It’s now hard to imagine that not too long ago you couldn’t buy a new small inexpensive analog synth from a major manufacturer. Today you have many options. I use to have a Waldorf Pulse+. I used it on many of my releases in the late 90s including the song Can You Hear the Sound?. I always regretted selling it. Well here’s my chance to fix that error. Waldorf is about to release the Pulse 2. Like the the original number 2 has 3 oscillators and a cascading filter. Now Waldorf have added Highpass and Bandpass modes, analog Filter FM and Ring Modulation.

“Sometimes they do come back, and this time, it’s with even more brute-strength power onboard. You are looking at a completely analog synthesizer that accurately delivers what synthesizer enthusiasts around the world truly crave. Pulse 2 is the reincarnation of it’s legendary ancestor, the Waldorf Pulse, that dominated the electronic music of the 90s.” – Waldorfmusic.de

For more info: waldorfmusic.de/pulse-2-overview

Waldorf is preparing the latest version of it’s soft PPG… version 3.V. They have added sample playback from the awesome looking and named Waveterm. I really liked the previous versions of the plug-in because they definetly sounded different. I admit though I never ended up using the PPG in a song. That’s not going to stop me from trying again.

“Besides the well-known features of the PPG Wave 2.V our new plug-in offers sample playback based on the classic PPG Waveterm technology. We have added some nice stuff like an opulent effects section, filter drive as well as an extensive sound browser. Not enough? Well, what would you say if we added the complete Waveterm B sample library and more than 130 wavetables (a lot of new stuff created by Wolfgang Palm).” – waldorfmusic.de

For more info: waldorfmusic.de

“Demo of 2007 Waldorf Blofeld. All sounds & arpeggio lines programmed by WC Olo Garb. Video editing by WC Olo Garb. Stuff going on: M – Notes triggered by external midi device. S – At least one oscillator uses a factory sample, so this sound cannot be achieved on the desktop version without the license. The patches do not comprise any external/custom samples.” – Jexus

I love Jexus’s synth demo videos. I’m all in when it comes to Eastern European style. I’d even like to live in one of those warn out commie blocks. Weird I know but what can I say? Back to the Blofeld… I didn’t know it could sound that cool did you?

For more info on Jexus: syntezatory.prv.pl
Grab a Blofeld keyboard for $1200. For more info: waldorfmusic.de

Ableton Live 8. My passion Ableton Live has reached number 8. Once again the Berlin coding masters give us new features that fit nicely into the Live interface and workflow. So what’s new? Add grooves to clips using the new Groove Engine. Adjust grooves in the new Groove pool. Extract grooves from existing clips with simple drag & drop. Enhanced warp modes and a new warp engine that auto-assignes handles to transients. A new plug-in called Looper: Create endless layers of loops in a live performance jam with auto tempo recognition. Five new effects: Vocoder, Multiband Dynamics, Overdrive, Frequency Shifter, Limiter. Workflow enhancements: Crossfades, Enhanced Midi Editor, Collapsable and easy to create Group Tracks, Multi Parameter Manipulation (adjust several volume faders at once, etc.. (yay!)), Screen Magnifier, Audio & Midi Browser Previews now have a waveform display and scrubbing. Share: Built into Live 8 is a new way to share and collaborate over the internet. A new option in Live’s file menu called Share Live Set will send your song to Ableton’s servers. The song gets it’s own webpage and link. You can set the privacy settings. Songs files can be shared anywhere such as MySpace or Facebook. Suite 8 also got an upgrade: All new Library, new version of Ableton’s FM Synth Operator, Collision a creative percusion synth that uses physical modeling. link

Max for Live. Full integration with Cycling 74′s Max. Create your own audio and midi effects inside the LIve interface. Building and editing of new effects and instruments takes place in real time. Check out the video on the Ableton website of the step sequencer created with Max for Live. I can’t wait to see what people come up with! Luckily there are built in tutorials. link

Akai APC40 Ableton Live Controller. An official hardware controller for Ableton Live from Akai. Clip launch section with buttons that change color to show if a clip is playing or not. Dedicated clip stop and stop all buttons. Dedicated scene launch buttons. Multiple banks and bank selection methods help you quickly and intuitively jump around a large session view. Mixer section with faders, mute, solo buttons, cue and arm track buttons. A track control section of 8 knobs for pans and sends. Tap tempo and sync buttons to match external turntables or devices. Assignable Crossfader. Transport and record controls for studio work. Make this an extension of your arm and your live show will be a lot better.  link

Waldorf Largo. I’m going to quote the Waldorf press release on this one because it says it all, “Many producers and synthesizer enthusiasts asked for a full-blown Waldorf Synthesizer for their virtual rack. We listened, and now we proudly present Largo. Largo mirrors the technology used in Blofeld and Q hardware synthesizers.” If it has the sound of the Q it’s a great win. link

Native Instruments Maschine. A controller built by Berlin’s NI with a companion software instrument perfectly matched to it. It can run stand alone or in your DAW. Maschine can also be a standard midi controller. link

Motu BPM. Don’t let the Groovebox look fool you because the new BPM from MOTU is purely software. 15 gigs of sounds, multi-effects including convolution reverb, Step and Note Sequencers an internal mixer and more. I bet some producers will make their full songs all in this software. Could it gain a cult following? Just like Propellerheads Reason I can see this on my laptop for an alternative view every now and then. AU, MAS, TRAS, VST, MAC/PC, in your DAW or Stand Alone.   link

Roland AX-Synth. Finally, the return of the “Keytar” from Roland. You get keys, you get a Ribbon, D-Beam and modulation bar. The new AX-Synth also touts 6 hour battery life and MIDI over USB. I like it but why isn’t this wireless? link

All the above I want in my possession. Some other interesting things that peaked my interest at this year’s NAMM included the Celemony’s Melodyne Editor with DNA, Arturia’s Minimoog V 2.0 and the Moog Etherwave Plus Controller Theremin.  Some of you maybe happy about Cubase 5, Novation Automap 3 and the newest Virus TI synth? The weekend is just getting started so I will update this post when I find more goodies that peak my interest. What’s getting your goat going?

Comicon was last week so I got inspired to make some strips for Wire to the Ear. I hope you find them somewhat entertaining. Feel free to share and repost them. I used the excellent Comic Life Magiq from Plasq. You can download the high resolution PDF of all four strips by: clicking here

Or view the next three after the jump…

Synthesizer Comic by
Wire to the Ear is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at
www.wiretotheear.com.

The artist known as Stretta aka Matthew Davidson has released a free 3GB sound library. He works with Wendy Carlos and is a regular music contributor to NPR (public radio). He also make a living as a graphic designer.

The sound library was created using his modular synth, a Dave Smith Evolver, Waldorf Microwave and Roland R8 drum machine. The sounds are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License. This means your free to use them in your work as long as you state where the samples came from.

Fragments of the Total Harmonic Distortion sample library have popped up in various places, like the recent OLPC Sample Library Set… This stuff isn’t doing anyone any good sitting on my hard drive. I’d like to make it available to the public. – stretta.blogspot.com

You can download the library from legaltorrents.com. The direct link is:
http://beta.legaltorrents.com/torrents/71

via synthtopia

LinnDrum II. Originally called the BoomChick the new MPC killer from Dave Smith and Roger Linn is already making a ton of noise on pro-audio blogs around the world. All drum machines are cool and this one looks meaty! Did I say one? Actually there will be two! The “Analog” edition will sport 4 voice analog synthesis and an extra 27 knobs. link

Future Retro XS. They said it was coming in 2007 but they missed the mark. But the delay doesn’t dampen the excitement. Why not? It’s a real analog monophonic synth with 64 knobs and a MS20 style filter that can self oscillate. It’s semi-modular allowing you to use cables to patch and re-route the signal path. It has Midi and CV. The audio demos and videos sound awesome. $1299 is the right price too. link

Gforce S.O.B. The fine UK software house Gforce that’s responsible for software synths Oddity, impOSCar, Minimonsta and the new VSM have been teasing us with an Oberheim OB8 emulation for some time now. The screenshot below is from a Sonic State video in which Gforce was demoing another product and just so happened to flash the SOB! If it doesn’t appear in 2008 then it never will. link

Ableton meets Cycling ’74. One of the things Pluggo makes is a plug-in called VTheremin. This lets you use your computer’s iSight or chat camera as a virtual Theremin. This is one of the many creative things they do and the reason I am thrilled they have partnered with Ableton. I can’t wait to see what the partnership brings. link

Touch Screen Madness. When I installed the new Mac OS “Leopard” on my computers I was a little bewildered as to why anyone would want Cover Flow in the finder. Then I thought to myself, “This would be cool if I could use my finger and flick through these documents like on an iPhone”. Duh! I had the same thought when using Quickview. People: these are sure signs a Mac “Touch” is coming. I can’t think of another industry that will benefit more than musicians from this technology. On screen controllers, keyboards and mixers and going to be super enjoyable! Invest in Kimberly-Clark now (they make Kleenex): KMB (NYSE) link

Chimera SM16. Everyone should own a real analog sequencer. Everyone! Expect Chimera’s new sequencer to be dirt cheap. Thankfully it will support CV and Midi. Get on the waiting list and pre-order. I did. link

Macbeth X-Factor. My all time favorite synthesizer is the giant Macbeth M5. I played with one extensively at super analog shop Schneider’s Buro in Berlin. Based on how much that thing blew me away Im going to bet the X-Factor will be right up there along side of the Moog Little Phatty, Voyager and Studio Electronics SE-1X for title of bass master! link

Cognitone Music Prototyping System. I’m already using Cogniton’s first product Harmony Navigator and I love it. Concerning their new product for 2008 I’m simply going to quote the Cognitone website: “The idea behind Music Prototyping is to create new scores quickly by building upon elements like figures, motifs and phrases and arrange them in a tree-like structure. Elements can be gained from various sources: Sketched, recorded or imported from MIDI files. As MPS takes care of fitting them together appropriately, you don’t need to worry about pitch and dissonance. It just always fits.”. I’ll take all the computer wizardry in the world to help me make a better song and this could be another wicked tool. link

Waldorf Stromberg. German synthesizer manufacturer Waldorf has returned in 2007 with the small Blofeld table top synth. However, like Acura needs an NSX, Waldorf needs a flagship machine and the Stromberg is that flagship synth. A heavy price let’s us know this is a no-compromise unit. Stromberg has Wavetable synthesis, the PPG filter, a 16 way Analog Filter Bank, Multi-Effects, 1000 Sounds, 50 Buttons, 34 Endless Dials and “renders” Waldorf Wave and Q sounds! link

Flame Echobeatbox. Say this out loud: “6-Track Midi-Loop Sequencer”. Now look at the photo of the Flame Echobeatbox. Smiling yet? These guys are down the street from where I live in Berlin inside the same building complex as Ableton. From what I can gather from their website this new hardware box when hooked up via Midi to a sound source will incur some “Complex Random Functions”. I can’t wait to try one out! link

What new gear coming in 2008 are you looking forward to?

photo credits: photonbom and JochenW