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

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Arturia has announced the release of AstroLab 37, a new portable version that they say condenses the power of the AstroLab range into a more compact, affordable format.

It’s equipped with 11 sound engines, spanning virtual analogue, wavetable, FM, granular, physical modelling and sample-based synthesis, offering a grand total of 44 instruments and 1800+ presets from Arturia’s highly-rated V Collection 11 and Pigments software.

AstroLab 37’s 37-key semi-weighted slim keyboard is capable of channel aftertouch, and is joined by the same combined colour screen/navigation encoder interface that you’ll find on the larger models. This is flanked by two banks of four rotaries, one of which operates Macro controls for each instrument selected, and the other controls AstroLab 37’s selection of 12 insert effects, with dedicated knobs for delay and reverb.

The keyboard is kitted out with an arpeggiator, chord and scale modes and a 32-bar looper, in addition to a vocoder engine that can be used with an external microphone. AstroLab’s 1800+ sounds can be split across the keyboard or layered together in bitimbral patches.

In addition to AstroLab Connect, a mobile app for browsing presets and purchasing new sounds, AstroLab comes bundled with Arturia’s Analog Lab Pro software which can be used to access more sounds, customize the keyboard’s sound library and assign custom macros. Owners of Arturia’s software instruments can also go beyond Analog Lab’s four macro controls to design customized patches that can be be loaded on to the hardware.

As for connectivity, AstroLab is equipped with both WiFi and Bluetooth for hooking up with its companion apps, USB-C and USB-A ports, MIDI In/Out, a stereo line output and a headphone output. You also get a stereo combo input for running a microphone into the keyboard, along with a sustain pedal jack.

Features:

• Over 2.000 presets and 40+ instruments
• 37 slim keys with aftertouch
• 10 preset buttons for quick access and live usability
• 8 macro knobs with visual LED feedback
• Built-in Insert FX, Delay & Reverb
• Vocoder-ready with mono input

AstroLab 37 is available now for $799.

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Polyend has released Play+ Firmware 1.3, a major update that adds Dirt, a new synth engine for warped, waveshaped timbres; a redesigned patch editor for faster sound design; and USB mass storage for direct SD card access alongside additional sound improvements.

New in Polyend Play+ Firmware 1.3:

The Dirt synth engine is built around waveshaping and warping, with 13 waveshaper modes that combine modulatable waveshapers with flexible filter routing and gain-staging for a massive palette of overdriven timbres. The main oscillator can be warped before being fed into the shaper.

Features:

• Morphable Oscillator + New Sub Osc: Blend between five base waves (sine, triangle, saw, square, narrow pulse). Mix in a new slightly darker sub oscillator.
• Bi-directional Warping: Skews the waveform in two distinct ways for positive vs. negative values, creating complex harmonics.
• 13 shapers with pre/post-filter routing: From musical saturation to extreme destruction. Saturator, Overdrive, Diode Clipper, Asymmetric, Waveshaper, Waveshaper+, Fuzz, Exciter, Bitcrush, Rectifier, Redux, Redux+, Redux+Bitcrush—with pre/post-filter routing.
• Modulation & Macros: Animate Warp and Drive via the mod envelope, assign any Dirt parameter to macros and sequence parameter locks for evolving synths.
• Gain staging: Shape the sound with Pre-Gain into the shaper and balance levels on the Voice page.
• New patch editor (faster sound design)
• A 3×3 knob grid is used to control 9 screen parameters, turn a knob to adjust the on-screen value.
• Page through synth parameters with the main encoder for continuous editing.
• More immediate control over 50+ patch parameters—quicker to build, tweak, and perform.
• USB mass storage (easier content management)
  • Manage sample packs, patches, and projects directly from your computer.
  • Enable via Main Menu – Settings – USB Mass Storage Mode to expose the SD card over USB.
• Additional improvements
  • Perc engine kicks: Refined 808/909 kick engines for more accurate tone and feel.

Polyend Play + Firmware 1.3 Explained:

Play+ Firmware 1.3 is available now as a free update for all Play+ owners.

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Ultimate Patches has introduced 250 MiniFreak Ultimate Patches, a new sound library for the Arturia MiniFreak.

What they have to say about it:

“Taking the MiniFreak to the next level, Ultimate Patches has just released the all-new MiniFreak Ultimate Patches: 250 high-quality fresh patches with sounds from the 40s / 50s / 60s / 70s / 80s / 90s / 00s / 10s / 20s plus futuristic polys, pads, leads, keys, basses and fx, and classic non-synth instruments including acoustic and electric guitars and basses, acoustic pianos, rhodes and wurlitzer electric pianos, B3 / Vox / Farfisa classic organs, orchestral instruments and much more.

This musically useful collection of new patches touches on genres of classic and modern pop & rock, retrocade, orchestral, hiphop, vaporwave, cinematic, country, latin, R&B, reggae, jazz, chiptune, reggaeton, country, dubstep, tech/deep/retro house, trance, modular, experimental, synthwave, retropop and more.”

250 MiniFreak Ultimate Patches is available now, with Black Friday Sale pricing options starting at just $19.99. A free 15 Patch Taster Pack is also available.

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