ElmerJFudd

So any patch you create in the studio with AstroLab is drag and drop to this hardware keyboard which has the engine. No laptop needed on the gig. This is an interesting approach. NI Is probably wondering why they chose to go with controllers and laptop rather than build an MPC Keys.

They sold so many mixers that require software to function over the last 10 years, there’s a lot of people dependent on them maintaining the control software - especially on iOS devices. When their app gets broken and goes unupdated the whining is plenty loud. Thankfully some third party devs have also jumped on mix control software that speaks to their mixers.

So, Behringer put out a free VST a day or two ago. Free in the sense that they want to collect your email address in exchange for it. I wasn't able to grab it because their customers hammered the site for a "free" VST and the page is now down. But I expect it to return. https://plugins.musictribe.com/behringer/0723-AAD What interests me more so is if this is an area they are going to get into now. Did they commission it, buy it off a developer, or was it done in house? 🤔

In the north east it was between 2-4PM and the sun was both pretty high in the sky plus rolling clouds. We saw it but it was quite high and small compared to say, NASA’s view.

https://www.synthesia.io/

Definitely a sub service on the horizon. That or a sampler. Or both.

True true.

Kicks the soundblaster’s ass, unless you really want it to sound like a soundblaster. 😊

It’s a purposeful effort to kill off the ii V.

I think he’s built an AU, but I’m sure someone will pose the VST question.

So the Roland Cloud version is apparently a generic sample player with samples from the SC-8820. This developer is a fan of the SC-55mkII and is emulating it down to the hardware level. “This new project (https://github.com/nukeykt/Nuked-SC55) is recreating a perfect emulation of the Roland SC55mkII by emulating the CPU and the PCM chip by using microscope images of the decapped cores. I've tried it with several MIDI files and it's indistinguishable from the original. I've packaged it into an AudioUnit component to be used with Logic Pro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxIF8f454ns The CPU and the PCM chip are also identical to the JV-80/880, so if somebody ever dumps the rom of those we could get a perfect emulation plugin for them as well!”

If you carry your own stuff you simply need a plan. If you’re bringing a 50lbs+ board you’ll need a wheeled case or better yet a hand truck and bungie. If you are also hauling stand and monitoring I suggest a rolling cart and bungie. At some point you’ll tire of this and want to leave your workstation at home or sell it for a lighter solution. If you really need multiple layers and splits, the widest variety of sounds there are lighter boards to choose from. But better yet, you may consider a laptop and controller.

How does a more affordable box like this compare to say, an MPC One+? They are within about $200 of each other.

May I interest you in a Synth Book?

Yes, the code for this is fairly new and developers have jumped on using what has been shared as open source to build their own software tools (which a lot of us are already using) - the most obvious uses for me have been for faster transcribing by ear or creating play along tracks for practice (just bass and drums for example). I have not been very interested in using it as a compositional tool... but remix makers have been dying to have tech that provides them solo vocal stems from artists who do not release them. And now we are starting to see how MPC style music producers will take these extracted parts and slice them up into short samples to write new things with. Who are the first DAW developers to see this is a feature DAW owners will want inside the DAW? FL Studio, MPC Stems, Serato Studio, MixCraft, RipX DAW, Audacity and I am sure there are others that will have it within the year. It's just another feature of digital music editing that was not possible (or at least not reasonably easy to do with useful results) before. So, the feature is just a new tool that will be added like others before it.... pitch correction, time stretching without altering pitch, editing the pitch of individual notes within a complex audio recording (melodyne), or changing the timbre of a singer to sound like another, AI mixing and mastering.

They’ll do this, then that will signal Roland to release a VST that sounds even closer to the original. 😉

I think you’re probably right, as we’re seeing with vocal timbre mimics and sound alike counterfeit recordings. Social media is filled with them - some are lousy, some funny and some are close enough to fool the most discerning ears. https://lalals.com/ https://www.acestudio.ai/ This is also a legal gray area until laws catch up. What does it mean to “steal” the timbre of a singer’s voice? Plenty of singers without an established name would love to be absorbed by the software - to be paid a one time fee, or to have a licensing fee for use in commercial recordings. And some established artists may be willing to license their timbre while others may hate the idea and look for legal ways to shut it down. I don’t know how long it’s going to take to get some rules for this playing field. Extracted vocal lines or instrumental parts, re-purposed for commercial recordings. There are already rules in place for sampling that apply here.

43F with showers around NYC. March was windy. April has started off rainy. Not surprising. What is different is the quantity. Windy enough to break things, rainy enough to flood. That’s getting pretty common in recent seasons.

Well, it depends on what the professional quality content is. Remember, sampling has been prevalent in popular music for decades now, and many very successful recordings in various popular genres are purposefully not using samples of great resolution or fidelity. In fact, sampling from records with the flaws of the medium (scratched vinyl, aging needle) are instantly recognizable because the samples aren't perfect. Creative people will destroy a sample to find a unique sound. There are plugins for distortion, analog tape modelling, lo-fi, bit crushing, etc. All purposefully employed. Stem separation quality will likely improve, probably using some algorithms to rebuild data that is lost or wasn't even present. But there surely will be music released that uses samples created with stem separation. Once the tool is there, creative people will use it.

I have up try the vst. I’ve not installed their software, only used the browser version such does accept uploads.

Hmmm. Should I get my Caffè Americano today or 3.3 hours of AI generated (human guided) royalty free cinematic music?

Moises as a VST with a download and try. https://moises.ai/features/stems-vst-plugin/ The software machines they’ve built for this is getting implemented all over the place so only a matter of time before it’s standard feature.

Impressive they were able to make this price point, and focusing on Logic for release. 👍 The SSL controllers are awesome, but much pricier!

It doesn’t seem like their intention is to drop the RD-88 and honestly, it’s been out long enough that you can find a deal on one new or second hand. There’s no reason to grab an 08 unless you intend to use it as is. If/when they do tweak the RD-88 I am curious to see what improvements they make.