Results for processing

MaximalSound has announced the launch of its online premastering service.

Now, most listening no longer passes thru the CD medium, and the file exchange is taking an increasing share. Many musicians and self-productions want to present their tracks in good conditions at the early stage of the demo without having to apologize for the poor perceived quality compared to commercial productions.

This service is dedicated to musicians and self-productions which have neither the desire nor the time to learn to adjust the “threshold of hysteresis in the compressor section of the multi-band processor”. The aggressive pricing allows to finalize a 3 minutes title for only 5 €.

MaximalSound proposes a quality “ready to wear” solution, and purchasing only occurs after try. Cherry on the top, the job is usually available in less than one hour. MaximalSound.com does no traditional mastering -indexing, editing, cleaning or fade in/out- but premastering which is only sound enhancement.

MaximalSound premastering service

• State-of-the-art processing
• Free sample for approval before purchase
• Aggressive pricing policy based on the size of the processed files
• The job is generally available in less than an hour

More information: MaximalSound

Grame, Centre National de Creation Musicale, has announced the release of Faust (Functional Audio Stream) 0.9.10, a functional programming language specifically designed for real-time signal processing and synthesis.

This version introduces several new possibilities. It is the first official release to offer full parallelization of the C++ code to exploit multicore architectures, as well as automatic generation of mathematical documentation.

New in Faust v0.9.10

• Several new options have been added to control how the C++ code is generated, in particular:
  • control of the floating point precision : single (default), double, quad
  • code re-organization in simple loops to facilitate automatic vectorization
  • automatic parallelization based on OpenMP
  • automatic parallelization based on a specific “Work-Stealing” algorithm
• Using formal methods the Faust compiler can automatically produce a complete mathematical documentation of a Faust program.
• Language Extensions
  • Sequential composition operator (A:B) has been restricted to expressions so that outputs(A) = inputs(B). This restriction has several advantages. It improves error detection, makes the code easier to understand and provides nicer and simpler formal semantic ( A:B is B o A)
  • User interface labels can now contain metadata. For example the label “volume[unit:dB][tooltip:control the output volume of the reverb]” contains two metadata, a unit definition and a tooltip message than can be exploited by an architecture file to fine tune the user interface.
  • User interface labels can contain absolute and relative pathnames to better control the hierarchical structure of the user interface. For example the label “../volume” points to place the widget one group higher in the hierarchy.
• Several new audio architectures have been included, in particular Action Script, CoreAudio, CSOUND, Chuck, Pure, SND-RT, for a total of about 20 different plateforms now supported: Action Script, Alsa, ChucK, CoreAudio, CSOUND, Jack, LADSPA, Matlab, MaxMSP, Octave, OSS, PortAudio, Pure, PureData, Q, Sndfile, Snd-RT, SuperCollider, SynthFile, VST, VSTi (mono)

More information: Faust / Faust @ Sourceforge

Some interesting things I found recently:

# bassdll – An arduino piezo buzzer sound engine by Drew Crawford.

Source code available at github

# Charting the Beatles – Exploration of Beatles music through infographics.

Charting the Beatles – Authorship and Collaboration

Michael Deal writes:

These visualizations are part of an extensive study of the music of the Beatles. Many of the diagrams and charts are based on secondary sources, including but not limited to sales statistics, biographies, recording sesion notes, sheet music, and raw audio readings.

# MISA digital guitar

The MISA digital guitar is a minimalistic looking MIDI controller.

# Teenage Engineering’s OP-1 Instrument: Hands-on, Videos, Why it’s Different

Teenage Engineering OP-1, portable synthesizer and controller

Peter Kirn spent some hands-on time with the current prototype of the OP-1 and had a talk with the developers of Teenage Engineering.

# mtXcontrol

mtXcontrol by Tobias Bielohlawek is an editor written in Processing to easily create image sequences for several output devices containing multicolor LED matrix.

mtXcontrol Editor auto detects and connects to your device. Once connected, you can draw points, lines & rows in different colors, create multiple frames and manipulate them. Add, delete, move, fill, copy & paste of frames is supported. Play all frames by different speed, realtime update the device and save your work as image file. If supported (e.g. Rainbowduino), update the sequence on your device and run it standalone. One special feature is typing letters and numbers. Future versions aim to support multiple devices, different color depth and many more.

Solid State Logic has announced X-Patch, a versatile software controlled analogue routing system.

X-Patch is designed to deliver the flexibility of plug-in style routing to boutique analogue processing. Developed from technology at the heart of SSL’s acclaimed Matrix console, X-Patch provides a 16×16 SuperAnalogue™ routing matrix that can be Ethernet controlled remotely from a standard computer. SSL’s Logictivity™ Remote Studio Browser application provides Set-up, Configuration and Preset Storage and makes the X-Patch the perfect tool to incorporate analogue processing into any production studio environment. X-Patch can function as a simple ‘X-Y Router’ or as a ‘Matrix’ to create complex processing chains. This allows for analogue processing to be built into favorite processing chains and then easily placed into signal paths, for example, favorite Mic Pre, EQ and Dynamics processors recalled as the perfect vocal chain at a single stroke. In a studio environment, X-Patch speeds up workflow and aids creativity by reducing the constant physical re-patching required when using only a patch bay for routing. Up to six X-Patch units can be controlled in parallel from a single instance of the X-Patch Logictivity Browser software.

X-Patch is also a powerful stage or studio live performance tool for guitarists. Once configured, X-Patch can operate independently of the Studio Browser application and host computer and has MIDI connections. Connection of a standard MIDI Foot Controller to X-Patch creates a versatile stand alone analogue routing/switching system for on-stage boutique instrument processing, or amplifier selection at a fraction of the cost of comparable professional on stage effects selection systems.

X-Patch features

• Inserts analogue processors into production workflow like plug-ins
• Suited to studio production and live performance applications
• Insert ‘chains’ can be created, saved and recalled
• Browser software controls routing and set up
• Ethernet connection to Mac or PC host computer
• 16 x 16 pure analogue routing matrix
• Rear panel audio connection via 4 x 25 way D-Sub’s
• Front Panel XLR inputs and outputs for channels 1 and 2
• SSL SuperAnalogue™ transparent audio performance
• MIDI connectivity enables use of Programmable Foot controllers
• +4dB and -10dB operating levels facilitate use of guitar pedals etc

X-Patch will be available Spring 2010, priced at $1,199 USD + VAT.

More information: SSL / X-Patch

Mathew Lane has released version 3.0 of DrMS, a spatial processor plug-in for Windows and Mac.

DrMS is now a true native VST/AU/RTAS plugin for OSX and Windows that no longer requires the Pluggo Runtime shell. V3 is compatible with all major DAWs supporting VST, AudioUnit or RTAS, including the latest versions of Cubase, Nuendo, Logic, Live and ProTools, both on Mac and PC.

It also includes numerous improvements and new features over version 2, such as the newly implemented mastering grade filters, the addition of the Feedback circuit for reverb creation and special effects, the improved GUI with value displays and the inclusion of example preset settings.

DrMS v3.0 features

• Native VST/AU/RTAS plugin for OSX & Windows, supports all major DAWs.
• MS encoding & decoding.
• Spatial audio processing: Zoom in, add Depth, change Width.
• New mastering grade filters.
• Resonant HPF, LPF and Delay on each of the four processing sections.
• New Feedback circuit for reverb creation and special effects.
• Full mono compatibility.
• Autogain circuit for easy level matched A/B comparision.
• Improved GUI with value displays.
• Smart MCU control surface layout.
• Wide range of applications for mixing, mastering and post production, going from simple MS encoding/decoding, over stereo field and depth enhancement, to fixing mono compatibility issues and more.
• Presets developed by Dylan ‘3D’ Dresdow (Black Eyed Peas, Michael Jackson, Usher) and Emre Ramazanoglu (Shakira, Alexander McQueen, Lou Rhodes).
• Easy installation and authorization with choice of using iLok or Challenge/Response.

DrMS v3.0 is available to purchase for 99 EUR ex. VAT. Current DrMS users can upgrade to DrMS v3.0 for 25 EUR ex. VAT until the end of 2009.

More information: Mathew Lane

When I first visited the Driven Machine Drums website I thought I had found another one of those silly marketing schemes. You know those sites that promise loads of “fresh” content for cheap, meaning to say they’ll send you a disc with stuff that is old and readily available to download from the internet, free of cost…

Just reading the first few paragraphs on the website immediately triggered my scam alert.

Have you purchased hundreds; even thousands of drum sounds… only finding a handful of gems among the clutter? Are you often irritated when sifting through countless sounds, devastating your creative flow? Do you fight with samples to make them tight, slamming, and club ready… only later to be disappointed in the results? Have you fantasized about the multi-million dollar deal or winning the lottery so you can stack your studio with all the esoteric highend gear? Does your music command you have the latest kit, to gain the advantage and stand apart from the masses?

If you answered “YES!” to any of these questions, then you are in the right place and the right time.

The website even mentions a 30-day no questions asked refund, and then there’s the odd “only 997 copies will ever be available” thing.

The whole thing looked pretty dodgy to me, but my gut feeling was wrong.

The guy behind ToneBuilder and Driven Machine Drums is Nathaniel Shreve, an electronic musician who is passionate about his work. He wanted to make sure to share some interesting things about how the library came to be, and why he feels Driven Machine Drums is different from other drum sample libraries.

Now whether or not you enjoy Nathaniel’s style of writing, the bottom line is: this product is legit and well worth checking out.

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