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“Throughout the long history of Steinberg, many products have come and gone, many have been superseded by new variants and others have been dropped completely.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 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

Here’s a trio for Tuesday. Three new interesting pro-audio related products. Number one we have Steinberg LoopMash. LoopMash mangles four loops. It’s an iPhone App. I grabbed it and it has a pretty cool faux 3D swipe to different screen effect worth checking out. Years after abandoning Cubase I’m using a Steinberg product again. Number two is Mike. It’s a microphone from Apogee that goes directing into your iOS device. It’s from Apogee so it deserves mention. Convenience and AD/DA conversion wise it should be a winner however I’m all about high end mic pres and Mike can’t use one. Number three we have SuperAnalog808 a Roland TR-808 sample pack from Goldbaby designed for Loopmasters. If you don’t own a real 808 or Acidlab Miami then samples are your friend. Goldbaby does them right and there’s a million suble differences between 808s and ways to record them so another sample set is always welcome.

For more info: LoopMash, Mike, SuperAnalog808

I will be speaking on a panel with Peter Kirn (Create Digital Music), Micah Frank aka Kamoni (Sound Designer & Founder of Puremagnetik), and Julie Covello aka DJ Shakey (DJ, Creator & Promoter of the Warper Party, Music Collector) on Saturday, September 25 at the SAE, 1293 Broadway, 9th Floor, New York NY 10001.

The IMSTA FESTA is free and should be good fun and of great interest to anyone who reads this blog. It’s a pro-audio manufacturer get together and panel series. It’s from 11:00AM – 7:00PM. Some of the exhibitors include Ableton, Arturia, Bias, SSL, Celemony, IK Multimedia, Image Line, Native Instruments, Pianoteq, Propellerhead, Rob Papen, Steinberg and Waves.

UPDATE: Over 1,000 people are registered. Come on down!

“IMSTA FESTA, a celebration of music software is coming to the heart of New York City. The First IMSTA FESTA started in Japan where it was highly successful for technology companies, producers and hobbyists alike. IMSTA FESTA brings a collection of the top audio technology companies together in an environment where they can interact with music makers face-to-face. If you use music software you will benefit from this event in a number of ways.” – http://www.imsta.org

For more info: http://www.imsta.org

If you read this blog you would believe I’m a Ableton Live fanatic. That is true however I once loved another. After my early days with Dr. T’s KCS on Ataris and Amigas I went Mac and Cubase VST. Cubase VST was the biggest revolution in music tech that mattered to me personally. It enabled me to start recording vocals direct to hard drive. It’s the reason in 1996 I start my own record label Things to Come Records. With VST (Virtual Studio Technology) I was able to create what I thought was fairly new and unique at the time: techno electronic mixed with 80s style New Wave and EBM.

Enter the 00s and Cubase became too buggy for me to use. It got to the point I was hitting save after each change I made. I was also rendering “safety” versions of songs in case project files would stop loading. Once Ableton Live came out it was over for my friend from Hamburg. That all said, I have friends that use Cubase today and they tell me it’s more stable. I also give credit where do and Steinberg brought so many innovations to the space it’s really amazing. Most importantly I wrote mountains of music using Cubase.

Steinberg has put up an interesting website called Steinberg Museum where you can see the history of the company. There are some tasty flashbacks in the building. Screenshots, interviews and old adverts are all fun for sequencer geeks like me. Check it out now: http://museum.steinberg.net

“Come in and tour this virtual museum which documents the story of Steinberg from its beginnings in the early 1980s.” – museum.steinberg.net

Are you or were you ever a Cubase user?