Madrona Labs Aalto 1.7 Update Brings Multidimensional Polyphonic Expression Support

via Madrona Labs

"Aalto 1.7 is out now, bringing MPE support.

Good morning again! With version 1.7 of Aalto, our favorite West Coast softsynth now adds MPE support, and other improvements.

MPE stands for Multidimensional Polyphonic Expression. It's a way of using MIDI to transmit the rich, per-note expressive performances that instruments like the Haken Continuum, Seaboard, Linnstrument and of course our own Soundplane are capable of. Geert Bevin, longtime Eigenharp player and currently a software developer at Moog Music, lead the charge on this effort, and I thank him for moving things forward. You can find Geert's post with the MPE specifications here: [expressiveness.org]

Many smart and experienced people, including all us makers of new and ambitious controllers, looked over a draft of this spec and contributed changes. MPE makes sense, is easy to implement, and should be very useful. With its addition Aalto becomes one of a just a few great sound makers out there for per-note expression. I am hotly anticipating more Linnstrument+Aalto, Seaboard+Aalto sounds.

Soundplane owners have always had a great connection to Aalto over OSC. But the big deal for the Soundplane is that now, while we are still waiting for the OSC-based composition environment of our dreams, we can use ordinary DAWs to record and edit an entire Soundplane performance.

Aalto version 1.7 also brings improved Soundplane compatibility with MIDI patches, optimized animation drawing, and bug fixes. MPE support in Kaivo synthesizer will follow next month with other changes.

1.7 is of course a free update again. The demo is at the usual place, and license holders as usual can click "My downloads" up on the right there to get your update.

Macintosh users, please note:
Aalto 1.7 requires Mac OS X 10.7 or higher."

1986 German KORG Poly-800 II Ad

via synthmuseum.de

Rhythmic 8 Synthesizer & Pearl Sc-40 drumsynth

Published on Jul 30, 2015 lookapi

"Rhythmic 8 portable keyboard & Pearl Sc-40 drumsynth

soundcheck by
noheadchicken live @ Petit Rigolo Records 2015

Rhythmic 8 with Korg ax 300g effects
Pearl Sc-40 drumsynth triggered by Rhythmic 8

Rhythmic 8 has five pre-set waveforms, which can be combined with any of four pre-set ADSR envelopes.

The auto accompaniment section are 10 selectable rhythms, each has three selectable bass lines and sound, and three independently selectable chord patterns and sound."

Summer Tour #7

Published on Jul 30, 2015 Matthew Tyas

"Outside jam, using audiobus, drumjam, DFx and aufx : dub on iOS. The portable amp is the Roland mobile cube.
This jam was recorded in the Bearn, on the 28th of July 2015"

Arturia announces KeyLab Black Edition

Published on Jul 30, 2015 Arturia Web

"Introducing a limited edition of the award-winning KeyLab:
the KeyLab Black Edition available in 49 and 61-key models.
Already bundled with the Analog Lab software offering 6000 keyboard sounds, the stylish Black KeyLab comes with three additional software instruments: the Solina V string machine, the legendary Prophet V synthesizer and the UVI Grand Piano Model D.

More info: http://www.arturia.com/keylab61-be/ov..."

"This new bundle is built around a limited edition black version of our renowned Keylab MIDI controller keyboards.
Pair this with a free, top notch software bundle and you have a match made in heaven. Our hybrid approach of blending a professional quality MIDI controller with our Analog Lab software is designed to give the discerning musician a hardware instrument feel but with the power and integration that can only be had via software.

Add to this, three more virtual instruments to widen your sonic arsenal even further. You get the authenticity of the UVI Acoustic Grand Piano, the rich string pads of the Solina V and the unstoppable versatility of the Prophet V included in this exciting new bundle..."

LoopTree Tutorial: Quantise settings 1

Published on Jul 30, 2015 Coding Cod

iTunes: LoopTree - Coding Cod Ltd

"Discover the default quantise settings, what they do and how to get the most out of them:

• Toggle
• Record in
• Record length
• Record out"

Stekker 2015: Thijs de Vlieger Talks Modular

Published on Jul 30, 2015 sonicstate

"Thijs de Vlieger talks modular at Studio Stekker.

Original Story:

http://www.sonicstate.com/news/2015/0..."

Korg R3 Demo

Published on Jul 30, 2015 Alphacode

"Another Video of a great and underrated Synthesizer - Korg R3 !"

untitled groove...

Published on Jul 29, 2015 James Mason

"just a session on the gear....hope you like..."

Deep Tech Pattern Generation with Polytek

Published on Jul 29, 2015 Sonic Faction

"http://SonicFaction.com - This is a micro tutorial of Polytek by Sonic Faction, a new synth sequencer for Ableton Live and Max for Live."

"Polytek fuses rhythm and melody to generate enigmatic patterns. It combines step sequencing with vocoder and multiband gate processing, resulting in deep tech progressions, ambient dub soundscapes and gritty robotic polyrhythms.

Polytek’s Routing Matrix can select Analog or Sampler as a sound source and then process it through either a Vocoder or Multiband gate. Aspects of the device have been color-coded so you know where you are and what you’re controlling.

Polytek comes stacked with an array of FX for big spacious reverbs, saturation, delays and chorus. The device is also equipped with a resonator and physical modeling to add extra harmonics and futuristic melodic textures to the groove."