More stuff happening in October...

This time it's the Netaudio Festival 2009, in Berlin. Here's what the press release says, anyway we'll try to cover the event with further news and reportage.

"From the 8th to the 11th of October 2009, Netaudio Berlin will be gathering the international netaudio community for a four-day music and conference festival in Berlin, under the title “East meets West”. 2009 will mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Iron Curtain. We recall pictures of hands reaching out to pull people from both sides up onto the Berlin wall. The event will take place at Maria, a venue situated immediately on the former Berlin ‘death strip’ once dividing the city and the world into eastern and western hemispheres.
In recent years a netaudio landscape has emerged in the countries of Eastern Europe. Speakers, artists and netlabel managers from Eastern and Western Europe as well as from the USA are invited to fi nd out more about the needs and possibilities, challenges and chances of netaudio under the various cultural frameworks and to discuss new opportunities for networking and collaboration across borders and cultures."

Tickets are already on sale, please check the official site for the full events' list.
The list is huge: more than 80 artists, bands or musical projects during the night hours. During the daytime there will be approximately 24 or more workshops, lectures, movies, discussions, showcases – and additionally a lot more other things. Sounds promising, ah?

If you're into sound-design, you're the lucky owner of a Kyma, or simply a potential user, here's something you don't want to miss (and it's a good chance for a nice holiday too!)...

From the official press release, on Cristian Vogel's erutufon forum:

"The First International Kyma User Symposium - Barcelona 2009

Symbolic Sound Corporation's Kyma X is a powerful visual programming language for music and sound, originally created in 1987 and still going strong today. The Kyma sound design environment is used by composers, researchers and sound designers for realtime sound generation and manipulation.
The First International Kyma Symposium will be held from the 8-11 October 2009 at the Niu Espai Artistic Contemporani in Poble Nou, Barcelona.
Current and potential Kyma practitioners are invited to attend an in-depth 3 day interactive conclave devoted to the technical and artistic aspects of the Kyma sound design language.

The preliminary program includes master classes presented by Carla Scaletti and Kurt Hebel, the creators of Kyma, papers and demos presented by Kyma practitioners and professional users , plus a program of concerts, installations and performances in the Niu art space of Poble Nou.

Cost: €80 for the workshops and concerts and lunch.

Organisers: Station 55 Productions in co-operation with Niu, Symbolic Sound, TC Electronic Spain and the LEM Festival.

To register your attendance and pay the fee, please register with Erutufon forum first.
Further and updated info on this thread. Enjoy Kyma and Barcelona!

It took a while to find the place (ok, our fault, but the whole post-industrial and now super-clubby area is a microcosm on its own, worth exploring) but the Ableton Live User Group Berlin's meeting, held at Suicide Circus yesterday, has proved to be a nice chance to meet a bunch of Live aficionados (as well as some potential users), enjoy a few musical performances (going from techno to electro-jazzy to superheavy "rock'n'bass") and get a sneak preview of upcoming Live's features, like Max for Live.


Ableton's Sound Development Project Manager, Daniel Büttner, briefly showed a few devices created with Max for Live, and how to edit them, according to the user's needs.
By the way, some of these devices seemed to be quite interesting and inspiring. There's no release date for Max for Live yet, but it seems things are getting closer.
Daniel confirmed that Max for Live users will get a pack of ready-to-use devices, and that a patch-sharing platform should follow soon.
Props to Daniel for defining Max/Msp "a very easy to use software", you don't hear these words associated with Max so often! Definitely my hero of the day, together of course with Axel and Silvia (thanks for the pics), the party-loving couple who made the whole event possible (it's worth mentioning that these meetings are indipendent, even if supported by Ableton).


Before and after Ableton's presentation, the grill in the garden has been quite crowded as you would expect in a german summer, and the whole place offered a relaxing environment.
I think we should have more of these things: internet is great, but having the chance to get both devs and users in the same physical place is an invaluable resource to let concepts/projects/products grow in a "healthier" and simply better way.
Let's celebrate more "weddings" like this. Definitely more software houses should take note of this...

p.s: as usual, if you need more info about the next User Group events, please join the ALUGB official topic on the Ableton Forum.

I know it's unusual, but in this case I'll start from the conclusions: if you're a keyboard player, and if you have some convincing Rhodes emulation (my favorite being the good old Scarbee sample library, but great results can be had from modeled products, like Applied Acoustic's Lounge Lizard or Devine Machine's OTR-88), you simply have to try IK Multimedia's Amplitube Fender.
Yes, there are many virtual guitar amps around, and some of them are excellent (read what we wrote about Softube Vintage Amp Room). But keyboard players wanting to add some vintage grit to their sounds, often found them too gritty and saturated. That's why I've always wished to have a virtual Fender Twin Reverb in my plug-in arsenal.
The Fender Twin Reverb was the amp used to test the pianos in Rhodes' factory. And the sound most of us associate to Rhodes pianos is the sound coming from a virtual Fender Twin Reverb.
Well, if you can't afford a Twin and/or you want to have a quick and easy to use software solution, you could be tempted to buy Amplitube Fender even just for the Twin emulation, it would worth it. I've used the real unit many times in the past, and I have to say that the clear, crisp and pleasing tones of the original Twin have been captured, the IK guys have done a great job on this, hats off.
But... the Twin is only one of the things you can find in this plug-in.



Actually there's so much stuff that's almost embarrassing: 12 amps, 12 cabinets, nine microphones, six pedals and six rack effects. It's a sort of "best of Fender gear" (officially approved by Fender, and once in a while it's not just a marketing yadda yadda), going from vintage devices to more modern ones (like the rack effects, taken from the Cyber-Twin amp). And it's not only for guitar (and keyboard) players. Bass players are covered as well, with the Bassman 300 Pro and the TBP-1 Bass Preamp (we could add the '59 Bassman).
The features list is too long to be posted here, but you can find all the details on the product's website. By the way, if you're the owner of a Fender guitar or bass, IK swears that the plug-in tones are tailored to Fender instruments, so you won't need any particular tweak or adjustment, just plug your Precision or Strato and have fun!

As you would expect, the plug-in is also quite flexible: users can mix and match amps, cabinets, etc. Like in other Amplitube based products, there's a two-rig setup with eight possible routing configurations. And you can do even more with the free add-on X-GEAR (eXpandable Guitar Effects and Amps Rig), a sort of dedicated host which works with all IK amp simulation products. That said, we're glad that IK did not try to make this thing overcomplicated: while customizing things is often a good thing, in amp sims sometimes you really get lost with all the options. I'm more on old school guy about this: gimme a few good sounding options, and let the creativity flow. On our DAWs we have already too much stuff that probably we'll never use...

Amplitube Fender works as stand-alone application and plug-in versions, on Mac (AU, VST, RTAS) and Windows (VST, RTAS) platforms.
It does not require any dongle (and that's a good thing), but its challenge/response process could be a bit easier and more streamlined.
Some users on OS X 10.5.7 had an issue related to forgotten authorizations, but it should have been fixed with the latest update (maybe I was lucky but I had no such problems on my Mac).
As seen with other modeled products lately, this plug-in can be CPU intensive, especially if used with its highest quality settings.
My advice is to use the lowest quality settings when you're in "composing mode" (they sound great anyway!), and switch to the higher quality ones when you're ready to mix.
As always, check the system requirements before buying, or better, download the demo and try it on your set-up.

Amplitube Fender is fairly priced (some could say it's a bargain): for $229.99/€169.99 you get a really powerful suite of gear, but wait, if you don't need the full Amplitube Fender version, and you're fine with a few of its amps/cabinets/effects/mics (the Fender Twin is included, keyboard players take note, hint hint...), you could get the AmpliTube Fender Studio (featuring Amplitube Fender SE) for a mere $139.99/€109.99!
Compare the specs of both products and see what's best for you.

Axel, from the Ableton Live User Group Berlin, has got in touch with us to spread the word about an interesting upcoming event for any Live user (or simply anyone interested in knowing more about this software, listening to electronic music and have some fun!). Here are the details in his own words...

ALUGB Meeting - A Summer Special

"Apart from our open stage philosophy, which you all know by now, we will meet this time open air in a fantastic summer club garden with a real PA (the best sound we had so far!) and enjoying summer advantages like a barbecue.
Yes, we will kick off the grill!!!
Entrance is as usual free of charge, ALL drinks have to be purchased at the venue, grills are provided and anything else in order to have a barbecue must be supplied by you, e.g. fish, meat, salads, dishes, and all the rest to satisfy your taste buds…
Plus a little summer extra presentation is awaiting you.
Just bring your laptop, soundcard, controllers and cables to hook up to a standard DJ mixer and play a live set. Don’t forget your girlfriends!"

date: 26.08.2009
time: 19,00 h

place: the garden of Suicide Circus
entrance from Revaler str. 99 (or staircase from the green patch next to Warschauer brücke)
10245 Berlin
U/S-bahn Warschauerstr.
Find the place on Google Map

If you need more info, please join the ALUGB official topic on the Ableton Forum (Axel's forum name is SubFunk).

Totally Wired is a DVD documentary film about Schneiders Buero (or Büro), the "infamous" analogue machines store, located in Berlin.
I'm sure most of you know the place, but for those who don't here's how Totally Wired's director, Niamh Guckian, describes her first experience and how the idea of making a film came out: "... first time I went there I couldn't wait to get out. All around me were small beeping machines and a voice box saying Good Morning, Welcome to Schneiders Buero... Walls and walls of modular systems were blinking and making too much noise, and I suddenly felt very unwell. Then a very tall German man with huge hands appeared, rather like a medicine man from the Little House on the Prairie... And suddenly, I had bitten the hook, and was listening intently to Andreas Schneider's Sermon from the Analog Mount, and thinking, who is this person, what is this place and maybe I should make a film about it...".

Totally Wired (available on Amazon.com and on Schneiders Buero's website) is an 80-minute tribute to a dream made of electricity, chaos and unpredictability, hard human work, alternative marketing approaches, boutique dirty toys, and of course to the city where the dream started, Berlin.



Featuring interviews with Mr.Schneider, manufacturers (Macbeth, Doepfer, Vermona, Flame, Cwejman, Flower Electronics) and special customers/friends (Ricardo Villalobos, Daniel Miller, Anthony Rother, Junior Boys and many others) Totally Wired is a well shot (classy photography!) and enjoyable document. It's a must-see for all analogue purists out-there, as well as for any electronic music lover.
As Niamh Guckian points out, "this film is all about possibility... Having the vision to keep it going when all around you are telling you to forget it...".

P.s: Totally Wired was shot in 2008, in the meantime Schneiders Buero's showroom (aka SchneidersLaden) has moved from the original location that can be seen in the film (an old Soviet Bloc office building in Alexanderplatz) to a new one.
More details about the new location on the store's website.

We'll talk more about this later, but let me just say that I'm glad to see MetaSynth is back with a new version. I have some memories of it in the good old OS 9 days, but let's face it, I was too young to really get what was going on.
MetaSynth (Mac OS OS X.4 or later, standalone software, not available on Windows, sorry) is a peculiar suite of sound manipulation applications, all living under the same roof. These applications are called rooms.
In MetaSynth's environment sound and visuals are strongly connected to each other, you can literally shape your sounds. Not surprisingly, over the years MetaSynth has become one of the (more or less secret) favorite tools of some of the most talented artists and sound-designers around the world.

Usually at AudioNewsRoom we don't like copying and pasting the official press release stuff, but since this is just a preview article and the product is quite unique, here it is what U&I team has to highlight about the new features:

* Universal Binary and multi-processor enabled for much-improved performance.

* Native support of .wav, .caf, .aiff and SoundDesigner audio files at resolutions up to 32-bit floating point and 96 kHz.

*Instruments: MetaSynth's instrument framework has been expanded and features 11 new synthesis modes including Phase Distortion and Pulse Width Modulation synthesis as well as a host of new capabilities that includes envelope-controlled parameters and velocity-mapping.

*The Image Synth gained 14 new Quart-based drawing tools. It now allows realtime swapping of instruments, tunings and samples during playback. Batch rendering added.

*Effects Room: New convolution effect added. The new render to disk feature makes it possible to render arbitrarily long files using MetaSynth's celebrated Grain and Stretch effects.

*Sample Editor: Improved handling of large files.

*Montage Room: Up to 24 stereo tracks can be mixed. The recording interface and performance have been significantly improved. Several new track effects have been added. Communication with the VTrack video montage editor has been added to allow edit-to-picture when running both applications simultaneously.

*Spectrum Synth: Pitch range selection. New Time and Pitch Blur commands.

More on MetaSynth 5 soon. A demo version is available on the U&I website. I've played with it last week and be warned: just don't make plans for the evening, MetaSynth can be quite addictive!

The price could be an issue for many, I know. It's 599$. And yes, Logic and most other software you can have is cheaper than that. We'll ask U&I about MetaSynth's marketing too, but please do not consider it as the umpteenth host, softsynth or fx.
It's an inspiring environment, a boutique one for sure, and it could open unexpected doors to users' creativity.

It's not something new, but we think it's a remarkable product and it deserves some recognition.
We're talking of KREATE, a Kontakt based sound library designed and produced by techno-minimal artist Speedy J aka Jochem Paap, and released by Fixed Noise.
Once in a while the press release is spot on: "KREATE offers over 4 GB of sounds designed to inspire and awe those in the electronic music-world, whether it be the fellow DJ/producer, film composer or pop artist looking for a cutting-techno edge".
What you'll find in the box? Well, there's probably something for everyone: drum kits, individual hits/tones, loops, sequencer-based instruments, fx and konstrukt instruments (for a total of more than 500 instruments).
A lot of work has gone into the making of this library, I'm sure. And it's not just about quantity. There's a lot of really usable stuff.
The drum kits are excellent, the single tones instruments can get a lot of use, but the most creative part comes from the sequences. This section of "instruments" makes full use of some of the most advanced Kontakt scripting features, and even if you don't know what this means, just trust us, it's terribly fun and inspiring. Unlike the loop section, here you can have sequences (up to 16 steps) that follow your host's tempo, and you can modify the notes, the lenghs and the velocities (there's a useful randomizer too), so basically you can completely customize each pattern and save it as a user pattern.
Wheter you're a fan Speedy J or you've never heard of him, this library can be both a creative tool and a great time-saver. Just try not to use the loops so much (I usually skip them, like McDonald's food), and focus on the other stuff.
KREATE comes with a Kontakt 2 Player, so you don't need to have/buy the full version of Kontakt, and that's a plus. Of course the Kontakt 2 player works as VST, AU, RTAS plug-in too.
The price is 199$, and you can buy it direct from Fixed Noise store. It seems there's no download version available.
We'll discuss of KREATE and other hopefully interesting things with Fixed Noise's founder Jo Ardalan soon.

The beloved tape-maniac Goldbaby has released a new sample library, compatible with EXS24 and Kontakt 3.
It's called FatsoSynths Vol 1 and features samples from five vintage devices: Moog MG-1, Korg Delta, Roland JX3P, Ensoniq ESQ1 and the Yamaha DX100.
Like in previous Goldbaby products, the sounds have been processed with the help of a "sweetening tool".
In this case it's the Empirical Lab's Fatso (Full Analog Tape Simulator & Optimizer), well, actually its modded version recently released by Kush Audio and called UBK Fatso.
For those who don't know the original hardware, Fatso is a very peculiar harmonic thickening, tape-like saturation, compression/limiter unit. The modded UBK version is born with the intent of creating a collection of new fixed-setting compressors, very easy to use and able to create musical results. This modded unit is creating a lot of buzz on the interweb lately, and it seems it gives great results whatever you throw at it.


Now, how does the library sound? Ok, I'm usually not into synth sample libraries because they look like snapshots, and you lose most of the fun and the instant gratification the hardware gives you.
But there are three reasons to put this new Goldbaby release on the shopping list: on a personal note, I've loved to see a a Korg Delta featured here, it's a synth I've spent a couple of years with and I have some nice memories of it.
The second and much more important reason is that these sounds really cut through the mix, much better than many softsynths. Well, you know, the Fatso treatment is the icing on the cake!
The third reason is that, besides several mono and polyphonic presets (some of them show interesting hybrid ensembles of two or more synths) Goldbaby provides customers with the pure oscillators' samples (also using one cycle of a waveform). This mean you can "turn your software sampler into a synth", not bad, ah?
Now the only question is: when the volume 2?

Fatso Synths vol 1 is 49$. To read more and buy go here.
To know more about the original Fatso...
If you'd like to get a UBK Fatso, well, tell them we sent you!