Spitfire Audio makes musical tidal waves with Bleeding Fingers for BBC flagship series-supporting orchestral library

Spitfire Audio is proud to announce availability of ORCHESTRAL SWARM — setting a new standard in orchestral library innovation through taking the company’s so-called ‘Swarm’ approach (as an alternative to just using straightforward long notes by drawing upon the pointillistic effect of having multiple players perform short notes at random intervals to create an undulating swell of sound that can be performed in realtime) and adapting it to the orchestra to enable even greater detail by utilising the huge variety of articulations and playing styles of orchestral instruments.

ORCHESTRAL SWARM is the direct result of a creative collaboration with Bleeding Fingers (Sons Of Liberty, Roman Empire: Reign Of Blood), a next-generation composer collective for productions that are sonically brave, who wanted to create a new Swarm library in pursuit of composing a perfect soundtrack to the oceanic goings-on featured on the groundbreaking BBC Blue Planet II natural history television series.

Spitfire Audio was well versed in this approach already having harvested this technique when working on its previous HARP SWARM, MANDOLIN SWARM, and MARIMBA SWARM libraries, and this opportunity to work with Bleeding Fingers pushed the company towards a new territory — to utilise the power of Swarm. Spitfire Audio speedily and secretly delivered an initial library for the team at Bleeding fingers to use exclusively for the BBC’s Blue Planet II. It even ended up in its high-profile launch trailer theme, ‘(ocean) bloom’, an orchestrally reimagined version of Brit art rockers Radiohead’s ‘bloom’ in collaboration with Hollywood hotshot Hans Zimmer. Pushing the creative concept further still, Spitfire Audio later returned to the studio to capture even more material with the orchestra, including short notes and expanded techniques and layers, to create the most complete toolset for media composers.

Watch Spitfire Audio Director Paul Thomson’s ‘traditional’

ORCHESTRAL SWARM video walkthrough

 

Clearly, the same no-expense-spared approach was applied to these sessions as any other Spitfire Audio library, this time at one of the most highly-maintained and well-stocked studios on the planet. Founded by British singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer and film score composer Mark Knopfler, British Grove is one of few large-scale studios to have been built in the new millennium, and its unique vision of combining state-of-the-art technology alongside legendary vintage equipment — it owns two original and fully-restored EMI mixing consoles used by Sir George Martin and The Beatles, for instance, it is perfectly poised to leave behind a legacy of note.

Watch Spitfire Audio Director Paul Thomson’s
ORCHESTRAL SWARM presentation video

Notably, the signal path on the day featured Studio 1’s Neve 88R large-format analogue mixing console, utilising both its onboard pres, as well as D.A.V. electronics Broadhurst Gardens pres for room mics, and the vintage EMI TG12345 console’s pres for some of the mid room mics. Manufacturers of the transducers used include Royer, Ela M, Neumann, and Coles. Creatively, the recording stage at British Grove is a medium-sized, semi-reverberant room, allowing for precise detail, yet with enough energy to maintain character and fullness.

Watch Spitfire Audio ‘composer in residence’ Oliver Patrice Weder’s

ORCHESTRAL SWARM ‘In Action’ video

The resultant ORCHESTRAL SWARM library comprises various string, brass, and woodwind ensembles, recorded individually and with the Swarm pointillistic approach, using techniques most idiomatic for those instruments. Moreover, many of these sounds have never been sampled before. Bassoon ‘pops’ to horn ‘flutter tongues’ and much more besides, a wide range of techniques were combined via the Swarm approach to give a vastly increased sound palette to the traditional orchestra. Indeed, included individual ensemble shorts also further extend creative options by allowing users to add a rhythmic element to their work, while the provision of two onboard reverbs — a tight ‘stage’ sound and a longer, more lush ‘hall’ sound — makes blending the Swarms with existing orchestral libraries a breeze.

Watch Spitfire Audio’s persuasive promo video for ORCHESTRAL SWARM

But best of all, an ocean of variety awaits anyone diving deep into ORCHESTRAL SWARM. So if you’ve tired of static-sounding longs, or have fallen out of love with short ostinatos, this new textural approach to orchestral sampling will add life and sparkle to any arrangement. Join the pioneers of modern concert music and scoring to explore a new league of orchestral composition… and ride a tidal wave of inspiration with Spitfire Audio!

ORCHESTRAL SWARM can be purchased and digitally downloaded (as 50.1 GB of uncompressed .WAV files, featuring 25,565 samples) for a time-limited introductory promo price of £159.00 GBP (inc. VAT)/$199.00 USD/€199.00 EUR (inc. VAT) until November 16, 2017 — rising thereafter to an MSRP of £199.00 GBP (inc. VAT)/$249.00 USD/€249.00 EUR (inc. VAT) — from here: https://www.spitfireaudio.com/shop/a-z/orchestral-swarm/

Note that ORCHESTRAL SWARM needs Native Instruments’ free KONTAKT PLAYER (5.6.8) — included in the purchase — to run as a fully NKS™ (NATIVE KONTROL STANDARD) supporting plug-in instrument for Mac (OS X 10.10, 10.11 or macOS 10.12 — latest update) or Windows (7, 8, or 10 — latest Service Pack, 32/64-bit), while Spitfire Audio’s free Download Manager application allows anyone to buy now and download anytime.

For more in-depth information, including several superb-sounding audio demos, please visit the dedicated ORCHESTRAL SWARM webpage here:

https://www.spitfireaudio.com/shop/a-z/orchestral-swarm/

About Spitfire Audio (www.spitfireaudio.com)
Spitfire Audio is a British music technology company producing high-quality virtual instruments and sample libraries. The company collaborates with the world’s best composers, producers, engineers, and studios to create detailed and realistic recordings of instruments and sounds for use in computer-based music production. Prominent collaborators include Hans Zimmer, Air Studios, Eric Whitacre, and many more.
© 2017 Spitfire Audio Holdings Limited

Plugin Alliance announces availability of Unfiltered Audio’s modern twist on compression/expansion

“I’m really digging Unfiltered Audio’s latest plugin, Zip. It’s a great dynamics processor in its own right, but it really shines as a unique creative tool when you start to add its analysis, saturation, and modulation options to the mix.” -  Charles Stella, GRAMMY® Award-nominated composer/producer/engineer (MTV, 2K Games, Nora Jones, Jarobi/A Tribe Called Quest, Issa Rae), 2017

Plugin Alliance, a new ‘Über-standard’ supporting all major plugin formats and uniting some of the best-known international audio companies under one virtual roof, is proud to announce availability of Zip — further cementing Californian coding masterminds Unfiltered Audio’s Plugin Alliance partnership with a powerful, unconventional plugin that bravely breaks the compressor/expander mold to solve difficult dynamics challenges and create unique effects using ingenious Analysis modes and synth-like modulators .

As a truly trailblazing processor, Zip uses novel Analysis modes to easily remedy complex dynamics challenges that traditional compressors and expanders are inadequate to treat. Additionally, an abundant assemblage of modulators — freely patchable to most of Zip’s other controls — creates striking effects impossible to achieve using conventional dynamics processors.

Perfectly executed, Zip’s six Analysis modes — Amplitude, Quietness, Brightness, Darkness, Noisiness, and Tonalness — spark deeper compression or expansion based on signal level, frequency content, or noise feeding its Input. Indeed, Noisiness mode can, for example, be used to compress overdriven electric guitar chords while leaving cleaner-sounding phrases on the same track untouched. Darkness mode, meanwhile, makes Zip compress lower-pitched notes on a track more heavily than higher-pitched ones — excellent for taming headroom-robbing low notes on a bass guitar, while Brightness mode does the exact opposite — reining in high-pitched vocal choruses, for instance. Amplitude and Quietness modes respectively trigger processing with louder or softer input signals, while Tonalness mode reacts more strongly to signals containing stable frequencies. Taken together, Zip’s Analysis modes empower its sidechain detector to react selectively to a much broader range of variables than traditional dynamics processors are capable of, greatly improving its ability to tame the most challenging tracks. And when an external sidechain input is needed, Zip has that, too.

Zip’s four Envelope Styles — Classic, Goopy, Quick, and Extreme — modify the processor’s attack and release curves, tailoring them to the engineer’s specific needs. The Extreme style’s lightning-fast response is great for aggressive processing, such as crushing room mics for drums. The compressor’s Classic style and multimode sidechain filters can be used to enhance low-end punch and weight on mixes and masters. Goopy adds vintage glue to individual tracks and full mixes alike. All Envelope Styles can use Peak or RMS (Root Mean Square) detection, with or without Lookahead detection, along with manual settings for Attack and Release controls that further refine Zip’s response. Together, these controls give Zip an extremely wide range of flavors — all dialed in to perfection using the included wet/dry Mix control.

Watch Plugin Alliance’s tantalizing trailer for Zip here:

Creatively, it’s Unfiltered Audio’s flagship automatable modulation system that takes Zip into an entirely new realm for compressors and expanders. Its eight different internal modulators, as well as a patch to an external ROLI Lightpad controller, can be used — up to six modulators at once — on most of Zip’s controls. Each modulator can be routed to multiple destinations using simple drag-and-drop technique, unlocking a world of driving rhythmic effects synchronized to the tempo of the host DAW (Digital Audio Workstation). Routing the square wave LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator) to the expander’s Threshold control creates a pulsing gate, transforming a static synth pad into a dynamic staccato dance groove. Patching the sawtooth LFO to the compressor’s Ratio knob creates a big room EDM-style ducking effect synchronized to the song’s beat. Other internal modulators include sinewave LFO, Step Sequencer, Input Follower, Macro Control, Sample and Hold Noise, and a new Gain Reduction control that responds inversely to compression.

Zip shapes tone, too. Its continuously variable Color control provides post-dynamics processing in seven modes, respectively offering phase-modulated distortion, soft saturation, bitcrushing, and four 2-pole cutoff filters (two of which feature cutoffs modulated by Zip’s Analysis modes). Used without Zip’s modulators, the Color modes can be used to fatten up vocals, make drums pop and create dramatic swings in timbre on keyboard tracks with each note attack. When patched to Zip’s LFOs, the Color knob becomes a gateway to tempo-synched filter sweeps and pulsating distortion that make guitar and keyboard tracks come alive.

Whether using its inventive Analysis modes and versatile Envelope Styles to compress or expand tracks in new ways, or its state-of-the-art modulation system to create driving tempo-synched effects, Zip delivers a world of dynamics and tone shaping far beyond the ordinary. It’s a forgone conclusion. Calling Zip a compressor is like calling a Lamborghini a passenger car. It does neither one justice. Zip creates unique effects and solves thorny audio challenges in a flash, leaving traditional compressors in the dust! Dig it? GRAMMY® Award-nominated composer/producer/engineer Charles Stella sure does!

Zip is available for purchase — as an AAX AudioSuite, AAX Native-, AU-, VST2- and VST3-supporting plugin for Mac OS X (10.8 through 10.12), Windows (7 through 10), and Pro Tools 10.3.10 (or higher) — exclusively from Plugin Alliance at an introductory promo price of $99.00 USD through to November 30, 2017, rising to $149.00 USD thereafter.

Fully-functional, 14-day trials are available to anyone registering for a free Plugin Alliance account here: http://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/registration.html

Note that the proprietary Plugin Alliance Installation Manager means users can select, download, and install only the products and formats needed for their system.

For more in-depth information, including several superb-sounding audio demos, please visit the dedicated Zip webpage here: https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/products/unfiltered_audio_zip.html

About Plugin Alliance (www.plugin-alliance.com)
Santa Cruz, California’s Plugin Alliance offers industry-leading pro audio plugins and plugin bundles from acclaimed developers such as Brainworx, Chandler Limited, elysia, Black Box Analog Design, and SPL with customer-friendly prices, licensing procedures, and financing options. Far more than just a website, it is a new ‘Über-standard’, supporting all major plugin formats and uniting some of the best-known international audio companies under one virtual roof.
About Unfiltered Audio (www.unfilteredaudio.com)
Innovative Southern Californian music software company Unfiltered Audio formed when three enterprising young men came together earlier this decade while earning graduate degrees from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Joshua Dickinson, Michael Hetrick, and Ryan Michael McGee all share backgrounds in fields where engineering and programming meet music and multimedia. Now with Unfiltered Audio, their academic pursuit of new ways to process audio merges with their entrepreneurial goal of making uniquely creative tools for musicians and producers.
© 2017 Plugin Alliance LLC

Embertone establishes The William Arnold Collection series sampled VIs with world wind instrumentalist’s Shān Bawu

Virtual instrument sampling company Embertone is proud to announce availability of Shān Bawu — introducing its collaboration with world flutist William Arnold recorded playing the Bawu, a flute-shaped free reed instrument with a pure clarinet-like timbre that (most likely) originated in the Yunnan province of southwest China, creating the first in The William Arnold Collection namesake series of wind instruments, intensely sampled and superlatively scripted as a simple, inspiring, and highly-playable virtual instrument for Native Instruments’ industry-standard KONTAKT platform.

While it is shaped like a flute, the Bawu is a free reed instrument. It has a pure clarinet-like timbre, and players often incorporate the use of ornamentation — bending tones in particular. It is most likely that the Bawu originated in the Yunnan province of southwest China, but it has since become a standard instrument throughout. It is typically featured as a solo instrument in modern Chinese compositions for traditional ensembles and film scores alike. Although the Bawu is still predominantly performed in China, it has been embraced by many European composers and performers in recent years.

 Watch Embertone Composer | Virtual Instrument Developer

Alex Davis’ video walkthrough of Shān Bawu here:

Yet now — thanks to Embertone’s collaboration with world flutist, vocalists, and session musician extraordinaire William Arnold on The William Arnold Collection namesake series debut virtual wind instrument, Shān Bawu — many more performers and composers can acquaint themselves and their music with a highly-expressive virtual instrument, featuring multiple transition styles, such as slur, slide, ornamental, and MICROPHRASE. Moreover, Shān Bawu is Embertone’s first virtual instrument incorporating the trailblazing latter transition technology — four variations of beautiful, elaborate phrases created by William Arnold himself. Indeed, it is features like this that transport Shān Bawu to a whole new level of realism and colour as a simple, inspiring, and highly-playable virtual instrument… right out of the box!

Built from the ground up with William’s musical approach perfected — performances and articulations to match his unique and beautiful style, together with lots of helpful configuration settings to match the user’s playing style — such as using the mod wheel for vibrato and an expression pedal for dynamics, Shān Bawu’s beautiful combination is sure to appeal to those seeking to take an unforgettable musical journey into the wonderful world of traditional Chinese wind instrumentation — including an ability to assign a CC2 breath controller for added realism when playing.

Shān Bawu is available to purchase and digitally download as a fully NKS™ (NATIVE KONTROL STANDARD) supporting KONTAKT 5.4.1+ plug-in instrument for any AAX-, AU-, RTAS-, and VST-compatible host application or DAW running on Mac (OS X 10.10, 10.11, or macOS 10.12 — latest update) or Windows (7, 8, or 10 — latest Service Pack, 32/64-bit) directly from Embertone for $30.00 USD. (Note Native Instruments’ KONTAKT full version is needed to use Shān Bawu.)

For more in-depth information, including several superb-sounding audio demos, please visit the dedicated Shān Bawu webpage here:

http://www.embertone.com/instruments/shanbawu.php

About Embertone (www.embertone.com)
Embertone is a virtual instrument sampling company whose mission is simple: sample the heck out of great instruments, and bring them to the composing community to inspire and create awesome new music! As such, their goal is to capture the essence of an instrument and its performer, and program it into an intuitive, musical, and affordable package. This approach paved the way for a next-gen collaboration with Grammy® Award winner Joshua Bell, one of today’s most celebrated violinists.
© 2017 Embertone

NUGEN Audio announces advanced updates for ISL 2st and Halo Upmix at AES New York 2017

Innovative, intuitive professional audio tools creator for high-end music producers, post-production engineers, and broadcasters NUGEN Audio is proud to announce a dither update for ISL 2st — its intelligent look-ahead brick-wall limiter that provides highly-transparent true-peak limiting for all stereo and mono content — alongside a preview of a 3D Immersive Extension update allowing second and third order Ambisonic (AmbiX format) output for Halo Upmix — for fine-tuning surround mixes to perfection — at AES New York 2017, October 18-20, Jacob J. Javits Convention Center, USA.

As a stereo-only version of NUGEN Audio’s acclaimed ISL 2 — a transparent look-ahead limiter designed to allow users to get on with creative audio production while it takes care of true-peak compliance, ISL 2st allows for content creation fully compatible with loudness normalisation standards used by the likes of iTunes Radio and Spotify — superb sound with complete confidence about meeting the new standards for online delivery, in other words. World-class, broadcast-quality limiting is an essential requirement for any audio production, after all, and ISL 2st duly delivers. Risk of distortion from downstream codec conversion (mp3, AAC, etc) is effectively eliminated with ISL 2st on the master bus, so no need to second-guess sample-peak limiting time and again, or deliberately increase headroom to avoid a downstream problem. Just dial in the true-peak limit and let ISL 2st take care of the rest!
 
By including a unique power-compensated true-peak safe dither algorithm in its latest update, NUGEN Audio has improved ISL 2st further still. Several forms of dither are available, enabling the minimisation of quantisation errors and artefacts from bit depth reduction processes. Now ISL 2st automatically compensates for the dither applied, ensuring that TPMax (maximum true-peak level) is preserved and that true-peak compliance violations are not accidentally introduced in the final output stage, as might potentially be the case when engaging traditional post-TPMax dither functions — particularly pertinent to content repurposed for streaming services, where data compression algorithms are pervasive.

Pairing ISL 2st with the latest version of NUGEN Audio’s award-winning MasterCheck Pro is a perfect combination. Recently released, v1.4 of MasterCheck Pro places FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) and Opus encoding flavours in its indispensable loudness, dynamics, and codec toolset to enable mix-optimising music professionals to hear and visualise yet more popular playout encoding and loudness matching techniques increasingly in use by music streaming services such as Apple Music® and Spotify. So content can be readied for these platforms with MasterCheck Pro before being finished with ISL 2st to ensure it reaches the listener as intended.

Intriguingly, NUGEN Audio also continues to pioneer the immersive audio field with its award-winning Halo Upmix for fine-tuning surround mixes to perfection — perfect for all types of production from archive restoration and TV through to the full 7.1 feature film experience — by announcing a further update to its 3D Immersive Extension, an enhanced upmix algorithm allowing for simultaneous use of all the original features including dialogue isolation and individual channel output control alongside additional vertical controls via an expanded user interface with control over Ltm and Rtm channel placement for Dolby Atmos-compatible placement. Having launched first order Ambisonic output in July — Ambisonics being a full-sphere surround sound technique covering sound sources above and below the listener in addition to the horizontal plane, the latest 3D Immersive Extension update now allows second and third order Ambisonic output, and both 7.1.4 and 5.1.4 channel configurations to facilitate production in Auro-3D formats — a three-dimensional standard used across several industries, including cinema and gaming audio. As such, VR (Virtual Reality), Facebook 360, and sound design are also all fair game for any adventurous audio engineers seeking enlightenment in immersive audio.

“Immersive audio is becoming a rare conceptual game changer that has the potential to redefine how we create and enjoy sound,” says NUGEN Audio Creative Director Jon Schorah. “These updates make sure that Halo Upmix stays on the cutting edge as engineers seek new tools and workflows to fully exploit this exciting and rapidly developing technology.”

NUGEN Audio are showcasing these latest ISL 2st and Halo Upmix advancements on Booth #5041 at AES New York 2017 — the 143rd International Convention — on October 18-20, Jacob J. Javits Convention Center, USA. Upmixing and true-peak compliance… it’s all there for the taking, whether fine-tuning surround mixes or repurposing content for streaming services.

The latest version of ISL 2st is available to purchase as a 32- and 64-bit-supporting AAX-, AU-, AudioSuite-, VST-, and VST3-compatible plug-in — alongside a 32-bit only RTAS version — for Mac (OS X 10.7 and above) and Windows (Vista and above) directly from NUGEN Audio for £99.00 GBP/$149.00 USD/€119.00 Euro (excluding VAT). ISL 2st DSP is available to take full advantage of Avid's HDX hardware (including AAX DSP for HDX and Venue systems) for £159.00 GBP/$249.00 USD/€199.00 Euro (excluding VAT).

For more in-depth information, please visit the dedicated ISL 2st webpage here:
https://www.nugenaudio.com/islst-true-peak-tp-limiter-loudness-compatible-plugin-aax-au-vst_55

Halo Upmix with 3D Immersive Extension requires a surround-compatible plug-in host and is available to purchase in AAX, AU, and VST formats directly from NUGEN Audio for £459.00 GBP/$699.00 USD/€549.00 Euro (excluding VAT). The updated version, including second and third order Ambisonic output and Auro-3D support will be available in November 2017.

For more in-depth information, please visit the dedicated Halo Upmix webpage here:
https://www.nugenaudio.com/halo-upmix-stereo-to-5-1-and-7-1-upmix-plugin-aax-au-vst_52

About NUGEN Audio (www.nugenaudio.com)
NUGEN Audio creates innovative, intuitive professional audio tools for high-end music producers, post-production engineers, and broadcasters. Reflecting the real-world production experience of the design team, the company’s products make it easier to deliver better quality, save time, and reduce costs. NUGEN Audio’s tools for audio analysis, loudness metering, mixing/mastering, and tracking are used by the world’s top names in broadcast, music, and audio production. NUGEN Audio is pleased to support the goal of fairtrade and donates a minimum of 3% net profit to the Fairtrade Foundation’s work.
© 2017 NUGEN Audio Ltd

Plugin Alliance and Dear Reality release immersive 3D audio processing plugins for DAW-driven VR and AR applications

“I can count on one hand the number of VR and Ambisonic plugins that I actually want to use, and that list got smaller because dearVR just replaced three of them. It’s completely brilliant — utterly intuitive, and excellent!” - Simon Franglen, composer/producer/arranger/musician (Avatar, The Magnificent Seven, Titanic), 2017

Plugin Alliance, a new ‘Über-standard’ supporting all major plugin formats and uniting some of the best-known international audio companies under one virtual roof, is proud to partner with Dear Reality announcing availability of dearVR pro and dearVR music — making the German spatial audio technology and virtual acoustics software specialist’s state-of-the-art audio algorithms available as two plugins providing all the tools needed to create stunning, immersive 3D (three-dimensional) audio for VR (Virtual Reality) and AR (Augmented Reality) films, games, and video from within their favoured DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) workflow.
 
Thanks to the comprehensive dearVR pro and streamlined dearVR music, producers, mix engineers, and musicians need not burden themselves with expensive middleware, unwieldy software bundles, and complex routing schemes to create totally immersive 3D audio for films, games, and video since all essential tools are now conveniently contained in a single plugin interface for direct processing of tracks from within their favoured DAW workflow.

As a complete 3D audio toolkit, dearVR pro is the ultimate solution for professionals working with VR and AR needing no-compromise, state-of-the-art performance with all the workflow advantages of a self-contained plugin. Its powerful, yet intuitive, GUI (Graphical User Interface) allows producers to position an audio track anywhere in a 3D soundstage — both behind or in front of the listener, above or below their head, to the left or right, closer or farther away… and all by simply dragging an icon representing the track in the plugin’s XYZ pad, or by using separate sliders for adjusting the sound’s ELEVATION, AZIMUTH, and DISTANCE from the listener. Producers can choose from 46 vivid VIRTUAL ACOUSTICS, featuring true-to-life 3D imaging and depth, in which to place an object’s sound and move it around in real time, with full automation support. Selections to choose from are abundant and include concert halls, car interiors, variously-sized rooms (Church, Cellar, Staircase, Bathroom, Booth, Warehouse, and Live Arena), and Outdoor Street, and Live Stage, to name but a few. Each environment is instantly and independently recallable per plugin instance, letting the producer place each object’s sound in a different space.

Still further, the shape, dimensions, and texture of each virtual space can be modified using controls that adjust its SIZE, DAMPING, and balance of early REFLECTIONS and diffuse REVERB. In REALTIME AURALISATION mode, turning six knobs respectively adjusts the distance from the listener of the four walls, ceiling, and floor to match onscreen visuals. As the user moves a sound around to match the corresponding onscreen object’s movement, the delay times and directions of arrival for early reflections bouncing off these virtual boundaries change — just like in real environments. An OCCLUSION control adjusts the sound of the object to realistically match its being blocked by another virtual object in line of sight to the listener. And if a track’s sound doesn’t move in perfect sync with its corresponding visual element, other controls can be used to scale parameter ranges for azimuth (AZIMUTH SCALE) and distance (DISTANCE SCALE) to make picture and sound match up flawlessly.

Furthermore, dearVR pro outputs the highest-quality 3D audio in seven different delivery formats (including 360-degree videos on YouTube and Facebook), meeting all professional requirements for any AR or VR productions. In addition to two-channel binaural format (for immersive playback using conventional headphones), producers can choose four-channel first order, nine-channel second order, or 16-channel third order Ambisonics output in either AmbiX or FuMa (Furse Malham) format. The plugin’s 46 stellar VIRTUAL ACOUSTICS can also be used like conventional reverbs in 2D (two-dimensional) stereo mixes, making them indispensable for music production. 

Headphones highly recommended while watching Plugin Alliance’s demonstrative

dearVR video with 3D immersive sound for DAW

Purchasers can, conversely, choose dearVR music, a streamlined version of the plugin for entry-level 3D audio applications — perfect for those who don’t need the full firepower on offer with dearVR pro. While dearVR music makes available the same XYZ pad, ELEVATION, AZIMUTH, and DISTANCE sliders as dearVR pro, other controls respectively adjust the SIZE, DAMPING, and balance of early REFLECTIONS and diffuse REVERB in its 18 VIRTUAL ACOUSTICS, including Concert Hall, Church, Live Stage, Drum Room, and more besides.

Better still, dearVR music outputs the highest-quality 3D audio in binaural or four-channel Ambisonics format (used for 360-degree YouTube videos). As such, it’s the perfect vehicle for musicians and audio engineers wishing to attract more listeners and gain more traction on social media by incorporating immersive 3D audio into their mixes. And, as with dearVR pro, dearVR music’s VIRTUAL ACOUSTICS can be used like conventional reverbs in stereo format, but with less fuss — mouse-dragging a track inside a virtual space is much faster, easier, and simpler than setting up an aux, effects send, pan controls, and wet/dry balance for a reverb plugin.

Whether working on cutting-edge VR and AR productions or immersive music mixes, Dear Reality’s pioneering plugins put the power of its state-of-the-art 3D audio algorithms in the hands of discerning DAW users for the first time to devastating effect… just ask Simon Franglen!

dearVR pro and dearVR music are respectively available for purchase — as AAX AudioSuite, AAX Native-, AU-, VST2- and VST3-supporting plugins for Mac OS X (10.8 through 10.12), Windows (7 through 10), and Pro Tools 10.3.10 (or higher) — exclusively from Plugin Alliance at an introductory
promo price of $299.00 USD and $149.00 USD through to October 31, 2017, respectively rising to $349.00 USD and $199.00 USD thereafter.

Fully-functional, 14-day trials are available to anyone registering for a free Plugin Alliance account here: http://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/registration.html

Note that the proprietary Plugin Alliance Installation Manager means users can select, download, and install only the products and formats needed for their system.

For more in-depth information, including several superb-sounding audio demos, please visit the dedicated dearVR pro webpage here: https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/products/dearvr_pro.html

For more in-depth information, including several superb-sounding audio demos, please visit the dedicated dearVR music webpage here: https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/products/dearvr_music.html

About Plugin Alliance (www.plugin-alliance.com)
Santa Cruz, California’s Plugin Alliance offers industry-leading pro audio plugins and plugin bundles from acclaimed developers such as Brainworx, Chandler Limited, elysia, Black Box Analog Design, and SPL with customer-friendly prices, licensing procedures, and financing options. Far more than just a website, it is a new ‘Über-standard’, supporting all major plugin formats and uniting some of the best-known international audio companies under one virtual roof.
About Dear Reality (www.dearvr.com)
Dear Reality is a German software company specializing in spatial audio technology and virtual acoustics. The company’s dearVR 3D audio reality engine powers the creation of ultra-realistic soundscapes — complete with psychoacoustic cues for direction, distance, and room acoustics — that are reproducible using any pair of headphones. Compatible with DAWs, game engines, and audio middleware, Dear Reality’s 3D audio engine is the central component for content creators working on virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality productions for games, 360-degree videos, and enhanced music releases.
© 2017 Plugin Alliance LLC

Eventide enters Eurorack world with EuroDDL module making waves at AES New York 2017

Recording technology trailblazer Eventide is proud to release the EuroDDL — entering the ever-expanding Eurorack modular market with a 16HP digital delay (DDL) module made to sound less digital than the average delay while enabling external control of every feature and function — at AES New York 2017, October 18-20, Jacob J. Javits Convention Center, USA.

With the EuroDDL, Eventide’s old school design strictly limits the amount of digital circuitry to only what’s required for delay. Soft saturation clipping, LP (low pass) FILTER, FEEDBACK, insert loop, and +20 dB boost are all analog.

The digital section is minimal and constrained to do nothing more than simple, yet flexible, delay. The DDL itself is pristine. It’s long. It’s short (0.11msec resolution). It’s smooth, it loops, and it goes backwards (REVERSE). The delay converter is 24 bits with a maximum delay time of up to 10 seconds at 192 kHz sample rate and 160 seconds at 16 kHz sample rate. Delay time can be varied smoothly and over a wide range — either manually, via TAP (BPM) tempo, or by remote control voltage. Short delays can be used for comb filtering and flanging effects. Longer delays for echo effects. Infinite delays for looping. Backwards delays for reverse effects.

To be a true performance instrument, all the controls of the Eurorack module must be remote controllable. The EuroDDL does just that with jacks — clipping, KILL, REVERSE, FEEDBACK, MIX, and LP FILTER — to accept VC (voltage control) and T/G (trigger to gate). It’s designed to be played as an instrument… and it’s designed to ‘play nice’ in the rack with RETURN/SEND and CLK (clock) IN/OUT.

“There’s usually a modular this or that floating around at Eventide; we wanted to create a delay that can be played by musicians — musicians like our own resident experimental music artist Anthony Saunders,” says Eventide Director of Marketing Communications Nalia Sanchez. “Plus, we wanted it to sound, feel, and behave like an analog instrument by doing as much as possible with analog components. It adds cost, but makes a clear difference. There seems to be something that happens to sound when it’s operated on in quantized time. The EuroDDL module keeps whatever that ‘something’ is to a bare minimum.”

The EuroDDL design is derived from the Eventide DDL-500, the 500 Series delay module about which Tape Op’s Eli Crews wrote: “…it has a unique feel and sound, partly due to the fact that the only digital part of the audio path is the delay line itself.”

Eventide will be demonstrating the EuroDDL alongside award-winning plug-ins on Booth #321 at AES New York 2017 — the 143rd International Convention — on October 18-20, Jacob J. Javits Convention Center, USA.

Currently available in limited quantities, general availability of the EuroDDL is scheduled for January 2018 with an MSRP of $399.00 USD.

 For more in-depth information, please visit the dedicated EuroDDL webpage here: https://www.eventideaudio.com/euroddl 

About Eventide (www.eventideaudio.com)
Since 1971, Eventide has remained at the forefront of recording technology. In 1975 it revolutionized the audio industry by creating the world’s first commercially available digital audio effects unit, the H910 Harmonizer®. Since then, its legendary studio processors, stompboxes, and plug-ins have been heard on countless hit records.
© 2017 Eventide Inc.

Impact Soundworks gains musical MOMENTUM with peerless percussive virtual instrument

Audio software creator Impact Soundworks is proud to announce availability of MOMENTUM — a percussive virtual instrument based on a wholly unique library of organic, acoustic performances and multi-samples designed specifically for film, game, and TV composers, with well-built KONTAKT patches par excellence available alongside sliced REX2/WAV files and also both chromatic and sound menu multi-sample/one-shot patches for instant inspiration. 

 

Over two years in the making, MOMENTUM is a virtual treasure trove of peerless percussion. Put it this way: with over 2,600 rhythmic loops in multiple frequency ranges, time signatures, and tempos, with both tonal and non-pitched instruments, including djembes, darbukas, and cajons (played with fingers, mallets, and brushes); cello (picked and slapped); erhu (picked and brushed); classical guitar (brushed, slapped, and struck); metal doors, staircases, and boxes; mistreated bass drums; bottles, pans, kalimbas, and buffalo drums; custom drum kits; air cans, bamboo, and brass urns; egg shakers, muted guitars, and water glasses; Chinese toms, maracas, edu, and caxixi; and much more… make no mistake, this is all-new content — completely outside the realm of traditional drum and percussion libraries.
 
Like no other, this library lets loose with over 2,500 matchless multi-samples and amazing one-shots, including over 100 menu-style percussive sounds, plus tasty tuned percussion spread across the keyboard. And anyone who prefers to musically mangle things elsewhere should surely delight in the fact that all loops in MOMENTUM are also available as REX2 and WAV format files. Furthermore, those REX2 files can even be loaded into Stylus RMX — albeit after conversion to the S.A.G.E.™ (Spectrasonics Advanced Groove Engine) file format. Elsewhere is well and truly catered for by MOMENTUM!

Making music is what it’s all about with MOMENTUM, meanwhile. Mulling it over, the Impact Soundworks development team took things to dizzying heights of lofty ‘loopiness’ in pursuit of percussive perfection: “We conceived this library originally in 2014 to address a need — a gap in our templates as composers and producers. We are always looking for rhythmic elements to add to our music. Whether it’s a pop EDM track, an epic trailer cue, or a tense action underscore, these elements can set the tone for the mood and feel of the piece. It’s that pulse, the driving force that hooks the listener immediately. MOMENTUM offers a tremendous collection of original, acoustic percussive performances that are just a click away. Everything was created and recorded organically. Unlike countless other rhythm/pulse libraries, these are not just synthetic elements processed with the same set of tools that everyone else uses.”

Watch Impact Soundworks Lead Developer 

Andrew Aversa’s walkthrough and overview of MOMENTUM

Ultimately, MOMENTUM is driven by an all-new script engine focused on rhythm and delivering inspiration as fast as possible. This comes courtesy of an inspiring new UI (User Interface) with a well-thought-through Loop Designer patch permitting in-depth editing of individual performances. Usefully, users can quickly load any loop and tweak to suit with PER SLICE editing of PITCH, VOL (Volume), PAN, CUT (cutoff), and RES (resonance), as well as accessing the MOD1 and MOD2 modulation tables that connect to the Mod Matrix (MOD SOURCE and MOD SEND). Similarly, an eight-slot FX Rack — featuring EQ, COMPRESSOR, TRANSIENT DESIGNER, SCREAM, BITCRUSHER, DELAY, REVERB, and LIMITER — creatively connects to the Mod Matrix, making morphing and transforming loops like child’s play! Naturally, there are also easily-editable envelopes (AMP ENV and FILTER ENV) alongside a FILTER for further tweaking — both PER SLICE or GLOBAL. Get this though: the Loop Designer also boasts key-triggered trigger effects — including stutter, gate, and reverse — and an ability to play loops from any slice!

Selecting the perfect loop for projects couldn’t be simpler, thanks to an incredibly powerful sound source Browser. By simply filtering searches using a wide range of tags related to tempo, time, instrument, or timbre, the resultant suitable selection — and road to inspiration — is instant! Thankfully, the loop playback engine automatically adapts to the host tempo (though sometimes finding a loop close to the project tempo will yield the best possible results).

Last but not least, Loop Mapper makes loading up a range of ‘menu-style’ performances across the keyboard a breeze. By using the Browser to map as many keys as needed, then pressing a key to trigger the loop… it definitely doesn’t get much simpler than that!

There it is, then. Finding and editing the perfect organic rhythmic element just got a whole lot easier and faster with MOMENTUM. Inspiration is an absolute given. Gaining musical momentum with this peerless percussive virtual instrument is just a click away, after all.

MOMENTUM can be purchased and digitally downloaded directly from Impact Soundworks for $149.00 USD from here:

https://impactsoundworks.com/product/momentum/#purchase

Note that MOMENTUM requires the full version of Native Instruments KONTAKT (5.5.2 or higher); its REX2/WAV files do not.

For more in-depth information, including several superb-sounding audio demos, please visit the dedicated MOMENTUM webpage here: https://impactsoundworks.com/product/momentum/

About Impact Soundworks (www.impactsoundworks.com)
Impact Soundworks creates audio software designed with composers in mind: sample libraries, virtual instruments, and plug-ins. As passionate about creating music tools as its customers are about making music, the company was founded in 2008 by composers Andrew Aversa and Will Roget, II at a time when there were several large virtual instrument companies already around, but few developers creating affordable, flexible, and focused libraries featuring more unusual and unique sounds. Shrewdly, the dynamic duo noticed much in the way of in-depth orchestral offerings, but more unusual instruments were not being sampled with much detail at all. As such, the company’s first two releases were Impact Steel, a collection of found metal objects played as percussion, and Sitar Nation, a set of instruments from North India. It has since been collectively working hard to address the needs of modern composers, successfully striking the balance between depth and ease of use. Ultimately, Impact Soundworks is proud to call tens of thousands of musicians around the world its customers, intelligently investing time to study suggestions and review requests. After all, that is how a number of its best-loved libraries started… from the smallest seed!
© 2017 Impact Soundworks

Eventide exhibiting new H9000 flagship processor at AES New York 2017

Recording technology trailblazer Eventide is proud to be exhibiting the H9000 — an all-new network-ready, 16-DSP, multi-channel, rackmount audio effects processing flagship, featuring eight times the processing power of the current-generation H8000 to continue the company’s unbroken cycle of delivering industry-leading signal processing power to the pro audio community — at AES New York 2017, October 18-20, Jacob J. Javits Convention Center, USA.

The culmination of a multi-year development cycle, the H9000 features four quad core ARM processors serving as 16 DSP engines, eight channels of pristine analog audio I/O, AES/EBU, ADAT, 16 USB audio channels, and, optionally, connection to standard audio networks, including MADI, Dante, Ravenna, and more.

Multichannel processing makes the H9000 a suitable platform for surround sound and for processing several tracks of audio simultaneously. On top of that, the H9000 introduces the concept of FX CHAINS, allowing users to connect any set of four effects with flexible routing. FX CHAINS can be created to act as a voice channel, a guitar ‘pedal board’, or a modular synth with effects, etc.

The H9000’s remote control application, emote, is available for users working ‘in the box’ or over an audio network. emote is available as a standalone app for Mac and PC, and as an AU, VST, and Pro Tools plug-in.

Says Eventide ‘resident fossil’ Anthony Agnello: “Audio effects designers are power-hungry souls. We have an insatiable thirst for processing power. With each advance in processing speed and storage capacity, new — often unimagined — effects become possible.

“In the early Eighties, pro audio's first rackmount multi-effects processor, the SP2016, was used by researchers and developers to create groundbreaking effects. Back then, artificial reverberation was the holy grail, and the SP2016 excelled at reverbs — both natural and unnatural, including infinite reverbs, inverse reverbs, gated reverbs, and more besides. But the SP2016 was designed as a general-purpose processor, and, as a consequence, new, innovative effects like shimmer, band delay, timescramble, and vocoding became commercially available for the first time.

“The SP2016’s successor, the H3000, was the premier rackmount processor of the Nineties, and introduced a wealth of new effects. The H4000 and H8000 flagships were the most powerful rack boxes of their time and helped usher in the concept of surround sound reverb. The H9000 is ready to take its place at the pinnacle of our product line and we’re eager to discover the kinds of new effects that lie in store.”

Eventide will be demonstrating the H9000 alongside award-winning plug-ins on Booth #321 at AES New York 2017 — the 143rd International Convention — on October 18-20, Jacob J. Javits Convention Center, USA.

Currently available in limited quantities, general availability of the H9000 is scheduled for March 31, 2018. (The H9000 will be available in two models — standard, with full front panel control, priced at $6,999.00 USD, and the blank front panel H9000R, priced at $4,999.00 USD.)

Check out the latest Blog entry from electronic musician Jack Impink (a.k.a. Gestalt7) — who has been beta-testing the H9000 while working with the Eventide Development Lab — here: https://www.eventideaudio.com/blog/gestalt7/news-lab-h9000-part-1

 About Eventide (www.eventideaudio.com)
Since 1971, Eventide has remained at the forefront of recording technology. In 1975 it revolutionized the audio industry by creating the world’s first commercially available digital audio effects unit, the H910 Harmonizer®. Since then, its legendary studio processors, stompboxes, and plug-ins have been heard on countless hit records.
© 2017 Eventide Inc.

Expert Sleepers get General MIDI sound set under creative CV control in elegant Eurorack module

Following a successful showcase at SUPERBOOTH 17 in Berlin back in April, Eurorack module-maker and audio plug-in developer Expert Sleepers is proud to launch General CV — combining a powerful General MIDI synthesizer with a multichannel CV-to-MIDI converter alongside a host processor capable of generating huge amounts of MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) data, either from the incoming CVs (control voltages) or entirely algorithmically… and all housed in an elegant Eurorack module.

By bringing the Nineties back to the Sixties, General CV’s software provides a layer of control over the synthesizer that allows adventurous users to create sounds stretching far beyond the familiar — cheesy, even — tones of General MIDI with which they may already be familiar. From making the synth behave like a VCO (Voltage Controlled Oscillator) to creating complex chords and textures — even to abusing drum sounds into pitched sources, General CV brings rich pickings of fresh flavours to Eurorack’s à la carte modular menu.

Marrying the past with the present, General CV can also be coaxed into playing MIDI files of any Eighties pop tunes that may have been ‘inadvertently’ downloaded from the web. Wise to a tee, Expert Sleepers Director Andrew ‘os’ Ostler’s outrageous General CV pitch perhaps can be taken with a pinch of (synthesized) salt. “For too long, Eurorack users have been denied important sounds, such as ‘Voice Oohs’, ‘Orchestra Hit’ and ‘Shakuhachi’," says the Eurorack expert, before adding: ”We’re delighted to finally bring these classic tones under CV control where they belong."

But jesting apart, General CV has a number of modes of operation, including: behaving like a modular VCO, but using a massively multitimbral and polyphonic synthesizer engine as its tone source; automatically creating chords and arpeggios from a pitch CV; playing MIDI files from an MicroSD (Secure Digital) card, including special support for playing loops synchronised to a clock pulse; and acting as a drum machine with up to nine independent drum trigger inputs. Each mode also benefits from internal four-band EQ, as well as stereo chorus and reverb effects.

Connectivity comes courtesy of nine inputs and two outputs — all on 3.5mm mono (TS) jack sockets. The outputs are labelled L and R, respectively, and are simply the stereo audio outputs from the General MIDI synthesizer with a maximum output level of  around ±8V (16V peak-to-peak). X- and Y-labelled inputs are digital, typically used for gates or clocks — simple on/off signals (with an expected voltage range of 0 to +5V); inputs 1, 2, and 3 are analogue, 10-bit unipolar CV connections (with an expected voltage range of 0 to +5V); inputs 4 through 7 are high-resolution analogue, 14-bit bipolar CV connections (with an expected voltage range of -5V to +5V) — all are protected from damage due to voltages outside the recommended range (so long as they remain within the Eurorack standard ±12V).

Five front panel-positioned rotary encoders also serve as push buttons, enabling easy access to various functions dependent on the current mode of operation, but, generally speaking, set to work as follows: A (navigate the system); B (turn to adjust parameter; push to advance to next parameter page; push in, hold, and turn to scroll through parameter pages); C (turn to adjust parameter; push to return to first parameter page); D (turn to adjust parameter; push to display mode-specific information); E (turn to adjust parameter; push to show input key).

General CV users need not ‘fly blind’, however. Helpfully, a small, but perfectly formed, display screen perfectly in keeping with the 12HP module makes eagle-eyed navigation a much more straightforward proposition than the 4HP-smaller-sized SUPERBOOTH-showcased prototype preceding the finished article. “Under the hood it remains basically the same thing,” its creator concludes on a more serious note: “It’s a General MIDI-based module, but completely CV controlled, with a general concept that you access the tremendous synthesis power of a General MIDI sound chip, but through CV in a very creative way.”

Guiding General CV creativity still further, the ‘General MIDI’ module follows in the footsteps of Expert Sleepers’ similarly-distinctive disting mk4 — the latest (fourth) improved iteration of its award-winning ‘many-in-one’ multifunction Eurorack module successfully showcased at The NAMM Show 2017 in Anaheim, California — by also including the company’s eye-catching red and blue backlit sockets… surely sealing the deal for anyone wishing to take the 1991-vintage General MIDI standardised specification for electronic musical instruments that respond to MIDI messages kicking and screaming into today's wonderful world of Eurorack with creative CV control possibilities that are out of this modular world!

General CV is launching at SynthFest UK (http://synthfest.co.uk) in Sheffield on October 7, 2017 and available thereafter from Expert Sleepers resellers (http://expert-sleepers.co.uk/store.html) worldwide with an MSRP of £269.00 GBP (inc. 20% VAT)/€299.00 EUR (inc. 19% VAT)/$349.00 USD.

For more in-depth info, please visit the dedicated General CV webpage here: http://expert-sleepers.co.uk/generalcv.html

About Expert Sleepers (www.expert-sleepers.co.uk)
As a one-man (Andrew Ostler a.k.a. ‘os’) operation, British brand Expert Sleepers started life back in 2002 as an audio plug-in developer — its amusingly-named Augustus Loop tape-based delay effect emulation (with extra features to facilitate its use as a looping device) quickly found favour with ambient music pioneer Brian Eno, who was moved to kindly comment: “When I hear anything by ES, I get excited by what I’m hearing.” 2009’s Silent Way suite of plug-ins designed for use with analogue synthesizers — especially as part of a modular analogue synthesizer system — soon led to a move towards the ever-expanding Eurorack modular marketplace with the first hardware product — the (now-discontinued) ES-1 audio/CV interface module designed for use with software such as Silent Way — making an appearance in 2010. Since then, the company continues to innovate in its core business of computer-synth interfacing, albeit admittedly going off-tangent in 2014 with the award-winning disting — a ‘many-in-one’ multifunction module based around a PIC® Microcontroller (MCU) offering a variety of CV and audio processing algorithms, including a selection of oscillators (LFOs/VCOs), alongside a sample (WAV) file and MIDI file player with a variety of options for sample triggering and playback speed — that continues to be Expert Sleepers’ best-seller by far, now in its improved mk4 iteration.
© 2017 Expert Sleepers Ltd