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Tag: Kontakt

  • FOLDS by VOID & VISTA adds the Surreal to Your Kontakt Library

    FOLDS by VOID & VISTA adds the Surreal to Your Kontakt Library

    FOLDS by VOID & VISTA is a new sample library for Kontakt. It leverages a collection of voice recordings and electronic sources to create surreal and cinematic soundscapes for your next music production. It features a dual-layer sound design platform with a host of synth-like and more esoteric parameters. Check out the press release below!

    FOLDS
    FOLDS in action with Kontakt. Image courtesy VOID & VISTA.

    VOID & VISTA announces availability of FOLDS as intimate yet expansive boutique VI for Native Instruments’ KONTAKT platform and NKS-compatible devices

    LONDON, UK: cutting-edge contemporary music-orientated virtual instrument creator VOID & VISTA is proud to announce availability of FOLDS — formulated as an intimate yet expansive boutique virtual instrument for Native Instruments’ KONTAKT platform and NKS-compatible devices, based upon the human voice and its creator’s award-winning sound design engine — as of March 28…

    Creatively combining expressive, characterful, and unique sampling with powerful sound design features and an inspiring UI (User Interface) to offer 32 sound sources anchored around expressive vocal articulations and textures, both real and imagined, FOLDS is ideally suited to contemporary media composers, production music writers, and sound designers alike. And thanks to the variety of emotive textures that it offers, electronic music producers and artists across multiple genres can clearly expand their toolbox, too.

    That being said, then, FOLDS‘ bespoke collection of carefully curated male and female vocalist articulations incorporate soft and hard arrhythmic expressions; weaving and wavering vowels; broken reversed hums; evocative vocalisations designed for bass; sound effects; and more.

    For FOLDS also features an inspiring collection of effect sounds, such as reverse granulations, as well as re-synthesised, deconstructed, and synthetically processed sounds using Eurorack modular, effect pedals, and tape machine manipulations. Sampled synth waveforms taken from a collection of analogue hardware are also featured.

    FOLDS‘ 32 sound sources can be layered, sculpted, and effected using a deep, two-layer sound design engine that includes multimode filters; dual motion LFOs (Low Frequency Oscillators); six envelopes; customisable LOFI effect; three-stage parallel CHARACTER effects (with presets and user impulse response import); and dedicated REVERB and DELAY in the SPACE section. Such sound design power is available to all via an inspiring and intuitive UI with over 150 controls — including access to a custom MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) mapping page and dedicated send effects — designed to keep users focused on making music.

    Moreover, FOLDS comes complete with a vast collection of over 300 preset snapshots organised locally for ease of use; all have pre-assigned mod wheel and/or aftertouch modulation mappings for jaw-dropping sound manipulation and adding musical expression… evidenced by award-winning film composer David Arnold’s understandably uncurbed enthusiasm! 

    FOLDS is initially available to purchase for 20% off with the FOLDSLAUNCH20 discount code that is valid until May 8, 2024 — rising thereafter to its regular price of £129.00 GBP — as a KONTAKT PLAYER– and NKS-compatible AAX-, AU-, and VST-formatted virtual instrument plug-in featuring 4.5 GB of samples that is compatible with all major DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations) running on macOS 11 or above — natively compatible with Apple Silicon — and Windows 10/11 directly from the dedicated product webpage here: https://www.voidandvista.com/products/folds

    To function, FOLDS needs Native Instruments KONTAKT 7.7 or higher via the Native Access 2 administration tool for music creation software available from here: https://www.native-instruments.com/en/specials/native-access-2/

    Watch VOID & VISTA’s tantalising trailer video for FOLDS here:

  • Say Goodbye to Rebirth – Synth News Digest 3

    Say Goodbye to Rebirth – Synth News Digest 3

    Recently, the sad news hit the synth community – Propellerheads’ venerable virtual beatbox studio, Rebirth was being removed from the iTunes App Store. At first, many synthheads figured the issue was due to the 64-bit requirement in the upcoming iOS 11. I noticed that Rebirth just updated at the end of February, so there had to be something else afoot.

    And there was. It appears – after nearly two decades – Roland finally issued a “cease and desist” to Propellerheads for copyright infringement due to the TR-808, TR-909, and TB-303 simulations in the app. The Swedish music software maker obliged and Rebirth is gone from the App Store as of June 15th.

    rebirth ios
    Goodbye Rebirth! Screenshot by Author.

    Where was Roland in the late 90s, when the desktop version of Rebirth was the rage? Software synthesis intrigued me ever since I played around with Csound. That environment wasn’t amenable for live jamming with Quarkspace, so we never really used it. At that time in our history, samples were the main source for beatmaking, but I wanted to write our own loops and the timing of Rebirth’s release was perfect.

    Recaesarian (where’d we get that title?!), from 1999’s Spacefolds 5 was the first example of us jamming with Rebirth; I even added-in some of the preset patterns towards the end to freak the fellas out.

    A more concise live version developed over the years, and we cut a definitive studio take never to be released. More recently, I mashed up the Recaesarian loop with the one from The Hidden Moon’s Astral Grinder on a remix for Inside the Rift magazine.

    I used Rebirth pretty extensively for the next few years, before FL Studio – with its support for VST plugins – became my go-to beatmaker. Because of its lack of VST support until recently I never bothered with Reason, Propellerhead’s successor to Rebirth. The iOS version of Rebirth is faithful to the original, with an improved interface for wrangling patterns.

    Feeling nostalgic, I am currently working on a Rebirth project for an upcoming Church of Hed release. If you own the iOS version, make sure you back the app up. It is the end of an era, for sure.

    Kenton’s New Merge-8 MIDI Merge Unit

    Electronic musicians handling a wide range of MIDI controllers, clock sources, and computers know the value of a good MIDI merge unit. Kenton just released the Merge-8, an 8×2 MIDI merger which combines MIDI data – including clocks, time code, and SysEx – into one stream repeated at both outputs. It comes with its own power source, so you needn’t worry about a 2.2V signal not providing enough juice. The Merge-8’s street price is around 135 quid, including VAT.

    Getting your Chiptune on with Impact Soundworks Super Audio Boy

    There’s no denying the impact of video gaming music and sound effects on the music industry. If you enjoy getting your chiptune on, check out the FREE Super Audio Boy Kontakt sample library from Impact Soundworks. Now those old school Nintendo Game Boy sounds are at your fingertips – all at the perfect price! Note that this library requires the full version of Kontakt.

    Softube introduces Console 1 Mk II with UAD Plugin Support

    Universal Audio plugins remain the Holy Grail for many musicians on a budget. Softube recently introduced Console 1 Mk II, a more inexpensive version of its mixer with support for UAD plugins included. At a street price of $499, you get one high-end console channel strip, with the ability to control your UAD and other plugins – most standard formats are supported.

    This seamless mix between the hardware and software worlds is truly state of the art. As Midnight Oil sings – “we got the best of both worlds here!”


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