Breathtaking piano realism meets limitless creativity
September 28, 2023 – IK Multimedia releases Pianoverse, combining the world’s finest concert-grade pianos with inspiring, cinematic effects to create an incredibly versatile virtual piano instrument that excels wherever a world-class piano sound is needed, from classical concerts to blockbuster movie soundtracks to live jazz performances.
Pianoverse lets users explore a breathtaking sonic range, from the most true-to-life acoustic piano experience to the wildest atmospheric and interactive creative textures, all in a single plug-in. And all with incredible ease of use and an inspiring workflow.
Capturing Treasured Pianos
IK’s team spent years sourcing treasured pianos from the most prestigious manufacturers. Each instrument is hand-tuned and prepared by a master tuner and then sampled using multiple microphone setups and IK’s custom-built robotic system.
Using a mix of hardware technology, software and the right dose of craftsmanship in-between, IK designed a sampling robot comprised of an extremely precise and silent linear motor with an elastic actuator on top made to perform exactly like a human finger.
All is connected to a control room computer where proprietary recording software handles the whole process achieving the degree of velocity measurement, sampling precision and repeatability necessary to capture each piano’s true sonic DNA.
The result is unprecedented realism across the entire dynamics of each Pianoverse piano without flattening it or simplifying it too much, which regularly happens with traditional sampling.
A Powerful New Engine
The IK sound design team then used subtle techniques perfected over 2 decades of virtual instrument programming to bring these thousands of samples to life. Pianoverse’s groundbreaking new engine uses completely redesigned round robin, voice management and other techniques to deliver a seamlessly authentic experience.
Beyond Accuracy and Sound
Pianoverse also shines with a unique combination of performance controls for both stage and studio work. To customize each piano’s sound, Pianoverse offers adjustable lid position, harp resonance, pedal noise or even the noise of the piano mallets, all things that are usually only available in modeled instruments.
For live use, all three pedals offer continuous control, including half- and catch-pedaling and una corda, to deliver an unmatched performance experience. Whether for classical, jazz, pop, Latin or any other genre, Pianoverse always offers truly superior piano sound and feel.
Must-have Studio Processing
Pianoverse provides two sets of microphones per piano so the user can choose if they prefer a more modern and in-the-face sound or a more classical sound. On top of that, for traditional sound-shaping and mixing, the Pianoverse engine also offers a comprehensive suite of must-have effects tools.
There’s selectable EQ and compression, each with multiple modes, for both instrument and room stereo microphone pairs. A dedicated master channel offers EQ and a VCA-style limiter for final mastering polish, while a Stereo Width control quickly sets the width of the image – and even reverses it from the player’s to the audience’s perspective.
Generative Spaces to Explore
Where most piano instruments end, Pianoverse is only getting started. Using a new generative reverberation engine, Pianoverse transports any of its concert-grade pianos to 30 sonic destinations. These go from traditional concert halls and studio spaces to less traditional ones like a warehouse or vault, and otherworldly cinematic environments like an iceberg, desert or even Mars.
Each space uses different sound generative techniques to create incredibly evocative soundscapes, inspiring creativity at each step. Plus each space includes flexible controls to further shape and create never-heard-before cinematic sounds and textures. These immersive, inspiring sound design options deliver the most complete ambient sound-sculpting piano instrument ever.
Unique Creative Effects
In addition to custom-created Spaces, Pianoverse also offers 12 new creative effects to design sounds. These effects range from new cinematic spatial effects to must-have studio effects and can be inserted on 3 simultaneous slots: the first slot being a parallel send effect, while slots 2 and 3 are insert effects.
Then, unique to Pianoverse, users will find 4 modulation sources – 2 envelopes and 2 LFOs – that may be assigned to various parameters in these 3 effects slots to further animate and move the sound and create extreme effects when desired. Together these effects offer an arsenal of sound-sculpting tools that cannot be found in any other piano instrument.
A Series of 8 Pianos
Pianoverse offers the widest sonic palette available in a single virtual instrument with an initial series of 8 remarkable instruments slated for release. The first pianos available now are based on a Yamaha CFIII Concert Grand, a Yamaha U5 Professional Upright, a Bösendorfer 280 Vienna Concert and a Steinway & Sons New York D-274. With more coming soon on a recurring release schedule, featuring models based on a Bösendorfer 200, a Steinway & Sons Hamburg D-274, a Fazioli F278 and a Koch & Korselt Upright, users can discover new inspiration as they need it.
Options, Pricing and Availability
Pianoverse is available now as individual pianos from the IK Multimedia online store and from IK authorized dealers worldwide at a special introductory price of $/€99.99* (instead of $/€129.99) per piano. All-access monthly and yearly plans are also available starting at $/€14.99/month or $/€149.99/year giving access to current and newly released pianos without limitation.
*Pricing excludes taxes
For more information about Pianoverse or to see it in action, please visit:
www.ikmultimedia.com/pianoverse
IK Multimedia. Sound Better.
About IK Multimedia: IK Multimedia is a leading innovator in guitar, instrument and recording technologies that helps millions of users to sound better in the studio, on the go or on the stage. Any names, trademarks, or tradenames should not be construed as an endorsement, association, or affiliation with IK Multimedia.
New iPad app and added capability to Pro Tools desktop software enables musicians to quickly capture new ideas and experiment with arrangements anywhere
BURLINGTON, Mass., Sept. 21, 2023 — Avid® (Nasdaq: AVID) today announced Pro Tools Sketch™, a new non-linear, clip-based creation tool in Pro Tools software that is also available as a free iPad app. Pro Tools Sketch enables musicians to quickly capture new ideas and freely experiment with concepts and songs, and find inspiration with a massive library of free loops, virtual instruments and effects. Years in the making, this new addition to the Pro Tools workflow adds a must-have creation process directly alongside the Edit and Mix windows that established modern linear audio recording.
With Pro Tools Sketch, Avid addresses the growing needs of modern creators, no matter their preferred music creation style. While the Pro Tools Sketch iPad app is available for free to anyone via the Apple App Store, the Pro Tools 2023.9 update is now available to all Pro Tools customers on an active subscription or perpetual license with a current Software Updates + Support Plan, as well as all users of the free Pro Tools Intro application.
Pro Tools Sketch
Pro Tools Sketch is a significant expansion of the Pro Tools music creation workflow, adding a non-linear creation environment to the proven Pro Tools toolset used on the majority of top music releases, movies and TV shows. Users can now start with clip-based sketches in which loops, MIDI and recordings can be freely organized and played, and then exported to be shared with friends. Sketches can also be moved to the Pro Tools timeline for further production using its world-class editing and mixing tools. And since sketches can be moved between computer and iPad at will, users can capture and play with ideas anywhere inspiration strikes.
Pro Tools Sketch features 16 tracks and virtually unlimited scenes and includes over 1 GB of loops and a variety of onboard effects to create for any kind of music genre. Users can quickly audition audio and MIDI loops in the browser and drag them into the launcher where they can be played, moved, and tweaked. Audio and MIDI can be recorded and edited alongside loops and then quickly organized into linear song arrangements. Whether users are experienced or new to Pro Tools, Sketch gives them new ways to experiment and make something they truly love.
“Every music creator wants to capture inspiration when it arises and act on it precisely at that magical moment—and it should be simple and easy. We made Sketch to go far with ideation, letting any user start experimenting with their notions right away and then simply hop into Pro Tools when they’re ready to take them further forward,” said David Toomey, Senior Vice President & General Manager of Audio & Music Solutions, Avid. “We’re incredibly excited for beginners and pros alike to work out non-linear ideas with total convenience, then mix and edit in Pro Tools. Creators never stop generating new ideas and Sketch lets their output keep pace with their individual creative sparks. Not a single moment wasted, not a single idea lost.”
Other New Pro Tools 2023.9 Features
Pro Tools 2023.9 software update also introduces Export Selected Range, which enables Pro Tools Studio and Ultimate customers to export selected portions of the timeline as a new session. This feature is perfect for breaking up large post sessions, separating a live recording into a session per song, and saving important elements of the session as bite-size pieces. The release also delivers drag-and-drop plugin slot reordering to give users greater flexibility in experimenting with and changing processing order, and more.
Availability
The Pro Tools Sketch iPad app is now available free to download via the Apple App Store. The Pro Tools 2023.9 software release is now available to all Pro Tools customers on an active subscription or perpetual license with a current Software Updates + Support Plan, as well as all users of the free Pro Tools Intro application.
New Pro Tools subscriptions (Artist, Studio, and Ultimate) can be purchased on the Avid Webstore or through an authorized Avid reseller which can be located at avid.com/find-a-reseller. Pro Tools Intro can be downloaded for free at Avid.com/pro-tools-intro.
Avid has also announced that it is making available the Pro Tools perpetual license purchase option after receiving clear and consistent feedback from the user community. New Pro Tools perpetual licenses are exclusively sold by authorized Avid resellers.
For more information and to download Pro Tools Sketch at no charge, please visit Avid.com/pro-tools-sketch.
Avid Powers Greater Creators
People who create media for a living become greater creators with Avid’s award-winning technology solutions to make, manage, and monetize today’s most celebrated video and audio content—from iconic movies and binge-worthy TV series to network news and sports, to recorded music and the live stage. What began more than 30 years ago with our invention of nonlinear digital video editing has led to individual artists, creative teams, and organizations everywhere subscribing to our powerful tools and collaborating securely in the cloud. We continue to re-imagine the many ways editors, musicians, producers, journalists, and other content creators will bring their stories to life. Discover the possibilities at avid.com and join the conversation on social media with the multitude of brilliant creative people who choose Avid for a lifetime of success.
© 2023 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Avid, the Avid logo, Pro Tools, and Pro Tools Sketch are trademarks or registered trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc., or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Product features, specifications, system requirements, and availability are subject to change without notice.
Pre-Order: September 21st, 2023, 5pm BST
Release: September 28th, 2023, 5pm BST
As requested by the composer community, this will be the first section in the Abbey Road Orchestra range to be delivered in two tiers: Core and Professional.
Created using entirely new recording and development techniques from R&D sessions at Abbey Road, Abbey Road Orchestra: 1st Violins offers extensive functionality while retaining the beauty and brilliance of orchestral strings in the unique acoustic of Abbey Road Studio One.
This is a truly dynamic instrument – reacting in real-time, so that every time you play, your next movement is triggered. This library takes playability and responsiveness to new heights for composers.
CUTTING EDGE LEGATO TECHNOLOGY
Stepping up its legato technology in both the Core and Professional versions, Abbey Road Orchestra: 1st Violins features the most detailed and advanced legatos Spitfire Audio has ever made. With multiple layers of legato techniques reacting in real time to your playing speed and velocity.
The Core tier offers a comprehensive collection of articulations, with a very high level of sampling depth and one Simon Rhodes-curated signal option in order to keep the size and RAM requirements low.
The Professional tier goes above and beyond any library Spitfire Audio has ever created with eight legato articulations in the greatest sampling depth, 16 signal options (including two Simon Rhodes mixes), additional legato techniques for key switching, and alternative attacks for the ultimate in expression.
THE PEAK OF STRING SAMPLING
Working with the Abbey Road team, including GRAMMY® Award-winner Simon Rhodes, in a state-of-the-art studio and with the best string players in London – meticulously recorded to allow for smooth and expressive transitions between notes, emulating the natural way a violinist shifts from one note to another without breaks – gives Spitfire Audio the unmatched ability to deliver the highest quality possible.
The design, development and production underlines Spitfire Audio’s commitment to deliver an orchestral range with unrivalled expression, realism, and playability.
STUDIO ONE: ICON OF THE PAST, INNOVATOR FOR THE FUTURE
A host to celebrated classical recordings from Elgar and Prokofiev, as well as iconic film scores from Raiders of the Lost Ark, Return of the Jedi, The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, and the more recent releases of Avengers: Endgame, Black Panther and Tar, Studio One needs no introduction.
Home to one of the greatest in-house collections of vintage and modern microphones and a control room fitted with a 72-channel Neve 88 RS console with a unique and comprehensive surround monitor section, Studio One is the perfect setting for Spitfire Audio’s meticulously planned recording sessions. The company’s aim is to work with the best, to deliver you the world’s most detailed sampling orchestra, and Abbey Road – one of the most in-demand recording studios in the film scoring landscape – was the perfect space to make this happen.
“Spitfire Audio is undoubtedly the best team in the world to deliver something truly groundbreaking. The bar has been raised exceedingly high and this is only the beginning of the Abbey Road Orchestra series. It feels like we are all in for a remarkable journey.”
— Mirek Stiles Head of Audio Products, Abbey Road Studios
KEY FEATURES
Product page URL: https://www.spitfireaudio.com/abbey-road-orchestra-1st-violins (will be live when the product is on sale)
AVAILABILITY & PRICING
Pre-order: September 21st, 2023 at 5pm BST
Pre-order link: https://www.spitfireaudio.com/abbey-road-orchestra-1st-violins
Available: September 28th, 2023 at 5pm BST
Professional link: https://www.spitfireaudio.com/abbey-road-orchestra-1st-violins-professional
Core link: https://www.spitfireaudio.com/abbey-road-orchestra-1st-violins-core
Professional RRP: £349 / $449 / 399€ **
Pre-order: £279 / $359 / 319€ *
Core RRP: £199 / $249 / 229€ **
Pre-order: £159 / $199 / 179€ *
** There will be a promo crossgrade for all Abbey Road Orchestra and Orchestral Foundations product owners. Available from September 21st until October 12th, 2023
* 20% discount during pre-order period from September 21st to September 28th, 2023
About Abbey Road Studios (www.abbeyroad.com)
A global music icon and the world’s first purpose-built recording studio, Abbey Road Studios has been home to countless landmark recordings and pioneering advances in music technology for over 90 years. The studios’ phenomenal history encompasses celebrated work by artists from The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Fela Kuti, Kate Bush, Oasis and Radiohead to Sam Smith, Florence + The Machine, Lady Gaga, Frank Ocean, Amy Winehouse, Little Simz and Adele, as well as scores to films from Raiders of The Lost Ark, The Lord of The Rings Trilogy and many of the Harry Potter and Star Wars movies, to Gravity, The Shape of Water, 1917, Black Panther, Tar, Black Widow and Avengers: Endgame.
Since stereo was patented at Abbey Road in 1933, the studios have been home to numerous innovations in recording technology and continue to innovate today with Europe’s first music tech incubator, Abbey Road Red. Abbey Road Studios is part of Universal Music.
About Simon Rhodes (https://www.abbeyroad.com/engineer/simon-rhodes)
Following a strong musical upbringing and after graduating with an honours Degree in Physics and Music, Simon joined the EMI Abbey Road Studios in 1987. He is now Senior Engineer and is well known throughout the record and film industries.
Simon has a long standing association with various composers including the late James Horner whom he worked with for 18 years on over 40 projects including Avatar, the second highest grossing film of all time.
Simon has also had the pleasure of working with many of the world’s top film composers including John Williams, Thomas Newman, John Debney, James Newton Howard, Howard Shore, Alexandre Desplat, Alan Sylvestri, Trevor Jones, George Fenton, Roque Banos, Brian Tyler, AR Rahman & Elmer Bernstein.
In 2008, Simon was invited to record the famous Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games in China. Simon has 4 GRAMMY® Awards and is a Cinema Audio Society winner.
About Spitfire Audio (www.spitfireaudio.com)
Spitfire Audio is a British music technology company that specializes in sounds — sample libraries, virtual instruments, and other useful software devices. It collaborates with the best composers, artists, and engineers in the world to build musical tools that sound great and are exciting to use.
Spitfire Audio was founded by two award-winning composers. Born out of their shared dissatisfaction with string sample libraries, they pooled their resources and decided to record their own string samples at the legendary Air Studios in London. Initially, they invited a limited number of friends and associates to own copies of their samples, but whispers of this private sample club soon started to echo across the Atlantic Ocean throughout the composer community. Within a year, some of the most renowned composers in film and television signed up, so they decided to take their samples public.
To date, Spitfire Audio has recorded and released over 200 sample libraries, collaborating with some of the biggest names in media composition, including Hans Zimmer, Eric Whitacre, Ólafur Arnalds & the London Contemporary Orchestra. Spitfire Audio’s sounds are heard in everything, from major Hollywood film scores to recordings by Radiohead and U2. This initial side project is now a thriving international music technology enterprise, with a uniquely experienced and diverse workforce, all focused on a shared mission: to inspire a generation of composers. The composer team remains at the center of the business, drawing on their own experience as obsessive music makers to explore the needs and wants of their fellow composers.
Get to know the new addition of UJAM’s innovative synthesizers series: PIXEL – a Usynth that takes you back to the days of the classic game consoles of the 80s and 90s.
Dive into a world of endless sonic possibilities with Usynth PIXEL, which boasts a vast palette of sounds from rich bass tones to enchanting chords, captivating melodies, and even vintage arcade-inspired sound effects. Notably, it doesn’t stop there; you can also create drum patterns that evoke the unmistakable charm of pixelated gaming.
Bid farewell to the painstaking process of entering hex data for a 3-track song and welcome the luxury of utilizing filters, effects, and an array of sophisticated features powered by the formidable Usynth engine.
In the words of Peter Gorges, one of the creators behind Usynth PIXEL:
“At UJAM, many of us are passionate gamers who hold a deep appreciation for the iconic soundtracks of the 90s, from classics like Tekken and Donkey Kong to Monkey Island and Zelda. These soundtracks continue to be performed live by orchestras worldwide, and the composers behind them are revered as true legends. Fortunately for both us and our users, we had the privilege of collaborating with one of these legends, the brilliant David Wise. Together, we’ve crafted Usynth PIXEL, a musical tool that allows you to infuse your compositions with the distinctive essence of a 90s video game console.”
Usynth PIXEL offers, similarly to the other Usynth titles, an arsenal of 100 Synth Modes, 90 Finisher Modes, 25 Sequences, and 100 Global Presets. To make this accessible to everyone, we are pleased to provide a free 30-day trial without limitations, ensuring that you can explore the full potential of Usynth PIXEL before making a commitment.
Usynth PIXEL is your passport to a musical journey through time. Rediscover the magic of vintage gaming soundscapes, unleash your creativity, and embark on musical adventures that pay homage to the cherished era of 8-bit & 16-bit nostalgia.
Usynth PIXEL is available now in VST2, VST3, AU 2 and AAX formats and also as a free, fully functional 30-day trial at ujam.com. It also runs natively on Apple Silicon systems.
Pricing and availability
Usynth PIXEL is now available at ujam.com for 79 EUR / USD. The Bundle is available for 279 EUR / USD, including all eight Usynth titles (PIXEL, GLAM, DRIVE, DELUXE, CORE, EUPHORIA, CARAMEL and 2080). Usynth is currently available in VST 2, AU 2 and AAX formats for all major DAWs. For more information visit UJAM here:
UJAM is a German-American maker of music technology co-founded by Hans Zimmer and Pharrell Williams that develops Virtual Instrument and Effects Plug-ins. With the Plug-in series Virtual Pianist, Usynth, Groovemate, Symphonic Elements, Virtual Guitarist, Virtual Bassist, Virtual Drummer, Beatmaker and Finisher and a range of software solutions (desktop, mobile, web), UJAM helps people to make music.
It’s Classical Music Month this September and IK has a surprise deal: Through September 30, join the IK mailing list to get Miroslav Philharmonik 2 CE for FREE (worth $/€149.99).
Miroslav Philharmonik 2 CE is your entry into legendary jazz bassist and sampling visionary Miroslav Vitous’ lush new world of near-cinematic orchestral musical realism. It includes a 10 GB library with 733 instruments spread out across all the instrument categories provided in the full version of Miroslav Philharmonik 2.
ECHT, THE NETHERLANDS: virtual instrument and effect plug-in developer Rob Papen Inspiration Soundware is proud to present its LowSane ‘lo-fi’ sound sculpting-specialising effect plug-in — promoted as being an effective way of breaking down the digital world with additional creative options for crushing down digital bits beyond that now-sought-after early-Eighties-vintage 8-bit sound to literally play directly into the hands of what has contemporarily become something of an art form in itself — as of September 13…
An ability to readily make hi-res recordings at 24-bit/192kHz means music producers can provide pristine audio for music lovers worldwide without needing, necessarily, to consider this technological blessing as being the big deal it was once considered to be. But time and tide wait for no man — or woman, however, and many of today’s more open-minded creatives have fallen in love with crushing down digital bits as well, which means that lo-fi audio quality need no longer be frowned upon as a side effect of cheap children’s toys but rather an authentic music production and post-production tool to be creatively worked with. Who would have thought it? After all, everyone was screaming for 16-bit back in the ‘8-bit Eighties’. But by their very nature humans are creative animals who make music and art, and ‘lo-fi’ sound sculpting has contemporarily become something of an art form in itself.
As a virtual instrument and effect plug-in developer par excellence, Rob Papen is perfectly positioned to adapt to this contemporary creative process with LowSane launching as a ‘lo-fi’ sound sculpting-specialising effect plug-in. Put it this way: it even adds additional creative options for crushing down digital bits beyond that now-sought-after early-Eighties-vintage 8-bit sound to literally play directly into the hands of what has contemporarily become something of an art form in itself, including its GUI-dominating DISRUPT sphere. Says Managing Director Rob Papen: “This allows you to alter up to eight parameters at once, and it has some brilliant features like the tempo-based spring-back [SPRING BACK TIME] or the tempo-based LAZY MODE!” More meaningfully, the DISRUPT sphere slider can spring back to its center position in a tempo-based fashion — the self-explanatory SPRING BACK QUANTIZE option operates in a similar way, while LAZY MODE makes it possible to automate the movement of the DISRUPT sphere slider in different directions to allow for creative creation of new sounds, in other words.
“But by also having additional sound-shaping tools like distortion [DISTORT]; BAND PASS / NOTCH, HIGH PASS, and LOW PASS filters; a NOISE GATE; and an AUDIO FOLLOWER, LowSane offers far more than only basic lo-fi effects,” expounds Rob Papen. LowSane’s LO-FI section is a well-specified affair, nonetheless, offering SAMPLE RATE, BIT RATE, SEPARATE — a stereo feature that alters the left and right sample rate, MIX (dry/wet), and BOOST controls. Continues Rob Papen: “Even without adding LowSane’s LO-FI section, distortion and filtering effects are perfectly possible, and you can even create wah-wah effects by using the AUDIO FOLLOWER, for instance.” It is worth noting here that all of those parameters can be controlled by the DISRUPT sphere, while the AUDIO FOLLOWER can control the DISRUPT sphere or any of the other parameters.
Lastly, LowSane’s two-slot — MIDI & MOD 1 and MIDI & MOD 2 — modulation matrix makes it possible to connect parameters further still or use MIDI to control both parameters and the DISRUPT sphere itself. As an effective way of breaking down the digital world with additional creative options for crushing down digital bits beyond that now-sought-after early-Eighties-vintage 8-bit sound, users can clearly get both their bits and pieces going lo-fi together when working with LowSane!
LowSane is available as a 64-bit AAX-, AU-, VST- and VST3-compatible virtual effect plug-in for Mac (OS X 10.13 or higher, M1/M2 ARM processor compatible) and as a 32- and 64-bit VST- and VST3-compatible virtual effect plug-in for PC (Windows 7 or higher) — with 64-bit AAX compatibility available for PT 12 or higher (PC) — priced at only €25.00 EUR/$25.00 USD from authorized Rob Papen resellers worldwide or as a download directly from Rob Papen itself for the same pricing from here: https://www.robpapen.com/buy-lowsane.html
LowSane is included in the latest version of Rob Papen’s all-encompassing eXplorer-8 bundle (https://www.robpapen.com/explorer-8.html) at no additional cost, so existing owners only have to download the latest installer and run it to add LowSane to their Rob Papen virtual instrument and effect plug-in collection.
For more in-depth info, including some superb-sounding audio demos, please visit the dedicated LowSane webpage here: https://www.robpapen.com/lowsane.html
Watch an insightful introductory LowSane video — featuring a voice-over from Rob Papen himself — here:
About Rob Papen (www.robpapen.com)
Self-confessed synth freak and world-renowned sound designer Rob Papen started working with synthesizers at the tender age of 15 when purchasing an analogue Korg MS-20 semi-modular monosynth and accompanying analogue SQ-10 sequencer. Suitably inspired, he subsequently released several albums as part of Dutch electronic music groups Peru and Nova — the latter featuring the same members as Peru, but with a more commercial slant — with whom he enjoyed number one hit singles in The Netherlands (Nova) in 1982 and Austria (Peru) in 1988. Peru disbanded in 1993, by which time Rob had already established himself as a sought-after sound designer, creating presets for the likes of Waldorf, Access, Ensoniq, and E-mu, before going on to found his namesake company in pursuit of creating a sound designer’s dream synth. That software dream soon became reality when Rob formed the RPCX (Rob Papen ConcreteFX) partnership with music software developer Jon Ayres to develop new Rob Papen virtual instruments and effects plug-ins, starting with BLUE — an exciting-sounding, self-styled ‘Crossfusion Synthesis’ affair (combining FM, Phase Distortion, Wave Shaping, and Subtractive synthesis into one powerful dream synth) — in 2005. Today Rob Papen soundware defines cutting-edge contemporary music production: powerful virtual instruments and effect plug-ins that intermix innovative design, uncompromising sound quality, and musical, production-grade presets to make tracks truly shine, whatever the musical genre… Inspiration Soundware, indeed!
© 2023 Rob Papen Inspiration Software
UVI updates Soul Bass to version 1.5, now with Slap, new presets, and more, all ‘Soul’ series instruments are now 50% off for a limited time
Paris, September 14th, 2023 – UVI updates Soul Bass to version 1.5, introducing a new ‘Slap’ playing mode, auto selection modes for slap and pop hits, over 12,000 new samples, and 40 new factory presets. To help celebrate the new update, both Soul Bass and Soul Drums are 50% off for a limited time. A perfect pairing, Soul Bass and Soul Drums were designed to provide modern instrument solutions but with an authentic vintage character and vibe, providing immediate and inspiring sounds, novel features, and deeply sound design capabilities. Soul Bass 1.5 is a free update for all existing users, available now for $49 | 49€ (regularly $99 | 99€), and Soul Drums is available for $74 | 74€ (regularly $149 | 149€), through September 25th, 2023.
Soul Bass is a powerful bass instrument designed with character and creativity at heart. Fusing the best of vintage and modern approaches, Soul Bass delivers an incredibly flexible instrument, allowing the blending of a deeply sampled ‘60s Jazz Bass with a curated selection of our favorite synth bass sounds. From stripped-down classic bass and amp rigs to modern genre and cinematic sounds, Soul Bass is a featured, easy-to-use instrument offering a rich sound, deep customization, numerous performance controls and keyswitching, built-in effects, an incredible selection of hand-crafted presets and MIDI patterns, and much more.
Soul Bass is a powerful bass instrument designed with character and creativity at heart. Fusing the best of vintage and modern approaches, Soul Bass delivers an incredibly flexible instrument, allowing the blending of a deeply sampled ‘60s Jazz Bass with a curated selection of our favorite synth bass sounds. From stripped-down classic bass and amp rigs to modern genre and cinematic sounds, Soul Bass is a featured, easy-to-use instrument offering a rich sound, deep customization, numerous performance controls and key switching, built-in effects, an incredible selection of hand-crafted presets and MIDI patterns, and much more.
Soul Bass and Soul Drums both offer native 64-bit standalone operation by way of Falcon or the free UVI Workstation, providing comprehensive support for all modern DAWs and simultaneous authorization on up to 3 computers or iLok keys.
PRICING AND AVAILABILITY:
Soul Bass 1.5 is a free update for all existing users, available now for $49 | 49€ (regularly $99 | 99€), and Soul Drums is available for $74 | 74€ (regularly $149 | 149€), through September 25th, 2023.
Additional information:
Additional information on Soul Bass is available at:
https://www.uvi.net/soul-bass
Additional information on Soul Drums is available at:
https://www.uvi.net/soul-drums
SHANGHAI, CHINA: Robkoo is proud to announce that its Kickstarter Campaign-hosted HK$10,000 funding goal for Clarii mini — marketed as a slim and portable digital wind instrument and MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) controller with inbuilt speaker, offering a selection of the musical software and hardware design team’s realistic instrument sounds, motion control, Bluetooth connectivity, and interactive tutorials as an easy to learn and play package — has already been met with pledges totaling almost HK$250,000 with 15 days to go (as of September 7)…
As a digital wind instrument offering a variety of realistic sounds in a slim and portable body, Clarii mini is an innovative
design affording players unprecedented performative freedom. By being based on Robkoo’s revolutionary Wind Synthesizer R1 (https://official.robkoo.com/#/wind-synthesizer-r1) — itself internationally lauded as a Commercial Hardware category finalist in the MIDI Association’s 2022 MIDI Innovation Awards Show upon release before going on to win an illustrious iF Design Award in 2023, the musical software and hardware design team has surely succeeded in its followup goal of fusing lots of practical and playful features into a more compact body. Behold the sonic and visual delights of Clarii mini, courtesy of its eye-opening tones and eye-catching lighting effects!
It is fair to say that mastering Clarii mini is so easy as to comfortably qualify as being a pleasurable process! Put it this way: with a minimalistic panel layout, multiple fingering modes, and an intuitive UI (User Interface) and UX (User Experience) design working in perfect harmony with interactive courses, short tutorials, and app support, mastering Clarii mini should take next to no time. Those tired of learning can take time out to enjoy Clarii mini’s so-called Shake & Play tones — namely, Kongfu, Rainstick, and Shaker — that can be played by simply shaking and waving the instrument itself!
Time, then, to dig a little deeper, starting with the selection of Robkoo’s realistic instrument sounds included in Clarii mini, ranging from classical orchestral essentials — namely, Oboe, Recorder, Sax, Trumpet, and Violin — to synth — 80s Gamer, Firefly, and Heal — and exotic ethnic — Hulusi, Pipa, Suona, and Zhudi — tones. There is even the sound of a (real) cat — Meow — in there, just for fun!
Fun, though, is actually what Clarii mini is all about, as evidenced by the amazing lighting effects emanating from its RGB light ring. Its inbuilt high-accuracy motion control works with any onboard sound — simply tilt its body to spice up performances with special effects like pitch bend, portamento, and vibrato, while the high-accuracy breath sensor is, of course, central to Clarii mini’s musical operation as an exceptionally performative digital wind instrument.
Thanks to touch-sensing performance keys on the front, including seven note keys and two semitone keys, as well as three-octave keys on the back, Clarii mini provides players with everything needed to perform anything from tender melodies to bouncy rhythms; indeed, its thumb support position is adjustable so that even kids can effortlessly play. Ultimately, users can access all Clarii mini settings in JamKoo — Robkoo’s popular performance app for iOS and Android that automatically detects (via Bluetooth) when a Clarii mini is nearby and awake — to tailor their playing experience by adding custom fingerings and creating their own scale sets, for example.
Fine-tuned for enhancing the daily entertainment experience, Clarii mini’s inbuilt high-quality speaker aids its flexibility further still; should a user be seeking some alone time with their music, however, then they can simply plug in a pair of headphones to mute the speaker.
As a MIDI controller, Clarii mini supports Bluetooth MIDI, making it easy to connect to any DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) and any sound modules to play limitless sounds, while USB (Universal Serial Bus) Type-C connectivity is also supported.
Since Clarii mini weighs in at only 225g/8 oz — the equivalent of an average apple — and measures 45.5 x 4 x 5 cm in size, its slim and portable design means it can easily fit into a backpack to turn any location into a sonic playground almost at the click of a finger. Four color choices — Aurora Grey, Champagne Gold, Ebony Gold, and Lunar White — complete Robkoo’s compelling Clarii mini proposition as a digital wind instrument and MIDI controller with an inbuilt speaker and so much more.
Explore and support Robkoo’s Kickstarter Campaign that has so successfully funded its Clarii mini digital wind instrument and MIDI controller with inbuilt speaker here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/787849110/clarii-mini-a-digital-wind-instrument-and-midi-controller (Still-available rewards start at a Kickstarter Special price of $224/HK$1,747 for a Clarii mini, neck strap, and wrist strap — representing a 10% saving — through to a Double Pack price of $423/HK$3,299 for two Clarii minis, two neck straps, and two wrist straps — representing a 15% saving — shipping anywhere in the world with estimated December 2023 delivery dates.)
Watch Robkoo’s compelling Clarii mini introductory video here:
About Robkoo (www.robkoo.com/en/)
Robkoo is a musical software and hardware design team based out of Shanghai, China. Collectively, it aspires to empower everyone to create and enjoy music, regardless of background or skill. So it began by creating intuitive and fun apps and gadgets, graduating to launching Wind Synthesizer R1 as its first instrument in 2021, internationally lauded as a Commercial Hardware category finalist in the MIDI Association’s 2022 MIDI Innovation Awards Show before going on to win an illustrious iF Design Award in 2023 in recognition of its innovative design and functionality. Today the Clarii mini model represents an even more intuitive design that is affordable and accessible to everyone.
© 2023 Robkoo Information & Technologies Co., Ltd.
“Plamen sets itself apart from other saturation plug-ins out there; United Plugins really did a great job on making a kind of hybrid EQ and saturation/distortion plug-in that really allows you to carve a very unique sound without adding too much dirt.”
– GRAMMY Award®-nominated record producer, mixer, programmer, DJ, remixer, and recording artist Carmen Rizzo, 2023
PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC: Independent development teams federation United Plugins is proud to announce the availability of Plamen from founding partner SounDevice Digital — designed to bring unparalleled warmth, richness, and creative possibility to audio productions as a powerful plug-in providing audio engineers, producers, and musicians with an ability to apply targeted saturation across multiple frequency bands, enabling precise tonal shaping, frequency balance, and sonic enhancement — as of August 29…
Sculpting saturation
Sometimes the difference between sounding dull and exciting is simply saturation — not just the amount applied, though, but also its character. Since SounDevice Digital believes that every frequency band deserves different treatment, Plamen was created as a flexible multi-band saturator that can add a different kind of saturation to each band, resulting in a balanced tone — even when working in parallel!
Five-band tonal balance
Because different audio frequency bands can have varying energy levels, applying saturation across the entire spectrum can lead to an imbalanced sound. SounDevice Digital’s Plamen addresses this by allowing users to selectively add warmth and harmonics to five adjustable frequency bands — BAND 1 through to BAND 5 — in different parallel levels, thereby achieving a more balanced and pleasing tonal character. Creatively, it offers a diverse range of five distinct saturation types for each band, allowing users to choose the perfect color and character to suit their audio. As such, each band can use three classic analog pre-amp types — namely, BRITISH, AMERICAN, and GERMAN, as well as a simulation of tape saturation (MAGNETIC) or clipping (CLIP), itself a style of saturation (or distortion) characteristic of many beloved types of AD-driven input.
Crossover control
Four flexible crossover points ensure that there is enough control over the frequencies that Plamen users might wish to saturate — so much so that they are effectively free to choose what they consider to be subs, bass, low-mids, high-mids, and treble.
OVERSAMPLING for uncompromising quality
Plamen punches above and beyond the competition with its 2x, 4x, and 8x OVERSAMPLING options that ensure maximum precision and pristine audio quality; after all, oversampling audio allows for the elimination of unwanted artifacts and aliasing, leaving nothing but crystal-clear, professional-grade results.
Wowing with TAPE WOW
It is also possible to bring a little more ‘wow factor’ to the production proceedings by adding an overall TAPE WOW effect, representing a relatively slow form of flutter (pitch variation) familiar from vintage tape recorders.
Putting Plamen into its rightful context
Putting Plamen into its rightful context, SounDevice Digital is a Czech software development team; it stands to reason, therefore, that they decided to enrich vocabularies worldwide with a word from their native language. Plamen — pronounced Plah-men — is a Czech expression for ‘flame’… that thing that makes other things warmer. Some say, however, that the plural Plameny might be better suited to a multi-band plug-in!
Play to win with winning presets
Plamen’s presets have been carefully crafted by audio professionals, including two-time Emmy Award-winning composer and producer Lars Deutsch; award-winning producer, sound designer, DJ, and multi-instrumentalist Zardonic (Artist Of The Year, 2016 Unión Rock Show Awards); and GRAMMY Award®-nominated record producer, mixer, programmer, DJ, remixer, and recording artist Carmen Rizzo — the latter on record as saying, “Plamen sets itself apart from other saturation plug-ins out there; United Plugins really did a great job on making a kind of hybrid EQ and saturation/distortion plug-in that really allows you to carve a very unique sound without adding too much dirt.” It is fair to say, then, that Plamen users are in good hands; whether used on vocals and single instrument tracks, or on master tracks, it is an excellent tool for sound designers and producers looking to experiment and create a unique sound. Since it is perfectly possible to apply different saturation characteristics to different frequency bands with different dry/wet ratios, users can create interesting textures, harmonics, and timbres that may not be achievable with traditional saturation techniques.
Key features:
∙ Selectively adds warmth and harmonics to five adjustable frequency bands in different parallel levels
∙ Diverse range of five distinct saturation types for each band allows users to choose the perfect color and character to suit their audio
∙ Four flexible crossover points ensure enough control over frequencies being saturated
∙ 2x, 4x, and 8x OVERSAMPLING options ensure maximum precision and pristine audio quality
∙ Overall TAPE WOW effect represents a relatively slow form of flutter (pitch variation) familiar from vintage tape recorders
∙ Carefully crafted presets by award-winning audio professionals
SounDevice Digital’s Plamen is available to purchase for a time-limited introductory promo price of only €19.00 EUR until October 10, 2023 — rising thereafter to its regular price of €89.00 EUR — as an AAX-, AU-, VST-, and VST3-compatible plug-in (using internal 64-bit audio processing capable of handling any sample rate) directly from its dedicated webpage (https://unitedplugins.com/Plamen/), where a 15-day, fully-functional trial version for macOS 10.10 and newer and Windows 8/10/11 can also be downloaded for free.
Note that no iLok, dongle, or internet access is required for Plamen activation. (All United Plugins software uses license files for activation and owners can freely use purchased software — with free-for-life updates — on all their computers, as long as they are the user.)
See and hear Plamen in action while watching United Plugins’ illuminating introductory video here:
About United Plugins
As implied in the carefully chosen wording for an apt appellation that really represents how the Prague-registered Limited Company came about and what it collectively creates, United Plugins is a federation of small, independent development teams comprised of individuals involved in the music industry. Indeed, the founding triad of FireSonic, JMG Sound, and SounDevice Digital can count engineers, producers, and artists amongst their ‘united’ names. Needless to say, all were seeking the freedom to create the tools that they would like to use in their studios and on their projects. And all agreed that this could be better achieved when working together. Though United Plugins’ proliferating product portfolio may not always be for the musical masses, surely someone, somewhere will always find those tools to be a perfect fit for their own music productions… just like those inventive individuals behind United Plugins’ partner brands, the ranks of which have since swelled to include Muramasa Audio and MeldaProduction. Thanks to the latter letting United Plugins utilize its super-easy licensing system, which is why selected MeldaProduction products are also available from the United Plugins website (https://unitedplugins.com), a thriving future for the federation is assured.
© 2023 United Plugins
A Detailed and Versatile Classic
RRP: £199 / $249 / 229€ *
* Students & Educators will save 40% from 1 September to 31 October 2023
Gain instant access to world-class scoring sound quality to enhance your film, TV, and game scores and pop records. Introducing Spitfire Chamber Strings Essentials – the new streamlined edition of a versatile and well-loved Spitfire Audio classic, Spitfire Chamber Strings.
Expertly recorded at London’s AIR Studios – the home of countless blockbuster scores such as The Dark Knight, Inception, Quantum of Solace, Interstellar, and Dunkirk – this smaller section offers more detail and focus than Spitfire Audio’s Symphonic ranges, featuring Close and Tree microphone positions, whilst still capturing the unique resonance of the hall.
Create realistic and expressive split section arrangements, building parts by section, allowing results that remove the limitations inherent in many sample libraries and discover a range of 53 essential techniques performed by 16 of the world’s finest string players, featuring both Individual section and Ensemble patches for instant playability and inspiration.
“This new lightweight edition of our hugely popular Chamber Strings range sounds stunning straight out of the box, offering all the techniques you reach for 90% of the time when scoring to picture, or writing for pop with strings — an instant classic.”
— Award-winning composer & Spitfire Audio co-founder Paul Thomson
INTIMACY & DETAIL
The word ‘chamber’ describes any ensemble smaller than a symphony orchestra — anything from a quartet to 40 players. Spitfire Audio has aimed to create the definitive chamber strings project, giving you that highly sought-after widescreen blockbuster sound, with detail and intimacy — hard to achieve with larger-sized string sample libraries.
Take 16 world-class players: four 1st violins, three 2nd violins, three violas, three cellos & three basses, expertly sampled at AIR Studios. Choose from over 53 techniques, including Longs, Shorts, Trills & Trems, and expertly crafted Legato patches by composer Andrew Blaney (Danger! Danger!, My Life in Film, The Other Woman), as well as versatile Close and Tree mic signals and multiple dynamic layers. In addition to each section, the techniques are presented in an Ensemble format, designed to sound instantly realistic and musical to enhance your sketching, composition, and production process, while also blending perfectly with larger ensembles.
“There is a musicality, a playability to these patches that resonates with me…Chamber Strings gives me instant inspiration that actually makes me think about the players in that space as I write. And most importantly it sounds fantastic and translates musical emotion, which is what it’s all about.”
— Emmy-winning composer Trevor Morris (Vikings, Tudors)
BEHIND THE SAMPLES
Spitfire Audio was built on this chamber strings project. Many A-list composers found that sampled strings were unwieldy, ill-defined, and too epic. Spitfire Audio’s first iteration of Spitfire Chamber Strings was released as a private project and became hugely popular amongst its peers.
Some, however, felt it still sounded “kind of big”. So Spitfire Audio returned to the chamber challenge with a question; “How small can we go before it no longer sounds like a section?” The answer was 4,3,3,3,3 – a uniquely intimate group of extraordinary players in one of the best recording spaces in the world, AIR Studios.
It is still the Spitfire Audio team’s favorite string range, admired for its beauty, versatility, and unique sonic character.
KEY FEATURES
● 53 techniques – 18 Shorts, 12 Longs, 18 Trills & Trems, five Legatos
● Close & Tree mic signals
● 16 world-class London string players
● Recorded in situ using priceless valve and ribbon mics
● Neve Montserrat Pre-amps into a Neve 88R desk
● Recorded digitally at 96k via 2″ Studer tape
● Multiple dynamic layers and round robins
● Diverse and detailed, with all essential techniques
● Legatos designed by Andrew Blaney
● Individual sections and ensembles
● NKS-ready
● Download size: 28GB
PREMIERE ON YOUTUBE:
AVAILABILITY & PRICING
Available – September 5th, 2023 at 5 pm BST
https://www.spitfireaudio.com/spitfire-chamber-strings-essentials
Spitfire Chamber Strings Essentials RRP: £199 / $249 / 229€
Spitfire Chamber Strings RRP: £649 / $749 / 699€
Spitfire Chamber Strings Professional RRP : £949 / $999 / 969€
About Spitfire Audio (www.spitfireaudio.com)
Spitfire Audio is a British music technology company that specializes in sounds — sample libraries, virtual instruments, and other useful software devices. It collaborates with the best composers, artists, and engineers in the world to build musical tools that sound great and are exciting to use.
Spitfire Audio was founded by two award-winning composers. Born out of their shared dissatisfaction with string sample libraries, they pooled their resources and decided to record their own string samples at the legendary Air Studios in London. Initially, they invited a limited number of friends and associates to own copies of their samples, but whispers of this private sample club soon started to echo across the Atlantic Ocean throughout the composer community. Within a year, some of the most renowned composers in film and television signed up, so they decided to take their samples public.
To date, Spitfire Audio has recorded and released over 200 sample libraries, collaborating with some of the biggest names in media composition, including Hans Zimmer, Eric Whitacre, Ólafur Arnalds & the London Contemporary Orchestra. Spitfire Audio’s sounds are heard in everything, from major Hollywood film scores to recordings by Radiohead and U2. This initial side project is now a thriving international music technology enterprise, with a uniquely experienced and diverse workforce, all focused on a shared mission: to inspire a generation of composers. The composer team remains at the centre of the business, drawing on their own experience as obsessive music makers to explore the needs and wants of their fellow composers.
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