Isla Instruments let us know that the S2400 Sampling Drum Machine is available again, after almost a year of being out of stock.
“Everyone knows how difficult it is to source microchips and parts these days, so it’s rare for us to have stock, but right now there are still some units left from the last pre-order batch. They are ready to ship,” they note. “It may be the last chance to purchase for some time.”
Isla Instruments calls the S2400 “The spiritual successor to the greatest drum machine the world ever saw.” It builds on the classic design of the E-Mu SP 1200, one of the most iconic sampling drum machines ever created.
4trak don’t just emulate the sound of tape, but also the tape machine’s workflow and functionality.
This new Max for Live device fuses the workflow of cassette tape recorders with the convenience of a modern DAW. And that’s exactly what the creators of 4trak, a new Max for Live device, were hoping to achieve with the development of their new software tool for Ableton Live.
“We love all things analog, both in the music creation process and for listening formats,” the plugin’s creators write. “As creators ourselves, we wanted the sound and workflow of playing with audio on a hardware tape unit but with the convenience and expanded functionality of working in the box.”
4trak, released by Inner Ocean Records and developed by Peter Bark and Woulg, is an M4L device that essentially puts a Tascam Portastudio inside Ableton Live, and then some. The device is both a 4-track recorder and a looper, and delivers all the tasty tape emulation effects you’ll find in other tape-inspired plugins.
In addition to the recording, looping, and overdub functionality you’d expect, 4trak is equipped with controls for speed, pitch, and reversing, while each track is outfitted with its own compressor. The device can be synced with Ableton’s tempo and transport controls or operated independently.
Parameters such as loop length, playhead position and playback rate for each track can be modulated independently, meaning that once Live’s LFOs get involved, things can get pretty experimental. 4trak comes bundled with a custom-made sample pack designed to be used with the plugin.
Some might question the logic behind a plugin that reproduces technology from decades ago inside a DAW that’s largely superseded that technology. But aside from its ability to recreate one of the most popular home-recording set-ups in history, 4trak is a pretty full-featured musical sketchpad that’s great for quickly and easily laying down ideas in Live or jamming out loop-based improvisations.
Sixties synth maker muSonics is back – at least in name – and is now shipping its first synth module, a revised version of the classic R.A. Moog 902 VCA.
muSonics was founded in the late ’60s by businessman Bill Waytena, who saw opportunity in the then-new instrument category of synthesizers. He hired former Moog engineer Gene Zumchak to design a synth called the Sonic V, but struggled to sell it, without connections in the music business. In 1970, muSonic bought out R.A. Moog, and the two companies merged. By 1972, Moog branding had replaced the muSonics name for the company.
Now muSonics has officially announced that it’s back, that it has acquired STG Soundlabs and that it’s shipping the 902 VCA. The new organization will be headed by Suit & Tie Guy, head of STG Soundlabs and creator of Knobcon, and operating under the name STG muSonics.
The STG muSonics 902 VCA is already in production, though, and available via Noisebug. It is based on the classic design manufactured by muSonics in the early ’70s. The design has been revised to support 15volt power, selectable AC coupling, and to be only 2 inches deep.
The muSonics 902 Voltage Controlled Amplifier is a signal processing module for amplitude modulation of signals within the frequency range from DC to over 50,000 cycles per second. It permits variable gain up to a factor of 2 (6dB), by manual or voltage control, with either linear or exponential gain response to the control signal.
It has complementary inputs and outputs, and produces two quadrant multiplication of signals connected to the signal processing and control inputs. Typical applications include amplitude contouring, modulation, and gating of both audio and control signals.
Features:
80 dB Dynamic Range
DC to 50,000 Hz Frequency Range, Signal and Control Inputs
Amplification Factor of 2X to Control level of 6 volts
Complementary Inputs and Outputs
Linear and Exponential Control Response
DC and AC Signal Input Coupling (new for 2023)
Powered by 15V Synthesizers.com Power Connector (new for 2023)
