A couple of months ago Steinberg re-released one of his classic synths the Model-E. Today they re-released Neon and Karlette. Neon was the first soft synth I ever used. What a trip down memory lane! I’m very tempted to make a track using only Neon instances. Are we going to get a 2012 version of the Koblo Vibra9000 next?

“Throughout the long history of Steinberg, many products have come and gone, many have been superseded by new variants and others have been dropped completely. Once in a while, however, some of our developers like to dig up one of these long forgotten gems and polish it ready for current operating systems.” – Steinberg.net

Download Neon and Karlette free: steinberg.net/neon-and-karlette…

via Synthtopia

I use Ableton’s Autopan often. Mostly I use it when recording old analog synths that don’t have MIDI. I use it as a 1/8th or 1/16th note chopper to keep things in line. You can hear it at work on the bassline in my song Sex Machine (above). Of course there’s more the little Autopan can do as the Liveschool video points out. Here’s another tip… Audiodamage’s Panstation plug-in which is based on the Drawmer M500 gives you a different, more classic, wider effect than Autopan.

“Ableton Autopan device – multiple ways you can use it in your music.” – Ableton Liveschool

For more info: vimeo.com/abletonliveschool

photo credit: Seven Morris

via synthtopia

Grid is a new device for Native Instruments Reaktor. It’s a 8×8 sequencer with 2 step sequencers, LFO, Filter, delay effects and random “Glitch” control. Unfortunately, it won’t work with Reaktor Player. About $30.

“Based on an 8×8 matrix sequencer and a unique sound concept, GRID makes a great addition to your musical toolkit.” – icebreaker-audio

For more info: icebreaker-audio.com/products/grid

via Matrixsynth

Well Merry Christmas from Native Instruments! Stephan Schmitt the “father” of Reaktor put together SKANNER which combines a sampler and synth. Two oscillators ‘scan’ a sample to sort of scratch it. It’s free and will work with Reaktor or the free Reaktor Player. It comes with samples but you can also load in your own. Thanks NI! Go download.

“SKANNER ingeniously mixes sampler and synthesizer. The two oscillators ‘scan’ a sample; at low frequencies you get the ‘scratch’ sound of the sample being read back and forth, while at higher frequencies the dominant force is the oscillators being shaped by the sample waveform. The resulting sounds are raw, dirty and highly unpredictable – from simple sine waves to walls of noise. Two views offer different levels of interaction: The ‘A’ view features four macro controls that are mapped to multiple parameters – even subtle tweaks can create dramatic changes.” – Native Instruments

For more info: native-instruments.com/powered-by-reaktor/skanner…

Wave Alchemy has created a Kontakt sampled version of the classic Sequential Circuits Pro One synthesizer called the Pro-II. The Pro One is best known as the synth heavily used on every Yaz record. It has a very clear sharp sound with very fast envelopes. In addition to the sample library there is a sequencer and “fully editable effects as well as specially created reverb IR’s (Impulse Responses) recorded from our Eventide DSP-7000 Harmonizer.”. As usual I recommend getting the real thing. However, with the Wave Alchemy you can save your presets, work on an airplane, have polyphony and skip the vintage synth repair bills. 3.9GB sound library including 6587 multi-sampled 24-bit WAV samples. £39.95

“Inspired by one of the most popular synths of its time, Pro II combines classic sounds with modern sound shaping tools to achieve a versatile and fully programmable hybrid synthesizer!” – wavealchemy.co.uk

For more info: wavealchemy.co.uk/pro_ii_synthesizer

I really love convolution reverbs. I don’t really use them with traditional space IRs (like a famous opera house). I have a collection of classic 80s hardware reverb IRs. Of course nothing is like having an actual Lexicon 480L or EMT plate but Altiverb gets you close enough. Altiverb 7 adds a very nice searchable IR photo browser, synthetic brightness add on (if wanted), drag & drop IR creation, chaos modulation and more. I can see using the drag & drop IR creation quite a lot. I would say 90% of my vocals are recorded with a convolution reverb on a send panned to the right a bit. $595 USD.

“Altiverb 7 is the industry standard convolution reverb plug-in. It uses top quality samples of real spaces to create reverb, ranging from Sydney Opera House to the cockpit of a Jumbo Jet. Altiverb 7 is efficient on the cpu, offers many parameters to tweak reverb, is total recall automatable, and has 64 bit support. Every month Altiverb 7 users receive new impulse responses for free.” audioease.com

For more info: audioease.com

IRCAMAX SuperVP is a set of 5 plug-ins for Ableton Max4Live. You really have to head to the Ircam website and watch the demo videos. Each of the plug-ins SimpleTransp, Transp, Scrub, Mover and SuperVPSynth allow for some serious audio rearranging, part transposing, formant manipluations, etc… My favorite is Mover. 139 Euro.

“Mover offers a different way to control time position and transposition performed by the SuperVP engine. It displays the sound on a big waveform on witch the user can move using the mouse, its MIDI controllers or a joystick. It can be easily use to improvise on the sound material thanks to its synchronized random motions capabilities.” – ircamax.ircam.fr

For more info: ircamax.ircam.fr

There’s a long thread on Gearslutz about a video interview that came with a recent issue of Future Music magazine. Apparently the interviewee John Dahlback gladly showed off his computer screen to the FM cameras. The only problem is he was using cracked software and people were able to take screenshots from the DVD like the one you see above. He tried to smooth things over by releasing the statement below. If artists or business people can’t make a living doing what they are doing they will stop producing art and products. No one’s moral compass is always on straight but let’s try to do the right thing. Plug-ins are inexpensive and take a decent amount of effort to get into your hands. I don’t use cracks and either should you.

“Hey guys. Fun topic! Anyway, just wanted to let everyone know that I DO have the license for LennarDigital Sylenth obviously. But just like everyone else (I suppose), I want to try vst plugins out before I buy them, in case it’s ****. And when it comes to Sylenth, I bought the license straight after. Reason why I didn’t uninstall the previous version for the registered one is because I don’t know if my saved presets would stay or be deleted as well. Anyway, good discussion. I can’t speak for Avicii, but everything I use has a license. To be a producer and expect people to pay for my music and NOT pay for my gear would obviously be ****ed up. Anyway, hope everyone liked the video. The track in the video will never be released due to lack of quality in my opinion. Just wanted to show people my working technique.” – John Dahlback

For more info: gearslutz.com/john-dahlback-future-music-masterclass-crack

Audiodamage has released Kominat DVA. I recorded about 45 of the presets over a Roland TR-808 loop. The first 4 bars is the 808 dry. If you listen through the presets you can hear some of them are very musical and useful. $49 USD.

“From mild tone-shaping or adding a bit of grit to full-on total waveform destruction, Kombinat Dva, the long-awaited sequel to our popular Kombinat plug-in, is a complete toolbox of sonic warfare. With 13 different options in each of the three distortion engines (plus pass-through), Kombinat Dva is capable of sophisticated and unique sounds. Want to add a ring mod to the low end, a mild tube clip to the mids, and a bit-reduction algorithm to the high end? No problem. Want to run your signal through three sine-warps or fuzz algorithms in series? This is your box.” – audiodamage.com

For more info: audiodamage.com

I really didn’t see Steinberg re-releasing some of the very first widely used VST plug-ins Model-E and VB-1. Cubase VST was one of the biggest innovations in music production. To be able to have software instruments, effects, audio recording and a MIDI sequencer all natively running was quite amazing in the mid 1990s. The first computer I owned that was capable of running the software was a Power Computing Powercenter Pro210 Mac clone. The Pro210 had a 210MHZ processor, 16MB of RAM and a 2GB hard drive. I was able to run Model-E a Moog type clone and maybe one reverb plug-in. You can hear Model-E in my remix of for David Tarrida the “Horrormone” remix. It’s the main detuned synth. The new version of Model-E is unsupported but free. Now where is my 2012 version of Neon?

“Holy crap there’s a 64 bit version of Model E (Diva faces stiff competition)” – aMUSEd

For more info: steinberg.net/discontinued-products-revived