The 10 things we enjoyed the most at NAMM 2013 and major trends
Time to sum up this years Winter NAMM show with a gallery of the 10 things that made this year’s event so great. I guess there will be few surprises to those who regularly follow our web magazine or any other of our web mag colleagues in the msuic creation business either 
Overall trends for this year include:
a. More vendors takes the route of Arturia’s MiniBrute – analog, low price point, performance sized
b. Modular synths are hotter than ever, as well as the DIY micro synths
c. The controller / control surface segment is getting over crowded – who needs them all
d. Software retro clones of vintage classics has come to its peek
e. All analog synths are alive and kicking
f. All you can eat tablet instruments – iOS is all fed up, now vendors are looking to Android and other platforms
g. More innovation is needed in the DJ space
Here is Steelberry Clones’ top 10 list!
1. Moog Sub Phatty
2. KORG MS-20 Mini
3. KORG KingKORG
4. Arturia SparkLE
5. Dave Smith Instruments – Prophet 12
6. Roland V-Combo VR-09
7. AKAI MAX49
8. NORD Electro 4
9. NUMARK Orbit
10. KOMA Elektronik
That’s it for this year’s NAMM show, next up is MusikMesse in Frankfurt.
Please leave your comments if you agree or disagree with the listing or if anything ought to be added. We know that we probably should have included some software products as well, but we might come back to that later in the week.
Indepth demos of the new Arturia Sparkle and Minilab at NAMM 2013
Arturia Minilab is a $99 controller that comes with Analog Factory soft synths and pre-mapped knobs. Sparkle is a hardware controller bundled with their complete Spark drum machine software, and is surprisingly easy to make beats on even for the untrained.
More NAMM goodies: KingKORG, SPARKLE and Orbit
A demo of the brand new Korg KingKORG analogue modelling synthesizer.
Taking a look at the Numark Orbit – a wireless MIDI controller with an accelerometer, multi-couloured LED pads and a large rotary control.
Checking out the new mini drum machine and controller, SPARKLE. Plus FM get the low-down on the mini Arturia MINILAB controller and software bundle
Arturia brings us the MiniLab controller
Arturia has announced the launch of MiniLab, a USB bus-powered powerhouse, featuring 25 velocity-sensitive mini-keys alongside brand-new pitch and modulation touch-strip controls for maximising musical expression in a highly-portable package, details from the press release below:
Music software and hardware company Arturia is proud to announce the NAMM 2013 launch of MiniLab, a stylishly compact and bijou Universal MIDI Controller that’s far from being short on features. MiniLab is a USB bus-powered powerhouse, featuring 25 velocity-sensitive mini-keys alongside brand-new pitch and modulation touch-strip controls for maximising musical expression in a highly-portable package.
16 multifunction encoders — more than those found on any available comparably-sized USB/MIDI controller — ensure everything is at hand to program or perform, wherever life may take or lead you. And if that’s not enough to keep users entertained, two banks of brightly backlit performance pads can be easily assigned as pads, MIDI CC buttons, or program change switches for even speedier interactions with whatever device MiniLab is connected to (via its cleverly-recessed USB bus-power port and sustain pedal input).
Of course, music is where the heart is, and at the heart of MiniLab is the benevolently bundled Analog Lab software solution. With over 5,000 legendary classic keyboard and synth sounds carefully chosen from the Mini V, Modular V, CS-80 V, ARP2600 V, Jupiter-8V, Prophet 5, Prophet VS, Oberheim SEM V, and Wurlitzer V range of Analog Classic software instruments, Analog Lab offers speedy and simple editing with the most essential parameters for personalising presets available onscreen and for tweaking using the MiniLab controls. Notably, those TAE® (True Analog Emulation) synthesis-powered sounds are not sample-based, but are actually running the full synth engine behind the scenes, so offer unparalleled flexibility.
Yet there’s more: owners of those individual Analog Classics or the all-encompassing V Collection 3.0 bundle can open an Analog Lab sound, edit it in the original software instrument, then add it to their Analog Lab library, thereby taking their sound and workflow to a higher state of musical interactivity. Speaking of which, MiniLab is also compatible with Apple iPad and iPhone products (using a camera connection kit).
So, whatever way users choose to use it, musical life on the move’s just got a whole lot sweeter thanks to MiniLab, the world’s premier mobile keyboard solution!
MiniLab will be available to purchase from the Arturia online store or any dealer for €99.00 EURO/$129.00 USD from mid-March 2013.
Arturia Minibrute Oscillator Test
Background video description:
I just bought a MiniBrute. Being the synth geek that I am, I had to see the waveforms! I plugged in my new synth and began testing starting from the sub oscillator. This is a video of each oscillator being tested one by one.
The large draw for the MiniBrute lies within the fantastic oscillators. Each one offers an extra timber control to sculpt a unique sound with out even adding any more effects. This is what the waveforms look like with a clean signal.
Arturia Rhythm
Another tune with Arturia Minibrute, Maschine Mikro Mk2 and Korg KP3
We go over the features and demonstrate the sounds of the Arturia MiniBrute analog synthesizer.
To listen to an original track using the Arturia MiniBrute, check out the track Boarding on Lonely Paul’s SoundCloud page: https://soundcloud.com/lonely-paul/boarding
Arturia Minibrute Gates the Monotribe
In this sinister little piece the Monotribe makes a brief appearance (as a drum machine only) receiving gate signals from the MiniBrute. Apart from this the MiniBrute rules supreme over the rest of the tracks
Enjoy the Silence (Depeche Mode Cover)
Enjoy the Silence (Depeche Mode Cover) with Arturia Minibrute, NI Maschine Mikro MK2, Korg Kaoss Pad 3
Minibrute Monotonous Improvisation
Minibrute demonstration by Youtube alias Dovinia, details below:
Quite by chance a Minibrute ended up on my desk the other day. I wasn’t really going to order this synth but when one turned up for sale I couldn’t resist the temptation to try it out – if only to see if it can do other sounds than the ones that have so far been presented in various reviews. I think I quite like it.
PreBrute Worlds First MiniBrute Based Kontakt Synth
So right before Xmas Arturia’s MiniBrute goes virtual for Kontakt, details below:
Programmed pre-sets for PreBrute are listed below for each demo
Festive Introductory Offer- 25% Saving at checkout until 07/01/13
http://www.precioussound.com/prebrute
DEMO – Downtown (Part 1)
Percussions: Synthetic Percussions (JW)
Percussions: Junkyard Orchestra (JW)
Percussions: Flabby Kicks 3 (JW)
Keys: Cyberphone (JW)
Bass: Fretless Smoothie (JW)
DEMO: Serenade
Bass: Serenade Bass (PS)
Pad: Serenade Pad (PS)
Lead: Serenade Lead (PS)
Drums: Maschine PreSid Kit Serenade
DEMO – Solitude
Keys: Grand Piano (Solitude) (JW) (two instances for panning purposes)
Pads: Retro Strings (Solitude) (JW)
Pads: Space Pad (Solitude) (JW)
Demo: Runner
Pad: Runner Pad Modulate Lp Master Filter (PS)
Pad2: Runner Pad Map Hp Master Filter (PS)
Bass: Runner Bass (PS)
Lead: Runner Lead (PS)
Drums: Maschine PreSid Kit Runner
DEMO – Downtown (Part 2)
Percussions: Res Toms (JW)
Percussions: Industry Snares (JW)
Percussions: Dance Kicks 2 (JW)
Percussions: Glitch 1 (JW)
Keys: Cyberphone (JW) (modified with a longer attack)
Bass: Fretless Smoothie (JW) (with modified cutoff)
Demo: Sunshine
Pad: Sunshine Pad (PS)
Stabs: Sunshine Chord Delay Stabs (PS)
Bass: Sunshine Bass (PS)
Lead: Sunshine Lead (PS)
Drums: Maschine PreSid Kit Sunshine
DEMO: For Clifford…
keys: Mr Wait’s Bourbon (JW)
lead: Manik Moon (JW)
Demo: Breakdown
Stabs: Breakdown Delay Chord Stabs (PS)
Stabs: Breakdown Accordion Like Chord Stabs (PS)
Bass: Breakdown Bass (PS)
Drums: Drum break used
Demos composed by Jonathan Watridge and Precious Sound
JW= Jonathan Watridge
PS=Precious Sound
Specifications:
• 2.16GB Kontakt 5 Library
– 7612 24bit samples
– 0.92GB Ram usage for first instance 200mb per instance after per project
• Equipment used
– Arturia MiniBrute
– AMS 1073lb (Class A)
– API 512C (Class AB)
– Type 1 cassette through a Tascam 122 MKIII
• 20 Waveforms sampled from MiniBrute
– 4 Flavours Per Osc (Raw/1073/512C/Tape)
– 80 Possible waveform choices per Osc
• 4 Oscillators
– Independent Amp ADSR / Filter ADSR
– 2 Switchable Envelopes per Osc Amp Adsr (Normal/Punch)
– Inv Phase per Osc
– Sample start adjustment per Osc
• Octave function
– Shift +/- 3 octaves per Osc (natively plays samples does not tune sample)
• Copy paste
– One Osc’s settings to another Osc
• 2 LFOs per Osc
– Adjustable Speed, Depth and Sync
– Shape: Sine, Triangle, Rectangle, Sawtooth, and Random
– Destination: Filter Cutoff, Filter Resonance, Osc Volume, Osc Pan, Osc Tune and Osc Fine Tune
• 7 FX per Osc
– Lo-fi / Distortion / Flanger / Phaser / Chorus / Saturation / Limiter
• 6 selectable Filters per Osc
– LP / HP / BP / Notch / Phase / Vow
– Adjustable Key track and Velocity amount
• Global Dual LP/HP Filter
– Global filters can be linked to behave like a BP Filter
• Global summing mixer
– Global Insert effects Width / Distortion / Tape Saturation / Eq / Limiter
– Global send effects Phaser / Flanger / Chorus / Ir Reverb / Delay
– Unison (up to 8 voice)
– Global Amp ADSR with a softer curve
• Onboard Preset system
– load and save presets via the global panel
– All sounds heard in all demo’s are available in the preset folder
– 45 presets to help get you started
• Intuitive design
– Large LED info Panel for a visual aide when setting up the synth
• Raw tones modulated within our engine
• Non-Intrusive Protection
– Sales are automated and you will recieve download links
– .NKI file (Instrument file) will be sent to your email address seperatly.
– Serial numbers are displayed on the global section of the instrument.
– our samples are not watermarked
– no file sent to you contains any personal information simply a serial number.
– PreBrute Kontakt £39.99 Inc VAT / $49.99 (Valid VAT numbers can be entered at checkout)
DATAMASKIN
