WORLD OF MUSIC ; PORTABLE KEYBOARD - Latest Portable Music Keyboards, Synthesizers and Music News

Yarra Audio has introduced CAMADA, a powerful and versatile polyphonic software synthesizer, powered by the free player HALion Sonic 7.

They say that “CAMADA has been meticulously designed from the ground up with one core principle in mind—to deliver an instrument that is both intuitive to use and packed with a lots of modulation options…”

Features:

• Dual Engines, offering a wide range of waveforms and modulation options. Customize your sound by adjusting detuning, panning, and mono/poly mode settings for each engine.
• Voice Program: Unlock a unique set of morphable waveforms with the Voice Program feature. Control waveform morphing using the XY pad.
• Sub Oscillator: Select from a variety of waveform options, including Sine, Triangle, Saw, Square, Pulse Wide, and Pulse Narrow, for the Sub Oscillator.
• Crossfader: Blend between the two engine sounds using the crossfader.
• Multi-Mode Filter: Customize parameters such as Cutoff Frequency, Resonance, Filter Envelope, Key Follow, Tube Drive, and choose from a wide range of Filter Type options.
• Delay: Add depth and rhythmic patterns to your sounds with the adjustable time, feedback, and tempo synchronization capabilities of the integrated Delay effect.
• Reverb, featuring adjustable room size and a rich reverb tail.
• Extensive modulation options
• Modulate the Modulator: Assign one modulator to control the parameters of another, resulting in the creation of new and unique waveform shapes.

CAMADA Audio Demos:

CAMADA is available now, with an introductory price of $49.00 through Aug 31, 2023 (regularly $79.00).

Synthesist Hainbach shared this sneak preview of an upcoming reissue of the Crumar Spirit, a rare analog synthesizer from 1983, designed by Bob Moog, Jim Scott and Tom Rhea.

It’s been described as ‘the Italian Minimoog’. But, while it may share some DNA with the Minimoog, it’s a very different design, with more flexible synthesis options – including a ring modulator and multi-mode with switchable slopes – and more capable performance options – including an arpeggiator and 3 performance wheels.

“My friends from Museo Del Synth Marchigiano, the Italian synthesizer museum, invited me again to visit them in Italy,” explains Hainbach. “This time, they had something new and old to show me: a faithful re-creation of the rare Bob Moog designed Crumar Spirit mono synthesizer. They teamed up with Crumar to bring this little known instrument back to life, staying as close to the original as possible.”

Full details on the Crumar Spirit reissue are still to be announced.

ZEN-Core goes hardcore – Zenology Pro packages five classic Roland synths together for the first time to use on ZEN-Core hardware and software.

Roland ZEN-Core system is a brilliant idea hiding behind some often confusing terminology. The Zenology Pro Collection effectively throws five classic Roland synths at it, and all you need to understand is you get access to these vintage wonder synths through the ZEN-Core system, so can use them on ZEN-Core hardware or within the Zenology Pro software in your DAW.

ZEN-Core is indeed another beautiful Roland concept, but it’s trying to pack 50 years of Roland ideas into one idea, which might explain why it can be difficult to get your head around. It is essentially one big synthesis engine – with Zenology Pro as the synth in your DAW – that sits in all compatible Roland hardware. It allows you to transfer sounds created on one system – be it hardware or software – to another.

Create sounds in Zenology Pro and spread them around the ZEN-Core ecosystem which includes hardware Roland gear like the MC-101, MC-707, Jupiter-X, Jupiter-Xm, Fantom and RD-88.  Roland says “your favourite sounds are ready when you are”.

Zenology Pro is the sound design core of the system that sits in your DAW.

It essentially comprises a huge and powerful synth with four partials, each of which basically acts as an individual synth with its own oscillator, filter, amplifier, dual LFOs, and effects. You can mix different synthesis types, combining classic analogue styles with Roland’s famous PCM system, or do whatever you want and create vast, complex sounds.

Zenology Pro has various ‘Model Expansions’ which are based on classic Roland gear and the new Pro Collection has five of the best Roland synths in one. You get the Juno-106  with its “gut-punching basses, delicate plucked sounds, and shimmering pads”; the Jupiter-8  with a lush and complex sound that’s “been on more hit songs than you can count”; the SH-101  with its fat, monophonic sound now transformed into a fat, polyphonic sound; the JD-800 monster waveform synth; and finally the JX-8P  and the hands-on editing functions of its sister programmer, the PG-800.

All that would cost you about 20,000 of any currency if you bought the original synths, and all with easy access from Zenology Pro or whatever Zen-Core gear you have. It is the first time they have been bundled together and you get a significant saving over buying them individually.

Features:

• ZEN-Core Synthesis System plug-in and five Model Expansions for Mac and Windows
• Thousands of tones and drum kits, easily expandable to over 10,000 selections
• Clear, intuitive interfaces for free-flowing production
• Increased polyphony over the original hardware on some models
• Extended parameters, advanced arpeggiator, onboard effects, and more
• Works in compatible ZEN-Core hardware
• Swap Model Expansions and load sounds instantly
• VST3, AU, and AAX compatibility and native support for Apple silicon

The Roland Zenology Pro Collection is available now for $599.

Find out more on Roland website.