Producerino

Looking for something cheaper than a real TR-808? Behringer just announced the second version of their RD-8, the Rhythm Designer RD-8 MKII. According to them this is the most authentic Roland TR-808 clone ever, as they claim that they’ve managed a faithful reproduction of the classic 662 OTA chip.

Besides 16 drum sounds, a 64-step sequencer, wave designer and dual-mode filter you now have sequencer modes made to make live usage easier, like step repeat, note repeat, real-time triggering and live step-overdubbing.

Check out the video below or read more at Behringer.com

The Monome Grid turns 15 and Monome celebrates that with releasing a new edition of the 16×8 button grid USB midi controller. This beauty predates controllers like Ableton Push and Native Instruments’ Maschine and while being… well, basic, that’s what made it get a community built around it.

We’ve redesigned the grid, again. but this time almost everything is new, even though we added nothing.

The completely re-worked-but-still-the-same keypad is produced by a Massachusetts keyboard company, Monome says that while the size is the same the feel of the buttons is slightly snappier yet easier to press and have better detection mechanics. The aluminum enclosure has been optimized and it’s now connected using USB-C. There’s no new bells & whistles added, keeping the protocol the same.

In short, grid doesn’t do much on its own. It’s inherently modeless, adapting to the immediate needs of the artist through a host application. Through one, it might do traditional MIDI controller things. Through another, it might facilitate + visualize realtime buffer manipulation. The host determines grid’s usefulness in a specific context.

The “New and the same” Grid edition is available for pre-order now with the first batch of three already sold out, so if you’re out to get one you might just have to hurry up. They’re available for $550 bucks.

Monome: The Grid ($550)

Deskew Technologies just released Gig Performer 4.0, a CPU-friendly host for VST effects, instruments and plug-ins for live performances and musicians. The new update includes new features including enhanced visuals and MIDI features.

Gig Performer lets you set up a Global Rackspace that keeps the VST plugins loaded and ready to go for all your tracks (say, a virtual amp setup), and then you can set specific rackspaces for specific tracks when needed.

As for MIDI there’s a midi player that can store up to 128 songs, and you can select the tempo to be either globally set or tapped. New in 4.0 is also real-time midi data display, adjustable velocity cuves and an Elektron-style probabilistic sound designer engine that can apply randomization of selected parameters of any plugin.

Gig Performer 4.0 is available for Mac and PC for $199.

Read more @ GigPerformer.com

The Apogee Duet 3 is a 2×4 USB-C audio interface claiming zero-latency recording when used together with the Symphony ECS Channel Strip plug-in with fx (sold separately, $49). The channel strip offers presets from Bob Clearmountain to to get you going as well. The exterior of the interface got an aluminum chassi with a top covered in scratch resistant glass and a backlit main knob.

As for connectors you get two 1/4″ instrument inputs, two mic/line inputs (featuring 65dB of gain and 48v phantom power) and two line-level analog outputs for speakers plus a 1/8″ headphone output.

Oh, and there’s a stylish little dock available for the Duet interface as well, for easier portability if you often find yourself on the go.

Apogee: Duet 3 Audio Interface ($599)

Looking for new earbuds? Here’s Beats Studio Buds, priced at $149 they’re way lower than AirPod Pros ($249) and offers active noise cancellation (ANC) as well as transparency mode (similar to the AirPod Pros but can also be found in say, Galaxy Buds+) where it helps you stay aware of your surroundings by using the external-facing mics. Thinking the latter feature might come in handy whenever biking through traffic or going on an evening run.

Even though Apple owns Beats they’re boasting both native Apple and Android support (including Google’s Find my Device feature), support for Apple Music’s new spatial sound, IPX4 classed water resistance, 8 hours of listening time and two extra charges using the case as well as three colors (white, red and black).

PCMag got a pretty comprehensive review of the Studio Buds right here.

Read more @ beatsbydre.com: studio buds ($149.99)

Here’s a pretty sweet deal if you own a pair of PreSonus studio monitors (or if you’re thinking of buying a pair). No matter if it’s the Eris, R-series or the Sceptre monitors they’re currently giving away their Studio Magic software suite with ’em. That’s over $1,000 worth of music software including Studio One Prime, Ableton Live Lite, plugins (both synths and effects), tutorials as well as loops and samples.

Worth mentioning are Arturia Analog Lab Intro, the Brainworx bx_opto compressor, Cherry Audio Surrealistic MG-1 Plus Synthesizer, Cherry Audio Voltage Nucleus, iZotope Neutron Elements, KV331 Audio Synthmaster Player, Mäag Audio EQ2 and Melodics.

If you bought your monitors after March 1st PreSonus says they’ll backdate the offer so you don’t miss out.

PreSonus: Read more about Studio Magic

Another sweet freebie from Sample Science: Rusty Piano, a free lo-fi acoustic piano plugin (64-bit VST/AU).

Rusty Piano is a lo-fi acoustic piano with a lot of character and charm. Recorded hot on purpose, Rusty Piano has a very saturated and thick sound. It’s the perfect piano sound for “rougher” music genres like indie rock, lo-fi hip-hop, free jazz, rock’n’roll, etc.

So you get a nice lo-fi, one-sample-per-note, multi-sampled acoustic piano tweakable with multi-LFO, hi/lowpass filters, reverb, amplitude range controls and the ability to switch between polyphonic/monophonic and legato all for the nice price of nothing.

Download Rusty Piano from Sample Science ($0)

Here’s Arturia MicroLab, a small and portable MIDI 25-key controller targeted to anyone looking for something with either a small footprint or just being able to bring your controller wherever you go.

Besides the 25 velocity sensitive keys it got smart features like a small dent around the rubberised casing where you can safely store the usb cable when not in use, chord mode and touch strips for pitch bend and modulation.

Read more about the MicroLab at Arturia.com ($89)

Envision Sound has started a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to make Strata a reality. They call this controller a control system more than just another MIDI controller since it has two parts: the MIDI controller (with plenty of pads and knobs) and the nativeKONTROL scripting which handles the midi data between the controller and Ableton Live.

Envision Sound asserts that Strata’s unique approach improves the fluidity and possibilities of music creation and performance in ways otherwise not currently available.

The Kickstarter campaign is set to start at October 1st.

Read more on envision-sound.tech

Plogue – makers of the incredible Chipsounds plug – announced a new synth plug, the Chipsynth MD. It’s a 16 bit four operator polyphonic FM synth that’ll bring back the sounds of the classic Sega Mega Drive / Genesis as it emulates the classic OPN2 (YM2612) with a SN76489 compatible square wave core.

‘The Mega Drive™ – also known as Genesis™ – is a much beloved console system that brought the bright and sparkly sound of FM to the masses. It resulted in the creation of numerous fast paced and exciting soundtracks, and it still drives the creativity of composers to this day.

Since Plogue promises this thing to be bit accurate it also comes with a complimentary VGM file player so you can load up those classic Sonic tunes and see how exact it is yourself (and maybe rip some classic presets out… who knows).

Read more about the Chipsynth MD on Plogue.com