Expanding the Vidisynth
I suppose since my partner has blazed the trail with some awesome posts that I should say something about my first design: VidiSynth. Thanks to the help of Mike and my pal Adam Wolf (check him out at wayneandlayne.com) VidiSynth was a total success. Naturally there is always room for improvement and I will be tweaking a couple of things for the first production run, but I couldn’t be happier with how the prototype turned out.
VidiSynth by the way is a fun little noise toy that has 4 square wave oscillators mixed together into a single output. The frequency of each oscillator is controlled by an external resistance loop that can be a simple potentiometer, photo-resistor or something more complex like a sequencer. If light sensors are used you can produce a wide variety of sounds by finding interesting light sources to drive them. One of my favorites is good old CRT television which gives a nice lo-fi buzzy tone and can add a new dimension to your favorite movie.
Synapse Audio Software has announced the release of Orion 8
Synapse Audio Software has announced the release of Orion 8, the latest version of its music production software for Windows.
After two years of development, Orion gets its most important update with Orion 8, taking its sound quality, workflow and possibilities to an entirely new level.
Changes in Orion 8
- New Instruments
- Pro-9 virtual-analog drum sound modelling generator(complete overhaul of the former XR-909 generator).
- Acoustic Grand, a high-quality, sampled-based grand piano module.
- New Effects
- High-quality lookahead limiter and a new compressor, both meeting professional standards.
- Vintage Chorus effect, a detailed recreation of the warm, analog stereo chorus effects manufactured in the 70s and 80s.
- New Mixing Console
- Revised mixing console doubles the number of parallel sub groups to eight and adds an extra insert slot, eliminating the need for clumsy workarounds.
- Additional pan laws are available for the mixing desk, including Equal Power 0dB, Equal Power -3dB and Linear -6dB for broadcasting.
- Ability to pattern-automate the mixer in the sequencer.
- Both the mixing console and master section support automatic PDC (plugin delay compensation) and 64-bit double-precision mixing.
- Templates and Song Merge
- New, innovative Template system allows you to fully customize the plugins you work with.
- Song Merge allows you to incorporate tracks into a new project easily, preserving its patterns, arrangement, Mixer/EQ settings, applied effects and so on.
- Improved Workflow
- New navigation bar in the arrangement window gives an overview of the entire project, and allows instant zooming or navigating to any bar with a single click.
- Patterns can be resized and stretched with the mouse directly in the playlist.
- Full mousewheel support has been added to all views, including the piano roll, mixer, instruments and effects.
- DrumRack
- Each sample or sample group can now be mapped to any MIDI key, and all new V8 drumkits are mapped according to the General MIDI (GM) drum map standard.
- MIDI Grooves can be imported via Drag+Drop and will function instantly due to the GM compatibility.
- The new 12-bit switch added allows for vintage, gritty MPC-type sounds.
- New Sample Content
- Provided by well-known sampling experts Yellow Tools.
- Whether you’re looking for a high-quality acoustic drum set, percussion samples or an electric bass or acoustic guitar- the new content added to Orion consists exclusively of finest 24-bit quality multisamples, a huge improvement compared to the content that came with earlier versions of Orion.
- Installing the Sample content is much easier than in previous editions, too, as it is performed by a dedicated Setup program.
- Look+Feel
- New skinning system introduced allows full custimization of not just all instruments and effects, but the window frames and buttons as well.
- Two skins are provided, a new V8 skin as well as an adapted “Azura” skin from V7.
For the next two weeks Orion 8 for Windows is available to purchase for the introductory price of $199 USD (regular $249 USD). The upgrade price for Orion 7 owners is $69 USD (regular $99 USD). Prices exclude 19% VAT for customers within the EU.
More information: Synapse Audio / Orion
“RED”(King Crimson) by Being & Time with Theremin
This is “Being & Time” Live(Theremin Night) at Chicken George(Kobe City, Hyogo, Japan), Feb, 14, 2011.
“Being & Time” is an instrumental progressive / jazz rock duo in Kobe, Japan.
Fuyuhiko Tani – Guitar Synthesizer(GR-55)，Programming
Hiroshi Tsukagoshi – Bass
Guest:：Macoto Kikuchi – Theremin
Introducing the Fairlight App for iPhone & iPad
Introducing the Fairlight App for iPhone & iPad, available from the Apple App Store in March 2011. Over 30 years since the original Fairlight CMI first changed the way we make music, we are proud to present the iPhone & iPad Apps, giving you the experience of a CMI Series IIx in the palm of your hand, complete with the full Series IIx factory library and expandable to include the best of the Series III library and even your own samples.
Marvel at the then revolutionary Page R step sequencer, gasp at the three dimensional waveforms in Page D and bask in the wonder of some of the most famous sounds of the Eighties!
The sound track of this video is also one of the app’s built-in demos. ‘Octagonalle’ was created using original Series II library sounds on the Fairlight iPad app by producer/composer Justin Shave. Shave confronted his first CMI in 2006 when he co-produced Darren Hayes’ album “This Delicate Thing We’ve Made.” Darren had decided that the Fairlight was the only instrument which could deliver the ’80s sensibility he was seeking, bought one on eBay, and handed it to Shave to tame. The rest is history.
The full dance track is available as a free download from the Fairlight web site.
http://www.fairlightinstruments.com.a…
The app celebrates the release of the strictly limited edition CMI 30A. 100 hand built recreations of the CMI IIx, using state of the art technology to bring you the true Fairlight CMI experience as never before.
Order yours at http://fairlightinstruments.com.au
The legend has returned.
Moog MuRF Syncing – Gate Method
Short demo:
Have a Moog MuRF, Bass MuRF or MIDI MuRF? Here’s a way to sync it to the beat using the Gate output from a Moog Voyager (w/ VX-351). This method should work with other Gate-producing gear as well. Learn more at www.experimentalsynth.com
Computer At Sea
Seemingly forever in the making, Computer At Sea’s EP Palace of the Lightbulbs is finally available in digital format on bandcamp.
With the exception of one bass line, every sound on the recording is from a circuit bent instrument, hand made synth, chiptune hardware, or other found electronics. The album will be released in the physical world on white vinyl some time in late April with a small east coast tour to follow in the spring/early summer.
For more info and download instructions check out: www.computeratsea.com
Via GLF
* WARNING LOUD NOISE INTRO!* Normal after that.
The synthesizer that does not exist
IMAGINARY SYNTHS episode 1, Alpha JUNO-8
This synth exists only in in my imagination! I wanted to imagine, and replicate what an 8 part multitimbral Alpha Juno would sound like. In fact, if it did exist, here’s a small audio demo of what it actually would sound like. Play it in HD to do it justice!
Using only my Alpha Juno 2, the first pad part was recorded in Pro Tools playing manually to a click, on 8 individual passes.
The second part was created using MIDI sequencing in Pro Tools. I laid down a simple MIDI arpeggio and started recording the audio parts 1 stereo track at a time, each with their own “on the fly” modulations.
The oscillator de-tuning was accomplished by simply de-tuning using the Tune/function button while tweaking the root pitch with the alpha dial in real-time on a few of the audio passes . The “reversed” arpeggio sections were simple audio edits to the stereo mixdown.
I’ve always loved this synth, with it’s unique rich sound. Now I love it even more
as an 8 part multitimbral (albeit imagined, but possible to replicate) SYNTH BEAST!
Via rudiedisone
TAL-NoiseMaker has been updated
TAL has released an update to its free software synthesizer, TAL-NoiseMaker.
Here’s what’s new:
- Vintage delay added (version 3.03).
- Filter overdrive (version 3.03).
- Own preset save and load functionality for preset exchange (version 3.03).
- Osc 2 noise waveform added (version 3.03).
- LFO 1/2, OSC 1&2 modulation support (version 3.03).
- Full automation support. Drop downs also compatible with VST automation (version 3.03).
- Changes in the preset management, single preset support (version 3.03).
- Envelope Editor: Fix tempo option added (version 3.03).
- Envelope Editor: One shot option added (version 3.03).
- Envelope Editor: Reset button (version 3.03).
- 256 presets by Frank “Xenox” Neumann / Particular – Sound FN, The Unshushable Coktor TUC, Alexandra Sendy AS, Patrick Kunz TAL (version 3.03).
- Small volume correction in the 24 dB filter at high cutoffs and full resonance (version 3.03).
TAL-NoiseMaker is available for Mac & Windows.
Intimacy
Synthesist Martin Peters‘ demonstrates his take on Berlin School space music with this live modular + keyboard synth jam, Intimacy.
Here are the details:
Hello my YouTube and Modular synth friends. It’s been some weeks since I uploaded my last video. But I was looking for a way to record the music of my video’s in multitrack. Multitrack recording allows me to develop the live recorded music later on by adding, altering, removing individual audio tracks for each instrument and mixing the tracks properly. So I was busy investigating the various possibilities to do this. I ended up upgrading my Pro Tools LE 8 software, which I did not use much anymore, to version 9 to be able to broaden the scope for audio interfaces. Then I was lusted for a Mackie Onyx 1220i because this integrates a mixer and an audio interface for each channel. But the remaining budget was to tight for that. So then I bought a second hand Alesis MultiMix 16 FireWire which is capable of more or less the same for a smaller budget. Now I can record up to 16 channels and the stereo main mix in one go. I used the stereo main mix for this YouTube video so this is still a live recording. If I develop this recording further I will upload it to the music section of my website.
This improvisation is in essence somewhat minimal. There a four sequences going on. I manually alternate between rows 1 and 2 of the Synthesizers.com Q960 which is driving the Synthesizers.com Modular. I also use 2 presets on the Doepfer MAQ16/3 to alternate the sequences for the self-built Modular with a 4- and 6-step sequence and the Ian Fritz Teezer Through-Zero VCO with the Blacet MiniWave with two 8-step sequences. The Waldorf Q Keyboard does a 2-step sequence for the bass. Chords are played on the Roland XP-80 and the Waldorf Q Keyboard. The solo is performed on the Clavia Nord Lead 1. The MIDI clock for all this comes from Pro Tools 9 to keep it in sync with the Pro Tools bars and beats. Pro Tools also transposes the sequences on the Synthesizers.com Q960 and the Doepfer MAQ16/3.
You can download/see/hear the video and music from my website. I also provided a pre-recording made on the 24th of February.
Samplerbanks releases “Logic’s ES2: Basic to Intermediate Synthesis” by Sound Guru
Synthesis can seem extremely daunting. When you open up a synth like Logic’s ES2, you’re confronted with a huge array of buttons, knobs and sliders whose function seems obscure at best.
Even if you study the manual and can find your way around, it can still be extremely frustrating; hearing the sounds you want to make in your head, but unable to produce them. ES2 Synthesis: Basic to Intermediate guides you all the way from the foundations of synthesis to advanced sound design in 2hrs 35mins of HD video.
If you own Apple’s Logic Studio or Logic Express, you also own the ES2, since it’s one of the native synths that Logic ships with. If you’ve come across it, you’ll know that it’s a beast of an instrument, with a huge array of options for sound generation/modulation, and an almost limitless potential for new sounds. The ES2 is also a subtractive synthesizer. That makes it part of the most popular family of synths by far. As a result, the knowledge you will gain in this tutorial series is applicable to many thousands of other synthesizers, both virtual and analog.
ES2 Synthesis: Basic to Intermediate doesn’t simply teach you about buttons and knobs, however. The author, Tom Maisey created this tutorial series precisely because there aren’t any other tutorials out there that teach you the really juicy stuff: making amazing sounds that take your tracks to the next level.
The tutorial series is split into three parts:
Part 1 explains the layout of the ES2, and how its oscillators, filters and effects section can be employed to build starting points for your sounds.
Part 2 covers the modulation matrix and explains using Envelopes, LFOs and Expressive modulation sources to give your sound the dynamic shape and sonic character you’re after.
Part 3 is where things really start to get interesting. Over the course of 18 sound design workshop videos, we look at making Basses, Pads & Chords, Fx and Percussive sounds. In the process, you will learn a broad range of techniques that will allow you to turn the sounds in your head into reality.
The tutorial pack also includes several Logic project files and 21 ES2 patches to study and adapt at your leisure.
Creating synth sounds from scratch is not only gratifying, it makes your tracks stand out from the crowd. Why use someone else’s clichÈ when you can make your own?
CONTENT DETAILS:
Part 1
01. Intro
02. The ES2ís Signal path
03. Oscillator 1
04. Oscillators 2 & 3
05. Filters 1 & 2
06. Filter Blend, Parallel & Series
07. Effects
08. Polyphony, Monophony, Legato & Unison
09. Glide & Analog modes
Part 2
01. Intro
02. The Modulation Router
03. Envelope 3
04. Envelopes 1 & 2
05. LFOs 1 & 2
06. Expressive Modulation
07. Pulse Width Modulation
08. FM Synthesis
09. Ring modulation
10. Digiwave Modulation
11. Synced Oscillators
Part 3
01. Bass Workshop 1 – Bass Psychoacoustics
02. Bass Workshop 2 – Using envelopes & getting “fat”
03. Bass Workshop 3 – Expressive modulation, keyboard scaling, punchy subs & clean deep basses
04. Bass Workshop 4 – Lush, crushed bass & other modulation options
05. Bass Workshop 5 – Dark & twisted D’n’B & dubstep
06. Percussion Workshop 1 – Basic principles
07. Percussion Workshop 2 – FM metallic sounds & hihat patch
08. Percussion Workshop 3 – Self-resonating filters, kick drums and microtonal percussion loops
09. Percussion Workshop 4 – Snare patch & complete ES2 drumkit
10. Pads & Keyboards 1 – Basic principles
11. Pads & Keyboards 2 – PWM, string sounds and FM pads
12. Pads & Keyboards 3 – Morphing modwheel sounds & expression
13. Pads & Keyboards 4 – Stab chords 101: applying our knowledge
14. Pads & Keyboards 5 – House & techno chord sounds
15. FX Workshop 1 – Transition Fx, noise & the secret filter
16. FX Workshop 2 – Transcendant transitions
17. FX Workshop 3 – Atmospheric synth Fx
18. FX Workshop 4 – Voyage of probability; no limits Fx
Available here: Logic’s ES2: Basic to Intermediate Synthesis
DATAMASKIN
