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

We have previously featured several of Ian Dixon’s videos, which showcase his great sound design work for the Korg modwave and wavestate synthesizers.

His latest video captures a livestream, recorded yesterday, that demonstrates how to use Korg’s Sample Builder to import WAV files, set up looping, and configure key zones. Then it looks at syncing samples to the synth and working with them in the synth engine.

The process works similarly for all versions of the synths, including mk1, mk2 and native versions.

Watch the video and share your thoughts on this in the comments!

Following the purchase of the famous London Maida Vale studio from the BBC, its new owners – a group led by composer Hans Zimmer and Working Title movie producers Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner alongside long-time business partner Steve Kofsky – have put in plans for a major revamp.

The movie soundtrack master acquired the London facility through 14th Street Music, Zimmer’s music production and publishing company, in June last year. The purchase price was believed to be around £10.5 million.

The new plans aim to provide world-class music studios fit for the 21st century plus the creation of state-of-the-art film editing facilities and creative workspaces.

Built in 1909, the Maida Vale building was originally a roller skating venue but the BBC snapped it up in 1933 as a home for the BBC Symphony Orchestra. The studios then became a recording history landmark with countless legendary names from Led Zeppelin to The Beatles and beyond using the facility to record one-off live sessions for the BBC.

New plans submitted for early consultation outline the MVS Partnership LLP’s intentions to maintain the outward appearance of the studio with energy conservation and technical improvements being a top priority.

“The proposed studio will be one of the only such facilities in the world and the first in the UK, creating a venue of national importance to UK creative industries. These proposed upgrades will set new benchmarks for excellence in British film and music post-production, fostering the creation of new jobs, driving innovation, and promoting industry investment,” the group promises.

“Our vision is to seamlessly blend the legacy of this iconic recording studio with the fast-evolving demands of today’s creative industries, providing state-of-the-art music studios, film production and editing facilities which set new benchmarks in film and music post-production.

“We recognise that the building is located in a residential area, and the sensitive scheme design by local architect Stiff + Trevillion looks to enhance neighbouring amenity wherever possible.”

And, in moves to make the improvements as seamless and popular as possible (following objections to the sale from the likes of Portishead’s Geoff Barrow and producer Nigel Godrich at the time) the group is seeking feedback on its plans.

“Ahead of submitting a planning application to Westminster City Council, we want to hear your feedback to shape the development of our plans, and understand how we can work with local partners to promote education and heritage across Maida Vale.

You can find out more about the plans and have your thoughts heard here.

It looks like something new is coming from Elektron.

This is not the first time this year, Elektron fans are getting all hot under the collar after photos of a new hardware instrument appeared to leak onto the internet. Images of a device labelled Tonverk, possible a sampler or synthesizer, first appeared on Elektron’s own Elektronauts forum, before being swiftly deleted and reappearing on Reddit.

Unlike the previous leak of Digitakt II, which was an update to an existing product line and seemed like something of a dead-cert, Tonverk – if real – looks to be something completely new for the Swedish brand.

Thus far, we have not seen any official announcement yet from Elektron on the Tonverk, but the company applied to trademark the name ‘Tonverk’ in the US in April

The Tonverk trademark application is for the following goods:

Musical synthesizers; Music synthesizers; Electronic synthesizers; Electronic drums; Robotic drums; Drums; percussion instruments; Drum machines; Electronic musical instruments; Mechanical, electric and electronic musical instruments; Computer controlled musical instruments; Electronic musical apparatus and instruments; Musical instruments controlled by microprocessor; Electronic musical keyboards

What is the Elektron Tonverk?

Even with clear photos of the Tonverk, it’s not clear from the photos what the Elektron Tonverk does, but we can draw some obvious conclusions from the interface pictured. Much of the labelled functionality appears to be lifted from existing Elektron devices. There’s a 16-button sequencer labelled with both audio and MIDI tracks. The keyboard-style button layout on the left is similar to that found on Analog Four, and indicates melodic capabilities, as do the buttons labelled Chord, Arp and Scale. The ‘Drum/Ptn Bank’ label also implies percussive capabilities.

The machine looks to be at least partially sample-based, due to the inclusion of a sample-edit button on the top left that looks similar to that found on Digitakt. There’s a bank of eight rotaries – again, classic Elektron fare – and one of the buttons underneath is labelled ‘Machines’, implying a variety of sound engine modes, possibly offering different modes of sample playback or a mix of sampling and synthesis.

Some Redditors are concluding that Tonverk is a likely successor to Elektron’s much-loved performance sampler Octatrack, although it seems unlikely to be pitched as such to us, due to the lack of some of that machine’s most popular features, such as its crossfader.

The leaked images also suggest some curious features that would fly in the face of Elektron convention. On the rear panel there’s no obvious power input, suggesting that power would be provided by one of the two USB-C inputs – and perhaps even an internal battery? An SD card slot suggests expandable storage, in a more convenient format than the CompactFlash cards used by the Octatrack. All of which would make Tonverk appear like a response to the DAW-in-a-box workflows offered by the likes of Ableton Push or Akai’s MPC Live.

The labelled controls also imply the existence of routable effects, a full mod matrix and bus tracks, all of which would add considerable flexibility compared to existing Elektron designs.

The fact that Elektron deleted the images from its forum appears to give the leak some credibility, although it could be that the company is working on something called Tonverk, and doesn’t want a fake circulating under that name.

Check out the photos, and share your thoughts on the Elektron Tonverk in the comments!