The Bad Contact is one of the quirks of music technology that producers can end up spending a lot of money on plugins that downgrade the quality of their audio, but the good news is that you can also get them for free.
Step forward The Bad Contact, a free VST plugin that emulates the distinctive noise and crackle that you hear when knobs and switches are not working as they should.
Often the scourge of audiophiles, developer Rawoltage saw potential in these ‘flaws’: “Get creative and try the 50/60Hz hum of the transformer, the harsh crackling while turning the big knob, or the popping sound of the power button,” is the company’s advice.
Increasing the voltage strengthens the crackling, and you can rest assured that all sounds are oscillator-generated rather than sample-based, so you would not get any repetition.
The long and winding Rhodes to release MK8 continues…
Now under new ownership, Rhodes is playing the long game as it prepares to release its new electric piano, which we now know will be called the MK8.
This is being worked on at the company factory in Leeds, and will be going on sale soon.
Further details are still tantalizingly out of reach, but it is clear from the latest teaser photo that the distinctive look of previous models has been retained.
Expect more information to be drip-fed on a weekly basis between now and the release date.
Keep your eye on the Rhodes website for further details.
Reason Studios announced today the availability of Reason 12, a major update to the popular virtual studio for Mac & Windows. Reason 12 released with a new Combinator, the Mimic sampler and HD graphics.
Announced earlier this year, and dripped out to Reason+ subscribers over the past few months, Reason 12 is now signed, sealed, delivered and potentially yours. The rack-based DAW’s 2021 overhaul is complete.
Here’s what they say about it:
“A new look, a new instrument, and a whole new way of interacting with sounds, Reason 12 is all about leveling up the creative potential at the heart of your music-making experience.
Reason’s beloved Combinator has been completely refreshed for an expandable, customizable, and more powerful sound design playground. The brand new Mimic Creative Sampler approaches sample manipulation as a musical reimagining of audio samples that can be both inventive and even fun!
Bringing together the best audio technologies from Reason Studios’ history of groundbreaking DSP and sample-slicing. All new high resolution graphics bring the Reason Rack to life, with under the hood updates to tap in to modern video card performance.”
“Updating the Combinator is one of our top feature requests ever, for good reason,” says Mattias Häggström Gerdt, Product Manager at Reason Studios. “Whether you love designing powerful device-like patches or just want more sounds, this update really levels up the Reason Rack.
“We have already seen some super creative patches from the Reason community, and I can’t wait to see more.”
The highlight for most users is likely to be the redesigned Combinator. As before, this enables you to combine multiple Reason devices into a single unit, but itis now much more customisable, with options to change the panel size, knobs, faders, buttons and graphics.
Reason’s graphics have also been upgraded to full HD – they automatically scale to the most appropriate size for your monitor’s resolution and pixel density and offer custom zoom. This applies not only to the built-in devices, but also to all third-party rack extensions.
Lastly, there’s the previously announced Mimic Creative Sampler – this offers four sampler modes, automatic transient detection and sample slicing, and a whole lot more.
Here’s a summary of what’s new in Reason 12
Reason 12 focuses on improving the Rack experience. This includes making Reason high resolution. With version 12, you can zoom Reason to fit your set-up, and all 3rd party Rack Extensions will be ready for hi-res on day one.
Reason 12 also includes a brand new sampler. It’s designed to quickly explore and play back sounds in interesting ways—be that from your collection of samples, something recorded on the fly, or even an export of the very track you’re working on.
The Combinator in Reason 12 is overhauled to be fully customizable, more powerful, and easier than ever to work with. Create a custom interface with the controls you want laid out how you like, add images, set up expressive macro controls, change the panel size and more to make a patch your own.
To help you navigate new content, Reason 12 also features an improved Reason browser. Search is now faster and your search results are categorized to easily find what you want.
Reason 12 is available now priced at $399, and also to all Reason+ subscribers. Upgrade pricing is also available.
Find out more on the Reason Studios website for more info.
