"2GETHERAUDIO RELEASES G8TOR, A SEQUENCER SYNTH WITH LIVE ACTION PAD EFFECTS - FOR MUSIC TRACKS NEEDING SOME SERIOUS ANIMATED BITE.
Boston, MA USA (January 8, 2019) - 2getheraudio has released a unique software synthesizer built around three step sequencers add DJ-style pad triggered effects for manipulating the sequences while they're playing. The virtual instrument is called G8TOR and is available for purchase today under 2getheraudio's Pay-What-You-Want business model.
"I'm really excited to bring another Adam Petruszko (http://www.knobz.net) designed virtual instrument to market", stated Jennifer Hruska, CEO of 2getheraudio. "His audio expertise and studio creativity come together to create such unique and utterly musical virtual instruments. G8TOR is no exception. If you like fat VA synths, step sequencers, arpeggiators and playable pad effects, G8TOR is a must have in your plugin arsenal."
Like the name suggests, G8TOR starts its sound production with a fat and edgy sounding synthesizer. A supersaw oscillator, noise source and 2 virtual analog oscillators get the ball rolling followed by a resonant filter with envelope, modwheel and sequencer control. Further refinement includes mono mode with glide and built-in distortion, chorus, stereo delay and convolution reverb effects. The result is a synth capable of super fat basses, filtery pads, blistering leads and just about anything in between.
Then comes the sequencer magic. G8TOR includes three programmable sequencers – an 8-step note sequencer, an 8-step filter sequencer and an powerful arpeggiator with per-step stutter, duration, velocity and filter control in addition to the standard arpeggiator controls. Suddenly, a single note from the G8TOR synth turns into an action sequence, driving bass line, or animated percussion track.
To add even more variety (and avoid the static effect many step sequencers can impart), G8TOR includes eight tempo-sync'd pad effects. Simply start the sequence and trigger the pads for endless sonic variation. The pad effects include bit crusher, low/hi pass filter, flanger/phaser, fractal delay, panner, wah wah, stutter, and cut echo. The pads are MIDI controllable with per-pad trigger options that include one-shot, toggle, hold, mono aftertouch and poly aftertouch. A MIDI learn function helps you quickly assign each pad to an external MIDI controller.
G8TOR supports 64-bit VST, AU, AAX capable DAWs and includes a Standalone app for use without a DAW. It is Mac and Windows compatible. G8TOR is released under 2getheraudio's Pay-What-You-Want business model so nearly all musicians, regardless of their ability to pay, have access to this software. A free trial is available at https://www.2getheraudio.com/instruments/g8tor."
QuirQuiQ (Pronounced: “Quirk Kick”) is Punchy kick synth that fits in your shuttlecraft or in your pocket with a big sound and tiny cpu footprint. Utilizes digital envelopes allowing for precise control, and presented in a clear, resizable vector interface.
Slam the dancefloor with sharp and pounding kicks, ooomph away with long breathy thumps, go for a grungy and snappy sound or find just that right balance that is perfect for your track.
– Packed With Nice Sounding Presetss QuirQuiQ comes packed with handfull of Presets quirky Presets – Sharp tones, Deep tones, noisy kicks, clean kicks, it should be all there to get you started
"The best DUNE ever, now in Full HD!
DUNE 3 builds on the award-winning DUNE 2 synthesizer, adding frequently requested features and innovative ideas, to create the best DUNE experience ever!
DUNE 3 comes with many new patches crafted by expert sound designers. Since DUNE 3 is fully patch-compatible with DUNE 2, it includes its presets as well,
doubling the factory library size to more than 1000 patches.
"Complex-1 is a modular synthesizer from Propellerhead Software, bringing the quirks, freedom and sonic depth of modular synthesis to to your Reason Rack. Boasting a 4x oversampled synthesis engine, a freely routable signal and modulation path and a sound like nothing else, Complex-1 is a synth lover’s dream machine.
If you’re a seasoned modular synth enthusiast, you can dive right in. If this kind synth is new to you, it can look a bit daunting, but it’s actually surprisingly easy to get going. Load up any of the included patches to get you going, and start your sonic exploration there. Nothing can break, and if things go weird (like, in a bad way), there’s the undo button to your rescue.
Most people associate modular synths with lab coats and glitchy noise soundscapes, but if all you want is a beefy bass - let Complex-1 surprise you. Its modular madness aside, it’s also a really awesome-sounding synthesizer, capable of perfectly playable instrument sounds and yes, beefy basses too.
The modules in Complex-1 bring a mix of modular synth ideologies to the Reason Rack. The Complex Oscillator, Low Pass Gates and Shaper modules, build on the works on Don Buchla (or West Coast style) and the regular Oscillator and ladder design Filter module, derive more from the Bob Moog school of synth design. Combine them anyway you like and craft your very own unique synth sounds.
If you’re a seasoned modular synth enthusiast, you can dive right in. If this kind synth is new to you, it can look a bit daunting, but it’s actually surprisingly easy to get going. Load up any of the included patches to get you going, and start your sonic exploration there. Nothing can break, and if things go weird (like, in a bad way), there’s the undo button to your rescue.
Most people associate modular synths with lab coats and glitchy noise soundscapes, but if all you want is a beefy bass - let Complex-1 surprise you. Its modular madness aside, it’s also a really awesome-sounding synthesizer, capable of perfectly playable instrument sounds and yes, beefy basses too.
Features
- Fully-featured modular synthesizer
- Complex Oscillator
- Analog Oscillator
- Noise Generator
- Wave Shaper
- Comb Delay
- Ladder-style filter
- 2x Low pass gates
- LFO
- 3x mix modules
- Lag module
- 3x Scale & Amp modules
- ADSR envelope
- Output mixer
- Built-in sequencer with note quantizer
- Function module
- Reverb/Echo module
- Oscilloscope module
- Connects CV or audio to the rest of the Reason Rack
- Comes with over 200 expertly crafted patches to get you going
Please note that Complex-1 Modular Synthesizer requires Reason 10.1 or later"
Ocean Swift Polyphenom Advanced Hybrid Synthesizer - Addictive Synthesis Published on Dec 12, 2018 Ocean Swift
"Immersive polyphonic additive-subtractive hybrid with an extensive feature set and built in effects. Built with our patented "crafted with love" and "forget the tech and just tweak it" technologies.
Main Features
3 OSCILLATORS
Core synthesis chain of a harmonic oscillator with 16 clean additive partials with control over frequency, panning and modulated volume
Plus 2 fully featured raw analog style subtractive oscillators with ring modulation.
UNISON
Unison and dedicated pitch modulators are there for the entire oscillator section.
FM
Advanced clean FM on the additive harmonics with dynamic modulation on the FM signal itself.
FILTER
Low pass filter with dedicated envelope and LFO modulators. The filter LFO features inverse modulation for a neat stereo filtering effect.
MODULATIONS EVERYWHERE
Dedicated LFO modulators for everything, with analog style waveforms in free rate or tempo sync mode – intuitive and versatile.
EFFECTS SECTION
Extensive set of built in effect that include: Panner, Crusher, Phaser, Delay, Chorus and Reverb. Sculpt a deep and polished sound.
HUNDREDS OF PRESETS
Hundreds of factory presets – mystical sounds at your fingertips."
Published on Dec 6, 2018 Applied Acoustics Systems
Update: two new videos added above: Working with layers and MIDI-controlled sound variations. Also see the sound pack from Adam Pietruszko of KNOBZ.NET further below.
"String Studio VS-3 is a synthesizer in which a collection of unique string oscillators replaces the traditional VCOs, DCOs, and operators as the main sound source in VST2, VST3, Audio Units (AU), and AAX formats for Reason, Live, Logic Pro, Pro Tools, Cubase, Reaper, Cakewalk, Sonar, FL Studio, and many more. Try String Studio VS-3 for free.
Applied Acoustics Systems (AAS) was founded in 1998 and is based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. As a privately-held company, it specializes in software-based synthesis tools for professional musicians and sound designers. Since releasing Tassman, the first virtual instrument based on physical modeling, AAS has come to be recognized as the industry leader in this exciting new field of synthesis.
§ WHAT’S NEW §
We have streamlined String Studio and brought it to a whole new level.
NEW Two-Voice Multitimbral
String Studio VS-3 combines two independent timbres—either stacked or split—to create performance-friendly, texture-full, and spacious sounds that are sure to make a good impression.
NEW Modulators
String Studio VS-3 now boasts two performance modulators per layer that respond to user-defined MIDI controls. Each and every sound features effect and morphing assignments that can be played in real time for enhanced expressivity and sonic dimension.
PEPPED Factory Library
A long and fastidious process of fine-tuning went down in the AAS quarters. Each and every sounds went under the eyes of all team members to exit with a consistent gain-stage, unity-gain effects, better dynamics, and compelling real-time sound transformation assignments. This is our most perfected sound library to date.
And promo video from Doctor Mix featuring the original hardware Voyetra 8:
How To Play "Video Killed The Radio Star" On The Voyetra 8
Published on Dec 6, 2018 Doctor Mix
"Here's the über rare Voyetra 8 vintage synth and how we used it to recreate Video Killed The Radio Star by "The Buggles". Discover UVI's PX V8. Download the Multi-Track of this video for FREE now: https://www.doctormix.com/video-kille..."
"PX V8 is based on an exceedingly rare American polyphonic analog synthesizer, the Voyetra Eight. Released by Octave-Plateau Electronics in 1982, this unassuming 3-space rackmount synth is a 78 lb. analog powerhouse sporting 8 voice cards and an incredibly deep modulation system. With 6 pages of parameters to customize the Voyetra Eight was nothing if not flexible, but in the end it's the sound that counts and it does not disappoint. Thanks to subtle differences in each of the voice cards and a powerful unison mode, the Voyetra Eight delivers a wonderfully uncompromising analog sound with rich, powerful leads, thick basses, warm, modulating pads, strings and more. A unique instrument with a sound greater than the sum of its parts, the Voyetra Eight packs a huge analog punch into a small frame that until now has largely been lost to time.
PX V8 has been a passion project, it took us 2 years to track down a Voyetra Eight, and even then it required significant work to restore to factory condition. Our sound designers spent over 6 months creating sounds with the Voyetra for PX V8; learning the instruments structure, designing patches, exploring possibilities, recording and editing. We tested numerous configurations of cables and converters to ensure you'd experience the highest quality sound before settling on Vovox and Prism, the results are clear.
PX V8’s sampling was made per-key for every patch we designed, both with and without unison mode engaged allowing you to enable genuine hardware unison on any sound in the library. Just like on the Voyetra Eight you can load two layers at once, and with the unison mode engaged you can create truly massive analog sounds without worrying about an 8 voice ceiling.
In the end we recorded over 25,000 samples from the Voyetra - packing PX V8 with a whopping 400 presets made from 176 layers, divided into 10 categories including bass, brass, keyboards, leads, misc, organs, pads, poly, strings and waveforms. Each of the sounds is fully customizable and can be used straight-away or as the starting point for a new sound. Raw waveforms are also available for those who want to create sounds from scratch.
PX V8's aesthetic was adapted to closely mimic design cues from the hardware, giving you the feel of the original instrument as you easily tweak and edit the oscillators, envelopes, multimode filter, LFO and step modulators, dual arpeggiators and a featured effect section including EQ, drive, Thorus, ensemble, Phasor, delay and Sparkverb.
Rare and relatively unknown, the Voyetra Eight is not the simplest synthesizer to master - but the sounds it can create are brilliant, making PX V8 one of our most unique and inspiring libraries yet.
"PX V8 is based on an exceedingly rare American polyphonic analog synthesizer, the Voyetra Eight. Released by Octave-Plateau Electronics in 1982, this unassuming 3-space rackmount synth is a 78 lb. analog powerhouse sporting 8 voice cards and an incredibly deep modulation system. With 6 pages of parameters to customize the Voyetra Eight was nothing if not flexible, but in the end it's the sound that counts and it does not disappoint. Thanks to subtle differences in each of the voice cards and a powerful unison mode, the Voyetra Eight delivers a wonderfully uncompromising analog sound with rich, powerful leads, thick basses, warm, modulating pads, strings and more. A unique instrument with a sound greater than the sum of its parts, the Voyetra Eight packs a huge analog punch into a small frame that until now has largely been lost to time.
PX V8 has been a passion project, it took us 2 years to track down a Voyetra Eight, and even then it required significant work to restore to factory condition. Our sound designers spent over 6 months creating sounds with the Voyetra for PX V8; learning the instruments structure, designing patches, exploring possibilities, recording and editing. We tested numerous configurations of cables and converters to ensure you'd experience the highest quality sound before settling on Vovox and Prism, the results are clear.
PX V8’s sampling was made per-key for every patch we designed, both with and without unison mode engaged allowing you to enable genuine hardware unison on any sound in the library. Just like on the Voyetra Eight you can load two layers at once, and with the unison mode engaged you can create truly massive analog sounds without worrying about an 8 voice ceiling.
In the end we recorded over 25,000 samples from the Voyetra - packing PX V8 with a whopping 400 presets made from 176 layers, divided into 10 categories including bass, brass, keyboards, leads, misc, organs, pads, poly, strings and waveforms. Each of the sounds is fully customizable and can be used straight-away or as the starting point for a new sound. Raw waveforms are also available for those who want to create sounds from scratch.
PX V8's aesthetic was adapted to closely mimic design cues from the hardware, giving you the feel of the original instrument as you easily tweak and edit the oscillators, envelopes, multimode filter, LFO and step modulators, dual arpeggiators and a featured effect section including EQ, drive, Thorus, ensemble, Phasor, delay and Sparkverb.
Rare and relatively unknown, the Voyetra Eight is not the simplest synthesizer to master - but the sounds it can create are brilliant, making PX V8 one of our most unique and inspiring libraries yet.
"Developed by Softube, exclusively for UAD hardware and UA Audio Interfaces, the Softube Vocoder plug-in takes its sonic cues from the best analog vocoders of the past, while adding new features to take the iconic effect into the future. Learn more: https://u.audio/2D5e7zi
Over the past four decades, vocoders have been used to stunning effect, transforming human voices into various forms of robot speak on hits by Kraftwerk, Daft Punk, Afrika Bambaataa, and countless modern hit-making producers.
Now you can track in real time through the iconic, hit-making robotic vocal effect and craft everything from gritty, old-school vocoding, to more modern, polished sounds.
Powered by an onboard, analog-inspired synthesis engine, the Softube Vocoder plug-in bests other emulations of the classic vocoder effect with its warm, gritty, three-dimensional sound. And with a purpose-built feature set, including 12-voice polyphony, four waveform types, pitch modulation, pulse-width modulation, and more, you can easily fine tune or totally reshape your sources with a bonafide analog synth.
The Softube Vocoder plug-in gives you unprecedented control of the spectral response of your vocoded performance. Each band of the Vocoder analyzer can be independently adjusted, or grab the Spectral Tilt control to rapidly shift from high to low frequencies. The Parallel Blend control mixes the dry/wet signals allowing you to fine tune, or automate the amount of synthetic texture added to your source.
A feature only found on the Softube Vocoder, the Freeze control lets you capture a snippet of a vocal, for example, and create chopped, DAW-synced rhythms within a track. And with real time control via MIDI, Freeze unlocks new creative possibilities for musicians and producers looking to create genre-bending sounds."
Synth Bundle 2 for Reason: Demo Song Published on Nov 9, 2018 Noise Engineering
"Introducing Synth Bundle 2 for Reason from Noise Engineering. Synth Bundle 2 includes SIX oscillators, each with an envelope and VCA/LPG section. The parameter shaping offers immense control over the soundscapes you can create and all front-panel controls allow back-panel modulation. This patch uses only SB2 REs -- all six oscillators in SB2 (and two of one of them!).
Synth Bundle 2 is coming November 12, 2018. Special pricing for owners of SB1!"
(November 8th 2018, Mainz, Germany) - Sonuscore, developer of high-quality virtual instruments like "The Orchestra", "Action Strings", "Action Strikes" and more has teamed up with Native Instruments to create the unique instrument Mallet Flux.
Going beyond typical mallet libraries, the instrument uses exquisitely sampled glockenspiel, celeasta, xylophone, vibraphone and marimba to generate compelling sequences through innovative pattern automation and set mallets in motion.
270 presets provide a starting point, but everything is fully customizable − get an idea down fast, then dial in the details to create your own truly unique sounds, patterns, and arrangements.
Mallet Flux runs in Kontakt 6 and the free Kontakt 6 Player.
A swiss army knife toolkit of useful features, musically relevant math functions and references for musicians, sound designers and audio developers
A Set of tools to use in any Project!
– Determine the time, frequency and samples in a measure at a given sample rate
– Quickly view the notes of a musical scale
– Get the frequency of a note in different tunings
– Generate tones
– View reference charts for MIDI CC numbers, frequency spectrum, loudness and compression.
– Store information about a musical project such as BPM, musical scale, tuning and additional user notes such as a project’s to-do list, information for remixers, credits, reminders or anything else.
– The project information includes the option to export to a text file, to include easily accessible information within a project’s folder.
Load it in your favorite DAW as a VST plugin or instrument or use the included
standalone version
This tool is useful for everyone working in Music & Audio:
Solo Producer or Musicians: Takes notes of what you are working and whats left todo! All that is left is to mix the bass and guitar better? Write it down in our notepad so you wont forget anything! Specially helpful for older projects you haven’t opened in months or even years – a quick set of notes will set you on track so much quicker
Solo Producer or Musicians Starting a new project: Starting a new track? Quickly check the musical scale and note you want to use, determine bpm and other relevant information that you can save for later
Useful for Bands: Quickly Pass Notes between your band members – you can quickly export and save these notes as .txt files and share with your members!
Audio Designers: Our Music Calculator, Note to Frequency and relevant math functions can be very helpful if you are working on sound-design! and like stated above you should also use notes to write information about a specific project"
"www.synthmagic.co.uk/polar.html
Pre-order period (only £30 during pre-order rising to £50 after pre-order)Currently, more presets are being designed during the pre-order period and will also be included.
a Kontakt instrument based on the Chroma Polaris Synthesiser. Polar uses a 4.2GB collection of sounds made on a real Polaris and comes with full effects section and a sequencer."
"Based on the Chroma Polaris, Polar is a Kontakt 5.8.1 and higher (full version of Kontakt is required and not the free player)library of sounds created on a Chroma Polaris analogue synth and then sampled.
The Chroma Polaris is a real beauty of a synth capable of creating lush sounds and also hard edged sounds with a strong gritty analogue tone and yet you can definitely hear the ARP synthesisers heritage in its sound.
I absolutely love the Chroma Polaris and wanted to ensure I captured the heart and soul of this beautiful sounding synth, so it has been a bit of a labour of love for me. All of the raw OSC's have been sampled and a large variety of presets and custom sounds have been sampled. All samples are available within the instrument via waveform menus for immediate access(and streamed from hard drive), no messing around loading in different sample sets - Polar is quick and easy to use.
Polar will provide you with the beautiful Polaris strings, synths, analogue keys, a beautiful analogue Polaris piano, leads, synth tones, basses etc. The user interface graphics were designed in a country known for great design : Sweden, by world renowned graphic interface designer - Anders Hedstrom. The effects section has some nice features including the delay and reverb sends can be controlled by your Modwheel - It is great fun to have the arp or the sequencer running and then push your modwheel to bring in reverbs and delays
In making Polar, we sampled a large and wide range of sounds from the Polaris and presented them in a easy to use waveform menu x 2 and we also added multiple filters and MIDI syncable LFO's, an arpeggiator and and a wide range of effects. Also included is a fun and easy to use sequencer which can sequence notes, octave and note length, filter cutoff, resonance, reverb and delay sends. Sequencer has randomise functions, shift left/right, inverse etc it is childs play to come up with groovy sequencers and then transpose them using your keyboard.
Polar comes with over 200 snapshots (and I'm still creating and adding more snapshots during pre-order period) so you can get to use the great sounds of the Chroma Polaris in your productions."
A new open source modular additive polyphonic software synthesizer by Sean Luke.
"It's called Flow, and we've been working on it at George Mason University for a year or so. Download it at github.com/eclab/flow/. It's still got some wires hanging out here and there, and could use some polishing and improvement, but it's ready to go.
Flow is a fully modular polyphonic additive synthesizer. It supports up to 16 voices, up to 256 partials, and has about 50 modules right now. It also supports macro modules: you can save patches and load them as modules to be used in later patches (including parameterizing them). It comes with an extensive manual too. And it supports MPE.
Flow is useful as a music synthesizer and as a teaching and research tool. As you might suspect this is computationally expensive: it's a standalone, not a VST, and with typically about 30 threads running it'll keep your computer nice and warm. :-) Typically uses about 2.5 cores on my Macbook.
Flow is meant to be easy to extend with new modules of your own design: and indeed the back half of the manual is dedicated to software developer walk-throughs.
The software runs on MacOS, Linux, and Windows.
Flow Version 0 is in prerelease, meaning that changes we make are likely to not be backward compatible and could well break your patches (we'll try not to). But try it out, let me know what you think. Write some patches! Design some new modules! We'd love some feedback and contribution."
"Cadmium is a vector phase-shaping synthesizer.
Vector phase-shaping (VPS) is an evolution of phase distortion, taken further in Cadmium with audio-rate modulation. This opens up a sound palette characterised by moving, morphing, shifting timbres – from snarling jungle bass to classic FM tones and everything inbetween.
It has the accoutrements of a subtractive synth: a modelled filter, envelopes and LFOs for modulation, but with a fresh approach where it counts – the oscillators.
Cadmium is now available for Windows, MacOS, and Linux.
JX-3P UNVEILED AS PART OF ROLAND CLOUD'S LEGENDARY SERIES
Originally released in 1983, the JX-3P was one of the earliest programmable preset polyphonic synthesizers and Roland’s first MIDI-equipped machine. In the decades since, artists like The Future Sound of London, Astral Projection, Vince Clarke, Orbital, and Thomas Dolby have utilized the JX-3P.
VINTAGE '80s SOUNDS REIMAGINED
In the early ‘80s, the synthesizer market was in flux. Spurred by trends in contemporary music, synths began to creep into popular culture. Roland, in lieu of complicated controls, shifted towards inclusive designs. Why not create a keyboard with Roland’s iconic analog warmth but make it accessible? Thus the dawn of the pushbutton interface and the introduction of the JX-3P. The JX-3P condensed the signature Roland sound users had come to expect into 64 stunning presets.
Published on Oct 16, 2018 Rob Papen
Update: New Video Published on Jun 20, 2019
"This inspirational bundle holds 20 RP products if you include the amazing Prisma! which you can request after registering your bundle.
Go2: The power of limitations.
RAW-Kick: Edgy Kicks for comtemporary music.
MasterMagic: Adds a touch of magic for your Mix or Master.
SubBoomBass 2: Ultimate bass synthesizer.
Predator 2: The Synth that hunts your tracks!
BLUE-II: Cross-fusion synthesis at its finest.
RG: Electric and acoustic guitar grooves.
RP-Verb 2: Most intriguing in RP-VERB 2 – alongside the to a great sound – is the new ‘Reverser’ section!
RP-EQ: Silky smooth sounding channel and mastering EQ.
Blade: The cutting edge of today's synthesizers!
Punch: Speaker busting and body rattling drum machine.
Punch-BD: Based around the BD module of the multi award winning Punch virtual drum synth,
RP-Delay: Delay insanity. Reverser, 6 lines, 8 filters, 4 LFOs and more.
RP-Distort: Wicked FX unit that will distort or alter your tracks.
RP-Amod: Spice up your vocal track, liven an instrument and even beef up your drums.
RAW: Cutting edge EDM synthesizer with the focus on 'distorted sounds'
SubBoomBass: Ultra-deep groove bass synth with built-in step sequencer.
Predator: Phat analogue style synth with killer presets and first class features.
PredatorFX: Filter, modulation, vocoder and effects plug-in.
Prisma: Get creative using Rob Papen's take on instrument layering."
Update: and the press release:
"ECHT, THE NETHERLANDS: virtual instrument and effect plug-in developer Rob Papen Inspiration Soundware is proud to announce availability of eXplorer 5 — furthering the creative scope of its inspirational plug-in bundle by adding Go2, MasterMagic, and RAW-Kick to the all-encompassing musical mix — as of October 16…
Now numbering no fewer than 20 highly-versatile virtual instruments and extraordinary effects, eXplorer 5 pushes Rob Papen’s plug-in bundle beyond belief by including three new additions that more than live up to its Inspiration Soundware slogan.
MasterMagic is an aptly-named effect plug-in with which to improve mixes or final masters alike. Anyone placing MasterMagic at the very end of their virtual master effects chain can easily experience how much it can help improve their tracks. The MONO/STEREO SPLIT FILTER section will make the low end much tighter while the AIR function — even applied at a liberal level — is sheer magic. Make no mistake: there’s no mystery about this magical musical tool!
The name maybe gives the game away, as RAW-Kick represents Rob Papen’s cutting-edge kick drum-creation tool! The perfect weapon of choice for those hard-sounding electronic dance music styles — such as Hardcore, Hardstyle (mixing influences from Techno and Hardcore), and Industrial — and also EDM and House. Here RAW-Kick creatively enables the use of three layers, each of which can be either modelled or sample-based at source. Rob Papen being Rob Papen, RAW-Kick has some refreshingly resourceful features with which to create unique-sounding kicks up its virtual sleeve! Still better, RAW-Kick comes complete with a varied selection of original presets from a long list of respected DnB, Hardcore, and Hardstyle producers, including Caine, DJ Mad Dog, DJ Promo, Orphidian, Sinister Souls, Tha Playah, The Outside Agency, and Wavolizer, to name but a notable few.
Finally, Go2 is an appropriately-named, go-to synthesizer, set apart from its award-winning software siblings by virtue of all its controls and features always being in plain sight and always available to access onscreen, so simplifying usage for the average user. Ultimately, though, this is far from being a simple-sounding virtual instrument. Its Morph feature and XY section serve to make for a powerful software synthesizer, one with which users — average or otherwise — can create unique sounds speedily and easily! End game? Go2 surely shows that there is power to be had in the ‘less is more' maxim... and all without sacrificing audio quality!
Quality, of course, shines brightly through all 20 of eXplorer 5’s highly-versatile virtual instruments and extraordinary effects. Established Rob Papen classics such as Blade (quite literally a cutting-edge software synthesizer), BLUE-II (self-styled ‘Crossfusion Synthesis’), Predator2 (software synthesizer to die for), Punch (speaker-busting, body-rattling virtual drum synth), Punch-BD (Punch- based bass drum module), RAW (software synthesizer specialising in ‘distorted’ sounds specifically suited to EDM and beyond), RG (unique electric and acoustic guitar groove virtual instrument), and SubBoomBass 2 (groove bass software synthesizer) — not forgetting an array of effects, including RP-AMOD (uses modulators to alter audio in different ways), RP-Delay (six delay lines, eight filters, four LFOs, a reverser, and more), RP-Distort (designed to destroy, distort, or more subtly alter any audio), RP-EQ (silky smooth- sounding channel and mastering EQ), and RP-VERB 2 (advanced, transparent, and musical-sounding algorithmic reverb) — sit comfortably and creatively alongside those three additions to collectively push Rob Papen’s prized plug-in bundle beyond belief.
But hearing is believing; best put this way, eXplorer 5 is the all-encompassing best that you can get from Rob Papen — all the more so since it also includes PRISMA, easily enabling users to layer multiple Rob Papen virtual instruments into a creatively stacked sound like no other!
eXplorer 5 can be purchased in a boxed edition — featuring 20 AAX (32-/64-bit), AU (32-/64-bit), VST (32-/64-bit) compatible audio software plug-ins for Mac OS X (10.6 or higher) and Windows (Vista, 7, 8, and 10) — from authorised Rob Papen dealers worldwide or as a download directly from Rob Papen for €499.00 EUR/$499.00 USD from here: http://www.robpapen.com/eXplorer5-buy.html
Several options to upgrade to eXplorer 5 are also available, attractively priced as follows: €299.00 EUR/$299.00 USD (available to owners of one purchased Rob Papen product); €199.00 EUR/$199.00 USD (available to owners of two purchased Rob Papen products); €149.00 EUR/ $149.00 USD (available to owners of three purchased Rob Papen products); €99.00 EUR/$99.00 USD (available to owners of eXplorer4); €49.00 EUR/$49.00 USD (available to owners of eXplorer4 + Go2); and €149.00 EUR/$149.00 USD (available to owners of eXplorer III)."
"Synclavier V has been updated to version 2.0. Now featuring a powerful resynthesis engine, vintage sample playback, all-new presets, and a great sample library to explore."
Synclavier V Tutorial Update 2
Published on Oct 12, 2018
"Get a quick overview of some of the most important new features found in Synclavier V update 2.0. In this video, Guy covers the new sampling capabilities, the resynthesis engine, and some of the new grid features."
"Originally released in 2016 as part of V Collection 5, Synclavier V gave a whole new generation of musicians access to the ground breaking sound and features of the revolutionary late-70s digital synth. Developed in partnership with the original instrument’s inventor, Cameron Jones, Synclavier V went above and beyond the capabilities of the hardware produced between the late 70s and early 90s.
However, New England Digital also produced many optional add-ons for the Synclavier, such as a sample playback module and a resynthesis engine, that were not emulated in Arturia’s release of Synclavier V 2.
Today, that changes.
With the release of Synclavier V 2, alongside many other workflow enhancements and improvements, Arturia and Cameron Jones are proud to announce that Synclavier now includes sampling capabilities and an exciting resynthesis engine for musicians, producers, and sound designers to explore.
Synclavier V 2 is available as a free upgrade to all owners of Synclavier V, or Arturia’s V Collection 5 and V Collection 6.
Interesting interface. I did a little digging and it turns out Shenzhen I/O is essentially a virtual circuit playground/building kit in software. You can build all sorts of things, not just musical instruments. There are examples of Tetris being built with it out there. You'll find some details on the FM BLASTER below, but first some details on Shenzhen I/O in general via Zachtronics:
SHENZHEN I/O: BUILD CIRCUITS. WRITE CODE. RTFM.
Build circuits using a variety of components from different manufacturers, like microcontrollers, memory, and logic gates.
Write code in a compact and powerful assembly language where every instruction can be conditionally executed.
Read the included manual, which includes over 30 pages of original datasheets, reference guides, and technical diagrams.
Get to know the colorful cast of characters at your new employer, located in the electronics capital of the world.
Get creative! Build your own games and devices in the sandbox.
Engineering is hard! Take a break and play a brand-new twist on solitaire.
SHENZHEN I/O, by Zachtronics
Published on Oct 6, 2016 Zachtronics
FM Blaster
"Despite the fact that this is the best thing ever, the piezo buzzer in SHENZHEN I/O does leave a little to be desired in terms of audio.
To fill that gap, we’re introducing the FM BLASTER (FM/iX) by Mountleaf Sound Concepts, 'a versatile FM-based tone generator with 10 professionally designed, stunningly realistic preset patches that cover a wide range of musical directions, including classical, rock, plastic, gasp, and techno.'
If you’re using a printed version of the manual, be sure to check the in-game PDF manual and print out a copy of the FM BLASTER datasheet."
"Shruti Box VSTi is a small Additive synthesis drone box, a digital rendition of the classic Indian instrument. A very light drone based instrument for quick sonic backgrounds – inspired on the Indian instrument 'Shruti Box"'– Our version comes with a Tremolo Effect, a Chorus Effect and other controls for Core sound such as 'Body' 'Damp' and 'Shimmer'.
A Constant Background Tone
Shruti box VSTi isn't a standard fully equipped synth, nor is it meant to be. This is something different and much more simple, our VSTi follows the same concept as the original instrument – producing constant background drones to be accompanied with other instruments, spoken word, sound effects, additional soundscapes, singing, or whatever comes to mind.
'A shruti box (sruti box or surpeti) is an instrument that traditionally works on a system of bellows. It is similar to a harmonium and is used to provide a drone in a practice session or concert of Indian classical music. It is used as an accompaniment to other instruments and notably the flute. The shruti box is also used in classical singing. In classical singing the shruti box is used to help tune the voice. The use of the shruti box has widened with the cross-cultural influences of world music and new-age music to provide a drone for many other instruments as well as vocalists.'
- wikipedia."
