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LFO Store has introduced Cinematica, a cinematic sound library for the Korg Prologue.

Created by sound designer Nick Klimenko, the sound library features 50 cinematic presets in a wide range of categories, including:

• Massive Basses
• Moving Leads
• Unusual modular Arpeggios
• Recreation of famous sounds of Jupiter & CS Series
• Beautiful cinematic strings – massive & wide
• Organic pads & low drones
• Bells & Plucks

You can preview Cinematica in the video embedded above. No external Oscillators & FX were used.

Cinematica is available now for $20.

Free Arturia plugin: hybrid strings instrument kicks off ‘Augmented’ software series

The Augmented Series is described as “Acoustic Instruments Reinvented” – fusions of sampling, synthesis, and musical expression.

Arturia has introduced a new line of virtual instruments, its Augmented Series, with a free plugin, Augmented Strings Intro.  This hybrid instrument combines sampled strings with synth engines to create “an entirely new sonic experience”.

Each preset in Augmented Strings Intro features up to four layers – any combination of string samples, virtual analogue, wavetable, harmonic and granular synthesis. You can morph between layers with a dedicated control, which also adjusts multiple parameters simultaneously.

Augmented Strings Intro’s GUI is based on streamlined macro controls that “intelligently alter” your sound, which should make tweaking a breeze.

The Augmented Series is designed to offer a fresh approach to acoustic instruments in software, blending sampling, synthesis and expression control. It’s designed for creating modern-day sounds that are suitable for today’s producers.

What they say about Augmented STRINGS Intro:

“Augmented STRINGS Intro is a streamlined version of an instrument that combines rich sampled strings with state-of-the-art synth engines in an approachable and inspiring way, giving today’s sound explorers the quickest route to the fresh string sounds they’ve always wanted. Advanced hybrid sounds, instant sound morphing, simple macro controls, and a mix-ready sound – software strings reinvented.”

Augmented Strings Intro is available as a free download until April 30th, 2022.

Find out more on Arturia website.

Native Instruments and iZotope has announced Soundwide as the new name of their parent company.

Just over a year ago, it was announced that Native Instruments and iZotope were coming together to form a music technology alliance with the financial backing of investment firms Francisco Partners and EMH Partners. Now, two more companies – Plugin Alliance and Brainworx – have joined the party, with the parent company being named as Soundwide.

Soundwide says that its aim is to make music-making “a more joyful and inspiring experience for creators everywhere by helping them to find, and stay in, their creative flow”.

The two new members of the Soundwide family will both be familiar to hi-tech music makers. Plugin Alliance is a software sales, marketing and delivery platform with more than a million account holders, while Brainworx specialises in creating plugin emulations of analogue hardware.

There’s also an all-new brand, Sound Stacks, which is the brainchild of Cesare Ferrari and Julian Storer, creator of the open-source audio application framework JUCE. Sound Stacks aims to drive development of new audio platform technologies for improving productivity and performance for developers.

Soundwide also has a new Artist Board, which features some big names. These include singer-songwriter Alicia Keys, musician/producer/composer Jacob Collier, recording and mix engineer Ann Mincieli, producer and rapper EL-P of Run the Jewels, composer Ludwig Göransson, producer and engineer Noah “40” Shebib, production duo Take A Daytrip, singer-songwriter Tayla Parx, and producer and engineer Young Guru.

The board will advise the Soundwide team on a regular basis, discussing creator needs, product roadmaps, community development and new methods of fostering inclusivity.

Soundwide’s brands:

• Native Instruments – one of the leading developers of music software and hardware for music production, sound design, performance, and DJing.
• iZotope – an audio technology company that creates professional audio software for audio recording, mixing, broadcast, sound design, and mastering.
• Plugin Alliance – a company that partners with audio developers to distribute and market audio software online.
• Brainworx – features high-end software emulations of analog hardware.
• Sound Stacks, born from the minds of Cesare Ferrari and Julian Storer, the creator of the industry-standard open-source audio application framework JUCE. Sound Stacks will drive the development of new audio platform technologies aimed at improving productivity and performance for audio developers across the industry.

Together, the brands have a user base of upwards of 10 million people.

To celebrate the introduction of the parent company, Soundwide will be giving away Native Instruments’ Ethereal Earth, iZotope’s Neutron Elements and Plugin Alliance and Brainworx’s six plug-in Welcome Bundle, as free downloads until April 26th, 2022, and you can find out how to claim your free software. Details are available on both the Native Instruments and iZotope websites.