Image Line just announced a series of minor updates to their core line of virtual synthesizers. To expand your sound palet Image Line offer a complete range of synths and effects like Sytrus, Morphine, Toxic Biohazard, Edison, Poizone, DirectWave, DrumSynth Live, SimSynth Live, DX-10, WASP

Morphine 1.4.2 released

- fixed crashes/freezes when closing plugin in OSX
- fixed threading in Windows version
- fixed compatibility with the Toxic Biohazard installer in OSX
- better tablet pc / stylus support
- fixed polyphony issues in FL version
- several small changes

PoiZone 2.2.5 released

- fixed threading issues
- made it more stable
- better tablet pc / stylus support
- fixed polyphony issues in FL version
- fixed crash when changing presets on PPC macs
- several small changes and fixes

Toxic Biohazard 1.0.2 released

- fixed crashes when closing plugins in OSX
- threading-related fixes
- fixes on PPC macs
- fixed some crashes related to downloader in OSX
- several small changes and fixes

Check it out here >>

"The entire industry can turn around in one night.  And that affects us whether we like or not, whether we're willing to adapt or not, and whether we even know it or not.  That's what happened to electro.  All the kids who were tired of their indie-rock not being indie enough for them were drinking and they heard some Justice or some MGMT and they shit their pants.  And it's good stuff, I mean, it speaks for itself the first time around, and its got the hook, you know?  Suddenly we're making music that our friends actually want to listen to."

Like I said, their brains were scattered, and my quote might not be 100% accurate, but I think they understand something about the kids today.  I'm not talking about the kids that have been at my shows.  I play for a bunch of football watching fraternity boys and their girlfriends, and they would much rather listen to some Dave Matthews or Coldplay than listen to me pick at guitars.  The kids these girls were talking about don't have much of a showing at the bar scene, because bars around here don't cater to them at all.  

Bars in the southern states are just like everything else in the southern states; scared to death of change.  A bar down here would rather have five redneck patrons and make no money than bring in a nu-rave band and make a killing.  

That's the South.  I wish these two girls were running for president, because they know how to roll with change.  The other girl, short and blonde, called herself Huck.

"We were writing Irish drinking songs and angry-girl stuff, I mean, we still do write that stuff, but we write it for the right people.  I think that's one of the main problems.  Bands don't know their audience at all.  If you know your audience, you can write a song for them and they will love you forever."

"And maybe you'll get rich," Elise said.  "Nobody cares about selling out, we're in the biggest sell-out country in the world.  America is everybody's whore, so nobody notices now when an artist says, 'Hey, I should be making money.'  And it's cool, because we're almost past the need for upper management.  DIgital music is, like, the New Testament of Music... If I call sell my songs on the Internet, why should I bother sucking off the corporate tit?"

I must admit, I walked away from the conversation confused, but the more I think about it, the more I'm starting to understand.  I think we're locked up by the values of the generation before us.  We're still wanting someone to tell us that it's okay to be different, but should we even care if it's okay?  What if it's not?  I'm different, and maybe its wrong, but there's not a damn thing I can do about it.

I learned a lot.  I learned that musicians today have to be willing to leave their comfort zones.  I learned that some people will look past my physical appearance and just talk to me.  I learned that I'm attracted to girls who play synthesizers.  

Huck and Elise played later at a house party three blocks away from campus, but I decided not to go.  I'm still a little awkward about going out.  I can get onstage in front of people, fine, but I don't feel like I belong at parties.  Parties are for friends who want to get crazy together.  I would feel like a birthday clown.

New wave is often defined by its use of technology--namely the synthesizer, but also drum machines, samplers, etc--in a way that rock music has not been. To a lot of rock purists, new wave's reliance on these technologies has made it seem somehow less 'authentic' than traditional drum-bass-guitar setups. In contrast with punk's sound (which has been described as something like a pure 'line of noise'), all that noodling on synths can come across as pretentious, over-complicated, and, dare I say it...inauthentic. It's the same line of thought that calls overt displays of virtuosity as inauthentic. When punk was king, virtuosity was out. Three chords and a dream, man, anything else is just a waste of time!

What's ironic, though, is that the very synths and machines that got (and still get) new wave accused of in-authenticity were the same machines that allowed the most un-virtuosic people to become musicians. While I don't have the exact quote on-hand, Andy Fletcher of Depeche Mode has pointed out that they played synthesizers because they were easier to learn than guitars--and considering that most of Fletch's act consists of two-fingered playing and enthusiastic clapping, I think it's safe to say that the man is no virtuoso. Synthesizers were cheap, they were easy to learn and you could build entire songs out of them with just a few interesting sounds. Now, before I get to broad in my brush strokes here I will point out that this is in no way indicative of every new wave artist; Alan Wilder is a classically trained musician, and Annie Lennox went to the Royal Academy of Music, to name just two examples.  Still, one of the exciting things about new wave, and about synthesizers becoming affordable for the first time, is that amateur musicians who might not be able to afford lessons, guitars or any of the standard trappings of pop music had the chance to make music and experiment with new sounds, pushing pop music into unexpected and exciting new territory. In my view, new wave is one of the best examples of the democratization of music through technology. Music for anyone who has a mind to make it. What could be more authentic than that?

Described as the ultimate sample manipulation synthesizer, Alchemy features additive, spectral and granular synthesis and resynthesis, sampling, and a very capable virtual analog engine with unison and PWM. You can morph or crossfade between sources. You can import your own samples from SFZ, WAV or AIFF files. A wide range of analog modelled filters are included, in addition to a flexible rack of effects which includes all those from CamelPhat and CamelSpace as well as many new effects such as a high quality reverb. The innovative modulation system is extremely flexible, yet easy to use. Alchemy also features a powerful arpeggiator with the ability to import the groove from any MIDI file for immediate synchronization to a beat.

Alchemy ships with over 2GB of samples and analysed content from in-house designers Tim Conrardy and Biomechanoid, as well as designers such as Ian Boddy, Robert Rich, Scott Solida and Nucleus SoundLab. A library of 300 excellent presets from many of the world's top sound designers is included, arranged into categories for rapid access to the sound you require. A variety of expansion sound banks are in development.

Alchemy will be released this Autumn.

About

Alchemy is the ultimate sample manipulation synthesizer. It's a synth powerhouse and yet is very easy to use thanks to its performance controls and remix pads. Just tweak the library of excellent presets from many of the world's top sound designers or dive in and analyse your own samples - it's up to you!

Alchemy features additive, spectral and granular synthesis and resynthesis, sampling, and a very capable virtual analog engine with unison and PWM. You can morph or crossfade between sources. You can import your own samples from SFZ, WAV or AIFF files. A wide range of analog modelled filters are included, in addition to a flexible rack of effects which includes all those from CamelPhat and CamelSpace as well as many new effects such as a high quality reverb. The innovative modulation system is extremely flexible, yet easy to use. Alchemy also features a powerful arpeggiator with the ability to import the groove from any MIDI file for immediate synchronization to a beat.

Alessandro Cortini has been the keyboard player for Nine Inch Nails since 2005. He also has his own band called Modwheelmood. I stumled across some interesting videos on Electronic Musician where the italian born musician talks about his synths, most notably the modular Buchla 200e, The Jomox SunSyn and his custom built EAR modular with modules from Plan B and Livewire. Recomended for all gear pornographers out there. Also, check out a Wired article about NINs new show with lasers, lemurs and leds. I think the tour is USA only so we sadly wont get to see it here in Europe..

• See the synthesizer videos here
• Read an interview from the same magazine
• An article about NINs new spectacular live show in Wired

Korg unveils the M50, a new workstation declined in 3 models : the M50-61, M50-73 and M50-88 with 61, 73 and 88 key respectively.

Features :

- Same "EDS" (Enhanced Definition Synthesis) tone generator found on the M3
- 256 MB of PCM data, provides 608 programs and 384 combinations featuring Korg's voicing expertise.
- The 61-key M50-61 and 73-key M50-73 use a new semi-weighted Natural Touch keyboard, while the 88 key M50-88 features the top-of-the-line Real Weighted Hammer Action 3 (RH3) graded action keyboard,
- The Drum Track gives you 671 patterns to stimulate and support your realtime performance and song production.
- The Polyphonic Arpeggiator delivers from simple phrases up to complex rhythmic gestures, and lets you use two patterns simultaneously in Combination mode or Sequencer mode to create complete ensemble backing.
- The highly intuitive sequencer provides 16 MIDI + 1 master tracks with all the tools needed to capture and easily shape your musical ideas into polished productions.
- The large TouchView graphical user interface makes it easy to select sounds, adjust parameters and create your music easily.
- An SD card slot provides easy and affordable management of your sounds and songs.
- Included M50 Editor and M50 Plug-In Editor software lets you edit the sounds using your computer, and allows you to use the M50 as a plug-in instrument in your favorite DAW software (VST, Audio Units, and RTAS are supported).
- The M50-61 features a stylishly retro light-weight and compact design, and the M50-88 is the lightest weight 88-key keyboard Korg has ever made.

Read more here >>

MAGICAL SOUND MACHINES is an exhibition against oblivion. By means of the objects displayed the IMA Institute of Media Archaeology traces an exemplary history of our media age, with special attention being paid to technical as well as musical and artistic developments. The exhibited objects enchant with their (hi)stories, design and the visions connected to them and their inventors and users.

We are proud to introduce the next member of the Waldorf family, our brand new Blofeld keyboard!

Available at Dolphin for £599

Features:

• 60 Megabyte sample memory 
• Class compliant USB MIDI for PC,Mac and Linux 
• 16 part multimode 
• maximum 25 voices polyphony 
• highest quality standard keybed with 49 weighted keys and aftertouch 
• Internal power supply 
• Pitchbend and modulation wheel 
• Virtual analog, wavetable, and sample based oscillators 
• MIDI in/out 
• Sturdy metal case 
• Stainless steel rotary encoders 
• Backlit 128x64 pixel LCD 
• Over 1000 sounds 
• 3 oscillators, 2 filters per voice 
• Selectable drive curves 
• Frequency modulation for oscillators and filters 
• Three LFO, four envelopes per voice 
• Extensive modulation capabilities 
• Complex arpeggiator 
• Powerful effects section 
• weight: apprx 8,-- kgs 
• weight in carton: apprx 9,5 kgs

"Lights and Music" from the In Ghost Colours album

]]> http://spymagnet.wordpress.com/?p=98 Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:19:25 +0000 spymagnet http://spymagnet.no.wordpress.com/2008/08/25/album-of-the-day-velocifero-by-ladytron/ Ladytron video - "Runaway", off the Velocifero Album

• http://www.double.co.nz/nintendo_ds/ : a list of detailed Tutorials for current and previous versions of DevKitPro, including a walkthrough demo program designed after Space Invaders.
• http://patater.com/manual : Introduction to DS programming
• http://www.dspassme.com/programmers_guide/tutorial/ : NDS Programmers Guide
• http://www.dev-scene.com/NDS/Tutorials_Day_1 : NDS Dev tutorial Day 1
• http://www.dev-scene.com/NDS/Tutorials_Day_2 : NDS Dev tutorial Day 2
• http://www.dev-scene.com/NDS/Tutorials_Day_3 : NDS Dev tutorial Day 3

Compiler information, DS Emulators (for build tests), library links and more:

• http://www.drunkencoders.com/index.php?system_id=1&page=Tools#Compilers
• Visual Studio Integration Wizard. A webapp by the guys at Drunkencoders to help assist you with your project files in MSVS++

Libraries:

• http://www.aaronrogers.com/nintendods/PA_Lib/ : PA_Lib, a simplified library for homebrew
• http://sourceforge.net/projects/devkitpro : DevKitPro aka libnds, replaced ndslib as a more complete and controlled library. Includes compiler and is considered the current defacto standard for DS development.
• http://sourceforge.net/projects/ndslib : ndslib, a more advanced and robust library
• http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=81817 - Advanced Sound Library 1.0 (english)
  http://www.playeradvance.org/forum/showthread.php?p=162485 - More ASL info

Forums:

• http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=27 : DCEmu DS Homebrew Forum
• http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showforum=37 : GBATemp's DS Homebrew and hacking forums
• http://forums.qj.net/forumdisplay.php?f=50 : NDS Developers Forum @ QJ

Now that the Korg DS-10 is a certified best seller - 3 weeks running @ #1 or #2 since its release, despite being sold in Japan strictly through Amazon.jp! Will we see future “serious” music applications for the Nintendo DS? What about a Tenori-DS? A portable version of the Tenori-On? Will Toshio Iwai return to Nintendo for an updated version of his beloved Electroplankton, giving us such a product? Not even a rumor at this point, but definitely something that could have some legs if either camp were to mention even a wiff of a possibility.  A homebrew release of a Monome-style midi controller is already out there on the interwebs so its already a desired concept. Not to mention theres just a logical and technological reasoning behind such a natural pairing. So where could Toshio Iwai turn his sights next? Hopefully, this is it.

Below is the video for the song: The Bomb

My DS-10 Has Arrived. Not going to bother describing the feature set entirely, as I'm busy using the DS-10 right now and theres tons of information and videos already out there, but I thought I'd drop a few tidbits of info that I found pleasing:

The pattern management and solo/mute features are very similar to the way Electribes work. You can 'Lock' the selection of a new pattern to wait for the first pattern to finish playing. This makes coming out of mutes and solo performances easier to come out of because it frees up your hands.

Each stored session is a collection of a project's patterns (PTN) and all the current settings of the 2 synthesizers, 4 drum parts, patching. etc. The FX are also similar to the Electribes.. each of the 4 drum parts can all have individual effects [chorus, delay or flanger] and then there's a global fx chain that can be mixed in various ways [syn1, syn2, syn1+syn2, all (including drums), off]. All of the FX can be sync'd to the BPM or runfreely. All basic synth parameters, vol/pan, cutoff/resonance, note/gate can be recorded in realtime. Further modulation, to a decent degree as on the MS-10 is available on the patchbay page.

There's also a Song mode where you can string a ton of patterns together. You have several save slots, but not only can u save a project but you can also store presets for all the drum parts and synth parts seperately to be used in any project.

The Drum parts are actually all full blown synth parts, with the lack of a release on the envelope and the ability to tweak the parameters in realtime (though their patch bays are also there like syn1/2 so you can automate w/ lfos still). All the patching options are also still there. The sequencer for the drum parts by default is the matrix sequencer like you see in all the pictures and videos, but you can alternately use a piano roll sequencer. This really opens things up as you could imagine.

well... here's a demo video:

it looks like a load of fun, but i'm still not sure if it's practical at all. i've got a bunch of soft-synths on my computer, and it seems to me that the only way to get the most out of them is through a midi controller with a ton of nobs or sliders. so... although it sounds really good, and it looks pretty, i'd still recommend plenty of other programs over this baby.

scott

   Lisa Gerrard has been a true love since the second Dead an Dance album, Spleen & Ideal.  Her singing remains singular and transcendent, despite so many imitators. I've written reams of praises to her, but in recent years, Gerrard has become more turgid as well. As early as The Mirror Pool and as recently as The Silver Tree  there are many transcendent moments, but I often feel like I'm sitting in church dusty and musty litanies shrouded in suffocating portent.   Lisa has abandoned the dramatic arc that marks her best work, often devolving into mood and mysticism that is often, but not always salvaged by her supralingua dialects and siren angel of a voice. 

 When I heard these two musicians were getting together on a double CD called Farscape, I hoped they'd bring out the best in each other.  The opening 22 minute opus, "Liquid Coincidence (1)" drops you into the space cathedral of their sound with Klaus laying down those big sweeping synth chords while Lisa channels Abbess Hildegard von Bingen.   It's an auspicious start, but the gambit gets tiring at about 30 minutes into the CD,  when I realized that Klaus and Lisa were reinforcing each other's worst tendencies, heading down the rabbit hole of unfocussed abstraction that has sucked the life out of them both in recent years. As it wears on,  Farscape begins sounding less like inspired collaboration and more like a John Cagian Indeterminacy experiment, with both musicians playing in separate rooms,  rather than a holy communion of sound.   According to Klaus's liner notes, he created the basic tracks and Lisa came in and sang for several days.  Her performances were all reputedly one-take improvisations which isn't necessarily bad, except they sound like it.  His synth tracks are sometimes gorgeous, occasionally rhythmic, always sweeping, yet never quite ascending to a compositional level, more like soundscapes that ebb and flow. Lisa sings across them, sending out chants and incantations, and though I can hear she's dialed into the moment, there's no sense of construction or flow, only a string of isolated, unmediated, unedited fragments.  Klaus lays down the big synth chords to nowhere while Lisa deploys her Gothic muse.      

I could make a case for this being an enveloping soundscape that takes you deep into an immersive world of sound where Klaus Schulze navigates a roadmap of the inner mind while Lisa Gerrard negotiates the darkest reaches of the soul, each staring into the abyss and jumping in head first. But the portentousness of it all is as lugubrious as Jabba the Hutt on Quaaludes, just prettier. 

I feel like I've just turned my back on the church, but the fact is, I remain a loyal fan, because I can still hear the elements of genius and soul that attracted me to both artists, I'll be trying to edit out some choice chunks to play on Echoes, because they are there.  Meanwhile, Klaus's early catalog has been reissued in beautiful packaging, although the decision to not remaster the recordings was Ill-advised. 

You can hear a profile of Lisa Gerrard here. 

John Diliberto (((echoes)))