11/5/2006
The latest sample library from Bitword, Wavefront for Reason, is a massive, overwhelming ReFill.
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4/29/2006
Zero-G Analogue Sequencer Loops is a powerful new sound library by Ian Boddy, a synthesist that carries the torch for classic Berlin-school style electronic music.
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7/16/2005
Hal Leonard has introduced a line of TrackPaks, Apple Loops versions of classic songs. Each song includes full tracks for each instrument: bass, guitar, drums, keyboards and other instruments.
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3/25/2005
The ThinAmp is only two inches thick, and weighs just five pounds, yet it packs 10 Watts of power, 18 built-in DSP effects, a three-band EQ, and twin speakers.
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1/28/2005
This review takes a look at the BCF2000, a USB MIDI control surface with 8 motorized faders, eight rotary controllers and a complement of switches. At just over $200 street price, how good can the BCF2000 be?
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1/27/2005
This review takes a look at the BCR2000, a USB MIDI control surface 32 knobs, switches, and more lights than a Christmas tree.
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12/30/2004
Zero-G Sounds of the Seventies lets you incorporate the flavor of Seventies songs into your music, while avoiding the legal morass of sampling classic tracks.
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12/30/2004
Bixonic recently released the Bixonic Expandora EXP-2000R, a reissue of the earlier EXP-2000.
The Expandora is like having eight distortion pedals combined into one.
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12/27/2004
The Edirol PCR1 is an interesting new addition to the world of USB MIDI controllers. The PCR1 is optimized for mobile computing, so it's very lightweight, and features a supermodel-thin profile.
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12/26/2004
Drum Spirit is an interesting collection of traditional African drum loops, percussive vocal hits and loops, and vocal phrases.
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9/11/2004
Exclusive review!
The Roland SP-606 sampling workstation packs a tremendous amount of power into a small package. It's a full-featured sampling workstation; it is a USB audio/midi interface; and its a capable hardware controller.
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8/19/2004
Exclusive! Synthtopia reviews Mackie Spike, a digital recording solution that combines a high-quality USB-based audio/MIDI interface with software for sequencing and mixing.
Mackie claims that Spike takes the pain out of recording music on your computer. We test how well their system lives up to that claim.
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7/11/2004
Sounds of Polynesia, Melanesia and Australia, a sample-based virtual instrument from Zero-G, combines great sounds with a state-of-the-art sample engine to bring the sounds of the South Pacific to your computer
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7/6/2004
FabFilter One is a new virtual synth for the PC that offers basic monosynth functionality, but does it exceptionally well.
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6/24/2004
Web exclusive! The first in-depth review of Kinetic, a new groove-oriented music application from Cakewalk! Kinetic is a PC audio/MIDI application that is designed to make it easy and fast to create, arrange and perform with grooves.
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4/15/2004
Future Retro calls this analog beast the 777, but be warned! It should have been called the Future Retro 666, because its combination of sinful sounds and tempting knobs is highly addictive. The 777 seems innocent enough, but you may find yourself wide awake at three in the morning, tweaking the perfect bassline in a cold sweat!
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3/11/2004
The Korg Electribe ER-1 is an analog modeling drum synthesizer that combines great sounds, fantastic flexibility and hands-on control. Like other Electribes, the ER-1 is covered with knobs and buttons, making it easy to program rhythms and fun to tweak.
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1/29/2004
The microKontrol, from Korg, is one of a new breed of control keyboards designed for mobile electronic musicians. It combines many of the most commonly used controls from a variety of studio devices, including panners, faders, keyboard and pads, into a portable device. The flexibility of the microKontrol makes it a great controller to consider if you are interested in laptop music.
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1/26/2004
Mbox is a 2-channel USB audio that gives you high-quality sound input and outputs in a small, portable package. It works with Pro Tools-based software, including Apple iLife Garageband, and makes it easy to bring audio into your computer.
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1/24/2004
The Evolution UC-33e is an affordable USB hardware controller designed to be used with any computer music or MIDI setup. It gives instant access to up to 47 different parameters. It has 33 memory locations, so changing its setup is fast and easy.
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1/21/2004
This 16 pad USB MIDI controller is an inexpensive way to add a ton of flexibility to a computer music system.
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1/20/2004
Kurzweil has earned a reputation for producing some of the most capable and best-sounding keyboard workstations. Their K2500 and K2600 lines have become workhorses for professionals worldwide. Now, Kurzweil has announced the latest in its line of ultimate synth workstations, the Kurzweil K2661.
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1/16/2004
As more and more people make music using laptop and desktop computers, they realize that using a mouse to make changes is a pain. As soon as you try and change several soft synth parameters, or make a mix, you find that using a mouse is slow, cumbersome, and stands in the way of you and your music
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1/13/2004
The latest version of iLife includes a new piece of software, GarageBand, that turns your Mac into an easy-to-use recording studio, capable of making top-quality music. GarageBand is not a replacement for a full-fledged audio/midi sequencer. However, it raises the bar for entry-level software to an amazing standard.
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1/13/2004
Roland released the TR-909 in 1983. Analog machines were beginning to be replaced by digital drum machines that featured more realistic-sounding samples. Roland responded with the 909, a machine that has the best of both sampled and analog sounds.
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12/20/2003
In the late seventies and early eighties, Roland seemed specialize in electronic music instruments that were under appreciated while they were in production, but became quickly became classics. The TR-808 Drum Machine is one.
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11/27/2003
Classic electronica from the 70's and 80's often featured the unique swooshing sound of analog phasers. The phased sounds found on Jean Michel Jarre's Equinoxe album were the inspiration for Oakley Sounds' fantastic Equinoxe phaser.
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11/27/2003
One of the most important musical instruments in recent music hitory, the Roland TB-303 was a failure at its intended purpose.
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11/25/2003
The Encore Electronics Universal Event Generator is an excellent module. The build quality seems to be very solid, and the design has only minor problems. It has dozens of uses within a modular system, and it's a pleasure to use.
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11/22/2003
The EA-1 is an analog modelling synthesizer that's designed for electronica. It is a two voice synth that lets you create and store patterns of up to 64 steps. But how does it compare to real analog synths?
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11/22/2003
The MOTM-101 is multipurpose module for the Synthesis Technology MOTM system. It functions as a flexible noise generator, and it also has a powerful sample and hold section.
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