Yep – I’m back on the pun wagon. The Nektar Panorama P1 is a keyboard-less version of the Panorama Reason/Cubase/Nuendo control surface that’s so far spawned the 49 key P4 and 61 key P6 that we first saw at NAMM, and it looks splendid. Aside from the omission of keyboard, pads, and motorised fader, the Nektar Panorama P1 is just as capable of controlling Reason, Cubase, or Nuendo, and I know this makes it the piece of kit that many of you that already have a keyboard/pad controller of choice have been waiting for.

Nektar Panorama P1

Some quick specs:

• 16 encoders
• 9 45mm faders
• 10 assignable LED buttons
• 11 dedicated transport buttons
• 20 preset locations store all settings
• Foot switch (sustain) 1/4″ jack input (pedal not included)
• USB port for communication with computer
• 6 dedicated assignable navigation buttons
• ASCII/QWERTY macros assignable to buttons and pads
• 3.5” high-resolution TFT display
• 4 modes when used with Cubase, Nuendo or Reason switch between Mixer, Instrument, Transport and Internal
• Presets and setup files for major DAW’s and VIs

RRP: $349.99/Euro 289.99/GBP 244.99

Available imminently, the price is already advertised as a little lower than above on some retailers’ sites, and the £220ish that seems to be the price you’ll be able to take one home for should mean there’s space for it in front of many users’ laptops – leaving you to choose a keyboard/pad controller based on core functionality rather than how many functions it can cram into the box.

I’m a big fan of the heads down workflow (for all the amazing features, bells, and whistles of computer based music production, every now and then I still consider paring everything back and using only an MPC 2500 during the creative process) and thus we’ve always been interested in the Nektar Panorama P1 at OD. Hopefully one will find its way into the studio for some testing soon – until then, let us know what you think below and check out the Nektar product page here!

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Wagner Sharp: Free Tube Guitar Preamp VST and AU

Available in 32 and 64 bit flavours for Windows VST and both Mac VST and AU, and featuring automatic stereo/mono switching and upto 64x oversampling, Wagner Sharp is a really nifty plugin indeed. It’s not the prettiest plugin in the world, but as you’ll see above all its controls are laid out in a logical manner – and it’s really the sound that counts, right?!

Wagner Sharp is a free direct download from Nick Crow Lab – click the link, where you’ll also find a donation page…

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We’re no strangers to the generosity of Beat Magazine, and neither are we to XILS-Lab. We reviewed XILS Oxium last year and I was very impressed by the sound of the synth, so it’s great to see this freeware for you to expand your sound design arsenal.

XILS 3 Beat Edition: Free Synth

Three oscillators, effects, and a supremely configurable modulation matrix add up to make XILS 3 BE extremely powerful, and its left field interface makes the learning curve just steep enough to stop you going through the same old motions as with every other synth you own – hopefully getting you to generate some interesting new sounds in the process!

Download is simple – simply hit the link below and make sure you Like the Beat Facebook page, then download! Serials are unique and generated just for you via instant registration after download. Oh, and if you haven’t liked the OD Facebook yet please do!

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Ten smooth electric piano and synth construction kits for free – get the link inside!

Free Electric Piano samples: Cross Rhodes

Cringeworthy title aside, Cross Rhodes by Gorilla Loops is a silky collection of electric piano and synth loops – and as much as anything, the synth loops are a welcome addition to this construction kit pack. You might find it a very handy ‘guide’ in terms of chords, electric piano settings, and synth style… and you can chop the included royalty free sounds to your heart’s content too.

download is a simple enough affair – Gorilla Loops also provide commercial sample packs should they tickle your fancy, and Cross Rhodes is a free item in there store. Just add it to your cart, complete the checkout procedure, and you’ll be emailed a download link to the pack!

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OD Music Production Tutorials

Okay I admit it: It’s been waaay too long since the last OD video. This is my little warm up to get back into the swing of things, and I decided to answer the most common questions that pop up on our YouTube channel. Next up we’ll be getting back into some more music production tutorials, let me know what you fancy and you’ll find the links we talk about below!

Creative Commons Sampling

Monkey Banana Turbo 5 Review

Sounds for free download

(please bear with us while we fix broken images – a casualty of the redesign, I’m afraid!)

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FL Studio 11 New Features:

• Performance Mode trigger clips on the fly, with seamless integration with a variety of controllers
• Improved Controller Support with port linking between controllers and software to allow simpler hardware integration
• Multi Touch Support allowing core functions and some plugins to integrate with Windows Touch supported devices
• Sequencer Improvements including playlists doubled to 199, horizontal and vertical locking options when dragging in sequencer and piano roll, monophonic brush and chord strumming modes in piano roll, and mouse scroll controlled note velocity
• Workflow Enhancements with tweaks including right click data entry on controls, new shortcuts for faster plugin handling, and click and hold functions
• New Plugins including a kick drum synth, X/Y pad effects, key mapping for on-the-fly remixing, and a synth and effect channel lifted from Image Line’s Groove Machine
• Updated Plugins with improvements to the Newtone pitch and timing algorithms, Flowstone, a synth maker in the vein of Max/MSP or Reaktor, updates to the Harmor synth as well as tweaks to the visualisation plugin and multi timbral tools.

FL Studio 11 is available for now, with the Fruity edition at $99, the Producer edition at $199, and the Signature Bundle $299. Fruity edition doesn’t include much in the way of audio file sequencing, and Producer edition trims off some of the top end plugins… it’s still slightly too much choice in my humble opinion, but if you’re interested you can head on over for a look – we’ll look into a review soon!

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We’ve had a preview of Reason 7 before back when it was announced, and this video shows that Reason 7′s audio quantising looks like it’s going to be one of the slickest solutions on the market (and that Propellerhead have a… quirky sense of humour!). It’ll be especially handy for those of you that record live instruments, and the bounce to rex option will be a blessing for sample chopping producers.

You can still buy Reason 6.5, and until the release of Reason 7 in a couple of weeks you’ll get a free Reason 7 upgrade if you do.

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Korg Volca Beats

• Analogue Drum machine
• Analogue Kick, Snare, Low/High Tom, and Open/Closed hats
• PCM samples for Agogo, Crash, and Clap
• 16 step sequencer with 10 parts and 8 patterns
• ‘Stutter’ effect that allows beat repeats

Korg Volca Keys

• 3 note polyphonic single oscillator analogue synth
• Polyphony can be used for unison, auto-fifths, octaves, and ring mod
• Delay effect
• Loop sequencer for live recording of phrases
• Self syncing VCOs

Korg Volca Bass

• Three oscillator monophonic analogue synth
• Square and Saw waves
• Single VCF, VCA, LFO, and Envelope Generator
• 16 step sequencer with 303-like ‘slide’ function

General

Connectivity is handled with MIDI in as well as a proprietary sync in/out that allows multiple Korg Volcas, as well as the Korg Monotribe, to connect up hassle free. Not only that, but Korg’s own SyncKontrol app can wirelessly interface with the Volcas to control tap tempo, swing, and sync with WIST enabled iOS apps. There’s a single 3.5mm headphone output to get the sound out of the synths and into your DAW (or whatever else you’re using to record) too.

All the Korg Volcas are fairly basic, but they each have some cool features that make them worth your interest – especially for the price: the Volca Beats is one of the only analogue drum machines I can think of that’s come out in recent history at the sub $150 mark, ditto for the polyphonic nature of the Volca Keys, and the three oscillator, ‘true’ analogue design of the Volca Bass right down to VCOs is similarly interesting (drift issues with VCOs have been dealt with by the self tuning mechanism).

Anyone excited?!

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Novation Bass Station 2

The video above is very much a peacocking gesture by Novation to remind people of their impressive heritage, show off their current stable, and debut the Novation Bass Station 2 (it’s about 2:48 before the juicy Bass Station 2 shots make their appearance).
Considering there’s been a crop of analogue monosynths over the past 18 months or so (Moog Minitaur, Arturia Minibrute, Korg MS-20 Mini), a reworking of a classic seems like it could be a shrewd move.

There’s not a huuuuge amount that can be said about the specs of an analogue monosynth before you’ve played with it, really… is there? The Bass Station 2 is analogue through and through and it has an input that cuts into line after the oscillators and before the filter and effects so you can use its analogue filter for other things in your studio.

Key features over the original:

• USB MIDI
• Onboard arpeggiator and step sequencer
• Two filter modes – classic Bass Station and ‘acid’
• Dedicated sub oscillator
• Four waveforms on oscillator 1 and 2 – Sine and triangle waveforms join pulse and saw
• Overdrive and filter mod effects built in
• Aftertouch sensitive keys

Patch management was always better on the Bass Station Rack than the original Bass Station Keyboard, but the Novation Bass Station 2 features a 128 patch memory, with 64 of them presets. Being able to send and receive patches over USB – not to mention MIDI – will be a great way to tempt users over to dedicated sound hardware away from their software studios. There’s just one feature, as far as I can see, that the Novation Bass Station 2 lacks from its predecessor: MIDI/CV conversion. No price yet, but my guess is somewhere a little lower than £400 – and hopefully closer to the £290 mark, although I’d be pleasantly surprised. It’s got competition after all, including from its dad (with the help of eBay)!

Here’s a question: would audio over USB take the fun – or an important stage of the signal chain – out of an analogue synth for you, or would it just make it even easier for you to integrate it into your DAW setup? (how many of you can/do run the multiple audio interfaces that would make this a reality?)

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Novation Launchpad S

Cosmetically, the Novation Launchpad S is more or less identical to the original Novation Launchpad – even down to the now outdated Ableton logo. The S in the title brings with it three key new features:

• Brighter LEDs
• Faster refreshing
• Class compliant MIDI

The most important thing for most of you will be the class compliant MIDI part; now that the Launchpad S is completely plug and play a whole world of new possibilities open up to to it – and iPad is the obvious contender here, especially with Novation’s own Launchpad iPad app.

You can read an insanely interesting post from one of the minds behind the Novation Launchpad S here; I love reading things by developers themselves!

(Is it just me or is it a little ironic that in order to demonstrate the brighter LEDs in the above video the lights get turned out, when fighting against ambient lights is the key advantage?!)

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