Do you know what musicians, producers and sound designers like Dane Davis (The Matrix, etc.), Richard Devine, Ian Boddy, Junkie XL, Sasha, Aphex Twin, Barry Jamieson, Michael Fakesh, Michael Bierylo (professor at Berklee) and many others have in common (besides a good amount of talent, of course)? A sound shaping tool like Metasynth.
In short, Metasynth (OS X only, no Windows version) is a unique suite of sound manipulation apps, all living under the same roof. In MetaSynth's environment sound and visuals are strongly connected to each other, and you can literally shape your sounds.
By the way, Metasynth 5 just won one of our Sonic Joy Awards 2009.

Unfortunately this software, like all professional tools, is not cheap. It usually sells at 599$ but...
... we're quite excited to announce that U&I Software is offering AudioNewsRoom readers a special $200 discount on MetaSynth 5, which makes the final price quite inviting.

PLEASE NOTE: the offer was only for a limited time and it's now over. Keep following us to get notified of future offers, for this or other products.

If you are new to Metasynth, I'd recommend taking the MetaSynth tour and watching the tutorial videos.
There's also a demo version available.

There are several reasons for "envying" Hugo (the man behind Goldbaby' sample libraries). He lives in New Zealand where now it's SUMMER, he has a gorgeous collection of vintage and modern gear, and he knows how to make people happier with his products. Following his previous hits, he just released The MPC60 vol 3, a mix of Layered Drums, Vinyl Drums, Various Drum Machines, FX and even some synth sounds, sampled on the Akai MPC60. Several sound sources for this package: DMX, Vermona, Linn, Drumulator, some synths (like the Yamaha CS-10) and more...

As you would expect, it's a library with tons of character, that it's a pleasure to hear in the mix.
Formats: Battery 3, Refill, iDrum,Guru and Wav Pack. Price: 24$.

It's worth mentioning that Goldbaby has released also a free 'Christmas gift' sample pack, The MPC60 Free.
It contains samples not in the MPC60 vol 3, and it's downloadable here.

Now, what's next for Goldbaby? Maybe an MPC-3000?...

It's going to be a busy Xmax period for MaxforLive users. Lots of new (and free) stuff in these days: Matthew Davidson, the polycreative gentleman known as Stretta, has released his monome suite of apps (be sure to check his blog often, he's also adding new apps almost on a daily basis!).



I agree with him in seeing MaxforLive as a big improvement, compared to using the single apps under Max runtime and/or having to create complicated routing to/from our DAW: "..now with maxforlive, monome apps can be simpler and you can pipe together the functions you need. So, instead of on application being a clip launcher, floor wax and a desert topping, it can do _one_ thing, like a plug in, and the user can select which functions are needed for the task. It is a level of functionality granularity I think the hardware is well suited for. If the apps are simpler, then the need for function rows and pages is reduced (now shifted to Live) and the applications themselves become easier to adapt for all sizes of monomes".

Novation has just released a beta version of Step SEQ, guess what, yes, a step sequencer to be used with their Launchpad controller.



In their words: it's "a free Max For Live Patch that turns Launchpad into a fully fledged melodic step sequencer. Conceived as a cool but powerful sequencer to enable Launchpad users to programme melodies, leads and basslines quickly in Live, the buttons are configured diatonically (as opposed to chromatically, as with a traditional step sequencer). The degree of the scale and its tonal centre can be set by the user, meaning that, once set up, any note you trigger in your sequence will fit in harmonically with your track, making it really easy to keep within the context of the song.
StepSeq is a MIDI effect that generates a sequence of notes, which can be used to play any instrument compatible with Ableton Live (including those from third-party developers). Once inserted, StepSeq communicates directly with Launchpad, transforming its 'User 2' mode into the interface for a step sequencer, so you can programme patterns quickly and simply on the fly, while retaining control over Live from the same control surface". The application can be downloaded from Novation's Support area.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. More stuff is already available, or it's going to be released soon. Check also these two community-based sites: max4live.info and maxforlive.com.

We usually don't cover prototypes, but the guys at Madrona Labs seem to be onto something...

The Soundplane A is, in their words. "a force-sensitive surface for intimate control of electronic music. What is intimate control? Instruments like the violin and hand drums give the player a very responsive connection to sound through their physical construction. In a state of creative flow, we stop thinking about these instruments as separate devices and speak directly through them. In a very real sense they become part of us."
The playing surface is "a flexible sheet of hardwood veneer bonded to a plastic backing for strength. The case is milled out of alder, a sustainably harvested Northwest hardwood". The hardware includes a DSP unit, the software is in progress, and there's a good chance that the device will be able to run off USB power.

It's good to see some potential competition in the "multi-touch controllers" field, where the Haken Continuum is until now the lonely king.
Randy Jones (one third of Madrona's team) could be right in saying that "touch-sensitive surfaces may well become the piano for the 21st century". Despite its fame (and price) I did not find the Continuum so exciting or rewarding to play, though. The materials used for the surface simply didn't give me good feelings. But maybe I'm too 20th century (or maybe I just spent too little time on it!), who knows?
That said, I'll keep an eye on this project. I like the approach behind it (and the Pierre Schaeffer quote) and I'm sure many would love to have an expressive controller with a decent price tag.
Madrona Labs is a small company, and the parts and the developement are quite expensive, so the Soundplane A won't be cheap. But they're trying to make it as affordable as they can, so let's cross our fingers.

Their forum is open, so if you'd like to suggest a new feature, or you'd like to support the project in some way, join the other potential users and let the project grow up!

I told you these are good times for software based drum-machines: we've reviewed Driven Machine Drums, a new sample library, we've talked of the latest Toontrack's product, Electronic EZX, and while waiting for the upcoming Tattoo from AudioDamage, we're glad to see a new developer entering the arena.

The company's name is AudioSpillage, and its first release is a freeware compact drum synth, MiniSpillage. It's an OS X AudioUnit plug-in (no VST and no Windows version). We could say it's an "appetizer", since it only offers a subset of the features available in DrumSpillage (AudioSpillage's forthcoming commercial drum synth).

From the press release: "MiniSpillage is not a recreation of classic drum machine glories nor a homage to the past but instead aims to break new ground and provide the modern musican with an original electronic percussion instrument".
Well, I don't know if it breaks new grounds, but for sure this is not the usual vintage sounding drum machine and it has an interesting approach to the synthesis of sounds.
MiniSpillage features 3 drum pads/parts and 3 synthesis models, and its intuitive interface lets the user getting new and often inspiring sounds in in a very short time.

The synthesis models are found in the Model Editor, which is the core of MiniSpillage. That's the place where you can work on "the fundamental ingredients of the sound you are editing". Each model has different parameters. The good thing is that each pad/sound can be set to use any of the 3 models available (in this case: Bass Drum, Wood Drum, Electro hi-hat). This means you can end up having some interesting kits, not based on the usual kick+hat+snare+toms+percussions standard rule (ok, in this free plug we have only three pads but you get the idea).
Among MiniSpillage's features: a couple of LFOs, a distortion section (with two different algorithms, Soft Clip and Decimate), some pitch warping stuff, etc.
Especially those into experimental electronica should check out this plug-in and its bigger brother when it's out. It could be a nice surprise for many users.
The developer told us that "DrumSpillage will feature a wider range of percussion models capable of a richer and more varied sound palette. It incorporates a number of different synthesis techniques: subtractive, additive, FM, custom noise generators and elements of physical modeling".

A few notes on MiniSpillage's visual interface: I find it a bit heavy on the eyes, I'd like to have a different colors combination (at least as option). Some controls, like the tuning parameter, need some kind of visual indication. Probably some of these things will change in DrumSpillage's GUI, and given that MiniSpillage is a free (and very good sounding) plug-in I should not complain much!

I remember the first time I heard of Bolder Sounds. A friend introduced me to one of their sample libraries, it was the Hammered Dulcimer Trilogy, and after a few minutes I knew I wanted to know more about this company.
Then I got some of their free libraries (like the Toy Piano or the Psaltery) and other products like the Bavarian Zither and the Handbells. Browsing Bolder's catalogue (by the way, great value for money!) you don't get the usual loops or "bombastic" sounds that you see too often elsewhere. Here the keywords are: traditional, cinematic, acoustic, and something else in between...
I always got a perception of quality and "pureness" using Bolder's libraries, and in a way I feel the same about Dennis Burn's answers (he's the man behind Bolder Sounds) to my questions below.

Hi Dennis, you started producing sample libraries in '92. In the past developers had to deal with limitations (memory, resolution, etc.), which also forced them being more creative. How do you feel things have changed throughout the years?

Well there is still plenty of room for creativity in the sampling world. To me the most interesting thing about sampling is being able to accomplish things that simply are not possible in the real world as opposed to trying to recreate things that are already in the real world by sampling them to death. But the reality of the business is you must offer emulative sample libraries or most likely you'll be OUT of business very quickly.
All the sound sculpting tools we now have to work with these days, there is almost TOO MUCH to choose from, so I must be careful to not get too sidetracked. Applications like Keymap (Redmatica) are amazing, they make what used to be extremely tedious tasks quite easy. However it is a double edged sword.
Customers expect sample banks now to be huge, they want Kontakt scripting etc. All this stuff takes more time and resources. So the time you save using Keymap is taken up by these other tasks that were not necessary 15 years ago.

Also, the Internet has been both a blessing and a curse. I can reach people all over the world in a few seconds. I no longer ship discs anywhere (Bolder Sounds is now a download only website).
On the downside - piracy is pretty much out of control. Not only do some websites post some of my commercial libraries to be downloaded for free, there are pirate sites that even sell them, and that's upsetting!

There is a general misconception that sound developers are making tons of money by taking advantage of poor musicians. Most sound developers I know work their asses off at it and they consider themselves fortunate if they can make a living doing it, but I don't see any of them buying mansions. Most of us are simply musicians who have a love of sound and are willing to work hard at it.

One of the principles Bolder Sounds is founded upon is to be generous and kind to people. That is why I give away so many free libraries. I realize not everyone has money to spend on sound libraries.


Bolder has an interesting catalogue of traditional, rare and/or unusual instruments. Which are your favorites? Can you tell us something more about them, how you got them, etc.?

They pretty much reflect my musical interests. I'm a guitarist, I've also play a lot of early music on the lute. It's rare that I sample something just because I think it will sell, typically there has to be something about the sound or instrument that I find to be beautiful. I love sounds that go Ka-Chinnnggg, bell-like sounds I'm a big fan of.
Boulder is a pretty musically diverse town (Boulder is the name of the city, while Bolder is the name of the company - author's note). My ears are always wide open to world of sound as I go through my day. Sometimes I can't get the dishes done without listening for a while to a certain pot or pan that has a cool sound.
Off the top of my head some of my favorites are - Crystal Glasses and Meditation Bowls, Tibetan Singing Bowls, Cimbalom and the Granular material. I feel the Granular stuff is my most creative work. I did that stuff back in 1996 when I think most folks had never heard of Granular Synthesis. I have fond memories of those days because I can remember how much it got my 'creative juices' flowing. And there's nothing that even comes close to that, it is what I live for, it's like God is dropping by to say hello.

What about your recording/sampling chain?

There are too many variables to list them all. Some general info: my main DAW is Logic Studio (I've used it since it was called C-Lab Notator on the Atari ST with a whopping 2 mb of RAM). I have Pro Tools but do not use it. I have it just to support Structure. I love Grace designs mic preamps (made here in Boulder, Colorado) and Neumann mics. I use a Metric Halo 2882 IO in my home studio. I adore the UAD plugins. Waves ZNoise is a must for sampling in situations that are less than ideal.
My 2 track editor is Peak and Redmatica's Keymap is invaluable. I'm not really much of a "techie". Everything I've learned about music and technology has come through blood, sweat and tears. My most used tool is very low tech - a legal pad for writing down notes on projects. I'm not the most organized person in the world, so it really helps to review those legal pads notes from time to time as I am working on a project.

Which is the instrument you'd like to capture and that it's still a dream for you?

I don't know ... the answer will most likely come to me in a dream some night. I'm always searching for the perfect pad sound. Something very still, pure, warm and majestic. I came pretty close when I started sampling conch shells and applying Granular processing to them. I still would like to do much more exploration with Granular Synthesis, but it is very time consuming.

Toontrack's EZdrummer, released in 2006, is known to be a quite effective percussive tool. It's not oversized like its bigger brothers (Superior Drummer, Bfd, and so on), it's powerful and very easy to use at the same time, it has a nice line of expansion kits, an integrated midi file browser, a fair price, and it sounds good.
In short, a winner.
It's true, the default kit is not the most exciting drum kit of the world, so you'll probably need to get one of the expansion banks soon. These are quite cheap anyway, and I'm sure you'll find one that fit your needs. The Nashville and Jazz kits are both excellent if you're looking for more traditional sounds. Especially the Jazz one has an incredibly warm and inspiring tone (listen to the example MIDI files featured in the package). Of course I would not replace a good jazz drummer with a software, but if you need to work quickly on a few songs, or (and that's my favorite approach) you'd like to experiment and add a "taste of jazz" in a different musical context, I'd say get this expansion bank without thinking twice (since you're there, check out also the Twisted Kit, if you love Tom Waits' rough sounds, you'll love this!) .


If you're not a great drummer (I know many EZdrummer users are guitar and keyboard players) you can get some help from the MIDI files included in each expansion bank. Don't expect them to be a comprehensive library though. Especially the jazz expansion ones are more a showcase for the product. If you'd like to add more usable MIDI files to your EZdrummer library my advice is to check a few third parties' libraries: there's the good old "Jazz" one from Groove Monkee, and recently the guys at Platinum Samples have released a collection, called Real Jazz.

In their words: "The grooves have been recorded over a five-day session by John Emrich on a Yamaha DTXtremeIII Special electronic drum set. No quantization, mouse clicks, or pastes were used – we leave that to you". Lots of well played stuff in this library, it should cover all your jazz needs for awhile! 2 Beat, 3/4, 5/4, Walk, Shuffle, Ballad & Jungle grooves played with sticks & brushes at different tempos.
This library is actually a perfect match for BFD users, but it can be used with EZdrummer and GM compatible devices as well. In EZdrummer it requires a minor adjustment to change a note to allow for any non-GM standard notes (for the sweep). It's a bit tricky, and the best solution is to use two EZdrummer instances, to make the brush sweeps work as they should. The support at Platinum Samples is helpful and fast, if you need it. The Real Jazz MIDI library is 35$, more or less what you would pay for a good pair of brushes, not bad ah?


Going back to EZdrummer, until now this software was focused on more or less traditional drum kits. But the game has changed with the release of Electronic EZX, an expansion bank featuring "classic, circuit bent and resampled electronic drum sounds". The list of gear used is simply impressive and it's perfectly represented in the above three words. It makes no sense to rewrite the full gear list here, so please have a look at the product's page and be ready to salivate!

Richard Devine (the lead designer), Josh Kay, Brad Bowden and Mattias Eklund did a great job on this product. Lots of different drum kits (more than 30, and easier to browse now thanks to the recent EZdrummer's GUI updates), a decent number of MIDI files (created by Richard Devine himself) to show the library's potential, an integrated fx section in the mixer (echo, subtube, tape, etc.) which can add some more character to the sounds. Just add a touch of delay and compression with your outboard/plug-in of choice, and you'll have a great sounding electronic kit in a few seconds.
I'd just love to have a 1:1 hardware controller, it would be even funnier to create beats (actually the latest 1.1 software release for NI Maschine could be a good solution, I'll have to check it out)!
I like the fact Electronic EZX is not (only) about the usual stuff. There are some unique samples here, custom models that you won't find anywhere else. I love for example the Foley and the HR-16 Bent kit, and in general those kits on the dirtier side.
If you're looking for further informations about the modified models, check out for example the Devilfish's 303 page, the Alien-Devices RY-30 page or the Burnkit Hr-16 page.
Actually it's a pity that the EZX Pdf and the Toontrack website do not tell more about the making-of this library, I'm sure it's been fun.
If you're an EZdrummer user (Superior Drummer is supported too) looking to add some electronic sounds to your percussive palette, at 69€/$ you can't really go wrong with Electronic EZX.
And even if you, like me, have all sorts of drum plug-ins and libraries (from MicroTonic to the nice electronic kits included with NI Battery), you could end up opening EZdrummer and Electronic EZX quite often, given its immediate usability and the unique sounds.

During the last couple of years we've seen some nice improvements in the drum machines sample libraries' field.
The thing is there are hundreds of average sounding sample libs, so some smart developers have started introducing a new variable: a unique recording chain. We've had Hugo from Goldbaby with his lovely tape-recorded drums (see our Tape Drum Machines review), and now it's the time to talk about a new developer and a new product: Driven Machine Drums.

The sound sources are a juicy mix of analog and digital devices: Elektron Machine Drum, Symbolic Sound Kyma Capybara, Eventide H8000FW, Korg ER-1, E-mu SP-1200, Oberheim DMX, Yamaha DX200, Roland TR909, TR808, TR707, TR606, Jomox MBase 11, Vermona DRM-1 MKIII.
The following gear has been used to capture and process the sounds: Thermionic Culture Vulture, Anamod ATS-1 w/ all cards, Neve 1073 Preamp, Atlas Pro Juggernaut Twin (Iron + Nickle Transformers), A-Design EM-Gold (Steel Transformers), Source Plus Tube Amp w/ 1957 NOS French Mazda Tubes, Moog Mooger Fooger, Empirical Labs Distressor, Mutronics Mutator.
Yes, pure gear porn!

Keep in mind that you won't get a complete sampled version of each of these instruments though. Driven Machine Drums is all about a careful selection of sounds coming from different sources, well categorized (Kicks, Snares, Claps, Toms, etc.) and well recorded (also leaving headroom to the final user, a good choice).

I've tested the EXS24 version (other formats available too, see below) and while I'd like to have a proper PDF manual with all the info about the library (it should be available in the next weeks), the sounds and their organization makes this library a nice add for every electronic music producer.

Here's what the developer, Nathaniel, told us: "I'm primarily a musician, producer and I've become very aware over 16 years of how my creative process works. I wanted the musician to remain in a flow state of pure artistic concentration while using the library. That is why I grouped the sounds by texture instead of machine. The name of the machine is "logical" info, while texture is a "musical" choice.
If a "deep kick" is working in a song, I didn't want people to be forced to change directories from Vermona to Machine Drum, then find the kicks, then scan all the kicks until they find another deep kick. It should be as simple as going up and down the keyboard here, or scanning the deep kick folder in GURU.
Similarly, I didn't want 250 kicks in one folder.  I tried the best to small chunk them in a musical manner". It definitely makes sense...

The good news is that you can buy and test the entire collection for 30 days, with a full refund/no questions asked policy.

For those who'd like to try before buying, there are more than 100 sounds available for free here.

That said, talking of marketing and strategies, there are a couple of things that need to be pointed out: first, I can't get how someone that spends so much money and time on a product like this, then chooses an ugly and definitely "anti-usability" website to promote it. I assume you're working on it, isn't it?
Also, and this is quite surreal since we're talking of a digital release, the developer says "I'm only going to make 997 copies of this library available. Then I’m removing the library from the market. Why? I want to you to have an exclusive, limited edition library of designer drum sounds".

Dear Nathaniel, you have a very good product in your hands, just promote and sell it for what it is, and forget about this VIP Club bull**it...

The price of the library is fair, also considered the number of sounds you get and the quality of the gear behind them:
- Driven Machine Drums (GURU, WAV, AIF) $77
- Driven Machine Drums Deluxe (KONTAKT, EXS-24, WAV, AIF) $87

P.s: more stuff is coming (for free) for Driven Machine Drums' customers. A whole new section of fx sounds, with filter, reverbs, flangers, should be released in the next days.

In the past I've had a love/hate thing with Tritone's plug-ins: while they were very interesting from a sonic point of view (with a strong emphasis on being highly "musical" and easy to use tools), I did not like the fact they were tied to the Pluggo runtime. Basically they were wrapped plugs, never a good thing in my book.
A few years later the Pluggo platform has been declared dead by Cycling '74, and this brought Tritone's development to a turning point: they started developing Pluggo-free versions of their plugs.

And here we are, Tritone Digital is back in business with the first (re)release of this new, "native" (AU, VST, RTAS), series, Valvetone '62, and with a new product, ClassicTone-PEV.

For those who don't know what Valvetone is about, here's something from the press release: "ValveTone '62 is a unique, vibe-laden plugin that pays tribute to the EQs of yesterday; it's all about silky sex appeal and incredible thick tone. Deceptively simple BASS and TREBLE controls provide boost and cut algorithms that are both complex and pleasing. The DRIVE control provides you with two completely unique EQ curves:Toasty, which provides warm, velvet-smooth EQ curves, and Smokin, which is more driven, colored and over-the-top. So, don't expect some well-behaved Linear Phase EQ: ValveTone '62 is all about character and TONE!"

The sound engine is the same of the version 1.0 (they just fixed a few things here and there), the new version can read the old settings (well done here), and, most of all, the plug-in is now 40% more CPU-efficient and loads three times faster. There's also an A/B preset comparison feature, and it's now possible to export and import your presets via XML.

The upgrade for Valvetone's original users is 25$, while the full price is 85$.
Those customers who upgrade before 12/31/09 will also receive a free copy of Tritone's newest plugin: ClassicTone-PEV.


Here's what they say about this new Neumann inspired (ooops!) EQ: "ClassicTone-PEV is modeled after a unique vintage EQ that was made by a German audio company famous for its microphones. The PEV was the first EQ ever made by this company and was used for vinyl mastering.
The original PEV featured a totally passive and discrete design with transformer balanced inputs and outputs and extremely high quality inductors for each band."

Important: the plug-ins are Mac-only compatible at the moment. They're working on the Windows version, but there's no scheduled release.

More on Tritone Digital's stuff soon...