your pal Wes (soffter) – in his latest software video – offers his take on the Squarp Instruments Hapax Advanced Polychronic Sequencer.
The Hapax is designed to be the centerpiece of your rig. It can handle up to a million notes and events; has MPE compatibility; offers input and output via DIN MIDI, USB MIDI & CV/Gate; features more than 180 physical controls; supports saving and loading to SD cards and more.
Is the Hapax the best sequencer ever made? Watch the video and share your thoughts in the comments!
Today, Native Instruments unveils Electric Keys – Reeds Duo, a pair of virtual instruments that capture the essence of two legendary reed-based electric pianos. These new instruments are the latest in an Electric Keys series, following the Electric Keys – Tines Duo, which introduced Diamond and Phoenix.
The Reeds Duo of Jade and Ivory bring a new style of electric piano into the spotlight. Unlike their tine-based cousins, these instruments use vibrating metal reeds to generate sound, creating tones that range from smooth to soulful and gritty depending on how you play.
To celebrate the classic electric pianos: Jade and Ivory, Electric Keys – Reeds Duo reproduces the sound of two iconic electric pianos – loved for their snappy attack, expressive growl, and unmistakable warmth.
Electric Keys – Jade: A solid-state reed piano delivering a bright, punchy sound with sharp dynamics. Ideal for funky rhythms, cutting leads, and rich chords, Jade adds a confident edge to any track.
Electric Keys – Ivory: A vintage tube-driven reed piano with a warm, soulful voice and organic grit. Smooth and mellow one moment, rough and fiery the next – Ivory is pure expression.
Electric Keys – Reeds Duo Main Features:
Authentic Presets: each instrument comes with 100 meticulously designed snapshots that capture the most iconic original keyboard sounds.
Advanced Sound Shaping: Customize your sound with detailed tone controls like Tonal Shift, modeled tremolo, and a suite of effects from Guitar Rig 7 Pro.
Crank the Color: The Color knob allows for seamless blending of performance dynamics, from soft and intimate to bold and brash.
Realistic Details: Blend direct output with characteristic tremolos and room signals, adding mechanical hammer and pedal noises for enhanced realism.
Seamless Kontrol Keyboard Integration: Electric Keys offers optimal integration with Native Instruments’ Kontrol S Series keyboards (shown below) for intuitive control and browsing.
Created with Galaxy Instruments. This exceptional piano emulation was developed in partnership with Galaxy Instruments, renowned for their expertise in creating high-quality virtual instruments. Founder Uli Baronowsky and his team, who previously collaborated on instruments like Claire, Noire, and The Giant, have brought their approach to capturing the unique characteristics of these reed-based pianos.
Teenage Engineering has announced the first major OS update for its EP-133 K.O. II sampler, released in 2023. The free update bringing resampling, song mode, sidechaining and increased polyphony to the instrument.
Dubbed the “Champions” update, OS 2.0 significantly expands the capabilities of the K.O. II with some commonly requested features that’ll undoubtedly put a smile on the face of this calculator-esque sampler’s fans. First up, we have expanded polyphony: EP-133 can now handle 16 mono and 12 stereo voices, a healthy increase from the 12 mono and six stereo voices it offered on launch.
EP-133’s new resampling function lets you record stacks of multiple samples with effects into a new sample, opening up a host of creative possibilities for reimagining existing patterns and making it possible to free up space for additional tracks and effects by bouncing down multiple tracks into one. Now, you’re also able to sample hands-free.
OS 2.0 also brings with it Song Mode, a feature that allows you to chain multiple scenes together to craft structured arrangements. 99 unique song positions can be stored, each made up of scenes containing multiple patterns of up to 99 bars. Teenage Engineering points out that this means you’re now able to create a song that’s up to 9,801 bars in length, making EP-133 a more useful tool for extended live performances.
Good news for fans of pumping techno, as EP-133 now offers MIDI sidechaining, meaning that you’re now able to use kick drums to trigger ducking on bass sounds to create a cohesive low-end with no hassle. The length and shape of the volume ducking can be tweaked as well.
Here’s the official video intro:
That’s not all: OS 2.0 brings MIDI Thru support, so the sampler can now pass MIDI information on to other machines in your set-up, along with a host of other MIDI improvements that’ll make it easier to hook up EP-133 with other instruments and gear.
New in K.O. II version 2.0:
Resampling: Stack effects, make a beat from a beat or combine samples, all using the new resampler.
Song mode: Song mode lets you chain scenes together to make complete compositions.
Hands-Free Sampling: Sometimes you need both hands to play an instrument, and you want to sample it. Just hit shift and hold a pad, and the K.O. II will do the rest.
MIDI side-chaining: Sidechain will duck the volume of the bass when the kick comes in
Increased polyphony: The K.O. II goes from 12 mono/6 stereo sounds to up to 16 mono and 12 stereo sounds.
Larger note intervals: The K.O. II now supports 1/1, 1/2 and 1/4 timing intervals.
MIDI Through: The K.O. II now supports MIDI Through, so it can pass notes along to other machines.
To download the update and for details, visit Teenage Engineering site.
