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Tahti.studio was released in December and has already been updated with new features, such as a note parameter that can be quantised to a freely configurable scale with support for microtonality and Scala tuning files.

The online music-making tool that is more powerful than you might think got updated

Tahti.studio has now received an update, with the most exciting addition being an open-source library of free-licensed drum samples that features, among others, 808, 909, and household percussion kits from Bedroom Producers Blog.

These sounds and patterns can be downloaded and used in other projects or instruments, and generous producers can even submit their own sample packs to the default library via GitHub. The impressive browser-based groovebox has also received some tweaks and improvements to its workflow, and users can now import, and export individual patterns as .wav or .tahti files.

There have been plenty of fun browser-based online music-making tools down the years, but the Tahti.studio groovebox looks significantly more capable than most of them.

Inspired by Elektron’s hardware grooveboxes, this offers sample-based sound generation – you can import your own samples, and a library of sounds and patterns comes included – with support for single-cycle waveforms. You have eight tracks to work with, and plenty of flexibility.

Example, each track has its own multimode filter, distortion, frequency shifter, sample-rate reducer, and amp envelope. Almost all parameters can be modulated on a per-step basis, and there are three freely assignable modulation sources per track. Each step can have its own micro-timing, retriggering, probability, and trigger conditions, while tracks can have individual lengths and sequencer speeds. There are four send effects (chorus, phaser, reverb, delay) and a master compressor and soft clipper.

Collaboration is possible as well, thanks to the option to share patterns via secret links, and you can render patterns to WAV files so that you can continue to work on them in your DAW.

Get your groove on over at the Tahti.studio website.

A South Korea car manufacturer KIA, in collaboration with Brazilian synth designer Arthur Joly, has released a free software synthesizer, move.ment, that’s inspired by pink noise and the sounds of movement in nature.

Pink noise or 1/f noise is a ‘color’ of noise where the intensity falls as frequency rises. Compared to white noise, pink noise could be described as “deeper” or “less hissy”.

Many natural systems, like surf and wind, create variations of pink noise. Pink noise has also been shown in some experiments to be soothing, to improve focus and to help people fall asleep, because of the way it masks sounds and mimics natural noise sounds.

What they KIA, say about the free software synthesizer:

“The sounds of movement in nature produce what’s known as pink noise. This increases the alpha waves in the brain, inducing the flow state of consciousness, the state in which the brain is at its most creative. These natural sounds were recorded all over the world and used to develop the one-of-a-kind instrument, that we call move.ment.”

KIA move.ment features:

• Sample-based natural sounds
• VCO with four classic waveforms
• Noise
• Reverb
• Filter
• Dual ADSR envelopes
• Output tone control
• Touchpad keyboard controller

In addition, they released a collection of tracks made with move.ment:

The KIA move.ment is available now as a free download for Mac and Windows.

GForce Software, in collaboration with Tom Oberheim, has introduced OB-E V2, described as “a pin sharp emulation of the Oberheim 8-Voice”.

The update features a variety of updates, including a new ‘Vintage’ control and a refined ‘Detune’ parameter, along with a new reverb, 100+ new presets and more.

What GForce Software say about it:

“Last year, as we neared the release of OB-E, we were contacted by Marcus Ryle on behalf of Tom Oberheim. Marcus is a co-founder of Line 6 but also a former Oberheim developer who contributed to the OB-Xa, DSX, DMX, OB-8, Xpander and Matrix 12. Through Marcus, OB-E found its way to the ears of Tom Oberheim and they were both impressed enough to suggest a collaboration to refine the instrument and release an update carrying their full endorsement.

Working under the guidance of Tom and Marcus, we further enhanced the already incredible sounding OB-E. Refining the Detune feature and adding a new Vintage knob, dials in more realistic musical inaccuracies in line with the original instrument for a truly authentic 8-Voice experience.”

New in Oberheim OB-E v2:

New presets

• Vintage knob & Refined Detune parameter
• Matrix Reverb
• Drum Mode and 10 drum kits presets
• PC support, VST3 and Apple Silicon Native
• Sequencer Zoom
• Flexible scaling UI

Key features:

• Authentic sounding emulation of the Oberheim 8-Voice
• 700+ factory Patches ‘designed to fit in a mix’, all tagged and categorised
• Librarian for easy access to the presets (Arrow Keys Navigation)
• ZOOM enlarges an individual SEM filling the UI with front & rear panels side by side
• Group and Offset mode to edit all SEMs at once, Individual SEM Copy/Paste/Save
• Upper/Lower SEMs can be Split across the keyboard
• Multi-faceted analogue style sequencer
• Extensive Velocity & Aftertouch modulation, Pan and Volume per SEM
• Polyphonic aftertouch and MPE

Oberheim OB-E v2 is available now for £99.99 Ex. VAT