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Native Instruments heads east for Scene: Lotus, its latest cinematic instrument

Having launched its new Scenes series with Scene: Saffron, a quick route for composers to find lush atmospheres with rich textures constructed from strings, synths, brass, and beyond, NI is now travelling to the far east for Scene: Lotus, a new instrument inspired by the sounds of Japan.

Once again, configured as a one-stop route to a ‘cinematic sound’, Lotus features new breathy shakuhachi and hichiriki alongside other timeless instruments from Japan such as the delicate plucks of the koto, all teamed with orchestral swells and radiant synths.

Native Instruments has been working hard to simplify its offerings and the Scenes series is its current roadmap for delivering keenly priced, powerful ‘instruments’ made up of hybrid synth and samples that focus on specific sonic duties – most specifically delivering instant, production-ready sounds built from multiple sources, delivered under one simple interface.

In the background there’s Native Instruments’ long-established sampling and sample manipulation skills of their Kontakt standard plus the synth-and-sequencer construction kit power of their Reaktor engine, but you don’t need to know that… Instead Scenes act as standalone instruments, appearing as instrument plugins, easily assignable to a track in your DAW then instantly producing sounds that sound like you’ve spent weeks building them.

All their power is kept neatly behind the scenes, with simple and intuitive controls and an X/Y pad allowing players to fine tune and perfect their sound to perfectly fit its purpose and then automate and animate the performance as it plays.

And with 16 hybrid sound layers and effects there’s plenty to play with inside Scene: Lotus. Lotus’s tuning modes keep its output perfectly in key with your choice of scales and modes while composers morph between textures and effects for evolving soundscapes that transition from serene to intense.

Native Instruments promises it’s the perfect way to achieve ambiences that are ready-to-go for film scoring, game soundtracks and music production.

Scene: Lotus is available now for $29 / €29. Find out more at Native instruments site.

The Bob Moog Foundation shared this mini-documentary about the Oberheim Matrix-12 synthesizer, considered by many to be one of the greatest synths ever created.

The Bob Moog Foundation is featuring a fully restored Oberheim Matrix-12 synthesizer – signed by Tom Oberheim, Marcus Ryle, and Michel Doidic – in their latest raffle.

Ryle and Doidic were the principal designers of the Matrix-12. This particular Matrix-12, was previously owned by Doug Curtis, inventor of the legendary Curtis chips, which were used in this synth and many others. The synth was donated to the Bob Moog Foundation by Curtis’s widow, Mary Curtis.

In the video, Tom Oberheim, Mary Curtis, and Marcus Ryle share the history behind this Oberheim Matrix-12, which has been fully restored by Ryle.

“Doug appreciated the Matrix-12 so much that he had two, so our family had to think hard about donating this legendary instrument,” noted Mary Curtis. “We decided that Doug would have said yes to the idea, out of a love for the Matrix-12 itself, a belief that it will raise money for the important work of the Bob Moog Foundation, and the wish for another musician who loves it to make glorious music.”

To find out more about The Bob Moog Foundation, and the Oberheim Matrix-12 raffle, see The Bob Moog Foundation website.

Proceeds from the raffle benefit the three hallmark projects of the Bob Moog Foundation: Dr. Bob’s SoundSchool, which has inspired over 35,000 elementary school students about the science of sound; the vast and growing Bob Moog Foundation Archives, which includes over 15,000 historical items; and the Moogseum, located in downtown Asheville, NC. The Moogseum continues to navigate the financial aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which has resulted in a $65,000 loss of income since late September.

Dreamtonics has introduced Synthesizer V Studio 2 Pro, a major update to their flagship vocal synthesis application.

Originally released back in June 2020, before the major uptick in AI interest, Dreamtonics’ original Synthesizer V Studio had already undergone four iterations from 2018’s Synthesizer V Editor as its team fine tuned its ability to create vocals without the need for a vocalist.

Unveiled at NAMM 2025, Synthesizer V Studio 2 Pro offers significant improvements in sound quality and speed, as well as new features for fine-tuning singing voices.

Synthesizer V Studio is unique in its use of, and ability to manipulate, real vocal recordings rather than relying on trained AI to do the same job.

The result, its makers claim, is a best-of-all-worlds hybrid approach that sounds more realistic, and is free from any training, copyright, ownership and ethical baggage that surround similar AI-trained technologies.

The general idea is that if you can buy Synthesizer V Studio 2 Pro, you get the (actual real, human, rights-attached) voice content you want – with nine different vocalists available – and can quickly create realistic vocals that are indistinguishable from ‘the real thing’.

Play, type, and have it sung back to you

Now simple vocal melody sketches in your DAW can become vocals in minutes. Choose your vocalist, provide notes, lyrics and tweak the expressions and your ideas get sung back to you.

And now thanks to 2 Pro’s new algorithmic design and multi-threading support, it can do it all up to 300% faster while offering a more human-level of naturalness and more tweakable features to make a performance all your own.

A new Phoneme Timing Panel allows for direct resizing and adjustment of phoneme intensity within a note, plus detailed adjustments to timing and prominence of plosive onsets.

Now pitch, timbre and pronunciation can be controlled, allowing you to make your performance unique and just as you imagine it while a new Expression Pad and ‘Single-Clock AI Retakes Panel’ let you try alternatives and experiment on the fly.

Finally (in addition to Korean language support for the first time) a new Mouth Opening parameter fundamentally alters vowel pronunciation, allowing users to accentuate specific words, or subtly modify the way a phrase begins or ends, adding further depth and expressiveness.

Here’s the official intro video:

“In testing, the vocals generated by the Synthesizer V actually received the same naturalness ratings as real human vocals – a very exciting milestone for voice synthesis,” says Kanru Hua, Dreamtonics founder and CEO. “While J-Pop artists have used voice synthesis tools like this for some time now, most in the West have yet to discover it. Dreamtonics is proud to finally unveil the Synthesizer V Studio 2 Pro and introduce endless inspiration and fun to more people’s music creation process.”

Here’s an in-depth look at the new version:

“A futuristic dream come true”

“I think Synthesizer V is a real breakthrough for creating vocal melodies and writing lyrics. I was blessed to be able to sing anything I can dream up, but so many people don’t have the ability” says Mischke Butler, singer, songwriter and vocal producer for the likes of Michael Jackson, The Spice Girls, Britney Spears, Keke Palmer, and Little Mix. “I was surprised how quickly I was able to get up and running. The MIDI functionality is a real game-changer. Being able to play in my melodies and then just copy lyrics from the previous take was seamless. This is a great app and plugin!”

While keyboardist and tech enthusiast Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater says: “Synthesizer V by Dreamtonics is an outstanding breakthrough in vocal modeling. For me it’s an almost futuristic dream come true. Input notes via MIDI, type some words and then pick your vocalist! I want to basically shout from a mountain top and let everyone in the world know about this incredible technology.”

Synthesizer V Studio 2 Pro and the version 2 for all Dreamtonics voices will be released on March 21st, 2025.

You can now pre-order Synthesizer V Studio 2 Pro for $99. As a special offer, until April 20th, 2025, all Dreamtonics version 2 voices are available for pre-order at $69, a discount from the regular price of $79.

Find out more at the Dreamtonics site.