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Universal Audio teases Spark, “the next chapter of UAD”, but what is it?

Universal Audio has released a brief video teasing Spark, which it’s calling “the next chapter of UAD”.

This suggests that Spark is going to be related to UA’s UAD powered plugins platform, the success of which has been driven by authentic emulations of vintage effects driven by bespoke DSP hardware.

Subscription service?

There is some speculation that, rather than being a new piece of gear, Spark might be a subscription service of some kind – will you soon be able to pay a monthly fee to get access to all of the UAD plugins?

Budget interface?

Equally, we would not be too surprised if Spark is a budget UAD product, possibly taking design cues from UA’s recently launched Volt audio interfaces. Or, perhaps it’ll be a super high-end interface with power to burn.

All will be revealed on 30 March, so find out more on Universal Audio website on that date.

Native Instruments releases Playbox, a new Kontakt-based software instrument that is designed to kickstart your workflow and refresh your creativity.

Playbox is the brainchild of Antonio de Spirt, Mickaël Le Goff and Nadine Raihani.

Roll the dice to create unique sounds

This is an instrument that is designed for everyone, regardless of their previous music-making experience.

Combining chord generation, sample layering and elements of chance, Playbox promises to produce unique sounds that you can play with just one finger. Roll the dice and it will randomise and blend between 905 samples, 224 chord sets, and 217 effects presets.

As well as playing the supplied content, users can also import up to 450 of their own samples, which are automatically repitched to the notes of a chord.

Here’s what they say:

“Our goal as creators was to establish a sound library that didn’t just focus on one specific sound, but instead explored the full spectrum of sounds available to us, and embraced the happy accidents you come across when working with randomisation.”

“A beginner can press one button, quickly randomise, and come across an interesting sound that can inspire their entire workflow,” explains Mickaël Le Goff. “With the same instrument, more advanced users can really dig into Playbox’s possibilities by adding their own samples and creating something brand new.”

Playbox is available now for PC and Mac priced at $149/£129/€149, until April 24. You can also get it as part of NI’s Komplete Now subscription service.

Find out more on the Native Instruments website.

Akai Professional MPK Mini Play mk3 is a super-compact MIDI keyboard controller and also a self-contained portable keyboard that offers 128 built-in sounds.

The New model promises improved playability and a more powerful speaker

These include acoustic/electric pianos, synths, pads, drum kits and more, and the fact that there’s a built-in speaker – a better, more powerful one than was in the original MPK Mini Play – means you can jam away without any other hardware.

Portability is further aided by a battery power option, which promises to give you more than 14 hours of runtime. You can also power the keyboard via USB.

The 25-note keyboard is said to be more playable before, with improved velocity response. With just two octaves to work with, though, there’s not going to be a great deal of scope for giving two-handed performances.

The eight velocity-sensitve drum pads, meanwhile, are now officially ‘MPC-style’ ones, while the four parameter control knobs have been moved above them. There is an arpeggiator onboard, as well, along with an OLED display, and also a 1/8-inch headphone jack.

MPK Mini Play mk3 ships with both MPC Beats, Akai’s own DAW, and three plugins from Air Music Technology: the Hybrid 3 analogue synth, the Mini Grand acoustic piano, and Velvet, a vintage electric piano instrument. You also get the Melodics educational package, an interactive music learning resource.

Find out more on the Akai Pro website. The MPK Mini Play mk3 costs $149.