1980’s cult band The Mission is back
Wayne Hussey, Craig Adams and Simon Hinkler are currently in a studio somewhere in Sussex (UK) with drummer Budgie (formerly of Siouxsie & The Banshees, The Creatures, and The Slits) recording an album of new songs to be released in time for The Mission’s 25th anniversary shows in October.
That the news pops up out of the blue for many fans is also clear for the band who says: “We know this is news to most of you but we have been trying very hard to keep it under wraps until everything was ready but it seems that the news has been leaked so we thought we would let you know before you heard it elsewhere.”
The last Mission album that Craig Adams was involved in was “Aura” which was released ten years ago whilst Simon Hinkler’s last involvement with the band was his guest appearances at the Shepherds Bush shows just 3 years ago. The last album he actually played on was “Carved In Sand”, if you don’t count his guitar solo on “Grotesque” from the band’s last album “God Is A Bullet”.
The album will be released by the band’s old label, Universal, and is being produced by Tim Palmer who previously produced “God’s Own Medicine” and the aforementioned “Carved In Sand”. Palmer is also known for his work with U2, Pearl Jam, David Bowie, and HIM amongst many many others.
The Mission (briefly known as The Sisterhood in 1986, not to be confused with Andrew Eldritch’ The Sisterhood, and known as The Mission UK in the United States) are a gothic rock band formed in 1986 from the splinters of the freshly-dissolved The Sisters of Mercy.
The provisional track listing is as follows:
1. You’re Just Another Pawn In My Game
2. Don’t Be Fooled Yet Again
3. Laugh Until I Cry
4. Idiot Savant
5. Cross My Palm With Silver
6. April Rain
7. Have You Got It yet?
8. Pull The Wool Over Your Eyes
9. Retirement Fund
10. The Joke’s On You
11. Man Of Few Words
12. (If You Understand) Keep It To Yourself
Discovery Pro R5.5 – virtual analog sysnthesizer
discoDSP has announced the release of Discovery Pro R5.5 , a virtual analog sysnthesizer instrument for Mac and Windows. Discovery Pro is a 12 oscillators 32/64 bit Virtual Analog VSTi, Audio Units and RTAS Synthesizer featuring 4 layers, WAV and SoundFont (SF2) support, PADsynth resynthesis, 2X oversampling/undersampling, built-in arpeggiator, sync, FM, 12 filter types, panning modulation, stereo delay and gate effects, graphic envelope modulation. It also Imports and Exports Nord Lead 2 SysEx data
discoDSP has announced the release of Discovery Pro R5.5, a virtual analog sysnthesizer instrument for Mac and Windows.
Discovery Pro is a 12 oscillators 32/64 bit Virtual Analog VSTi, Audio Units and RTAS Synthesizer featuring 4 layers, WAV and SoundFont (SF2) support, PADsynth resynthesis, 2X oversampling/undersampling, built-in arpeggiator, sync, FM, 12 filter types, panning modulation, stereo delay and gate effects, graphic envelope modulation. It also Imports and Exports Nord Lead 2 SysEx data.
Changes in Discovery Pro R5.5
- Better FXP preset export compatibility.
- Renaming a preset shows the original name instead blank.
- Overwrite warning when a bank file already exist.
- File dialog boxes now remember last opened locations.
- Banks located at Data folder refresh automaticly.
- Small EDIT menu finetune.
- Manual revision.
Discovery Pro R5.5 is available to purchase for 149 EUR incl. VAT. The update is free for current Discovery Pro R5 users. Updates from R4 or previous versions cost 29 EUR.
More information: discoDSP / Discovery Pro R5.5
Ear Machine has announced the release of EARs
Ear Machine has announced the release of EARs , an app that turns an iPhone or iPod touch into a powerful, easy-to-use hearing aid. With EARs, users can quickly manipulate the tone of the sounds around them by dragging a single dot around the screen.
Ear Machine has announced the release of EARs, an app that turns an iPhone or iPod touch into a powerful, easy-to-use hearing aid.
With EARs, users can quickly manipulate the tone of the sounds around them by dragging a single dot around the screen.
“Every listening situation is different, so it’s important to be able to customize the tone as you move from one environment to another,” said Andrew Sabin, Ear Machine owner and psychoacoustics researcher. “EARs provides a simple interface where users can quickly get the sound quality they are looking for, and then get back to listening.”
EARs picks up sounds in real time using the iPhone’s built-in microphone or an external microphone. The sounds are processed according to where the user has placed the dot, and then sent out via earphones. EARs can also help if the user has different hearing in their two ears by providing separate controls for the right and left ears.
In the United States, only about one-third of the people who could benefit from a hearing aid actually use one, and self-contained hearing aids can cost as much as $3,000. “We hope that EARs will provide a convenient and affordable way for people with hearing loss to improve their hearing,” said Joshua Cooper, co-creator of EARs. “Even if you have normal hearing, EARs can enhance your ability to listen in difficult environments such as noisy restaurants or bars.”
EARs is for available to purhcase from the iTunes App Store for $3.99 USD.
More information: Ear Machine / EARs
Mind-blowing music app for creatively mixing and rearranging beats
Steinberg today releases LoopMash, a mind-blowing music app for creatively mixing and rearranging beats, tunes and effects. Now available for your iPhone and iPod touch, this inspiring mobile instrument lets you choose from over 40 presets and 250 addictive loops ranging all the way from ethno to disco.
With its innovative approach to mixing music, LoopMash simultaneously merges up to four two-bar loops by matching and replacing comparable elements. By using the included studio-grade effects, you can easily spice up your performance and make your music sound even gnarlier.
Quality content, intuitive control and 3-D navigation for effortless page browsing make this app a must-have for party-goers, music aficionados and pretty much everyone in between.
Key Features
- More than 250 addictive audio loops included
- Over 40 presets to get you started right away
- Intuitive 3-D swipe-page navigation
- Load and play with up to 4 loops per scene
- 8 scenes available per preset
- 4 studio-grade effects for more sound control
Loopmash at the iTunes App Store
FirstMix – USB powered DJ-ing
Gemini has announced a May 2011 release for the latest addition to its digital DJ accessory lineup, FirstMix.
The USB controller features two touch-sensitive jog wheels, traditional mixer/crossfader controls, and can connect with any music library including iTunes. FirstMix ships with MixVibes’ Cross LE DJ software, but is also compatible with the likes of Traktor and Algoriddim djay.
RRP is $79.95, official press blurb below, see Gemini DJ for more.
Scratch like a pro
Gemini, a division of GCI Technologies and a leading innovator of modern DJ technology, is excited to unveil the FirstMix USB DJ Controller for aspiring DJs. This easy to use, yet feature rich controller with two touch sensitive jog wheels that allow anyone to scratch like a pro.
A Best in Show winner at the 2011 Winter NAMM show, FirstMix connects via USB and allows users to DJ using their iTunes or other music library.FirstMix ships with Cross LE DJ software from MixVibes and is also compatible with Traktor, Virtual DJ and Algoriddims DJAY and other popular DJ software.
We took many of the best features from our Gemini professional DJ products and integrated them into FirstMix for anyone who is interested in a fun and easy way to get started in digital DJ, says Mark Wilder, Vice President of Marketing for GCI Technologies. FirstMix lets you scratch right out of the box and gives you the tools you need to put together a great party mix.
Other key features include the ability to seamlessly mix songs together, spice up tracks with effects, play music in reverse, adjust bass and treble output and record your set. Priced at $79.95, the FirstMix is the newest addition to Gemini’s Digital DJ Controller line and will be available through musical instrument, electronics, and DJ retailers in May, 2011.
Camgesture in Paradise
Ableton Theremin – experimental electronic music made by translating hand gestures tracked by Quartz Composer and webcam, into OSC then Midi and sending on to Ableton to trigger Spectrasonics Omnisphere and RMX.
facebook.com/pages/Steve-Freedom/179268715421284
It’s just a matter of time before everyone makes their own music ღ♪*•.¸¸¸.•*¨¨*•.¸¸¸.•*•♪ღ♪
Analog shift register
Demo video of my Analog Shift Register. This is a DIY module built with a pcb designed by David Dixon.
The sequence in the middle was “borrowed” from Synthiefrau (“Hello lovely synthesizer folks!”), although it ended up getting changed a bit.
Shared by sduck409
The Human League – Never Let Me Go Official Video
Never Let Me Go is the official video for The Human League’s new single out now.
Never Let Me Go is available to download now on iTunes http://bit.ly/dL6Gq3 taken from the forthcoming album ‘Credo’ out March 21st.
Pre-order ‘Credo’ now from
HMV: http://tinyurl.com/65m9xka
Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/6xoxvv8
Play.com: http://tinyurl.com/6ezg6jl
Itunes: http://tinyurl.com/6az6dno
Connect with The Human League on:
http://www.facebook.com/thehumanleagie
http://www.twitter.com/humanleaguehq
Midi Touch for iPhone
Midi Touch for iPhone – an Phone version of the popular iPad app Midi Touch – is now available. The app is designed to turn your iPhone or iPod Touch into a powerful wireless MIDI controller.
MIDI Touch for iPhone lets you create your own custom controllers by placing knobs, sliders and other controls onto the screen wherever you want, and then send MIDI over Wi-Fi with latency as low as 2-5ms.
Features:
- Design & save your own MIDI controllers by dragging and dropping sliders, buttons and more where you want them to create personalised control surfaces
- Excellent responsiveness & performance – measured latency over WiFi: 2-5ms.
- Support for CC, Note, Program Change, SYSEX, NRPN & RPN messages (SYSEX not supported by DSMIDIWiFi)
- Support for multiple messages per control
- Midi Feedback – keeps the controls synced to your incoming messages (SYSEX, NRPN messages not supported for feedback yet)
- Many different control types – Vertical sliders, horizontal sliders, knobs, buttons (momentary or latched), drum-pads, X-Y-Z controllers, transport controls and preset-jump buttons
- Easily change the settings of each control – CC number, note number, minimum & maximum range, channel, invert, size, label & more
- All new tab control – easily organise your controls
- Choose from 14 different theme colors
- Import/export & share controller setups via Email, Safari, Dropbox etc
- Multi touch – control multiple knobs/sliders etc at once
- Full screen mode to reduce distractions and maximize usable space
- Controls snap to each other to help create aligned layouts
- Invert values mode – perfect for drawbar organs
- Editor controls – copy, cut, paste, duplicate (between presets also)
- Multiple control selection – select multiple controls to move/cut/duplicate/edit
- Nudge controls to make pixel perfect controllers
- Intuitive gestures – great for fine tuning controls
- New SYSEX message editor allows entering custom SYSEX strings with the value of the control embedded into the message
- Robust RPN/NRPN support – simply select the MSB & LSB and the app does the rest
- Turn inputs/outputs on or off selectively
- Advanced control options to change how controls respond to incoming messages
Pricing and Availability
MIDI Touch for iPhone is available now for $$12.99.
Link:
Presenting to you – the BugBrand Modular system!
UK synth designer Tom Bugs issued these photos of new Bug Brand modular synth modules, along with pricing.
Bugs has this to say about his modular:
The design approach for this system really stemmed from my personal building and playing, both in terms of how to work with the circuitry and all the production aspects. The aim is for a powerful, yet relatively compact sonic system and for a creative flow through functionality, control and presentation.
The system is also colourful! Not only do the great feeling banana plugs help with the workflow of dividing signal chains, but the colour coded knobs also really aid intuitive use and interaction. Even the panel material is a lush deep blue, making use of 3mm PCB material, screen-printed with white lettering, to provide great looks and strength.
At the start of 2009 I announced that I was beginning to offer complete and powerful modular systems using 4mm banana patching and based on the FracRack size format. Back then I introduced around 12 brand new modules and since then the range has grown considerably, covering most of the traditional synthesis bases, but also incorporating many unique twists.
Costings: All prices are exclusive of shipping and VAT (@ 20% – applicable to all UK & EU sales)
Frame – £70
Desktop EndCheeks (Pair) – £20
MiniPower (inc UK or EU PSU) – £75
ENV1 Attack Decay – £100
SYN2A Utility VCO x 3 – £270
DD2 LFO / DC Mixer – £80
DD1 Modulator / LPG – £90
DD3 VCA / Drive – £90
PRC3A SV Filter – £90
PRC1 PT Delay – £95
UTL2 Output Mix – £60
Starter Cable Pack (24 Cables) – £40
TOTAL = £1080
For System Type 2 (PRC5 replaces one SYN2A) – add £5
For 19″ Rack EndCheeks – subtract £5
For worldwide sales (120V operation) MiniPower is discounted due to self-sourcing PSU – subtract £7.50
Typical Shipping Costs –
UK – Special Delivery – £22.50
EU – DHL – £40
Worldwide – DHL – £50
Bugs is offering two system types. They’re identical other than Type1 has 3xSYN2A Utility VCO while Type2 has one SYN2A replaced by a PRC5 Wavefolder.
See the Bug Brand site for details
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DATAMASKIN
