nanofunk.net » synthesizer

8Bitone and Vocoder Synthesizer SV-5 for iPhone

parasew — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 03:24:57 +0000

via wiretotheear: going 8bit with yudo iphone apps

8Bitone is a combination of a nonlinear audio editor and a chiptunes synthesizer. Vocoder SV-5
8Bitone (iTunes link) and Vocoder Synthesizer SV-5 (iTunes link) look like very nice and compact audio tools for the go. There so many other junk iPhone apps out there that actually something retro-fresh like those two apps really make my day. Together with the Nintendo DS I can build a minimal space sound studio soon ;)

Percussa AudioCubes: a platform for audio-visual creation and exploration

parasew — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 05:43:24 +0000

Percussa's Audiocubes are some sort of "intelligent interfaces" that share information with each other. They can "Generate, Process and Control music loops and samples". You can link them to you existing music software or also use them with Percussa's own Software. The cubes have an USB connector, as well as 1/4 inch jacks to connect them with each other to be used as "lo-fi sound generators". Cubes interact with each other wirelessly, change their color according to the settings, blink on triggering, etc.

"Each AudioCube is identical. You connect them with a USB cable to your computer, one after the other, and assign a colour and behaviour. After that, they work wirelessly with each other, and use their four onboard infrared sensors to communicate and measure distances to objects nearby. One cube stays connected, to pass the information from the cubes to the software on your computer. Location, orientation and distance information is passed to the software, while you interact with the cubes. The software can connect via MIDI or OpenSoundControl (OSC) to any software or hardware for music or visuals which you already have, or you can use it within your DAW (digital audio workstation) software as a VST plugin, or as a host for VST instruments to let you create sound immediately."

In the Video below, there is also an example how to trigger loops from Ableton Live. All in all these interfaces look really nice - they seem to be a quite intelligent and intutive interface to create, modify and trigger sounds. (see other AudioCube videos on Vimeo)

2 AudioCubes are priced €399.00, if you get a set of 4, they cost €649.00 (including tax). AudioCubes work with computers running Mac OSX 10.4 or later, or Windows XP SP2 or later. Drivers are not needed. Dimensions are 75mm x 75mm x 75mm.

I definitely have to get those. I will post a full review and some examples when i have them!

“Totally Wired” – a film about Schneider’s Buero, Berlin.

parasew — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 15:54:18 +0000

Doepfer Sneak Peek from niamhguckian on Vimeo.

(via the blogosphere)Dear Friends,
It gives me great happiness to announce at last the release of 'Totally Wired', a film about Schneiders Buero, now available on DVD from Amazon
To thank you for your patience and support, a 10% discount is available to you with the following code: FRLD3JPV
The film will also be available from HERE and in Schneiders Buero, Berlin.
All Tweets, Forwards, Adds and Posts would be greatly appreciated!
I hope you enjoy the film and look forward to your feedback.
Niamh Guckian, Director, 'Totally Wired'.

Recovering and reproducing Native Instruments FM7 Sounds in FM8

admin — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:18:07 +0000

I have hell lots of old Ableton Live Sets, that really rock - sadly they were made up mostly by Native Instruments FM7 and Absynth 3. Problem: when you open up your old Sets, Ableton does not find the right Instrument to use, since FM8 and Absynth 3 are not backwards compatible (at least when it comes to loading the settings via program change MIDI messages).

See the posting about Absynth for hans-on updating old settings, this posting deals with the FM7 and FM8.

FM7 and FM8 sounds still don't sound 100% the same (see the Discussion in the Native Instruments Forum) but you should definitely try how your presets sound in FM8, since the FM engine has been improved a lot. For similar results, there are some pointers on how to come quite close:

In most cases the FM7 presets come closer to the original if you switch off the "high resolution mode". If it still sounds a bit to harsh, sharp or noisy try reducing brightness using the FM8 easy edit section...

NI FM7 Program Screenshot 1

Recovering/ updating your songs and sequences from FM7 to FM8 is possible - browsing through the presets in FM8 (there is a part in the library where you can switch to the FM7 Presets) i found the sound I was searching for after about 15minutes of listening through all programs (though it sounded less lo-fi than intended). Before you freak out by having to listen through all the presets and finding your original sounds, i made a list of all the mappings.

Mapping of FM7 Program Settings to FM8

*LIBRARY 1-32*

1 Exciting

2 Six-String

3 BEF+HPF Pad

4 Industrial Bells

5 Wurlitzerich

6 Chord Pad

7 Sparkle

8 MW Boost

9 Tronflute

10 Warm Atmos

11 Stand alone

12 GrowlBrass

13 Punchy Percsynth

14 Eurosynth

15 Spacepark

16 Glassy E-Piano

17 D'n'B

18 Club Registers

19 DX-Intro

20 Chugg in time

21 Glass Strings

22 Soft Strings

23 Native Percussion

24 Warm FM Brass

25 Darkness Soundtrack

26 Minimal Rhythm

27 Science Friction

28 Stereo Bells

29 Andromedar

30 Axe

31 Sync Monster

32 * Ayuasca *

*LIBRARY 33-64*

33 Ice Galaxy

34 Atmo Sweep

35 Feedpad

36 S.N.A.F.U.

37 Detune Pad

38 Big Swell

39 Juchhe'

40 Pleides

41 Glasshouse

42 A&D Pad

43 Motions MW

44 Phasing Pad

45 Saw Pad

46 Wave Choir

47 Hopping Brass

48 Mr.Kyrie

49 VLF

50 Majesty

51 Crystal

52 Aura

53 Didgeridoos on Dope

54 Saw Ensemble

55 I Quantus

56 Harmonic Union

57 Once upon a time...

58 Darknessynth

59 Solaris

60 Zivago

61 30sc Filter Sweep

62 Harmonic Flyght

63 Vibrations

64 Vocospace

Sources: synthmania and more...