2020 – The Insane Semi-Modular Drum Sequencer App
2020 – The Insane Semi-Modular Drum Sequencer App There is an insane Kickstarter startup for a standalone, semi-modular drum sequencer, designed to create live, improvised compositions. Developed by Yotaro Shuto, an electronic musician who performs in DUB-Russell, a Japanese music group that creates all their own sounds with the Cycling ’74 Max software, and performs completely improvised computer sets. The roots of the 2020 are pretty clear in its layout, function and vision. On their Kickstarter page there is an outline of there two goals: to generate a million sound and sequence variations from a single idea, and to make entire beats in just one screen. From the looks of it, they’re on the right track, no doubt. (2020 Grid Sequencer) 2020 is equipped with a clock, sample slicer, grid sequencers, 12 one shot samples and kick synth, 2 FM synths, external inputs / Higurashi generator, effect patcher, pitch transposer, 3 send effects, bus mixer, master effects, …
Read More
Korg Volca FM Synthesizer – Fresh Off the Line
Korg Volca FM Synthesizer Korg has just released a new product in their growing arsenal of Volca instruments, the Korg Volca FM Synthesizer. The little piece of machinery is a three voice digital synthesizer, packed into an intuitive interface surface a 16-step sequencer, (typical in all Korg Volca’s,) and is equipped with a warp active step and a pattern chain that allows you to dig deep with the rhythmic patterns. The Volca series revolves around simplicity, so sound synthesis is made easy, with a set of modulator and carrier knobs, which are mapped to multiple parameters, making it easy for anyone to hop into synthesis. You are also equipped with a chorus effect to add an extra layer of depth to all your sounds. Two new key features of the Volca Synth is the warp feature and the arpeggiator. The warp feature allows you to warp certain patterns and can make for …
Read More
KordBod – Not Your Ordinary Chord Generator
KordBod – Not Your Ordinary Chord Generator ISLA Instruments launched a kick starter for a powerful little toy called KordBod. A sleek, multi dimensional chord generator. Equipped with a two octave key board, LED display, chord modifier, a ribbon slider, a memory bank and some rotary knobs. The KordBot can be used as a step sequencer, an apreggiator and as a powerful learning device. KordBot is designed to give you easy access to a variety of chords allowing you to create a comprehensive progression on the fly. On the left side of the device you have access to the type of chord structure you’d like to play, be it a diminished 7th or a minor 9th. On the right side, you have a keyboard layout which allows you to choose the root note of your chord. On the top of the KordBot there are six chord memory pads that you …
Read More
ZOOM ARQ – From Recorders to Controllers
ZOOM ARQ – From Recorders to Controllers Japanese based company, Zoom, known for their high quality portable recorders, released a new performance based piece of equipment that allows the user to run free from the booth. The Zoom Arq is a sequencer, drum machine, synthesizer, clip launcher, looper, and a MIDI controller, packed into a portable ring. su_youtube_advanced url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6YtdBMdx2w” showinfo=”no” rel=”no” modestbranding=”yes” When looking at the ARQ, we notice two main components: the ring and the deck. Deck The base deck is essentially the brain of the machine, programmed with 468 different sampled drum sounds, 70 synthesizer sounds, and different types effect types. The samples are one shot samples meaning that what you hear is what you get. It is equipped with a 1/4 headphone jack, 1/4″ line-level outputs, a USB for MIDI, and an SD card slot which lets you save drum loops and synth sequences, and …
Read More
Misa NSC-32 – A Massive Sequencer
Misa NSC-32 – A Massive Sequencer The Misa NSC-32 is a ridiculously big MIDI sequencer, that allows musicians and producers to manipulate and create melodic riffs, bass lines, drum sequences and much more, in a fluid flow of expression. The NSC-32 is compatible with samplers, synthesizers and a variety of different DAWS, through MIDI or USB. This massive piece of equipment is essentially a giant step sequencer, packed with 768 button grid, which is used as the live visual of your sequence, or pattern. There are 16 control buttons that allow you to sift through a variety of actions, like looping, octave drops and bumps, banks selections, play and stop buttons, etc., along with 6 faders that are MIDI assignable. The 768 buttons can be loaded with preset sequences, making the entire grid into one big soundbank. The video below gives a good look at the basics …
Read More
Metamorphosis – Free M4L Granular Looper
Metamorphosis – Free M4L Granular Looper Dillon Bastan AKA Integrate Live is a musician/developer  from Los Angeles. He recently release a very cool and very free granular looper. Metamorphosis has a few options for playback mode: linear, sine wave, custom envelope (drawn with a multislider), and scan (which is a knob that can can through the samples). It has a built in filter and grain sequencer you can even record live input. Simply press “record” on the left. If the buffer is empty, make sure you resize it first to the desired length (in ms). Really great instrument that doesn’t require any MIDI notes to play because it’s based on playback mode and looping. You can come up with really interesting sounds in no time. And you can even drag & drop files! Free from Maxforlive.com Check out his other music tools on his website and if you want …
Read MoreFeatured Masterclass
