Waves promises “a new standard in noise removal for vocals” with its Clarity Vx plugins
Both plugins are powered by Neural Networks, Waves’ AI audio technology, and can isolate vocals from ambient and background noise. We are informed that it can do this instantly, in real-time, and without any artefacts.
Clarity Vx is the simpler of the two plugins, and is designed for music producers and podcast creators. There are two modes: Broad 1 can preserve main and secondary voices when more than one voice is present; Broad 2 is for more severe processing, and can separate the main voice from background voices. Operation is as simple as turning a knob clockwise until your vocal is ‘clean’.
Whereas, Clarity Vx Pro is powered by the same technology but comes with advanced features for surgical noise removal, making it suitable for post-production work. The Ambience Keeping feature will remove the voice and keep the background ambience (useful for ADR tasks), and you get multiband control.
Clarity Vx and Vx Pro are available now and can currently be purchased for the introductory prices of $30 and $250 respectively (use the CREATE40 coupon code to get these prices). They run on PC and Mac in VST/AU/AAX formats, and demos are available.
Sampleson has proven itself to be a bit of a specialist at emulating electric pianos in software. Now it has teamed up with Plugin Boutique to release Stage 54, a reboot of a super-rare Rhodes ocused on just the middle register of the piano.
Designed with chord and melody playing in mind, the original 54-key piano was designed for those who wanted the best possible tone for these particular musical elements.
This software version is powered by a spectral modelling engine, which is based on samples but generates its sounds in real-time. This software version is powered by a spectral modelling engine, which is based on samples but generates its sounds in real-time.
What’s more, Stage54 uses infinite round-robin technology, meaning that there should be infinite variations when you play a note, even at the same velocity. There are built-in phaser, tremolo, reverb and drive effects, and the plugin weighs in at just 45MB.
Stage 54 is available now via Plugin Boutique. It runs on PC and Mac and is available now for the introductory price of $29/£24.
Moog Music has released a free firmware update for the Subharmonicon that adds new MIDI features and more.
New in Subharmonicon firmware 1.1.0:
Sequencer Clock Behavior – Sequencer clock outputs (SEQ 1 CLK and SEQ 2 CLK) are now in phase with the internal clock. Previously, these outputs were delayed by one clock pulse relative to the internal clock.
MIDI Note Transpose – While the sequencers are running, MIDI notes sent to Subharmonicon will transpose the pitch of the sequence that is playing. This allows you to connect a MIDI keyboard such as the Moog Grandmother or Subsequent 25 to Subharmonicon, and use the keyboard to transpose the Subharmonicon sequences live, to follow key changes in your music.
Keyboard Note Priority – Note Priority is a common feature on monophonic synthesizers; since they can only play one note at a time, they need a rule for which note to play when more than one keyboard key is pressed at the same time. You can now use MIDI CC 91 to set Low Note, High Note, or Last Note priority on Subharmonicon in order to determine which notes it will follow when being controlled from a MIDI keyboard.
TRIGGER Behavior – When the Envelope Generator is latched (EG button is blinking), the TRIGGER button and signals received at the TRIGGER input jack are ignored. Previously, if these TRIGGER functions were activated while the EG was latched, the VCF and VCA envelopes would jump to their decay phase and fall to zero, and subsequently not be triggered by the internal sequencer. The EG would have to be unlatched and turned on (EG button solid red) in order to respond to sequence triggers again.
