This year our focus was pretty much exclusively on Apple and its iPad when it came to music apps. We are still in the middle of our iPad and music apps series (part one and two). And we also took a look at the competition of the iPad touchtablet wise. And the conclusion (in short) was that Apple had a big lead when it came to music apps for use in a studio and/or stage environment.
Talk of the town last week. KORG released a vintage synth recreation for the iPad. After the earlier this year released iElectribe, they now gave us the iMS-20 app. The original MS-20 is a patchable semi-modular monophonic synthesizer which Korg released in 1978 and was in production until 1983. Although the MS-20 follows a conventional subtractive synthesis architecture of oscillators/filter/vca, its patch panel allows some rerouting of both audio and modulation, and it includes an external signal processor. This flexibility led to its resurgence during the analog revival of the late 90’s.
After several years of development Elektron are happy to announce the imminent arrival of the Octatrack. They are confident their efforts have resulted in a unique machine with a huge potential and they really look forward to see how you will use and abuse it.
Open Labs is now offering AVID’s Pro Tools 9 software on our NeKo, MiKo, and Soundslate instruments. The option to have Pro Tools software fully installed, integrated and supported by Open Labs engineers provides producers and musicians with industry-leading studio recording software running seamlessly on Open Labs gear. You can produce a track in Pro Tools right out of the box on all GEN 6 Products. Proprietary AVID or M-Audio hardware is no longer needed to run Pro Tools 9.
Music Computing announced their brand new line of keyboard workstations for both gigging musicians and any size recording studio, are now shipping. The StudioBLADE and iKeyDOCK are complete, portable production stations, which either include a built-in Windows 7 64-bit PC with touch-screen and DAW software and virtual software instruments, or a docking system for any PC/Mac notebook.
The guys from SourceDistributionTV packed their camera and went to talk to Bernard Butler. Well known as the guitarist of Suede, McAlmont & Butler, and producer of numerous artists including Duffy and The Libertines, he is a user of the Universal Audio UAD2 Quad Card. They headed to Bernard’s little custom studio to talk about how he’s found working with UAD2, his musical processes, the music industry and the state of music, and how he wrote one of his greatest songs…
By ways of great exception Korg has released the schematics of their little Monotron synthesizer. Allthough this little cuty was being hacked the day it came out, now there is an official schematic to follow. As the Monotron is a complete analog synth it is ideal for ‘circuit bending’.
Watching the video below just took me back in the days instantly. Wow, just check those sounds. Like the Mellotron was never gone! This new digital Mellotron was very well received at the past NAMM 2010. It has been developed by Mellotron and is solely their own product and has nothing to do with any other manufacturer.
Meet MeeBlip, the hackable digital synth, developed by Peter Kirn (CDM Blog) and James Grahame. MeeBlip is a hackable, affordable digital synthesizer, made for accessible sound and hands-on control. It can be someone’s first synth. It can be a unique-sounding addition to your music setup, playable with MIDI hardware and software. It can be a synth you open up and modify, learning about sound creation, code, and electronics. Or it can be the basis of new projects and ideas.
Originally started as the ‘in-house’ recording studios of the Philips Electronics company in 1978, the Wisseloord Studios in Hilversum grew to become one of the best recording facilities in Europe. Many famous artists recorded tracks here at one moment in time: ELO, Elton John, The Police, Scorpions, The Rolling Stones and Michael Jackson, to name just a few. However, in 2005 the studio started having financial problems which finally resulted in a bankrupcy in 2009.
Korg has announced the microSAMPLER Bonus Sample Packs 1 & 2. This expansive collection of professionally sampled sounds is available as a free download to all microSAMPLER users.
Street musician caught playing sitar on iPad. She apparently used app Seline HD for her performance. Also, sound was recorded using binaural microphones. Is this the future we are seeing here? Well, who knows but clearly it’s a sign of the times. Steve (Jobs) would approve…!
Korg has released the SV-1 Sound Pack 2 for its acclaimed Stage Vintage (SV-1) Piano. The Sound Pack features a wide assortment of sounds, including many that were inspired by user feedback. Some of these requested sounds include darker tine pianos, an acoustic piano with more sustain and a wider variety of organ sounds. Of special note, for the first time there are split sounds, including left hand basses (a surprise hidden in the ROM, until now).
Arturia just released a new softwar synth plus a version 1.3. update for their Origin synth. The Analog Laboratory will be available for sale on November 25. Where the Origin Firmware 1.3 will be available as a free update, and comes embedded in the new Origin Keyboards and Origin Desktops.