E-Mu

Free Music Software: alert: E-Mu is giving away the free Proteus VX for Windows, along with the v2 Proteus X Composer Bank:

As we release and launch E-MU’s next generation Emulator X3 Streaming Sampling Synthesizer software, E-MU celebrates and is pleased to announce that we will be providing the full version of our Proteus VX Software Sound Module software which includes the enhanced v2.0.1 Proteus X Composer Bank. (a special E-MU tweaked version of the Composer bank) that can be used in all versions of our Proteus X or Emulator X software.

Proteus VX is not copy protected or card locked like other versions of our instrument and sampling software, and can be used either as a VSTi or in stand alone mode.

Note: It’s a free download, but you have to subscribe to the E-Mu newsletter.

Digital Sound Factory has released E-MU Modular SoundFont, a soundfont recreation of the sounds of the E-mu Modular.

Description:

Famous for its remarkable stability, E-MU’s Modular System was sturdier and would stay in tune much longer than the synthesizers offered by Moog and ARP at the time. The E-MU Modular featured the world’s first microprocessor-controlled polyphonic keyboard and sequencer (control voltage, of course, as this was years before MIDI), which was also one of E-MU’s first patents.

The E-MU Modular SoundFont weighs 64 MB and includes 141 instruments. It is available for purchase now for $59.95 USD.

The E-mu Emulator II was E-mu’s second sampler, released in 1984. Like the Emulator I, it was an 8-bit sampler, however it had superior fidelity, and allowed more flexibility in editing sounds.

It was priced similarly to the Emulator I, at US $7,995 for a regular model, and $9,995 for a “plus” model featuring extra sample memory. Several upgrades, including extra disk drives and a 20 MB hard drive, were available as well.

Notable users include: Depeche Mode, Enya, badass keytar player Herbie Hancock, Jean Michel Jarre, Orbital, Paul n-n-nine-nine-nineteen Hardcastle, Tangerine Dream & Ferris Bueler.

If you’ve used the Emu Emulator II, leave a comment with your thoughts!

Specifications:

• 8 voice polyphony
• Sampler – 27kHz; 8-bits; 512 KB to 1 MB storage
• 8 parts (8 midi channels) multitimbral
• 8 sequencer tracks
• 61 keys w/ velocity & aftertouch sensitive keyboard
• 24 dB/oct 4-pole lowpass filter with resonance

Resources:

• Wikipedia entry for the Emu Emulator II
• Emu Emulator II at VintageSynth
• The Emulator Archive
• Video of the Emu Emulator II via JMPSynth

E-MU has announced that the full version of the Proteus VX Software Sound Module software is now available as a free download.  The download (registration requried) includes the enhanced v2.0.1 Proteus X Composer Bank (a special E-MU tweaked version of the Composer bank) that can be used in all versions of the Proteus X or Emulator X software.

Proteus VX is not copy-protected or card-locked like other versions of E-MU’s instrument and sampling software, and can be used either as a VSTi or in stand alone mode on Windows (Proteus VX will install and function for most users on Windows Vista but is only officially tested and supported for Windows XP).

Proteus VX was previously only available as part of the “E-MU Production Tools Software Bundle” which is included with various E-MU hardware products.

E-MU Systems has announced the Emulator X3 Streaming Sampling Synthesizer, which offers both 32-bit and native 64-bit applications, multi-processor and multi-threading support. In addition, the E-MU hardware lock has been removed so that E-MU hardware is no longer required as a dongle.

Emulator X3 features E-MU’s Xstream streaming sound engine with up to 192kHz sampling and playback and an arsenal of automated sampling/beat analysis/editing tools. Emulator X3 will ship in late March 2008 at an estimated street price of £349.99/ €499.99 (including VAT). US estimated street price is $499.99.

Emulator X3 ships with:

• 32-bit Emulator X3 Application (Windows® XP/Vista)
• 64-bit Emulator X3 Application (Windows® x64/Vista)

New Features:

Xstream

New improved and Vista compatible Xstream 24-bit/129kHz Streaming Engine-32-bit and native 64-bit applications optimized for Multi-core and Multi-threaded processors. Xstream intelligently balances the processing load across all available resources for exceptional performance.

Region Xplode Beat Slicer

This great new feature translates recorded drum parts into MIDI files. The Xplode function generates new voices from the selected Region, then creates a MIDI file that maps the new regions to MIDI notes. Just import the Standard MIDI File into your favorite MIDI sequencer and have authentic drum grooves under your control.

Tempo Map Export

TwistaLoop can now analyze and export the Tempo Map of a song. This indispensable tool allows you to synchronize a rhythm track to a performance that was recorded without a metronome. You sequencer will “groove” with you instead of marching to its own beat.

Xtractor

The Xtractor is a new audio manipulation tool that can cut or boost audio levels based on stereo position and frequency. If a song was mixed using stereo panning, this tool allows specific instruments or vocals to be removed, isolated, or pitch shifted. You can remove or isolate vocals, basses, or other instruments, process them and then return them to the mix if you like. The Xtractor is also a powerful analysis tool, since it visually displays the location of each instrument in a stereo mix.

Translator Convertor

The Translator Emulator X Convertor, by Chicken Systems, enables you to convert many popular sampler formats into the Emulator X’s .exb file format. The bundled Translator Emulator X Convertor application can convert the following types of files:

• Akai S-1000/3000
• Akai MPC
• Emu EIII/ESi/Emax
• Tascam GigaStudio 1 + 2
• SoundFont
• Native Instruments Kontakt 1 + 2
• Steinberg HALion I and I

Over 3.3 GB of sounds (over 2500 Presets) from E-MU’s premier sound library are included:

• X Producer …………… Four classic Emulator banks: Proteus X Composer, Hip Hop Producer, E-MU General MIDI, Saint Thomas Strings
•  Studio Grand …………… A stunning 1.4 GB grand piano bank
•  Beat Shop 1 …………… Contains nine great drum kits with beats and grooves
• Xperience …………… Examples of TwistaLoop, morphing filters and more
• Xtreme Lead-1 …………… An inspiring Techno/Industrial with clock-synchronization
• LoopMasters …………… Top quality, copyright-free samples from the masters of loops