NAMM: KeyToSound’s New Networked Patch-Sharing, Patch-Selling Supersoftsynth

Why should you get excited about Nexsyn, the hybrid soft synth/sample player available starting today from KeyToSound that was developed by Max Groenlund, creator of the Studio 9000 for Koblo? While I could ramble on about Nexsyn’s true stereo signal path, its 4 Gig Big Fish Audio sample library, its ability to load a 400MB […]

NAMM Moog Watch: What is the Sound of One Hand Waving?

In this case it was “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” as the folks at Moog backed up their promise of ANOTHER DIMENSION with an intimate solo theremin performance. A sizable crowd enjoyed this breath of fresh air in a convention jam packed with high energy live gigs. Ed.: Moog Music has an incredible group […]

NAMM: Cakewalk SONAR 6.2 Adds Vista Support, MIDI Features

It’s been pretty quiet at winter NAMM as far as the major DAWs; Mackie released Tracktion 3 but the larger players either just released major updates (Cubase SX 4, DP 5, SONAR 6, Live 6, and the Pro Tools 7.x updates) or have yet to upgrade (ahem, Logic 8, anyone?). That didn’t stop Cakewalk from […]

NAMM: Instant Sample Patch Creation for Logic’s EXS24, Now Almost Too Easy

If you really like the idea of creating your own Logic EXS24 sample patches but end up not because it’s really, really a pain in the ass, you will love Keymap from Redmatica. The demo I saw took a single audio file of half a dozen instrument samples at different pitches, then automatically sliced them […]

NAMM: Divide and Conquer with DVZ for “That Film Score Sound”

Audio Impressions had a working demo of their flagship orchestral library, DVZ. Well, ok—just the strings were demoed, but the full package with over 600 instruments is scheduled to de-vaporize and ship in March. Audio Impressions > Products > Realtime Instruments (DVZ) DVZ (pronounced “di-vi-zee”) promises a unique experience for those yearning to achieve new […]

NAMM: M-Audio Announces Xponent. DJing Stays Pretty Much the Same.

Wallace is CDM’s resident turntablist, and he’s also immune to blind gear lust. I’m waiting to pass judgment until I get first-hand contact with Xponent, but I’m equally confused from a product perspective. Now, let’s see — we could copy and paste a press release here. Or we could try Wally. I just hope we’re […]

New Visualist Gear at Namm: Numark VM03-MKII

Was 2006 the year that manufacturers really started paying attention to visualists? Sure, the DVJ-X1 has been out for 3 years now, but prices of video mixers and custom video hardware like the DVJ mean it’s not really a tool for aspiring VJs to dip their toes into the form. So purpose-built VJ hardware has […]

Video: DJing and VJing with Nintendo Wii Remote

While music manufacturers struggle to create “integrated hardware solutions”, enterprising DJs and VJs are picking up US$40 Nintendo Wii remotes and having a blast. Here, the controller gets assigned to audio filters on the computer (I’m guessing the Max/MSP/Jitter external may be at work as it’s on a Mac), and controls glitchy visuals. I’ve been […]