THE KIMOPHONE - Saxophone Meets Keytar by Kimo Lobo

video upload by kimo lobo

Note this viddo is from 10 years ago.

"The KIMOPHONE is a breath controlled MIDI instrument that is one of a family of new musical instruments created by Kimo Lobo. Also introduced in this video is a MIDI Melodica, a PIATAR and a PIACELLO as well as the two-manual breath-controlled KIMOCORDION. These instruments are all prototypes and are the only ones in the world."

Thanks to Tom at Palmer's East for this one.

Catching Feelings on the Kimophone

video upload by kimo lobo

"I was recently contacted by the tv show Shark Tank and asked to make a 10 minute video pitching my Kimophone to the Sharks. This clip is the first couple minutes of that video. It is me playing the Justin Bieber song CATCHING FEELINGS on the Kimophone using a tenor sax sound alternating with electric guitar. Unfortunately the Sharks never chose to have me on the show so I decided to put this clip on Youtube since I've always really liked this song. Hope you enjoy it."

And the PIATAR:

PIATAR by Kimo Lobo

video upload by kimo lobo

"The PIATAR is a new musical instrument developed by Kimo Lobo. The PIATAR in this video is the only one in the world. It features a two octave MIDI keyboard and six strumable strings in an ornate wooden case. The left hand plays chords on the keyboard and the right hand strums or finger picks the strings. Chords are re-voiced in any of three neck positions. The sound is limited only to the MIDI sample library available. This demo uses a Roland steel six string guitar sample from an XV5080. Thanks to Charlie Labs for their wonderful Digitar."

Update:

Jim's interview on American Dream TV

video upload by Veronica Wolfe

"Here is Jim's interview on American Dream TV with Margo Allan."

Dust O Tron Expansion Pack for M-Tron Pro IV by Sound Dust.

video upload by GForce Software

"We have the pleasure of bringing a dusty yet authentic ‘Tron pack for M-Tron Pro IV sculpted by organic texture master Pendle Poucher, a.k.a Sound Dust. Known for his beautifully inspiring noises for Kontakt libraries and beyond, Pendle sampled a range of acoustic instruments, synths and keyboards to create over 200+ M-Tron Pro IV presets carefully crafted by himself, Dave Spiers, and Tom Wolfe. Additionally, this Expansion Pack brings 29 new tape banks of unique acoustic and electronic sounds and many new inspiring textures and dusts to M-Tron Pro IV.

The Dust-O-Tron Expansion pack by Sound Dust is exclusively available for M-Tron Pro IV.

www.gforcesoftware.com/products/dust-o-tron"

Introducing GForce Oberheim OB-X

video upload by GForce Software

"Beautifully classic, yet resolutely modern. Alex Ball introduces the official GForce Oberheim OB-X virtual instrument.

OB-X and Oberheim are Registered Trademarks of Tom Oberheim."

GForce’s Oberheim OB-X is the world’s first officially endorsed emulation of this famous 80s synth. Yet it sounds modern and lends itself superbly to Electronica, EDM, Drum and Bass, Ambient, Rock, Prog Rock, Hip Hop and more. The original synth was used by immense artists and groups such as Japan, Ultravox, BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Depeche Mode, Queen, Larry Dunn, Youth, Chris Franke, Styx and many more. GForce’s OB-X preserves the sound everybody loves and has been upgraded to offer new sonic possibilities.

AN AUTHENTIC OB-X WITH VAST SOUND DESIGN POSSIBILITIES

Oberheim OB-X provides an authentic experience but has been enhanced with powerful features designed for the modern setup. GForce’s OB-X features up to 16 voice polyphony, a vintage control for adding subtle analogue imperfections, four programmable Macros, new intro, retrigger, phase and smoothing features for the LFO, new level destination for the LFO, separate PWM1 and 2, discrete levels, discreet tracking, an arpeggiator, a chord mode with scaler, Chorus, Stereo Delay and Reverb effects, and more. Finally, the GForce’s OB-X has been augmented with X-Modifiers, dedicated LFOs and ADSRs for almost all parameters that take OB-X to the next level of sound design.

CREATE HUGELY COMPLEX, YET MUSICAL, SOUNDS WITH X-MODIFIER TECHNOLOGY

Using our unique X-Modifier technology, the scope of sound modulation possibilities is immense. The intuitive X-LFO and X-ADSR section enables you to work faster without having to set up modulation paths; they’re already set up for you. X-Mods provide you with the ability to create extensive modulations of almost every parameter, allowing you to create hugely complex, yet musical, sounds. So, while the tone and character at the heart of the synth remain authentic to the original, the additional features turn it into a true sonic canvas.

BEYOND THE ORIGINAL

INSPIRATION AT THE SPEED OF SOUND

OB-X, with its fully resizable UI, a powerful new Preset Browser, and over 400 brand new production-ready presets from top-level sound designers, is fully ready for modern production.

Oberheim OB-X features our new, highly flexible preset browser, giving you the power to organise your sounds in a way that suits your workflow. With extensive tagging, sorting and search possibilities, it’s quick and easy to find the presets you want. We’ve included more than 400+ brand new production-ready presets. We’ve enlisted an array of diverse sound designers and artists including Light Bath, GEOsynth, Christian Lafitte, Richard Veenstra and Ramon Kerstens (K/V), Tontario, Stuart Thomas, Zardonic, Drew Schlesinger, Drew Neumann, Noyzlab, Dave Spiers, Tom Wolfe, Graeme Rawson and more. The patches range from resolutely modern to passionately classic with a lot of recreation you might have heard on more than one hit.

https://www.gforcesoftware.com/products/ob-x/

GForce Software Releases New Oberheim SEM Software Synthesizer

video uploads by GForce Software

Playlist:
1.

A short video on the Oberheim SEM history, illustrating how there is beauty in simplicity and limitations, before delving into a brief overview of the GForce/Oberheim SEM collaboration.

2. GForce Oberheim SEM demo - SEM Mountains - Music by Graeme Rawson
3. GForce Oberheim SEM demo - SEM City - Music by Graeme Rawson
4. GForce Oberheim SEM Tutorial

0:00 Getting Started
1:25 VCO 1 & 2
4:12 Filter
7:04 Modulation: Envelopes
9:33 Modulation: LFO 1
12:34 Modulation: Velocity
13:40 Modulation: Aftertouch
15:46 VCO 3: As Oscillator
17:17 VCO 3: For Modulation
21:55 Effects: Delay
24:07 Effects: Reverb
25:50 Arpeggiator
30:12 Sequencer
33:34 Keyboard Controls
34:24 Portamento
35:28 Vibrato
36:06 Tuning Controls
36:36 Volume
36:57 Undo/Redo
37:25 CC Mapping

"Oberheim" and "SEM" are registered trademarks of Tom Oberheim.

Oberheim SEM - GForce Software - Presentation

video upload by sonicstate

#soniclab #gforcesofware #oberheimsem

00:00 Intro and chat to Tom Wolfe
19:02 Nick takes a look at a few patches

Exclusive extra content (8 SEM patches) on Patreon
https://patreon.com/sonicstate"

"Today GForce Software release the Oberheim SEM in collaboration with Tom - who's 86th birthday it is today! We spoke with sound designer Tom Wolfe and Nick takes a look at some patches for this single voice SEM software instrument. Featuring the same attention to detail as the OB-E (8 Voice release) plus a few differences. Available now priced at 29.99 +VAT (UK) Introductory offer."

http://gforcesoftware.com

See the Bright Sparks interview with Tom Oberheim here.

Soundtoys: ‘Industrial Atmosphere’ & ‘Cinematic Drums’ Presets by Tom Wolfe

video upload by Tom Wolfe

"Containing 25 presets for Soundtoys 5 Effect Rack, Industrial Atmosphere is designed to add dirty, lo-fi character to your sounds. From subtle shaping to complete obliteration, these presets are perfect for adding an industrial vibe to your synths and samples. Simply dial in the mix knob, and hear them transform. These presets are unashamedly niche, focusing on doing one thing and doing it well. So if you’re looking for a catchall then look away, but if you’re after something to take your sounds to a new level, then these presets won’t disappoint.

You can buy Industrial Atmosphere for Soundtoys Effect Rack from my store: https://bit.ly/38hM8Oz"

Soundtoys: ‘Cinematic Drums’ Preset Walkthrough (Tom Wolfe)

video upload by Tom Wolfe

"Featuring 25 presets for Soundtoys 5 Effect Rack, Cinematic Drums is designed to turn cinematic percussion tracks into intense hybrid rhythms. Full of colourful rhythmic delays, these presets will easily add drive and intensity to simple percussive loops. Simply dial in the mix knob, and hear your sounds transform. These presets are unashamedly niche, focusing on doing one thing and doing it well. So if you’re looking for a catchall then look away, but if you’re after something to take your sounds to a new level, then these presets won’t disappoint.

You can buy Cinematic Drums for Soundtoys Effect Rack from my store: https://bit.ly/3IZFE3f"

Soundtoys: 'Frozen Drones' & 'Atmospheric Pads' Preset Demos (Tom Wolfe)

video upload by Tom Wolfe

"In this video I demonstrate some of the presets from my preset pack Frozen Drones for Soundtoys Effect Rack. Find out more: https://www.tomwolfe.co.uk/product/fr...

Featuring 25 presets for Soundtoys 5 Effect Rack, Frozen Drones is designed to morph simple synth sounds into long, ethereal drones. Designed to flow from the source sound, these presets will leave long tails of unique, rolling ambience in their wake. These presets are unashamedly niche, focusing on doing one thing and doing it well. So if you're looking for a catchall then look away, but if you're after something to take your sounds to a new level, then these presets won't disappoint."

Soundtoys: 'Atmospheric Pads' Preset Demo (Tom Wolfe)

video upload by

"In this video I demonstrate some of the presets from my preset pack Atmospheric Pads for Soundtoys Effect Rack. Find out more: https://www.tomwolfe.co.uk/product/at...

Containing 25 presets for Soundtoys 5 Effect Rack, Atmospheric Pads is designed to add beautiful atmospheric ambience to dry synth pads. Simply dial in the mix knob, and hear your sounds transform. These presets are unashamedly niche, focusing on doing one thing and doing it well. So if you're looking for a catchall then look away, but if you're after something to take your sounds to a new level, then these presets won't disappoint."

XILS-lab Introduces KaoX Virtual FM Instrument

video by xilslab

"XILS-lab creates KaoX as virtual instrument inspired by legendary FM synthesizer bolstered by virtual analogue and chaotic algorithms


GRENOBLE, FRANCE: virtual instrument- and effect plug-in-specialising software company XILS-lab is proud to announce availability of KaoX — a virtual instrument inspired by a legendary FM (Frequency Modulation) synthesizer, albeit bolstered by virtual analogue sound synthesis and additional chaotic algorithms in an advanced two-layer architecture allowing for a powerful sound creation tool to fuel DAW-driven synthesizer dreams with a much more easily understood signal path than its iconic FM forefather — as of April 12…

To appreciate its iconic inspiration is to truly appreciate the power of KaoX, XILS-lab’s latest virtual instrument. Indeed, the early-Eighties synthesizer market was dominated by analogue synthesizers using analogue circuits and analogue signals to generate sounds electronically, which, when made available as programmable polysynths with patch storage, were costly with limited polyphony. Putting paid to that dominance, an Eighties-dominating 16-voice FM synthesizer changed course — changing the course of musical history in the process — by generating sounds via frequency modulation, a form of sound synthesis whereby the frequency of a waveform is changed by modulating its frequency with a modulator. Mass manufactured using very-large- scale integration chips by a Japanese giant of a company who had licensed the technology from Stanford University, California — composer, musician, and professor John Chowning developed the digital implementation of FM synthesis while there, the world’s first commercially-successful digital synthesizer subsequently sold over 200,000 units within three years — around 20 times more than the most iconic analogue synthesizer of all time sold in its impressive decade-long lifespan — and its preset sounds soon became staples of the Eighties pop pantheon with E PIANO 1 purportedly ending up on 40% of the US Billboard Hot 100 chart toppers throughout 1986. Therein lay the rub. Really complex menus and a lack of conventional controls meant that few learned to program the comparatively keenly-priced instrument in depth — despite FM synthesis lending itself to creating brighter, glassier sounds, as well as imitative acoustic sounds so much better than its instantly unfashionable analogue adversaries, programmable polyphonic or otherwise. Of course, fashions change with time and technology; the instrument in question has long since fallen out of favour. Although analogue synthesizers — somewhat ironically — are now more commonplace than they ever were with a perceived warmth of sound and appealing hands-on control working in their favour, the convenience of an ITB (in the box) workflow with DAW-driven virtual instruments and effect plug-ins has far from lost its appeal for today’s music-making masses. Time to revisit the wonderful world of FM synthesis with a modern-day twist? Knowingly, KaoX does just that. After all, as a virtual instrument- and effect plug-in-specialising software company, XILS-lab loves to create tools that inspire its users to create more imaginative music than they ever dreamed possible!

Put it this way: with KaoX, XILS-lab has created a virtual instrument inspired by that legendary FM synthesizer, albeit bolstered by virtual analogue sound synthesis and additional chaotic algorithms in an advanced two-layer architecture allowing for a powerful sound creation tool to fuel DAW-driven synthesizer dreams with a much more easily understood signal path than its iconic FM forefather since said signal path is easily understood through the use of illuminated modules in a GUI (Graphical User Interface) that is equally easy on the eye. KaoX’s knowing nod towards the preset-powered popularity of its iconic FM forefather is immediately obvious for all to see and hear in an easy-to-tweak simplified view allowing its UP (upper) and LO (lower) synthesizer layers — each with independent synthesis modules — to be combined in three different ways. Working in single mode, only the selected layer is active and heard, while both layers are active and heard in SPLIT and DOUBLE modes — the lower part of the keyboard playing the LO layer and the upper part of the keyboard playing the UP layer in the case of the former, while both the UP and LO layers are simultaneously played across the keyboard in the case of the latter. Limited controls are available in this simplified view, including TUNE, DRIFT, GLIDE, VIBRATO, FREQ (vibrato frequency), DEPTH (vibrato), W (wheel), TREMOLO, FREQ (tremolo frequency), and DEPTH (tremolo), plus CHORUS, DELAY, PHASER, and REVERB effects, enabling users to easily play presets and to tweak them accordingly — adding vibrato and tremolo or switching effects on and off, for instance.

Alternatively, activating an advanced settings view brings the wonderful world of KaoX into full view, allowing more adventurous users access to the virtual instrument’s internal modules to tweak or change any parameter therein, aided by contextual help windows, while active modules are helpfully illuminated. FM synthesis options are available on each of the two available layers with eight operators grouped in two banks with independent pitch — perfect for creating chorus-like FM sounds or punchy stereo patches — and two outputs (O1 and O2). Each FM OPERATOR features one LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator), one envelope, WHEEL and VEL (velocity aftertouch) access, two user-definable external modulators (assignable to any KaoX modulation source), KEYB (keyboard follower) 2D pad, RATIO or FIXED frequency selection, and a lowpass filter. Furthermore, virtual analogue synthesis options are also available on each of the two available layers with two continuous waveform analogue oscillators (ANALOG OSCILLATOR 1 and ANALOG OSCILLATOR 2), two zero-delay-like analogue filters (FILTER 1 and FILTER 2), four D-ADSR envelopes, and four VCA outputs for bringing a depth and warmth to the sound creation table. That said, KaoX also allows its users to create sounds that they had never thought possible, thanks to two chaotic oscillators (CHAOS OSCILLATOR 1 and CHAOS OSCILLATOR 2) and two chaotic ring modulators (CHAOX 1 and CHAOX 2). And as if that was not enough to keep committed sound creators seriously satisfied, KaoX comes complete with a flexible four-track step SEQUENCER, where each track can be assigned to the UP or LO layer with independent sustain and gating or used as a modulation source.

Sound-wise, KaoX comes packed with 500-plus presets programmed by world-class sound designers Mikael Adle, Soundsdivine, Status, Nori Ubukata, Tom Wolfe, Xenos, Yuli-Yolo, Zensound, and many more — more than enough to point anyone of any ability in the general direction of where they might musically want to go. Getting there is made much easier with its integrated single-window preset manager making finding the right patch for the task, managing presets and sound banks, as well as creating custom tags, an efficient easy-going experience that could barely be dreamt of back in the early Eighties. Today the time has clearly come to revisit the wonderful world of FM synthesis with a modern-day twist and appreciate the power of KaoX, XILS- lab’s latest virtual instrument par excellence — from France with love... and all without the need for very-large-scale integration chip mass manufacture!"

iMatik - Album Made Entirely with Instruments on The iPhone

Tom Freeman wrote in to let me know of his new release iMatik which was created using nothing but an iPhone. The following is the press release followed by a detailed list of the apps he used.

"Music producer Freematik creates an album completely using an iPhone

An entire album has finally been created using only an iPhone! From the mind of Freematik, a Bay Area local rap & hip-hop producer who has produced many projects in a "traditional" music studio, this first of it's kind concept album breaks new creative ground in modern music production.

Tom Freeman, the producer and artist known as Freematik, had this to say about the album:

"iMatik is a fresh DJ mixtape full of phat beats, DJ scratching, live synths and all types of crazy sounds, made using only an iPhone. Everything was made using apps available from the iTunes app store, such as Beatmaker, iDrum, Flare, Jasuto, etc. The parts were programmed over the course of a few months, in places including hotels, motels, the beach, bars, and anywhere else you would bring a phone. While this initially started just as a way to have fun and do some music "on the road", it transformed into an awesome psychedelic hip hop and electronic music experience. Not my normal type of project but I really love it, maybe more than anything I've ever done. Plus it was crazy fun to make."

Check out the album at: www.freematik.com

About Freematik
Freematik is a music producer who works mainly with underground rap artists in the Bay Area. His production skills can be heard on a number of mixtapes, as well as in bars and clubs around the Bay Area. He produces his own albums as well, which are available at www.freematik.com."

The following are notes for three tracks if you want to hear how each app fit in the mix. You can find the download links to each on http://freematik.com/.

"3. Now You Know: Good example of an Intua Beatmaker MPC-style beat, with DJ scratches supplied by Flare, and low synth provided by miniSynth. I also used the "toy" app iSkream on this track for the "Now You Know" vocal sample, which is my girlfriend talking into the iPhone. That app lets you play back samples in real time, and mangle them with a variety of effects.

10. e: This beat was made with iZotope iDrum Club Edition, with synth sounds from NLogFree. There is a vocal sample that is stretched out at the end, and that was done with Sound Warp, which lets you drag the sample playback by moving your finger on the phone's screen.

12. Is This Your Special Bush: This track is a great example of Flare, the best DJ scratching app for iPhone. I overdubbed a bunch of DJ scratching effects over a beat I made in Beatmaker, and it really to me sounds like a "DJ" album ala DJ Shadow, except done on just an iPhone."

I asked Tom how he recorded and mastered the tracks:
"Since the iPhone can't do multiple apps at the same time, and what I wanted to do definitely involved playing one app over another, I ended up tracking everything through a Universal Audio 2108 Stereo Pre, by way of a mini-dual 1/4" cable. Everything was tracked into my Mac Pro running Cubase 5. I used a Summit DCL 200 Stereo Compressor on the mix buss, and used a huge amount of Universal Audio plugins, including the new Manley Massive Passive on individual tracks and in mastering.

My thought about it is if I was doing an "all-saxophone" album, for example, I wouldn't stop at not using a DAW to multi-track, mix, etc. so I think the same applies to an "all iPhone" album. But if running multiple apps was possible I would have kept it all in the phone, just because it sounds fun to try."

Note multi-tasking is coming to the iPhone.

Apps used in iMatik:
Intua Beatmaker []
A-Sync Games Flare[]
iZotope iDrum Club Edition []
iZotope iDrum Hip-Hop Edition []
iZotope iDrum Video Game Edition []
iZotope iDrum Beatboxing Edition []
iZotope iDrum Wu-Tang RZA Edition []
Jasuto & Jasuto Pro []
miniSynth []
NLogFree []
iSkream []
Thereminator []
Argon []

MOOG Demo Record

Update: see this post for the audio.
via this auction
"Ultra-rare private pressing, the first promotional recording produced by Moog, given out to prospective customers to demonstrate the capabilities of their amazing products. Both sides are identical and contain a wonderful montage of Moog-sourced sound effects and short original compositions created especially for this record by Wendy Carlos, ranging widely from experimental to classical to pop to ambient soundscapes and a real treat for collectors of her work. It is narrated by Ed Stokes who explains the different types of waves and filters available, the basics of sound synthesis, and Moog innovations like voltage control. This extremely hard to find record is an awesome artifact of early electronic music history and a gem for Moog
and Wendy Carlos fans.

Wendy Carlos studied under Vladimir Ussachevsky and Otto Luening at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center, worked with Robert Moog to develop and popularize the synthesizer and pioneer its performance techniques, and scored films for Stanley Kubrick and Disney. Some additional points of reference for this synth demo record: Jean-Michel Jarre, Paul Beaver, Bernie Krause, Stereolab, Aphex Twin, Autechre, Mu-Ziq, Matmos, Dick Hyman, Raymond Scott, Bruce Haack, Pierre Henry, Tomita, Vangelis, Jean-Jacques Perrey, Gershon Kingsley, Tom Dissevelt, Ondioline, Theremin, Clara Rockmore, Arp, Donald Buchla, Chappell Recorded Music Library, De Wolfe, Montparnasse 2000, Patchwork, Piero Umiliani, Roger Roger, Cecil Leuter, DJ Premier, DJ Shadow, Invisibl Skratch Piklz, Oskar Sala, trautonium, Morton Subotnick, John Eaton, Donald Erb, Bernard Parmegiani, Mort Garson..."