Results for NAMM

Some interesting things I found recently:

# NAMM Oddities 2010

Barry is back with the NAMM Oddities of 2010:

My NAMM experience went really quite smoothly this year. I didn't have to deal with any injuries or camera failures.

The show was a little smaller than last year, which was most apparent in my favorite haunt, Hall E. There were some open areas where there weren't any booths set up at all. That being said, there was no shortage of invention and innovation at the show. Because of that, I think the great unsung heroes of the Oddities need their own motto: "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor global economic collapse stays the mad genius from the swift creation of strange musical devices."

# Use the WiiMote as a musical instrument

Winko Erades van den Berg on making music using a computer and a Wiimote:

An article that appeared on the Create Digital Music website, about making music using the WiiMote and a computer, drew my attention. Several hints were given on the how to, but as always in doing new things the information was scattered everywhere and nowhere.

After reading many articles and watching many videos I found out how to realize a working setup for myself. In this article I’ll try to explain the steps needed to create a working setup for yourself.

# Mellodrama: The Mellotron Movie

Mellodrama, a documentary by Dianna Dilworth, explores the rising and falling fortunes of the Mellotron – the first musical keyboard to "sample" the sounds of other instruments – from its birth in a California garage in the 1950s, through its dominance on concert stages in the 1970s, through its almost religious cult of followers in the 2000s. From the Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever" to Black Sabbath to Kanye West, Mellodrama is a 50-year odyssey of musical invention, revolution, betrayal, and rediscovery.

Includes 8-page booklet with essay by Mike Pinder of the Moody Blues, Mellotron and Chamberlin production timelines, and more.

# Drum machine shootout

Plughugger has a comprehensive review of Audio Damage Tattoo, Audiorealism ADM and Sonic Charge Microtonic.

This review compares three software drum machines and how they stand against each other. Three audioguns, twenty one sonic bullets. Two swedes and one american. Drum roll, please…

While there are a whole bunch of drum synthesizers on the market and many of them are very competent – my selection ended up with Audio Damage Tattoo, Audiorealism ADM and Sonic Charge Microtonic. My primary criteria was that they should be available for both PC and Mac – and they should be able to create more than one type of overall sound. I chose not to include any of the drum machines from the polish developer D16, as each and every drum machine is locked to a specific model and besides – I don’t own licenses for any of them.
Waldorf Attack is a classic that I seriously considered to include, but decided against as it doesn’t contain a sequencer. Also, three products against each other is clear as a german sausage soup. But the Waldorf Attack is a fantastic drum synthesizer, especially for creating weird electronic percussion noises.

I love Microtonic (and the D16 drum machines), but I think it’s inevitable I’ll end up getting Tattoo at some point.

The 2010 NAMM Show saw the fifth anniversary of British microphone brand Sontronics, who marked the event with the release of five new products as well as plenty of positive news.

Despite the difficult economic climate, it sounds like it´s been a great year for Sontronics and the company continues to grow with the release of five new products: SATURN multi-pattern condenser, STC-10 pencil condenser, STC-20 large-diaphragm condenser, STC-2X omni/cardioid condenser and the STC-PAD/PHASE inline switch. Like all of Sontronics microphones, they have been designed from the ground up in the UK, by Sontronics founder, designer and MD Trevor Coley.

“SATURN is the big news,” begins Coley, “and it certainly turned plenty of heads at the NAMM Show. It is of course inspired by the classic vocal mics of the 1940s and 50s, and while it was originally designed for vocals, it actually gives brilliant results on anything you put it in front of! With five switchable polar patterns plus dual pad and filters, it´s our most flexible mic to date. It´s been beta-tested over the last year by various artists, producers and educators including Flood and Alan Moulder, and everyone says it´s an incredible all-rounder.”

The other new mics are inspired by two of Sontronics best-sellers: “While our STC-1 pencil condenser and STC-2 large-diaphragm condenser continue to be as popular as ever we realised we needed to create something for the most affordable end of the market. Our new STC-10 and STC-20 both give users what they need; a price they can afford combined with the first-class sound reproduction and top quality build associated with all Sontronics products.”

“At the same time, I also wanted to push the boundaries of STC-2 so we´ve created STC-2X featuring cardioid AND omnidirectional polar patterns plus a two-stage pad and two-stage filter, all at an incredible price point.”

As well as the new microphones, Sontronics also released a new accessory, the ST-PAD/PHASE. “We know that some people using our ribbon mics have needed some kind of attenuation control when miking very loud sound sources, especially if they don´t have the feature on a desk or audio interface. So we´ve launched the ST-PAD/PHASE inline switch with two -10dB attenuation/pad switches (giving a sum of -20dB) plus a 180° phase invert control, useful for dual-miking snare drums.”

To celebrate the 5th anniversary, anyone in the UK or Ireland purchasing a new Sontronics microphone^* from an authorized dealer between 14^th January and the end of February will be able to claim a free STC-80 Dynamic Mic worth £79 RRP.

More information: Sontronics

^* Promotion includes the following microphones; STC-1, STC-1S, STC-2, STC-6, Orpheus, Helios, Omega, Sigma, Delta, Apollo, prices start at £110. It does not include the STC-80 and is subject to terms and conditions.

Jomox has announced the M.Brane11, an analog membrane modeling percussion synthesizer.

Two analog T-bridge oscillators become electronic membranes. Why? Because they can be coupled. And because their dampening can be controlled.

Then add a little noise, add a little envelope, and the brand new electronic percussion synthesizer of Jomox is ready.

But because this would have just been too simple, everything is storeable again and controllable by Midi. You can use this small box either in a live setup driven by a hardware sequencer or in a production as very versatile synth in order to create incredible analog electronic percussions.

M.Brane11 specifications

• Instrument: Percussion Synthesizer
• Membrane Oscillators: 2 T-OSC, each of tune and dampening adjustable, both couplings in either direction adjustable
• Presets: 110 (10 User RAM, 100 FLASH)
• Sound Engine: Fully analog with storeable parameters
• Envelopes: 2 analog envelopes for membranes and noise that are controlled by one parameter (decay)
• Noise: White Noise, Metal Noise with 65535 different noise pattern combinations
• Gate: Trigger gate time 0.5ms-10ms, up to 4-times multi trigger possible
• LFO: 8 wave forms: Saw +/-, Sine +/-, Tri +/-, Rect +/-, modulates the pitch of one or both the T-OSC, starts always syncronous to the note trigger and is pitch envelope at the same time
• Display: LED 7 segment 3 digits
• Midi: Midi In, Midi Out
• User Interface: 1 data wheel, 1 potentiometer, 5 buttons, 16 LEDs for parameters and functions
• Outputs: 1 mono out 1/4″ RCA jack
• Output Level: About 0dBu
• Input: External analog trigger input, sensivity adjustable
• Power Supply: External wall wart adapter 9V DC
• Weight: Ca. 0.5 kg, 1.1 lbs.
• Size: 145×155x35mm

The M.Brane11 will be presented at the NAMM Show 2010 in Anaheim, and will be available for purchase in March/April 2010.

More information: Jomox

Audiobro has released version 1.1 of LA Scoring Strings, a sample library for Kontakt which brings a whole new level of expressiveness, realism and real-time playability to sampled strings.

All patches now have full access to all user controllable scripts via tabs on front panel. You no longer have to into edit mode (click on the monkey wrench) to access them.

The Tuning of all the ensemble patches and the First Chair the legato patches have been improved. Various minor bug fixes and sample fixes.

Changes in LA Scoring Strings

• Delay and Humanization
  • The Delay and Humanization script is now accessible from the front panel of the patch.
  • It’s now possible to delay continuous controllers (Ccs).
  • CC controlable On/Off.
  • A CC Routing section has been added to route the most used CC’s in LASS (1, 7, 11, 83) to any CC of your choice.
• A.R.T.
  • A rhythm sequencer length of up to 32 steps.
  • A beat display that can be set to 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 beats to help you create rhythms with ease.
  • The ‘Slam” feature on all short articulation patches.
  • The Seq Len knob now shrinks and grows the table to better represent the sequence length.
• Tuning Tool
  • The Tuning Tool script is now accessible from the front panel of the patch.
• CC Table
  • The CC Table script is now accessible from the front panel of the patch.
  • There are now 10 user presets for you own dynamic layer and volume curves.
  • The default curve will never be lost.
  • There is a knob that will allow you to choose from different curves (Fig 5).
  • There is a smoothing knob that will even out any jagged table artifacts if you draw them in that way by accident.

LA Scoring Strings for Kontakt is available to purchase at a promotional price of $999 USD + shipping, starting on 14 January through 25 January, 2010, almost 30% off the MSRP of $1399 USD.

More information: Audiobro / LA Scoring Strings

McDSP has announced it will show some new and upgraded products at the 2010 Winter NAMM Show, including the all-new 6030 Ultimate Compressor.

McDSP has turned up the notch of dynamic range processing once again. Building on the entire award winning McDSP compression algorithm code base, the 6030 Ultimate Compressor adds new sonic capabilities, stunning new user interfaces and a collection of new designs mixed with unique twists on vintage emulations. The 6030 Ultimate Compressor will be available in May of 2010 (pricing TBD). The 6030 Ultimate Compressor will also be added to the Emerald Pack bundle, available to Emerald Pack 4 customers as an upgrade (pricing TBD).

McDSP will also show AU versions of some of its product line and updated Classic Pack plug-ins (including Analog Channel, CompressorBank, FilterBank and MC2000) at the 2010 Winter NAMM Show.

McDSP plans to ship new updated versions of its entire product line by May of 2010 with TDM, RTAS and AU support.

More information: McDSP

JDK Audio has introduced the R22 Compressor, a dual channel compressor featuring two channels of API’s patented award winning compressor circuit in a rack mount unit with internal power supply.

JDK Audio, the new brand developed and engineered by legendary analog innovator API, announces the fourth product in its line of robust signal processing equipment.

The R22 is a two-channel, rack-mount compressor with linkable stereo operation that uses true RMS power summing, a patented Thrust circuit for chest-hitting low-end, and easy to use, refreshingly musical control of all parameters.

JDK Audio will formally introduce the R22 compressor at the 2010 Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim, California at API Booth #6411. Visitors will have the opportunity to listen to multitrack material through the new R22 and other JDK gear at the JDK listening station.

JDK Audio R22 Dual Channel Compressor

R22 Compressor features

• Patented THRUST circuit.
• Variable Threshold, Ratio, and Make-up Gain controls.
• Switchable metering of output level and gain reduction.
• Above threshold LED indication.
• Switchable Hard or Soft Knee compression.
• Linkable for stereo operation with true RMS power summing.

The R22 Compressor has an MSRP of $1,195 USD.

More information: JDK Audio / R22