12-03-03
BBE Introduces DI-1000 Active/Passive DI : .
BBE Sound Inc has introduced the DI-1000 active/passive direct box, which incorporates one of the company's full-feature BBE Sonic Maximizers, plus a Jensen JT-DB-E impedance matching transformer to deliver a flat frequency response. From the Ferrari red baked enamel powder-coat finish to the 1/8 inch thick extruded aluminium housing, the fit and finish of the DI-1000 offers a solid feel.

To maintain the highest sonic integrity, all but one of the switches, pots and connectors are connected directly to the circuit board of the DI-1000. The pad switch is 'fly-wired' to the PCB via teflon coated 100% silver wire and offers input attenuation of up to 30dB allowing 'speaker output' of a guitar or bass amp head to be taken directly to a console input. Additionally, extra-wide and double-thick traces are used throughout to ensure the best electron flow.

Other features include ground lift switch, balanced XLR output, 1% metal film resistors, plus 1/4 inch tip-sleeve input and thru-put. Military spec circuit boards, recessed switches to eliminate damage and a non-slip bottom pad to eliminate slippage and chassis to chassis contact complete the picture.

The DI-1000 can be used for added clarity with bass guitar fitted with active or passive pickups, semi-acoustic and solid body electric guitars, or keyboards. For more information, visit their web site at bbesound.com.

11-03-03
First Details on Korg Virtual Instruments : .
Korg has a long history in the world of synthesizers and now they will be bringing many of the classic, discontinued instruments back to life for digital studios in the form of virtual instruments - the Korg Legacy Collection.

Korg uses what they call Component Modeling Technology (CMT), developed by the company, to model the components that make up the signal chains of the instruments and how they interact in the original hardware instruments. Currently, Korg has only confirmed that they will be producing virtual instrument versions for three of their synths:

• MS-20
• Polysix
• Wavestation

Others Korg models are expected to be recreated as well however. The plug-ins will be available for both Windows and MacOS (VST and AudioUnit formats). Release is expected in the third quarter of this year. More details will likely be released at the Summer NAMM show in July.
Korg has created a special preview section on their web site, currently offering a video summary with an audio track produced with preliminary versions of the Legacy Collection instruments. More info @ korg.com.

10-03-03
NATIVE INSTRUMENTS announced the first major update of their semi modular software synthesizer: ABSYNTH 2.0 : .

ABSYNTH 2.0's combination of multiple synthesis techniques, granular sampling, and flexible envelope control generates everything from organic textures to rhythmic loops, from time-evolving soundscapes to vintage sounds. ABSYNTH 2.0 includes more than 800 presets that cover an astonishing range of sonic territory.

ABSYNTH 2.0 is both, a synthesizer and a sampler. A patch window makes it easy to mix sampling, granular sampling, subtractive, wavetable, FM, AM, ring modulation, and wave shaping synthesis. Each voice has six synth oscillators (or three sampling oscillators), four filters, three ring modulators, and a wave shaping distortion function. Waveforms can be drawn by hand or created by sketching harmonics. A built in context-menu library of waveforms, envelopes, and even entire oscillator channels enables the quick construction of complex, evolving sounds with just a few clicks.

Yamaha display Vocaloid @ Musikmesse : .
Yamaha have been showing an early version of their new singing synthesis technology at Musikmesse in Frankfurt. Named Vocaloid, the software synthesizes the sound from "vocal libraries" of recordings of actual singers, retaining the vocal qualities of the original singing voices to reproduce real sounding vocals.

By just inputting the melody and words on their PCs, users can produce the vocal parts for their pieces with no further work. The synthesized sound retains the vocal qualities of the original singers voices because Vocaloid synthesizes the sound from the "vocal libraries" of recordings of real people singing. The software also features simple commands that allow users to add expressive effects such as vibrato and pitch bend to their synthesized vocals.

Further development of the range of available vocal libraries will make the production of songs using vocals in a wide range of voice qualities possible using Vocaloid. Currently Vocaloid can generate singing in Japanese and English.

Yamaha intends to concentrate on licensing Vocaloid to selected producers of vocal libraries and software marketers. The company has already agreed on the basic framework of a license agreement with a number of sampling CD development and marketing firms, including Crypton Future Media in Japan, Best Service in Germany and Zero-G in the UK. Yamaha hopes to commercialise Vocaloid by the end of 2003 or early 2004. Vocaloid uses Frequency-Domain Singing Articulation Splicing and Shaping, a vocal (singing voice) synthesizing system developed by Yamaha.

With this system, the "Singing articulations" (Collections of voice snippets, such as phrases, and snippets of vocal expression variations like vibrato) needed to reproduce vocals are collected from custom produced recordings of accomplished singers and put into a database after conversion into frequency domains.

To synthesize vocal parts, the system retrieves data consisting of voice snippets, applies pitch conversion, and splices and shapes them to form the words of a song as input by the user. As this processing is done at the frequency domain level, pitch can be easily changed according to the specified melody, and the voice snippets can be spliced in a way that reproduces smooth flowing words.

Vocaloid itself consists of a score editor, which does the scale, song word, and expression processing; the Vocal Sound Generator, the engine that synthesizes the vocals; and libraries (each comprised of a pronunciation database and a timbre database) for each vocal. New vocal libraries can be created by recording real voices pronouncing basic vocabulary and reproducing variation effects (such as vibrato) according to templates.

- Key features:
- Piano Roll note editor.
- Easy to use lyric editing.
- Drag and drop musical expression assigning.
- Reads Vocaloid libraries.
- Synthesizing vocal tracks.
- Saving vocal data in wave files.
- Up to 16 vocal tracks.
- SMF Input/Output.
- Easy to manipulate voice characteristics.
-English and Japanese lyrics available.
- VST Instrument version planned.

In fact Yamaha were showing Vocaloid working as a VSTi in Cubase on Windows at Musikmesse!

08-03-03
Propellerhead Introduces Reason 2.5 : .
Propellerhead Software has announced Reason 2.5 - an upgrade to its flagship music software program. Reason for Windows and Mac OS emulates a rack of electronic synthesizers, samplers, drum machines and mixing equipment.

New Features in Reason 2.5 include:

RV7000 Advanced Reverb
The RV7000 is a stereo effect module dedicated to reverberation. The reverb engine consists of nine algorithms: Small Space, Room, Hall, Arena, Plate, Spring, Echo, Multitap and Reverse, with up to seven individual parameters each. In addition to the reverb section, the RV7000 also includes an EQ and a gate section. The EQ section features a handy parametric eq and a low shelving filter for additional tweaking of the reverb signal. The Gate section can be applied to any reverb algorithm and can be triggered with CV or MIDI.

BV512 Digital Vocoder
The BV512 Digital Vocoder is a 4 to 512 band vocoder capable of modulating sounds both in an old-school analog style and in a digital FFT fashion. As a bonus, it also serves as a fully automated graphic equalizer. A vocoder takes two input signals, the carrier, which provides the pitch, and the modulator, supplying the characteristics. This type of device is usually seen as a tool to create robotic voice effects, but with Reason's endless patching capabilities, you can combine any two sound sources. For example, vocoding a percussion track with the bass line or the string pad with the rhythm guitar.

Scream 4 Sound Destruction Unit
The Scream 4 Sound is a distortion unit with 10 different damage types - Overdrive, Distortion, Fuzz, Tube, Tape, Feedback, Modulate, Warp, Digital and Scream. In addition to the distortion section, Scream 4 also incorporates a +/- 18dB three band equalizer and the unique Body Section, which is similar to a speaker simulator. There are five basic Body types to select from -each with it's own vibe - as well as separate controls for Body Resonance and Body Scale. The Auto function is an amplitude respondent envelope follower that controls the scale parameter, creating unique dynamic effect.

Reason 2.5 will be available during the second quarter 2003. Reason 2.0 registered users will get the 2.5 update for free.
For more information, visit their web site at propellerheads.se.

VirSyn have announced Cube at Musikmesse, described as "Additive synthesis for limitless instrument design"
Enter the world of additive synthesis with unprecedented ease. Imagine having four sound sources morphing in two dimensions controlled by arbitrary envelopes to create long evolving sounds, rhythmic patterns and even vocal phrases.

Select sound sources from the built in presets or dive into the inner secrets and construct your own sound sources from scratch. A number of high level parameters such as brightness and Harmonic spread can control hundreds of parameters making the creation of new instruments easier than ever. More @ virsyn.

06-03-03
TC Electronic Unveils PowerCore FireWire at Musikmesse : .
TC Electronic introduced PowerCore Firewire, providing audio professionals on the move with audio processing on laptop or desktop systems. This addition to the PowerCore platform offers almost twice the power of the PCI-card version. Now even complex mixes become a reality using just a laptop computer and one PowerCore Firewire. Of course the PCI-card and the Firewire version of PowerCore can be used at the same time.

PowerCore Firewire offers the same unique architecture as PowerCore PCI, featuring a Motorola PowerPC and 4 Motorola DSPs. All signal processing is performed on the PowerCore unit, freeing up precious host performance resources for virtual instruments or native Plug-Ins. The hardware specifications go beyond those of the original card, featuring faster DSPs, a faster PowerPC and 3-times the amount of RAM per DSP. For more information, visit their web site at tcelectronic.com.

DEQ2496 Ultra-Curve Pro Joins Behringer's Studio Processor Lineup : .
Behringer has announced the ULTRA-CURVE PRO DEQ2496 (USD 379.99 MSRP) at Musikmesse, a high-precision digital 24-bit/96kHz EQ/RTA mastering processor in a single rack space. Owing to its two high-performance 32/40-bit floating-point SHARC digital signal processors and AKM AD- and D/A converters and 113 dB dynamic range, the DEQ2496 can provide clarity, warmth and punch to a mix. Inserted between the stereo output of an analog or digital mixing console, a workstation or master recording media, the ULTRA-CURVE DEQ2496 enhances the dynamics of recording material.
For more information, visit their web site at behringer.com.

05-03-03
New Xphraze VST Phrase Synthesizer from Steinberg : .
At Musikmesse, Steinberg unveiled Xphraze, a new machine for computer-based musicians, arrangers and sound designers that brings together two worlds that have been separated for too long: powerful sound shaping and real-time polyphonic phrase creation. Xphraze is easy to use and lets you create rave chords, complex polyphonic soundscapes, bass and lead riffs, sweeping pads and tempo-synced sound effects. Simply drag a phrase from the pool, tweak the groove and sound, play a note or a chord and listen as Xphraze textures kick in and move perfectly in sync with the song. You can even drag in your own samples and let Xphraze do it's magic to them. For more information, visit their web site at steinberg.net.

"Pro" Version of Behringer's V-Amp Announced : .
With the V-AMP PRO (US $269.99 MSRP), Behringer releases a modeling guitar amp and multi-effects processor with 24-bit/96 kHz digital output and ULTRA-G cabinet simulation for professional recording applications. The V-AMP PRO offers all of the features of the original V-AMP in a sleek rack-mountable format while providing comprehensive connectivity for the most demanding recording professionals. The V-AMP PRO is scheduled to ship in Spring 2003. For more information, visit their web site at behringer.com.

Steinberg announce HALion v2 : .
Steinberg have announced the forthcoming release of version 2.0 of HALion, their VSTi sampler. Among the new features in HALion 2.0 are brand new filters (12/24 dB Low Pass, 12/24 dB Hi Pass, Band Pass and Notch) by the synthesizer specialists at Waldorf and the new 5.1 surround functionality. Because HALion 2.0 includes an impressive array of surround sound material by Wizoo, producers of the high-end Urban Atmospheres surround library, users can start producing their own surround tracks straight away.