The Original New Timbral Orchestra
Taking a look at TONTO – super synth
Malcolm Cecil – one half of TONTO’s Expanding Head Band – shows you around The Original New Timbral Orchestra. Called TONTO for short, this super synthesiser was used on Stevie Wonder’s classic albums from the early 1970s, namely Music of My Mind, Talking Book, Innervisions and Fulfillingness’ First Finale. TONTO also appeared on albums by The Isley Brothers, DEVO, Gil Scott-Heron, George Harrison, Jeff Beck, Steve Hillage, Billy Preston and many more.
Follow-up to Stevie’s Wonder Men – BBC Radio on TONTO.
Also see the TONTO label for more. This one in via rustyanalog aka Richard Lainhart.
Moog Little Phatty emulator
Xhun Audio faithful emulators of the Moog Little Phatty VSTi have officially announced the Worldwide release of Little One 2.0. The new version will be available December 13, 2010. The new version is free for registered users. The main improvements are are mostly within the DSP modeling side of things, GUI, and some new sound banks.
Mssiah CTRL for Mssiah synthesizer
A custom DIY hardware control mod for the Mssiah synth
A little insight on the Mssiah CTRL I built and what it sounds like. First you here the dry signal from the Mssiah, then I turn on the CTRL adding distortion. I have a little plate re-verb, but that’s it. Obviously not a real guitar, but not too bad from an 8 bit synth on a Commodore 128D with the Sid2Sid installed. I also made it easy to switch between the potentiometers and the mouse with a multi-pole switch. Great for switching back and forth from the mono synth and the sequencer. Here is more detailed info. http://www.absolutextremes.com/blarsk…
Sneak preview of Athmoscapes
Athmoscapes – preview: A machine featuring probably the easiest way for stunning spacey soundscapes and athmospheres either let it play in LazyPlay mode or via triggering i.e. switching waves by MIDI keys or MIDI CC. So this plugin is also very suited to be used with trigger pads.
New timbres from analog sequencer
Using analog sequencers in a modular synth you can create some interesting unique timbres. You need to clock the sequencer really fast with a VCO, since there are 8 steps in this particular sequencer it needs to run 8 times as fast as the note you want to play. Some analog sequencers can run faster than others, yielding higher pitched notes. The highest notes you hear in this example is the highest the synthesizers.com Q119 sequencer can play. By changing the voltage of the individual steps you change the timbre of the sound. And since there’s three channels you can use the two others to control other things, like a filter maybe?
UltraNova is here
Novation is now shipping the UltraNova, a ‘Nova’ series analogue-modelling synthesizer with a powerful effects processor.
It is a single-part synth taking the legendary Supernova II synth engine as a starting point and packing it with the latest technology. It now has brand new features including wavetable synthesis, even more powerful filters, a software editor and a revolutionary new touch-sense performance mode.
The ‘Nova’ family was born in 1998 with the Supernova, which was the first of a series of powerful synthesisers. These quickly became industry standard ‘big-synths’ which are still used by countless artists and sound designers.
UltraNova is the latest addition to the family bringing the range right up to date with a host of new features and a more affordable price tag.
UltraNova features
- Brand new Nova-series synth engine based on Supernova II:
- Single part with up to 18 voices, 14 filter types, 36 wavetables, 5 effect slots.
- Patch Browse enables you to browse 300 sounds by type & genre.
- Touch-sense controls enable totally new sound-shaping & performance:
- Trigger envelopes/LFOs/filters/FX by just touching the encoders.
- Large rotary control instantly allows you fine control of any parameter.
- Totally gig-able with 37 full sized keys, a vocoder, and loads of controls:
- Voice optimized 12 band vocoder with gooseneck mic.
- High quality key bed with aftertouch for expressive playing styles.
- Software plug-in editor and Patch Librarian for full visual editing:
- Plug-in editor allows you to view and edit in with software.
- Software Patch Librarian a organise, store and share unlimited patches.
- Built-in 2 in 4 out USB audio interface and it can be bus powered:
- UltraNova can be used to stream audio to and from a host computer.
- Stereo main (analogue & SPDIF) and aux outputs, and MIDI in/out/thru ports.
The Novation UltraNova is now shipping for £499.99 GPB / $699.99 USD. A specially designed UltraNova case is also now available.
More information: Novation / UltraNova
Space exploration music app
Demo of an interactive RjDj scene for iPhone and iPod Touch. Go to http://www.reactifymusic.com/n8/space for more info and the download link.
Download a demo of DUNE subtractive synth
Synapse Audio has released a demo version of DUNE, an advanced subtractive software synthesizer instrument for Windows and Mac.
Dune is a next-generation software synthesizer plugin designed for creating music on a computer. It was developed with the highest possible audio quality in mind and offers exceptional flexibility. The latter is achieved by its modulation system, the new differential unison engine (DUNE) — hence the name.
Despite the complexity of the synthesizer, the highly optimized code allows Dune to run even on older computers. On current hardware, many instances can be run in parallel, making Dune the perfect everyday studio workhorse. Dune was tested by professional music producers to guarantee its ambitious design goals were met. It comes with high quality sounds, mostly created by professional sound designers.
DUNE will be available to purchase for Windows and Mac (VST/AU) soon. The demo version is available to download now.
More information: Synapse Audio
Beta test of the Curve synth
Cableguys has announced a public beta test of Curve, a new software synthesizer for Mac & Windows.
Here’s what they have to say about the new synth:
We feel we’ve created something truly new here. Creating sounds with Curve is intuitive and immediate. The waveform editor is irresistible, and provides completely new possibilities for experimentation and detailed tweaking. Three powerful oscillators, three envelope generators, two filters and four LFOs work together in a sophisticated modulations matrix, all set out in a clear, uncomplicated user interface.
The other half of Curve exists outside the synthesizer. Curve’s preset library is a shared online database, populated with your presets and those from other Curve users. This ever-growing, community-driven sound library provides a constant source of inspirational sound, and gives you the opportunity to share, tag and rate sounds quickly and easily across the web.
We also invite the Curve community to steer the future development of the synthesizer. Our bug reports and feature request list will be completely public at all times. We believe this is an essential aspect of Curve, and we’re excited about where you’re going to take us.
They’re also looking for ‘mind-blowing’ presets. Anyone creating one of the top 100 presets will receive a discount on the software.
Glowing Krakken synth
Krakken Analog synthesizer keyboard MIDI controlled.
This machine gives you the great powerfull analog sound of AtomoSynth now with a build in keyboard and also it is MIDI controlable !!!.
Play it directly, it features a 2 octaves keyboard (tactile button keys ), with octave up and down shift buttons.
Connect it to a MIDI keyboard and play!!!
Control it from a MIDI sequencer, MIDI controller or computer and set it to any of the 16 Midi channels.
Control other analog gear with the built in MIDI to CV converter.
Create weird analog sounds, brilliant leads, acid basslines or make noise, change the sound in real time by tweeking the knobs on stage or in studio.
Specifications
Keyboard: 25-key (tactile button keys).
Octave Shift up/down buttons (5 octave range).
VCO1 and VCO2:
This synth features two analog square and saw waveform VCO (voltage controled oscillator) with a huge pitch range, from subsonic to ultrasonic sound.
Glide: effect control with a wide range that allows radical effects.
White noise generator.
LFO: One square and triangle waveform LFO (low frequency oscillator), that modulates the VCO for the vibrato effect creating old school arcade Atari-like sounds.
Also it modulates the VCF (voltage controled filter) creating a tremolo effect.
It has a led that shows the LFO rate.
VCF: One High pass and Low pass VCF (voltage controlled filter) with cut off and ressonance controls that can be modulated by the LFO and the VCO depth, It also features a decay control.
EG: envelope generator with attack and release control.
MIDI to CV converter:
The Krakken features a MIDI to control voltage converter with a range of 5 octaves, it can be easily set to any midi channel from 1 to 16.
You can control any external analog synthesizer with the CV and Gate Outputs (1Volt/octave).
Also you can connect many Krakken synthesizers in chain with its midi thru output to a computer or midi sequencer and each one will play a different midi channel.
The instrument is is housed in a clear, laser cut, acrilic case that shows the analog circuitry.
It is powered directly from 110V or 220V AC.
Dimensions: 280mm(W), 240 mm(D), 85mm(H. incuded rubber feet and knobs)
DATAMASKIN
