MATRIXSYNTH: Friday, January 20, 2006

Akai EWI400S VA Wind Instrument

Title link takes you there. The VA synth is built in. Wireless MIDI. Think about that. : )

"The EWI4000S has many of the long sought after controls and functions that are necessary for expressive performance. These benefits have been proven by its predecessors, but the EWI offers these features at a much lower price. There are several improvements to the design as well, such as having a built-in sound module, direct MIDI IN and Out, and other updated operating functions. These functions make playing the EWI4000 easier than any other electronic wind instrument.

With the sound module and the instrument all in one product, players no longer need to be tethered to a module. By using MIDI and audio wireless transceivers, EWI4000S players can move freely on the stage as they are playing. The user can easily switch between programs on the EWI4000S directly with a dedicated Program selection button, or use the note keys to select stored patches."

Native Instruments KORE

Title link takes you there.

"KORE can host any VST and AudioUnit instrument and effect. It runs stand-alone or as a plug-in within all major sequencers. KoreSounds can consist of multiple instruments and effects and can be transferred seamlessly between songs, systems and studios."

Korg Radias Hands-on via CDM

Title link takes you there.

Korg Radias on Sonic State and MP3s are up on Korg

Nice close up of the Korg Radias on Sonic State. Title link takes you to their news article on the Radias. I can't wait for their videos to come in. Also MP3s are up on Korg.

Ultra 303

Click here for more info.

"ultra303 is a cpu replacement project for the tb 303 and the ml 303 clone...
which means the old cpu is desoldered and replaced by a new one... a cpu replacement adds new features to your tb 303 and makes things easier to handle it and beside this it turns your tb 303 into a state of the art synth.
the new firmware has still an internal sequencer with the "same" behavoir but with lcd display, midi implementation, saving, reading and editing your patterns via a midi interface on pc.

the entire editing on the 303 is lcd based. you can see the current note that one after and before and you can browse thru your pattern going steps back and some more features which were impossible with the old cpu
of course the firmware is realtime editing...means you don't need to stop the pattern replay during editing."

Three Octave Synths Please

Moogulator has a funny post up on how there aren't enough three octave synths out there. Instead we keep getting two octave mini synths. I couldn't agree with him more. I once picked up a Novation k-Station and while it's a nice synth, I barely used it because it only had two octaves. Not much range there, you know. A nice three octave synth? The MEK of course. Thank you Dave Smith. And thank you Brandon Daniel for posting these shots of NAMM 2006 and more. You rock.