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

Prime For Yound Adults Trial

Groove Synthesis 3rd Wave synth module does away with the keyboard and is ready for your desktop. The Advanced Wavetable synth, a more compact version of the PPG-inspired instrument is just around the corner.

Drawing on the heritage of the classic PPG range, the 3rd Wave synth has something for nostalgia fans and more forward-thinking producers alike. And following the launch of the keyboard version, manufacturer Groove Synthesis has now taken the obvious next step and released a desktop model.

The company says that the 3rd Wave Desktop Module offers “all the power, all the features, all the ins & outs, and all the awesome sound of the keyboard”.

You probably know what’s coming next: 3rd Wave desktop offers all the power of the fully-fledged model, but in a smaller form factor and at a lower price. So, you’re getting a 3-oscillator, 24-voice, 4-part multitimbral wavetable synth that sits on your desk rather than your keyboard stand.

Each oscillator can host a PPG-era wavetable, a high-res “complex” wavetable or an analogue-modelled waveform. You can also create up to 64 of your own wavetables in the Wavemaker, sampling live into the keyboard if you wish.

Sound-shaping options include two analogue filters and a modulation matrix, and onboard composing can be done using the built-in pattern sequencer. You can use up to two effects per part, and there are four LFOs and six envelopes.

In addition, they’ve added MPE support to the 3rd Wave.

Features:

• 3 High-resolution Digital Oscillators Per Voice
• 64 total user wavetable positions with 48 wavetables that contain 64 waveforms per table (32 legacy PPG waves with room for another 16 of this type)
• 32 original 8 bit wavetables from the PPG 2 series instruments with room for 16 more user created 8 bit wavetables
• 7 high-resolution modeled analog waveforms (sine, saw, triangle, supersaw, pulse, white noise, pink noise)
• VCO sync
• Linear FM
• 6-stage wave envelope per oscillator with variable time and position that can be looped
• Optional wave flow section that allows for no wavetable as well as no waveform interpolation
• Upper wavetable mode as with the original PPG 2 series
• Unison mode and chord mode with variable voice count
• 1 Analog Low-pass Filter
• 1 State-Variable Filter
• 4 ADSR+ Delay Envelopes
• 4 Low-Frequency Oscillators
• 2 Digital Effects, including BBD, stereo delay, tape delay, chorus, phaser, flanger, distortion pedal, rotating speaker, ring mod, room reverb, hall reverb, super plate reverb – most modeled on famous hardware devices
• Syncable to master clock BPM
• Parameters modulatable via mod matrix
• Sequencer and Arpeggiator
• 16-slot Modulation Matrix Per Multi-Part
• 500 factory programs. User rewritable
• Connectivity:
  • 4 Stereo outputs
  • Headphone out
  • MIDI In, MIDI Out, and MIDI Thru
  • USB port for bidirectional MIDI communication
  • Audio Input for creating user wavetables from external audio source
  • Audio Input can also route audio through the filters, output chain, and effects
  • Sustain/footswitch input
  • Volume pedal input
  • Expression pedal input

Groove Synthesis shared 3^rd. Wave Advanced Wavetable Desktop Synth audio demo:

The 3rd Wave desktop synth module will be available in November priced at $3,495. Find out more on the Groove Synthesis website.

Wondershare FilmoraGo

Prime For Yound Adults Trial

Rexing Product Page

Prime For Yound Adults Trial

Pulsar is giving away a software version of the 3-band equalizer that became a mastering legend and is still in use today.

Could this Neumann w495 emulation be the most useful free EQ plugin you download this year?

There is an argument for saying that you shouldn’t download every free plugin that gets released – limiting your gear choices can certainly make you more productive – but when that plugin is what looks like a solid emulation of a classic EQ, it is hard to pass it up.

Pulsar w495 reboots the much-loved Neumann EQ of the same – the one that Pulsar reckons was “used to master 90% of the vinyl records manufactured from the 1970s to the 1990s”. There was a reason for this, of course: it sounds lovely, even when pushed to extreme levels, and remains popular to this day.

The new plugin promises to recreate that sound, and can be applied both to individual tracks and an entire mix. Additional features that weren’t present in the hardware include visual curve editing and a spectrum analyser, though you can still just twist the knobs and ‘mix with your ears’ if you wish.

Pulsar claims to have gone right down to component level with its w495 modelling, taking into account its subtle band saturations, the unique sound of its output transformers and the distinct sonic characteristics in the low, mid and high frequencies. There are also mid/side routing options, presets, a resizable GUI and comprehensive metering options.

The Pulsar w495 will ultimately retail for $49, but it is free until the end of October. It runs on PC and Mac in VST/AU/AAX formats, so should work for almost everyone.

Find out more and download it on the Pulsar website.

Wondershare FilmoraGo

Prime For Yound Adults Trial

Rexing Product Page

Prime For Yound Adults Trial

DAW not doing it for you? Cantor is a free “music playground” for looping, sampling and sound design software. A self-contained app that can be used for improvising, jamming and performing.

Developer Jonatan Krogh says that he’s been working on Cantor, his free “music playground”, for 10 years, but only now is he ready to release version 1.0. It looks like it might have been worth the wait, though, because this currently MacOS-exclusive app (A Windows version is in development) packs in a whole lot of functionality.

Although not a DAW in the traditional sense, Cantor enables you to make music across eight stereo looping tracks. There are built-in synths, plus VST/AU plugin support so that you can bring in your own third-party instruments. The Quick Sampler enables you to capture incoming sound and map it to your keyboard, and loop lengths can run to minutes if you wish.

Cantor also offers 32 effects that you can combine across eight processors. And, because all sync and quantization options are defined as fractions, you should easily be able to generate polyrhythms.

On the recording side, your entire session can be captured with a single button press, while multitrack recording is also available. All loops can instantly be bounced down, too.

Cantor is funded exclusively by donations, so if you do like the look of it, you might want to think about handing over some money. More details and the free download can be found on the Cantor website.

Wondershare FilmoraGo

Prime For Yound Adults Trial

Rexing Product Page