine. Although dub's not really our thing to listen to, we really enjoyed making the samples as it gave us a fine excuse to dig into our couple of spring reverbs for that 'boing' rhythmic sound on the drums.As well as a rack mounted stereo spring we've also got a Great British Spring Reverb - the pic on the left. If that looks like

Groove Criminalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550192594459138023noreply@blogger.com