Results for Dave Smith

Dave Smith Instruments has introduced the Prophet 12, a new polyphonic synthesizer.

“After 35 years of creating synths, this is simply my best synth yet,” said Smith. “We sort of started from scratch on this one rather than spinning off another product from our previous designs.”

At twelve voices, the Prophet 12 boasts the greatest polyphony of any instrument designed by Smith. Each voice features four oscillators capable of generating classic and complex waveforms, a sub-oscillator, resonant analog low- and high-pass filters, and analog VCAs. The new Character section adds a variety of wave shaping and sound sculpting options, like Drive, Hack, Decimation, Girth, and Air. Additional features include a tuned feedback path, a four-tap stereo delay per voice, expanded arpeggiator functionality, deep modulation capabilities, and bi-timbral operation. The LFOs, delay, and arpeggiator can all be synced, either to the internal clock or an external MIDI clock. Two programmable position- and pressure-sensitive touch sliders take the performance controls beyond the standard pitch and mod wheels (also included).

“We’re already blown away by the sonic breadth of this synthesizer’s new voice architecture,” Smith continued. “It doesn’t sound like anything else and I’m very excited for people to hear it.”

The Prophet 12 is expected to be available Q2 of 2013 with a projected MAP of $2,999 USD.

More information: Dave Smith Instruments / Prophet 12

Francis Prève has released a free Mopho X4 sound library for Ableton Live.

Dave Smith’s Mopho X4 made my Beatport News 2012 Top 10 Tech Tools list for good reason. It can sound sweet-as-pie or downright nasty, depending on how you program it.

Since my previous downloads have been a tad on the smooth side, I decided to explore the grungy, filthy aspects of the X4 – resulting in seven Simpler instruments that really show what it can do.

The Mopho X4 Simpler Pack for Ableton Live (compatible with Ableton Live 8.1.5 and higher) is a free download.

More information: Francis Prève / Mopho X4 Simpler Pack

Dave Smith Instruments has announced the Mopho x4, a 4-voice polyphonic analog keyboard synthesizer.

Mopho x4 is intuitive and inviting. Every parameter is fully programmable and editable from the front panel. The controls are logically laid out, lending themselves to quick access so you can tweak knobs without missing a beat.

Mopho x4 is the newest addition to DSI’s revered line of analog subtractive synthesizers.

Building upon the same award winning voice architecture of the Mopho and Mopho Keyboard, the Mopho x4 boasts huge sound and 4 voice polyphony in an ideally sized, portable, and elegantly designed package.

Use it to create huge unison basses, creamy leads, maniacal sequences, and ethereal pads.

Mopho x4 features

• 4-Voice polyphony analogue synthesiser based on the legendary Mopho.
• 44-note velocity sensitive semi weighted keyboard with aftertouch.
• 2 Oscillators, 2 sub oscillators, and 2- and 4-pole Curtis Low Pass filters per voice.
• Three ADSHR envelopes, four LFOs, step sequencer and arpeggiator.
• Unrivaled routing flexibility with 20 modulation sources and almost 50 destinations.
• FM filtering and feedback path.
• Poly Chain: expand your Mopho x4 to up to 16 voices (with three Tetras).
• Freely Assignable Pitch and Mod Wheels.

More information: Dave Smith Instruments / Mopho x4

Voltage Disciple has announced a free drumrack sample library for Ableton Live.

Dont forget to check our free page at Voltage Disciple where you can download some free VST presets and several Ableton LIVE packs.

A brand new one featuring some sounds from Dave Smiths Tempest Drum Machine has just been released.

Like us on Facebook and enjoy.

The Tempest Ableton Live drumrack is available to download at no cost. The sounds in this pack are released under the Creative Commons License.

More information: Voltage Disciple

Some interesting things I found recently:

# The Father of Drum Machines and the Father of MIDI Talk About Design and the Tempest

Peter Kirn talks to the people responsible for one of the most exciting things over at the Winter NAMM show, the Tempest drum machine – Roger Linn and Dave Smith.

In songwriting, there was Rodgers and Hart, Gilbert and Sullivan. In music gear design, it’s hard not to assign a similar degree of expectation to the pairing of Dave Smith and Roger Linn.

Between them, these two designers have been a major part of what music technology is today. Dave Smith pioneered MIDI (even giving it its acronym), the first microprocessor-based instrument (the Prophet-5), the first programmable polyphonic synth, and other innovations at Sequential Circuits. Add to that landmarks in physical modeling research (at Yamaha) and the first PC soft synth. Roger Linn built the first programmable sampled-sound drum machine and with the LM-1, LinnDrum, Linn 9000, and his work on the MPC60 and MPC3000, introduced workflows and ideas in drum machines we now take for granted. It’s not easy to overstate the contributions of either designer.

# Chernobyl 25th Anniversary Project « Ambientaria Records

For the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl Accident, Ambientaria Records has gathered many Dark Ambient artists, including famous ones like Northaunt or Atomtrakt, for a Compilation project.

The album will be released on April 1st, 2011. It will be sold at a low price.

All the benefits shall be reversed to a Chernobyl Children International, is a non-profit organisation with United Nations NGO status, in order to help people suffering from Radiation Poisoning.

Check this Facebook page for details.

# Zimoun : Sound Sculptures & Installations

This is Compilation Video V2.2 (updated January 2011) of sound sculptures and installations by Swiss artist Zimoun. I can watch this for hours.

Zimoun's sound sculptures and installations are graceful, mechanized works of playful poetry, their structural simplicity opens like an industrial bloom to reveal a complex and intricate series of relationships, an ongoing interplay between the «artificial» and the «organic».

He is interested in the artistic research of simple and elegant systems to generate and study complex behaviours in sound and motion. He creates sound pieces from basic components, often using multiples of the same prepared mechanical elements to examine the creation and degeneration of patterns.

More on Zimoun here.