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

Modal Electronics has announced the availability of v2.4 firmware for their Argon Series synthesizers, along with a new volume of factory presets.

New in Firmware Version 2.4:

• Added more LFO synced divisions
• Added Extended Oscillator Drift to upper range of Drift control.
• Added ‘Master’ Clock Source mode that always sends out MIDI clock
• Improved MIDI reliability on macOS Big Sur
• Improved arpeggiator sync when working with external sequencers
• Improved expression pedal behaviour
• Improved LFO1 sync when clocked from external MIDI

Volume 2 of the Factory Preset library for the ARGON8, ARGON8M and ARGON8X features 300 new presets, plus 100 MPE-ready patches currently available in the existing Volume 1 library.

See the Modal Electronics website for details.

28 iconic Roland Cloud AU plugins now native support for Apple M1 Macs. Classic TR drum machines and Juno/Jupiter synths are now compatible.

Roland has announced that 28 of its Roland Cloud-hosted AU plugin synths now offer native support for Apple silicon Macs.

The company notes that, because of the “inherent gains of the Apple architecture”, musicians can now run more instances of their software synths on more affordable devices than ever before.

Therefore, it seems that it is a case of ‘vintage synth meets modern computer architecture’.

Roland instruments now updated with native support for Apple silicon include:

ZENOLOGY?SYSTEM-1?SYSTEM-8?JUNO-60?TR-606?D-50?JX-3P?PROMARS?SH-101?JUNO-106?SYSTEM-100?TB-303?TR-808?JUPITER-8?JV-1080?TR-909?SH-2?XV-5080?SRX BRASS?SRX DANCE TRAX?SRX ELECTRIC PIANO?SRX KEYBOARDS?SRX ORCHESTRA?SRX STRINGS?SRX STUDIO?SRX WORLD?SRX PIANO I?SRX PIANO II

The list of updated plugins includes some stone-cold Roland classics – the likes of the TR-808, TR-909, Juno-106, and Jupiter-8. There are also plenty of emulations of more contemporary instruments, including the System-1 and System-8, as well as classic sound modules such as the JV-1080, XV-5080 and their companion expansion boards.

Zenology, which is powered by Roland Zen-Core engine, is now M1-compatible, as well.

Find out more on the Roland Cloud website.

Akai has announced what it is describing as ‘the most significant firmware release’ that it has ever delivered, breathing new life into the MPC series of standalone groove boxes. The latest firmware update also features 14 new plugins

What’s new in MPC 2.10:

• 4 New Plugin Instruments: Hype, Solina, Odyssey, and Mellotron
• New AIR Vocal Insert Effect Suite w/ Automatic Vocal Tuning, AIR Doubler and AIR Harmonizer Plugins
• USB Class Compliant Audio Interface Support
• 7 new Insert Effects including Half Speed, Diode Clipper, Stutter and more
• MPC Drum and Keygroup Engine Enhancements including Akai Pro Sample Tail, Dedicated Pitch Envelope, and Keygroup Portamento
• 10 New Drum Pad Effects including Ringmod, Bitcrush, Decimator and more
• New Sample Key Detection

A video playlist covering the new features:

The MPC 2.10 is bringing auto-tune functionality to the MPC, as part of the AIR Vocal Suite. The vocal effects package also contains the AIR Vocal Doubler and the AIR Vocal Harmonizer, both aimed at helping producers amp up their vocal production.

The firmware update also adds four new plugin instruments, including emulations of the Mellotron, Solina and Arp Odyssey. These are bolstered by the addition of some creative-sounding effects: Diode Clipper, Stutter, Granulator, and the AIR Diffuser Delay, to name a few.

The Akai MPC 2.10 update is available now as a free update for MPC One, MPC Live, MPC Live II, MPC X and MPC2 Desktop users from Akai website.