It is out now to download – the new Native Instruments Maschine Expansion – Pulswerk. I got mine today and there are some great evolving sounds, kits and patterns. There are in fact 7 full projects, 30 Drum Kits and 20 Special kits, 60 Massive Presets, 10 Multi-Effects Kits and 215 Patterns all in the 698 MB file. As well as the Drum Sounds you get Chords, Bleeps, Glitches, Drones, Pads, and other Pitched sounds. I love the Drones.

Listen to the Soundcloud Clip in the previous post.

Native Instruments PULSWERK expansion for your Maschine gives you all the sounds you need. Perfect for Minimalistic Techno and House music but with your imagination you could use it in any genre. Have you got yours yet – Buy it today why don’t ya?

I was pleased to hear about this today from Native Instruments – another new Maschine expansion pack called Pulswerk. Pulswerk is minimal techno and house sounds – I can’t wait. I really like the sounds in this one. Have a listen – What do you think?

[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/89160835" params="" width=" 100%" height="190" iframe="true" /]

After an exhausting long and fun time reviewing the very popular Native Instruments Maschine Mk2, I am now in a great position to take a close look at the recently released AKAI Studio MPC with its thin silver looks to tempt you into the world of groove and beatboxes, loopers and samples. There are lots of forum discussions and people comparing Native Instruments Maschine and different AKAI MPC products such as the AKAI Studio MPC and when you are trying to make the right choice it is difficult because both are fantastic machines. It is really your own personal preference. If you are very familiar with AKAI MPC products then the AKAI Studio MPC may very well be right for you. If you have never had a tap on either of these 16 pad wonders, then really you should try them both and make up your own mind as to how much you prefer both hardware and software.

WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF THE AKAI MPC?

The MPC was designed by Roger Linn and produced by Akai from 1988. You may have heard of the famous MPC60 their first MPC which was designs as an exciting and new power drum machine. Over time, the MPCs have developed and changed their functionality moving away from a MIDI Production Centre and becoming a Music Production Controller part hardware and part software with all the MPC sample software being loaded onto a PC so you ended up with a very powerful sequencer with the ability to sample and with creative fun and possibilities, load your very own individual samples onto your 16 pads creating kits and loops to make whole songs.

The other MPCs that have been with us since the MPC60 in date order are:- MPC3000, MPC2000, MPC2000XL, MPC4000, MPC2500, MPC1000, MPC500, MPC5000, MPC2000 and now we have the (very thin) MPC Studio, (the giant) MPC Renaissance and (for the iPad) the MPC Fly. Your first thoughts and considerations could very well be that if you were to buy an AKAI MPC, you will be doing so in the knowledge that you are buying a product from a company with a wealth of knowledge and experience in this area of drum machines, groove boxes, samplers and sounds but Native Instruments are not far behind, in fact many would say that they overtaken AKAI in some areas.

HOW TO THE UNBOX, LOAD THE SOFTWARE, SETUP  AND REGISTER THE AKAI MPC STUDIO

Native Instruments give you many extras and Akai do not disappoint. As I open the AKAI box the thin Silver beauty presents itself after taking out a bright red carrying case for it, which makes me think about AKAI’s thoughts on the Studio’s use. They obviously see that their biggest MPC – the MPC Renaissance they have designed for the recording studio, whilst the MPC Studio (which has the same software) is ideal for working and creating beats on the move. I am sure that those who can afford both will carry out their main work on the Renaissance and then transfer it to the MPC Studio whilst they are out and about. The measurements of the MPC Studio is 11.2″ x 10.1″ x 0.89″ which is 284 mm x 257 mm x 22.6 mm. Its weight is 1.96 lbs. or 0.89 kg.

Also in the box there is an A4 sheet to help you get used to the controls and layout. It has a picture of the Akai Studio on one side showing basic operations and on the other side you can see advanced controls. There is also a bag containing a USB cable, two MIDI breakout cable, a Quickstart guide and your Warranty , three DVDs; the main MPC Studio software, the Bank (which is all of the samples etc.) and one Expansion which is the 809.The Akai Renaissance comes with all of Akai’s expansions. I think I prefer the Maschine expansions but they are expensive at 49 Euros each.

It is easy to load the software and if your PC has no internet connection you have some extra work to activate it. The main software bank then loads without any codes or registration as do the expansion bank whereas the NI Maschine’s expansions all require registration and activation individually which can be a bit of a pain.

HAVE YOU PLAYED AN AKAI MPC STUDIO?

You have to quickly connect up and start playing, even though you haven’t read a thing in the manual, it is only natural to start to want to hear the sounds and feel what it’s like to play. If you put the Native Instruments Maschine and the Akai MPC Studio side by side you will discover that the MPC sounds smoother but the Maschine is louder. I quite like hearing the MPC samples on the Maschine.

I have decided that I prefer the hardware layout on the Maschine. The Akai MPC Studio seems to have a lot to learn and Maschine gives you two screens rather than one. The Maschine is also more colourful which helps with live playing. Like I have already said, the MPC Studio is designed for work on the move, whilst the Maschine is mountable on a stand for a live performance.

There are many controls on the MPC Studio. Excluding the LCD and the 16 Pads, there are 54 controls which is quite a lot on such a small unit. This means that some of the controls are small, however Akai have arranged them in a logical way. Like with the Maschine, most of the real estate is taken up by the 16 velocity-sensitive and pressure-sensitive pads. Comparing the two products in terms of Pad feel, I did not think there was much difference. Most people prefer MPC pads and it is possible to fit MPC pads on your Maschine.

On the left side of the MPC there are five dials to adjust the Q-Links which adjust various parameters and settings. These dials can control one column of parameters at a time. For example, when you look at the 4 x 4 Q-Matrix on the software you will see that Column 1 highlights Q1, Q5, Q9 and Q13. To get to the next column Q2, Q6, Q10 and Q14 you need to use the Scroll Dial above these to change which column of parameters the five dials currently control.

Under the Q-Link dials you will see the Q-link Trigger. Just hold it down and then touch one of Dials and you will make that dial’s parameter value jump to its minimum or maximum. Then there is the Erase Button. If you got the sequencer running, hold this and press a pad and it will delete the note event for that pad at the current playback position. Lastly on the left-hand side you have the Note Repeat / Latch Button. If you hold this button down and press a pad, you can retrigger that pad’s sample at a rate based on the current Tempo.

Above the Pads and under the LCD are six F-Buttons (Function Buttons) which correspond to the tabs that on the LCD. The LCD (360 x 96 dot graphic) is a little bit packed with information showing everything relevant to MPC Studio’s current operation. However you can see most of this information much clearer in the software on your PC or MAC. To use the LCD, you need to use the Cursor buttons, the Data Dial and -/+ buttons. You then need to use the Mode button to change what page is displayed and as I have already said use the F-Buttons to show what tab is to be displayed.

On the right where everything is tightly packed in, there are 20 controls (four rows of five). The first row contains 4 buttons for you to select the Pad banks A – H). You need to use the shift key to get to E-H. The fifth button is a Pad Assign / Pad Copy button.

The next row of five is a bit mixed. Firstly you have a Full Level / Half level button which when activated, the pads always play back at either a maximum velocity (127), no matter how hard or soft you hit them or at half-velocity (63). The next button is called 16 Level and is quite a feature and something the NI Maschine does not have. Apparently when you activate this, Akai state that the last pad that was hit will be temporarily copied to all 16 pads and the pads will now output the same note number as the initial pad, but a selectable parameter will be fixed at set values regardless of how hard you hit them.

On row 3 you have a button to view the Program Edit screen. Using the Shift key, you can assign a parameter to a Q-Link. There is also a button to view the Program Mixer screen, a sequencer edit mode button and a Sample Edit and Sample record button and a Song/Other button to view either the Song Screen or Other mode for things like pad threshold and sensitivity.

Row 4 provides five buttons that all relate to folders in the file browser. You have Project/Folder 1, Sequence/Folder 2, Program/Folder 3, Sample/ Folder 4 and No Filter / Folder 5.

Under these 20 controls is the main Data Dial with three buttons; a Main/Track button to see either the Main screen or Track view; a Browser / Save button to either view the file browser or save the current Project; a Numeric button to use the pads as a standard numeric keypad.

Next is the main Cursor control surrounded by four buttons; a Shift button, a Window/Full screen button, Tap Tempo and Undo/Redo buttons. Finally there are 10 buttons (two rows of five) giving you all the transport controls including an overdub button.

USING THE SOFTWARE WITH AKAI MPC STUDIO

The Software is in sections for the Browser, the upper and lower areas and the Grid. There are 12 modes; Main Mode; Program Edit Mode; Program Mixer Mode; Track Mixer Mode; Track View Mode; Song Mode; Next Sequence Mode; Sample Record Mode; Sample Edit Mode; Pad Mute Mode; Track Mute Mode and Step Sequencer Mode. You will see that many of these modes are visible all the time.

A Program in the Akai MPC Studio is defined as a file, containing a list of all samples used and their settings such as loop points, which pad they are assigned to, what FX are used and the pitch of the sample. If you go into Program Edit mode, not only can you edit your samples but you can assign them as well. Programs also make up projects and you can have 128 programs in a project – very impressive.

The Upper section of the MPC software gives you control so you can select Programs, Sequences and Songs whilst the lower section allows you to adjust BPM, which measure and the main transport controls. Lastly the Grid is the important section for you to record, arrange your song and carry out edits to sequences etc.

contains the MPC’s tabs as well as further control for selecting Programs, Sequences, Songs, etc. The Lower section contains the overall controls, such as the measure/tempo display and the transport controls. The Grid is the section where you can record, program and edit your sequences and arrange your songs. Main Mode gives you an overview of the most used functions. If you want to go to Main mode at any time you can either press the Main/Track button on your hardware or just simply select the Main Tab in the Upper section of your MPC software.

There is so much here, unfortunately you have a bit of a learning curve. You will find some elements of user-friendly aspects on both the MPC and the NI Maschine but some need you to reach for the manual. I found that on the MPC, I did not instantly understand the Q-Links and on the Maschine Scenes were not immediately obvious to me as to how they worked.

PLAYING SOUNDS AND ASSIGNING EFFECTS ON THE AKAI MPC STUDIO

The Akai MPC Studio has a quality sound to it and a vast range of sounds giving you every conceivable drum, percussion, noise, wobble as well as instrument sounds. In fact is has 9 GB of them which include sounds from their earlier models such as the MPC3000. You will find these in the 908 expansion bank in the box. The Native Instruments Maschine does not have such a large collection with 6 GB but it also comes with some synths that integrate with Maschine, such as their famous synth Massive. It also gives you a start into the world of Komplete where you could add on the full package (now Komplete 9 just released) and add 120 GB of sounds.

In terms of FX, the MPC software provides a whole assortment of effects so you can process samples and your programs. Add a touch of Mastering to this and again like the Maschine you can also use your own third-party plug-ins.

The effects you get are; Flanger, Flanger Sync, Chorus 4-voice, Chorus 2-voice, Autopan, Autopan Sync, Tremelo, Tremelo Sync, Phaser 1, Phaser 2, Phaser Sync, LP Filter Sweep, LP Filter Sync, HP Filter Sweep, HP Filter Sync, Auto Wah, HP Filter, LP Filter, HP Shelving Filter, LP Shelving Filter, PEQ 2-Band, 2-Shelf, PEQ 4-Band, Delay Mono, Delay Mono Sync, Delay Stereo, Delay Stereo Sync, Delay LP, Delay HP, Delay Analogue, Delay Analogue Sync, Delay Tape Sync, Delay Ping Pong, Delay Multi-Tap, Distortion Fuzz, Distortion Amp, Distortion Overdrive, Distortion Custom, Distortion Grimey, Transient Shaper, Compressor Opto, Compressor VCA, Compressor Vintage, Compressor Master, Reverb Large, Reverb Large 2, Reverb Medium, Reverb Small, Reverb In Gate, Reverb Out Gate, Decimator, Resampler and Frequency Shifter. That is a very impressive range of effects so that not only do you have over 9GB of sounds but you can add effects to them and change them into something new.

WELL WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE AKAI MPC STUDIO?

Perhaps it is not a good idea to compare the Akai MPC Studio with Native Instruments Maschine as they are really two different products designed for slightly different needs. If the price is a big factor in your decision as to which one to get, then the you will find that the Akai MPC Studio is cheaper.

If you are considering that you want it mainly for Live playing, I would recommend the Maschine. However, in a DJ setup. I am sure the MPC would do equally well (as I am sure it does) sitting alongside the DJ’s other music gear.

If you are not worried about portability or live playing then have a look at the bigger brother – the Akai Renaissance MPC. They are all great fun whatever you choose and they all provide you with an alternative way to make music, so what are you waiting for – give it a try, you will be pleasantly surprised as I was.

BUY AN AKAI MPC STUDIO TODAY

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1. The walk to Musikmesse 2013

We had a pleasant walk from the Hotel to Musikmesse and when we arrived, fortunately it was not as busy as it became later on in the day.

2. Sightseeing at Musikmesse 2013

There is always something beautiful to see at these music shows, the guitar is not too bad either.

3. Monolith live at Musikmesse 2013

Here is just a brief clip of the Italian top DJ and VJ duo Monolith amongst a large crowd in Musikmesse Frankfurt 2013. Great performance on controllers and keyboards, although this clip does not do them justice. Some of the gritty bass sounds were awesome. I would like to hear more from them.

Here is a picture I took of Monolith at Musikmesse 2013. They have been working in collaboration with ICON Digital Corporation. They certainly captured my attention, they have a great visual image as well as an awesome sound. iCON’s midi controllers certainly need checking out. I will have to do some more research on this company but their controllers are great. I wish they would also team up with Native Instruments and design a sound expansion pack for Maschine of their incredible sounds – just an idea, you never know, perhaps someone from Native Instruments is reading this. I am full of great ideas like this.

4. Lights, Music, Action at Musikmesse 2013

The light show was superb and I loved how the lights moved from the stage to the massive circular collection of spots in the centre of the auditorium. It looked like a flying saucer at times coming into land. There was also a series of lights that were made to look like flames.

Here is another picture in red to give you some idea of size and configuration. It was very spectacular and something that I will remember of this trip to Frankfurt:-

5. Guitars at Musikmesse 2013

You cannot help but love Gibson Guitars especially when they throw in some robotics. What a great display.

Here is another:-

Here are a couple of up and coming guitarists – “You play Guitar and I’ll play Bass”.

Something that looks great on stage are guitars with Neon Strings. It is one of those simple but very effective ideas and there were plenty at Musikmesse. Here is one that caught my eye:-

6. Do you need a new pair of Headphones?

I think I would like a pair of these – I’ll take the Blue pair. Musikmesse 2013 had a colourful display from iDance. They have so many bright and different colour fashion headphones for all purposes including bluetooth.

iDance have a great website at http://www.idanceaudio.com/ and the company’s motto “it is your life, it is your style.” here is a clip of their products:-

7. Akai MPC Studio at Musikmesse 2013

After carrying out a full review on the Akai MPC recently, I was please to see it at Musikmesse 2013 on its colourful stand:-

8. Raven MTX MultiTouch-Screen Mixer/Console at Musikmesse 2013

What about one of these new Slate Pro Audio Raven MTX Multitouch Production Console from GC Pro Spotlight with a state of the art Touch-Screen Mixer to control your favourite DAW. This is a great way to control your DAW from clip-editing to mixing and mastering all quickly at the lightest touch of your fingers:-

9. Award-Winning Presonus at Musikmesse 2013

Presonus also had a nice stand at Musikmesse and for their StudioLive 16.0.2 mixer they have won their third consecutive prestigious MIPA Award.

Here is a picture of the Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2 mixer and Sceptre monitors at Musikmesse 2013:-

10. Time to head off home and leave Frankfurt and Musikmesse

I had a great time – and a big thanks to David and Stephen for making this happen.

It is strange how quick a week goes by, yes it has been a week since I was playing around with some great synths, pianos and keyboards at Frankfurt’s fantastic Musikmesse 2013. I wanted to contribute to the overwhelming noise and atmosphere and after a few beers and a rather painful neck massage (thanks for that), I worked my way around the halls to have some brief momments with the following:-

1. Korg King Korg and Korg MS-20

I love the King Korg Synth, I found it had a lush sheen and smoothness to the sound, it certainly has a character of its own. The King Korg has some great filters based on their own and other makes. There is one based on the Korg Radius, the Moog, the Prophet, the Oberheim and the TB303 throwing some acid in there as well. Screen is a little bit small, but you can control everything from the knob tweaking controls so it is not a problem. There are 3 effect types of insert effects again all in front of you to select and there is a step arpeggiator and with a full analogue tube and an EQ it is excellent. There is a facility for favourites as well as librarian software to manage your patches and you can connect analogue gear to it as well as a microphone for some vocoder effects. I want a King Korg because it is a synth that instantly grabs your attention and some awesome facilities that you will not find all together anywhere else.

The Korg MS-20 Mini derived from obviously the MS-20 is close to my heart. I have loved this like the bands I have been in that have used one. this is not analogue modelling but truly an analogue synth with a hands-on patch bay for you to physically patch with cables. It is 86% of the size of the original MS-20. It has a CV Out so you could connect it to the King Korg as mentioned above. The differences between the original and the Korg MS-20 Mini is that apart from its size it has MIDI In and a USB connection. It is absolutely great fun and really helps you understand what Analogue is all about.

2. Nord Lead 4

As well as the Nord Lead 4 keyboard, I also saw a Nord Lead 4 Rack at Musikmesse 2013. The Nord Lead 4 is a two-oscillator virtual analogue synth engine. You have some new performance features, filters, effects and four-part multi-timbral functionality. It is great for making some of those classic eighties sounds. Have a look at this clip from Musikmesse 2013 :-

3. StudioLogic Sledge Synth

I badly wanted to try out the 61 note StudioLogic Sledge Synthesizer because Waldorf provide the Synth engine. With its bright yellow colour you can hardly miss it. It is an eight-voice virtual analogue polysynth with a synth-action keyboard with aftertouch. To be honest the disappointment for me was the keyboard action which was not particularily great. The sound however is great and you have a lot of hands-on control with 32 Pots, 3 rotary switches, 1 rotary encoder with push function,2 x 16 digits backlit LCD, Pitch and Mod Wheel. With 256 sounds and 3 Oscillators per voice you need to try the Sledge out for yourself.

4. Waldorf Rocket Analogue Synth

Keeping with the Waldorf theme, I was pleased that I tracked down the new Waldorf Rocket Synth. I wish Korg would make the King Korg into a portable piece of hardware like the Rocket. The Waldorf Rocket is as Waldorf describe it – a sound design machine that is just great fun has a quality sound all for a great price. I tried it at the Waldorf booth and it is very powerful, portable analog synth and it seems great for bass and lead sounds and I even got some Pad sounds from it. I particularly liked the envelope boost knob and I had loads of fun overdriving it.

I think the filters do sound very much Waldorf. They can screech if you want them to and are deep and open. I did not have too much time with the Waldorf Rocket but I enjoyed its ease of use with plenty of knob-twiddling fun.

5. Korg Kross Synth

Well here is another synth that Korg have named with a ‘K’. We now have the King Korg, the Kronos, the Krome and now only just released the new Korg Kross. Korg certainly give you some variety, choice and synths to meet different budgets. The Kross is a great value-for-money synth, especially if you are after an 88 note keyboard. I was surprised to hear that both its 61 and 88 note versions will run on batteries. So it is very portable but it does have some intersting specifications for its cost and weight, one of which is its step sequencer that they have taken from their Electribe and you also get a mic input and built-in audio recorder.

Both models are very lightweight with the 61 note weighing a tiny 4.3 kg which is 9.5 lbs and the 88 note only 12.4 kg which is 27.3lbs. The Kross is black on top but underneath and around the sides it is bright red and has a handle built into the base to aid portability even further. You get a good selection of sound patches with the Korg Kross. There is an area for 640 User Program patches and 512 come pre-loaded and there are 384 Combinations of which 256 are pre-loaded and lastly for drums the user are can have 48 and you get 32 already loaded.

6. Novation Bass Station II

Here is another of my favourites from the Musikmesse show – Novation’s new Bass Station II. It is another small, portable 25 note analogue mono-synth with full sized velocity sensitive keys with aftertouch obviously based on their original Bass Station. Novation have brought it upto the needs of 2013. It is also obviously designed for bass and I loved its filters and its step sequencer which are very much Novation. I wish I had more time to play with its wonderful modulation section which is really powerful – I will have to re-visit this.

Again another synth designed for fun – The Novation Bass Station II has lots of analogue tweakability with ample pots, switches and sliders for a great hand-on experience as well as great effects. You get 64 powerful presets and space to store 64 of your own, which is the same storage as the Roland Gaia. Personally, I find that this is a bit small in 2013 but I suppose this synth is really for bass and 128 should be enough for your needs and you can store more on your computer.

7. Kawai Grand Piano

As you walk around the Halls, there are some lovely acoustic grand pianos. One that caught my eye was this Shigeru Kawai SK-EX grand piano which Kawai have recently upgraded. This is their flagship model producing a beautiful warm and rich sound. There is a fantastic quality about this piano – just imagine you had something as elegant as this in your lounge that screams at you “Play me, Play me”.

There were some excellent kits at Frankfurt Musikmesse 2013, like this awesome Roland and Sonor kit. The noise and excitement as you walked around the Halls as drummers of all levels showed the crowd their capabilities. I was really impressed by a young girl of only eight and half years who showed an incredible ability which included snare drum technique, a very skilled hand a feet co-ordination and an obvious grasp of syncopation that you do not normally see at this age.

HAVE NORD MADE THE NORD DRUM 2 ALREADY?

I decided to have a go at something a bit smaller – the new Nord Drum2 and Nord Pad. I was playing so fast with my right hand, my red nord sticks are a blur as you will see in the picture:-

WHICH DO YOU PREFER YAMAHA ACOUSTIC OR YAMAHA ELECTRONIC?

There was a great array of acoustic kits and Yamaha were displaying what they do best. Below are two acoustic and Yamaha’s DTX. I do like their orange Club Custom with thick deep wooden rims:-

DO YOU LOVE THE SOUND OF OAK?

Here is a lovely Yamaha Live Custom Black Oak kit which is made from 1.2mm oak plies. These are actually thicker than Yamaha’s Oak Custom drums. Bass drums have eight-ply, and it is six-ply on all the toms and snare. I love the clear sound of Oak but at the same time you still get a good low end sound that has great power and presence.

YAMAHA DTX ELECTRONIC KIT

This is Yamaha’s DTX950K top of their range electronic kit with an excellent HEX rack and their next-generation electronic drum pads that they have designed to be played by selecting from their 1115 preset drum voices in the DTX900 drum brain module.

HAVE YOU PLAYED A PREMIER DRUM KIT RECENTLY?

It has been a few years since I have played a Premier Kit. Just as I was about to buy one, Pearl opened a factory near to where I lived, so I ended up with a Pearl Kit. Looking at the Musikmesse display it certainly looks a crowd-pleaser – what do you think of this beauty from Premier Drums which comes from their famous hand-made One series?

LATIN PERCUSSION AT MUSIKMESSE 2013

There was a great wealth of percussion at Musikmesse 2013 full of bright colours, shapes and materials screaming out “Hit me”, “Shake me” and “Play me”. Every Conga and Bongo Drum I passed, I wanted to tap at the very least or pretend I was in the African Jungle playing a drum ritual. A big thanks to Casio for the couple of shakers they gave me – great fun.

CAN YOU PLAY A CAJON?

Its the sort of thing that you can put in the corner of your living room, use it as another seat and when you are in your party mood show your drumming skills. Their were quite a few types, makes and colours. LP and Toca were the main Cajon’s I saw.

DIRK BRAND V-DRUM PERFORMANCE

Here is a brief clip where Dirk Brand demonstrates Roland V-Drums with a fun and powerful performance on a blue TD-30 kit. A short clip showing the bustling atmosphere in the Musikmesse Halls.

FINALLY THE ROLAND V-DRUM BT-1 BAR TRIGGER PAD

I had to try a Roland BT-1 Bar trigger pad as I have one on order. It was hard to hear it properly with the noise around me and it was not connected to a TD-30 so I will have to reserve judgement until it arrives. There were many other items at this great show, I wish I could show you them all.

It is a great privilege to be attending Musikmesse in Frankfurt this weekend. Already there has been a surprising announcement of new products – Korg Kross Synth, Novation Bass Station II, Roland RC-505 Looper, Native Instruments Komplete 9 software package, Avid Pro Tools 11 DAW, Arturia KeyLab range of professional-grade MIDI keyboard controllers with all-new accompanying Analog Lab synthesizer software, Genelec M Series Monitors, Cakewalk Z3TA+ 2 software synth, Softube Console 1 hardware/software music mixing solution, TC Helicon Harmony Singer, Novation Launchpad S, Universal Audio Apollo 16 Audio Interface, Nord Drum 2 and Nord Pad, Nord Lead 4, Korg Volca analogue groove boxes, Nord Piano 2 HP, RME MADiface XT – the world’s first USB 3.0 audio interface, SPL Crimson USB Audio Interface & Controller, and at long last the Waldorf Pulse 2 Synth.

I am sure there are many others that will capture my heart and interest and possibly my wallet. I hope to bring back some great pictures and useful information to share with you

All of the DAWS claim to be the best and most powerful DAW but Pro Tools has been at or near the top so it is interesting to see just how powerful it has become. Will I get a better sound, a better mix, have less workflow problems. Can Avid Pro Tools pull me away from Sonar X2 and tempt me as the clip has tried to do? It is said to have a new very efficient audio engine. It says it has a 64-bit performance but shouldn’t everything have this nowdays? I want to see its groundbreaking capabilities in the flesh and decide for myself so I will have to give it a look at Musikmesse this week.

Well Avid Pro Tools 11 certainly looks like it has a lot here. I particular like the idea that it can speedup editing with something called Clip Gain and that you can use multiple audio formats in your recording but probably best of all is that for people with slow hard drives, it can improve responsiveness with its enhanced disk cache.

It is Musikmesse week in Frankfurt Germany, but before the show has started many companies are announcing some new products. After what I thought was a poor anouncement from Roland and their new products, it is great to see companies like Novation, keeping today’s music moving. Today they have shown us their new Bass Station II Analogue Mono Synth to celebrate their 21 years in the business.

The Bass Station II is based on the well-loved original Bass Station but they improved it to meet the demands of today’s musicians. It comes with two awesome filters and oscillators and a deep sub-oscillator. When you add a substantial effects section, a step sequencer, a 2013 arpeggiator, full sized keys and a very powerful modulation section – you have a mean bass-stard of a synth.

Read on to watch the You Tube Clip which gives you a brief look at the new Novation Bass Station II Analogue Mono Synth but really shows you what great products that have come from this company as well as demonstrating how they can be used.