User Page

User Page

User:

francispreve

  • (949) Profile Views
  • (79) Items of Content Submitted
  • (6) Comments Made
  • (0) Photos Uploaded
  • Viewing: All
 

Published Content

Free Moog patches from Propellerhead

27 August, 2008 | 1.00PM

Last week, Propellerhead Software – makers of the ever-ubiquitous Reason – quietly released a free Moog-inspired ReFill for registered users of Reason.

The Moog Foundation ReFill is a collection of Thor patches designed by synth gurus Mark Vail, Craig Anderton and Gordon Reid.

The idea behind releasing the Moog-flavored ReFill is to generate awareness for the Moog Foundation, whose stated purpose is, in their own words:

“The mission of The Bob Moog Foundation is to document, celebrate and teach innovative thinking and to support and honor the legacy of synthesizer pioneer Bob Moog. Our four long range goals are: scholarship, outreach programs, unique community events and a Bob Moog Museum.”

Continue reading...

Product Spotlight: iZotope iDrum for iPhone

21 August, 2008 | 6.00AM

Now that the iPhone 2.0 software has finally reached a semi-stable state, it’s time to start digging into the music applications.

Of all the programs we’ve checked out in recent weeks, there’s one real standout: iZotope’s iDrum.

Originally developed as a drum machine plug-in for OS X – and later Windows – iDrum has developed something of a cult following among producers, thanks to its friendly UI and straightforward operation.

Porting iDrum to the iPhone (and iPod Touch) presents some unique challenges that have proven problematic for several other manufacturers, largely due to the iPhone’s tiny screen.

But iZotope has obviously given these challenges considerable thought, because they’ve taken classic drum machine programming tools and turned them on their ear, resulting in the most effective interface we’ve seen to date.

Continue reading...

Product Spotlight: Sample Magic Nu-Rave sample library

15 August, 2008 | 2.00PM

Few soundware companies have achieved the level of consistent quality that Sharooz Raoofi’s Sample Magic delivers.

An accomplished electro and tech producer in his own right, Sharooz’s Beatport releases clearly demonstrate his skill and commitment to real-world production values, not cheesy ‘me-too’ knockoffs.

We loved Sample Magic’s Minimal and Tech House collection earlier this year, so their latest offering – Nu-Rave – naturally piqued our interest.

After spending a few evenings with Nu-Rave, here’s what we found.

Continue reading...

iPhone FM synthesizer on its way

11 August, 2008 | 12.00PM

Software startup Amidio has announced Noise.io – their first softsynth for the iPhone.

Noise.io is based on Amidio’s ESFM synthesis technology, which stands for Enhanced Subspace Frequency Modulation, a wink-wink wordplay on old Star Trek terminology, which in actuality is simply their approach to FM synthesis.

While the sexy Cardassian interface suggests that the synth is capable of fairly complex tone generation possibilities, it remains to be seen whether Noise.io will be playable in a musical context or simply create exotic sound effects. 

Continue reading...

M-Audio Launches User Forums

8 August, 2008 | 12.00PM

Thanks in part to the success of their Torq-DJ.com forums, M-Audio recently launched The Official M-Audio Online User Forums.

These forums are moderated by the M-Audio technical support group and are intended for musicians and producers of all shapes and sizes, regardless of whether they use M-Audio equipment in their production process.

Discussion areas cover both hardware and software, as well production techniques and the de rigueur news and announcements section.

Continue reading...

Native Instruments’ Sizzling Summer Software

7 August, 2008 | 5.00PM

Over the past week or so, the software elves at Native Instruments have delivered a few nifty new software products.

Both Traktor and Traktor Scratch have received upgrades that add new features, keeping them fresh and new for thousands of laptop DJs who rely on these products.

On the production front, Native’s KORE now has yet another specialized soundpack to tantalize producers in the mood to expand their sonic palette.

Continue reading...

Product Spotlight: Koblo Centaurus

31 July, 2008 | 12.00PM

If you’ve been making music with computers for more than a decade, you might recall one of the first softsynth developers – a small company called Koblo.

Back in the day, Koblo plug-ins were lauded for both their quirky, yet flexible, architecture and the fact that the Koblo synths sounded surprisingly fat and warm for digital recreations of analog signals.

In fact, the sound was so darn good that artists like BT publicly praised Koblo for their craftsmanship.

Unfortunately, the Koblo engine was optimized for Mac OS 9 and the transition to OS X proved to be a bit too much for the small company.

So, when contacted by an old friend with news that Koblo was back in business, we were intrigued.

The big question remained.

Is that Koblo sound still relevant in today’s morass of softsynths and plug-ins?

Continue reading...

MOTU unveils portable audio interface

28 July, 2008 | 12.00PM

Last week, Mark Of The Unicorn announced the arrival of their UltraLite Mk3 portable, bus powered, FireWire audio/MIDI interface.

Sporting dual XLR microphone inputs with integrated preamps, 10 inputs and 14 outputs, up to 192 kHz sampling rates with 24-bit resolution, the UltraLite is a terrific option for laptop DJs and producers who travel regularly.

What’s more, the UltraLite Mk3 now includes integrated digital mixing with effects.

Continue reading...

The end of Giga

25 July, 2008 | 12.00PM

In a move that stunned the music technology industry, Tascam has ceased development of its groundbreaking sampler, GigaStudio.

Released in 2000 by Nemesys - a small Texas software developer - GigaStudio revolutionized sampling by streaming audio directly from the hard drive as opposed to loading it into RAM, which was the norm for that era.

Freed from the limitations of RAM, sound designers were then able to create incredibly detailed recreations of acoustic instruments like piano, strings, and other orchestral mainstays.

In addition, GigaStudio also offered an incredible 160 voices of polyphony per instance - an impressive achievement even to this day. 

Continue reading...

Steinberg’s Second Sequel

24 July, 2008 | 12.00PM

For years now, PC users have ogled Apple’s iLife media creation tools with a certain degree of envy and respect.

With intuitive and powerful applications like iPhoto, iMovie and iWeb, Mac users have had it easy when it comes to expressing themselves.

But budding PC-based producers have had it the roughest because Microsoft has focused its efforts on bundling photo and video tools with Windows, while largely ignoring the amateur and semi-pro musician audience, unlike Apple, who delivered GarageBand – which is largely a slimmed-down Logic Pro – to its users, free of charge.

A few years back, Steinberg stepped up to the plate and created Sequel as an inexpensive music creation platform that looks and feels quite a bit like GarageBand, offering a surprisingly capable suite of tools at an extremely affordable price: $99 US

Continue reading...

 

Remix Contest Entries

There are no entries for this user.

Advertisements

Sign In

Register

forgot password?