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Pyramid Polyrythmic sequencer available for preorder now

 

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PARIS, FRANCE: avant-garde musical hardware researcher and developer Squarp Instruments is proud to announce that it is already accepting preorders on its inaugural Pyramid Polyrhythmic Sequencer breakthrough — an advanced hardware standalone sequencer running proprietary PyraOs realtime processing firmware and boasting (multiple) MIDI, USB, CV/Gate, and (Sync48- and Sync24-configurable) DIN Sync connectivity, together with a host of fanciful features belying its compact and bijou form factor — as of May 21…

Most notably, and arguably an absolute rarity in this day and age, Pyramid Polyrhythmic Sequencer is fully polyrhythmic, meaning different and unusual time signatures can be set for each of its 64 tracks to cleverly create shifted-beat sequences — set a track to 4/4 and add other tracks to simultaneously run with it in 5/4, 6/8, 15/8, or whatever — to bring stirring new musical flavours to productions. Pyramid Polyrhythmic Sequencer… it is incontestably an appropriate appellation, after all! Apart from that, though, what makes this standalone sequencer so special and also why resolutely return to hardware in this day and age of commonplace software-based sequencing solutions, courtesy of all-singing, all-dancing DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations)?

Well, to truly get a feel for the flexible future of state-of-the-art and easy-to-use hardware sequencing in the present, perhaps it pays to look to the past? Which is exactly what the forward-thinking research and development team at Squarp Instruments did. “Our aim was to create a hardware sequencer in ‘sync’ with the new styles of electronic music being written nowadays,” notes company co-founder and R&D engineer Tom Hurlin. “There’s a huge gap in the market for this, which is kind of weird, because most popular music from the early-Eighties to the late-Nineties was produced using sequencing hardware. Hip-hop, for example, originated on the MPC series, which actually revolutionised all kinds of music — Madonna to Bryan Ferry to Whitney Houston. How come these machines were suddenly replaced by the computer?”

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Signal by Output for Native Instruments Kontakt Review

 Signal Review

Output, a relatively new content producer has recently been making waves with their well thought out and stunning GUI designs, inventive Kontakt scripting and genuinely evocative sonic content.

Their latest product SIGNAL doesn’t disappoint with its over 40 GB of content and beautifully intuitive interface.

Consisting of 4 “Pulse” engines the user has full control over unique rhythmic layered synthesis.

build in layering of both synthetic sound sources and acoustic recorded sources allow for interesting textures.

the 4 macro controls vary from patch to patch and give quick control of some of the most interesting sonic sculpting features. For those of us that like to dive deeper, there is also an advanced edit mode that gives you full control.

the Rythmic aspect of Signal really sets it apart by giving you complex LFO patterns, a step sequencer per part, Arpegiators, and an interesting Looper effect that lets you loop sections of the sound source to interesting effect.

These rhythms can all be tempo sync’d and utilized to create deep syncopated patterns, Lush evolving textures and even sharp biting leads and basses.

Of course all of this is up to the user, you can turn off these aspects if you just want access to the raw sounds, or you can opt to use any of the beautiful built in effects to sculpt your own sounds.

If you have the Full version of Kontakt you can even import your own sound sources.

Overall I really enjoy this library and it ranks up in the top 5 of my favorite Kontakt libraries.

definitely worth checking out.

 

SUMMARY

  • 500 Pulse Instruments for instant playability
  • A massive array of content
  • 40GB including analog synths, digital synths and organic instruments
  • Up to 4 separate pulses at one time
  • All pulses lock to tempo
  • Rhythms: Looper, Step Sequencers, Arpeggiators, LFOs
  • 4 central MACRO sliders unique to each of the 500 Pulse Instruments

Grab it now and get 2 free expansion libraries FREE.

Priced at $199 on sale now from Output‘s website

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Arturia announces “brutal offer” price saving on minibrute

Arturia announces ‘Brutal Offer’ on markdown MiniBrute monosynth masterpiece

“I’m impressed by how different this synth sounds from anything else I have heard. It’s fun to play and doesn’t need much processing to stand out in a busy mix. This is definitely a new classic. Bravo Arturia!”
– Stefano Ritteri (DJ and producer, 2015)

GRENOBLE, FRANCE: music software and hardware developer and manufacturer Arturia is proud to celebrate the now-classic status of its super-successful MiniBrute Analog Synthesizer — an amazingly compact and bijou analogue monosynth (boasting MIDI, USB, and CV connectivity, together with a host of unique features) — with an appropriately-baptized ‘Brutal Offer’ offering an unmissable and unbeatable €150.00 EUR/$150.00 USD discount in a time-limited promotional pricing campaign starting on May 4…

Mere months after being unleashed on an unsuspecting synth world back in 2012, Arturia’s amazingly compact and bijou MiniBrute Analog Synthesizer successfully took said synth world by storm, rapidly reseting the price/performance benchmark to seriously soar through the subtractive synthesis sound barrier. Benchmarking what an analogue monosynth could (and should) be in the modern musical age, awards aplenty and sales success soon came calling as MiniBrute rapidly established itself as Arturia’s hardware calling card, helping heat up competition in the productive process as rival manufacturers followed the trendsetting company’s lead. Low and behold, another analogue renaissance was soon in full flow. Only this time it was time for new designs to take the lead over vintage synths. Continue reading