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Roland has introduced the n/zyme Model Expansion for the FANTOM synthesizer series, the latest addition to their ZEN-Core Model Expansion lineup.

Could Roland’s n/zyme Model Expansion be the cutting-edge wavetable synth plugin that runs in your Fantom hardware?

Instead of modeling an older synth architecture, n/zyme is designed to be “a thoroughly modern instrument”, with a new synth engine from Roland. It features layered wavetable oscillators, phase and shape modulation, resonant filters, and two powerful step LFOs to create an Expansion that’s designed to take the Fantom to sonic places that it was previously incapable of visiting.

Roland claims that n/zyme is also easy to program thanks to the Fantom’s touchscreen and physical controls. You can jump or morph between waveforms – creating dramatic tonal shifts or evolving soundscapes in the process – and you have the facility to mix two layers with 63 wavetables each and adjust their positions in real-time. As such, n/zyme should be capable of conjuring up some rather complex sounds. And sounds can be shaped by drawing custom waveforms on the touchscreen, and these can then be tweaked using the modulation tools. There is also an X/Y pad on the touchscreen, along with automation support and tempo-synced control over speed, intensity, and more.

As for the two LFOs, these offer 16 tempo-synced steps and 37 shapes per step, while the Step Kick Switch can be used to add some percussive attack. There are eight filter types, including several vintage analogue designs, and you can also mix n/zyme’s sounds with others on your Fantom.

The Roland n/zyme Model Expansion for the FANTOM synthesizer series is available now as a Lifetime Key for $149 through Roland Cloud. Support for n/zyme is included with the free Version 3.0 update for the FANTOM 6, FANTOM 7, and FANTOM 8 keyboards.

Find out more on the Roland website.

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Casio has announced the portable Casiotone CT-S500 keyboard and its big brother, the CT-S1000V, a vocal synthesis keyboard that can turn any text, such as song lyrics, into musical phrases that the keyboard can “sing”, in full harmony, based on the notes that you play.

Casio says that no keyboard instrument has ever before been able to speak and sing with this degree of ease and musicality.

The CT-S1000V is a fully-featured ‘standard’ home keyboard, offering 800 AiX-powered sounds and 64 voices of polyphony. On top of this you get 243 built-in rhythms, 150 arpeggiator patterns, effects, a metronome, a built-in recorder and basic sampling functionality.

The 61-note keyboard is velocity-sensitive, and there are three assignable controllers. Up top you’ll find stereo speakers, while connectivity comprises two pedal inputs, a mini-jack audio input, 1/4-inch stereo line outputs, and a mini-jack headphones output.

There is also a USB-A port that can accommodate the supplied Bluetooth audio/MIDI dongle, and a second USB-B port for connection to your mobile device when you’re using the Lyric Creator app.

The CT-S1000V comes with a power supply and can also be powered for up to three hours from six AA batteries.

Phrases can be played all at once, according to a set rhythm when keys are pressed, or one syllable at a time as new notes are played – with or without legato. They can also be sequenced together to play complete songs.

Here’s a quick intro to the CT-S1000V and its vocal synthesis capabilities, from Casio’s Mike Martin:

Other key features of the CT-S1000V:

• AiX tone source offers 800 high-resolution sounds, representing all categories of instruments.
• The keyboard may be split or layered to play multiple sounds at once.
• 64-voice polyphony
• The accompaniment section features 243 built-in rhythms, 50 user-programmable rhythms, simplified chord fingering modes (including CASIO Chord) for easy playing, and auto-harmonies.
• Players can arrange songs on the fly by switching between various intro, normal, fill-in, variation, and ending sections.
• The CT-S1000V includes the ability to sample up to ten seconds of high-quality audio (or several three-second samples for creating drum kits) via its 1/8-inch stereo input
• The CT-S1000V also gives you the flexibility of sampling wirelessly using the included) WU-BT10Bluetooth MIDI & audio adapter.
• An onboard MIDI recorder on the CT-S1000V can store up to five performances, with a capacity of six tracks and 40,000 notes per song.
• The CT-S1000V can also connect to a computer or mobile device via USB-MIDI or Bluetooth to work with your MIDI software and Casio’s Music Space iOS/Android app.
• 100 built-in, studio-quality DSP effects. The effects include amplifier and cabinet simulators, modulation effects, choruses, reverbs, delays, among others. Each of the effects can be extensively customized and modified on the fly.

Alongside the CT-S1000V, Casio also introduced the CT-S500 keyboard:

The CT-S500 comes with all the CT-S1000V’s instrument sounds, accompaniment features, sampling, MIDI recording, and effects – but without the vocal synthesis capabilities.

The keyboards each weigh just over 10 pounds and can run on six AA batteries.

The CT-S1000V has a street price of about $469 and CT-S500 a street price of about $380. They are available at musical instrument retailers nationwide and via CasioMusicGear.com. See the Casio website for details.

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Mosaic has introduced Decimator, a 1U DSP bitcrusher, with independent bit-depth and sample-rate reduction.

Here’s what they say about it:

“Bit reduce and downsample audio into oblivion with Decimator. Lo-Fi sweet spots are just a knob turn away with independent control over each decimation aspect, and a dedicated dry/wet mix knob to bring the heat when you want it. Effortlessly turn your karplus-strong plucks into heavy metal power chords, or harmonically complex samples into 8-bit chiptune goodness within a single module. Sonic destruction is a patch away with Decimator!”

Features:

• High Fidelity 96kHz, 24-bit audio engine
• Multifaceted decimation DSP effect
• Downsampling
• Bit depth reduction
• Mix between dry and wet signals

*Note: Mosaic panels conform to the Intellijel 1U format, but Pulp Logic style panels are also available.

Decimator is available now for $119.

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