Όλα τα τελευταία νέα για τη Μουσική Τεχνολογία και την Ακουστική, κατευθείαν από τις επίσημες ιστοσελίδες των εταιρειών, συγκεντρωμένα σε ένα blog!

What Elektron Were Teasing Us About

Elektron unveils Analog Four, a 4 Voice Synthesizer


Elektron Music Machines have introduced their latest machine, Analog Four, as seen in a recent teaser video. They tell us that the Analog Four is a four voice analog synthesizer with state-of-the-art digital controls. A spokesperson told Sonic State, "For the first time the power of analog synthesis is enhanced with precise and innovative Elektron sequencing, resulting in an analog synthesizer for the modern age."

Specification highlights:
  • 4 synth voices
  • 2 Analog oscillators per voice
  • 2 Analog filters per voice
  • 1 Analog overdrive circuit per voice
  • Multiple LFOs and envelopes per voice
  • Elektron step sequencer with parameter locks
  • Kit and Sound storage
  • All new hi-quality effects
  • MIDI IN/OUT/THRU with DIN sync out
  • 2x dual CV/Gate outputs
  • Dedicated CV/Gate and FX sequencer tracks
  • 2x External inputs
  • 2x Main outputs
  • 1x Headphones output
Pricing and Availability:
The Analog Four list price will be 1099 Euro/$1149/£899. A limited amount of units will be available for pre-order starting November 14th 2012. Shipping starts December 3rd.

More information:
www.elektron.se/products/analog

Legendary Electric Pianos For Reason

Propellerhead Radical Keys Rack Extension features Rhodes, Pianet and Wurlitzer



Propellerhead has released Radical Keys, a new Rack Extension instrument for Reason that faithfully recreates three classic electromechanical keyboards--Rhodes, Pianet and Wurlitzer. They tell us that, based on the same 'Radical' technology as Propellerhead's Radical Piano, Radical Keys goes beyond flawless emulation, by enabling users to sculpt their own instruments from the originals. Here's the details directly from Propellerhead...

Using Grammy-award winning audio engineer Niklas Flyckt, Propellerhead captured the original instruments in full detail at Sveriges Radio (SR) in Stockholm. Nothing was left to chance, from the careful selection of the amplifier to the separate recording of key and pedal noises. Radical Keys even replicates the instruments' sympathetic resonance. The result is an incredibly playable virtual instrument, delivering all the nuances of the originals, and then some.

Radical Keys goes beyond traditional sampling, thanks to Propellerhead's Radical Engine, which combines sampling with advanced synthesis. The Radical Engine enables an exaggerated dynamic range and creates controls for timbre manipulation and sympathetic resonance. Keyboard players are invited to blend between three signal paths for each keyboard, amplifier close and room mics and the direct input, or even create a unique blend of two of the instruments. The built-in effects--tremolo, overdrive, phaser, chorus, EQ and spring reverb--are unique to this instrument and designed specifically for electric pianos. They deliver extra sound sculpting possibilities, perfect for any song or performance, from intimate solo parts to crunchy rock comping. Radical Keys sounds like no other electrical piano, and all of them.

About Rack Extensions
Rack Extensions is a new technology that opens up the Reason rack, enabling third party developers to create instruments and effects for the award-winning music making software Reason. Rack Extensions is supported in Reason 6.5 and Reason Essentials 1.5, available as free upgrades for owners of Reason 6 or Reason Essentials.

Pricing and Availability:
Radical Keys is available for immediate purchase in the Propellerhead Shop, at a price of USD $99/EUR €79. Reason and Reason Essentials users can download a free, fully functional trial version for 30 days to try Radical Keys in their music.

More information:
shop.propellerheads.se/product/radical-keys

Nuendo 6 Coming Soon

Steinberg software gets a major update with new features and extensive improvements


Steinberg has announced the upcoming release of Nuendo 6, the latest and most powerful iteration of their production environment tailored to post and audio production studios.

Timo Wildenhain, product marketing manager at Steinberg, told Sonic State, "Nuendo 6 is the culmination of many months of research, development and cooperation. With great new features like our new mixing console, IOSONO's Anymix Pro, loudness metering and the complete ADR taker solution, we're sure to have addressed the ever changing needs of Nuendo post-professionals around the globe."

Here's the details directly from Steinberg:

Among the new features presented in Nuendo 6 is the entirely new mixing console with full-screen mode and scalability, including Insert View for displaying activated insert slots, plug-in and channel search and integrated Control Room. Also on board is the brand-new channel strip boasting high-pass and low-pass filters, a noise gate that supports sidechaining, various compressors and a brickwall limiter. Nuendo 6 comes with the newly designed Channel Settings window providing immediate access to channel parameters, MixConvert v6 for individual downmixing in unprecedented quality and Voxengo's 64-band CurveEQ. With the IOSONO Anymix Pro 1.3 plug-in, Nuendo 6 now provides automatic EQ and loudness adjustments to surround sound signal panning and allows for quality upmixing up to 8.1 surround sound. Also included are EBU R128 standard compliant loudness metering with RMS metering scales and the Loudness Lane for writing the loudness curve on an individual track while Nuendo's new ADR taker system offers a comprehensive solution for ADR and language dubbing. Other additions are MemZap to store and recall zoom settings and positioning within the project, VST Connect SE for collaborating over the Internet and Remote Control Editor for easy mapping of effect and instrument parameters to external controllers. Remote Control Editor supports Avid System 5 MC, Avid Artist Series, Mackie Control, WK-Audio ID Console, Yamaha DM2000 and many more. A redesigned user interface, VariAudio 2.0, ASIO-Guard with drop-out prevention algorithms to guarantee optimum performance and a 1.5 GB library by Pro Sound Effects ranging from animal to war effect sounds complement the wealth of features newly introduced to the Nuendo 6 advanced post and audio production system.

Nuendo 6 has been tested on professional HP Z workstations for maximum reliability and certified performance.

Nuendo 6 is at the heart of the Nuage system solution, a novel platform for post-production introduced by Yamaha and Steinberg. The dedicated control surface, audio interface hardware and Nuendo 6 are interlinked to allow for custom configurations.

The optional Nuendo 6 Expansion Kit (NEK) comprises features that turn Nuendo into a fully fledged composing application. Included are the new Chord Track, which detects and modifies the harmony structure of MIDI and audio tracks edited in VariAudio, and Chord Assistant, newly introduced to bridge chords and generate harmonic chord progressions. Further additions are Hermode tuning for dynamic retuning in real time, 300 new instrument sounds for HALion Sonic SE and the Retrologue virtual-analog and Padshop granular synthesizers.

Nuendo 6 features at a glance

• The world's most efficient audio post-production environment, featuring industry-proven tools for TV, film, advertising, games and multimedia productions as well as full integration with the Nuage pro-audio hardware

• Groundbreaking new mixing console follows the single-window concept and includes numerous functions that speed up your workflow

• Nuendo 6 ADR taker solution for voice recording and language dubbing makes external ADR systems redundant

• Fully integrated loudness measurement, featuring EBU-compliant metering plus a large choice of RMS metering scales and a dedicated loudness lane

• Nuendo 6 channel strip upgrades your mix by offering direct access to studio-grade plug-ins

• Anymix Pro from IOSONO for state-of-the-art surround productions, highlighting the world's most flexible surround panner as well as quality upmixing algorithms

• Voxengo CurveEQ with sound-matching technology for transferring the sound characteristics from one track to another

• Redesigned user interface with lightning-fast parameter access, new channel settings window and MemZap quick-jump technology

• Steinberg ASIO-Guard with intelligent dropout-prevention algorithms for an even more reliable playback

• Remote Control Editor allows you to easily assign individual effect and instrument parameters to your hardware controller

• Pro Sound Effects post-production library with 1.5 GB of sound material from animal noises to foley to warfare sounds in 24-bit quality

Nuendo 6 Expansion Kit features at a glance

• Professional notation and score printing environment derived from Cubase 7

• More musical than ever thanks to the new Chord Track that helps you detecting the harmony structure of your song

• Intelligent composing assistant helps you with the creation of simple pop to complex jazz chord sequences

• Pure tuning -- thanks to the Hermode technology the intonation of your synthesized notes are changed dynamically on the fly

• Create your harmonies with VariAudio 2.0 and pitch them correctly all time

• Retrologue lets you create fat and funky lead and bass sounds and offers those old-school analog synth sounds and biting sonic blocks

• Padshop boasts granular synthesis at its finest to create fantastic-sounding spheres that expand your sound universe

• Go hybrid with HALion Sonic SE and benefit from 300 pristine and rich-sounding instrument sounds

• More plug-ins: Beat Designer, LoopMash 2, Groove Agent ONE, Mystic, Spector and Monologue

Pricing and Availability:

Nuendo 6 and the Nuendo 6 Expansion Kit will be available in the first quarter of 2013 at authorized Yamaha resellers and through the Steinberg Online Shop.

The suggested retail price for Nuendo 6 is 1,699 euros, including German VAT. The suggested retail price for the Nuendo 6 Expansion Kit is 249 euros, including German VAT.

Various boxed and downloadable updates are also available from resellers and through the Steinberg Online Shop.

Customers who have activated Nuendo 5 since November 14, 2012, are eligible for a free, downloadable Grace Period update to the latest version. Restrictions may apply.

More information:
Steinberg

8 Construction Kits With A Far Eastern Vibe

Diginoiz releases Ethnic Haze 2


Diginoiz describes Ethnic Haze 2 as 8 high quality bangers with a far east, ethnic vibe, created on hardware gear by a professional music composer and producer MilionBeats. They tell us that Ethnic Haze 2 contains 8 construction kits, 103 loops, 1.37 Gb, multi-format material (24-bit WAV, REX, 24-bit Acid, 24-bit AIFF, 24-bit Apple Loops, 24-bit Reason 4.0 ReFill and 16-bit WAV) ready to use in your favorite sampler or sequencer, both hardware and software.

Pricing and Availability:
€22.00 EUR

More information:
Ethnic Haze 2

iZotope Releases Insight: Essential Metering Suite

A collection of innovative and customizable meters for post production and broadcast



iZotope has released Insight, which they describe as an essential metering suite for post production and broadcast applications. They tell us that Insight provides a full suite of audio analysis and metering tools, perfect for visualizing changes made during the mixing process, troubleshooting problematic mixes, and ensuring compliance with broadcast loudness standards. Fully customizable and scalable, Insight allows audio engineers to visually monitor all relevant information from a mix in a convenient floating window, empowering users to look deeper into their audio with intelligent analysis tools and real-time monitoring capabilities.

Brett Bunting, Insight Product Manager, told Sonic State, "iZotope is excited to offer broadcast, post and audio engineers an elegant metering solution that can be custom fit to any workspace and workflow. Unlike other metering products, Insight integrates a full collection of state-of-the-art meters into one customizable window, allowing you to easily monitor and visualize all aspects of your audio."

Here's more details in iZotope's own words...

Insight helps ensure adherence to current broadcast standards using the most advanced metering technology available today, with meters for immediate loudness calculation and True Peak detection, loudness calculation over time, and faster than real-time offline loudness calculation. Advanced visualization and spatialization displays further aid in detecting problems that the ears cannot perceive, like the innovative new Surround Scope and the 3D Spectrogram. Also included are convenient user presets, designed for an array of engineering applications, for quick and easy access to common metering and loudness configurations. Alternatively, users can define new presets with their own preferred customizations, giving Insight unmatched flexibility in the metering space. The perfect tool for post, broadcast, and music engineers, video editors, and sound designers, Insight allows users to keep an eye as well as an ear on the mix at all times.

Key Features
Immediately detect potential mix problems through real-time visual monitoring and color-coded alerts.
Ensure audio is fully compliant with current loudness standards with forward-thinking tools that adhere to standards like BS.1770-1/2/3, then document adherence with an exportable log or graph.
Perform deep and flexible analysis with zoomable meters and the ability to route audio from any tracks or buses to Insight.
Design your ideal metering view by choosing the meters you want to see, customizing them, and resizing the Insight window to fit your current workflow.
Get an extensive suite of metering tools in a single plug-in, including True Peak Meters, Loudness Meters, Loudness History Graph, Stereo Vectorscope, Surround Scope, 2D/3D Spectrogram, and Spectrum Analyzer.

Pricing and Availability
Insight is available for a special price of $399 through November 29, 2012 (Regular MSRP: $499 USD, €449 EUR) or for free to Ozone 5 Advanced Customers. Ozone 5 Standard customers can upgrade to Ozone 5 Advanced for a special price of $399 through November 29, 2012 and receive Insight for free. Customers who already own Ozone 5 Advanced will be notified via email with details to install Insight for free.

More information:
Insight