Fartlord has been busy while the site is down. He made a video to help promote Splice. I smiled when I watched it and you probably will, too. Thanks, Fartlord!!

Hey everyone! Thanks for waiting so patiently while we get the new site up. We are currently converting all of your sounds and songs into the new Splice format. It takes a little while to change over so much information, so sit tight and we will be back as soon as possible.

I know some of you are hanging around without much to do while we have some downtime here, so I have a little present for you: A short tutorial for the new sequencer. This way, you can study hard and be ready to go when we are.

Don’t worry - the quiz results will be graded on a curve.

In case you missed it, Splice is going to be down for a day or two while we upgrade to our new version. You can read about it in the blog or, if you’re the impatient sort, you can just skip to the youtube video about it.

We will see you soon!

Hello everyone!

I wanted to tell you guys about some major changes ahead for Splice. We launched the original site near the end of the summer last year, and since that time, we’ve gotten a LOT of amazing musicians (and their fans) to join us in creating music together. You guys have been great users - not only because you participate and support each other so well, but because you are constantly giving us great feedback about what you like about the site and what you’re still waiting to see.

We’ve been listening.

I am really proud to announce that we will soon launch a brand new version of Splice. You had so many great suggestions for us that we started from the ground up and built you a whole new site that’s faster, cleaner and better than ever. There are so many new features that it would be impractical to list them all here, but here are some big ones that I think you will enjoy reading about:

* Private Drafts: SO many people have requested a more private space where they can work on their songs in sessions BEFORE sharing them with the world. Now, you can do just that.

* Delete your own sounds and songs: If a sound or song has not been used by another user, you will be able to delete it out of your page without a moderator’s help.

* Easier Friending: Manage your friends all from one page

* Easier Searching: All new explore pages make it easier than ever to find the best music on Splice

* Upgraded Forums: These will speak for themselves, but you guys will love them - they are embedded right into the site, much easier to use than the old one, and allow images and links.

* Flag unauthorized material: We know that users are growing frustrated with the ever increasing amount of copyrighted material on Splice. We know it makes it hard to find REAL samples to play with and make music out of. You will be able to flag suspected copyright violations to bring them to the attention of staff moderators, who can then more easily remove them from the site. With a little help from you guys, we can keep that stuff off our pages and continue teaching people about Creative Commons and why it works best for Splice.

And of course, the biggest upgrade of them all: Our new sequencer. We will be writing about the sequencer a LOT in the next few weeks - it’s really the most advanced thing of its kind out there, and deserves several posts of its own. Until now, all you could do in the Splice sequencer was line up samples and play them in various sequences. Imagine, though, what happens if you can take one single sample and manipulate it in real time to sound completely different? The biggest change in the new sequencer is exactly this: realtime effects. Turn that sample on and start twisting knobs. Or better yet - what if you could create your sample entirely in Splice, instead of making it somewhere else and then importing it? If you had a little place to create melodies, which could then have effects, what could you make? I think you are going to find you’re getting a lot more mileage out of your sounds soon, and that IS something to be excited for.

Check out this little sneak peek of what’s coming up:

Many thanks to our user Airtone for giving us such a great song to promote!

You can expect the new site to be up and in action sometime this week, so keep your eyes peeled and your samples at the ready. Thanks to everyone who has been part of this process. Your feedback, input and (most importantly) your MUSIC have been invaluable in helping create a better place for musicians everywhere.

If you have questions or comments about the new Splice, you can email them to human@splicemusic.com.

See you soon!!

Thaumata

Ok, kiddies. My wonderfu friend talk boxfor super cheap. Now, I have a sneaking suspicion that most of you are too young to remember good funk and therefore have no idea what I am talking about, therefore, exhibit A:

(Really, the best and rockingest video of Stevie on the talk box is HERE HERE HERE, but it’s got the embedding disabled. Don’t miss it, though. It’s so awesome. Really. I wouldn’t lie to you.)

So, ready to make one of your own? It’s so simple that anyone can do it, really. Even people like me, who have no skill when it comes to objects with wires. So, I challenge you to make your own talk box. I have a set of old speakers around here, somewhere, and I know I have some duct tape. That’s pretty much almost all you need:

Someone pointed me to a song made by Wigglez and Homeslice recently and I wanted to share it. The loss of a good friend is one of the hardest things we can ever go through, but it’s good to write some music about it, and that’s just what these guys did.

It’s great work and a lovely tribute. Like I told Wigglez, I’m sure their friend would be happy to hear it.

…Splice! Dot has created a very catchy little tune, with the help of Fartlord, Rig, and Skyhawk.

Give it a listen!

It’s not finished yet, but that’s where YOU come in!

Like always, there were a lot of entries for the TTP Project contest. Actually, probably because his loops are so awesome, there were even more than usual, to be honest. I love when that happens. When I was listening to the entries for this one, there was one song that really stood out to me, and that’s our winner this time. I really took notice of it because for one, it’s totally different from all the other songs. It’s a little funky and chill, and I really dig the vibe going on with it. Also, when I opened it up to check to see if it met all the requirements, I saw that the person who remixed the song not only used the required contest loops, they created the other half of the song themselves, probably exactly for this contest. I love when that happens even more. That’s the idea with Splice - to let someone else inspire you to get moving and participate, right up to the point where you’re making music that inspires the next guy.

So, to that I say, “Good work, Eggman! You win!” This makes me happy, as Eggman is a regular contest entrant and his entries are always good. As always, Altec Lansing is our super awesome sponsor and will be mailing you out a VS3251 Powered Audio System. Rock on.

Again, I really want to thank the TTP Project for being such a great participant in the site and sharing such wonderful music with everyone. And, you would be doing yourself a disservice if you skipped over the rest of the contest entries, as they are all really worth listening to. You guys are getting good at this!!

Someone figured out how to make music using a Tesla Coil. See? I told you you can make music out of anything:

And another:

If you’re looking for cowbell sounds to complete your masterpiece entry for the MORE COWBELL contest, don’t forget that you can always look in search to find cool cowbell sounds that other users have uploaded. If you’ve uploaded some of your own, be sure to tag them with COWBELL so that others can find them, too!