Game On! – PAPU, Free Nintendo Gameboy Plugin
This week we took a look at a FREE plugin by Socalabs called 'PAPU' which emulates the Game Boy Sound System (or GBS) found in the OG Nintendo Gameboy.
The synth has 2 square-wave oscillators that each can be modulated by Attack and Release, Tune and Finetune, and Pulse Width knobs. The first oscillator offers a pitchshift knob which you modulate by negative or positive milliseconds. A Noise Oscillator is available with A/R knobs, and includes a Shift, Steps button (7 or 15 steps) and Ratio knob to adjust the timbre of the oscillator. All three oscillators have stereo outputs that can be individually switched on and off which allows for some interesting sound design, you could use any combination of. The sounds are absolutely reminiscent of old Nintendo so we thought it would be fun to show you how to achieve a chiptune sound to really spark those memories.
HALion 6 is an Epic Synthesizer and Sampler
HALion 6 is an Epic Synthesizer and Sampler The latest generation of HALion, HALion 6, brings users ground-breaking new tools and instruments perfect for the modern producer, composer, and sound designer. The plug-in ushers in the next generation of wavetable synthesis, provides full interface customization with its Macro Page Designer, and has advanced live-sampling capability. Users will also be happy to know HALion 6 works with a soft e-licensor, so the USB e-licensor key is no longer a must to work with the plug-in. A new AAX plug-in format was also added to the program so Pro Tools is now compatible. HALion 6 still supports all VST 3, VST 2, and AU host applications. Early reviews of the instruments have people very impressed with the sound detail and quality, as well as with the broad scope of sounds HALion 6 has covered with that high quality. For pianos, Steinberg has …
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Fragments: A Max For Live Granular Synth
Fragments: A Max For Live Granular Synth Fragments, the latest from Spektro Audio, is a Max For Live granular synth with tremendous potential for creating new musical ideas and new sounds. The 8-voice granular engine is designed to create percussive loops in glitch rhythms which means the sounds you get will vary greatly depending upon the sample loaded. Imagine an endless landscape of new ideas and sounds. The layout and functionality of the device is designed to be manual and intuitive so Fragments has capability for first-time users as well as the more advanced. To get started, users need to load an audio sample or loop into the “Audio Sample” section of the device. For best results, Spektro recommends longer loops like drums loops or vocal phrases. The 8-voices of the granular engine can be sequenced via the built-in sequencer or played in via MIDI. Once a sample …
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GrooveBox by Ampify: A Mobile Studio in the Palm of Your Hand
GrooveBox by Ampify: A Mobile Studio in the Palm of Your Hand Ampify may be a name you’ve never heard before, but you know the products well. The development team Blocs grew out of Focusrite and Novation and gave us the Launchpad and Blocs Wave music-making apps. Now they have changed their name to Ampify for the release of GrooveBox; an all-in-one mobile studio for the iPad and iPhone. While still maintaining the user-friendly simplicity of Launchpad and Blocs Wave, GrooveBox offers more advanced synth parameters. Ampify’s intention is to create a program that is easy enough for beginners to start, and for the more experienced to master. From everything we’ve seen so far it looks as though GrooveBox does just that – blurs the line between ease of use and detailed control all with the user’s workflow in mind. The free app is based around two dual-oscillator synthesizers and …
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10 Ableton Live Packs Now Available for Lite Users
10 Ableton Live Packs Now Available for Intro Users For our beginners out there this is huge news. With Ableton Intro, users now have access to thousands of samples, sounds, and effects; all of which can provide inspiration for all types of music making – from searching for synths, to writing a film score, or exploring genre specific styles. These Ableton packs deliver some really high-quality material to work with and were previously only available with Standard and Suite. Below we’ll give a quick overview of each pack. Even if you’ve had access to these packs before but haven’t used them check this out. You might find some inspiration. 1. Urban Cookbook 1 by Goldbaby We love Goldbaby (their drums in particular). Their loops, samples, and racks are sounds we always consider for our tracks. With Urban Cookbook you get 3000+ kits, hits, chords, bass and more production tools …
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Novation’s Next Level Analog Synth and Sequencer: Circuit Mono Station
Novation’s Next Level Synth and Sequencer: Circuit Mono Station For weeks now, we’ve been hearing rumblings of Novation’s latest, the Circuit Mono Station, so with its unveiling at last week’s Superbooth trade fair in Berlin, we thought we’d check it out. Our first impression is this synth/sequencer has a lot of really cool, applicable features, and it looks like a lot of fun. This could be a great tool to add some new flavor to your productions or give a new avenue for songwriting. For anyone familiar with Novation products, the Circuit Mono Station is a cross between the Circuit, Peak, and Bass Station II – taking the layout of knobs from the Peak, combining with the workflow of the Circuit, and mixing those features with the sound engine of the Bass Station II (we have a Bass Station II here and love its ability to produce fat, dirty or …
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The Hyve Touch Synthesizer is a New Breed of Synth
The Hyve Touch Synthesizer is a New Breed of Synth Developed by Skot Weidmann, a technician and instructor, the Hyve Touch began as a soldering kit that could be built in only a few short hours in a workshop setting and then taken home as a playable instrument. Skot thought of the idea to try and inspire interdisciplinary ideas between engineers and musicians at his school’s campus. He wanted to show students how the two seemingly unrelated disciplines were actually very much related and how concepts from one could bring about new ideas in the other. Mainly that music theory and geometry have a commonality that is extremely powerful. The relationship of musical notes ARE mathematical relationships. Here Skot introduces the Hyve Touch: The Hyve Touch brings the human element of “touch” into the synthesizer, and as someone who grew up playing live instruments this is incredible. …
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Zont – The Gameboy-like Digital Synthesizer
Zont – The Gameboy-like Digital Synthesis This slim pocket-sized digital synthesizer is taking the producer community by storm with its futuristic design and modern digital interface. Zont is designed by New York based industrial and motion graphics designer- Pavel Golovkin. Cartridge-like Sound Engine Zont comes with four basic cartridge-like sound engines that are interchangeable like gameboy cartridges. The four sound engines are: Lead, Bass, Rhythm and Noise Lead: “Hundreds of original presets from soft melodic to huge monophonic leads. Customise presets or create your own unique sounds and tones.” Bass: “Beef up even the most bass driven genres, from hip-hop to drum-n-bass. Customise presets or create your own unique sounds and tones.” Rhythm: “Original rhythm synthesizer let’s you create punchy electronic and acoustic drum sounds” Noise: “Pure sound design with no presets or patterns. Perfect for warm ambience or meditative soundscapes.” Zont will also be issuing limited …
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