January, 2008 archive

NAMM demo vet James Bernard was showing off the latest Cortex dj gear when a man came up and started freestyling the Cortex rap.
If you can identify the rapper - let me know in the comments!

Tony Monaco is one of the most impressive grooving musicians you’ll ever have a chance to see. He represents Hammond each year at NAMM, and this year was no exception.
Monaco was demonstrating the range of sound he could get by using the combination of a laptop to generate beats, pedals for bass, and the two […]

PreSonus Audio Electronics has announced the Monitor Station desktop studio control center will be shipping this month.
The Monitor Station is the ultimate desktop monitoring and communications system for your recording studio. Based on the award-winning Central Station, the Monitor Station provides talkback, speaker switching, input source switching and four headphone amplifiers.
You can listen to your […]

Grandmaster Flash shares his take on the state of DJ science at the Native Instruments booth at the 2008 Winter NAMM Show.
Flash was fighting some flaky gear that NI hadn’t troubleshooted very well, but it was still great to see him in action.

Submersible Music has announced two new drum libraries featuring the grunge rock sound of Matt Cameron (Pearl Jam, Soundgarden) and the R&B grooves of Jonathan “Sugarfoot” Moffett (Michael Jackson, Madonna).
The new CameronPack I and SugarfootPack I DrummerPacks are designed for DrumCore and the free DrumCore LT DrummerPack player. The DrummerPacks feature drum loops (plus fills […]

The VCM-100 is a compact USB MIDI & audio system, designed with Vestax’s mechatronics technology developed in the past 30 years. Despite its compact size, the VCM-100 comes with 4in4out(Stereo x 2 in/out)connection, headphone output and high quality mechanical parts placed in the control section.
Having every feature fitted in to a solid metal body smaller […]

NAMM Show Update: EASTWEST expanded upon its Quantum Leap Colossus collection by introducing Quantum Leap Goliath.
Designed for composers and songwriters, Quantum Leap Goliath is a complete collection of quality instruments and sounds, spanning various genres and musical styles).
Quantum Leap Goliath encompasses the entire Colossus collection plus 8 Gigabytes of new content. With Goliath, users have […]

Winter NAMM Show: Digidesign announced updates Hybrid, its high-definition synthesizer, and Strike, its virtual drummer plug-in.
Hybrid Version 1.5 offers a number of important new features, as well as a vast increase in the program’s already wide sonic palette. Boasting an entirely new VCF (Voltage Controlled Filter) vintage filter, this plug-in update makes it easier than […]

NAMM Show Update: CME introduced the ASX, a DSP board which goes into the expansion slot of UF and VX series keyboards and provides a flexible synthesis engine, turning the CME MIDI controller keyboard into a stand-alone synthesizer.
Yep - it’s a $369 synth on a card.
The ASX offers sufficient DSP power to run dedicated synth […]

NAMM Show Update: Tapco introduced a new loudspeaker sub, the TAPCO THUMP TH-18s Active Subwoofer.
Housed in a rugged, ported bass-reflex enclosure and featuring an 500-watt Class-D amplifier design, the TH-18s provides amazingly accurate low-end response—from 35Hz-125Hz. The high-current switching power supply means it’s ready for worldwide use, and it’s lightweight, so musicians won’t break their […]

Winter NAMM Show Update: TASCAM announced a couple of serious rack-mount Compact Flash recorders, the SS-R1 and SS-CDR1.
Designed for applications that previously used a cassette or MiniDisc recorder, the SS-R1 records in .wav or .MP3 formats. The SS-CDR1 adds a slot-loading CD recorder for additional recording and audio transfer functions. Each recorder includes balanced and […]

NAMM Update: SoundToys announced that it is planning full VST support for both Mac and PC for the SoundToys Native Effects bundle and the native-capable plug-ins of the SoundToys TDM Effects bundle.
Full VST support for OS X and Windows XP/Vista platforms is expected to ship in late spring of 2008, marking the first time SoundToys […]

Soundware and software distributor ILIO has announced a interesting program with hard drive maker Glyph Technologies to offer hard disk pre-installed with virtual instruments.
ILIO’s G-TIP (Glyph–Turnkey Installation Program) packages will include virtual instrument software from Vienna Symphonic Library and Synthogy pre-installed on Glyph hard drives. Purchasers of these packages may register their software with the […]

This is sort of stupidtacular - Roland has introduced the C-30 Digital Harpsichord. It’s also a sign that the technology is getting cheap and good enough to be irrelevant for a lot of types of instruments, so packaging starts making more of a difference.
Description:
Roland’s “click action” F-scale keyboard provides an authentic harpsichord feel, while two […]

NAMM Show Update: Stanton DJ announced the SC System, the company’s new set of digital controllers for the professional DJ.
This was one of the nicer pieces of DJ gear introduced at the Winter NAMM Show.
The Stanton SC System is comprised of the SCS.1d deck and the SCS.1m mixer; both advanced control surfaces that preserve the […]