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

The Casio PX-S1100 is the successor of Casio PX-S1000, which was one of the best digital pianos which you can buy, just got an upgrade.

If you are a beginner, the new Casio PX-S1100 is the affordable home keyboard and sounds better than ever.

Boasting the same slimline body and playable keyboard – this is weighted heavier in the lower range and becomes lighter in the higher registers – the PX-S1100 offers improved string resonance that promises to better reproduce the complex harmonics of an acoustic piano. There are 17 other tones, as well.

In addition, the speakers have been upgraded, while the AiR Sound Source is designed to “provide a sense of ambience, localization, and clarity.”

The PX-S1100 ships with Casio WU-BT10 adapter, which adds Bluetooth MIDI and audio capabilities, while the Chordana Play for Piano app lets you control the piano from your tablet and offers real-time interactive lessons.

The Casio PX-S1100 will be available. Find out more on the Casio website.

Bitwig has announced that Bitwig Studio 4 – a major update to their flagship digital audio workstation – is now available.

Since its launch in 2014, updates to Bitwig Studio DAW have arrived at an impressive rate and useful. Bigwig Studio 4 enables you to explore new musical timelines with flexible camping, Operators, and expression automation.

This means four main things; comping for audio clips in both the Clip Launcher and Arranger; a new set of Operators for changing the chance, recurrence, and more of any note or audio event; Random Spread for any expression point; and, on a practical note, Native Apple Silicon support on Mac, including the facility to run Intel and ARM plugins side-by-side.

The Apple Silicon support, will come as great news for Bitwig fans who have just bought an M1 Mac, as will the flexible plugin support. Because of the way Bitwig Studio hosts its plugins, they are kept separate from the DAW, so you can safely run Intel and ARM VSTs alongside each other. If a plugin does crash, Bitwig Studio should keep running.

Major new features:

Comping in Bitwig Studio 4:

Operators in Bitwig Studio 4:

Anti-Loops in Bitwig Studio 4:

There are various other improvements in version 4, as well – localised Chinese, Japanese and German versions and improved import and export options, for example. Intriguingly, you can now import FL Studio (FLP) and Ableton Live (ALS) files, and Auxy projects should work, too.

Bitwig Studio 4 is available now with an intro price of $299, regular price $399.

The upgrade is free for existing users with an active Bigwig Studio Upgrade Plan. Find out more on the Bitwig website.

Preview the updated Arturia V Collection 8.1 video.

Arturia let us know that they have updated V Collection, their collection of virtual instruments, with microtuning support, NKS compatibility and more.

What’s new in Arturia V Collection 8.1:

• Microtuning compatibility – You can now explore microtonal tunings with OB-Xa V, Vocoder V, Emulator II V, Jup-8 V, and Jun-6 V, thanks to compatibility with ODDSound’s MTS-ESP, a microtuning software utility designed with the help of Aphex Twin.
• NKS ready – Every title in V Collection is now ready for Native Kontrol Standard implementation.
• OB-Xa V – updated with detailed analog voice dispersion, improved envelope behavior, VCO sync and more.
• Analog Lab V accessibility – their all-in-one keyboard anthology has been updated with text-to-speech functionality, providing real-time audio feedback with every tweak and preset change – you can even configure it to respond to your MIDI controller adjustments.
• More in-app tutorial updates – many of the in-app tutorials have been updated to be more informative and accessible.
• MIDI / macro improvements – including MIDI CC assignment, macro customization, and a number of workflow improvements.

Upgrade details are available at the Arturia website.