Archives for June 2018

Do you love 80's music? Let's be honest – who doesn't? And, if you do, you know that the core of much of the music of that great decade was in the hard-hitting drum synths, largely brought to us by Roland. Well, decades later, Roland is releasing a great throwback coupled with the most modern drum technology. Its TR-8S takes all of the sounds of the 80's – the 808, 909, 707, and 606, and rolls them all into a tight, modern package.

Key Takeaways:

• Who doesn't love the sound of the 80's, with its synth heavy beats and melodies?
• Most of those sounds were driven by Roland drum machines, which formed the backbone of countless 80's beats.
• Now, Roland has taken the legacy of those machines and rolled them into one brand new product, the TR-8S.

“Just drop a WAV or AIFF onto an SD card and within a few seconds, it's ready to be dropped into a sequence.”

Read more: https://www.engadget.com/2018/03/05/rolands-tr-8s-hands-on/

With music production growing deeply into the digital era and applications and software becoming such a crucial component, it is clear that the smartphone would become a core factor in all of it. For those operating on the iOS platform or owning an iPhone, there are various accessories and add-ons that you can buy for the musician to give them an unforgettable experience when making their music, and providing the best quality possible to their listeners.

Key Takeaways:

• iOS devices don't come with memory card slots, but you can get around that and increase your device's storage capacity by buying a memory plug-in stick.
• Leef iBridge 3 has affordable memory sticks for iOS, but they do require a proprietary app to utilize them.
• For a portable, all-round MIDI input device, that also works with Mac and PC, besides allowing you to play onscreen MIDI keys, you need IRig MIDI Keys.

“Your iOS device has the ability to record digital audio – but its own microphone won’t do as good a job as a dedicated add-on model.”

Read more: https://ask.audio/articles/5-essential-ios-accessories-for-musicians-for-under-100

Music producers these days have an array of advantages in front of them, most prominently due to the fact that digital software and the technological era have taken full effect and disrupted a wide array of industries. One of the most important for producers today is the various sounds and acoustics they can get via plugins, and many companies are taking this trend. Retrox's Drum Rompler allows for an array of drum sounds suited for any producer.

Key Takeaways:

• The drums rompler called, Retrox Drums, is made with maize sampler and it features a set if retro drum noises.
• The old-style drum sound was capturd from the BOSS DR-110 Dr. Rythm drum machine.
• The featured noise can not be substituted by external options, which makes Retrox a drum rompler, as opposed to a sampler.

“BeatMaker has released Retrox Drums, a freeware drum rompler virtual instrument in VST, VST3, and AU plugin formats for compatible digital audio workstations on PC and Mac.”

Read more: https://bedroomproducersblog.com/2018/03/06/retrox-drums-vst/

When it comes to music production in the digital era, most of those who are already in the industry understand the importance of mastering the tracks with various technological software. Softube recently announced their latest innovation for managing various plugins, and allowing producers to master their music seamlessly. The integration allows music production to be done far more effectively, while giving producers a wide range of abilities for when they are in the final mastering stage.

Key Takeaways:

• Soundonsound.com reveals that the long-appreciated by engineers, compressor/limiter/desser, by Softube, is now a plug-in release.
• Weiss DS-1 MK3, now re-launched by Softube as a plug-in, has been lauded in its original format, for being “transparent.” “refined” and “flexible,” by Bob Katz.
• Softube has also revamped its incorporated with purchase, 'everything you need bundle,' which now includes a Fix Phaser.

“Officially licensed and endorsed by Daniel Weiss, the DS1-MK3 plug-in is a line-by-line code port of the original digital hardware and processes at resolutions up to 32-bit/192kHz.”

Read more: https://www.soundonsound.com/news/softube-reveal-mastering-plug-ins-and-cubase-console-1-integration