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

As recording technology has become cheaper and more accessible, the line between guitarists and producers has become increasingly blurred. With its new Effects Interface Hardware Plugin, Electro-Harmonix is aiming to make bridging that gap easier than ever.

The Electro-Harmonix Effects Interface Hardware Plugin® is a first-of-its-kind piece of equipment purpose-built for making use of pedals and other physical guitar equipment with your DAW easy and seamless.

Additionally, the Effects Interface breaks your favorite plugins out of your computer for use in your full guitar rig. No need for special converters or direct boxes, the Effects Interface handles your signal and delivers it with care between your hardware and software via a simple USB-C connection

This can be done in one of two ways. In its Hardware Plugin mode, the Effects Interface acts as an external effect loop, routed via its associate plugin that sits in a DAW’s insert chain.

Alternatively, in Pedalboard mode the Effects Interface can be used to incorporate software effects into a hardware chain. Here audio is sent into a DAW through the input plugin, processed using any software effects, and then sent back out to an amp or pedalboard.

The inputs and outputs are designed to operate at pedalboard-friendly levels, allowing audio to travel to and from a chain of effects pedals without the need for additional converters or DI boxes.

According to EHX, “Effects Interface handles your signal and delivers it with care between your hardware and software via a simple USB-C connection.”

In either mode, the device’s foot switch can be used to bypass the effect like a traditional stompbox.

The Effects Interface has stereo inputs and outputs, but can also operate in dual-mono mode, allowing users to set up two different effects routings simultaneously.

The level of its inputs and outputs can be controlled via both the hardware and software UI. The device also has a headphone output with its own volume control allowing for direct monitoring.

As well as being used as part of a stompbox effects chain, the Effects Interface can also function as a traditional audio interface for recording and monitoring via its ins and outs.

While the device is primarily aimed at guitarists, it’s not hard to imagine how it might also appeal to synthesists and bedroom producers looking for an easy way to take sounds out-of-the-box for a little hardware processing.

The Effects Interface Hardware Plugin operates in 3 distinct modes:

• Hardware Plugin Mode: Send tracks/signal from your DAW through you pedals/hardware just like you were using a plugin.
• Pedalboard Mode: Run your instrument into your DAW, through your plugins, and back out to your signal chain, effectively turning your plugins into a pedal.
• Audio Interface Mode: use the Effects Interface as a traditional 2-in/2-out USB audio interface

The Electro-Harmonix Effects Interface is out now, with a US street price of $359. Visit the EHX site for more information.

Developer Cristián Vogel of NeverEngineLabs has introduced WaveKitchen, a new macOS application that’s designed to help users of wavetable synths create great-sounding tables.

Wavetables created in WaveKitchen can be used in Bitwig, SurgeXT, Waldorf, Kyma, Max, Ableton and other synths.

WaveKitchen lets you choose from a wide array of signal generators, blend in your own audio, or import other wavetables to refine or transform into something new.

The application also automatically renders native Finder icons for every waveform you create. Each wavetable becomes a visually clear, easy-to-recognize resource.

WaveKitchen is available now for $40.

Visit the NeverEngineLabs site for details.

Today, Apple has introduced Apple Creator Studio, a subscription application bundle that brings together a comprehensive collection of tools for content creation on Mac, iPad and iPhone.

Apple Creator Studio includes Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Mainstage and several other applications – pro-level tools for music creation, video editing, photo editing and more.

The new features start with the news that Logic Pro’s AI Session Player line-up is getting a Synth Player, which is capable of creating both chords and bass parts. This joins the existing drum, bass and keyboard Players.

Said to be “like having access to a skilled synthesist that can instantly take a musical idea in new directions when needed,” by default this draws its sounds from Logic’s library of synths and samplers, but can also be used to control third-party plugins or even hardware synths. As with the other Players, you do still retain a certain amount of control over your parts’ complexity and intensity, along with various performance options.

The Synth Player and the other members of the family also have access to the new Chord ID feature, a promising sounding “personal music theory expert” that’s designed to turn any audio or MIDI recording into a ready-to-use chord progression.

Elsewhere, there’s the obligatory update to the sound library, and Logic Pro for iPad gets the Quick Swipe comping feature from the Mac version. There’s a further bonus for iPad users in the form of the Music Understanding features, which use “AI-based awareness” of Logic’s sound and loop library to find what you need for your project using either ‘natural language’ prompts or an existing recording.

Here are the new features most relevant to electronic musicians:

Key features added to Logic Pro:

• Synth Player joins the AI Session Player lineup. Apple says that “Using Synth Player is like having access to a skilled synthesist that can instantly take a musical idea in new directions when needed.” You can direct Synth Player using intuitive controls for complexity and intensity, while additional parameters unlock access to advanced performance capabilities. Synth Player can also access any third-party plug-in Audio Units, or control external hardware
• Tapping into the power of AI, Chord ID turns any audio or MIDI recording into a ready-to-use chord progression. Chord ID can analyze complex harmonic content from nearly any recording to automatically populate the chord track in Logic Pro.
• The new Sound Library in Logic Pro for Mac features Apple-designed packs and Producer Packs with hundreds of royalty-free loops, samples, instrument patches, drum sounds, and more.
• Logic Pro for iPad users will now have access to the Quick Swipe Comping feature from Logic Pro for Mac.
• Logic Pro for iPad also adds Music Understanding features, with natural language search in the Sound Browser to help users describe a loop or find similar loops. AI-based awareness of the massive collection of loops in Logic Pro makes it easy to search either through natural language or a recording to find a similar or complementary loop or sound.

New in Final Cut Pro:

• With Transcript Search on Mac and iPad, users can now find the perfect soundbite in hours of footage by simply typing phrases into the search bar to see exact or related results
• Looking for a specific video clip also gets an intelligence assist with Visual Search. Now, users can quickly pinpoint exact moments across all footage by searching for an object or action, and then add that visual to their timeline in seconds.
• Final Cut Pro for Mac and iPad also makes editing video to the rhythm of music fast and fun with Beat Detection, a new way to see musical beats, bars, and song parts right in the project timeline. Beat Detection uses an AI model from Logic Pro to analyze any music track and display the Beat Grid, so users creating videos can visually align cuts to the music.
• Montage Maker will analyze and edit together a video based on the best visual moments within the footage, with the ability to change the pacing, cut to a music track, and intelligently reframe horizontal videos to vertical with Auto Crop, to simplify sharing across social platforms.

Other notable applications:

• Apple Creator Studio also unlocks full access to Motion, a motion graphics tool for creating cinematic 2D and 3D effects, with intelligent features like Magnetic Mask, which effortlessly isolates and tracks people and objects without a green screen.
• It also includes Compressor, which integrates with Final Cut Pro and Motion to seamlessly customize output settings for distribution.
• MainStage turns your Mac into an instrument, voice processor, or guitar rig.
• Pixelmator Pro, a Photoshop alternative for MacOS, has also been updated and is being brought to iPad.

Apple Creator Studio will be available on the App Store beginning Wednesday, January 28, for $12.99 per month or $129 per year, with a one-month free trial, and includes access to Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, and Pixelmator Pro on Mac and iPad; Motion, Compressor, and MainStage on Mac; and intelligent features and premium content for Keynote, Pages, Numbers, and later Freeform for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. College students and educators can subscribe for $2.99 per month or $29.99 per year.

One-time-purchase versions of Final Cut Pro ($299.99 U.S.), Logic Pro ($199.99 U.S.), Pixelmator Pro ($49.99 U.S.), Motion ($49.99 U.S.), Compressor ($49.99 U.S.), and MainStage ($29.99 U.S.) are also available on the Mac App Store. Up to six family members can share all of the apps and content included in Apple Creator Studio with Family Sharing.

Keynote, Pages, Numbers, and Freeform are included with every new iPhone, Mac, and iPad.  Find out more on the Apple website.