EMS Synthi Blog: Every Nun Needs One

Want signs the music tech blogosphere is happening? How about a blog devoted to nothing other than the EMS Synthi, the classic, portable analog modular synth from the 70s used by the likes of Eno and Fripp? Pin writes to tell us of his new creation, which already has patches, specs, and sounds for the […]

NAMM: Up Close with Waldorf’s Zarenbourg Electric Piano – Real or Cyborg?

Waldorf’s Zarenbourg electric piano was on display at their NAMM booth. Beholding its grand, future-retro design, you’ll immediately wonder: are there tines and pickups under the Zarenbourg’s hood, or a digital sound engine? The answer, alas, is the latter, which will be appreciated by keyboardists who value the ability to use multiple built-in sounds and […]

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 […]