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Flex Chorus is capable of producing everything from scene-stealing unison effects to subtle stereo enhancement.

Minimal Audio, maker of the Rift distortion plugin and Current soft synth, has announced its latest plugin release. Flex Chorus is a multi-band chorus effect that Minimal says is capable of producing everything from “massive unison effects to stereo enhancement”.

Flex Chorus offers up to 24 voices and two distinct modes based on unique algorithms: Glass mode utilizes a multi-stage approach to create a “clean and modern” chorus effect with resonator-like feedback, while Smooth mode is aimed at applying a classic style of smooth and deep modulation.

Controls for delay time, feedback amount and stereo width can be found in the centre of the UI, beneath the plugin’s visualizer. On the left-hand side you’ll find a modulation panel, where you can control the plugin’s LFO via dials for depth, rate and randomization.

Equipped with high and low-pass filters, Flex Chorus can apply its effect to a chosen portion of the frequency spectrum through its multi-band function, which is found on the right-hand side of the interface.

At the bottom of the interface you’ll sliders for input and output gain and overall mix, allowing you to dial in as much or as little chorus as you’d like to your source signal.

Flex Chorus Walkthrough:

At an introductory price of $29, Flex looks like a solid chorus plugin that would make a decent replacement for your DAW’s stock alternative, if you’re looking to upgrade to something a bit more versatile.

Flex Chorus is compatible with macOS and Windows and is available in VST/VST3/AU/AAX formats. Find out more on Minimal Audio website.

The second season of the Composers & Computers podcast has launched, with an in-depth look at the work of jazz legend Stanley Jordan, and how his computer music studies at Princeton informed his unique approach to playing the guitar.

The Composers & Computers podcast series, produced by Princeton’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, explores the school’s role in the early development of computer music. Host Aaron Nathans interweaves stories about science, art, friendships, and the links between the computational and musical realms at Princeton.

This episode is a fascinating interview – Jordan discusses granular synthesis, how his interest in building a custom keyboard guitar synthesizer led to the development of his unique polyphonic guitar technique, the influence that Pink Floyd and Wendy Carlos had on him, and more.

You can listen to the latest episode via the embed below, and at the Princeton website:

Summary:

“In Episode 1 of the new season of “Composers & Computers,” we begin our deep dive into the technology-filled life story of Jordan, who went on to a career as an acclaimed jazz musician. We explore how he was initially drawn to Stanford to work with John Chowning, inventor of the Yamaha digital keyboard, but through a twist of fate at the admissions office, found himself headed to Princeton instead.

Chowning himself told Jordan that it was a fortuitous outcome, and Jordan explains why this ended up being true, through meeting two mentors who would have a major effect on his musical path, Milton Babbitt and Paul Lansky.

We’ll look at how he developed his trademark two-hand percussive “touch technique” while he was a student at Princeton. And he’ll talk about his time at the Computer Center and the Engineering Quadrangle, including the time he dropped his punch cards on the floor.”

Composer, guitarist and electronic music gear pioneer Roger Linn recently shared this hands-on demo of the LinnStrument, an expressive MIDI controller for musical performance.

Linn is best known as the creator of the LinnDrum and other seminal drum machines, and the MPC. In recent years, he’s turned his attention to developing the LinnStrument, a MIDI controller that’s designed to accurately track your fingers’ movements in five ways. Unlike traditional keyboards, the LinnStrument gives you expressive control over electronic instruments that’s comparable to what’s possible with traditional acoustic instruments.

Details on the LinnStrument are available on Linn’s website.