A remix on two chords and a plucky Serum patch
The David August 'Tell me' remix rebuild is today's lead — just two chords, a plucky Serum bass, and a piano that sounds like it came from a dusty library folder. If you've ever wondered how minimal harmony holds a floor, the walkthrough shows you.
▶ Two chords, a plucky Serum bass, and the harmony that holds the floor
The whole remix hangs on C minor to G minor voiced as 7th chords — Dm7 and Gm7 instead of straight minor triads. The bass patch layers four wavetables with bend and FM, uses Env 4 for always‑on pitch bend, and gets high‑end filtered delay. If your tracks feel harmonically thin, the bounce comes from how the lead melody lands on the 5ths over those chords.
Producers are talking about the Arturia MiniFreak 49 (8 mentions) — the full‑size keybed version is being cross‑shopped with the M‑Vave FM‑1 (7 mentions) and the MicroFreak (5 mentions) as the go‑to compact FM/weirdo synth. If a hardware swap is on your mind, those three are the current conversation.
◢ learn
▶ Wavetable noise and the staccato‑glide contrast
Legato kills the texture — non‑gliding notes stay short and staccato, and that contrast is the lead's identity. The tutorial layers a saw with Wavetable's white noise converted into a wavetable for a pitched electro sheen, then uses Random Note unison with voices up and amount down so it stays tight instead of going hardstyle. If your leads keep washing out, the noise level and unison mode are the spots to revisit.
▶ Route oscillator 2 into oscillator 1 for layered digital patches
The MiniFreak 49's sweet spot is processing oscillator 1's output with a second engine — instant layered textures that still sound digital. Ground it with a basic square wave so the weirdness doesn't fall apart on a big system. The video walks through that routing plus the sample‑import shortcut (Shift + Load) for loading your own wavetables.
◢ free & gear
Per‑note vocal editing, open source and AI‑resynthesized(free)
PitchNet drops your vocal onto a piano roll and rebuilds the audio at the edited pitch — the AI resynthesis is what makes the transitions smooth instead of glitchy. Free, runs on Mac/Windows/Linux, and the per‑note access is what separates it from most auto‑tune plugins.
Cinematic impacts, distorted kicks, and robotic footsteps from SoundMorph
First Contact is a 1.16 GB grab‑bag of cinematic SFX pulled from SoundMorph's paid libraries — whooshes, impacts, portal opens, servo motors, and a few distorted kicks and bass layers built for drops. The free window closed, but the source quality is high if you're tired of the same stock risers and need detail in a sci‑fi break.
◢ the word
Akai MPK Mini Plus II: colour display and generative pad tools
The $169 controller now shows knob parameter names on a 160×80 screen, with scripted integration for Ableton, Logic, Cubase, FL, and MPC 3. The new Glitch/Mutate/Strum/Freeze tools on the velocity‑ and pressure‑sensitive pads are what'd make messing with chords and arps feel more like an instrument than a remote.
JUPITER‑08 and n/vision: Roland's new Boutique duo
Two $549.99 Boutiques: the JUPITER‑08 is a 32‑voice Jupiter‑8 emulation with 8‑part architecture, shimmer reverb, and a polyphonic sequencer; n/vision is a wavetable synth with dual layers, an analog‑modeled filter, and an analog‑modeled waveshaper. The n/vision's motion recording and 56 voices might be the sleeper for sound design, but if you just need that Jupiter pad sound in a backpack, the 08 is the direct line.
Tony De Vit documentary and 10 new remixes
Don't Ever Stop: Tony De Vit premieres at Doc'n'Roll from October 26, marking 25 years since his death. The film includes archive footage and interviews with Eats Everything, plus a companion release of 10 remixes by Patrick Topping, Nicole Moudaber, Alan Fitzpatrick, and others. If you've ever been curious where that relentless UK drive came from, the '95 Essential Mix winner's story is the primer.
Brame & Hamo — Roy Keane
the looping one‑note Rhodes stab that keeps the whole track airborne · pairs with the David August tutorial — minimalist harmony that holds a floor.
🔮 Producer Horoscope (for fun) — A random M-Vave FM-1 will appear in your studio tonight. You'll spend three hours making one bass patch and forget to save.
Now go make the track you've been talking about.
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covered in this issue: arturia minifreak 49 · akai mpk mini plus ii