Results for field recording

Sonic Fiction is Jeremiah Savage’s second sound library for Native Instruments’ Kore and Kore Player.

Similar to Acoustic Refractions, in Sonic Fiction Jeremiah takes sampled material and shapes it into completely new and playable instruments with the help of the advanced synthesis and sound processing capabilities of Absynth, Kontakt and Kore.

Expanding on sound design paradigms established with Jeremiah Savage’s previous ACOUSTIC REFRACTIONS collection, the sounds in SONIC FICTION are inspired by imaginative Science Fiction scenarios and concepts.

Jeremiah’s passion for the philosophical hypotheses in the best of sci-fi literature and film translates into 100 evocative, otherworldly and yet always highly-playable instruments, with 800 individual sound variations.

I am not too big on science fiction but I do enjoy sci-fi sounds and since I enjoyed Jeremiah’s Acoustic Refractions much I had high expectations for Sonic Fiction.

The introduction video on the Native Instruments website shows the ways Jeremiah created the sounds of Sonic Fiction; turning non-musical objects into flexible instruments.

Sonic Fiction uses Kontakt, Absynth and Kore FX engines for processing the sampled sources. You get a total of 100 Kore presets, with the usual 8 variations per preset for a total of 800 sounds.

I went through these presets and picked a few personal favorites to show you.

Note: The 5 star rating doesn’t mean anything more than a way for me to remember which ones I wanted to play in the video, so don’t think I disliked the other ones.

So what do I think?

Sonic Fiction is exactly what I hoped for; another collection of unique and well designed sounds. Although the sounds in Sonic Fiction are all sci-fi inspired, they are more versatile than you would think. Many sound variations offer radically different sounds. Soundscapes, massive percussive hits, pads, bells, glitchy effects, and lots more.

I find Sonic Fiction one of the most inspiring SoundPacks to date. I truly liked every single sound in the pack. You can find some great musical audio demos on the Sonic Fiction product page. Although Sonic Fiction will probably appeal mostly to those who are into sound design, the audio demos demonstrate that these sounds can be used in any all kinds of electronic music.

More information: Native Instruments / Sonic Fiction

Detunized has released DTS012 – Forststrasse 8, a new sound pack for Ableton Live featuring found sounds from the attic.

An old house somewhere in the German countryside with an attic full of sound objects like pots, pans, lids, chairs, wardrobes, bicycle frames, basins, bathtubs and shaky windows.

The recordings made there served as the foundation for the creation of a nice selection of long and evolving textures and drones that cover the borderline between tonal and atonal soundscapes.

Every sample was carefully handcrafted by passing several processing stages. The release includes them as chromatically mapped instrument rack and as live clips.

DTS012 – Forststrasse 8 features

• Format: Ableton Live Pack.
• Instruments: 1 + 62 Clips.
• Keyrange: C1 to C#6.
• No. of Samples: 62, 7 to 59 seconds long.
• Disk space needed: approx. 408 MB.
• Installation instruction included.

DTS012 – Forststrasse 8 is available to puchase now, priced at 4.98 EUR for Detunized subscribers, or 6.78 EUR as an instant download.

More information: Detunized

Microhammer has released the February 2010 Release Bundle, a collection of 10 new instruments for Kontakt.

Microhammer is launching a series of new products around 15th of every month. All monthly releases will be followed by a bundle containing all the products at a highly favorable rate, so you can get it all. The bundle is only valid until our next release, so grab it while you can. We are proud to announce our second launch bundle, which consists of all the Microhammer February titles.

February 2010 Release Bundle includes

• Berimbau, a single-string percussion instrument, a musical bow, from Brazil.
• Spirit Flute, originally an instrument played by Native Americans. It has been used in countless New Age and World Music recordings and is known for its distinctive and at times – almost haunting sound.
• Train Flute, hand-carved by skilled craftsmen who adhere to the ways of a simpler time, only the finest and richest tone-producing secret blend of woods were used in this instrument.
• Slide Flute, the classic slide-whistle or slide-flute is a common staple of comedic and children’s music. The signature rise and fall is used both musically, as well as in old-school sound design and foley to signify objects rising or falling in space.
• Kokiriko, a traditional Japanese percussion instrument. The instrument sounds like a long set of domino pieces clashing together and has a distinct clicky/clacky type of sound.
• Smiley Drum, a 10-tongue major pentatonic variant of the classic propane drum concept, with a shallower, wider pan than most.
• Clay Drum, this giant clay vase was chosen specifically for it’s unique sound and tonal resonance. Producing a wide variety of sounds, this clay drum is a both a percussive and melodic instrument.
• Sand Drum, the unique surf-like sound is produced by a medium-sized enclosed drum about 1 1/4″ thick and filled with dozens of tiny silver metal beads.
• Road Trip Vol. 1, little tidbits, oddities, improvisations and random gems found at various pit stops on a desert trip.
• Windchimes, made from a selection of different wind chimes, however sampled in detail so the user can control the amount of chimeniness and use them as percussive instruments.
• Format(s): Kontakt 3, SFZ and .wav
• Note: Native Instruments Kontakt 3 / 4 full retail versions required.
• Note: Free Kontakt Player will only work for 30 minutes with this product. Full version required to remove this restriction.

The February 2010 Release Bundle is available to purchase for the introductory price of $109 USD until 15 March, 2010 (regular price $172 USD). Instruments are also available to purchase separately, starting at $9 USD.

More information: Microhammer / February 2010 Release Bundle

Some interesting things I found recently:

# JAZARI (YouTube)

One human, three machines, rhythm.

# Beatseqr

Beatseqr is an arduino mega based computer interface by Steve Cooley.

It is aimed at electronic musicians and visualists. By itself, it connects to a desktop app that runs on mac or windows and can send out OSC messages to arbitrary network ports. However, combine beatseqr with a tightly integrated sequencer like Dajis Systems' Steppa (included in the price) and you have a powerful interface to create a MIDI loop which you can use to control sounds from pretty much any music software that accepts incoming midi data.

We've tested it out with Logic, Live, Reason, Quartz Composer, Max/MSP, PureData, and Processing. It works great!

# Bliptronome v2 w/ ADCs complete! – Bliptronic to Monome Conversion (YouTube)

The final working version of the Bliptronic 5000 hacked into a low cost Monome clone, with Bliptronome V2 firmware.

More info at Stray Technologies

# Pressure Controller "Hubert"

Hubert is small but powerful device to use with your modular synthesizer.

On each hand side there is one force sensing resistor turning applied pressure into a steady CV output. Each channel has three outputs: CV Out, Inverted CV Out and Gate out. Each side is capable of holding the current voltage on CV Out, whereas the inverted CV appears on Inverted CV Out. If a CV is held in the CV Out you still can use the inverted out, even switching from positive to negative voltage as often as you want without disturbing the held CV output. In addition each of the two channels fires a gate signal every time pressure is applied to the pressure pad. The CV can go from 0V to +/- 8V and can be controlled in sensitivity.

# TAPETRONIC demo video 2009 (YouTube)

# Reaktor Modular Sequencing, Pt. 2

John Fisher writes:

Well, looks like my weekend project has been working on my modular sequencing application for Reaktor.

I’ve detailed what this is all about in my previous blog. I’ve updated the sequencer and added some detailed comments on all the GUI elements to help people get up to speed with using it.

Haunted House Records has released Ambient Worlds 3: Another World, a collection of processed and mangled field recordings.

Alien rainscapes, lunar textures, inter-planetary vortexes, solar winds, Neptune thunderclouds and nightmares of the Gods in the latest – and darkest – instalment in Haunted House’s Ambient Worlds series.

Stephen Haunts’ label is as niche as you get: putting out a select number of releases each year that are eagerly lapped up by foley, game, cinema, soundtrack and dance producers.

In Another World, Stephen takes a journey to the dark side of the imagination, serving up 62 all-new evolving stereo soundscapes that can be used alone or mixed together for a near-infinite palette of sounds.

Source material in Another World includes field recordings of nature, which are then synthesised, downgraded and remodelled into other-worldy sounds.

Another World is the final part of the Ambient World collection.

Ambient Worlds 3: Another World features

• All sounds supplied in 24bit 44Khz Wav files.
• 62 High quality processed field recordings.
• Over 800meg of 24bit samples.

Ambient Worlds 3: Another World is available to purchase as a digital download from Sounds/To/Sample, priced at £19.99 GBP.

More information: Haunted House Records / Ambient Worlds 3: Another World

TASCAM has announced three new digital recorders at the Winter NAMM show.

New TASCAM Portable Digital Recorders

DR-2d Portable Digital Recorder with Dual Recording

It offers up to 96kHz/24-bit audio resolution, capturing WAV or MP3 files to SD Card media. The new stereo condenser microphone design has a 74dB signal to noise ratio for dynamic recordings. The Dual Recording feature prevents overload by recording a second track at lower level, ensuring that recordings won’t be ruined by distortion.

Like the rest of TASCAM’s best-selling portable recorders, the DR-2d offers Variable Speed Audition to slow down music without changing the pitch. A metronome and digital effects are also included, as well as an Overdub feature for sound-on-sound recording. The DR-2d is ideal for songwriters, performers, or home studio musicians who want their music to sound its best.

DR-08 Compact Portable Digital Recorder

It captures audiophile-quality 96kHz/24-bit WAV files – or web-friendly MP3 files – to robust MicroSD media. The built-in microphones have a unique mechanism to change the width and angle of the elements, allowing you to tailor the pattern for the perfect recording. There’s even a built-in kickstand for placing the recorder right where you want it. A pair of AAA batteries allows you to record for hours to the included 2GB card, then transfer the recording to your computer using high-speed USB 2.0.

Like the top-selling DR-07, the DR-08 has features like auto level control and a low cut filter for clear recordings. Add your own microphone or line-level source using the 1/8″ stereo input. The DR-08 has loop and variable speed on playback, allowing you to slow down speed without changing the pitch to learn new music. Noise canceling and EQ functions improve playback timbre, and the sleek design makes the DR-08 TASCAM’s most portable recorder yet.

DR-680 8-track Portable Digital Recorder

Up to eight tracks can be recorded to solid-state SD card media at 96kHz/24-bit Broadcast WAV quality. Six mic inputs provide phantom power and 60dB of gain for great-sounding recordings with condenser microphones. Record the six microphones along with a digital S/PDIF source for 8 track recording.

Inputs can be monitored using a built-in mixer with level and pan controls for each input. The stereo mixdown can even be recorded along with the six mics for quick stereo playback of the event. There’s even a built-in speaker to check recordings without headphones.

In addition to WAV recording up to 96kHz, the DR-680 captures stereo audio at 192kHz/24-bit for audiophile-quality masters. The DR-680 records up to four channels of MP3 audio for web-ready recordings. Two of the recorders can be connected with a cascade cable for up to 16-track recording on battery power. Multi-channel portable recording has never been as simple or affordable as the DR-680 from TASCAM.

More information: TASCAM