WORLD OF MUSIC ; PORTABLE KEYBOARD - Latest Portable Music Keyboards, Synthesizers and Music News

Ableton has announced Extended Sounds, a new Pack for Ableton Live by Modeselektor. The Pack is a construction kit sampled from a huge variety of synths and drum machines from Modeselektor’s broad collection of classic studio gear and wraps them up in “wild effects with eminently-playable presets.”

Created with the same ethos as Modeselektor’s 2021 album “Extended,” the Extended Sounds Pack gives the user access to many of the distinctive elements that have defined the sound of Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary’s Modeselektor project. Extended Sounds delivers a bevy of handcrafted instruments, drum kits, MIDI clips, Effect Racks and presets to incorporate into projects.

What’s more, at the heart of the Pack are more than 2000 samples from equipment in the Modeselektor studio. The multi-sampled synths and drum machines are then distinctively processed through complex effects routings. Live’s native synths receive the same treatment, giving Wavetable and Operator “that signature Modeselektor grit.”

The pristine recorded samples in this Pack meet extensive effects chains for dramatic transformations. The Macro Variations introduced in Live 11 are often the first thing you’ll see when loading an instrument, Drum or Effect Rack from this Pack. Beyond the uniquely Modeselektor preset names you’ll find crushing distortion, heavily-modulated resonators and scuzzy reverbs, all multi-mapped for quick control over the chaos within.

The demo Live Sets found in the Extended Sounds Pack offer an insight into how the duo build and arrange their tracks, while the included MIDI clips further break down how they construct the foundations of their music. Divided into useful sub-folders for easy integration into the user’s work, combine the clips with drum kits and instruments, and easily explore new configurations of sound, rhythm and melody.

The Extended Sounds Pack from Modeselektor is a complete production toolkit, and is available from Ableton for $59.

Sonicware has introduced Liven Bass and Beats, a “wavetable bass synthesizer and rhythm machine”.

It’s designed to be a powerful portable groovebox that can be used in your studio or standalone, with battery power and a built-in speaker.

The bass synth engine includes:

• Two independent Wavetable oscillators with the 32 available wavetables.
• One sub-oscillator
• One noise generator which can create 10 different noise types.

Other features include built-in LFO, envelope generator, unison control, multi-mode filter, and distortion effects.

64+ bass presets include standards like Reese Bass, Future Bounce Bass, Wobble Bass, Growl Bass, Neuro Bass, Deep House Bass, Acid Bass, 808 Sub Bass and more.

In addition, the Liven Bass and Beats is loaded with 150 rhythm sounds. The library of drum sounds also includes risers and tension release FX for creating transition effects. The drum sounds are organized into kits for specific genres such as dubstep, house, hiphop, trap and techno. You can also mix and match sounds from the drum library to create your own custom kits.

The Liven Bass and Beats also offers features tailored to live performance, including 16 physical control knobs, parameter locking for each sequencer step, and SYNC IN/OUT and MIDI IN/OUT connectors.

The Liven Bass & Beats is available to pre-order for $199, with pre-orders expected to ship in February 2022.

In the video, synthesist and developer O.Z. Hall takes a look at the new Synthesizers.com Q119A step sequencer.

The Q119A Sequencer is quad-width version of their original Q119 Sequencer. Like the original, the Q119A features three rows of analog step controls that can be configured as one 24-stage sequence or three 8-stage sequences. You can also control the reset point to create shorter sequences.

The Synthesizers.com Q119A Sequencer is available now for $595.