MTMIncoming

REASON5 Blocks mode,DrOctoRex, Kong… if you haven’t upgraded yet, get on the case!

THERETURNOF... Krautrock heroes Faust and industrial pioneers Meat

Beat Manifesto.

SUN’S ERHU A new virtual instrument from Sound Magic.Didn’t know you needed a Chinese violin in your arsenal?You do now.

THE111MOVEMENT Dubstep gets all arty and cerebral – they’ve got a manifesto and everything! Check out the album Safe Mode and remember where you saw it first, IDM-pickers.

Highs

What’s been floating our boat or sinking our ship this month…

&Lows

PORTABLERECORDER

OVERLOAD My Auntie Mabel hasn’t released a 24-bit/96kHz pocket recorder this year, but everyone else has. It’s ever so hard to keep up...

THEAUTO-TUNE/ X-FACTOR FIASCO Sick of hearing about this now!

BONOWHINGEING His recent NewYorkTimes article about ISPs and file-sharing made some fair points. But could he not just shut up once in a while?

DIASPORA BUGS Reports of umpteen security flaws mean that, for now, it’s still Facebook or nothing.

10 | November2010 magazine

CLASSICAL TRIO

Newvirtual instruments from Time+Space for the orchestrally inclined

Time+Space has launched three major new virtual instruments this month – Ivory II Grand Pianos,

this month – Ivory II Grand Pianos,

this month – Ivory II Grand Pianos,

Symphobia 2 and Voxos – all of which are of a classical/orchestral bent.

Symphobia 2 and Voxos – all of which are of a classical/orchestral bent.

Ivory II provides emulations of three classic grand pianos – a Bösendorfer 290 Imperial, a Steinway D Concert Grand and a Yamaha C7. The pack costs £235 and three classic grand pianos – a Bösendorfer 290 Imperial, a Steinway D Concert Grand and a Yamaha C7. The pack costs £235 and weighs in at 77GB,

weighs in at 77GB,

weighs in at 77GB,

although the three pianos can be installed individually to save on disk space. Anyone who’s purchased although the three pianos can be installed individually to save on disk space. Anyone who’s purchased

Ivory Grand Pianos since 1 November, 2009, is entitled to a free upgrade to the latest version.

Symphobia 2, meanwhile, is a 33GB orchestral package, retailing for £999 and aimed at soundtrack composers. There’s a full review on page 110, though, so we won’t say any more here!

Finally, Voxos: Epic Virtual Choir costs £699 and is a 35GB package providing a full choir with all the customisation and effects options you’d expect at this price (including the intriguing ‘1950s Sandman choir’) and a range of soundtrack-friendly screams, grunts, shouts and whispers. Contact Time+Space0183755200 Web www.timespace.com

SNIPPET PitchCraft improved Bias has released an update of its PitchCraftEZ plug-in (version 1.0.1), which addresses someof the issues flagged in our review in Issue 90. Specifically, the natural sound quality whenusing the software for tuning vocals has been greatly improved. www.bias-inc.com

Coming next for DJs

Computer peripherals

Computer peripherals announced the latest model of

Computer peripherals giant Wacom has announced the latest model of its Nextbeat DJ controller. Improvements include an auto BPM Sync function, plus improved support for different music file formats.

announced the latest model of its Nextbeat DJ controller. Improvements include an auto

Improvements include an auto improved support for different improved support for different

As per the original model, the Nextbeat Mk2 is an all-in-one DJ solution, with two players plus a basic mixer in the one box (you can also hook it up to an external mixer using the twin outputs if you prefer) and the transport/ mixer controls housed on a snap-out hand-held unit (pictured) for remote operation at up to 20 metres.

mixer using the twin outputs if you prefer) and the transport/

mixer using the twin outputs if you prefer) and the transport/ mixer controls housed on a

With a 30x30cm footprint and weighing just 2.6kg, it’s compact and portable, although the fact that music can be played only from 4–32GB Compact Flash cards (the USB port is just for transferring tracks from your PC/Mac) and that cards can be changed only with the power off, may limit its club appeal somewhat.

The Nextbeat Mk2 is available now, priced £869. Contact Wacom02077440831 Web www.nextbeat.net

BUMNOTES

Tactile transducers – speakers which relay sound in the form of vibrations rather than sound – are nothing new. Gaming chairs use them, as do bone conduction headsets for underwater use. But another increasingly popular use for them is in bass drum monitoring – as, for instance, in the brilliantly named BumChum.

No, we don’t know what they were thinking, either. But we can tell you that the BumChum consists of a drum stool complete with integrated tactile transducer and its own flightcased control unit, which is supplied in a ten-inch flightcase weighing 8kg and is thus far more compact and portable than typical drum monitoring setups. Pairing the BumChum with in-ear monitors is said to be a good idea, but not essential.

And the price? A suitably ass-quaking £1,700. Contact info@thebumchum.co.uk Web www.thebumchum.co.uk A&H’s budget beauty

A&H’s budget beauty

A&H’s budget beauty

New from Allen & Heath is the GS-R24, a 24-track analogue mixing console that doubles as a MIDI controller, so you can control your DAW from the desk.

control your DAW from the desk.

control your DAW from the desk.

This latter feat of multi-tasking wizardry is achieved using amixture of the console controls (the channel Solo switches doubling as select switches in MIDI mode,for instance) and dedicated MIDI controls (including a jog wheel, 12 rotaries and a further 19 switches). Amode system enables the GS-R24 to be toggled between console,MIDI controller or hybrid operation. Also notable is a card-based I/O system at the rear, enabling you to configure the GS-R24 to accept whatever connections your other studio hardware requires (ADAT, FireWire, MIDI, analogue audio and so on).

The GS-R24 is available from December,priced £5,875. The GS-R24M model,with motorised faders, will cost £6,575. Contact Allen&Heath01326372070 Web www.allen-heath.com

InMyStudio...

DAN JEFFRIES AKA [SIC]/RATE & FOLLOW

After years of testing out various bits of kit alongside using Logic Pro, I think I’ve got nearly the perfect setup! My Virus TI is just delicious: 16 simultaneous tracks, incredible oscillators and filters, plus an interface that makes the whole process so intuitive. Gone are the days of dumping MIDI banks – all my sounds are stored within the song and as soon as I load it up, they come straight back! Magic.

When I first saw the NI Maschine I had to have one. I’ve never been a huge fan of drum pads – I’m a mouse man through and through – but the interface was, again, so intuitive that this looked like too much fun to miss – and I was right. The preset sounds are amazing and the built-in FX are incredible too.

I probably don’t use the features of the Remote 25 SL half as much as I should do and that’s mostly because I find Automap and Logic don’t always talk to each other as well as they might. So I’m just on the hunt for a new MIDI keyboard at the moment…

Dan’s latest single, 2010by Rate & Follow is out now.TheMu-sicEP by [sic] is out on Re:Sound Records at the end of October.

KitList ● AppleiMac ● LogicPro9 ● VirusTI ● NIMaschine ● NovationRemote

25SLkeyboard ● MackieOnyx

SatellitePro ● GenelecA20A

monitors

SALE ! 100 products

Xxxxxxxxxx IncomingMTM

at up to 50% off!

THE definitive download resource for music makers

Waveform Recordings Vintage Deep & Tech House New & Exclusive Deep tech-house collection with subtle throwbacks to classic Detroit and Chicago, featuring 640+ deep-fried beats and discoinspired music loops that combine old-school vinyl warmth with contemporary muscle. £22.49

SampleStar Mainroom Anthems New & Exclusive 660+MB of bigroom beats, Swedish-tinged synthlines, deep bass, hands-in-the-air transitions plus 100s of FX beds, vocal glitches, drum hits and more £22.95

Sounds To Sample Deep House Bundle New & Exclusive Huge bundle pack featuring 900+ late-night Rhodes, smokey stabs, dusty lo-fi progressions, organic melodics, slinky kick-free tops and minimal percussive grooves. £29.95

Sample Magic Organic House New & Exclusive Fusing the underground sounds of pumping afterhours house with subtle disco, minimal, tribal and techno elements, Organic House delivers 870+MB of stunning loops and drum hits. £44.90

MVP Loops Hook City Ghetto Vox Autotuned, chopped and screwed vocals oozing with the authentic southern crunk of Lil Wayne, T-Paine and Three 6 Mafia combine with bang-on-the-money beats across 10 dirty south construction kits. £26.99

Hy2rogen Tech-House Songstarters New & Exclusive Techy, tracky, infective and incessant: 30 song-starting folders of tech-house beats, grooves, nu-perc workouts, basslines, vocal glitchouts, music hooks and more. £19.95

Plus browse SoundSource for 100s of essential production hints and tips: PAOLO MOjO Q&A|HOW TO... PRODuCe DiRTy DuTCH LeADS|THe gOLDen Age OF SAMPLeS | ADVAnCeD ReVeRB & DeLAy FX

magazine November2010 | 11