Sound designer Roger Grønberg talks about Modular Beats and his love of all things analog

May 16th, 2012

Zero-G Modular BeatsThis week sample pioneers Zero-G released their latest sample collection – Modular Beats. Crammed with stand-out beats and kits, no samples or drum machines were used in the making of this library as the sounds and loops were all created using only modular synthesizers and analog monosynths.

Roger Grønberg, a sound designer from Norway who specialises in physical modelling and sound invention, reportedly put over 4000 hours of work into this library; before we let him rest we asked him to tell us more about this unique collection of samples. Read More

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Developer Alex Wallbank talks about the making of Cinematic Strings 2 and the enthusiastic reception as the string section takes a bow

May 16th, 2012

Alex WallbankWe recently announced the arrival of Cinematic Strings to Time+Space – a virtual instrument that was created to meet the needs of working composers in today’s film, television and video game industries by focusing on maximising both efficiency and authenticity.

Not only an inspiring instrument, Cinematic Strings provides a realistic mockup tool which saves composers from all the hassle and wasted time spent tweaking parameters, modifying CC data, or applying drastic EQ and reverb effects to emulate the sound you’re after.

We got in touch with Founder Alex Wallbank to find out more about the company behind the software, why they developed it and the response they’ve received so far…. Read More

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Ian Boddy on creating his new Analogue Workshop sample library series

May 15th, 2012
Ian Boddy

Ian Boddy (Photo by Nigel Mullaney)

Earlier this month, synth sound design extraordinaire Ian Boddy kicked off the new Analogue Workshop series of sample packs under his Waveforms label with the release of Distortion & Feedback. This pack is crammed with 300 samples covering everything from earth shattering drones, twisted pads, piercing modulations, weird transmissions and more.

We caught up with Ian to find out more about the new series, which pieces of his enviable collection of hardware he used, and how this new library fits in to different musical projects… Read More

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Ian Boddy is back with new Distortion and Feedback sample library

April 25th, 2012

Sound Designer Ian BoddyRenowned synthesist and sound designer Ian Boddy needs little introduction when it comes to sample libraries. He has worked on award-winning collections for leading sample producers Zero-G and Sample Magic plus patch and sample content for Camel Audio, LinPlug and Rob Papen.

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iZotope reveal the revolutionary Iris sample-based synthesizer

April 17th, 2012

iZotope Iris sample-based synthesizerWell, we knew something special was coming from iZotope and yesterday all was revealed. Billed by iZotope as a ‘visual instrument’, Iris utilizes RX2 technology to give the user a variety of advanced ‘photoshop-esque’ tools to select regions of audio within sound to create patches in a truly ground-breaking way. Read More

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Zero-G are 21 years old and we take a look at their Total Rex collection

April 13th, 2012

Total Rex Sample LibraryBack in September 2010 we did an interview with Ed Stratton, the founder of the leading UK sample library production company Zero-G. Ed was kind enough to give us an insight into the early days of sampling and how the sample library industry has developed over the years.

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Rob Papen Blade – the people’s verdict

April 13th, 2012

BladeA few weeks ago Rob Papen unleashed his latest virtual synth onto the world in the form of BLADE.

Blade is an additive synthesis engine that has an individual character and flexibility never seen before in a software synth. One of the most prominent features of this synth is the Harmolator – a set of global controls that get to the heart of the synthesis engine without the need to edit the additive partials that make up the waveform. Read More

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Is a brand new iZotope product almost upon us?

April 12th, 2012

izotope bannerWe’ve noticed that something has been quietly brewing over on the iZotope websiteA page called ‘blips’ appeared last month which has been regularly updated with new ‘transmissions’ which take the form of short image presentations which feature some rather interesting audio. Read More

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Piano maestro Robert Peeters reviews Synthogy Ivory II Grand Pianos

April 5th, 2012

Watching and listening to the hugely talented Robert Peeters play the piano in his YouTube videos is simply awe inspiring so when he contacted us to ask if he could evaluate Synthogy‘s Ivory II Grand Pianos as part of a Steinway VST review series on his website we didn’t hesitate to say yes.

So why Steinway VSTs? According to Robert, Steinways are the best pianos when it comes to both sound and playability and whilst Ivory II Grand Pianos offers three pianos (German Steinway D9’ Concert Grand, Bösendorfer 290 Imperial Grand and Yamaha C7 Grand), he has focused his review solely on the Steinway D. Read More

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Discover the secrets of the Harmolator with Rob Papen

April 3rd, 2012

Released by Rob Papen last month, the Blade additive software synth has many features that make creating your own sounds easier and more intuitive than ever before. Perhaps the most powerful new feature that Blade has to offer is the Harmolator, check out this video with Rob Papen to learn more…

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