The Future Retro XS is a true semi-modular monophonic analog synthesizer with 46 controls, 7 inputs and 11 outs. Two VCO's go from 0.5 Hz to 100 kHz. Oscillator B (sine, triangle, saw tooth, pulse width/square + sub oscillator) can sync its frequency to oscillator A (saw, square). The 2-pole filter (low pass, band pass, high pass, notch from 5 Hz to 18kHz) can self oscillate. The XS can also be used as MIDI to CV/Gate converter for use with other analog gear.
Check out the audio demos at future-retro.com.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Future Retro XS Analog Synth
VTheremin
Have you played with VTheremin yet? It's a plugin that uses an iSight or other webcam to control two oscillators by tracking the movement of colored balls in the air. Wild!
VTheremin is one of over 40 plugins included in Hipno from Cycling '74 and created by the team at Electrotap. The whole Hipno bundle still sells for only $199.
Keep an eye out for more crazy new plugins that will come from the recent partnership of Cycling '74 and Ableton.
Nord Wave Manager
Clavia has released Nord Wave Manager, the Mac/Win software that allows you to edit, create and load collections of samples to and from the Flash memory area of the Nord Wave synthesizer. The Manager will also act as a librarian utility for the Program memory area.
Download the Nord Wave Manager to set sample start points, create loops and automatically map samples across the keyboard. Every function in the Nord Wave Manager can be applied to a sample in real time.
More on the Nord Wave:
Clavia Nord Wave Info, Specs, Images, Software UpdatesSample tracks on electro-music.comI'm interested in hearing the thoughts of the first "wave" of Wave owners. How does it sound vs. the Nord Lead 2? How about the filters? How good are the Mellotron sounds?
Matrixsynth
MusicPlayer Keyboard Corner
Trent Reznor's Wave photo courtesy of Adrian Belew
YouTube: Bjorn Leander & cm2magazine at MusikMesse
Clavia acquires original Mellotron sounds
Dean Markley NAMM Artists
Nick Catanese and George Lynch will be playing the Dean Markley NAMM Show booth (#5710) next month in Anaheim.
Also scheduled to appear: Dick & Jimmy Dale, REO Speedwagon, Ingwie Malmsteen, Nuno Bettencourt, Michael Anthony, Alice in Chains, Papa Roach, Hellogoodbye, Chimaira, Nikki Sixx, Atreyu, Pat Travers, Scott Stapp Band, Bill Dickens, T.M. Stevens, Rick Springfield and Skid Row.
Schimmel Konzert Grand Piano - Pegasus
Designed by Prof. Luigi Colani, the Schimmel Konzert Grand Piano - Pegasus (K 208 P), sports an innovative design, including an ergonomically-formed keyboard with keys that have a slight curvature.
2 Questions:
Is this the piano of the future?
What is the future of the piano?
Radiohead New Year's Eve Webcast
Radiohead will webcast a pre-recorded live performance of In Rainbows and "other bits" on New Year's Eve at 4pm Pacific (Midnight in the UK) on radiohead.tv to celebrate the physical release of In Rainbows.
In the US, the hour-long show will be broadcast on the Current TV cable channel and webcast on current.com at 9pm Pacific (Midnight EST) and then replayed three times on New Year's Day.
In the meantime, there's a good exchange between Thom Yorke and David Byrne in Wired about the real value of music.
Melodyne 3.2.2 on Leopard
LinnDrum II = BoomChik Drum Machine
The LinnDrum II has been officially announced on the Dave Smith Instruments website:
Many of you have been anxiously awaiting news of BoomChik, the collaboration between Dave and Roger Linn announced at Winter NAMM 2007. As information becomes available, we'll be posting it to this page. The most obvious development over the last year is that it is no longer called BoomChik: it is now the LinnDrum II. There will be two models: the all-digital LinnDrum II and the LinnDrum II Analog, which adds a 4-voice analog synth and 27 dual-function voicing knobs. The LinnDrum II will be available from Roger Linn Design and the LinnDrum II Analog will be available from Dave Smith Instruments.I'm looking forward to the release of both of the these drum machines, especially the analog version.
The operating system emphasizes real-time performance with the ability to drop in and out of record on different beats, play multiple beats simultaneously, switch in and out of song mode, and much more, all without stopping play. Both MPC-style real time and XOX-style step recording are provided, and the 16 velocity- and pressure-sensitive pads—backlit for visual sequence animation—can be assigned to sounds, tunings, beats, pad mutes, or sequence steps. Dedicated buttons exist for touch sensitivity, sound restart, real-time erase and pressure-sensitive note repeat or rolls. 16 megabytes of internal flash memory exist for sound storage, but because sound data is read directly from flash, expanding sound memory is accomplished merely by plugging a compact flash card into the rear panel slot. Inputs and outputs include four audio outs, two sampling/audio processing/drum trigger inputs, phones, USB, MIDI in/out, two expression pedal/foot switch inputs, and four additional direct voice outputs for the Analog model.
Sample playback is enhanced with 8-level velocity switching, dynamic filters and resonators, distortion and lo-fi algorithms, two complex modulation matrices and the ability to use sequence events as modulation sources. The Analog model enables significantly richer voice timbres with its four Curtis chip-based analog voices, analog feedback resonator paths, and dedicated voicing knobs. Performance enhancements include two programmable sliders and dedicated on/off buttons for filter, resonator, amp sim/compressor, EQ, delay and reverb effects.
We hope to be shipping by mid-2008.
Update: Roger Linn has just announced the digital version of the LinnDrum II.
ProRemote iPhone Pro Tools Controller
ProRemote allows an iPhone or iPod Touch to control Pro Tools LE wirelessly. The interface on the iPhone looks just like Pro Tools and reacts with feedback to changes in transport controls and live audio meters.
Alex le Lievre's ProRemote software is currently in beta on "jailbroken" iPhones. He is waiting for Apple certification which may happen after Apple releases the iPhone native software SDK in February.
The application is designed for WiFi use, but it's also been tested on AT&T EDGE networks. A server and MIDI driver are installed on the Pro Tools Mac. The iPhone connects to the server, and the server controls PT via the MIDI driver using Mackie HUI emulation.
In creating ProRemote, Alex le Lievre was inspired by the Tranzport. He plans to port the app over to Windows and expand it to include other DAWs.
More info:
Control Pro Tools with an iPhone or iPod Touch on Create Digital Music
Anybody know if Iphone? on Gearslutz
ProTools on your iPhone? on Gearslutz
Friday, December 28, 2007
The Death of High Fidelity
In the latest issue of Rolling Stone, Richard Levine writes of "The Death of High Fidelity." It is a well-written piece about how the sound quality of today's recordings has been forsaken for the convenience of the MP3 format.
At the same time, the Loudness War has mastering engineers compressing recordings to make them louder and louder to accommodate digital formats and grab people's attention. The problem with this excessive compression is that it is killing the dynamics of modern music.
Are the TC Finalizer, Waves L3 and other mastering tools evil? No way! They're great. I just don't think every song benefits from the extreme compression that has become the norm.
I listen to music on DVD-Audio and SACD, but both formats are dying. Surround mixes are increasingly harder to find than they were just last year. On the other hand, I also love my iPods for the convenience of having thousands of songs on me at all times. When I'm listening to music on an iPod, it bothers me that some of my older music is quiet compared to more recent tracks. The solution: Turn it up!
Are the TC Finalizer, Waves L3 and other mastering tools evil? No way! They're great. I just don't think every song benefits from the extreme compression that has become the norm.
I listen to music on DVD-Audio and SACD, but both formats are dying. Surround mixes are increasingly harder to find than they were just last year. On the other hand, I also love my iPods for the convenience of having thousands of songs on me at all times. When I'm listening to music on an iPod, it bothers me that some of my older music is quiet compared to more recent tracks. The solution: Turn it up!
Is high fidelity dead?
No.
Good quality audio just doesn't seem as convenient or important as it once did to most people. This will change. As technology and the storage capacity of iPods and music playing devices continue to improve, I believe we will see a movement toward high fidelity again.
Check out Turn Me Up, a non-profit organization committed to increasing awareness of these issues and providing an alternative to the Loudness War.
Good quality audio just doesn't seem as convenient or important as it once did to most people. This will change. As technology and the storage capacity of iPods and music playing devices continue to improve, I believe we will see a movement toward high fidelity again.
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