Today Akai introduced the new MPC Renaissance Music Production Controller which fuses the best of their legacy hardware with full software integration. Since the arrival of Native Instruments' Maschine many were wondering how Akai would respond. Its a bit early to call it a Maschine killer but it does have some amazing features:
MPC Renaissance Hardware
Fuses legendary MPC production with the processing power of your computer
Vintage Mode changes output sound character to MPC3000, MPC60 and more
16 backlit genuine MPC pads, 16 Q-Link controls, and adjustable backlit LCD screen
Classic MPC Note Repeat, MPC Swing and MPC transport controls
MPC SOFTWARE for Mac or PC with 64-track sequencing capability
Two XLR-1/4” combo inputs and dedicated turntable input
Four-channel US B 2.0 audio interface and two-port US B 2.0 hub built in
Up to eight pad banks―more than any other MPC ever
Two MIDI inputs and four MIDI outputs
Stereo 1/4” out, stereo assignable mix 1/4” out & S/PDIF I/O
MPC Software
64-track sequencing capability
Massive 6GB+ sound library, including all of the sounds of the classic MPC3000
Instant mapping and real-time adjustment of VST plug-ins
Record each track as an MPC drum program, Keygroup program or VST plug-in
Runs standalone and as VST, AU or RTAS plug-in
Supports WAV, MP3, AIFF, REX and SND
Supports samples and sequences from any MPC ever made
Mac and PC-compatible
Read more HERE
Beginning September 30th and throughout the month of October, previously registered owners of both Propellerheads REASON & RECORD can name their price to receive a full downloadable version of the new REASON 6. Reason 6 combines the functionality of Record with Reason in one powerful DAW. Propellerheads puzzled many by the decision to initially offer a separate recording package when it was the most requested feature for any upgrades.
I can't front, I was feeling "meh" when it came to the idea of pursuing ownership of Apple's iPad. I prefer the MacBook but with the phenomenal work developers are doing with the iOS, the iPad is becoming a musical force to be reckoned with.
I originally saw this video at one of my "secret stash" blogsites, MATRIXSYNTH. MATRIXSYNTH is one of the most informative recording gear websites that focuses on classic and new synthesizers, drum machines and assorted midi devices for the collector and musician looking for a unique piece of kit. The TableDrum app by Dohi Sweden is the perfect solution for turning table top drumming into a usable drum arrangement. I was blown away by how simple yet responsive the app appears in the video above. For $.99, its worth at least a demo session which may lead to the next backbeat of a future hit song. Check the developer's website for more info.
Propellerheads' Reason software is hitting 6.0 this fall! This time the dream is fully realized- Reason is now a full featured DAW. Propellerheads' Record software was last year's biggest development. In a puzzling move, Propellerheads released these programs separately (also sold together) instead of combining features into one package under the Reason name. This time they got it oh so right...
Tascam's Portastudios laid the foundation for affordable multi-tracking for novice and professional musicians alike. Before digital audio workstations such as Pro Tools became the norm and affordable by average consumers, a four or eight track cassette-based Portastudio was a breakthrough product. Musicians were able to produce quality demos and in some cases entire albums on this analog device.
Flash forward to 2010 and the increasing footprint of Apple's iPad has signaled a return to nostalgic hardware wrapped in a software interface. The $10 Tascam Portastudio app has the classic interface and simplicity of the hardware recorders.
* Cassette tape-style transport. (Linear transport, I might add. Seriously. You have to rewind and fast forward to get around.)
* Routing to four inputs.
* Mixdown to stereo (via a dialog box, so that’s the point where you break the illusion).
* Simple EQ.
* File sharing, via iTunes or Soundcloud. (This last item is what makes this a useful tool and not just a novelty.)
* Support for “a few” class-compliant audio interfaces, though your mileage may vary.
Unfortunately the "bouncing" feature is missing but updates could fix that. Get more info HERE
Wow. Can't front this is kind of dope. Kind of. I love the ability to utilize the touch screen of the iPad to sub for the vinyl control records for DJ software such as Serato and Traktor Pro. Does it make a lot of sense? I think I would rather have turntables or some other type of hardware controller as opposed to buying two iPads. Get more info about Tonetable HERE
Wow! This plugin has opened up so many creative possibilities how can you not have it? British artist and musical prankster Tim Exile (designer of NI plugin THE FINGER) has returned with another fun and powerful synth/FX hybrid- THE MOUTH! THE MOUTH is designed to generate melodies and harmonies out of whatever audio material you feed it.
The best part is that it is very affordable and works with NI's Free REAKTOR 5 PLAYER another great plugin that comes with 200 sounds.
Native Instruments leads the way with innovative plugins and synthesizers. NI has recently introduced an incredible loop library for Kontakt- George Duke Soul Treasures. George Duke is on of the world's leading keyboard players and has an extensive musical history. Sampled numerous times, George Duke can now be had inside your DAW- well his vibe that is. SaintJoe from soundsandgear.com has a review of the product and it looks like a must have. Take it away SaintJoe...
What is George Duke Soul Treasures?
It’s like having access to a bunch of George Duke studio sessions, royalty free…to use however you wish! No seriously, it’s like they took George Duke…along with his personal engineer Erik Zobler, locked them in the studio, and told them to play some goodness if they ever wanted to smell the fresh air again.
Okay…maybe they weren’t that ruthless, but you know…getting someone of George’s skill to sit down and record a bunch of random loops for other folks to use is quite a feat in itself. It’s over 500 loops, in a customized kontakt player instrument, tempo-synced and ready to slice.
It’s a sampler’s dream!
I wasn’t even worried about how it would sound…it’s freaking George Duke, teamed up with his personal engineer, put into an instrument from NI. That said, it was a lot more diverse than I first expected.
SaintJoe, a frequent contributor to the Music Tech section and creator of soundsandgear.com, has created a new user forum/website for users and enthusiasts of Native Instruments Maschine. Maschine is the newest hardware/software drum sampling machine that offers a great deal of powerful sounds and efficient workflow. It is designed as a bridge between MPC/groovebox users and those who work with midi software, combining the best of both worlds. Take it away SaintJoe:
People with similar interests love to get together and hang out, share tips, ideas, or just chill. Sorta like all the crazy folks like me that love to make music…..yeah that’s you :)
I saw there was really no place for various Maschine users to connect and network. We mostly visit the official NI forums, but most look to that as simply a place to go when you want support. There was no place to just go and hang out, talk about Maschine, post videos, etc…all in one spot.
So you know I had to do something about that right?
Now we have MaschineMusic.com, it’s an online community dedicated to users, possible users, or anyone interested in Native Instruments Maschine. I think it’s always good to have an “unofficial” place to discuss and build around a product, just so you’re not at the “mercy” of the company who’s product it is you’re discussing. And no matter what folks will say, Maschine is here to stay, it seems it can only get better.
The MIDI Mobilizer for iPhone and iPod touch is an app-based peripheral that lets you record, playback, store, and transfer MIDI sequences and parameters using the MIDI Memo Recorder software. You can now sequence and backup midi performances using the power and portability of your iPod Touch/iPhone. Check the video below to see many applications for this device.
Propellerhead's Reason, one of the world's leading music production software, has been updated to 5.0. New feature sets include a new instrument, Kong Drum Designer, an upgrade to their venerable Dr. Rex sample player, Dr. Octo-rex and sampling input for all sample playback modules (NN-19, NN-XT, Dr. Octo-Rex, Kong, Redrum). Propellerhead's DAW Record 1.5 adds a whole new take on sequencing: Blocks, letting you build your song parts like patterns and string them together for super fast arranging. 1.5 adds a whole new take on sequencing: Blocks, letting you build your song parts like patterns and string them together for super fast arranging. Record also adds the Neptune pitch correction tool and voice synthesizer. Neptune can achieve results similar to Auto-Tune and Melodyne. Check out the link below for full info and upgrade options.
If there’s any other instrument or element in popular music styles that has a profound of an effect on the over feel of the tracks as the drums do, it’s gotta be bass! A great bass riff, bass line, or bass part can take a track to the next level….gives it that thump baby! Honestly, when it comes to virtual bass sounds, one name usually comes up pretty much every time.
Spectrasonics.
Their first product ever, was Bass Legends, a sample cd dedicated to the bass. Then some years later they produced Trilogy the first virtual instrument that was specifically made up of acoustic, electric, and synth bass sounds. That set the bar and Trilogy became the “go to” plugin for all your bass needs. Those with the computer power, and memory to take advantage never looked back.
Enter Trilian. The successor and evolution of Trilogy.
Real. Fat. Deep. Huge. Live. Amazing. Thick. Round. Smooth. Harsh- yeah..I could keep going. Honestly, words really can’t describe it, you really have to hear it.
There are things that you may not even realize are missing from your bass sounds/instruments, until you play with Trilian!
Seriously, the detail in these instruments is beyond comparison, and I’ve heard/tried quite a few bass libraries in my days. Take the acoustic upright bass for example, when I heard it…man, I promise I thought I could smell it! It sounds that real. And let me be honest here, I’m no bass player, I have friends that are, and I’ve heard enough live bass in my years to know what one sounds like. It’s like I can actually hear and FEEL the strings vibrating, I feel like I’m actually playing the instrument.
The electric basses are the same thing, everything just sounds so authentic to my ears, from nice and smooth, to hard and harsh, the use of the fx in Trilian allow you to pull up a sexy fender electric and then pull up a harsh, trashy, heavy metal bass right after.
The fingered Clean Fender is amazing, based on the Fender J-bass, the character is just so useful. Thing is, after listening to these samples, it’s hard to even look at anything else, I hit the keys and I’m confident I can feel the strings vibrating, really…AND I can hear them. It’s not just a bass tone, I’m convinced they somehow trapped tiny bass fairies into the software that hit real bass strings every time I send them a midi message…true story. I also liked the muted Chapman Stick…and the picked Hip Hop bass from the Trilogy library, has a nice deep, boomy tone. Of course those are just a few of the many I loved.
Cool, so you expect good realistic bass right…how about the synth bass section?
Man it’s like a freakin museum of synths known for producing fat, throbbing, floor shaking bass! Seriously, Moog, SE-1, Roland, Access Virus, Waldorf, Dave Smith…if these names mean anything to you, then you know what type of treasure awaits. Not only that, but they sampled and reproduced some stuff I had absolutely NO idea ever existed, quirky limited run synths and modules, stuff only a true fanatic would know about. I was happy to see this stuff too.
I just got Motu BPM last Friday. Bought it from someone that wasn’t using it, hadn’t even been registered yet. I had to check it out for myself.
I plan to have a full review of it, but just like I did with Native Instruments' Maschine, I want to spend some more time learning it. I just wanted to show a few quick tracks and some features I liked about it so far.
This is another video showing how Native Instruments Maschine is not just a sampler or beat machine, but that it can be used just like a workstation or keyboard.
Instead of using it by sampling records or songs into it, I am using the internal sounds and creating music like I would on a Roland Fantom or Yahmaha Motif.
In this video I just want to show you how easy it is to import your samples for use in maschine. When you do it this way, you can browse through your own sounds right from the hardware controller, just like internal native instrument sounds.
This is important for me, as I use Maschine without having the monitor on or the software is minimized. I do EVERYTHING from the controller. Maschine is dope, straight up, probably my favorite released product last year. Serious.
EVOLVE Mutations 1 and 2 are both kontakt player instruments that bring the creative and experimental sounds that Heavyocity are known for, into the studios and bedrooms of musicians of all kinds. Not only does it follow the same basic categorical layout of EVOLVE (Rhymthmic suites, percussive kits, stings and transitions, tonality and fx) it also picks up right where EVOLVE left off. It’s not a replacement for, it’s definitely an addition to EVOLVE, yet stands on it’s own.
The bundle is made up of version 1 and version 2, with 2 being the most recent and is full of 317 kontakt instruments, mutations 1 has 275. Each stand on their own, and definitely shine when used together.
This library is ready for any electronic music producer, video game sound designer, film composer, experimental hip hop producer, or anyone that loves the let the sound take control.
Quick Specs
* Content: 593 kontakt instruments (4gb)
* Format: Kontakt Player or Kontakt 4
* Price: $169 (bundle) or $119 each
How does it sound?
Well, depending on which sounds you use it can sound scary, vicious, epic, soulful, experimental, edgy, terrifying, esoteric, ambient, alien, monstrous, airy, metallic, demented, angelic, demonic, percussive, chilled, spine-tingling, blood curdling, soothing….well I think you get the point.
I honestly have NEVER played an instrument like this, anything you load just sounds wonderful, ready to go. Everything is produced with the up-most quality and creativity.
The Multis…oh my….you could literally complete a movie trailer with just the multis! I promise to you the first night I installed it I couldn’t even make it through demoing all the sounds without opening it up in Ableton and putting it to work for some hardcore movie style compositions.
Everything you can imagine, all the small little fx, the stuff you hear on commercials or in the theaters…that stuff is here. It may not be the exact sounds, but it’s the styles I’m speaking of. Because to me, this is easily one of the most unique and irreplaceable instruments you’ll ever come across. Heck…I’d say Heavyocity as a company is irreplaceable because I know of no one that is doing it like this. Not that I’ve come across.
Everything has a sheen and shine that says “I’m ready for my closeup!”
What’s your favorite part?
Man…that’s such a tough call, I love this bundle so much it’s really hard to say, but one of the things that really sticks out to me are the trigger fx in Mutations 2. I installed Mutations 2 before I installed Mutations 1 or the original EVOLVE library, and I see why Trigger FX were such a big deal! It let’s you get some morphing, mutating, randomly sick sounds just by “flipping switches”
The interface is made up of tiny switches that control things like dirt, cabinet, saturate, lofi, pan, eq sweep, pitch, delay 1, delay two, and glitch! And these all respond to keys on your keyboard as well…so you can hit the keyboard keys which control each one, play your sounds, and let the sound organically mutate right before your ears and eyes….yes…these sounds have so much personality I feel like I can see them.
Seriously, I found myself wishing the other libraries included trigger fx…BUT since they can all live with each other inside of Kontakt 4 or the Kontakt Player…I’m free to layer, trigger, mutate, and experiment as much as I wish!
If there was one thing outside of the sound design and organization that makes Heavyocity stand out…it’s their use and abuse of fx…and how creative they allow you to be with them.
It took me many years to move over to software. Reason being, most of it just didn’t “flow” like I wanted. The instruments and plugins have been high quality for a while, but I hadn’t found a sequencer good enuff to replace my mpc. An environment to bring all my production together in a way that works for me.
My boy Pierre had been using ableton for years, and kept telling me about it, but I never got down. Until I actually tried it, and he showed me the layout…then it made sense. This video shows how I understand ableton as a user raised on and comfortable with hardware. I truly feel that when you see this, if you’re a hardware dude…you’ll be like me and feel ableton is the only daw that works how you think.
Let me know what you think, and let me know if you have any questions.
No this isn’t the only way to use ableton, it’s the way that makes the most sense to me…and when I share it with others like me, the hardware dudes…they finally “get it”.
I spent the two days re organizing my sample library. I’ve been wanting to do it for a while, but up until now had only managed to do maybe one or two collection. However, I just decided to get it done.
My sample library file system:
Basically what I do is this. Sample libraries have two main categories, Sample Packs and Sample Libraries. In the “sample pack” I put all the stuff I get like drums, loops, and riffs, the smaller collections. In the “sample library” folder I put all my dvds and large libraries like stuff from Big Fish or Sample Magic…the multi gigabyte stuff.
After that I organize them even further.
For the sample packs, I break them up first by company, then within each company folder I will break it down more depending on how much I have from them. Sample pack companies like nova loops, where I have a bunch of stuff, I’ll break into categories within the folder. I’d do drums, keys, synth, strings, loop sets, etc.
Then in each folder I’d put the sample pack that goes in there. So if I have roots rhodes, I’d put that in the keys, if I have Hood RnB construction set I put that in loop sets. I THEN break down the loop sets even further.
First I break them down by genre, like pop, rnb, dirty south, chillout, etc, depending on what collections I have. Then I go into each construction set collection and break it down. By default, they are just a bunch of folders with each individual construction kit, that includes the bass, keys, strings, drums, etc for that kit. You get anywhere from 10-30 of these depending on the set and the company.
Basically these are “pre made” beats, that you can put back together.
I don’t roll like that, so I needed a better way to utilize these kits, since many companies make them and they have dope sounds. I hated going through each folder looking for some keys, or strings, or bass. So I take all the files out of the individual kits, and put them in one big folder. Then I create new folders based on the instrument category…so I’d have bass, keys, synths, drums, brass, etc.
So now instead of a bunch of folders with premade beats, I have a bunch of folders with various instruments from across the whole collection. So I can find what I want much faster, go to keys for keys, bass for bass, etc. I do the same thing for my sample library collection, it’s just much bigger because they are dvds full of stuff.
I break it out by genre, then I put each library where it needs to go. After that I break each library up into folders of sounds instead of construction kits. I also take the demos out, which is a full mix of each construction set. I only use those for review purposes when I show yall the libraries, then I delete them.
The idea of this library is to provide you with a collection of “radio ready” sounds and samples. Not just one style but any and everything you’d be likely to hear on any popular urban radio station.
The crunk club smashers, the urban rnb vibes. The chopped/pop sample style music, synth based euro gangsta lol…you get the idea. This is just a large collection of popular and contemporary sounding samples
Quick Specs
* Content: 2gb 24 bit wav files (4.68gb all together across formats)
* Format: wav, rex, acid, rmx, apple
* Price: $99.95
How does it sound?
It sounds like urban music…period.
I won’t lie, I was expecting some corny attempt to capture the current “trendy” style of music, I expected it to be one-sided. This library has a lot of various styles from east to west, north to south, club to street, it’s all covered.
The production style is on point, the sounds especially keys and strings are organic, the drums bang, the synths are nice. Everything is recorded and produced with a certain “sheen” on it, but yet still captures everything you’d expect from the particular genre it’s going after.
There are even some random vocal and other samples to give you that chopped, vocal, sample vibe yet still keeping it radio ready.
In my mind, poise is the drum sampler we’ve all been looking for. Poise is what I would make if I could write software….
Poise is a simple, 16 pad drum sampler that lets you quickly add layers, manipulate the layers, and come up with new sounds.
Poise is NOT a sequencer. You can NOT sample into it. From the site:
Direct, straightforward, no frills and no bloat! Poise aims to make working with drum samples quick and painless, allowing you to focus on making music.
Sounds good to me, so good I had to keep it under wraps until I could actually SHOW you what it did. It’s not new, it’s been around, but I just found out about it and I know many of you will love it, because I get the same questions from folks looking for an easy drum sampler that let’s you layer your drums quickly and tweak each layer.
Why I think Poise “gets it”
Why do I think it’s the best? Let me list the reasons.
* It’s easy to layer sounds, just drag them onto the pad, and a layer number will appear in the window
* layers can be played in round robin, layered, or velocity switching mode
* You can have up to 16 outputs, enough to send each pad to it’s own track in your daw if you want
* It’s easy to setup to work with your midi controller
* You can have note on or one-shot mode for your samples
* It has mono mode, so you can get down like on your hardware, making pads cut each other
* You also have “cut groups” so you can set pads to cut each other off
* You can link pads… so you can quickly layer multiple sounds just by linking the pads together
* You can save your own kits quickly
* You can tweak each layer on a pad separately or together
* you can use wav, aiff, or mpc snd format sounds
* It’s lean and cpu efficient
* It’s 49 bucks
