Brand-new mellotron is on the market

This month's issue of Future Music publishes a quick test of a new instrument from the two mellotron-specialist, John Bradley and Martin Smith. Their company, Streetly Electronics has just released a new top-mellotron called M4000 which is seriously superior than all the former models. It has 24 built-in sound programs, and the switching time between them is quite short (if you consider the fact this is a mellotron): 9 to 60 seconds. A new gadget on the product line is a two-digits display with which you can adjust the start point of the samples - a feature which is very well known in today's samplers. The price of the instrument is horrible if you compare with samplers and soft samplers: around 10,000 USD but you get a real and working piece of an ancient instrument for that money. Check their site for more.

Sample package from Hungary in the Reason-package

Leading Hungarian sample creator company, PinkNoise Studio has provided his most successful package, PRO.TON - an analog synthesizer construction set in refill - for Propellerhead to share it for all Reason users freely. If you are registered Reason user you can download it right now from Propellerhead's web page - the sample set has been slightly enhanced, and a brand new Combinator bank has added. Check it at Propellerhead's front page.

Numark ships new iPod mixer in ten days

Numark has revealed their second iPod-DJ product, the iDJ2. It is much superior than its predecessor since it doesn't need two iPods for playing two channels but one instead. Beyond this, you can tempo adjust, scratch and loop both channels with its proprietary controls. It handles external USB hard disks - we hope it can play songs from there directly -, and accepts phono and line level inputs as well as a dedicated microphone. The color display is very nice and the QWERTY keyboard which is optional enhances the mixer's usability even much further. I have to mention the 3-band EQ on the channels, and an also important factor is direct playing all the protected iTunes content downloaded - but without any manipulation. iDj2's price will be 600 USD - here is the official page, enjoy.

Moogfest 2007 in New York

If you were in New York in 22nd, September, find B. B. King's Blues Club where the annual Moogfest will be held. Performing acts are Thomas Dolby, Don Preston from Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention, Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater and many more. Here is the detailed info page. In case you cannot attend you can still order last year's performance with Jan Hammer, Keith Emerson and others for 18 USD at the official Moog web site.

Prophet 08: the first official photo

No more rumours: Dave Smith has posted the first photo of his planned Prophet 08 synthesizer on his website. Incredible.

New keys at Novation

Novation has announced a new family of master keyboard controllers, the Remote SL Compact series. Existing still in 25 and 49 keys, the new models' highlight is the company's leading technology widely known as Automap. The keyboards has a really big text screen supporting that, plus have a new function called PAC (pointer-assigned control) which easily assigns a software controller on the screen with a knob. All two models have After Touch, and has a great bundle software, Ableton Live Lite 6. Price still not known, but here is the official news page.

Waves strikes back

In a recent article of Pro Sound News Europe we have learnt about a secret action of Waves against software piracy. Earlier this year, the company rent several private investigators who act as a potential studio client and checked several leading studio in the US and UK. During the demonstration they have secretly filmed as the studio guys showed them their Waves plug-in potential - these video recordings can prove the crime legally as Waves hopes. After the action they have sent out several letters to the studio leaders and let them know about the intent to prosecute, or, alternatively, to pay Waves a reasonable sum. There did not started not a single case until now and we are very curious about the next steps both sides.

Prophet reloaded

Dave Smith brings life into the hardware synth platform again: Prophet 5's 30th anniversary inspired him to continue this product line with Prophet 8, an all-analog but state-of-the-art piece electronic equipment. One of his employee, David Bryce has announced it via this Vintage Synth forum topic, and later a teaser YouTube-video has arrived also. They develop the instrument in complete secret, it has eight voice with built-in sequencer and arpeggiator, has a reasonable amount of patch memory, and costs only 2000 USD (street price).

Small but great-sounding piano plugin

Musicrow has assembled a tiny piano plugin for Windows/VST at a very low cost, and a very low hardware demand. It works with samples - 34 megabytes only -, but their own technology called SCS makes it a turbo-sounding piano beast which rivals the high-end piano products found elsewhere on the market. It is called PianoBoy, and its demos sound really nice, try them, and the software is ultra-fast really, again. It has a polyphony of 22, and costs 55 euro, here.

Brazilian carneval from Zero-G

Zero-G will not enter the event organizing market definitely - instead of that they published Carnival Drums, a comprehensive sample library of latin drums, played by ten professional Brazilian musicians who play at Rio regularly. More than 2000 individual samples lay in the package (formats: Kontakt, EXS24, Halion and NN-XT), and around 1400 grooves in Rex2, Acid Wav and Apple AIFF. It costs 120 euro, here.

Futuristic controller from Yamaha

Things like this were mentioned as instruments of the XXI. century a couple of years ago - and really! Yamaha considers their newest baby, Tenori-On as a game thus they distribute it only within the UK but nobody knows what can be the future of this device. What we can see is we can get - a 16 by 16 push button matrix with LED inside, but the actual spec will be revealed only in 4th September at the launch parties and on its website which is still half-empty nowadays.

Beat Bandit: Hans Scheffler Edition (New!)

There's a good chance you've been using sounds designed by Hans Scheffler for years and never knew it. His audio and musical expertise have been put to use in products by Access, Apple, Emagic, G-Media, Roland, ReFX and Spectrasonics. Now, Hans brings his skills to the Nine Volt
Audio release Beat Bandit: a modular REX-based loop library of electronic drums and rhythms.

Scheffler's unique style and global rhythms makes the Beat Bandit grooves appropriate for a wide range of musical genres. And with every element of each full-mix loop broken into individual loops, users can mix and match parts to create their own customized beats.
Stylus RMX users will be pleased to find Beat Bandit organized in a familiar and easy-to-navigate selection of 60 "Beat Suites" and 10 "Element" style folders for quick access to a large selection of individual kick, snare, hi-hat and percussion loops. The addition of 100 Kit and Multi presets makes this collection a must have for any Stylus RMX user. And as with all of Nine Volt Audio's current releases, Beat Bandit is part of the BPM Flex Series, which means tempos are unrestrained and can be used at virtually any BPM without artificial stretching or unwanted audio artifacts! No matter if you use Stylus RMX, Reason or any other REX2 player, Beat Bandit's cool grooves and immense flexibility make it an irresistible go-to source for any kind of track. Hans Scheffler has contributed to the following list of selected hardware & software works:

Access: Virus B, Virus C, Virus TI
Emagic: Sculpture, ES2, UltraBeat
G-Media: MiniMonstah
Roland: JP-8000, XV-Series, Fantom Series, MC-Series, SRX Series, V-Synth XT/GT
ReFX: Nexus Expansion
Spectrasonics: Stylus RMX

Click here to watch the product video.

Mackie Tracktion 3 digital audio workstation (DAW)

Although it may sport a distinctly unsexy and disarmingly simple interface, Mackie Tracktion 3 Ultimate Bundle is an elegant, powerful and comprehensive production suite for creating fresh beat-based recordings. Proudly remaining the most streamlined — yet increasingly feature-rich — digital audio workstation (DAW) software on the market, Tracktion 3 introduces a full set of tools for loop-based composition. Augmented with samplers, drum machines, a high-quality set of plug-in effects, a couple of monstrous synths, and extensive sample and loop collections, the Tracktion 3 Ultimate Bundle will appeal to DJs, composers and producers who have grown restless with the limitations of Reason, Live and Acid. With unlimited track count and plug-in instantiations, the ability to connect as many audio interfaces (thereby setting no I/O limitations) as your system can handle and the ascetically streamlined interface, Tracktion 3 will get way more out of your dual-processor Mac or PC than most other full-featured apps. Still, Tracktion 3 happily works at a maximum of 192 kHz sampling rates and actually defaults to 32-bit files for its freezing function, which most apps couldn't do even if they wanted to. Under the hood, Tracktion 3's high-definition, 64-bit mix engine sounds amazing, easily silencing critics of mixing “in the box.” Mackie cites a minimum system requirement of a 1 GHz Mac G4 or G5, Pentium or Athlon processor with a half-gig of RAM, and it was ripping on a 1.6 GHz single-processor Pentium 4 laptop using a Digidesign MBox, M-Audio MobilePre and the built-in laptop I/O for a 6-in, 6-out configuration. The two DVDs — about 10 GB worth — of sample libraries, plug-ins and virtual synths/samplers/drum machines take a while to install, but once you're finished you have a ridiculous amount of stuff to play with.

USB MIDI KEYBOARD WITH MPC PADS

Combining real MPC pads with a USB keyboard controller for the first time, Akai's new MPK49 ($TBA; www.akaipro.com) offers a complete complement of programming possibilities. The 49-key semiweighted keyboard with Aftertouch is paired with 12 MPC pads that feature Akai's Note Repeat function, Swing parameters, Full Level and 12 Level Velocity settings. The eight endless rotary knobs, eight sliders and eight buttons/switches each have three banks for a total of 24 assignments of each type (that's 72 controllers, for those counting). Pitch/Mod Wheels, MMC/MIDI transport controls, a Tap Tempo button and Time Division controls for the Note Repeat and arpeggiator functions and 32 Preset Assignment Banks round out this powerful controller. With USB computer connectivity and assignable inputs for expression pedals and footswitches, the MPK49 is definitely a choice selection for any music programmer.

ZERO LIVE CONTROL MIXER

ZERO LIVE CONTROL MIXER is an all-in-one �core station� designed for live performance artists, remix producers, and serious computer musicians providing a digital mixer, audio I/O, MIDI controller, and effect processor all in a single unit. Each channel can be switched between sources such as a turntable, CD player, microphone, computer, instrument, MIDI controller, or MIDI controller + audio to implement a sophisticated live mixing setup with the simplicity of a FireWire connection. This gives you an incredibly powerful and flexible tool designed specifically for live performance and remix production. Two models are available: ZERO4 is a four-channel version designed for the needs of the modern DJ, and ZERO8 is an eight-channel version covering the needs of advanced laptop musicians, studio remixers and DJs requiring more channels. More info: www.korg.com

ModernBeats Releases Music Contracts Volume 3 for Modern Musicians

ModernBeats.com has just released its third volume of professionally drafted music contracts, specifically designed for today's modern musicians. All of Volume 3's music contracts were drafted and authenticated by a registered Los Angeles based Entertainment Law Firm in effort to provide today's musicians with the necessary contractual forms needed to protect music career endeavors and survive in today's Music Industry. Music Contracts Vol. 3 includes a total of 11 drafted contracts covering Music Publishing, Co-Publishing, Copyright Assignment, Radio Release, Artist/Publicist, Record Recording, Live Show Booking, Sponsorship agreements, and more that occur between Producers, Artists, and Record Companies alike. Throughout each music contract, all royalty, publishing, and copyright provisions are addressed where applicable. ModernBeats Music Contracts Vol.3 features "fill-in-the-blank" style, customizable contracts. Each Music Contract Volume 1-3 is available in PDF format and offered on CD-ROM or as a Download. Prices start at just $49.95. For more information, visit their web site at www.modernbeats.com.

A new DJ sampler from Roland

Roland's biggest news at NAMM is this DJ sampler called SP-555. It samples everything: analog line and mic signals, plus the digital USB audio stream also. It imports of course the most important file formats: .wav and .aif. It has the superb infrared controller called D Beam, and a huge selection of DSP effects. It is expandable with standard CompactFlash cards up to 2 gigs of sampling memory - and you can synchronize your samples to any video performance with Roland's proprietary V-LINK technology. And a real surprise: the gadget functions as a computer audio interface also, via its USB socket (Sonar LE software package included). A/D and D/A conversion is performed in 24 bits. Check the full info page.

A special MiKo from OpenLabs

It will be a bit easier to follow Timbaland, the great producer from 15th August: on that day OpenLabs will ship the Timbaland Special Edition of their small Windows-synth called MiKo. The instrument was configured by the famous producer - it will have 4 gigs of RAM, and a Core2 Duo processor. Its main instrument is Proteus X2, with a huge selection of more than 7,000 preset samples (associated with Timbaland mostly). OpenLabs also provide their own huge library so you won't be short of sounds. Check all the details here.

Alesis to strengthen their drum line-up

Summer NAMM is up and running with very few real news. One of them is came from the drum factory of Alesis - on the picture you can see the Performance Pad, a decent drum pad controller with built-in high quality sound generator. It has 233 sounds, 100 drum kits and 24-bit output. It has two extra trigger inputs for bass drum and hi-hat pedals, has an external audio input (which is mixed to the output only), and the standard MIDI output of course. Check the product's page.

Rise the size and you will get DM5 Pro Kit, the new pro pad controller kit from Alesis. It is built around the DM5 sound generator and trigger converter, and has a bass drum, a snare, a hi-hat, three tomtoms, plus two cymbals - all electronic of course. Check here if you want to know more.

Sonivox has cheap instruments also

We already had news about Sonivox's high-end sample packages like Broadway Big Band but now the company targets another market segment with the brand new DVI (Downloadable Virtual Instruments) series. These are low priced (10-50 USD) sample sets with Tascam's sample player engine and they have a lot of them: the list is very long, check it here (Fender bass, Stratocaster, FM piano, Wurlitzer piano, bagpipes, Mellotron - just to name a few). The platform is PC and VST/RTAS, Maci is coming soon.

Modeling trumpet for a few bucks only

On the picture you can see Miles'tone, Soundfonts.it's latest news. Yes, it is a virtual modeling trumpet solution with no samples inside at all and performs all the articulation tricks a real trumpet can. The final price will be 39 euro but the introductory summertime price is 29 euro only at the product's page. Check the demos before buy.

Virtual amp modeling for free

A new company called StudioDevil presents a fine software effect called StudioDevil BVC (stadns for British Valve Custom) for free. It is a virtual vacuum-tube guitar amp modeling software for the PC/VST platform - counts 64 bit info inside with a maximum of 192 kHz sampling frequency (good enough for the messy overdrive sound). The developers promote their final product called VirtualAmp in this way - it will be available in the near future. Here.

Summertime at IK Multimedia

IK Multimedia also has a summer-refresher movement: if you buy AmpliTube 2 or Ampeg SVX or Classik Studio Reverb or T-RackS you can choose any of the four effect software for free. The offer is valid until 31th August, here.

Be well worth seeing

Click the link. The Keyboard magazine TV menu.
http://www.keyboardmag.tv

Digidesign Pro Tools REEL TAPE Plugins, mixing digital recordings or live sound

Get the warm, rich sound of analog tape recordings and effects with your own digital recordings or mixing live sound. Digidesign's new Reel Tape Suite offers a collection of three powerful plug-ins Reel Tape Saturation, Reel Tape Delay, and Reel Tape Flanger that are each uniquely designed to emulate the color characteristics as well as tape compression and saturation effects of analog tape recording. (Reel Tape Saturation is also available as a standalone plug-in.)
Reel Tape Saturation models classic analog tape formulations and machines to give your music the richness of old-school recordings. Reel Tape Delay and Reel Tape Flanger duplicate electro-mechanical delay and flanging effects without cluttering your control room with large tape machines (or having to keep rewinding your echo tape), and give you real-time control over every nuance of these classic techniques.
All Reel Tape plug-ins work with Pro Tools|HD Accel, Pro Tools LE, Pro Tools M-Powered, Avid Xpress, Avid Xpress DV, Avid DNA, and VENUE systems, and will quickly become indispensable elements in your audio arsenal, whether you're mixing digital recordings or live sound.