| Follow the New @envatoaudio Twitter Channel Posted: 02 Dec 2010 03:49 PM PST Envato twitter accounts @audiotuts and @audiojungle have merged! We have officially joined forces to form @envatoaudio, our channel for all things audible and musical. Read on to find out what improvements we've made and why you should follow us.
Follow @envatoaudio on Twitter We’re combining Twitter accounts by area of interest across the Envato network. We’re hoping to develop strong communities of creatives who share the same interest – in our case audio – and reduce the number of places you need to look, and accounts you need to follow, to get the latest audio news and updates. @envatoaudio is a new Twitter channel that will post the latest Audiotuts+ content as soon as it is up. It will also include banter, news, inspiration, links tweeted by myself and AudioJungle site manager Scott Wills. It will also be used as a channel for all relevant Freelance Switch job postings, items of interest on AudioJungle, all relevant additions to Creattica, plus general news from Envato. That should keep you busy, shouldn't it? So head over to @envatoaudio and follow us today. And you might want to unfollow @audiotuts and @audiojungle so you don’t receive duplicate tweets during the transition period.
Like Audiotuts on Facebook Our Facebook page will remain the same – facebook.com/audiotuts. While you’re being social, why not head over and follow (or “like”) us there as well? 
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| Enjoy the Sound of the Real Electric Piano Posted: 02 Dec 2010 12:00 AM PST I’ve been playing a fair bit of electric piano recently. Well, actually I’ve been playing a standard MIDI keyboard triggering electric piano sounds in Logic Pro, a Yamaha MU-128 module, and a Roland RD-700sx. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard the sound of a real electric piano, so today I visited YouTube to remind myself of the good old days.
In my mind, the three electric pianos with the most distinctive sound are the Fender Rhodes, the Wurlitzer, and the Yamaha Electric Grand. Below we have a brief look at the world of electric pianos, then three videos each of these models. Sampled electric pianos (or in the old days the ones we programmed on Yamaha DX7s and Roland D50s) often sound very clean and clinical, and are never out of tune. That’s a huge contrast to real electric pianos, which are dirty and grungy – and often out-of-tune. Compare the sounds below to the electronic versions you’ve been using.
1. About Electric Pianos To begin with, here’s an educational video about what’s distinctive about electric pianos, with an emphasis on the Fender Rhodes – arguably the most important electric piano. Rock and Roll Keyboard Lessons : The Fender ‘Rhodes’ Rock Keyboard “Watch this free music theory video discussing the Fender ‘Rhodes’ and tips on how to play one.”
2. The Fender Rhodes The Fender Rhodes has to be my favorite electric piano sounds. I’ve never owned one, and have never played a real one regularly, but I love the range of sounds they can make, from percussive “Dyno-My-Piano” chirps to luscious sustained notes. I recently visited my local music store to discover that a new model – the Mark 7 – is now being sold new. Check it out in the third video. Will you be buying one? Fender Rhodes 1970 Suitcase Piano by Vintage Vibe For Sale “A 1970 Fender Rhodes suitcase piano completely restored by Vintage Vibe.” Fender Rhodes All I Do Funky Jam Jamming out over changes to Steve Wonder “All I Do”. Rhodes Mark7 Demo
3. The Wurlitzer I bought a Wurlitzer electric piano for my sister in 1982. She paid $500 for one second hand. She just got her first job, and wanted to start learning piano. She had it for years, and I’d play it for hours every time I visited. They have a more bell-like sound than the Rhodes. I wonder what happened to that old piano. Rhodes Piano Stage 1972 “A vintage Rhodes 1972 being played.” Wurlitzer 200A Electric Piano “Here is a sample of my friend playing my Wurlitzer Piano.” Wurlitzer Electric Piano 140B/200A Custom White “A beautiful Wurlitzer 140B for sale, completely restored by Vintage Vibe.”
4. The Yamaha Electric Grand I owned and loved a Yamaha CP-70B in the eighties and early nineties. I bought it when I was a uni student, and paid for it buy cleaning a bank twice a week. They were designed as a “portable” replacement for real pianos before digitals were up to the task. As you’ll see in the last video, they are essentially baby grands without a soundboard. They have a full piano harp with strings (though the bass strings are shorter than on a real piano), and every string has its own pickup. They have a more nasal tone than acoustic pianos, and I’ve never found an sampled version I was happy with. I miss my old piano, but I definitely don’t miss breaking my back. Those things were heavy! CP 80 Yamaha Electric Grand Piano Jam “Jamming on an excellent CP 80 in Europe’s biggest Keyboard museum in Klagenfurt Austria.” Yamaha CP70 Piano Yamaha CP80 Unplugged
Conclusion Do you enjoy the sound of an electric piano? Which type of piano do you prefer? Do you own a real electric piano? Which video did you enjoy most? Let us know in the comments. 
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| Workshop #133: Revelation Dub by Dubtrak Posted: 01 Dec 2010 08:00 PM PST At Audiotuts+ we regularly put up a reader track for workshopping and critique (find out how to submit a track). This is how it works: you upload your song, and every week or so we’ll publish one here and step away from the podium. The floor is yours to talk about the track and how the artist can fix problems in and improve upon the mix and the song.
This track has been submitted for your friendly, constructive criticism. They have put their track (and their heart and soul) in your hands to learn and get useful feedback. - Do you enjoy the song or track itself? Does it have potential?
- Can the arrangement be improved?
- How did you find the mix? What would you do differently?
- What do you enjoy about the rhythm track? What can be done to improve it?
- Is the choice of instruments relevant and effective for the style/song?
- Are the lyrics (if any) effective? Does the style, arrangement and genre of the song suit them?
- Can you suggest any specific techniques that might improve the track?
- Do you have any other constructive feedback?
Revelation Dub by Dubtrak Artist’s website: www.dubtrak.com Description of the track: Hmmm, even though it has ‘dub’ in the title this isn’t just a dub track. I see it as an invitation to a all night tribal dance party with all kinds of weird and colorful things happening…
Download audio file (DubtrakRevelationDub_128k.mp3) Terms of Use: Users can stream the track for the purposes of giving feedback but cannot download or redistribute it. Have a listen to the track and offer your constructive criticism for this Workshop in the comments section.
Submit Your Tracks for Workshopping Need constructive criticism on your own tracks? Submit them using this form. 
 This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Best of Tuts+ – November 2010 Posted: 01 Dec 2010 03:00 PM PST Did you know that there are now ten Tuts+ sites and the Tuts Marketplace? If you didn’t get a chance to check them out in November here’s a look at the top three from each site!
Aetuts+ – Adobe After Effects Tutorials from Beginner to Advanced. -
Unfold A Magical Pop Up Book Simulation – Day 1 Every child loves the magical Pop Up book with every page turn bringing a new 3d scene to life. In this two part tutorial we're gonna bust out some serious math to pull off this interaction between layers. Enjoy the tutorial… and if something pops out to you, let me know  Visit Article -
Engage In A Harry Potter “Priori Incantatem” Duel – Day 1 This is the first of a 3-part series on how to replicate the Priori Incantatem effect from the Harry Potter films. In this part, we will take a look at matchmoving our shot and using the data to create a 3D camera inside of After Effects, as well as starting to create the particle animation. Along the way, we'll also go through a few quick tips on how to speed up workflow by using expressions to automate animation. Visit Article -
Enough Lower Thirds To Feed A Small Country In today’s tutorial, we’ll create a quick lower third just using some masks and layer styles. We’ll then talk about how you can totally rock your workload with a handy little script found over on aescripts.com. Visit Article Cgtuts+ – Tutorials & Articles on all aspects of Computer Graphics. -
An Intro to Valve’s ‘Source SDK’ This November we posted an exclusive three-part series by Ben Henry showing how to get started with the incredibly popular ‘Source SDK’ from Valve. Part one took a look at the very basics of the software, whilst the later 2 parts’ look at adding textures and entities allowed you to go on and complete your very first level! Valve’s software is widely-regarded as some of the greatest on the planet, and the Source SDK is no exception. With further parts covering how to import models from other packages coming soon, this is one series the gamer in you won’t want to miss! Visit Article -
Construct a ‘Microcosm’ Using Blender 2.5 – Render & Comp In his brand-new, advanced Blender 2.5 tutorial, Frederik Steinmetz showed us some of the amazing tricks and techniques used in creating his CG ‘Microcosm’ scene! The four parts covered a huge amount of topics including modeling, particle and hair simulations, texturing and lighting, but this final part covering rendering and completing the final composite wrapped up the series in an awesome way! It’s just another amazing example of what you can do with free software and comes highly recommended! Visit Article -
Recreate the ‘Cut & Paste’ Winning Scene in Modo Finally this month on Cgtuts+ we have the first post to the site by industrial-design wizard Adam Ohern. Adam’s incredible modeling skills have earned him a CV featuring the likes of HP, Black & Decker & Bose Corporation and we’re thrilled to welcome him to our network. In this tutorial, Adam walked us through his winning entry in this year’s Cut And Paste contest, and it was a masterclass in quick and efficient modeling. We can’t wait to see what Adam comes up with next! Visit Article Nettuts+ – Web Development Tutorials -
The 30 CSS Selectors you Must Memorize So you learned the base id, class, and descendant selectors – and then called it a day? If so, you’re missing out on an enormous level of flexibility. While many of the selectors mentioned in this article are part of the CSS3 spec, and are, consequently, only available in modern browsers, you owe it to yourself to commit these to memory. Visit Article -
How to Create an Awesome Image Preloader How often do you find that images in a website load gracefully; the kind where a loading icon first appears, and the image then fades in, once loaded? This technique can greatly boost the performance of your website. If you're not already familiar with this method, you're in luck! Today, we'll create a preloader plugin for your projects. Intrigued? Let's get started! Visit Article -
30 Kick-Ass Premium WordPress Plugins and Themes The WordPress platform is an integral part of the Envato™ ecosystem. Regardless of whether you need a hand with design or development, the Envato™ marketplaces have you covered! You can purchase premium WordPress plugins and templates to hit the ground running with each new project. Today, we’ll review only a handful of the newest and most popular templates and plugins on sale at CodeCanyon and ThemeForest. Visit Article Psdtuts+ – Adobe Photoshop Tutorials -
Free Psd Premium Tutorial: Create a Mixed Style Collage This tutorial was great because we gave all of our readers access to a premium tutorial written by senior author, Mark Mayers that demonstrates the process of exploring new styles of illustration by re-mixing existing elements with new ones. This is a great tutorial to help you learn and a fantastic way to get started with Psd Premium! Visit Tutorial -
Speed Up Your Photoshop CS5 Workflow by Making Your Own Custom Panels Speed up your workflow with the power of custom panels in Photoshop. In this tutorial, we will turn multi-stepped commands and tasks into one-click solutions. No programming skills needed. Visit Tutorial -
Quick Tip: Create Liquid Filled Glass Text in Photoshop Layer styles are a powerful tool in Photoshop that allow you to quickly create effects that you can then apply to additional objects. This tutorial will demonstrate how to use layer styles to create a liquid filled text effect in Photoshop. Visit Tutorial -
Community: Totem Project 2 After the fantastic response to Vectortuts+ Totem Collection 1, I'm happy to present Vectortuts+ Totem Collection 2! Part two has some great pieces to look at, including a few submissions from our Vectortuts Flickr Group. You can still take part in this fun project! Check out our second totem, and how to get involved in future Totem Projects, at the jump. Visit Article -
Creating a Maneater Vector Girl through Collaboration In this tutorial you'll see a collaboration between two vector artists. Ashley S. Benson will be responsible for the initial composition layout and coloring while Sharon Milne (me) will be refining and adding further detailing to the collaboration. You'll learn techniques from both artists and learn some helpful collaboration tips. Visit Tutorial -
Create a Realistic, Burning Sparkler Using Adobe Illustrator In this tutorial we will create a photorealistic image of a sparkler. We will learn how to create vector textures using the standard bitmap filters. We'll create complex lighting from two light sources using gradient fills, Blending Modes, and Clipping Masks. Visit Tutorial -
Find, Pitch and Win Your First Web Design Client This 47 page PDF minibook takes you through the process of positioning yourself in the web design market, identifying some potential client, writing a brilliant proposal and winning your first contract. The download includes the full minibook in PDF format, and a sample proposal in Microsoft Word 2007 format (and also as a PDF ) for you to edit and adapt to use as you wish! Visit Item -
Unlocking Drupal 6 Drupal is renowned for being a complicated CMS to get to grips with. This 17 page, 23 step tutorial will show you how to take this CMS and unlock its true power, without touching a line of code. I walk you through from to download the modules to getting a full product-management system running. You will learn the techniques required to create your own unique content types and how to display that information in any way you place. Visit Item -
How to Make Your First iPhone App Millions are being made on apps by every day people. Learn insider tips to make your idea a reality. No programming skills necessary! This book is a MAJOR shortcut for those who are looking to get into the app business quickly and enjoy success with their idea." says Jen Gordon, owner of app studio Clever Twist. "We've been creating apps since the app store opened up and have seen all aspects of what it takes to have a profitable app! Visit Item Phototuts+ – Photography and post-processing tutorials -
70+ Fantastic Firework Photos (And How to Shoot Them!) It's November again, and for those of us who live in England, that means Bonfire Night! It's the perfect excuse to let off some fireworks and build a massive fire (something you do really need an excuse for…). For us photographers it also happens to create the ideal opportunity for beautiful, and perhaps unforgettable, photos! Visit Article -
An Introduction to Indoor and Studio Flash Photography Today we're going to delve into one of the most important aspects of photography – lighting. We'll begin with a background as to why lighting is so important, discuss the traditional three-light setup, and then move on to illustrate a number of different lighting techniques (and the associated results)! Visit Article -
5 Professional Photography Website Services Compared Getting a photography business off the ground can be exhausting and expensive. Most professional photographers have both a website and a portal that allows clients to view photos, make prints, buy albums and more. So how do you get all these goodies, and how much is it going to cost you? Today we'll introduce you to each service, describe their basic features and how they compare to the other options and give you a look at their pricing plans so you can decide which is best for you. Visit Article Activetuts+ – Flash, Flex and ActionScript tutorials from beginner to advanced. -
Quick Tip: Create a Contact Form with SMS and Email Alerts In this Quick Tip, I will show you how to build a contact form using PHP and ActionScript 3. We'll learn how to pass variables from Flash to PHP and alert the owner by sending either an email or an SMS text message. Visit Article -
Creating Pixel Art in Flash Using Pixel Tools v2.0 This is an introduction to Pixel Tools v2.0. We'll download the tools, install them, then use them to draw a cheeky snowman! Visit Article -
Open Mike: Capitalization UpperCamel, or lowerCamel? This is Open Mike, a series of discussion posts to throw the cat amongst the pigeons. These posts are all about you — we want to hear your opinions, ideas, and thoughts. Due to popular demand, this Open Mike includes a poll to help us analyze opinion, so let's hear what you have to say about capitalization.. Visit Article Mobiletuts+ – Tutorials & Articles on Mobile Phone Development. -
Titanium User Authentication: Part 1 Welcome to part 1 of 3 in my little series on authenticating users with Titanium. Titanium is an open source cross compiler that allows you to write iPhone and Android (soon to be blackberry too!) applications using Javascript. No Objective-C required! We will be using PHP as the server side language in this tutorial and my database will be MySQL. Visit Article -
iPhone and iPad Design Templates and How to Use Them There is a lot of "process" that goes into designing for mobile devices, but sometimes you just wanna jump in and get your hands dirty! This post is designed to give you the tools you'll need and the basic design and technical requirements to get you up and running quickly. Visit Article -
Beginning iOS Development: Building Fortune Crunch Welcome to the second in our series of Beginning iOS Development tutorials. This tutorial will demonstrate how to build the FortuneCrunch application previously shown in our "Introduction to the iPhone SDK" post. In addition to being in a video format, this version has been updated for iOS4 and has much more detail on the various steps involved in crafting the application. Viewers can expect to become familiar with the Xcode and Interface Builder workflows, how to customize buttons and respond to button events, and fundamentals of Objective-C and Cocoa-Touch. A written transcript is also provided with this post. Visit Article -
Quick Tip: Super Quick Parallel Compression There's no denying that parallel compression is a great way to pump up just about any group of instruments. The technique involves creating a parallel stream of audio, compressing the hell out of it and mixing it with your original signal. It tends to work especially well with drums and percussion. Visit Article -
How to Work Out Songs by Ear, Part 1 – Basix A budding guitarist – or even a relatively, uhm, budded one – could very easily and quite understandably get the idea that the ability to learn music by ear is some rare ability, bestowed only on those with uncommon talent, deep theoretical knowledge, years of experience, or some combination of the three. Visit Article -
Are the Volume Wars Killing Music? Which Side are You On? The party is in full swing, your iPod is plugged into your biggest and best speakers, and you've just hit Play on your grooviest party mix playlist. The bass is thumping, the crowd starts to move, and so far the neighbors don't seem to mind. Then something happens. This song sounds so much quieter than the other ones. People start to sit down. What a crappy song! Would you like to be the producer responsible for that track? No way! And thus the Volume Wars came into being. Visit Article -
Understanding the F-Layout in Web Design As the next part of our Web Design Layouts series, today we're going to examine the "F Pattern Layout"; Rather than trying to force the viewer's visual flow, the F-Layout gives in to the natural behaviors of most web surfers and it uses scientific studies to back it up. This tutorial will walk you through the principles of the F-Layout, why it works, and how you can create your own Visit Article -
30+ Awesome Free Fonts for Kick-Ass Web Designs As we examined last week in our Font Replacement Review, new technologies have liberating web typography from the ordinary web safe fonts to a truly wide open horizon of new and bold and imaginative typefaces. It's easier than ever to include your own custom fonts in a web design using various font replacement technologies. Today, we'll review over 30 fonts that are worthy of your own font library. Visit Article -
The Web Designer's Guide to Font Replacement Methods Fed-up with Arial? Tired of Times New Roman? Font-replacement methods have improved dramatically over the past 2 years, but it can be often hard to sort out the different methods if you're not constantly reading about it. This article will discuss various font replacement techniques that are out there right now. We'll look at the pros and cons of each, the issue of font licenses and the best font resources on the web so you can start using them in your own web designs. Visit Article 
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