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Developer Giorgio Sancristoforo – creator of Bento, Berna3, Gleetchlab and other music software – has introduced Full Blotter, described as a ‘very large grains psychedelic machine’.

What he say about it:

Full Blotter is a smart little software that can turn any audio file (or song!) into an immense psychedelic, mesmerizing ambient drone.

Simply drag and drop a file into the waveform window and prepare to reach the limits of the galaxy, in no time.

Granular synthesis often works using many small grains, Full Blotter instead use a few (ten) very large grains which have sizes of several seconds. The algorithm disintegrates transients and time and transforms any audio file into a luscious stream of hypnotic frequencies.

Remixing your music into an ambient megadrone version has never been easier and fun and using the random functions you can let it go alone for hours.”

Full Blotter is available now for MacOS for €19.50. You can download it and try it before you buy.

It looks like the Access Virus TI 2 has been discontinued: is this the end of the line for one of the greatest synths of the 21st century?

Looks like the Access Virus synth, once the gold standard for virtual analogue instruments, has been discontinued.

There’s no official announcement from Access, but a report on Amazona.de cites an interview with Christoph Kemper of Kemper Amps fame, who was also the mastermind behind the Virus. He confirmed that the Virus TI2, the final model in the range, has been out of production for a few months. The Access Virus line has been in limbo.

The Access Virus TI, introduced 20 years ago at the 2004 NAMM Show, is a DSP-based virtual analog synthesizer, with 80-voice polypyhony, 16-part multi-timbrality, three oscillators per voice, dual multi-mode filters, expansive modulation options and a deep effects section. But the TI also goes beyond virtual analog, with supersaw, wavetable, granular & formant oscillators.

The TI’s key feature, “Total Integration”, hasn’t been fully supported for years. Total Integration is designed to connect the Virus to a Mac or PC, letting your hardware synth appear as a multi-channel VST/AU soft-synth in your DAW. The last mention on the Virus Facebook page, in 2019, said to avoid updating your Mac software.

Even with these issues, the Virus TI remains one of the nicest synths ever made.

The TI 2 was released back in 2009, the last in a long line of Viruses that included the likes of the Polar, Snow and Darkstar. There were both keyboard and desktop models, and for a long time after the release of the first version way back in 1997, the Virus seemed to be the synth that every producer wanted in their studio.

Synthesist and producer Joey Blush, aka Blush Response, reviewed the TI in 2022, and called it “one of the greatest synths of all time”.

And San Francisco visual artist and musician Scott Hansen called the Access Virus TI synths “incredibly beautiful and well-crafted machines”, and an alternative to “the festering pit of mediocrity that is the music technology industry”.

That said, a new version could still have been a winner. These days, the closest you’ll get to a ‘new’ Virus is probably Waldorf’s Kyra, but the Amazona.de story also indicates that Kemper hasn’t totally discounted the idea of producing a TI3. However, as things stand, he’s focusing exclusively on his successful profiling amps business.

The Access Virus is one of a number of synths that can be recreated in software via a Motorola DSP56300 chip emulator – others include the likes of the ​​Clavia Nord Lead 3, Waldorf Q, Microwave II and Novation Supernova – but there is a catch. As is in the case in the video games market, the emulator itself is legal, but sharing the ROMs required to make it do anything definitely isn’t.

While synth buyers have more options than ever in 2024, there are still few synthesizers that can match the Access Virus TI from 2004.

Share your thoughts on the end of the Access Virus TI in the comments!

Looking for a MIDI guitar with a built-in NES-style chiptune synth? You might want to give Love Hultén a call

Swedish ‘Tech, Noise + Craftporn’ synth designer Love Hultén shared this video demo of his MIDI NES AXE, a sort of chiptune keytar instrument.

We have seen plenty of synths from Love Hultén, the man for whom customizing existing hardware is a way of life, but for his latest creations, he’s created a MIDI-equipped guitar. As you’d expect, though, that’s only a small part of the story.

The MIDI NES AXE is based on a YouRock MIDI guitar, and features a built-in NESpoly synth, a detachable dome for avatar replacement and a custom strap “made from extraterrestrial skin”.

As well as being able to output MIDI, the guitar (which has a removable neck to make it easy to transport) also contains a built-in NESpoly synth, meaning that it’s capable of creating its own chiptune-style sounds as well. There are various tone-shaping controls, plus a detachable dome so that the cat avatar beneath can be replaced as and when required. An essential feature, we think you’ll agree.

Features “a custom strap made from extraterrestrial skin” and you’ve got something that’s possibly bonkers but also strangely alluring, particularly after you’ve heard it being played. If you fancy one, you can drop Love Hultén a line via his website.