"ZTRINGS”, the new Physical Modeling Strings Engine for the ELZ_1 play.

video upload by SONICWARE

"Thank you for your cooperation in filling out the survey🙏
As a result of the tally, we have decided to implement the Physical Modelling Strings synth when the preorders reach 250 units!

We appreciate your continued support!
https://dr.yuendo.jp/pages/elz_1-play

"ZTRINGS” was coined by combining the symbol Z, which represents the delay elements used in the modeling, and Strings.

The ZTRINGS engine does not yet have a screen design, but this engine has been selected for use, and we have started brushing it up.

(There were a number of you who polled for the Shimmer Reverb, so I will be discussing this with my team some more🤔)

Thank you,
Yu Endo"

Major New Version of MIDISID

video upload by MIDI IN



"MIDISID contains two SID chips (supplied with two modern SID replacements) for a total of six voices, driven by MIDI input. Each voice has configurable waveform, ADSR envelope, pulse width and more. The chips also feature filtering and more advanced features such as ring modulation and waveform sync. A menu system and four push-switch rotary encoders allow you to design sounds or choose preset sounds and mode of operation.

My project received some media attention towards the end of last year and things went crazy.

The support and sales I've had have enabled me to spend the time developing the hardware and firmware. In May I released a major revision.

The footprint is slightly larger, the top is angled forwards, knobs and screen have been repositioned, custom sides partially enclose the electronics. All of this make the device more user-friendly; you can see the screen when sitting back from it and your hand doesn't obscure the screen when using the knobs. The overall design is a little reminiscent of the breadbin C64 case that originally housed the SID chip.

The biggest addition to the firmware is by popular request. Users wanted to be able to control or modulate any of the SIDs' parameters using MIDI CC messages, and so now this is in place.

The price remains the same.

This video shows one way of using MIDISID to compose music - you can create up to six 'external midi instrument' tracks in your DAW, each sending to a different channel / SID voice.

Other videos on my channel show other ways of using MIDISID.

Details of the CC control are in Appendix F of the manual.

MIDISID_manual.pdf

MIDISID's home page is here: https://peacockmedia.software/midisid/"

InstaComposer 2 - Evolved AI MIDI Tool (VST / AU / AAX)

video upload by W. A. Production

Press release follows:

W.A. Production introduces InstaComposer 2 as advanced AI MIDI Tool taking popular MIDI creation station plug-in predecessor to another level

PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC: W.A. Production, producers crafting creative plug-ins to help anyone achieve studio-quality processing speedily and easily, is proud to introduce InstaComposer 2 as an advanced AI MIDI Tool taking its popular InstaComposer MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) creation station plug-in predecessor to another level — launching new features and improvements that enhance the user experience with more MIDI tracks, scenes, new scales, and new modes married with enhanced generative coding and superior performance to make practicable new ideas flow more quickly than ever before by producing a wide variety of musical elements, including melodies, phrases, riffs, and chord progressions to provide both beginners and professional musicians with endless possibilities for creating unique and engaging music in any genre or style while working with an intuitive interface and advanced algorithms allowing them to focus on the creative aspect of music production without having to think about composing every note — as of July 6…

Ever experienced those testing moments when creativity runs dry? Do not fear, for InstaComposer 2 is the ultimate musical muse. Indeed, infinite inspiration is at the creative core of the thinking behind making InstaComposer 2 what it is — an advanced MIDI generation plug-in designed to revolutionise music creation. By building upon the solid foundation of W.A. Production’s popular InstaComposer — itself released to widespread critical acclaim in its original incarnation in October 2021, InstaComposer 2 truly represents an even more attractive proposition, with exciting new features and improvements to enhance the user experience. Example highlights include an ability to organise ideas and song parts with eight new so-called ‘scenes’ — Scene 1 through to Scene 8 — that provide a convenient way to store different variations within a single preset; upgraded Scale support, with 22 additional scales ranging from Arabic and Spanish through to Miyako Bushi, Ryukyu, and more; a new virtual keyboard and highlighted chord menus to help with scale and chord selection; and melodies that can be generated in different modes and paired with unique chord progressions for each scale. Speaking of which, InstaComposer 2 adds two new-generation modes to its notable name — namely, Drums, enabling effortless generation of drum lines (supporting a wide variety of complexity levels, styles, and time signatures), and Pad 2, facilitating creation of a fuller, richer sound (by combining Pad and Chord modes). AI algorithms have been further improved for rhythm, phrase, and melody generation, conjuring more refined results, while new additions like the Sustain parameter — provides control over the length of the notes that are going to be generated — and a Chord Helper — highlights the notes for the selected chord on the virtual keyboard — help take things to another level entirely.

Each new starting point for InstaComposer 2 generates a unique result to ensure that users never run out of fresh ideas and possibilities for their compositions, ultimately. Unlike random note generation, InstaComposer 2 employs meticulously crafted algorithms and databases to produce musical ideas. Indeed, it constructs rhythmic and melodic structures that sound correct by mimicking human creativity — selecting notes that fit the given scale and context, and creating cohesive phrases that complement underlying chords. Clearly, InstaComposer 2 ‘understands’ the human brain’s affinity for pattern recognition. After all, AI (Artificial Intelligence) is involved in making InstaComposer 2 do what it does — different shapes and formats are used to build captivating combinations of beats and bars, adding rhythmic and melodic consistency often found in chart-topping music. Moreover, by using smaller musical chunks that repeat or occur in various forms throughout the melody, InstaComposer 2 builds larger blocks, creating a sense of unity throughout its user’s music-making interactions. It even harmonises notes to enrich the sonics (depending on selected mode and settings), resulting in a more cohesive composition as it aligns melody to chords. Adjustable AI controls — Generate Chords generates harmonious sequences of chords inspired by the most commonly used chord progressions, for instance — and a convenient Chaos control — ensures everything remains under control by preventing unwanted chaotic situations such as notes repeating excessively, jumping erratically, or climbing too far in one direction — mean that users can comfortably remain in charge of how InstaComposer 2 develops ideas (and how far it strays from any set rules), while fine-tuning of chord complexity, note population, beat and bar structuring, pattern generation, harmonisation, velocity randomisation, and more are always available.

As an advanced AI MIDI Tool, InstaComposer 2 includes complex algorithms for generating Melody (generates a wide variety of melodies and phrases), Riff (similar to Melody, but with shorter phrases, more repeating patterns, and more restricted structures), Ostinato (generates short melodic phrases that keep repeating, often ignoring chord changes underneath), Rhythm (generates more harmonies, focusing on rhythmic patterns and chord notes), Bass (generates bass lines that compliment chords and melodies being played), Chord (focuses on the chord notes with options to inverse chords and add bass notes), and Pad (emphasises longer notes often focusing on harmonies based on underlying chords). Creatively exploring the potential of these modes means users are always uncovering unique and compelling music. Moreover, with those eight scenes available alongside six tracks — Track 1 through to Track 6, InstaComposer 2 offers flexibility and organisation for multiple layers, alternative variations, and different song parts within a single preset.

Put it this way: with a user-friendly piano-roll interface at their fingertips, users can effortlessly manoeuvre, duplicate, and remove notes, and even change velocity to effectively breathe life into their riffs, while the onboard MIDI editor can be used to tweak the output of InstaComposer 2, meaning music can be manipulated before it even leaves the plug-in. Personalised style and creativity can be easily added to the AI-generated phrases, in other words.

Modifying MIDI playback directly within the InstaComposer 2 interface itself is also on offer — simply save the output as a MIDI file or conveniently drag and drop it into a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation). It is also worth noting here that each track can be saved separately. Setting up multi-channel instruments as an alternative workflow also allows for routing MIDI from InstaComposer 2 into virtual instruments to preview all six tracks simultaneously — and all without ever having to leave the plug-in environment.

It is fair to say, then, that by taking its popular plug-in predecessor to another level as InstaComposer 2, W.A. Production has surely succeeded in creating the only MIDI creation station anyone could conceivably wish for... today, tomorrow, and into the foreseeable future!

InstaComposer 2 is available to purchase at an attractive 70%-discounted introductory promo price of $32.70 USD until August 17, 2023 — rising thereafter to its regular price of $109.00 USD — as a 64-bit AU-, VST-, and VST3-compatible plug-in for macOS (10.15 or later) and 32- or 64-bit VST-, and VST3-compatible plug-in for Windows (8 or later), as well as an AAX-compatible plug-in for Pro Tools (11 or higher), directly from W.A. Production via its dedicated webpage, which also includes some superb audio previews, here: https://www.waproduction.com/plugins/view/instacomposer-2

Owners of the original InstaComposer can upgrade to InstaComposer 2 for only $10.00 USD.

14-day, fully-functional trial versions of all W.A. Production plug-ins — including InstaComposer 2 — are available by signing up for an account for free from here: https://www.waproduction.com/users/login

What Can You Do With a MIDI to CV Convertor?

video upload by Red Means Recording

"The Univer Iter is a MIDI to CV converter by Noise Engineering. It lets you configure up to 8 outputs per module to turn a huge number of MIDI signals into a huge number of voltage signals. Make sense? Don't worry, it will soon. Sponsored by @NoiseEngineering"

00:00 intro to univer inter
01:45 sequencing modular with push (basic)
06:08 one-note multitimbral modular with ableton
09:35 control change fun with akemis castle
11:40 digitakt sequencing and modulating modular
15:00 m8 sequencing and modulating modular
18:19 WIND CONTROLLER
21:46 playing the entire rack with erae touch

Marble Madness Soundtrack Played On A Super Rare Synthesizer NES, Spatial Audio

video upload by Critical Beach Town

DK Synergy

"These days, the Synergy is a super rare synthesizer to come across in the wild. Originally produced in 1982, it is estimated that less than 100 are still in operation across the globe. Interestingly, it ran off cartridges, something it had in common with the Nintendo Entertainment System!

Recently, I had the opportunity to recreate some of my favorite video game music on a Synergy. This video demonstrates some of the sound textures the synthesizer is capable of, while showcasing a beloved soundtrack through a unique lens.

Audio: Marble Madness Level One Music (Cover by Will C.) Instrument: Digital Keyboards Synergy I Synthesizer

Spatial Audio Re-Mix in Binaural Stereo

• Marble Madness was released by Atari Games in 1984.

• Marble Madness was Atari's first game to use an FM sound chip produced by Yamaha, which is similar to a Yamaha DX7 synthesizer and creates the music in real time so that it is in synchronization with the game's on-screen action.

• The music composers behind Marble Madness, Brad Fuller and Hal Canon, first collaborated on a video game based on Michael Jackson's Thriller. The project was canceled and the two began working on an idea that eventually became Marble Madness."

KAWAI SX-240: Live Deep Dive into this RARE Analog Synthesizer!

video upload by Vulture Culture

"In this livestream we'll deep dive into the extremely rare Kawai SX-240, the king of Kawai's analog synthesizers! We'll cover the patches, as well as sound design with the oscillators and glorious analog filter (SSM2044 - the same filter as the Sequential Prophet 5 rev 1 & 2, Korg Trident / Polysix / Mono/Poly, PPG Wave and Octave Cat Rev2!)"

Godwin Symphony Mod.849 Vintage Synthesizer

video upload by Niel Solitude

Soma TERRA

video upload by Robin Rimbaud-Scanner

"The instruments that SOMA Synths build are some of the most innovative, original and inspiring musical tools around today. I just took delivery of TERRA, which continues their ambitious release of beautifully bizarre and unique creative instruments.

According to their press release - “The core idea is unity of nature and technology, and a perfect balance between simplicity and versatility. Behind the extremely simple interface hides a complex polyphonic, microtonal synthesiser with a broad and flexible sound palette that ranges from classical beautiful tones to complex atonal noise, and offers smooth and fast transitions between these extremes.”

You play by touching the sensors and can even use motion sensor to modulate and alter the sound by intuitive movements of your hands and body.

What I love is how it combines the world of the acoustic instrument, the bodily relationship to the device, as well as the flexibility and free range possibilities of synthesis. The housing of TERRA comes from a solid piece of wood, making each instrument unique and, so mine is utterly mine and mine alone. Here's what I made in the first couple of hours of playing with it today."

Umlaut Audio Glass/Metal Textures

video upload by Ross Totino

"Umlaut Audio Kontakt Instrument Glass/Metal Textures. Instrument definition (based on Umlaut Template) and sound design by me."

The Best of Polivoks

video upload by RetroSound

"(c)2007-23 by RetroSound
supported by UVI: http://bit.ly/retrosound-uvi

❤️ Support #RetroSound​ channel: https://retrosound.creator-spring.com

The Best of:
Polivoks Synthesizer (USSR 1982)
drums: Simmons SDS-8, LinnDrum, Boss DR-55, Roland TR-808, Roland TR-707, Korg KR-55B

0:06 Erstmal warm werden
0:24 Jetzt aber....
0:40 Mischka hat schlechte Laune
1:09 Radiowellen um uns herum
1:26 Schlechte Verbindung
1:43 Der Tanzbär
2:03 Heute fliegt die Kuh
2:37 Ferner Osten
2:52 Ein besonderer Wunschtitel
3:06 Blutgruppe 0
3:28 Besuch in der Anstalt
3:49 Diagnose: Unheilbar
4:20 Willst du mit mir spielen?
4:33 Ich hab Kopfschmerzen
4:46 Die Party ist in vollem Gange
5:04 Mischka hat gute Laune
5:15 Mischka sagt Danke!

The Polivoks is my favorite analog mono synth.
Here can you find the full Polivoks playlist with a lot single sound demos and one synth demo tracks.
The Polivoks playlist:"