Web radio by Philipp "Stimpy" Giebel. Strictly speaking, this is Monolab's home web radio station, where Perspektive has also been exclusively broadcast. There was also a big report on Radical Rhythms, including interviews with former collaborators.
Apart from that, Connecting Beats is a passionate collective of DJs and radio enthusiasts dedicated to the diversity of electronic music. With a 24/7 program, the station presents a wide range of genres such as techno, house, trance, ambient, breaks, and drum and bass. The live shows are hosted by real DJs and music lovers who bring an authentic club feeling directly to listeners' homes. The motto "Beats connect!" reflects the mission to unite people worldwide through music and shared passion. Listeners can stream the station via the website or various apps and immerse themselves in the world of electronic sounds at any time.
With that in mind, just fire up your radio.
Another project/website by Stimpy. Radical Rhythms was pretty much my first major project, which I started back then with Daniel "Cannibal" Marcial. Christian "Raver Ray" Bartsch, Klaus "Keith303" Spang, and Andreas "Dac" Behr joined relatively early on. Not to mention Randy Andy, Vivid, Lars "Feldjäger Judge Dredd" Walter, Bomb20, Assign, Toxic Trancer, and many others. Over the years, there was already a horde of amateur musicians who participated in the project and are now successful musicians. Back then, the music was still distributed via PC boards (mailbox system with modem), and there were regular large "chapters" that you could basically think of as samplers. Crazy times, crazy people, but I wouldn't want to miss those days. We were kind of pioneers and at least had a minor hero status.
Sure, even modems are foreign to today's youth, but there are still older people who remember RR. :-) Stimpy is one such person who set himself the incredible task of creating an RR archive for eternity. One must not forget that back then, we worked with sound tools and programs that no longer run on modern computers. My first song releases on the PC were, for example, DMF modules (Delusions X-Tracker), which could only be edited and played with special hardware. Stimpy organized a 486 especially for this archive and remastered all (!) of the tracks, bringing them into a modern format/sound, as far as that was even possible. I was completely speechless the first time I visited and was able to hear music of mine that I hadn't heard since the 90s. It's amazing.
The archive is simply priceless; for me personally, it's a reminder of my youth and old friends, and certainly also a picture/record of my old days in the scene.
The current Nexus 5 version has once again taken a leap forward, and since I bought version 2.0 back then, Nexus has evolved enormously and is now a powerful sound tool. Sampler, rompler, or synth - depending on your perspective and your needs. Personally, I use Nexus more as a sampler and usually use the ready-made presets found in various expansion packs. The new version also allows you to create your own samples or expansions, but I haven't really explored this option yet. Visually, a lot has changed with version 5.0, although I personally found the previous versions more structured.
The sound quality of the individual presets, or of Nexus in general, is truly sublime. Even Avenger 2.0, my latest expansion, can't quite keep up,
although the two plugins are very similar, and some samples/presets can be found (more or less) on both platforms. Compared to various other synths or similar plugins, Nexus is already way ahead.
This quality and scope, however, comes at a price: €279 for the standard version with various presets, and €60 each for the expansion packs.
For years, I've wanted to integrate a supplement or alternative to Nexus into my system to add a certain amount of variety to my tracks, but for a long time, I simply didn't have the necessary euros to spare for the Avenger II. The expansions are also €60 each, basically the same as the Nexus, so they're not exactly cheap. Relatively speaking.
Fortunately, Plugin Boutique had a big sale that included Avenger and Expansions, and a new "Rent me for 12 months and then keep me" system, which the clever Cosmic immediately jumped at. In addition to the Avenger, I now own three Expansions and am quite happy with the plugin. In principle, Nexus and Avenger are very similar in terms of concept, although Nexus has become somewhat "estranged" due to the 5.0 update. I actually prefer the Avenger Expansions in terms of content, but the sound quality is better with the Nexus. Always related to my system and environment.
You can find extensive videos on YouTube about both synths/romplers and their respective expansion packs. The plug-in costs just under €249, and the pack costs €69.
My go-to source for samples. Loopmasters is the number one source for producers worldwide looking for inspiring royalty-free music sounds and samples to use in their tracks. Loopmasters offers sounds from some of the best producers in the industry, a direct download service, and all purchases are saved for later download.
There are also regular sales and special sales where you can save up to 80% on a sample pack, plus you get virtual cash for each purchase.
