Tag: Impact Soundworks

  • Impact Soundworks gets Meditative – Synth News Digest 16

    Impact Soundworks gets Meditative – Synth News Digest 16

    Welcome to this edition of the TabMuse Synth News Digest. It gives us the opportunity for a few quick profiles of some fresh music technology product releases worthy of your interest. If you want to check out the last digest, covering the free version of Cakewalk Sonar among other news bits, simply click on the following link.

    As always – thanks for reading!

    Bang a Gong with Impact Soundworks’ Meditation

    When looking for a Kontakt sample library laden with high quality samples of gongs, glass, and other forms of mallet sounds, stop your search at Impact Soundworks Meditation. In addition to the Eastern percussion samples, the collection also includes a variety of found sounds as well as a few standard synth waveforms. It leverages Kontakt’s additive synthesis functionality, letting you dial in the exact sound you need for your project.

    Impact-Soundworks-Meditation
    Meditation offers a host gong and other mallet samples. Image copyright Impact Soundworks.

    Meditation requires the full version of Native Instruments Kontakt, so those of you with only the Kontakt Player need not apply. While this is likely frustrating, remember Meditation uses Kontakt’s synthesis capabilities. If still interested, Meditation is available from Impact Soundworks as a download for $49. Gong!

    I wish they all could be California Keys

    Q Up Arts recently released a sample collection of a variety of vintage keyboard instruments with the moniker of California Keys. In addition to sampling a Fazioli grand piano, Q Up also recorded a few classic keyboards, including a Rhodes, Wurlitzer, as well as Vox, Farfisa, and Hammond organs. The sampling session took place at a private recording studio in Topanga Canyon, adding to that Cali mystique.

    California Keys is available for the Native Instruments Kontakt Player, version 5.5. It also supports NI’s NKS instrument control standard. The full collection requires around 40GB of hard drive space. It is normally available for $499, but keep an eye out for those attractive sale prices.

    I don’t remember; I don’t RecAll – from Audified

    A great improv session is currently in progress, and you didn’t boot up your DAW. Well, perhaps an easy to use multi-channel recording application with low overhead, like Audified’s RecAll needs to be on your shortlist. Unfortunately for Windows users, RecAll currently only supports the MacOS platform.

    In addition to a multi-track recording, RecAll also records a separate stereo mix automatically. At a current price of only $49, it belongs in the collection of any studio who handles a lot of spontaneous recording activity. It takes you from inspiration to documentation in nary a minute.


  • Aftertouch adds 3D Touch Control to your iOS Synths – Synth News Digest 9

    Aftertouch adds 3D Touch Control to your iOS Synths – Synth News Digest 9

    The capacitive touchscreen ushered in a new era of mobile device interfaces, as illustrated by the smartphone and tablet. Recently, Apple upped the game with 3D Touch, which enhances the touchscreen by adding support for velocity and pressure sensitivity. I’ve always felt that these were the two missing links in iOS becoming a truly professional platform for musical applications, but my new iPad doesn’t support 3D Touch. Sigh.

    In fact, some industry pundits question whether Apple will ever bring 3D Touch to the iPad. Cost is likely a big factor in their hesitation. Until that time, companies like Roli and others remain the true interface innovators in music technology.

    aftertouch ios
    Controlling Arturia’s iSEM with Aftertouch. Screenshot by author.

    Aftertouch is an interesting MIDI controller app for iOS which supports these new 3D Touch features. It features a unique grid-based interface with a host of configuration options, including key, interval, and more. The 3D interface uses X, Y, and Z axes configured to control the parameter of your choice, with the Z axis only working on Apple devices with 3D Touch support. So you are still able to get some value out of Aftertouch on older iPhones and iPads running iOS 9.0 and newer.

    Robust MIDI support lets you use Aftertouch to control any iOS synth app that supports Core MIDI. There are also two built-in basic synth sounds useful for experimenting with configurations. I would’ve really loved to give Aftertouch a full review on a device with 3D Touch, but it just wasn’t in the cards at this time. If you have a newer iPhone, Aftertouch is surely worthy of further exploration. Check it out!

    Rob Papen introduces RP-Verb 2

    Rob Papen remains a legend in the world of software-based music technology. We previously covered his excellent soft synth Predator 2, which I used on the next Church of Hed album to be released in early 2018. Recently, Papen revealed RP-Verb 2, an updated version of his classic reverb and effects plugin. It is available in most popular plugin formats for $149.

    Some of the new features of RP-Verb 2 include the “Reverser,” a reverse reverb algorithm, as well as some synth-related functionality, including envelopes and LFOs. There’s even a modulation matrix to supercharge real-time parameter control. RP-Verb definitely is worth checking out.

    Getting your Old School Computer Sound On with Impact Soundworks

    I had an Atari 800 in the early 80s. Actually, I still do; buried in a closet somewhere. I loved playing around by writing small BASIC programs to create sirens, explosions, wind, and other freaky sound effects. Well, Impact Soundworks makes it easy to return to those halcyon days of yore, without having to type in one CLOAD statement.

    Super Audio Cart PC features samples from a host of computers from the 80s and 90s, including Atari’s famous POKEY chip, the Commodore Amiga, the AdLib soundcard and more. This package is a companion to Impact’s Super Audio Cart which focuses on video game systems from the same era. It is compatible with the Kontakt Free Player and NI’s NKS control standard.

    This package is available for $99, but if you already own Super Audio Cart, a crossgrade is available. Thousands of samples are available, as well as a 4-voice synth engine using those classic tones. Get your chiptune on!