Results for sound design

Rob Papen has announced that the availability of the limited-edition EDM and Urban synth bundles has been extended to the end of June, 2013.

These two special bundle packs were created with Urban and Electronic Dance Music producers in mind.

The EDM Synth Bundle and the Urban Synth Bundle each include three Rob Papen synths, saving you around 45% off the combined price, but don’t wait around as there are only limited amounts available worldwide.

Limited-edition bundles

• The EDM Synth Bundle SRP: € 199.00 / $239 / GBP 169.00
  Comprising Rob Papen’s Predator virtual synth, Punch drum machine, and Blade virtual additive synthesizer plug-ins, the EDM Synth Bundle is a highly-flexible electronic monster, offering masses of diverse sounds for electronic dance producers.
• The Urban Synth Bundle SRP: € 199.00 / $239 / GBP 169.00
  Ideal for producers of Dubstep, Drum ’n’ Bass, Garage, and Grime, the Rob Papen Urban Synth Bundle includes the SubBoomBass ultra deep bass synth, Punch drum machine, and Predator virtual synth plug-ins, and will also seamlessly fit into Hip Hop, Rap and R&B music creation workflows.

Users that already own one or more Rob Papen products can get an upgrade offer at an authorised dealer or directly from robpapen.com.

Note: these bundles also include Predator 1.6.4, the latest version with over 450 new presets.

Rob Papen has also announced that his The 4 Element Synth book/DVD set is now available at student pricing for everyone.

After all, anyone who wants to know what all those knobs and sliders on their favourite analogue synth actually do is a student of subtractive synthesis!

Remember that when Rob started to play his first synth at the end of the ’70s he had to learn the hard way… reading (and rereading) the Korg MS-20 manual from cover to cover. Had a well-written book about synthesis existed at that time then it would have helped Rob enormously in his quest for new sounds! Of course, the Korg MS-20 had no presets so Rob had to create sounds from scratch each and every time he wanted to play.

Over time that became easier, but you can benefit from all his blood, sweat, and tears. So sit back, relax, and enjoy this well-written book that’s as easy on the eye as it is to understand, together with more than 10 hours of entertaining and educational DVD material.

As well as watching additional online video content to supplement the book, other good news is that readers can download the demonstrative Predator presets used by Rob on the DVDs.

The book/dvd set is now available to purchase for 55 EUR / $69 USD (available in the US through Sweetwater).

More information: Rob Papen

The Sound Guy has announced the release of a 64-bit compatible version of SFX Machine Pro for Windows -the flexible multi-effects and sound design tool will now work with 64-bit VST host programs.

SFX Machine Pro™ lets you create your own effects from scratch.

SFX Machine Pro provides quick and easy access to hundreds of audio effects, from the conventional to the bizarre.

Streamlined for use in audio production environments, SFX Machine has been used for sound design for radio, TV, feature films, CDs and video games. In addition to providing a large collection of effects, all of which are easily modified, SFX Machine Pro lets you create your own effects from scratch and also serves as a “Swiss Army knife” of audio utilities.

SFX Machine Pro features

• A modular synthesis preset editor.
• Host tempo sync.
• MIDI automation.
• A Randomize function.
• Output limiter.
• Over 300 effects.

SFX Machine Pro (VST/AU) costs $99.95 USD. For a limited time, the Spectral Machine frequency-domain effects plug-in (32-bit) is included at no extra charge. The update to version 1.5 is $20 USD for existing SFX Machine Pro users.

More information: The Sound Guy / SFX Machine Pro

Prosoniq has updated the TimeFactory time stretching and pitch shifting application for Mac to version 2.5.

Prosoniq TimeFactory provides a multitude of professional time stretching and pitch shifting algorithms for sound design, rate (FPS) conversion, mastering and Karaoke applications.

Prosoniq TimeFactory 2 allows changing speed and pitch of your sound files or entire songs independently of each other over a wide range of stretch ratios. It takes time stretching and pitch shifting to the next level by giving you unique and unparalleled control over all aspects of your sound files.

Changes in TimeFactory v2.5

• Added capabilty to export multi-channel files as individual channels (keeping the original names).
• Added support for Sony WAVE64 and EBU MBWF/RF64 file formats.
• Updated Dirac algorithm to latest v3.6.2.
• Added Dirac’s transcribe mode.
• Better usage of screen real estate.
• Removed support for PPC machines.
• Many minor fixes and improvements.

TimeFactory for Mac is available to purchase for $499 USD.

More information: ProSoniq / TimeFactory

Bluezone Corporation has announced the release of Autobots – Transformers Sound Effects, a new sound library featuring 288 altered mechanical, hydraulic and electric sound effects for video game sound designers, music production and multimedia projects.

This cutting-edge collection of sound effects features an incredible array of world class robotic sound design elements, incorporating SFX as: footsteps, heavy / light impacts, movements and transforming elements, shutdowns and startups, textures, mutations, textured / robot war voices, single / complex weapons and more.

Produced by Bluezone Corporation, this powerful science fiction sound library has been created with an amount of high quality recordings including hydraulic movements, twisted servo-motor sounds, metallic impacts, mechanic factory material, destroyed vehicle sounds, train and aircraft electric systems and much more. All samples are treated, twisted and layered to give you ready-to-use elements.

The sample library costs 32.95 EUR.

More information: Bluezone / Autobots – Transformers Sound Effects

Arturia has announced the release of Hollywood Essentials, an expansion sound library for the Spark Creative Drum Machine.

Spark Hollywood Essentials brings an amazing library of film score tools to the Spark Engine. Designed by three of Hollywoods top sound designers, Larry Hopkins, Alan Howarth, and Mark Mangini, these sounds, kits and patterns will open up many new potential avenues for any genre of music.

Featuring a library of 30 kits with 480 instruments and 960 patterns that range from field recordings, to incredible sound scapes and percussion ensembles worthy of a major motion picture Hollywood block buster.

Sparks organic realtime workflow allows you to take advantage of this suite of sounds perfect for scoring a film and allows you to easily apply them to any genre of music production.

Spark Hollywood Essentials is available to purchase for $29 USD / 29 EUR. Requires Spark version 1.5 or greater (not compatible with “Spark Vintage”, “Spark Dubstep” or any other version of Spark dedicated to a specific musical genre).

More information: Arturia / Hollywood Essentials

Les Productions Zvon has released Sci-Fi and Aliens, the 5th Memory Collection series sample pack, featuring a collection of samples from public domain movies.

1 750 samples for a size of 1.44 GB. The samples in this collection are taken from 10 Public Domain science fiction movies. Please note that the samples are not mapped in any way or in any specific sampler format.

The samples are from 10 Public Domain science fiction movies from the 1930s to the 1970s. So they cover different styles of soundtracks. I was surprised by the quality of the soundtracks in general. They featured early electronic music with a creative mix of various types of sound sources. Just listening
to the samples is fun and it also is a lesson in the history and evolution of sound design in movies (IMHO).

The sample library is available as donationware with a minimum donation of $20 USD. A bundle of Memory Collection packs costs $50 USD.

More information: Les Productions Zvon / Memory Collection