Music Instruments

Win $4966 Worth Of Yamaha Gear

2011-12-03T02:01:00.000-08:00

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Vicoustic Release ViTUNE

2011-12-02T21:29:00.000-08:00

29/11/2011

Press Release: Acoustic solutions manufacturer Vicoustic has released ViTUNE, the company's first acoustic measurement software.

More than simply a measurement tool, ViTUNE is designed to help both audio professionals and hi-fi enthusiasts tune their rooms without requiring specialist training.

Based on a simple "traffic light" indication system, room measurement is carried out in four easy steps via the software's intuitive interface. Configure the sound card, test the signal level, enter the room dimensions and click Go!

For customers with more experience of acoustic analysis, the software also includes an Advanced section showing results for full frequency response, smoothed frequency, impulse response, reverb time and energy time curve. As well as measuring the room, ViTUNE also indicates how much treatment should be used to improve the overall acoustic.

Two choices of product are offered for fixing reverberation time problems and controlling first reflections. ViTUNE also shows the exact frequency to which Vari Bass, Vicoustic's portable stand-alone bass trap should be tuned! ViTUNE is currently available free of charge on the Windows platform. A Mac version is due for release during Q2 2012.

To download ViTUNE, visit: www.vicoustic.com

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Event Electronics 20/20BAS

2011-12-02T18:28:00.000-08:00

17/11/2011
Event Electronics 20/20BAS nearfield speakers

Press Release: Event Electronics is extremely excited to announce the release of a new generation of the cult 20/20bas speaker that revolutionised the recording industry in the 1990s and secured a place in the hearts of audio engineers the world over.

First released in 1995, the original 20/20 nearfield studio monitor was universally acclaimed and launched the Event brand worldwide.

Using manufacturing processes and materials unheard of at the time, the 20/20 combined a magnetically shielded 25mm natural silk dome with an 8” mineral-impregnated polypropylene cone. A laminated and internally dampened MDF cabinet with a front-mounted large diameter bass port assisted in providing the 20/20’s impressive low end response.

A year later Event released a powered version, the 20/20bas, to critical acclaim from engineers, musicians and the media alike. The very first pair of 20/20bas speakers were used by Francis Buckley to mix Quincy Jones’ Q’s Jook Joint album for which he won the 1996 Grammy Award for ‘Best Engineered Album’.

Award winning producer, engineer and DJ Fredwreck has relied on his 20/20bas monitors when working on hit singles for Snoop Dogg, 50 cent, Eminem and Britney Spears to name a few. “The one thing I always liked about the 20/20s was if you can get it sounding good on those speakers it will sound good on a variety of speakers. It’ll sound good on the TV, sound good in the car, sound good on headphones. And that’s something that I really need.”

Now fifteen years later Event is proud to announce a new generation of clarity, transparency and definition with the release of the 20/20BAS. This new speaker incorporates a number of fundamental improvements over the original model while remaining true to its character and performance strengths.

“Here at Event we’re constantly inundated with requests from owners of the original 20/20 speakers, asking us to breathe new life into the legacy” explained Peter Freedman, President of Event. “Now the time has come to do just that with the new 20/20BAS.”

“Opal proved beyond a doubt that Event’s audio engineers are the best in the business, and the new 20/20BAS reinforces that fact. Borrowing several technologies from the Opal while still respecting the character, tone and voicing of the original 20/20, we’ve created a speaker that has the best transients and dynamics in its class while exhibiting incredibly low distortion.”

The original transducer design and cabinet volume have been maintained, however the high and low frequency amplifiers, cabinet bracing and overall construction have been revolutionised to improve audio characteristics, increase dynamics and extend reliability.

“We were very respectful to the original 20/20 speaker” explained Event’s Director of Engineering, Marcelo Vercelli. “Everyone in Event’s design department has great respect for the speaker, but we saw a few areas where we could use techologies developed for Opal to get even better dynamics with lower distortion. The new low frequency amp can deliver up to 250w of peak power into the woofer. This gives you the BOOM... the definition in the bottom end that you’re looking for.”

The Event 20/20BAS was shown at the Musikmesse show earlier this year:

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TEDx Aldeburgh 2011

2011-12-02T13:55:00.001-08:00

23/11/2011

Early November’s second annual TEDx Aldeburgh event saw a diverse collection of fascinating people gathered together to share Technology, Entertainment, and Design experiences. ( http://www.tedxaldeburgh.com/ ) This was an independently organised TED event, but it definitely continued the ‘ideas worth sharing’ concept as seen in the videos on the TED.com website. ( http://www.ted.com )
Deep in the Suffolk countryside near Aldeburgh, Snape Maltings is the perfect venue for an eclectic music event: it is steeped in music, art and history. The converted malting buildings are now the home of Aldeburgh Music, which was founded by composer Benjamin Britten and which offers a breadth of music from classical to experimental. See http://www.aldeburgh.co.uk/
Last night, Thomas Dolby opened his new album tour with a concert here, where he noted that the building was built by his great great grandfather, and today, as TED's musical director, he is the host. His studio is in a converted boat just along the coast from here, and he opened by introducing us to the 'Floating City' game website that links to the music on his new album, as well as incorporating themes from lots of his past work too.
( http://www.floatingcity.com/ )

Last year's event featured a piano adapted for live performance by tapping, scraping, plucking, etc., and this year we saw a very different modified piano.
Kathy Hinde - TEDx Aldeburgh 2011: Kathy Hinde's piano has been turned into a 5x5 matrix where video in each of the cells triggers interaction with the piano strings or frame. Starting out from simple examples where birds sitting on telephone wires are turned into a musical score, the final result is a fascinating instrument where the link between the video projected onto the piano frame is obvious and intuitive, even though there is a lot of processing happening to make it appear that way. ( http://kathyhinde.co.uk/ )
The first video from the TED archive featured Ted Heatherwick talking about making the Seed Cathedral that was the UK Pavilion at the 2011 Shanghai Expo. Thomas heads a design company that mixes art, design and technology in amazing ways. The Seed Cathedral uses lots of clear light-guides to bring the outside light inside a building where it illuminates seeds. Stunningly simple and effective. ( http://www.heatherwick.com/ )
Jennifer Stumm revealed her love for the viola, which she described as 'imperfect', and then went on to show how it is those very imperfections which make it so fascinating. With a range very close to that of the human voice, and a complex series of compromises causing its special character, the viola was brought to life by her playing and enthusiasm. ( http://www.jenniferstumm.com/ )
Akala looked ordinary enough, but beneath that streetwise exterior lurked an erudite and talented individual. He started by asking the audience to vote on quotes: were they from Shakespeare or Hip-hop? Once any lingering preconceptions had been stripped away, he then proceeded to demonstrate how the rhythm of Shakespeare's iambic pentameter prose fits into hip-hop timings too. And his demonstrations showed an adept ability to speak the bard's words at speed, and in time. A mind-expanding experience, and the perfect end to the first session. Thomas reminded us that at TEDx, it was allowed to talk to the presenters afterwards, and so that's what happened over lunch. ( http://www.akalamusic.com/ )
Akala on stage with Thomas Dolby:

The afternoon started with a talk by Vincent Walsh, a cognitive neuroscientist, and the person to whom I had chatted over lunch, unaware that I was doing exactly what Thomas had said we could do! Vincent talked about something that many musicians may be aware of already, but he told us why it happens: sleeping on it, or coming back to it later. It turns out that to be really creative, you need to immerse yourself in the subject, soaking it up, but then to trigger the creativity, you need to relax and let your subconscious mind solve the problems, extrapolate, explore, and produce the really interesting stuff.
The video that followed had Suzanne Lee describing how she 'grows' clothes using microbes to create cellulose. ( http://www.biocouture.co.uk/ ) It has long been a meme in science fiction that advanced cultures would grow their spacecraft, and this gave a glimpse as to how that might happen. So can microbes make music too? Perhaps next year...
Just when you thought that you couldn't be surprised any more, 12-year old Hannah Brock stepped into the light on the stage and introduced us to the Guzheng, an ancient Chinese instrument. As her fingers danced nimbly over the strings, plucking, bending and damping with speed and considerable virtuosity, the audience did that weird gasp where you draw the breath in, but forget to let it out because you are spellbound. Stunning. It reminded me of Emmett Chapman... ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUDbdBvG7t0 )
Eric Whitacre featured in a TED video showing the result of bringing together 2052 vocalists from 58 countries over the internet. The 'Virtual Choir 2.0' performed one of his choral pieces, with computer graphics used to composite the videos of the performers into a representation of a more traditional choir. (http://ericwhitacre.com/the-virtual-choir )
Peter Gregson, the cellist who mixes the cello with electronics at the leading edge of contemporary music, then told us about Auto-tune, and how it affects much of the commercial music that we hear. Thinking back to the viola earlier, perhaps auto-tune should be used more creatively to provide interesting imperfection instead of pitch-perfection. ( http://petergregson.co.uk/ )
Nitin Sawhney TEDx Aldeburgh 2011:
Scorer, performer, composer, writer, and collaborator, Nitin Sawhney, asked 'What is the point of music?', and went on to illustrate his views in words and music. Accompanied by a continuous video, his talking and playing was perfectly synchronised with the video, and yet it seemed like he was just talking to us, unscripted.
http://www.nitinsawhney.com/nitinsawhney/Home.html
A video version of Brian Cox then walked us through an incident at the start of the Large Hadron Collider at Cern, where a minor problem led to some magnets becoming mis-aligned. It all looked quite believable, until he revealed that the magnets in the photo weighed 20 tons and had moved about 25 centimetres. After seeing him presenting many television documentaries about broad science topics, it was fascinating to see him talking about his 'day job'. ( http://www.ted.com/talks/brian_cox_what_went_wrong_at_the_lhc.html )

The day ended with the Modified Toy Orchestra, who take electronic musical toys and repurpose them into performance instruments. With considerable skill, musical ability and a quirky sense of humour, they showed that musicianship can inject emotion and humour into the most technologically limited and challenging of instruments. No MIDI, no sequencing, and no laptops - just found sounds, circuit-bent electronics and live performance at its best. Oh, and they encouraged the audience to come and gawp at the toys afterwards. ( http://www.modifiedtoyorchestra.com/ )

Actually, the day didn't end there. Simon Limbrick and James Saunders had their musical installation 'Surfaces' in another of the studios, showing an exploration of the sonic properties of materials. ( http://www.sonicsurfaces.co.uk/ )
The second album is often difficult for musicians, but the second TEDx Aldeburgh passed with flying colours. Thoroughly recommended for a mind-expanding day out.

Modified Toy Orchestra, TEDx Aldeburgh 2011:

Sound On Sound is proud to be a TEDx Aldeburgh media sponsor.
Report by SOS author and representative Martin Russ.

All photographs copyright Jana Chiellino.

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Korg Pa 3x Pro

2011-12-02T13:11:00.000-08:00

KORG Pa3X Professional Arranger Workstation Operating System v1.11 is now available. This update adds new features, enhances existing features, and improves the functionality of your Pa3X. Click here for details. Better than ever. The Korg Pa Series has a new flagship: the Pa3X, the most realistic, powerful, and easy-to-use arranger workstation ever produced. For years, Korg’s Pa Series has been the most respected, envied, and successful line of interactive arranger workstations on the planet. Once again, Korg has raised the standard of excellence by offering new, richer, and more realistic sounds; creating amazing new features, and offering a fresh – yet elegant – design. Meet the Pa3X. Listen and Believe. Pa3X Highlights Enhanced RX (Real eXperience) sound engine offers improved realism and new vivid sound, including pianos borrowed from the acclaimed Korg SV-1 Stage Vintage Piano, plus Ambience Drums Massive internal ROM – plus up to 256 MB of user PCM data (equivalent to 512 MB*) –provides an extraordinarily powerful wave memory, delivering the best sound quality possible Three assignable switches, a four-way joystick, and our unique ribbon strip ensure total control for the many available levels of sound articulation (DNC) Choose either 61 keys or 76 semi–weighted keys; both with velocity and aftertouch Elegantly designed and reliable aluminum cabinet TouchView™ TFT display; 76-key model features a motorized tilting display Professional graphic interface with new Search facility for quickly locating musical resources PaAS High-fidelity, optional amplification/speaker bar with Korg’s own Easy Connect system (no support, cables, or additional power supply needed) Self-refreshing PCM Data memory backup – supported by our own Intelligent Re-Charge system – ensures fast startup Improved Style and Performance selection, Over 400 factory Styles; each with 4 variations and 4 Fill Ins + Break, plus 15 user banks for unlimited storage of your favorite customized or user created Styles and settings Enhanced Guitar Mode 2 for even more realistic guitar parts Chord Sequencer function records any chord progression on-the-fly Up to 8 Stereo Effects at once, including flexible Master and Insert routing for Styles and songs. New Vintage Effects from the acclaimed SV-1 Stage Vintage Piano New TC-Helicon ® Vocal Processor (VoiceLive2 derived) with dedicated professional effects Adaptive Mic Setting provides a virtual sound engineer to automatically set the best EQ/Compressor/Gate settings for your voice Professional Final Mastering tools from “Waves Audio” plugins “MaxxAudio ™ ” suite. New Double MP3/MIDI files player and recorder with Advanced Vocal Remover. Enhanced compatibility with Lyrics in graphical format (+G) for MIDI files and MP3 files. New Audio Chord Detection function that automatically extracts chords to send to the Vocal Processor from MP3 files. Enhanced sound compatibility for GM songs. Multi-language extended character set. Lyrics can be showed in their original languages (except the Oriental and the Arabic Languages**). *when calculated as 16-bit linear data ** check for the available languages Pa3X Korg is responsible for the most successful and respected arranger keyboards ever. Used by tens of thousands of music professionals in every country around the world, Korg arrangers have thrilled audiences and delighted players everywhere with the magic combination of unbeatable sound quality and professional features. Korg’s RX (Real eXperience) Technology blends this great Korg history with powerful new technology and ideas from musicians around the world to deliver a new standard in professional arrangers. The result is a musical jewel that packages technological magic into a luxurious design: the Korg Pa3X.

Korg pa1x pro

2005-08-23T01:42:00.000-07:00

KORG Pa1X Pro BRINGS TOGETHER ADVANCED ARRANGEMENT, COMPOSITION, AND PERFORMANCE FEATURES

NAMM SUMMER SESSION, NASHVILLE, TN, July 18, 2003 - Korg is introducing the Pa1X Pro Professional Arranger, a keyboard designed for enhanced musical composition and live performance. It combines sophisticated new sound and effects engines with complex real-time performance features in a sleek-looking, professional package. An internal hard drive and built-in floppy drive come standard, providing quick access to saved sounds, styles, and songs.
The new Pa1X Pro is a unique compositional tool featuring 76 semi-weighted keys with aftertouch, a robust, color 240 x 320 pixel TouchView™ screen, and is the first in Korg's line to utilize their new RX Technology, which produces a detailed, sophisticated, natural sound. The intuitive menu layout and design offers easy access to over 350 fully editable music Styles, and over 200 user Style locations. Stored Styles may be loaded in or played directly via the floppy disk drive. Each Style contains eight accompaniment parts, four variations, three intros, two endings, three fills, and a break and count-in for creating realistic song patterns. The Pa1X Pro recognizes multiple chord variations, and can scan the user's playing to keep the accompaniment in tune with him/her.
Korg's XDS Dual Sequencer allows users to load one sequence while the other plays, and use the DJ-style crossfader for smooth transitions between them. The Backing Sequencer can capture all of eight of the accompaniment tracks plus four realtime parts in a single pass, greatly speeding up the songwriting process. Powerful editing capabilities control standard sequencer functions, as well as tone parameters for sounds assigned to a given track. The sequencer is compatible with standard SMF or Karaoke files. Karaoke lyrics will appear in the display or can be displayed on an external monitor using an optional video interface kit (VIF3).
The exclusive SongBook function allows players to select a song from the user-defined database and instantly call up the correct sounds, style, tempo, key, and effects for each song. A single Performance setting (320 total) can save and recall a Style, Single Touch Settings, transposition, scale type tempo, and control assignments with a single command. The Pa1X Pro delivers 62-note polyphony along with 760 pre-loaded sounds, plus another 512 user sound locations. 48 preset drum sounds and 128 user programmable kits are also provided. Up to four sounds can be stacked or split across the keyboard and played in real-time. Four Single Touch Settings (STS) commands call up new sound sets for each real-time performance part. In addition, four simultaneous Master Effects types (90 total) can be used, plus a set of TC Helicon Vocal Effects.
A built-in 16MB (expandable to 32MB) sampler can read WAV, AIFF, and Korg or Akai samples/multisamples. Sampled sounds can be sliced to create new grooves and kits, filtered and processed by the internal effects, or assigned to Sounds.
Pa1X Pro options include an MP3 encoder/player for direct recording of performances and playback of files or accompaniment. An optional CD-R drive can be installed for playback of standard audio files or to load new Sounds, Styles, and Samples. TC Helicon Vocal Effects upgrades include Pitch Correction and Voice Modeling.
Additional features include:o Eight user-assignable faders (can act as drawbars) o Four assignable switcheso Joystick and two fixed function faderso Two pairs of Audio Outputo Two pairs of MIDI In/Outo Two Audio Inputs - One switchable to Balanced MIC Input with independent gain controlo Coaxial S/PDIF Outputo Damper Pedal Input and User-Assignable Pedal Inputo Connection to optional EC5 Pedalboard with five assignable switches
The Korg Pa1X Pro will be available in November 2003 with a list price TBA.