The Last Old Mod***MDP74 v. 3.0

TAL, Togu Audio Line, a Swiss company based in Luzern and run by Patrik Kunz is developing very interesting plug-ins mainly in popular VST and AU format (Do you know any RTAS free plug-ins worth downloading?). They are worth trying for their sound qualities as well as for the fact that they are for free! Which makes them must-have no-brainer items. The compatibility with Garageband makes them the greenhorn’s best friends too.

I personally started with their soft-synth named TAL-BassLine. Once you will install it and open it, you won’t get fooled again. It looks like a Roland SH-101 and it sounds like Roland SH-101 because it is a virtual unauthorized version of this analog legend. It has the same, or almost the same, controls and it has an arpeggiator, so you are instantly ready to create the basic track of the hottest new discovery of 2010, completely new Crystal Castles-wannabe. The hardware Roland SH-101 was heavily used during the acid era and among others was tweaked to death by Orbital, Future Sound of London, Prodigy, Cirrus, Eat Static, Apollo 440, Devo, Aphex Twin, Les Rythmes Digitales, KMFDM/MDFMK, Nitzer Ebb or Chemical Brothers, but also Kaiser Chiefs. You can spot this little fat bass synth also in many studios in Czech Republic, in studio of Jan P. Muchow as well as in the studio of his colleague and fellow, Dušan Neuwerth. We used this synth with The Prostitutes couple of times in Dušan’s studio during recording Hometown Zombies for bass sounds but also for classic arpeggios or basic analog sweeps (together with Juno and Moog Little Phatty).

The hardware version has two notable disadvantages: no patch memory and “vintage” price-tag on eBay. The software TAL version has some minor troubles with MIDI but sounds reasonably similar to the original, basically so much that I would bet you won’t be able to tell the difference from a mixed recording. Plus unlimited number of presets. One of the greatest synth toys ever made re-created with “the right feel” on top of mind. Success for anybody with a download abilities.

Right after that I downloaded U-No-62 aka Roland Juno 60 emulation with brilliant chorus and polyphonic lush sounds. I like the oscillators here and the filter is also great. Real “analog” work horse for almost any occasion (at least in my case). The chorus from this machine is also available extra, just as a audio plugin.

The last but not least is TAL-Dub, a delay vintage pedal. You can swap the input signal, you can filter it and you can distort the output and feedback it to create the weirdest psychedelic sounds of the past century. Instant drug, a weed planted under the VU lamps, an enriched Marley.

At TAL homepage you can find a lot more plugins, an electro synth, array of modulation fx, filters and also some vintagers and tube-makers. Anything from TAL makes sense to download and try. Most of it will remain in your plug-in library for ages. But in contrast to many of your other plugins, these won’t catch so much of a dust on their surface.

I asked TAL for some bio information for this blog. Here is an email I got from Patrick Kunz regarding TAL:

I started making music in the year 1994. The first instrument i had, was an Alesis QSR. Few years later i bought a Virus A. I was fascinated by subtractive synthesis and by its filters.
I started the TAL project in the year 2001 while I studied computer science. I learned to program and I had a lot of math lessons in this school. I did the first plugins only for me and wasn’t really involved in the growing internet audio community. I published the first plugin in 2005. My first success was TAL-Vintager. I got a lot of feedback from people. Sites like KVR and Rekkerd helped me to publicate new releases. I could reach a lot of people. This motivated me to do a lot of other plugins and I begun to port the plugins to the mac platform too.
I had the idea to create unique instruments and effects that have their own character and sound. There aren’t a lot of new algorithms in there, but they are carefully modified and tuned by ear. The tuning part is really interesting and important to me and i’m always impressed and happy if I hear an effect or synth the first time. It’s like the “The journey is the reward”. I dont know what the future will bring, but I hope i can make some more plugins – but it uses a lot of energy and i get not younger 🙂

Thank you Patrick for your time and interest!

The video review from Studio Shortcuts is bellow. Tested are TAL-BassLine, Dub II and Bit Crusher – everything you need for a good 8-bit album.

Last night, after coming back from The Prostitutes unplugged (almost) Christmas party at 2. patro, being high (legally) I played Talk Talk‘s The Colour of Spring (1986) to fall asleep nicely and smoothly. And again, I put my hat off to a tangible geniality of this band. The artistic highlight of their discography may be the Spirit of Eden (1988), but The Colour Of Spring captures the break-point of their career, their departure from synth pop and launch of their way more progressive and alternative engines which brought the band into a completely different galaxy just two years later. Colour Of Spring is a masterpiece of commercially successful pop rock (with Life’s What You Make It being probably the biggest hit of the album) so fine-tuned and so naturally sounding that it is no wonder that the name of the band is starting to be mentioned by young and rising bands more and more after almost 20 years after it’s split.

“I don’t believe in you”

Many years ago, Klobása, the bass player we played with in The Radios, discovered a strange nerd guy calling himself Atom, his band The Package and wearing Czech hockey player representation dress. A couple of months after that, when we already became fans of this Atom & His Package phenomena, he and his package (Line 6 POD, guitar and CD player) travelled Europe and came to 007 club in Prague. His DIY approach to pop-punk (?) was breathtaking and I remember all the people in the crowd changing their mood status from “confused” to “excited” during couple of first songs. These song are easier to reach at his myspace as his home page listed above is more than an paragon of DIY. We loved his sounds and lyrics. Then the years were running by and I forget about Atom. As a memorabilia there is a CD “Redefining Music” in my CD shelf, somewhere should be a signed poster and Luk Santiago still wears Atom’s T. I am writing all this because he came back to my mind today by thinking about Astronautalis and I believe Atom deserves a honorable mention, even their connection looses outside of my head and the walls of 007 club…

But today, in the same 007 club, Astronautalis is playing another CZ show in couple of months. And I don’t go. Because I’ve got another things to do and after last night DJing at Zero till 6AM I don’t have to do any excuses to anybody. But, to the point: I’ve been introduced to his music during one heavy night, couple of months ago, when I found a shelter in Mejla’s place. We played this “And do you know this?” game and one of the latest Mejla’s secret weapons was this video:

Wiki, probably edited by the artist, says it’s hip hop. I think, yes, if Beck is hip hop. Nothing against this broad style, but I believe it’s a part of a must-strategy how to get some press attention in U.S. Anyway, his music has something we don’t hear on a daily basis, drowning our ears in bellow-average 10th generation of indie-and-desperate bands around. Excellent songwriting, troublesome mix of blues, home-DAW electronic, piano and strings and great voice on the edge of caricature makes Astronautalis one of the rare discoveries of a year, at least for me. Not to mention, that Tegan & Sara took him for their European tour (stamp of the quality – buy now!).