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

Today, Native Instruments CEO Nick Williams shared a statement on the future of the company, which earlier in the week went into Preliminary Insolvency.

Preliminary Insolvency is a court-orded phase where an administrator steps in to protect debtors’ assets, and to see if changes can be made to enable a company to stabilize its financial situation.

While his statement is short on the type of details that customers may be hoping for, Williams says that it’s business as usual for the company:

“Please rest assured that business continues as usual at Native Instruments, iZotope, Plugin Alliance and Brainworx. Our hardware and software products remain on sale and available for download and activation. Our passionate and dedicated teams are here and supporting customers as normal. In product and engineering, we are continuing to develop and launch new products and features. Our NKS Partnerships team continues to process Kontakt Player licences and NKS Partner submissions.

We are working diligently and responsibly to secure a healthy, financially sustainable future for Native Instruments. As you may have seen, Native Instruments GmbH has entered a restructuring process in Germany, as have 3 of our German non-operating holding companies. In legal terms, we have filed applications to open pre-insolvency proceedings for those companies.

We are focused on providing continuity for creators, customers, and partners. We’ll continue to share updates as we have them.

I’m a lifelong musician myself, and have been a passionate fan of Native Instruments for 25 years. Our mission to inspire and enable creators to express themselves through sound continues.”

Are you worried about the future of NI, and about applications that may need depend on ‘cloud’ resources for installation? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Frap Tools has announced that the Magnolia – an eight-voice polyphonic analog synthesizer with through-zero linear FM – is now available.

The Magnolia goes beyond classic analog sounds, with a “West Coast” influenced synthesis engine. It also offers an expressive Fatar keyboard, with polyphonic aftertouch, and lots of front panel hands-on control.

Here’s what they have to say about it:

“We made Magnolia because we wanted to offer our iconic modular analog sound in a more straightforward instrument that could play chords and other 12-note music right away. Inside, we put all of our signature sound tools: analog triangle-core oscillators, thru-zero FM, wavefolders, analog distortion, and wild, resonant filter.

It is a powerful instrument, capable of a wide gamut of sounds that range from soft, glass-like pads to earth-shattering distorted leads.

A hands-on modulation matrix allows you to connect 16 modulation sources to 32 modulation destinations by just pushing a button and twisting a knob.”

Features:

• 8-voice polyphony.
• All-analog signal path.
• Analog thru-zero frequency modulation.
• 5-octave, velocity-sensitive keyboard with polyphonic aftertouch and adjustable curves.
• Bi-timbral programs with Morph, Dual, and Split capabilities.
• Two oscillators per voice: an “east coast” one with PWM and a “west coast” one with linear TZFM, wavefolder, and flip sync.
• Continuously variable wave form selector.
• 18 dB/oct high-pass and 24 dB/oct low-pass resonant filters with linear FM.
• Analog pre-filter saturation.
• Three loopable DAHDSR digital envelopes.
• Three digital LFOs with continuously variable wave forms.
• Per-part arpeggiator.
• Per-part 16-step sequencer.
• 200 memory slots for presets.
• Analog global distortion.
• Two global digital effect slots with choruses and delays.
• Hands-on modulation matrix with explicit visual cue.
• Velocity-off modulation source.
• “Polymove,” an expanded polyphonic randomization source.
• A Macro knob assignable to every parameter.
• 16 modulation sources.
• 38 modulation destinations.
• 64 modulation slots per part.
• Independent midi channels.

Frap Tools Magnolia Audio Demos:

The Frap Tools Magnolia is available now, with a street price of about $4,830 USD.

Steinberg has introduced WaveLab 13 today, a major update to its audio mastering software.

New features in WaveLab 13 include Dolby Atmos music mastering, workflow enhancements, multicore rendering and streamlined editing features. Steinberg shared an overview video, embedded above, that covers what’s new.

“WaveLab 13 is an exciting step forward for Dolby Atmos mastering workflows,” says  Dolby’s David Gould. “As immersive audio continues to grow across the industry, WaveLab brings comprehensive Dolby Atmos capabilities to a broader range of audio professionals. The intuitive workflow combined with advanced processing tools gives mastering engineers the control and flexibility they need for their Dolby Atmos projects.”

Here are highlights of what’s new in Steinberg WaveLab 13:

• Improvements to the Audio Montage for faster, more efficient workflows
• Enhanced envelope functions.
• Wider VST 3 compatibility.
• Range selection via the marker ruler.
• Open or paste files from text-based file paths.
• Improved waveform outlines on HDPI screens.
• Audio processing load bar.
• Plug-in interface scaling.
• More new plug-ins, including Pitch Shifter and the legendary Underwater effect.
• Click-and-drag removal of plug-ins.

WaveLab 13 is available now, with the following pricing:

• WaveLab Pro 13 – €499 EUR or $499.99 USD.
• WaveLab Elements 13 – €99.99 EUR or $99.99 USD.

Upgrade pricing is also available.