TRACK OF THE MONTH / december 2024: Fa La La La La by Music Orange

Fa La La La La: TRACK OF THE MONTH / december 2024*

This month…This sprightly performed version of "Deck The Halls" has more energy than a bustling workshop of artisanal toy-making elves. "Fa La La La La" is an ideal rendition for both background music as well as holiday cheer. And the fact that it's an instrumental makes it easy to "...troll the ancient Yule-tide carol."

Find this one filed under HOLIDAY in The Music Orange Library Online (MOLO).

*Each month, we feature a new track from the Music Orange Library online—the easiest, most intuitive online library in the industry. Enjoy the Music!

TRACK OF THE MONTH / november 2024: Salto Bravo by Music Orange

Salto Bravo: TRACK OF THE MONTH / november 2024*

This month…With its handsome juxtaposition of traditional Mexican instrumental tones, synthesized vocals, and looped percussion, "Salto Bravo" takes traditional Latin music deep into the 21st century. But it's the catchy melodies and the fiesta-friendly rhythms here that stand out most.

Find this one filed under ALT LATIN…SKA in The Music Orange Library Online (MOLO).

*Each month, we feature a new track from the Music Orange Library online—the easiest, most intuitive online library in the industry. Enjoy the Music!

TRACK OF THE MONTH / october 2024: Skeleton Hand by Music Orange

Skeleton Hand: TRACK OF THE MONTH / october 2024*

This month…By blending the cavernous twang of 1960s surf rock with spooky and sinister rhythms, "Skeleton Hand" sounds like a vibey, vintage, Halloween party jam. It opens on undulating electric guitar tremolo that's so wet with spring reverb, you can almost hear it drip. By the time that menacing drum beat joins a grinding garage rock organ, you'll be transported to a beach blanket on the lawn of your favorite cemetery for a ghoulish go-go bash!

Find this one filed under SURF in The Music Orange Library Online (MOLO).

*Each month, we feature a new track from the Music Orange Library online—the easiest, most intuitive online library in the industry. Enjoy the Music!

TRACK OF THE MONTH / september 2024: Ten Thousand Stars by Music Orange

Ten Thousand Stars: TRACK OF THE MONTH / september 2024*

This month…With its spry melodies, bouncing beats, and modernistic mix, the electric and effervescent "Ten Thousand Stars" radiates a youthful exhilaration. Listen closely and you'll hear subliminal synthesized vocals that almost sound like the singing of robot teenagers who were programmed to party.

Find this one filed under ELECTRONIC in The Music Orange Library Online (MOLO).

*Each month, we feature a new track from the Music Orange Library online—the easiest, most intuitive online library in the industry. Enjoy the Music!

TRACK OF THE MONTH / august 2024: Rat Trap by Music Orange

Rat Trap: TRACK OF THE MONTH / august 2024*

This month…With "Rat Trap," a loop of low, rumbling, bass-heavy synthesizers plays slightly distorted riffs over a cool contrast of lo-fi trap beats and crisp piano notes. But it's the nearly subluminal vocal automation of sultry cooing that makes "Rat Trap" so alluring.

Find this one filed under HIP HOP…R&B in The Music Orange Library Online (MOLO).

*Each month, we feature a new track from the Music Orange Library online—the easiest, most intuitive online library in the industry. Enjoy the Music!

TRACK OF THE MONTH / july 2024: Silverlining by Music Orange

Silverlining: TRACK OF THE MONTH / july 2024*

This month…If the warm, slightly muted beats of "Silverlining" don't put your mood at ease, just wait for the gradual build of soft fingersnaps and the chill pulse of the relaxed bass tempo. Of course, there's also the tranquil piano notes and a slightly textured snare that soothes over any residual stress of the day.

Find this one filed under CHILL POP in The Music Orange Library Online (MOLO).

*Each month, we feature a new track from the Music Orange Library online—the easiest, most intuitive online library in the industry. Enjoy the Music!

TRACK OF THE MONTH / june 2024: Doused by Music Orange

Music Orange -> Expertly created original music for commercials and other advertising.

TRACK OF THE MONTH / june 2024*

Doused

This month…Surf punks have been around almost as long as surfing itself. But do surf goths exist? They do in "Doused," a perfect hybrid of '80s flavored post punk and '60s styled surf rock. The pulse-racing rhythm and high bass notes play with a Peter Hook (Joy Division/New Order) inspired intensity before the classic, reverb-drenched tone of Fender electric guitar tremolo drips over the mix like melting surfboard wax.

Find this one filed under SURF in The Music Orange Library Online (MOLO).

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*Each month, we feature a new track from the Music Orange Library online—the easiest, most intuitive online library in the industry. If you like what you hear, please visit and check out some of our latest tracks. Enjoy the Music!

TRACK OF THE MONTH / may 2024: Get It Done by Music Orange

Get It Done: TRACK OF THE MONTH / may 2024*

This month…"Get It Done" kickstarts the party sounding like an old-school, vinyl DJ sampling vintage R&B on an old turntable - but it only takes a few seconds for that second deck to drop in some snappy snare beats. The soirée starts swinging harder when a cool horn section and sultry singer saunter into the mix with some synthy strings to garnish the festivities.

Find this one filed under HIP HOP…R&B in The Music Orange Library Online (MOLO).

*Each month, we feature a new track from the Music Orange Library online—the easiest, most intuitive online library in the industry. Enjoy the Music!

TRACK OF THE MONTH / april 2024: Heat Wave by Music Orange

Heat Wave: TRACK OF THE MONTH / april 2024*

This month…Just in time for Cinco de Mayo, "Heat Wave" is a perfect name for a tune that kicks off with the warmth of a vintage electric guitar riff. But it's the feverish groove that gets the temperature rising with cowbells, congas, shakers and timbales. Everything about this jam sizzles - the heated horn section, the peppery backing vocals, and a bass-line that bounces around like it's dancing barefoot on hot cement.

Find this one filed under ALT LATIN…SKA in The Music Orange Library Online (MOLO).

*Each month, we feature a new track from the Music Orange Library online—the easiest, most intuitive online library in the industry. Enjoy the Music!

TRACK OF THE MONTH / march 2024: In the Barrio by Music Orange

In the Barrio: TRACK OF THE MONTH / march 2024*

This month…Is it too early for mezcal margaritas? "In The Barrio" saunters on brazen bursts of brass horns, horse-trotting rhythms, and blithe melodies. Perfect for soundtracking Cinco de Mayo festivities, this animated instrumental balances heated zeal with lively fun.

Find this one filed under ALT LATIN…SKA in The Music Orange Library Online (MOLO).

*Each month, we feature a new track from the Music Orange Library online—the easiest, most intuitive online library in the industry. Enjoy the Music!

TRACK OF THE MONTH / february 2024: Claustrophobic by Music Orange

Claustrophobic: TRACK OF THE MONTH / february 2024*

This month…There's a dark tension slowly building within the ricochet rhythms of the aptly titled "Claustrophobic." A smattering of muted beats opens with a cadence that approximates human hyperventilation before 1980s electro-goth flavored synthesizer notes dance fiendishly around the stop-start arrangements. A false ending leads to a pulsing coda, haunted by mysterious whispers.

Find this one filed under ELECTRONIC in The Music Orange Library Online (MOLO).

*Each month, we feature a new track from the Music Orange Library online—the easiest, most intuitive online library in the industry. Enjoy the Music!

Check It Out: A Polar Joystick for Omnisphere Orb by Music Orange

I recently had the fortune to work with Ron Nelson from Seven Mile Mountain. Ron builds small, affordable controllers for various uses. I was looking for a physical joystick to control the Orb feature of Omnisphere and purchased Ron’s SOLO : USB MIDI Control Change Joystick on his Etsy store. It seemed the ideal solution for a straightforward and tactile way to interact with this area of Omnisphere that up until then I had mostly ignored. The controller arrived and I began playing with it, but the movements on the joystick seemed to not correlate at all with the changes in the software. I contacted Ron and we began conversing about my specific use. This issue was that the joystick transmitted Cartesian coordinates, whereas Orb needed to see Polar coordinates. Ron completely reprogrammed the controller and added several new features including the option to send both Cartesian and Polar data. Very useful!

Ron is planning on incorporating this into future models, but in the meantime you can contact him, tell him what you’re looking for, and I’m sure he can create a pre-production model for you pretty quickly. It seems to be one of the few hardware options out there that will work for this purpose, and it is certainly the best priced. Here’s a video that explains the build.

TRACK OF THE MONTH / january 2024: Circo Nocturno by Music Orange

Circo Nocturno: TRACK OF THE MONTH / january 2024*

This month…With its Romani-flavored swing and modern-day production, "Circo Nocturno" balances hot club jazz with 21st century energy. A sauntering, manouche-inspired melody opens the song, soon accompanied by bouncing rhythms reminiscent of old Django Reinhardt recordings. But both electric and acoustic guitars intertwine here, as the song sways with classic cosmopolitan elegance.

Find this one filed under LATIN…TANGO in The Music Orange Library Online (MOLO).

*Each month, we feature a new track from the Music Orange Library online—the easiest, most intuitive online library in the industry. Enjoy the Music!

Build a Remote Trigger for Your Eurorack CV Gear by Music Orange

I use a Strymon Magneto delay unit and recently had need to trigger it from across the room. It uses a CV input that looks for ± 5V to cycle through it’s loop record start, stop, and reset functions. I ended up building a remote trigger from purchased parts that was inexpensive, easy to build, and worked great. So, in case you find yourself in a similar situation, here is my solution.

What you’ll need:

  • (1) tap tempo box (NO, or “normally open”). You can get these for less than $20. I wanted a metal unit so bought a used MXR version for $30. It’s built like a tank and should last forever.

  • (1) guitar cable you don’t mind dedicating to the project. Any cheap one will do.

  • (1) shortish eurorack patch cable you also don’t mind dedicating to the project.

  • Soldering iron.

  • Voltmeter.

  • Any eurorack module that outputs a DC voltage. I used one of the attenuverters that is part of Make Noise Maths.

How to build:

Cut the jack off one end of the guitar cable and strip/expose the wires. Cut the eurorack patch cable in half and strip/expose the wires.

You’re essentially making a regular patch cord, but with a momentary switch spliced in the middle of it. And that switch is at the end of a long cable which means that you can place it wherever you need. Tap the switch and it will allow the voltage to get from the attenuverter output to whatever module input you need to trigger (in my case, the tap function on the Magneto). Using your voltmeter, check the eurorack patch cables to see which wires correspond to the jacks’ tip and sleeve (TS), then wire the cables together as follows:

  • Eurorack cable #1 tip (T) -> One side of the 1/4” cable

  • Eurorack cable #2 tip (T) -> The other side of the 1/4” cable

  • Eurorack cable sleeves (S) -> To each other

If your eurorack cables have a third wire, you can solder them both to the shield wire of the guitar cable. If not, you can cut off the shield that’s exposed at the end of the guitar cable.

In this photo, red is the tip (T), white is the sleeve (S), and yellow is the common/ground.

Tape or heat shrink the connections so they don’t short.

To use, plug either eurorack jack into the attenuverter (or other voltage supply module) and the other eurorack jack into your voltage input jack. That’s it!



TRACK OF THE MONTH / december 2023: Out of Sight by Music Orange

Out of Sight: TRACK OF THE MONTH / december 2023*

This month…"Out of Sight" is so funky, you'll wanna dance the James Brown shuffle to it even before its uplifting melody arrives. A slick, electric guitar lick opens the tune before a big boogaloo groove lays down the foundation of a classic, hard-grooving strut. And while the blasting horn section gives this song a voice, it's the well-oiled rhythm section that swings hardest here.

Find this one filed under SUPERFUNK…SOUL in The Music Orange Library Online (MOLO).

*Each month, we feature a new track from the Music Orange Library online—the easiest, most intuitive online library in the industry. Enjoy the Music!

TRACK OF THE MONTH / november 2023: Now or Never by Music Orange

Now or Never: TRACK OF THE MONTH / november 2023*

This month…The funk flavored "Now or Never" opens on a walking bassline that sounds like it's walking with purpose - straight into a hard-strutting breakbeat. Add in some funky electric guitar strumming and suddenly a party unfolds, replete with a pulsing horn section and a bouncing melody that would well accompany a sunny day and a pair of rollerskates.

Find this one filed under SUPERFUNK…SOUL in The Music Orange Library Online (MOLO).

*Each month, we feature a new track from the Music Orange Library online—the easiest, most intuitive online library in the industry. Enjoy the Music!

TRACK OF THE MONTH / september 2023: Rolling Deep by Music Orange

Rolling Deep: TRACK OF THE MONTH / september 2023*

This month…"Rolling Deep" recreates that magic moment between late 1960s soul and early 1970s funk. It opens with a hard-grooving bassline set to handclaps and a hi hat rhythm before more instruments are layered to create a festive strut. Vintage guitar tones, an uplifting horn section, and dancing electric piano notes all come together to forge a fiery boogie that begs for bellbottoms to flap across the dance floor.

Find this one filed under RETRO ROCK & POP in  The Music Orange Library Online (MOLO).

*Each month, we feature a new track from the Music Orange Library online—the easiest, most intuitive online library in the industry. Enjoy the Music!

Learn Scoring to Picture by Music Orange

Learn the art of scoring music to picture with Music Orange composer Michael Lande. Enroll in the upcoming online semester course, MUSC 067A - Creating Music for Film, TV, and Gaming: Foundations, offered through West Valley College [ https://www.westvalley.edu ]. Classes begin next week, and a few spaces are still available. Don't miss out on this opportunity to expand your skills.