I love my TC Electronic’s Powercore. The hardware software solution has a sound quality clearly above most of my native plug-ins. A few of the Powercore plug-in’s such has TC Helicon’s VoiceModler I think are unique and personally indispensable. I really hope TC Helicon makes VoiceModler available in a native or UAD format.

“As part of a larger strategic review, we have decided to cease further development of the PowerCore product range, including hardware units as well as software for the PowerCore platform.” – TC Electronic

For more info about the crossgrade: gearjunkies.com/news_info.php?news_id=6032

Modern (sample clip) -The Horrorist by thingstocome

Here’s a sample of a new song I am almost finished with called “Modern”. Clearly inspired by my day job at Energy Management Solutions. Most of the song is real analog equipment: Vermona DRM1 MKIII and Yamaha CS5. My voice is through a Shure KSM-32 and TC Powercore.

“All the modern. Super Building. Super Building. Growing into a new day.” – The Horrorist

photo credit: boliston

Here’s a clip of a new song I am working on called “We Will Get Wicked” which will end up on my next album. A man speaks to a woman letting him know his dirty plans for her. I imagine those plans take place sometime early in the morning on a weekend night.

“And it’s something we must go through.” – The Horrorist

I know this music maybe isn’t for everyone but we can all appreciate the drums of from the Vermona DRM1 MKIII firing all full force. The snare (with analog Bucket Delay full up) and clap are panned hard left and right making a sweet stereo spread. The nice synth that plays behind the breathing section is a Korg MS20 I borrowed from a friend. The MS20′s nasal filter really shines there. My favorite part of the song is when the breathing echos every 8 or 16th time they appear. I know it’s a bit Kraftwerkesque but I think it appropriately fits in a song about sex. Part of the reason they echo so nicely is that I use a TC Electronic Powercore’s Chorus/Delay plug-in. Take a listen:

Download audio file (We_Will_Get_Wicked-The_Horrorist.mp3)

Remember that music is only the soundtrack for a real life. Now go and find yourself someone to torture.

Related post: The Horrorist – Born This Way

With today’s massive computer power you don’t buy a TC Powercore or Universal Audio UAD-1 because you need a boost, you buy them because the plug-ins sound fantastic. One of the early posts on Wire to the Ear was about TC Voice Modeler which is not available in any native format and is a must have in my arsenal.

Universal Audio has posted a video teaser for the upcoming UAD-2 card. Here’s the highlights:

The UAD-1 had a 7 year life.
They will break any limitations enabling any kind of audio processor on UAD-2.
They discuss the SHARC chips.
The card is capable of 2 Gigaflops per second.
Native decoding.
Years of devolopment.
More new partners.

To view the video: click here

I used to own a blue Roland SH-101 with the cool modulation handle and shoulder strap. These days I use the Powercore01 which is a SH-101 emulation. There is a new free emulation for Mac and PC called TAL-Bassline. Not much more say here because this one is totally free so go an try it yourself! Here’s the details:

• VST Mac (Universal) and PC
• Band-limited oscillators (saw, pulse)
• Sub-oscillator: square -1 oct., square -2 oct., pulse -1 oct, pulse -2 oct
• -18 dB/octave low-pass filter (resonant/self-oscillating)
• LFO (frequency: 0,1 .. 30 Hz, waveforms: sin, tri, saw, rec, noise)
• Very fast nonlinear envelope (A: 1.5ms..4s, D: 2ms..10s, S: 0..100%, R: 2ms..10s)
• Simple Arpeggiator (up, down, one octave mode)
• 2x Unisono Mode
• Panic button
• MIDI automation for all sliders and pots
• Precise fader control while holding down the “Shift” button
• Supports all sample-rates
• 2x oversampling
• 23 presets
• Tutorial PDF
• ~2.5% CPU (Intel Core 2 CPU 6700, 44.1KHz, 24Bit, buffer-size 1024 Samples

via futuremusic