Spitfire audio presents Cimbalom tuned percussion instrument

Spitfire Audio adds CIMBALOM to ORIGINALS series of instant writing tools as a shimmering, spine-tingling tuned percussion plug-in


LONDON, UK: sound-specialising British music technology company Spitfire Audio is proud to announce availability of CIMBALOM — an appropriately-named addition to its ongoing ORIGINALS series of instant writing tools with the same outstanding recording quality as the ‘full-blown’ flagship libraries with which it has built its reputation, simplified and presented in its free, easy-to-use plug-in, perfectly capturing its 19th century-originating shimmering, spine-tingling tuned percussion instrument namesake (nowadays familiar from being brought into play in innumerable Hollywood film scores, thanks to its mysterious, sinister sound with a distinctive metallic tone that cuts through an orchestra) by being performed by leading London cimbalom player Greg Knowles (known for his work therewith on The Hunger Games in 2012 and 2007’s The Golden Compass), carefully captured to the highest standard in the hallowed (Lyndhurst) Hall at London’s legendary AIR Studios, supremely sampled and served up as a ~1.7GB-sized library with three signals, five presets, and three straightforward NKS (Native Kontrol Standard) compatible controls, creatively combining to create the sound of suspense — as of February 4…
As a distinctive-sounding instrument in its own right, the cimbalom is a large, late-19th century-originating Hungarian concert-hammered dulcimer — itself a type of chordophone comprising a large, trapezoidal box with metal strings stretched across its top, played by striking two beaters against the strings. Saying that, dulcimers are an ancestor of the piano, dating back to Babylonian times as a family of stringed instruments known for their Eastern European sound. Somewhat closer to today, they have become widely used as a Hollywood film scoring staple — spy thrillers in particular proving well suited to the tremolo technique, as evidenced by the likes of English composer John Barry’s thrilling title theme to The Ipcress File (1965). To name but a few more notable big screen appearances for the instrument in question: John Williams’ scintillating score to director Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-winning Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981); American composer, conductor, and orchestrator James Horner’s ‘Stealing the Enterprise’ cue from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984); several scenes featuring Gollum in the Peter Jackson-directed The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), courtesy of Canadian composer and conductor Howard Shore; The Golden Compass (2007); The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008); Sherlock Holmes (2009), for which Hollywood hotshot Hans Zimmer turned to a banjo, cimbalom, and other unconventional instruments for the musical accompaniment; and French film composer Alexandre Desplat’s score to The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014). In the smaller screen world of television, of course, composer Lalo Shifrin made much use of the cimbalom in several scores he wrote for the original Mission: Impossible American series, from which consequential cues were regularly recycled throughout its 1966 to 1973 run, one of which — ‘The Danube Incident’ — was notably sampled by British trip-hop pioneers Portishead on their track ‘Sour Times’ (from the 1995 Mercury Music Prize-winning Dummy album), which reached number 13 on the UK Singles Chart upon its re-release.
But back in the supremely-sampled world of sound-specialising British music technology company Spitfire Audio, it is little wonder, then, that the cimbalom was deemed as a perfect fit for fronting the latest (namesake) addition to its ongoing ORIGINALS series of instant writing tools as essential cinematic ingredients. As a brief (musical) side note, according to Spitfire Audio co-founder and composer Christian Henson, the ORIGINALS name embodies the concept of original libraries of original sounds that make their users sound original, albeit by bringing back to life some dearly departed company classics in a revitalised form — hence ORIGINALS CIMBALOM presenting the existing content of a previously-released (no-longer-available) Spitfire Audio library (GRAND CIMBALOM) reprogrammed as an intuitive patch accompanied by all individual articulations to allow for complete control.
And who and what better to be able to completely control than perfect performances by leading London cimbalom player Greg Knowles (known for his work therewith on The Hunger Games and The Golden Compass), carefully captured to the highest standard in the hallowed (Lyndhurst) Hall at London’s legendary AIR Studios, supremely sampled and served up as a ~1.7GB-sized library with three signals, five presets, and three straightforward NKS compatible controls — CloseTree, and Pitched, the latter adding a rich, frozen atmosphere created by stretching and pitching down the ambient mic signal, complementing the vibrant close and tree mics by adding depth and otherworldliness. On top of that, control over the ATTACK and RELEASE times expands on this further, together with REVERB, allowing the realistic-sounding ORIGINALS CIMBALOM to morph into eerie textural elements on the fly. Five presets are at hand, allowing users to dive in and get going with minimum fuss: PerformanceShort DampedShort SustainedTremolo, and Warp (using the aforesaid ATTACK and RELEASE times plus Pitched signal to create a reversed-like textural pad).
Presented in Spitfire Audio’s free, easy-to-use plug-in, ORIGINALS CIMBALOM perfectly provides computer-based composers with ready-made variations of that Eastern European folk sound, but can also be used to elevate cues in a number of ways beyond that. The ninth product in the ongoing ORIGINALS series of instant writing tools is the perfect addition to the sound of any symphony orchestra, whether as an extra textural element or, indeed, its instrumental apex. Ask Greg Knowles — after all, he should surely know as a seriously sought-after cimbalom player par excellence! Entering the sound of suspense is as easy as installing ORIGINALS CIMBALOM

ORIGINALS CIMBALOM is available as an AAX-, AU-, VST2-, and VST3-compatible plug-in supporting Native Instruments’ NKS (Native Kontrol Standard) for Mac (OS X 10.10 or later) and Windows (7, 8, and 10 — latest Service Pack) that loads directly into any compatible DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) for an RRP (Recommended Retail Price) of only £29.00 GBP (inc. VAT)/$29.00 USD/29.00 EUR (inc. VAT) — from here: https://www.spitfireaudio.com/originals (Note that owners of the now-no-longer-available GRAND CIMBALOM library will automatically receive ORIGINALS CIMBALOM for free.)

Spitfire Audio’s namesake Spitfire Audio application allows anyone to buy now and download anytime, and is available for free from here: https://www.spitfireaudio.com/info/library-manager/
For more in-depth information, please visit Spitfire Audio’s ORIGINALS Frequently Asked Questions webpage here:https://www.spitfireaudio.com/info/faq/spitfire-originals/
Musically marvel at ORIGINALS CIMBALOM’s shimmering, spine-tingling tuned percussive sound while watching a walkthrough with Spitfire Audio here: https://youtu.be/nJ6LldwcyJA 

Ik multimedia brings the hammond b-3x to iOS

IK Multimedia brings Hammond B-3X virtual instrument to iPad

In partnership with Hammond USA and Suzuki Music Corp. of Japan, IK’s Hammond B-3X is the first real Hammond® organ for iPad complete with Leslie™ speaker

Hammond B-3X for iPad - Image 1

December 17, 2019 – IK Multimedia announces the Hammond B-3X tonewheel organ virtual instrument for iPad. This new app maintains all the realism, detail and features found in the Mac/PC version, which was created in close collaboration with Hammond USA and Suzuki Music Corp. of Japan, but now available on an even more portable device, making it ideal for a streamlined live performance or travel recording rig.

Hammond B-3X for iPad meticulously recreates the sound, controls and entire effects signal path of the legendary Hammond® B-3. This comprehensive approach offers a level of realism and detail that will satisfy the most discriminating B-3 fans while also offering an affordable introduction to the unique world of tonewheel organs that can be enjoyed by all levels of players.

The new app is ideal for performing musicians looking for a simplified stage rig, letting them run Hammond B-3X on an iPad instead of a dedicated laptop, with full compatibility for MIDI controllers and Hammond digital organs. Hammond B-3X for iPad also supports the latest AudioUnits format, allowing it be used as a plug-in in many of today’s most popular recording apps, for an ultra-portable travel studio that delivers world-class realism and features.

IK’s industry-leading modeling techniques were employed to deliver fine details and nuances approved by the discerning ears of the Hammond Organ Company in Chicago. In addition to its authentic organ sound, this new instrument offers a full-rig chain including stomp effects, an extended version of IK’s Leslie® Collection with a rotary cabinet with mix-and-match amp and cabinet models plus four microphones, a parallel guitar amp with 4×12 cabinet, a mixer and three studio post effects.

It’s all in the details
True to the hardware original, Hammond B-3X for iPad begins with 91 tonewheels, which are based on well-maintained Hammond organs that IK studied in locations around the world. These free-running tonewheels are mixed in real-time based on the notes played and drawbar levels, for authentic realism.

Hammond B-3X for iPad can be fine-tuned using IK’s detailed models of the original settings, controls and circuits, which were all approved by the Hammond Organ Company. Users can employ tonal filtering, select the independent key click, and engage the iconic Hammond percussion and chorus-vibrato circuits with advanced controls.

For deeper exploration and realistic touches, Hammond fans will appreciate a familiar simulation of the effects of “aging” components to control tonal balance, generator leakage and crosstalk, and the chorus circuit’s presence boost.

Hammond B-3X for iPad - Image 2

True tone, real experience
All the controls are designed to recreate the exact experience of playing a classic, hardware B-3 organ – from the order of the chorus/vibrato settings to the placement of the percussion switches. Some additional features have been included as well, for modern convenience.

The drawbars update in real-time when the inverted drawbar settings keys are selected, allowing users to save 24 custom drawbar settings per preset. For live use, a “Controls” view hides the keyboard and enlarges the drawbars and switches for less distraction while playing. MIDI assignments for modern Hammond digital organs are also included, making it plug-and-play easy to perform with everything at arm’s reach.

Extended stomp box effects
The organ feeds a 5-unit pedalboard in the STOMPS section that features overdrive, graphic EQ, stomp box-style chorus-vibrato, wah wah and spring reverb. Derived from IK’s award-winning AmpliTube® and T-RackS® software, these effects were carefully chosen and arranged for easy recreation of the widest range of iconic tonewheel organ sounds. They can also be assigned to MIDI control for on-stage use.

Real Leslie® sound
The signal is then sent to a CABS section that includes a choice of real Leslie amps and speakers that can be mixed and matched, along with a parallel guitar amp and 4×12 cabinet. Using technology derived from IK’s award-winning AmpliTube 4 amplifier modeling, combined with an extended version of IK’s Leslie® Collection, Hammond B-3X for iPad’s cabinet section offers a massive range of sound-shaping option tabs. They include:

  • Setup – lets users fine tune the Leslie’s slow and fast speed settings – including acceleration and deceleration – and adjust the mic distance and configuration

  • Leslie Amp – offers a selection of five Leslie power amps (or a power amp modeling off switch) and two guitar power amps to use in any of five Leslie cabinets, with full control over gain, EQ and volume

  • Leslie EQ – enables the rotary speaker to be shaped with high-pass, low-pass and parametric mid EQ

  • Guitar Amp – adds a parallel guitar amp derived from AmpliTube into the mix for use with popular rock tones used by top rock and blues players; offers full tone-shaping controls and spring reverb

  • Mixer – blends the sound of the Leslie, with independent volume and panning of both the horn and drum mics, the parallel guitar amp, and the DI organ sound for unprecedented tonal flexibility
Hammond B-3X for iPad - Image 3

Add professional polish
Finally, Hammond B-3X for iPad offers three rackmount studio effects derived from IK’s T-RackS Mixing and Mastering Workstation to add a final, professional touch.

IK’s Limiter 76 FET-based compressor offers an iconic, timeless sound; the EQ-81 adds classic console tone-shaping and warmth; and a digital reverb adds a pristine sense of space.

Pricing and availability
Hammond B-3X for iPad is available from the Apple App Store® with a special introductory price of $99.99 through March 2020.

*Local pricing is determined by Apple, based on exchange rates.

For more information about Hammond B-3X for iPad, please visit: www.hammondb3x.com/ipad

To see Hammond B-3X for iPad in action: www.hammondb3x.com/ipad/video

To hear audio samples from Hammond B-3X for iPad, please visit: www.hammondb3x.com/ipad/audio

BeatMaker 3 for iPad is FREE during NAMM!

Ok so this is one of those things that you need to just jump on right now… don’t wait on this. 

BeatMaker 3 is free through out winter NAMM 2018 … yeah thats right … the $20+ app is completely free right now.

This is the full app and I have to say I have been using it for a while now, it is really deep.
If you know someone who likes to make music and has an iPad, let them know about this one. 

Pricing and Availability:
BeatMaker 3 is free to download from the App Store now until the end of NAMM.

Bitwig Studio 2.3 Beta available NOW

BITWIG PRESS RELEASE

BITWIG STUDIO 2.3 BETA IS AVAILABLE NOW

Berlin, Germany | January 24, 2018We’re pleased to announce, the beta testing of Bitwig Studio 2.3 has just started.
Anyone with a Bitwig Studio 2 license can download, install and activate the new beta* version, and try out the new features of Bitwig Studio 2.3:

  • Phase-4: A new phase manipulation synthesizer
  • Time Signature Changes
  • New and Improved Time-stretching Algorithms
  • Expanded View for Devices
  • Instrument & Effect Selector
  • Voice Stacking
  • and more…

The Bitwig Studio 2.3 Beta installer is available from our download page. Once installed you can download 50 Phase-4 presets from the Package Manager to get started.

Download now…

A note on beta software:

  • Do not use the beta to work on important projects!
  • Project files created with the beta can not be opened in previous versions of Bitwig Studio
  • The software is not final, please don’t use it to make tutorials or videos

ABOUT BITWIG

Bitwig is an international music software company based in Berlin with 13 employees. The company was founded in 2009 by four music enthusiasts with extensive experience in the music technology industry and a strong vision about new cutting-edge methods of music production, performance and collaboration. Bitwig Studio 2 won awards for Best Software of NAMM show 2017 by MusicRadar and Sonic State and was awarded ‘DAW of the Year 2017’ by Computer Music Magazine.

Native Instruments acquires Loop Loft!

Native Instruments acquires loops & samples producer, The Loop Loft

 

Leading content library to bolster Sounds.com offering

 

Berlin 24th Jan – Native Instruments today announces its acquisition of The Loop Loft, a leading content library specialised in recording top musicians to make the highest quality digital content available to all music creators.

The move coincides with the launch of Sounds.com, Native Instruments’ new online platform for loops, samples, and sound packs for music creators of all genres with over 500,000 sounds at launch, from more than 200 partners.

Sounds.com subscribers can access loops and samples from high calibre drumming and acoustic artists like Nate Smith, Matt Chamberlain and Omar Hakim, further diversifying the platform’s content offering.

The move also sees The Loop Loft Founder, CEO and accomplished musician Ryan Gruss joining Native Instruments as Director of Products – Content, based in Los Angeles. In the new role, Ryan will create content for Sounds.com as well managing a specialized development team focused on creating new content across the NI portfolio.

Commenting on the acquisition, Ryan Gruss added: “When we learned of Native Instruments plans for Sounds.com we immediately saw an opportunity to amplify our offering to new audiences. Native Instruments’ rich heritage of sound design is a musicians dream and I’m excited to get hands on and steer the development of new instruments and content in 2018.”
 
Daniel Haver, CEO and Co-founder at Native Instruments commented: “We’ve always admired the authenticity and ambition of The Loop Loft; we could tell it’s a service built by passionate musicians with a bold online vision. We’re excited to welcome Ryan and his team to NI and anticipate increased volume, quality and diversification of content and instruments across our brands.”

The Sounds.com beta launched on January 17 in the U.S. Customers can try it now with a free selection of loops and samples, or go Pro and subscribe to the full library at a special introductory price of $9.99 per month.
 
Simplicity and ease-of-use are central to the Sounds.com experience: All loops and samples are available to browse and preview, with no sign-up required; sounds are tagged and easily sortable by genre, key, BPM, and other attributes; and search functionality is powered by Native Instruments’ own MIR (Music Information Retrieval) algorithms, which helps users find exactly what they need, when they need it.
 
More details about the platform’s vision and progress will be shared with media and industry peers at the ‘Native Summit’ partner conference, held at this year’s NAMM event in Anaheim, CA, from January 25-26. If you are interested in attending, please get in touch with the Native Instruments PR team.

Audio Damage freshens its line up with new plugins!

Audio Damage is Has released 3 new plug in VSTs available directly from their site. New versions of the Delay Plug in “Dubstation 2″, Reverb Plug in ” EOS 2 ” and the all new waveshaping distortion “Grind” are now available. 

EOS 2 consists of four high-quality custom-designed reverb algorithms, made with the modern production environment in mind. Three different plate simulators and Audio Damage’s own Superhall algorithm give you a broad palette of reverb, and the easy-to-understand interface makes adjusting the algorithms to suit your track incredibly simple.

Dubstation 2

From the Audio damage site:

The original dub delay plugin and still the best! Dubstation 2 takes our most popular product and adds a whole raft of new features, including a dual mode for separate control over the left and right delay times, ping-pong, a new feedback saturation algorithm, and an LFO. Along with an all-new procedural and Retina-friendly user interface and (FINALLY!) ProTools compatibility, this represents a major leap forward for one of our signature products.

All those bells and whistles aside, the heart of Dubstation is our painstaking bucket-brigade delay model. Often imitated, but never duplicated, Dubstation has been the go-to plugin for that sound for over a decade, used in thousands of commercial productions, and with good reason. With the addition of the LFO and saturation controls, Dubstation has moved in to the realm of tape delay emulation as well, and is a sonic Swiss Army knife for delay. 

Grind waveshape distortion

from the AD site:

A true powerhouse of audio warfare, Grind puts the “damage” in Audio Damage. From subtle tube-style saturation to full-on mangled wavetable distortion, Grind is a Swiss Army Knife of sound design.

Grind consists of three main blocks: wavetable lookup, in to algorithmic saturation/distortion/, and finally to a multi-mode filter. The wavetable module uses the amplitude of the incoming signal to replace the sample with one from 15 different linearly-interpolated wavetables, chosen for their mangling potential. Window size and phase controls provide further tone-shaping possibilities.

The next stop is the algorithm module, with eleven different distortion and saturation algorithms, from simple soft-knee saturation on up to full on sine warping.

After this, the signal passes through a multi-mode filter stage, with eleven different filter models to choose from, including “vintage digital” versions from the early days of plugin development, on up to our modern analog-modeled MS20-style lowpass and highpass synth filters. A tempo-synced LFO provides motion for the filter frequency, and a final stage of soft clipping and DC filtering tames the output.

Make no mistake: this is not a subtle, polite tool. With careful tuning of the provided presets, it can be tamed to normal filtering and saturation duties, but on the whole, it is a noisy, snorting beast of a plug-in, and is happiest with Full Metal audio destruction. 

OK enough with the AD copy. I have had some time with all three of these (I even created a group of presets for Dubstation 2). I can say these are a really nice step forward in the Audio Damage line up. The UI is really impoved on these (Grind and EOS2 have some killer front end graphics to help understand whats going on).

Grind really impressed me in its filter types as well as how the distortions can take a plain sound and add a ton of movement and character.  Similar to the Eurorack module Shapes also from Audio Damage, Grind lets you sequence lookup tables and waveshaping wavetables… very freaking cool.

tempo syncing the waveshaping and filter frequency changes is a joy.

Dubstation 2 is a very straight foward BBD sounding delay that will let you just easily get that dub delay you are after without a cluttered interface.

EOS 2 is just a joy to look at and hear. I’ve been using this to create gorgeous synth pads and basically create environments for my instruments to breathe in.

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Waldorf Slickly Announces New iOS Drum Synth App!

Screen Shot 2015-04-14 at 9.10.35 AMWaldorf CEO

Stefan Stenzel has recently uploaded a track on Soundcloud titled “All I am is Digital” 

The Track appears to be the first sonic demo of the NEW Waldorf iOS drum synth app “ATTACK Drums” from the tunes it looks to be very promising. there is also a screenshot of the start up screen similar to NAVE’s start up screen. Here is the description on sound cloud

“Song made entirely in a preliminary version of Waldorf Attack Drums App for iOS. In case you hear vocals, these are synthesised using the built-in Phrase Vocoder – a novel Vocoder that uses written text instead of spoken words as modulator.” … check it out here. https://www.waldorf-music.info/attack-drums-overview

Specifications

  • ios attack padspage24 different sounds
  • 4 independent insert effects with
  • Delay
  • EQ
  • Drive
  • Phaser
  • Flanger
  • Chorus
  • Phrase Vocoder – a novel vocoder controlled by written text
  • Algorithmic reverb as send from every single effect channel or directly from sound
  • Compressor for the output sum
  • 16-step pattern sequencer
  • Fractional track/step timing
  • Polyphonic steps
  • Audiobus support
  • Inter App Audio support
  • Core MIDI support
  • Export song to audio file
  • Dynamic voice allocation
  • compatible with iPad 3 (Retina), iPad mini (1,2,3), iPad Air (1,2)
  • Minimum iOS 7.0 required
  • Content control via iTunes
  • Trigger pads
  • Mixer
  • Recording
  • Shipping 2 quarter of 2015