To celebrate the arrival of Native Instruments products on Plugin Boutique, the company is giving one of its plugins, Freak, away for free to anyone who purchases another product.
Part of NI Crush Pack of effects, this dirty little unit models a diode ring circuit, and can operate in Oscillator, Radio and Sidechain modes, enabling all kinds of creative filth.
Until 30 September, you can have Native Instruments’ excellent Freak effect – a lo-fi powerhouse for free!
A rich source of inharmonic noises, sci-fi burbles, detuned sweeps, crazy frequency wanderings and so much more, we described Freak as the jewel in the Crush Pack crown, so it is well worth having (particularly if you don’t have to pay for it).
Plugin Boutique is also offering 80% of the Komplete Classics Collection, a special bundle that contains Massive, Absynth5, FM8 and Replika. This can currently be yours for just $99/£89/€99.
In addition, Plugin Boutique is also 73% off the Komplete Future Classics Collection, which contains Super 8, Form, TRK-01 and Mod Pack. Again, this costs $99/£89/€99.
Roland sets the analogue circuits to 1985 with TR-707 and TR-727 drum machine plugins.
Roland today introduced the TR-707 and TR-727 Software Rhythm Composers, the latest in their Legendary series of software-based virtual instruments available via Roland Cloud. Two of the lesser-known TR models get their moment in the software spotlight.
In a discussion about the greatest Roland TR drum machine, it is unlikely that either the TR-707 or TR-727 would feature heavily.
Released in 1985, these were the first of the company’s drum machines to be powered by PCM samples, and now they’ve arrived in plugin form on the Roland Cloud.
The TR-707 was the more ‘standard’ of the two machines, giving you traditional drum kit tones. The TR-727, meanwhile specialized in Latin percussion. Both ‘7-series’ models came with 15 sounds.
Although they were sample-based, Roland has called on its Analog Circuit Behavior (ACB) modelling technology to emulate the 707 and 727. This is because, as well as the PCM data, both machines also used analogue circuitry to introduce decay to the waveforms, giving the sounds a distinctive lo-fi charm.
Roland has used ACB to emulate this relationship, promising to deliver all the original machines’ sonic quirks and instabilities in the process.
The plugins also offer new features, such as editing of the individual sounds and the option to overdrive the internal circuitry. The sequencer has been updated with more features, as well.
Here’s what Roland say about the TR-707 and TR-727 Software Rhythm Composers:
“In 1985, Roland introduced the now-famous TR-707 and TR-727, the company’s first drum machines with all sounds based around PCM samples. The TR-707, with its orange livery, had the most advanced pattern sequencing capabilities to date and included 15 punchy drum sounds covering all the basics, from kick and snare to toms and cymbals. Its sibling, the blue-highlighted TR-727, was an all-out percussion powerhouse with 15 Latin-inspired sounds that could take any groove to new heights. Each unit was formidable on its own, but together they were unstoppable.
Taking their rightful places next to other classics in the Roland TR series, this dynamic duo of drums and percussion has appeared on hit tracks in many genres through the years, including synth-pop, acid house, industrial, electro, indie, alternative, and more. The software-based recreations reproduce their sound and behavior with 100-percent authenticity, coupled with modern upgrades that take them into all-new creative territory.
The playback engines in the TR-707 and TR-727 were primitive by today’s standards, with 25 kHz sample rates and 8-bit resolution (and even 6-bit for some tones). To optimize performance, Roland engineers used short PCM waveforms with decay introduced later in the analog circuitry. But this early hybrid approach had its limitations, with deviations in the digital clock and analog circuitry causing variances in the pitch and decay characteristics. This combination of factors strongly contributes to the charm of the TR-707 and TR-727 and their unique and pleasing lo-fi punch. To replicate these behaviors in software, Roland started with the original PCM wave data from the hardware. Next, ACB technology was used to recreate the interaction between the PCM engine and analog output stages, carefully including all its quirks and instabilities.
The software-based TR-707 and TR-727 also include many updated features inspired by popular aftermarket modifications. Users have deep levels of sound control unavailable with stock hardware units, including attack, decay, and tuning for individual sounds, the ability to overdrive the internal circuitry, and much more. Additionally, the sequencer features include numerous modern enhancements for infusing grooves with added detail and nuance.”
The TR-707 and TR-727 Software Rhythm Composers is available now for $149 each, and come as part of the Ultimate tier of the Roland Cloud subscription service. This costs $19.99 a month or $199.00 a year.
ROLI, the UK music tech startup, developer of the Seaboard expressive keyboard, Blocks controllers and LUMI illuminated keyboard, has announced that it has gone into administration and is reforming as ‘Luminary‘, citing a smaller than expected market for its products. The news comes despite the company receiving money from the UK government to help it survive the pandemic.
Company founder and CEO Roland Lamb now plans to start the new company, Luminary, which will focus on LUMI, ROLI’s piano learning platform.
“Ultimately what happened was the pro-focused products we initially developed, although successful within their marketplace, the marketplace wasn’t big enough given our venture trajectory,” Lamb told Business Insider. “We had our eyes set on hypergrowth and that proved to be difficult.”
In 2013, we first heard of ROLI when it launched the Seaboard, an MPE controller that replaced standard piano keys with squishy ones. Although it received considerable attention, and was even featured in Hollywood blockbuster La La Land, this was a niche product that came in at a high price.
In 2017, the company aimed for a wider market with its BLOCKS series of controllers. These launched with a limited software application, and they struggled to make an impact.
in 2019, came LUMI, a piano learning platform that combined a light-up keyboard and a piano learning app. Launched on Kickstarter, this smashed through its funding target, but backers complained of delays in shipping, and there were reports of build quality issues, as well.
ROLI later released an updated version that was said to be more durable and offer a better key action. The LUMI was also relaunched as a production device.
Throughout this time, ROLI has received significant investment, acquiring other companies – including music software developer FXpansion – along the way.
“Our lead investor Hoxton Ventures was not prepared to fund ROLI and wanted, rather, to invest in Luminary to drive forward the consumer opportunity,” says Lamb.
It’s believed that ROLI’s 70 staff will move across to Luminary, which wants to become the ‘Peloton for piano’.
It remains to be seen if this will be a more effective business model than the one that ROLI pursued.
A Q&A page on the ROLI website says that all ROLI and LUMI products will continue to be supported as before, and that the respective brands, websites and social media pages will still exist. Existing product orders will also be honored, though may arrive “a little later than expected.”
Luminary has also confirmed that it plans to relaunch the Seaboard in 2022.
