Loop Cache has released 8 Bit Beats, a sample collection geared towards 8 bit sounds.

A mix of old and new school sounds, 8 Bit Beats takes the machines and sounds of yesteryear and blends them into something altogether new.

8 Bit Beats features

• 700+ single hits (Kicks, Bass, Cyms, Claps, FX, etc) and over 500 Drum, Percussion & Synth loops in both Wav and Rex2 formats. (Over 1700 samples in total)
• Contains samples and loops created using sounds from the Gameboy, Elektron SID Station and a host of Retro 8 Bit emulators.
• All recorded at 24bit quality, normalised and edited for minimum hiss.

8 Bit Beats is available for $70 USD. A small demo pack with 22 wavs is available for download.

Visit Loop Cache for more information.

Native Instruments has released KONTAKT Retro Machines, a new KORE SoundPack featuring the sounds of the most legendary synthesizers and drum machines of the 70’s and 80’s.

The sounds of KONTAKT RETRO MACHINES are based on 11 vintage analog synths, 5 digital FM synthesizers and 6 classic drum machines - all the much-loved but now rare instruments that defined the early pioneering days of electronic music. At last, their warm vintage character is available for easy use with KORE 2 or the free KORE PLAYER at an unbeatable price.

KONTAKT Retro Machines features

• More than 135 KoreSounds based on samples from the KONTAKT 3 library.
• All sounds have been updated with Arpeggiator features, Guitar Rig effects, and Sound Variations (more than 1000 Sound Variations).
• Samples are based on 11 analog and 5 digital FM synthesizers, 6 vintage drum machines.

KONTAKT Retro Machines is available as a download for $59 USD / 49 EUR.

Visit Native Instruments for more information and audio demos.

Some interesting things I found on April 23rd, 2008:

# The Echo Nest - The Echo Nest Analyze API is a tool that can enrich your software’s understanding of musical recordings. It uses a perceptual model of human listening to generate detailed descriptions of a song’s structure and musical content.

Given any musical sound file, our analysis engine outputs global musical track information such as tempo, dominant pitches and timbre, key, time signature, energy, etc. It also segments the sound file into large sections (such as verse, chorus, bridge), beats, and smaller time slices. Each segment is described in terms of pitch, timbre, and loudness content. The engine then segments a musical track into small time slices, each representing a perceived “sound” (a note of a piano, a syllable of a vocal line, etc.).

Each segment is then described in pitch, timbre and loudness. This information can power performances, visualizations, and games with the ability to respond to a wide range of nuances in the music they use.

Anita Lillie wrote a program which maps a subset of the audio data onto a visual scale, and creates video playback of the song. (above = visualization of ‘Cross the Breeze by Sonic Youth).

Adam Glazier made a nice Flash based visualizer for your Echo Nest Analysis XML.

# Portishead - Third @ Last.fm - Portishead's latest album can be streamed free of charge.

# The Reality of Depending on True Fans - Robert Rich tempers Kevin's enthusiasm for 1000 True Fans with a cautionary realism borne from actually trying the idea. The summary of his experience is so pertinent and detailed that Kevin felt was worth posting in full.

# Celebration Of Vintage and Retro Design — ads, illustrations, book covers, pins and posters from 1920-1980s - The images weren’t necessarily created in the mid of 20th century. Vintage is living today which is why this post also features artists and designers who make use of the vintage and retro style in their works.

# BeatEd - a simple drum machine for S60 - BeatEd was originally developed in couple of nights to get a drum machine and metronome application for personal guitar playing purposes.

Precisionsound has released PS20 - Vintage Digital, a sample library for HALion Kontakt & SoundFont featuring the sounds of the Roland MKS-20.

In the -80ties the typical sound of a real acoustic piano and electric pianos was produced by the “Real thing” or the “Roland MKS-20”, those where the days long before multisampled multivelocity sound libraries like our Dusty Electric MK II or the “Pianoteq” physical modelling software.

The Roland MKS-20 was based on a technique called structured adaptive synthesis, an early form of physical modelling.

PS20 features

• All 8 MKS-20 presets sampled in full range from –A to C7 (Piano 1, Piano 2, Piano 3, E-Piano 1, E-Piano 1, Clavi, Harpsichord, Vibraphone).
• Up to 6 velocity layers and 4 samples in each velocity layers per octave.
• 1,200 24bit mono WAV files and 8 programs in NI Kontakt, HALion and SoundFont format (16bit).
• The SoundFont version is 100% compatible with Gigastudio, EXS24 and all virtual samplers supporting the SoundFont format on both MAC and PC.

PS20 - Vintage Digital is available for download for $49 USD (+$11 USD for optional CD-Rom).

Visit Precisionsound for more information and audio demos.