Friday, June 15, 2012
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Propellerheads Releases Reason 6.5, First Wave of Extensions in the Works
Propellerheads have released the hotly-anticipated version 6.5 of their music production software Reason. Many Reason users had complained in the past about the program's lack of expandability, namely being stuck with the software's somewhat lackluster built-in effects. All that has changed with the introduction of "Rack Extensions" in version 6.5, Rack Extensions are, quite simply, a Reason-specific plug-in format that will allow both Propellerheads and third party developers to build new effects to add to your Reason rack.
Developers are hard at work at adapting existing plug-ins to Reason format and developing entirely new Extensions. Indeed, there are already quite a few available through the Propellerhead Shop:
• Propellerheads LGM-1 Pulsar Dual LFO
Free until October 1st! Two LFOs that allow you to modulate your sounds in Reason with more flexibility than before.
• Softube Saturation Knob
Free until August 14th! Simple saturation effect for fattening up drums, bass, etc.
• FXPansion Etch Red
Takes the filter technology developed for DCAM SynthSquad and brings it into the Reason environment. $49.
• iZotope Ozone Maximizer
The highly regarded maximizer section from iZotope's Ozone mastering plug-in. $79.
• Sonic Charge Bitspeek
Sonic Charge brings the sound of the infamous Speak n' Spell to Reason. $49.
• Audio Damage Rough Rider
Audio Damage's excellent extreme compression plug-in in Reason format. $29.
• Propellerheads Radical Piano
3 samples pianos with simple sound-shaping tools to tweak the sound to your taste. $99.
• PEFF Buffre Beat Repeater
Realtime audio scrubbing effect that brings Ableton-style Beat Repeat effects to Reason for all the glitchy goodness you need. $49.
• Propellerheads Polar
Old-school style harmonizer and pitch-shifter. $69.
• Synapse Audio RM-1 Ring Modulator
Virtual analog style ring modulator effect. $79.
• Sugar Bytes Slice Arranger
Slices whatever audio you feed it into slices and re-arranges them for broken beat type effects. $29.
• Studio Effects FET Compressor
Modelled solid-state type compression effects. 20% off until August. $119.
• Studio Effects TSAR-1 Reverb
Detailed, modern reverb effect. 25% off until August 14th. $149
• Studio Effects TSAR-1R Reverb
Algorithmic style reverb effect. 35% off until August. $49.
• Sugar Bytes Filter Pattern
Animated filter effect for cool, rhythmic effects. $29.
• Synapse Audio CD-2 Dual Chorus
Two-stage, stereo chorus effect. $39.
• Softube Trident A-Range
Models a channel from the extremely rare Trident A-Range consoles. 20% off until August 14th. $119.
• Sugar Bytes Pitch Delay
Combines pitch-shifting, delay, and filtering. $29.
• Synapse Audio AF-4 Analog Filter
Analog style lowpass filter. $49.
• Audio Realism ABL2 Bassline Synth
Audio Realism's fantastic model of the infamous Roland TB-303. $59.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Free Analogue Collections Mini Sample Pack from BPB
GO GET THEM!
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Crass Plug of the Day...
Just a brief note to say that my new Assemblage 23 album "Bruise" is now officially released worldwide. If you like what you hear, you can order the CD here. The album is also available digitally through the usual suspects.
Catching up...
• Bias, Inc. Closing
Bias, Inc., mainly known for their well-loved Mac audio editor Peak, made an abrupt announcement at the end of last week that they were ceasing operations immediately. The BIAS Authorization Manager Server is functioning "at this time", take that as you will. Create Digital Music did a nice round-up of some of the alternatives that remain for Mac users in need of a good audio editor...
• The Sound of Ridley Scott's Prometheus
Here's a nice profile on the sound of Ridley Scott's Alien prequel done by the good folks at Soundworks Collection. Thanks to Synthtopia for posting this!
SoundWorks Collection: The Sound of Prometheus from Michael Coleman on Vimeo.
• Apple to Stay Pro for Now?
Last week came the news that software developers Redmatica had been purchased by Apple. Given how in-depth Redmatica's editors and utilities for EXS-24 are, it seemed to be an indication that Apple was not going to go the Final Cut X mistake of dumbing down a flagship product for the consumer market. They, yesterday, Apple announced specs for a new Macbook Pro, which includes the serious spec of quad-core 3.2 gHz processor, am ultra hi-res Retina Display, an SD card reader, USB 3 ports, Thunderbolt ports, and upgrades available for pretty huge amounts of RAM and hard-drive space. Of course, Apple is a difficult company to predict, but at least for now, it seems, professional users are still valued by Apple.
• Sugar Bytes Releases Cyclop Synth
Although it seems aimed at the dubstep market, Sugar Byte's new softsynth for Mac and Windows, called Cyclop, looks to have some innovative features that should draw the approval of any synth head, including the very interesting effects sequencer.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Friday, June 8, 2012
Free Sample Friday: Alchemy Snares Vol. 04
GO GET THEM!
Get Volume 01
Get Volume 02
Get Volume 03
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
An Interesting Way to (Maybe) Monetize Your Music
So, next week, my latest album "Bruise" will be released. These days, it's an inevitability that, provided you've got a following of some sort, your music will be uploaded to YouTube by fans. Speaking with my friend Paul the other day, he mentioned that he had uploaded a video related to his interest in motorcycles some time ago and it ended up getting over 200,000 hits. YouTube contacted him offering the possibility of monetizing his video clip via ads. He had already made over a hundred bucks this way, simply for allowing some overlay ads. He suggested this might be something worth looking into for my album, since fans would upload it eventually anyway. So, I decided to do so and uploaded the entire album to YouTube. Obviously, I still have to pass the threshold of views to be eligible for monetization, but I think this will be quite an interesting experiment and a good possible option to raise some beer money for musicians who have a decent following.
What I can tell you so far is that the reaction from my fans has been overwhelmingly positive, and has really boosted my pre-orders. Whether this experiment results in any revenue from plays remains to be seen, but with the changing landscape of the music industry, professional musicians need to find new options for generating income.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
