NAMM: New Gear from Clavia / Nord Keyboards Revealed

Nord Piano 2
88 key hammer action stage keyboard with Nord Sample Library support

"Clavia releases Nord Piano 2 HA88 at NAMM Show 2012

The Nord Piano 2 HA88 lets you easily play, split and layer stunning Grand, Upright and Electric Pianos from the Nord Piano Library with sounds from the versatile Nord Sample Library. All this in a streamlined portable package with 88 Hammer Action Weighted keys.

The Nord Piano 2 comes with a wide range of quality acoustic and electro-mechanical instruments from the Nord Piano Library, all with their own unique character. The included Nord Triple Pedal features a dynamic sustain pedal that can also recreate the mechanical “stomp” and “sizzle” noises that occur when the lifting or releasing the dampener in an Acoustic Grand or Upright Piano. The Advanced String Resonance feature simulates the subtle phenomenon that occurs when piano strings cause other un-dampened strings to resonate, further adding to an amazing level of realism.

The Nord Sample Library offers more than 1000 high quality sample-instruments ranging from Strings, Brass, Synths and Basses to the legendary vintage sounds of the Mellotron and Chamberlin.
Both the Nord Piano and Nord Sample libraries are continuously updated and are available as free downloads for all Nord owners.

All of the sounds in the Nord Piano 2 HA88 are replaceable, making it an instrument that is built to evolve with you. It’s even possible to create your own sample instruments using the Nord Sample Editor.

We think technology should be transparent to the user, which is why the Nord Piano 2 has dedicated buttons and knobs for all functions the performing musician needs instead of confusing menus.
We’ve made it amazingly simple to layer and split sounds, and there’s a volume pedal input for sneaking in those strings while you keep playing.

The Nord Piano 2 also sports an extensive effects section, covering everything from Phaser, Wah-wah, Flanger, Chorus and Delay effects to a 3-band Equalizer, Amp Simulations, Compressor and Reverb.


The Nord Piano 2 will be shown at the AM&S Nord Booth #6464 at NAMM Show 2012"

Nord C2D Combo Organ
Dual manual organ with drawbars
"Clavia releases Nord C2D Combo Organ at NAMM Show 2012
Complete with 2 sets of physical drawbars per manual the Nord C2D is the ultimate portable organ for musicians that play with their drawbars as well as the keys. The new left-hand preset sections offer an unsurpassed level of hands-on control and the upper manual and panel has been tilted for better ergonomics. A LCD-display has been added for easier access to programs and settings.

The Nord C2D features a redesigned simulation of the characteristic mechanical key clicks that are an essential component of the classic tone-wheel experience. Furthermore, the redesigned percussion model offers increased control over the percussion levels when playing near-legato.

The Nord C2D also includes a redesigned Rotary Speaker simulation of a vintage 122 unit.

Naturally, the Nord C2D also includes both the Vox and Farfisa transistor organ simulations and the sampled Baroque Pipe Organ from the acclaimed Nord C2 Combo Organ.


The Nord C2D will be shown at the AM&S Nord Booth #6464 at NAMM Show 2012"

Nord Drum
4 Channel Virtual Analog Drum Synthesizer

"Clavia releases Nord Drum Virtual Analog Drum Synthesizer

The Nord Drum is a revolutionary 4-channel drum synthesizer that is the result of a creative collaboration between Clavia and drum/music technology enthusiasts Bruniusson & Berg. With an amazingly vast sonic palette and an astounding level of playability it is guaranteed to change your perception of what’s possible with synthetic, sample-free percussion.

The Nord Drum lets you create classic retro-futuristic percussion with analog waveforms or use the harmonically complex waveforms together with different colors of noise for results that both sound and respond stunningly organic. The Nord Drum is designed with the performing musician in mind and its extreme dynamic range and super-fast triggering add to the feeling of playing a real instrument.

4 high-sensitivity inputs and MIDI lets you play the Nord Drum with a wide range of Electronic Drum Pads, Acoustic Drum Triggers and MIDI-pads/Sequencers for easy integration into any existing drum-kit or the starting point for something completely new…

The Nord Drum will be shown at the AM&S Nord Booth #6464 at NAMM Show 2012"

Update:

Nord Drum - Virtual Analog Drum Synthesizer

YouTube Uploaded by NordKeyboards on Jan 10, 2012

"Nord Drum - 4 Channel Virtual Analog Drum Synthesizer.

Music by Boska (soundcloud.com/boskamusic)

See: www.norddrum.com for more info and additional sound demos!"

Quintrons Singing House

Singing House demo

YouTube Uploaded by spellcasterlodge on Jan 16, 2012

"Demonstration of latest Quintron invention called THE SINGING HOUSE. This is an analog "drone synth" which is completely modulated by the weather."

via Dangerous Minds via Jimmersound. Qintron, brought us the Drum Buddy.

And something else from Quintron:

Quintron and Miss Pussycat: "Face Down In The Gutter"

Uploaded by spellcasterlodge on Apr 27, 2011

"puppet video for this song from the album SUCRE DU SAUVAGE. Video created / edited by Miss Pussycat."

NAMM: Livid Instruments Eurorack Modules

via Peter Nyboer on
The MATRIXSYNTH LOUNGE

"A quick shot of our modular controller minutes before shipping out for NAMM with modules from our friends malekko heavy industry"

Livid will be in Booth 1009 Hall E. See The NAMM Synth Booths post for more.

NAMM: VST Support Comes to the iPad with AURIA

AURIA: 48-Track Recording System for iPad

YouTube Uploaded by WaveMachineLabs on Jan 16, 2012

"Auria is a 48 track digital audio workstation designed exclusively for the iPad. Built from the ground up to be used in professional studio and live tracking applications, Auria includes the necessary tools for recording, mixing, and editing any project. Auria introduces innovative features such as AAF import/export for moving sessions between popular DAWs (like Pro Tools and Nuendo), 64-bit double precision architecture, and up to 24 tracks of simultaneous recording using compatible USB audio interfaces.

WaveMachine Labs has teamed with PSPaudioware to offer a powerful vintage-inspired channel strip on every channel, plus a mastering processor on the master and subgroup channels. Auria also features a first among mobile apps - VST plugin support; Auria includes several bundled plugins (convolution reverb, stereo chorus and delay, classicVerb and a pitch processor). Plug-ins by PSPAudioware, Overloud Audio Tools, Fabfilter and more will be available through in-app purchase. WaveMachine Labs is pioneering the effort to develop the VST standard on iOS, allowing manufacturers to easily port their existing plugins to the iPad.

http://www.AuriaApp.com"

iPads on eBay

Yusynth Fixed Resonant Filter Bank

via this auction

"Fixed Resonant Filter Bank a.k.a. Moog 904A Clone

Designed by Yusynth

Assembled by Free State FX

Brand new. Highest quality parts available - no compromises. Artfully hand wired in the 5U MOTM / MOOG Format.

Massive, powerful, yet breathtakingly beautiful, the Yusynth Fixed Filter Bank will be the biggest sounding and lush filter in your modular, reagardless the size and complexity. FOURTEEN (14!) Independent filters. Nothing else sounds like it. Lopass Filter, Hipass Filter, and 12 resonant Bandpass filters tuned to specfic (and beautiful sounding) frequencies.

Here is some info from the Yusynth website:

"Although this module is often missing in many modular set-ups, I think a fixed filters bank (FFB) is a really useful module and personally I could not imagine a decent set-up without one. The reference FFB is the 914 module from Moog .

The FFB makes it possible to greatly enrich the sonic palette of a modular system. It is also a key element for the recreation of "natural" and environmental sounds, or of conventional music instruments. Although it evokes the principle of a mere graphic equalizer, it has marked differences. Mainly, the filter Q is higher and the BP slopes are steeper than in a graphic EQ. Furthermore when a control is set to zero, the corresponding spectral band is completely muted.
Complex/entangled rhythms can be created on the fly by multi-band filtering a simple sequence.

I designed this module with the Moog 914 filter bank in mind. Therefore I tried to obtain similar characteristics for the band-pass, low-pass and high-pass filter as in the Moog 914. The original Moog's design uses passive cells based on inductors and capacitors. Nowadays, finding this type of inductors is very difficult and it would cost a lot of money to have them specially wound. This is why I chose to replace these passive components by active components. In order to design band-pass cells using active components (i.e. OP amps) with the same characteristics as in the Moog 914, there are two possible approaches :

the first one is to simulate the inductors using gyrators or N.I.C.s (negative impedance converter). This is a very efficient solution but is very expensive because it requires at least four OP amps to recreate a single band-pass cell with the same Q and -12dB/octave attenuation slopes.
the second one is to replace the passive cell with an active filter. There, the choice of architecture is wide. However, considering the constraints (low number of OPAs to reduce costs, ease of calculation of component values, low sensitivity to tolerance of the components...) the best choice appeared to be the Deliyannis band-pass cell also known as Rauch multiple feedback filter.

The other advantage of using active filters is that the output level of this filter is much higher than that of Moog's.

This module has twelve fixed band-pass filters with -12dB/octave slopes, a low-pass filter and a high-pass filter with -24db/octave slopes. All the filters are resonant with a Q coefficient around 3.7. The gain of each filter is adjustable from completely silent to maximum.

Two inputs (with different gain levels) are provided as well as three outputs : a main output with all filter cells mixed, an ouput with only odd cells and the third output with only even cells. These separate outputs make it possible to use the FFB for creating pseudo-stereo sounds (spacialization).

This module uses not less than 32 OPAs (8 ICs), 125 capacitors, 95 resistors and 14 potentiometers !
The current draw of the module is 70mA both on the positive and negative power lines."

Assembled with:

Switchcraft Jacks
Shielded RG-174 Mil-Spec Wire for Audio Signals
Alpha Pots
Alco Clone Knobs
Active/Bypass Toggle Switch
Bridechamber Panel (currently Sold Out!) - 4 Units wide
Polyester Film Capacitors in audio path
Xicon Metal Film Resistors
Double Plated PCBs with Soldermask
Synthesizers.com Power Connector
Runs on +/- 15 Volts"

More pics of the inside below.

CLICK FOR MORE »

PAIA Wind and Surf Synthesizer

via Dan Lavin on electro-music.com where you'll find an mp3.

"I just finished creating a John Simonton "Wind" using the manual found at PAIATalk. The circuit is so simple, it's best built on perfboard. It's a nice short weekend project. Really cheap too! No chips, just transistors and diodes for semiconductors.

I've mounted it in my homebrew FracRac cabinet with it's sister (brother?) product, the PAIA Surf Synthesizer. This was my very first Synth DIY project built the summer of 1977. This is about my 3rd restoration of it.
The surf synth has the mods suggested in a reader letter from 1972 with the exception of not reversing the filter diode D1. That just leaves the silly thing wide open with no control.

Both units use panel mounted pots instead of trim pots and have a volume pot for mixing.

the audio sample I recorded uses both units set to the extreme.....so it's like a wind storm at the beach. You can obviously dial everything back so it could be a pleasant day at the beach, but that's just not as fun!"

Monorocket Metasonix Yellow Case

via Big City Music

"The all new Monorocket Mission 9M was created for the new Metasonix R-55 Oscillator which by itself requires 1800mA from the +5 volt rail on startup. This case features massive power supplies with a whopping 8500mA on the +/-12 volt rails and a whopping 8000mA on the +5 volt rails!"

http://monorocket.com/

NAMM: AtomoSynth Koe desktop, mini modular

YouTube Uploaded by atomolab on Jan 16, 2012

"Hello, this is the Koe desktop mini modular from AtomoSynth, showing some bass and lead sounds.
Koe synth voice eurorack module and Koneko midi to CV interface module. UMX61 midi controller."

NAMM: A Look at the Minitaur

YouTube Uploaded by MoogMusicInc on Jan 16, 2012

"Marc Doty, Archive and Education Specialist for the Bob Moog Foundation, gets hands on with Moog's new synthesizer Minitaur and gives a run down of its features. For specs and purchasing info go to http://www.moogmusic.com/products/taurus/minitaur"

Update: Re-Uploaded by MoogMusicInc on Jan 17, 2012

pNORTNAOMI - DYNASTY Multibank

YouTube Uploaded by pNORTNAOMI on Jan 16, 2012

"A 69 sample collection of fx hits, Feedback loops and soundscape drones. All samples were created from foley recording, Hardware and software generators and processors. Available as a free download for registered Vortex and Rolodecks users at the Twisted Tools website.

http://twistedtools.com"