Waves and Abbey Road Partnership

The iconic plug-in designers have joined forces with the legendary recording studio to offer the public a piece of the sound known round the world.  Waves Audio and Abbey Road Studios have just announced a long-term strategic partnership that will surely benefit every audio engineer on the hunt for that classic sound on a budget.  There's no details yet, but one can assume that the series will likely bear the name and model the gear (R.E.D.D. desk strips, TG desk strips, etc.) of the recording studio where they were originally developed as analog processes by EMI.

The partnership comes as a result of the companies first collaboration, The King's Microphones.  The plug-in was crafted to emulate the microphones used by the royal family in the 1920's, the microphones were also put back to work for the recent movie The Kings Speech. Since The King's Microphones series managed to make such a mark in the niche pro audio world it's no doubt the two have decided to extend their partnership to something much more long term.  Below you'll find a bit of chatter from the respective company representatives regarding the partnership.  Hopefully as the partnership becomes more of a reality more information will become available from both sides.  As always, thanks for reading and happy geeking!

Gilad Keren, Waves CEO: “Abbey Road Studios is without a doubt the most famous recording complex in the world. We are thrilled to be able to continue our collaboration with them on what is sure to be an outstanding series of audio plugins.”

Jonathan Smith, SVP at Abbey Road Studios: “Since the early 1990s, Waves has been developing ground-breaking plugins for the audio industry. We are very proud to be working closely with Waves in the creation of exciting new products based on Abbey Road Studios’ legendary equipment and expertise.”

All the best,

Nick

Free Ableton Live Clinic

If you live in the Los Angeles area you might want to think about heading over to West LA Music for their FREE Ableton Live Clinic next week.  This specific class is for advanced Ableton users looking to further expand their knowledge of the revolutinary software.  The class will be taught by certified Ableton Live trainer Taylor Martyr and will cover subjects including but not limited to; producing, live perfomance, controllerism, Ableton tips & tricks plus Max for Live.  The class takes place on Tuesday July 26th (next week) from 5PM to 7PM.  The clinic can be registered for online by following this link to West LA Music's Website.  Thanks for reading & happy geeking!

All the best,

Nick

Kenton MIDI USB Host

Kenton a manufacturer of MIDI equipment from the UK has recently introduced a device which will change the way musicians interface their MIDI equipment with the rest of their gear.  The MIDI USB Host from Kenton allows for the interfacing of standard 5-pin DIN MIDI connection devices with USB MIDI devices. For example; one could directly connect their USB MIDI keyboard to another 5-pin MIDI Device like an old Mackie Control or anything else that doesn't use MIDI thru USB. The MIDI USB Host features a USB Port and both MIDI In & MIDI Out sockets. The MIDI data that's received at the MIDI In port would be sent to the USB port for transfer to your DAW while the MIDI data that's received at the USB port will be sent to the MIDI Out socket. Kenton's MIDI USB Host also has the capabillity to send USB buss power through to your USB MIDI Devices that are connected to the unit. For more information on Kenton and the USB MIDI Host visit Kenton's Website. Thanks for reading & happy geeking!

All the best,

Nick

API Awards Finalists Announced



The votes are finally in and 85 of the top products, people & innovations in the audio induststry will battle it out to see who or what had the biggest impact in the audio world over the past year.  Submissions for the nominations came from all over the audio industry guaranteeing that each sector of the final field has an equal shot at winning the new and soon to be coveted Grand Prix award, which is the highest accolade available at the awards.  While the panel of judges comes from all walks of life within the audio field the Grand Prix Award winner will be picked exclusively by the Audio Pro International staff.  Audio Pro International and NAMM collectively are responsible for the awards, the winners will be announced at the PLASA Show 2011 in London. You'll find the list nominees just below after the "Read More" link. 

Madeon Mashup with Novation Launchpad

I first heard of Madeon after one of my partners at the EasyLove Music Blog featured some of his work in a post, I was Immediately taken back by what I can only call extremely enjoyable house music.  Madeon must take cues from fellow Frenchmen Daft Punk because their styles are remarkably similar. That is, Daft Punk & Madeon both seem to invoke similar emotions, for me at least.  Madeon has managed to add his own flair however and it is no doubt the key ingredient that has helped launch him into the spotlight.  He's currently the undisputed champion of young guns in the dance music world and the video that you're about to see below will only add to his credibility within this ever changing scene.  Madeon's Pop Culture mashup video already has over a million views on youtube and it's steadily climbing the hit ladder towards two million.  The video is a single shot of Madeon jamming out to 39 separate samples using his Novation Launchpad and Zero MkII to control and organize the madness.  The end result is a spectacular dance music mashup that must be seen and heard to be believed.  Enjoy! Thanks for reading & happy geeking!



All the best,

Nick

Harmonic Distortion Tutorial Video from Samplecraze

So... You've got the music skills. Do you have the sound skills? If you don't quite yet worry not my friend,  we've got harmonic distortion to help fill the sonic gaps in your productions. Have you ever wondered why there is so much talk about tubes & tape machines in audio? Well, aside from the fact that they're just plain cool they also impart certain sonic characteristics on source material known as harmonic distortion. This distortion occurs as overtones of the original sound wave's frequencies and you're about to learn a whole lot more about it!

Reason 6 Release Date Announced by Propellerhead

I'm not really a Reason guy but the software carries a lot of weight with some producers and it seems to be the first step for many people entering the DAW world. Taking this into account it seems a post here is especially necessary. Propellerhead has made some additions to the Reason platform that should help it to regain some footing in the production DAW market. A market which is rapidly being consumed by Propellerhead's formidable competitor known as Ableton.

Portico II Stereo Buss Processor

Get excited!  Rupert's legendary touch is again returning to the stereo bus.  Since, I'm sure most of you are already salivating I'll cut to the chase. The Portico II Stereo Buss Processor is the second and newest addition to the Rupert Neve Design's Portico II line, and as of right now it is still un-available for sale to the public.  With the unit arriving at dealers at the end of August the industry is already a buzz.  I figured I'd share the news with those who may not know about it yet while also catering to my new friends who have stumbled across my site in their quest for more info on the latest bit of stereo buss glory from Rupert Neve.

Spectral Layers Audio Software by Divide.Frame

Allow me to paint a picture for you... Imagine being able to locate, isolate, and extract nearly any track from any song that you have in digital format without the use of time consuming and tired tactics. Divide.Frame's latest software; Spectral Layers does precisely that.  With a degree of accuracy that's currently unavailable to the world of audio to boot. As of right now the glory that is Spectral Layers and the company behind it known as Divide.Frame is relatively unknown. The software is still in the alpha testing phase and not available to the public. Yet...