"There are a wide variety of ways to create electronic music. For a capable machine that fits in the palm of your hand and is loud enough to use outdoors, however, it’s hard to imagine a battery-powered device cooler than Bitty from Curious Sound Objects.
The pocket-sized drum machine and synthesizer, currently on Kickstarter, was prototyped using an Arduino Nano and will be fully Arduino-compatible when released. This means that in addition to changing the sound and interface around with readily-available sound packs—which include Theremin Bitty, Techno Bitty, Basement Bitty, Trap Bitty, Lofi Bitty, and Beach Bitty—it can be programmed with the Arduino IDE. The device can even run sound software written for other Arduino boards.
Bitty features four sample trigger buttons, a pair of knobs, and a speaker. Designed for entry-level EDM enthusiasts and studio musicians alike, you can play the drums and melodies manually, as well as trigger patterns to produce dance music or hip hop beats. These can be chosen via the left knob, while the right knob handles pitch, note selection, and arpeggiation."
Motion-driven Concatenative Synthesis of Cloth Sounds (SIGGRAPH 2012)
Published on Jun 19, 2012 by DougLJames
Clothing sounds synthesized using the approach from our SIGGRAPH 2012 paper, and PhD thesis work by Steven S. An.
http://www.cs.cornell.edu/projects/Sound/cloth/
Steven S. An , Doug L. James, and Steve Marschner, Motion-driven Concatenative Synthesis of Cloth Sounds, ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH 2012), August 2012.
Abstract: We present a practical data-driven method for automatically synthesizing plausible soundtracks for physics-based cloth animations running at graphics rates. Given a cloth animation, we analyze the deformations and use motion events to drive crumpling and friction sound models estimated from cloth measurements. We synthesize a low-quality sound signal, which is then used as a target signal for a concatenative sound synthesis (CSS) process. CSS selects a sequence of microsound units, very short segments, from a database of recorded cloth sounds, which best match the synthesized target sound in a low-dimensional feature-space after applying a hand-tuned warping function. The selected microsound units are con- catenated together to produce the final cloth sound with minimal filtering. Our approach avoids expensive physics-based synthesis of cloth sound, instead relying on cloth recordings and our motion-driven CSS approach for realism. We demonstrate its effectiveness on a variety of cloth animations involving various materials and character motions, including first-person virtual clothing with binaural sound."
Precomputed Acceleration Noise for Improved Rigid-Body Sound (SIGGRAPH 2012)
Published on Jun 19, 2012 by DougLJames
"Acceleration noise sounds synthesized using the method from our SIGGRAPH 2012 paper.
http://www.cs.cornell.edu/projects/Sound/impact/
Jeffrey N. Chadwick, Changxi Zheng and Doug L. James, Precomputed Acceleration Noise for Improved Rigid-Body Sound, ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH 2012), August 2012.
ABSTRACT: We introduce an efficient method for synthesizing acceleration noise--sound produced when an object experiences abrupt rigidbody acceleration due to collisions or other contact events. We approach this in two main steps. First, we estimate continuous contact force profiles from rigid-body impulses using a simple model based on Hertz contact theory. Next, we compute solutions to the acoustic wave equation due to short acceleration pulses in each rigid-body degree of freedom. We introduce an efficient representation for these solutions--Precomputed Acceleration Noise--which allows us to accurately estimate sound due to arbitrary rigid-body accelerations. We find that the addition of acceleration noise significantly complements the standard modal sound algorithm, especially for small objects."
"StarWaves is an audiovisual sound architect, the embodiment of sound, space and visual design rolled into one. Presented by sonicPlanet www.sonicplanet.com, it is a move towards the next generation of sound design apps.
Available for OSX and iPad (Windows version later), minimum hardware requirements : for iOS an 2019 iPAD (8th gen or pro) or newer, for OSX a recent Mac (2019 i7 or M1)"
via the user manual on SonicPlanet:
StarWaves is an audiovisual scene architect, the embodiment of sound, space and visual design rolled into one.
StarWaves gives the sound designer the architect’s role by creating possibilities of dialogue between these multiple elements.
IN THE MAKING OF SONIC ARCHITECTURES StarWaves can import the sonic material in its concrete form as recorded files. Then this digital data is being represented as 3D rigid physical forms in space. We name them “the platform blocks” distributed spatially, a structure which stems from the sonic material being imported. There can be 100s of them, reaching the granular levels of sonic material. The layout of the platforms can be designed with 3D tools like positioning, rotation; they can be stretched, bent, scattered along their physical dimensions in continuous transformations.
As Goethe wisely stated : the architecture itself is 'frozen music'. How do we interact with this architecture to create the sonic textures ?
We know that sound travels as waves in an environment. It originates from a source and travels towards a distance, then interacts with the surface material of the environmental objects, gets
SONICPLANETTM reflected, refracted, and absorbed within all the physical reality of its nature, granting a flexible relation to spatiality.
Sound remains as a hidden existence until it reaches our body. StarWaves uses on its scene the transmitters which send particles and beams of light to the space ( reminiscent to particle behavior of light or sound ) They hit the platform blocks ( representing the sonic material ) get reflected and collide with further objects, travel in distance until they die.
The time they collide with these rigid bodies they trigger sonic events and start a flow of synthesis processes. It is this continuous kinematic interaction, this physical realm which composes the sonic being and applies continuous transformations on its texture.
Gek.kon is a monophonic digital lo-fi synthesiser. Oscillator generates a waveform that contains digital artefacts, which we can smooth with a simple analogue filter. Smoothing the waveform brings new sounding, giving us a spectrum from lo-fi till vintage timbres.
Gek.kon has:
πͺ Syncable DCO 1 & 2 generating sawtooth, triangle, sine and pulse waveforms
πͺ Modulator LFO applied to Oscillators, Amplifier, PWM and Envelope of the Filter
πͺ Classic Envelope Generator ADSR
πͺ Dual analogue filter 6 db per octave
πͺ Filter Phase Inversion
πͺ Extra effect features like overdrive, fuse, noise and distortion
"KYMA X.82: A SYNTHESIS ENGINE FOR ALTERNATIVE CONTROLLERS & INTERACTIVE SOUND DESIGN
New software features twenty-one new keyboard-controllable morphing synthesis algorithms, support for 14-bit MIDI controllers, polyphonic aftertouch, & publication of the Kyma OSC protocol for third-party developers
Champaign, Illinois - November 21, 2011 - The culmination of two years of research and development, Kyma X.82, a new software update for the Kyma X/Pacarana sound synthesis engine, is specifically designed to take advantage of the expressive capabilities and extended control offered by today's new crop of alternative controllers and cutting edge musical interface designs.
The recent explosion of interest in new musical interfaces and alternative controllers for sound design and music has created a need for sound synthesis and processing engines that can take full advantage of the increased bandwidths, higher resolution, lower latencies, continuous pitch and velocity values, and subtle expressive capabilities of these new controllers. Symbolic Sound has a long history of support for alternative and extended controllers in Kyma X, and Symbolic Sound's newest release, Kyma X.82, introduces several additional features to support these innovative musical interfaces and alternative controllers.
Features in Kyma X.82 include over 20 new morphing sound synthesis algorithms, support for 14-bit MIDI controllers, and the publication of Kyma's OSC protocol to support and inspire future developments of new instruments and controllers that can exploit Kyma's responsive, high-resolution sound synthesis and processing algorithms in a seamless, plug-and-play manner.
Whether you are a sound designer performing expressive creature voices to picture, an electronic musician performing live on stage with alternative controllers, or a composer using physical controllers to create dense multi-layered textures of sound in the studio, you will be able to take advantage of Kyma X.82's ease of parameter-mapping, low latency, high-resolution parameters, and legendary sound quality. Additional features of the new release include enhanced multichannel panning and effects, higher quality spectral analysis, and a 40% speedup in the software executing on the host computer.
"I’ve been making custom sounds since 1979, first exploring micro-tonally tuned glass lithophones, moving into the Percussion Performance Sculpture Series: the Glass Box, Revolving Tone Door, Transparent Tone Arch and Sonic Hereafter and more recently, public sonic interactive sculptures Gathering of Quivers, Black Quiver, Synthecycletron (seasonally permanent interactive cycle powered electronic sound sculpture) and Sound Booth. The Chain Reaction Project is an on going exploration of materials, mechanisms, microcontrollers and their applications to interactive, portable and public sound sculptures. The goal with all these works is to make interesting looking objects that make interesting sounds.
Running parallel, and often in conjunction to making sound sculptures has been the activity of making music and Sound Art. Just as I’ve explored novel ways to make sounds acoustically, I also look for expressive ways to manipulate and trigger electro-acoustic sounds. My electric setup includes HandSonic and WaveDrum percussion synthesizers and Absynth softsynth loaded with sound samples of my field & studio recordings. Until a few months ago the softsynth was triggered by just a padKONTROL & pedal. Now I have two AudioCubes and find the level of sonic diversity has grown significantly.
My Sound Art & Environmental Music incorporates sounds gathered from the environment, interior/exterior, urban/rural. These sounds can be used as they are found or can be enhanced through effects processing or manipulated beyond recognition of the original sound source. Inferences of time, place and narrative seem to be intrinsic. I work from as broad a palette as possible.
Adding AudioCubes to my setup provides greater flexibility with managing a sound’s envelope, thereby enabling me to sculpt a sound sample in real time. Complex sounds with rich texture can change dramatically from pitch to pitch and octave to octave, turning the original, possibly familiar, sound into something other worldly. The AudioCubes also make electro-acoustic performance more interesting to watch because of the gestural manipulation of coloured cubes in space. Definitely more engaging than key entry on a laptop. I believe music performance should be engrossing to watch as well as listen to. The AudioCubes give me an enigmatic connection of gesture to sound that teases and compels.
"Meet Imagine a playful world of unknown acoustic sounds
Imagine digs deep inside the body of real-life instruments, modifies, and combines their acoustic characteristics to create an imaginary acoustics landscape.
Thanks to a playful multidimensional approach, Imagine offers texture manipulations, mysterious unknown sound dimensions that still sound familiar.
multidimensional acoustic tones
Imagine digs deep inside the body of real life instruments, modifies and combines their acoustic characteristics to create an imaginary acoustics landscape.
Thanks to a playful multidimensional approach, Imagine offers texture manipulations, mysterious unknown sound dimensions that still sound familiar.
multi-stage envelope generators
For further expressive possibilities, Imagine contains MSEGs that pack a huge collection of modulations for your sounds.
intelligent modulation system
Behind the scenes, everything is optimized to provide you the best expressive experience possible: no dead zones; sensitivity curves and ranges are continuously scaled.
optimized macros
Significant optimization work has been carried out to allow you to modulate the sound of your instruments in real time, resulting in a unique expressive perspective."
Update: the press release, just in, follows with additional details and some spectacular renders of a conceptual hardware version. Before you get to excited, Imagine is software only:
Expressive E and AAS Team Up on the Imagine Software Instrument: A Playful New World of Unknown Acoustic Sounds.
Imagine lets you easily play with a new variety of sounds—acoustic, organic, and alive from the resonant bodies of real-life instruments.
Paris, France, September 9, 2021 — Expressive E’s new Imagine plug-in instrument captures the qualities of different real-life instrument bodies and modifies and combines their acoustic characteristics to create an imaginary acoustics landscape.
Thanks to a playful, multidimensional approach, Imagine allows you to have evolving textures, including several dimensions to explore for each preset. This unique approach produces mysterious, inspiring, unknown sound dimensions from familiar-sounding elements.
Imagine results from an exciting collaboration between Applied Acoustics Systems (AAS)—the foremost pioneer of acoustic physical modeling software instruments — who provides the sound engine — and Expressive E, a company grounded in the mission of improving the way musicians interact with sounds by creating a much more intuitive and powerful music-making experience.
“At the forefront of a new generation of controllers that provide multidimensional expression, Expressive E’s expertise proved to be a perfect match for our physical modeling technology,” says Marc-Pierre Verge, CEO of Applied Acoustics Systems. “They created a flexible and playful interface based around real-time manipulations that allow one to morph between layers of resonating objects. This inspired their sound design team to create a brilliant library of rich organic soundscapes to explore.”
These do not feature specific synths, but thought I'd put them up for the sound design. Manipulating natural objects to synthesize sound effects. These in via Soviet Space Child.
"Director Michael Bay and Producer Steven Speilberg return this summer for the third film in the Transformers franchise, Tranformers: Dark of the Moon. The amazing visual effects in this film are complimented by the talented efforts of the sound team including Re-recording Mixers Greg Russell and Jeff Haboush, and Supervising Sound Editor and Sound Designers Ethan Van der Ryn, and Erik Aadahl.
This is the first 3D film of the series and will also be presented in regular 2D, Real D 3D and IMAX, featuring Dolby Surround 7.1 sound.
For more exclusive videos check out SoundWorksCollection.com
Join the SoundWorks Collection Vimeo Channel: vimeo.com/channels/soundworkscollection"
"The busiest man in Hollywood (North), John Lasseter returns to the Directors chair in Cars 2 as Lighting McQueen and tow truck Mater head overseas to compete in the first-ever World Grand Prix.
Helping to bring to life the sound and music of this international espionage adventure include Composer Michael Giacchino, Re-recording Mixer and Sound Designer Tom Myers, and Sound Effects Editor Al Nelson. Git-R-Done!
For more exclusive videos check out SoundWorksCollection.com
Join the SoundWorks Collection Vimeo Channel: vimeo.com/channels/soundworkscollection"
"Wide Blue Sound spreads ORBIT and ECLIPSE wings with SKYPAD controller alongside APEX and AETERNA expansions
LOS ANGELES, CA, USA: musical synth designers Wide Blue Sound is proud to announce availability of its SKYPAD controller app alongside APEX and AETERNA — the first official expansion packs for its award-winning ORBIT and ECLIPSE flagship software synthesizers — as of October 15…
SKYPAD is a boundary-pushing remote and creative automation tool that runs on any iOS or Android tablet with Liine’s Lemur (MIDI/OSC controller) app installed. It adds hands-on control of every parameter in ORBIT and ECLIPSE, and, more importantly, adds many brand-new features to Wide Blue Sound’s software synthesizer flagships.
Firstly, SKYPAD’s Generator builds upon ORBIT and ECLIPSE’s Intelligent Randomize feature to create new patches based on musical and emotional keywords. It is the fastest way to make custom presets that simply sound fantastic!
Furthermore, the Multiball page controls any parameters in the entire synth with a fun physics-based interface. Here SKYPAD users can quickly move objects around the screen with multi-touch, then record the result in their DAW (Digital Audio Workstation)!
The Spatial Mixer is an intuitive 3D space mixer. Here users can place each of the synth’s four sound sources in virtual space with their fingers or enable the Earth Gravity mode by moving the tablet itself. Indeed, this creative tool uses a hand-crafted combination of panning, filters, reverb, and delay to create a sense of distance and depth.
SKYPAD’s FX XY macro pads combine ORBIT and ECLIPSE’s essential effects parameters together. This time users can quickly shape sounds using simple gestures, generating dramatic sweeping motions between different distortions, spaces, and more.
Maintains Wide Blue Sound founder Nathan Rightmour: “The Wide Blue Sound team is really excited to release SKYPAD. We’ve dropped the keyboard and mouse completely here at WBS HQ, and now only use SKYPAD to interact with ORBIT and ECLIPSE. It’s so much more than a remote; for us, it’s been a new way to connect with sound and music.”
Meanwhile, Wide Blue Sound has also released the APEX and AETERNA expansion packs for ORBIT and ECLIPSE, respectively. Created by one of the industry’s most revered sound designers, they represent the latest trends in electronic and cinematic music.
SKYPAD now comes included with every purchase of ORBIT and ECLIPSE — priced at $199.00 USD and $149.00 USD, respectively, and available directly from Wide Blue Sound (https://widebluesound.com)."
Sound designers, electronic musicians and researchers to meet in Busan South Korea 29 August through 1 September 2019 for the KISS2019 international symposium and music festival
Busan, South Korea (12 May 2019) — Sound designers, musicians, researchers and students of sound will meet in the coastal city of Busan, South Korea from 29 August – 1 September 2019 for the 11th annual Kyma International Sound Symposium (KISS2019) — four days and nights of hands-on workshops, live electronic music performances, and research presentations on the theme: Resonance (곡λͺ ).
"This site called 'Poetry at the core of arts' is the net the extension of a book of the same title, an anthology of poetry published by the french publisher : Editions Bruno Doucey. The book contains a poem I wrote about electronic music. The site was conceived to developp an exploration for some of the poets and artists of the book. I am one of them for, poetry , music and painting.
The following is Marc-Henri's poem translated into English:
"Orpheus veil"
Fly down into Orpheus ear,
Where roll clockworks
Of the forbidden stars
And voices shreds seeking vision.
Listen at the well of walls
Echoes of illuminated faces
In their bronze palaces.
Pavings, folds of roses,
The naked heels
Playing the freshness game
With embers
And the childhood kisses.
Travelling back to horizon,
In the limestone of nights,
Is now the prophecy of the spices,
With its tissue gifted with red
And the sobbings of an initiation.
Marc-Henri Arfeux - 2013
----------
Update: the following an English translation of the interview with Marc-Henri Arfeux on "Poetry at the core of arts". It is a fascinating read and reminds me of why I initially got into synths. My first synth was a brand new Oberheim Matrix-6 back in 1986. When I first started exploring the Matrix-6 I had no idea what the parameters did, so I just dived in. For me it was an exploration of sound for the sake of sound and a fascination in creating musical instruments never heard before. The focus was on that exploration rather than the attempt to mimic real world instruments. Much of this spirit is covered in the world of musique concrete and is captured in the interview below. Do not miss the part on the short wave radio. Truly fascinating and an inspiration for sonic exploration.
"Ingredients: Max/MSP/Jitter, Java, Supercollider, Open Sound control."
via tarikbarri.nl/projects/versum:
"Versum is a realtime virtual 3D world that invites both the audience and the composer to look at the music and listen to the visuals.
This virtual world is seen and heard from the viewpoint of a moving virtual camera with virtual microphones attached. This camera, controlled in realtime by means of a joystick (or any other kind of controller) moves through space, similar to how first person shooter games work. Within this space, I place objects that can be both seen and heard, and like in reality, the closer the camera is to them, the louder you hear them. So when the camera moves past several visual objects, you simultaneously hear several sounds fading in and out. Consequently, the way the camera travels past them actually causes melodies and compositional structures to be seen and heard.
The visual position of each object coincides with the panning of it’s sound: objects to the right of the camera will also be heard on the right, and those behind the camera will be heard from behind in case a surround speaker setup is used. This principle also applies to the Z-axis, meaning that sounds can be heard coming from above and below if the speaker setup supports it."
"'Fluor', created in my self-made software 'Versum'. Everything you see runs in realtime.
Ingredients: Max/MSP/Jitter, Java, Supercollider, Open Sound control."
The same software could be easily applied to automated sound scoring for complex action scene in films. If you had a massive-scale dogfight with 100 spaceships, with engine noises zooming around, laser blasts & torpedos exploding everywhere, etc., you could simply assign a sound for each ship engine, each of the various special effects. The resultant audio track would be neatly laid on top of the video (in surround, no less). Easy!"
That's a great idea. If you model visual spacehips in 3D space, why not the audio as well.
"This video is not endorsed or sponsored by SOMA Laboratory.
From the SOMA Website about the ETHER V2:
ETHER is a kind of anti-radio. Instead of being tuned to a specific radio station, it receives all the interference and radiation that a traditional radio tries to eliminate in order to create a clean signal. It captures the radio waves “as is” from hertz to gigahertz because it doesn’t contain the tuned input circuit that filters out all frequencies except the narrow band of a specific station. This allows ETHER to perceive the invisible electromagnetic landscape that humans created unintentionally, making possible live electromagnetic field listening and recording.
"Ra is a sound object / synthesizer which uses laser for scanning the irregularities of the surface of the pyrite disc and further transforms this data to produce sound. Pyrite disc is a rare form of pyrite which is crystallised in radial shape (as unusual disc spherulites) which also was named ‘pyrite suns’ or ‘pyrite dollars’. The only deposit where pyrites of such morphology are found is in Illinois state (USA). Pyrite suns were formed around 300 million years ago.
"This project originated as a result of an interesting set of circumstances – a pyrite disc was given to me as a gift by a mineral seller in Boulder city (USA). Upon hearing about my works, she asked to do something with such crystal, and refused to take payment for getting it. In the same period, I was reading articles on various ways of archiving and preservation of sounds from the first, historical sources of the recorded sound – wax discs and other fragile carriers. All technologies were based on the usage of lasers. Inspired by these projects, I set out to create a self-made laser sound reader which would be able to produce sound from various uneven surfaces, using minimal resources to achive it. Thus emerged the idea to construct an instrument using the pyrite disc and a self-made laser sound reader.
The realisation of the object became possible thanks to the commission of the Sound Museum in St.-Petersburg which has it in its collection now.
I consider this object to be a landmark for me, as it united several practices and technical skills which I was working on in the last years - as well as the new resources and ideas which I approach for the first time. I.e. – creation of the synthesizers and sound objects, collecting minerals, topic of rotation, Pure Data programming, Arduino and Python, working with servo and stepper motors, raspberry pi and lasers, etc.
What is also important for me in this project is adressing the topic of occult futurology as a concept which corresponds in the best way my own artistic practices. In the first place, it can be seen in how Ra works with the perception of time – having pre-historic 'unearthly' mineral as its base, it adresses medieval times through the notion of alchemy; it also carries Bach organ motives, further bringing us to the echoes of the electronic instruments of middle of the 20th century, underlining all of this with lasers, code, noise and autonomy, all brought up in handicraft conditions."
- raspberry pi (with pure data)
- arduino nano
- diy laser pickup
- spin fv-1 dsp
- stepper motor
- servo motor
- 3W mono sound system
specification:
- line audio output
- 9 control switchers
- 10 control knobs (including envelope, filter, processors parameters and modulations)
- disk speed and direction control (via control knob)
- pickup position control
- 16 dsp fx programs
United Plugins announces availability of JMG Sound Cryostasis SPECTRAL INERTIA effect enabling progressive audio smearing until infinitely frozen in time
PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC: independent development teams federation United Plugins is proud to announce availability of founding partner JMG Sound’s highly-creative Cryostasis plug-in — an appropriately-named SPECTRAL INERTIA effect enabling progressive smearing any audio of until it is infinitely frozen in time, thanks to spectral effects and controls that shape the character of the frozen tail to blur audio into atmospheric soundscapes — as of October 6…
Cryostasis itself is defined as being the reversible cryopreservation of live biological objects; on the face of it, then, it is also an appropriate name for an effect plug-in placing music into a state of inertia — if it is possible to imagine such a thing. Thankfully, the imaginative team at JMG Sound have come up with a spectral freeze effect called Cryostasis to do just that, so users can concentrate on taking their music into a different direction, both speedily and easily, thanks to its spectral effects and controls that shape the character of the frozen tail to blur audio into atmospheric soundscapes. All are controlled by a continuously variable ‘freeze’ knob or an auto switch that can be timed in milliseconds or musical measures. Manually control the freezing process with the aforesaid knob or tell Cryostasis how quickly to take the sound from normal to frozen, in other words.
What is more, though, is that there is more to the superficially simple-looking Cryostasis plug-in than might first meet the eye. Examples of this include the SIZE parameter, which will change the time length of the spectral window, which will in itself completely change the sonic character — lower values sound unnatural and robotic, while higher values sound smoother and atmospheric. And balancing out the easy-on-the-eye GUI (Graphical User Interface) is WASH, which controls the amount of reverb that is used to diffuse and smoothen the ‘freeze’ effect into a lush and smoothly modulated reverb tail. Try creating spaced-out ambience and soundscapes that dissolve into the ether — surely sweet (ambient) dreams are made of this, while it can even be used as a sound design tool to create frozen vocal loops to load into a sampler!
Saying that, users can quickly fine-tune the resulting frozen sound colour with four filter controls — PITCH (controls the depth of pitch shift scaled by the ‘freeze’ control, with a range of -24 to +24 semitones); FILTER (controls the HP — high-pass — and LP — low-pass — filtering depth scaled by the ‘freeze’ control); LOFI (controls the amount of BITS and RATE reduction scaled by the ‘freeze’ control); and SHIFT (controls the frequency shifting scaled by the ‘freeze’ control, with a range of -1kHz to +1kHz) — to achieve even more unique results. Creatively coupling that LOFI magic with lower SIZE values makes creating dirty robotic glitches to washed-out dusty soundscapes a breeze. It is also possible to create a tape-stop-type effect — whereby the sound appears to slow down over time until it is completely frozen forever — by coupling the ‘freeze’ effect with the built-in PITCH shifter.
And as if that was not enough to get Cryostasis users shaking with excitement — and hopefully not from an energy crisis-induced cold when working with Cryostasis in colder climes, it is well worth noting that it also has continuously variable freeze functionality — unlike most other freeze plug-ins, so users can smoothly transition between freeze states, or even partially freeze to create time-smearing effects.
As always, JMG Sound’s highly-creative Cryostasis plug-in shares several admirable attributes with fellow family members now numbering 26 plug-ins, each playing their part in United Plugins’ proliferating product portfolio, providing maximum audio quality by using internal 64-bit audio processing as well as being able to handle any sampling rate — why not try it at 192 kHz (or even higher)? — and also the fact that it intelligently detects whether it makes sense to perform any processing at all; if not, it temporarily turns on sleep mode, meaning it requires virtually no CPU power at all, thereby saving computing resources for other processes. Putting a photorealistic 3D yet flexible GUI to the test with Cryostasis, likewise, leaves its users with the impression that they are working with real world hardware; however, it easily adapts to their needs since they can always drag the arrow at the bottom-right corner to change its size — smaller to save precious ‘screen estate’ or larger to make it easier on the eye and, as a result, even easier to use than it already is.
It is fair to say, then, that there are (almost) endless possibilities for Cryostasis users to craft creative transitions that are applicable to single tracks or whole songs in the studio or on stage. Surely getting frozen has never been so much fun — or so quickly reversible!
JMG Sound’s Cryostasis is available to purchase for a time-limited introductory promo price of only €19.00 EUR until November 13, 2022 — rising thereafter to its regular price of €79.00 EUR — as an AAX-, AU-, VST-, and VST3-compatible plug-in (using internal 64-bit audio processing capable of handling any sample rate) directly from its dedicated webpage (https://unitedplugins.com/Cryostasis/), where a 15-day, fully-functional trial version for macOS 10.10 and newer and Windows 8/10 can also be downloaded for free.
Note that no iLok, dongle, or internet access is required for Cryostasis activation. (All United Plugins software uses license files for activation and owners can freely use purchased software on all their computers as long as they are the user.)
"A quick bassline with filtering on the Sound Object #5 synthesizer to give an example of the sort of basic sounds it can do. Check out my full review for more details and sound demos."
See the Sound Object label below for more.
Update:
Sound Object #5 Synthesizer Review
video upload by
"Sound Object #5 is a Russian built analogue synthesizer with 2 VCOs, Polivoks style filter and lots of interesting modulation. In this video I give lots of sound examples, take you through the waveforms and what it could possibly do for you.
https://www.sound-objects.com
Index - 0:00 Intro - 0:12 First Impressions - 1:03 Oscillator basics - 6:58 Just the waveforms, no reverb - 10:39 Quick techno jam - 14:24 Getting into the details - 15:47 A bit more on the FM - 16:21 Envelope - 18:09 Modulator - 22:12 A bit more on the filter - 25:17 Sample & Hold - 26:15 A quick jam with delay and a bit of backing - 32:28 Ins and Outs - 33:37 Duophonicness - 34:21 Conclusions - 39:35 Outro - Duophonic, with some dodgy DFAMing - 44:30"
With the groundbreaking Lemur controller Jazzmutant have revolutionised the way in which performers can now interact with light, video and sound. The Lemur offers an unrivalled package of intuitive features beneath a futuristic multitouch-sensitive surface, and as result has won fans across the globe including the groundbreaking musicians Richie Hawtin, BjΓΆrk and Ryuichi Sakamoto.
With the new free version 2 firmware update Jazzmutant are taking the Lemur to another level of control, flexibility and intuitive operation. A host of new object features allows users to really interact with sound and manipulate it in real time like never before. Workflow improvements, scripting additions and other new features allow the controller to be used seamlessly with leading software applications. Ableton Live users, in particular, will benefit from some of the new features.
Organised Container objects with tabs You can now pile up several containers and access their content through their indiviual tabs. Put all the controls you need for one part of your performance in one tab, then simply push the next tab to reveal a whole new bank. This feature will definitely allow you to greatly improve interface layouts and ergonomics.
Enhanced control of all your envelopes with the new Breakpoint object The new Breakpoint object offers total control of synthesiser or sampler envelopes with a multi-segment envelope editor to allow you to really get inside a sound, live on stage! Rather than assigning knobs to these sound shapers, jump right in and directly tweak an on-screen representation of the envelope. This familiar, visual interface allows you to see exactly how you are changing the sound and you can easily add extra breakpoints with a simple double touch.
Faster set-up with the Alias feature Duplicate a controller object that sends exactly the same information to your computer as the original with Alias. What are the benefits? It takes up less memory and is less time consuming than setting up a new object with identical characteristics. Manipulating the original can now control the same computer parameters but from different interface screens. Moving one will automatically update its "mirror image".
Mouse and keyboard control Still finding yourself reaching over to the computer during your live show? Not any more! Now Lemur's objects can be used to remotely control the mouse cursor or computer keyboard.
Acute precision with the new Gesture object The new Gesture object emulates a trackpad control with advanced gesture recognition and has three novel ways to interact with your sound. Pinch, Rotate or Trace your fingers to send different control messages to your computer.
Intuitive design with new LemurMenu object It's a new pop-up menu selection tool offering a list of items from which to choose from.
Easier interface design with JazzEditor Improved customization of your interfaces is a reality with the new Jazzeditor. You now have the ability to easily drag objects from the new palette into the work area and make your interface visually stimulating with the new "color" picker.
Extended scripting abilities In the JazzEditor, a new Multiline script pane opens up a whole new world of possibilities. You can now modify the physical behaviour, appearance or size of an object in real time. Add a ball to a Multiball object by touching a pad, zoom in on a fader for ultimate precision or modify a Text object content via MIDI or OSC. For Ableton users that means it is now possible to receive clip names and colours and display them on the Lemur. Any changes in your Live set are automatically reflected on the Lemur. Now you can really put that computer behind you and concentrate on your performance!"
"Introducing the latest board in the Bela toolbox: the Bela Mini Multichannel Expander. This expansion board for the Bela Mini brings multichannel audio into your projects to open new frontiers in instrument design, interactivity and sound installations.
The multichannel expander connects to Bela Mini to give you a total of 8 channels of audio in, and 8 channels of audio out while still having all of Bela's high-performance connectivity including analog inputs, digital I/O and plug and play MIDI over USB. All of this in the tiny footprint of the Bela Mini.
Bela is thrilled to announce the debut of the Bela Mini Multichannel Expander, a new extension for our Bela Mini system that packs multichannel audio to an astonishingly small and powerful interactive package and at a very reasonable price.
The Bela Mini Multichannel Expander is an add-on for the Bela Mini system. It sits right on top of Bela Mini and expands audio I/O from two channels to a whopping eight audio I/O.
The Bela Mini Multichannel Expander gives you all the connectivity that creative digital makers need and love, like 16 digital I/O and 8 high-resolution analog inputs. And it’s still tiny - the fully assembled Bela Mini with Multichannel Expander is only 35 x 64 x 34mm, small enough to fit pretty much anywhere. The whole package comes in at just £160.
Imagine being able to capture and process sound from eight individual strings, and diffuse them through a surround sound system. Or being able to make interactive objects that are sonified from every direction, with a different sonic experience at each angle. Or building spatial sound installations that react to listeners, moving sound through multiple locations in response to presence or human interaction. Or field recording with a multi-directional microphone. Or sampling sound live, and being able to process and play it back over multichannel speakers. Or being able to build interactive ambisonic environments. These are just some of the possibilities with the new expander.
A huge amount of audio channels in combination with powerful interactive processing means that the Bela Mini Multichannel Expander can open up new frontiers in designing sound installations, musical instruments, interactive sonic objects, and more. Program it in a multitude of languages right in your browser using the Bela IDE, Bela’s powerful interface for learning and creating that comes loaded with the tools digital makers need, like a built-in oscilloscope, dozens of examples, and an interactive pin diagram.
The Bela Mini Multichannel Expander is available as:
An add-on for the Bela Mini system (includes 6 audio adapter cables) £60.
A starter kit (includes Bela Mini system, SD card, USB cable, and 8 audio adapter cables) £170, £160 introductory price until November 1.
"For the 2018 JBS Haldane Lecture, The Department of Science and Technology Studies at UCL is proud to present Prof. Trevor Pinch (Cornell) discussing The Moog Synthesiser as a Technological and Sound Object.
Sound Studies is a newly emergent interdisciplinary field which studies the material production, transmission, storage, and consumption of music, sound, noise, and silence and how these have changed throughout history and within different societies. In this lecture Trevor examines how a new electronic soundscape came into being with a new instrument, the Moog Electronic Music Synthesizer. He tells the story of this invention in upstate New York in 1964-9 and places it within the context of wider developments in electronic music and the counter-cultural sixties. His approach uses work in Science and Technology Studies to better understand the history of musical instruments as sounding objects, documenting how certain sounds stabilized as part of a new electronic soundscape and how other sounds failed to do so.
Professor Trevor Pinch's main research centres on three areas: the sociology of technology and how users engage with technology, sound studies and music and in particular the development of musical instruments and sound objects, markets and the economy with specific attention to the study of selling and persuasion."
"There are a wide variety of ways to create electronic music. For a capable machine that fits in the palm of your hand and is loud enough to use outdoors, however, it’s hard to imagine a battery-powered device cooler than Bitty from Curious Sound Objects. 
