We recently tested out Sugarbytes’ Guitarist VST Instrument and this is what we found.

PROS:
Can sound very realistic
Great songwriting tool
Useful wah pedal
Nice GUI

CONS:
Not always realistic
Lack of solo mode to enable playing of individual notes

OVERVIEW:
Looking to create guitar tracks without spending the time and effort to learn guitar? SugarByte’s Guitarist might be worth a look. Available for Win/Mac as standalone, VST, AU, or PPC plugin, Guitarist is advertised as a total guitar solution.

What IS Guitarist exactly? It’s a rhythmic guitar track generator that combines guitar sounds, an amp module and three effects modules with a series of step sequencers and a special effects section. Patterns (and entire songs) can be recorded and played back. For live use, the built in keyboard can be made to trigger sequences or change the current chord a sequence is playing.
It’s worth noting here that the keyboard which allows access to chords and patterns doesn’t provide any easy way to play single notes. So if you just want to play a melody (and disengage the sequencer) you’re out of luck. But for quickly generating rhythmic grooves and progressions, fortunately there’s a lot Guitarist has to offer.

DETAILS:
Guitarist contains 4 guitar types, 2 amp models (+direct), and three effects modules run in a fixed configuration. Effects include modulation,dynamic effects,reverb, delay, reverse and a 3-mode wah pedal. To build progressions and grooves, a chord sequencer is run through a pattern step sequencer (and also an animation sequencer for extra variation). Entire songs can be constructed by chaining patterns together in the song sequencer.
The keyboard can be used to play 24 user defined chords, with some of the keys acting as triggers for the patterns. Pressing a chord key will override the chord sequencer, and play that chord instead through the selected pattern. Another handy feature for playing live is the Action Section, which allows you to alter the groove with real time effects such as looper, timestretch, force slow, dead or damped notes.

Although the GUI is very nice, the interface isn’t completely intuitive and reading the manual is a good idea. Once you’ve mastered the basic layout though, its easy to get grooves going quickly, even ones that you didn’t anticipate. There are many presets (of guitar sounds, patterns and chord progressions) included which serve as a great starting point. Because each global preset can be modified by individually selecting chord bank presets, pattern presets, and sound presets, it’s very easy to undertake an unanticipated musical journey and lose track of time in a good way.

The overall sound of Guitarist ranges from realistic to non realistic depending on the combination of pattern, sound and tempo. There are many situations where it does well, and some where it doesn’t. On the average, it can quickly generate guitar tracks that are more than passable (sometimes with some tweaking). A bit more selection would have been nice, but the 4 included guitar sounds are quite usable. And while the amps and effects can’t compete with dedicated guitar effect plugins, they’re certainly not bad as integrated effects go. In particular the wah pedal sounds very good, and when used in combination with the ability to damp or stop the strings from the modulation wheel, can really add some life to your riff.

CONCLUSION:
Guitarist is a worthy rhythmic guitar track generator/player that can at times sound very realistic. Its inspiring and fun to play- the kind of tool you can sit down with and quickly develop ideas you wouldn’t have thought of otherwise. This makes it perfect for songwriting. Its a little disappointing that there isn’t a solo mode to enable users to play individual notes needed for lead guitar parts, because having both rhythm and lead guitar modes would have been very useful. Thankfully though, what it does do, Guitarist does quite well and if used properly can add a dimension to your music that might have been missing.

Related posts:

1. Auto-Tune Vocal Effects Made Easy
2. TechnoBox: Finally a Useable iPhone App for Making Music

Image Line’s newest VST instrument has just been released which is basically a subtractive synth powered by an addititive synth engine. I’m already intrigued. To make things even better they are offering a special deal until the end of the year…Pay only what you think it is worth plus a few bucks to cover the fees and stuff. So go get the demo and they pick up this unique synth for a great price.

From the Press Release:

Image Line Software, the developer of FL Studio (formerly FruityLoops) has released its newest VSTi named Harmless. With a unique twist, Harmless is a subtractive synthesizer powered by an additive synthesis engine. Harmless has no tabs or hidden controls, with all features clearly visible in helpful color-coded groups. Over 100 parameters, most automatable, are available on the clear one-page GUI making Harmless perfect for live performance and sound-design experimentation.

The subtractive-additive synthesis process allows the user to create sounds that are either too complicated or impossible to program using traditional subtractive synthesis techniques. In particular, filters and phasers can be assigned unusual shapes/slopes and can even be defined in Hz resolution.
“Harmless gains control of each partial’s frequency, opening a world of new possibilities for creating innovative sounds. It is a ground-breaking subtractive-additive synthesizer that sounds amazing, has a huge repertoire and invites experimentation, as you are about to discover”, says Didier Dambrin, Chief Software Architect at Image Line Software.

With the release of Harmless, Image Line Software also announces an unique pricing system for the synthesizer. Until the end of 2009 customers are asked to pay only what they think is a fair price for Harmless. The minimum, to cover the transaction fees and handling has been set at 9 USD, but after that, it’s entirely up to customers what they are ready to pay based on the demo and their willingness to support future development.

Harmless Key features:
Single page color-coded GUI for immediate gratification.
Efficient CPU usage & multithreading.
Harmonic mask function.
Specialized pluck filter.
Unique phaser & harmonizer

Main control categories:
Timbre – The oscillator or sound generation controls.
Unison – Voice thickening & stereoizing effect.
Phaser – Creates totally unique phasing and partial based effects, only possible with Harmless.
LFO – Modulation source for adding motion and evolution to sounds.
Effects – Chorus, Delay, Reverb & Compression.

System requirements:
2Ghz AMD or Intel Pentium 3 compatible CPU with full SSE1 support
512 Mb RAM
130 Mb disk space
Windows XP/Vista/7

A demo version of Harmless could be downloaded from Image Line Software Download Section.

Related posts:

1. Sugarbytes Guitarist VSTi Review
2. FL Studio 10 Just Released

KVR’s Developer Challenge for 2009 is winding down and voting is currently underway so go vote.

There are 42 entries: 40 of these are available for Windows, 6 for Mac OS X and just 1 for Linux. 39 are in the VST plug-in format, 1 is an AU plug-in and 3 are stand-alone applications. Go check out the free downloads and donate to the prize fund for the winners.

Continue for a complete list of entries

For reference, the entries:

* amphetamine by easytoolz (by NEK-X)
* Anawave (by Lithium)
* Antopya (by L-Day)
* Armchair Guitarist (by Minouris)
* Barberpole Tuner (by Christian Budde)
* Black Ops (by gpunk)
* dimensional vector spider (by afdarhus)
* Drum Synze (by Longsoft)
* dschlon_nzElektrik (by Michael Benjamin)
* Eigenmode (by eigentone)
* EQUINOX (by IIRs)
* Explor3r (by thelowerrhythm)
* FerricTDS (by bootsie)
* FMMF (by de la Mancha)
* Harsh Digital Nose (by insertpizhere)
* HybridReverb2 (by c.borss)
* In-Kult (by mickygemma)
* JBM Jagular (by jobromedia)
* LISAROCK V1.0(VST/AU) PLUGIN (by seibel1)
* massTURBOtar (by LpD)
* MIDI LFO (by gertius)
* MoarF VSTi (by __F__)
* NCL Phase EQ (by matt42)
* New Blend (by xoxos)
* PanCake (by Jakob / CableGuys)
* Phase Shifter (by Astralp)
* Phonics/Attack Entrancer (by nix808)
* Piezo Drum Pad Pack (by FrettedSynth)
* pk_hui (by discodaniel)
* Prodigious Synthesizer (by synthescience)
* Psychic Modulation – Metatron (by Jack R)
* RA Mowg (by Chris Roberson)
* sg-grainbot (by synthgeek)
* SIMPLICITY (by BONES)
* SpectroBits (by g200kg)
* Stolon (by novaflash)
* SynekDC (by duncanparsons)
* The Marcus Johnson Collection (by sunahura)
* Transistorhead (by sonicase)
* Twin Engined Verb (by daz.diamond)
* unicycle (by spacedad)
* _02.circles (by rl)

Related posts:

1. 500MB of Free Audio Samples from Prime Loops
2. Auto-Tune Vocal Effects Made Easy

I just stumbled across this new remix of the worn-out classic “Shiny Disco Balls” by Bad Boy DJs. Keep it fresh with a new mix.

Download audio file (who-da-funk-feat-jessica-eve-shiny-disco-balls-bad-boy-djs-remix.mp3)
MP3: Zshare

Related posts:

1. Disco House Revival 2009?
2. Avicii – Penguin (Prophet of Ninth Dirty Reconstruction)

So Antares just released Auto-Tune EFX which allows anyone to very easily achieve the Daft Punk – Cher vocal effect that has become quite commonplace lately.

From the Antares Website:

The quickest, easiest, most affordable tool for real-time pitch correction and creating the Auto-Tune Vocal Effect (the T-Pain/Cher-style effect).

Powered by the same ground-breaking Evo™ Voice Processing Technology as Antares’ Auto-Tune Evo, the latest generation of the worldwide standard in professional pitch correction, Auto-Tune EFX makes Antares-quality pitch processing accessible to anyone engaged in computer-based audio recording.

Designed to make almost everything automatic, Auto-Tune EFX provides two different flavors of the Auto-Tune Vocal Effect as well as real-time pitch correction. Just select your desired effect type, set the key and scale of your track, and Auto-Tune EFX does the rest. For songs with complex chord progressions or modulations, you can optionally set up custom scales or use your host’s automation facility to allow the processing of virtually any vocal line.

Pitch Correction

Like Auto-Tune Evo, Auto-Tune EFX pitch correction works by continuously tracking the pitch of your vocal and comparing it to the notes in a (customizable) scale. The scale note closest to the input pitch is identified as the target note. If your vocal’s pitch exactly matches the target note, no correction is applied. If your vocal’s pitch varies from the target note, either sharp or flat, the output pitch is smoothly corrected to the target note

Auto-Tune Vocal Effect

The Auto-Tune Vocal Effect is what is technically known as “pitch quantization.” Instead of allowing all of the small variations in pitch and the gradual transitions between notes that are a normal part of singing, the Auto-Tune Vocal Effect limits each note to an exact pitch, stripping out any variation, as well as forcing instantaneous transitions between notes.

Get the demo version at the link below.

via: Antares

Related posts:

1. FL Studio 10 Just Released
2. Sugarbytes Guitarist VSTi Review

I’m not sure how well this instrument would work with a DJ or Live set, but it would be interesting to see someone do it!

The iPhone Ocarina from Smule is the first instrumental application that turns the iPhone into a unique musical instrument. The traditional ocarina is a member of a very old family of musical instruments, dating back at least 12,000 years, in China and Mesoamerica. The Smule iPhone Ocarina brings this millenia-old musical tradition into the 21st century.

Here’s how it works. Once you’ve installed the application, hold the iPhone in such a way that you can conveniently press the four buttons while blowing into the microphone. That’s right; it’s a wind instrument.

The Smule ocarina website has lots of musical scores and instructional materials to get you started, as well as a forum to share what you’ve learned.

The instrument itself can be configured with any of eight different pitch modes (Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, Locrian and Zeldarian).

Okay, maybe you’re thinking that you can’t do anything really significant with an iPhone music app. Well, think again; watch this Smule Ocarina video.

Smule Ocarina Playing Stairway to Heaven

And, if all that weren’t great enough, the Smule Ocarina for the iPhone is the only web-enabled instrument in existence. Yes, that’s right. The Smule Ocarina lets you, the creative artist, bypass not only the RIAA, but also iTunes, Napster and every other aggregator of music.

Here’s how it works. If you enable sharing, the Smule will automatically broadcast your music, via the Internet, to any one else’s Smule Ocarina.

You’ve got to try the Smule iPhone Ocarina. It’s the closest you youngsters can get to feeling the groovy vibes emanating from the Star Trek episode The Way To Eden when it was first broadcast. This episode featured futuristic musical instruments (even Spock played!) that, while retrofuturistic, can’t hold a candle to the Smule iPhone Ocarina.

Also check out their Vocal Pitch App and make yourself sound like Darth Vader in real-time!

via: Smule Ocarina

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1. TechnoBox: Finally a Useable iPhone App for Making Music
2. FL Studio Mobile Available Today for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch

This is Max for the next twenty years, CEO David Zicarelli declared. In addition to a modern infrastructure designed to support today’s multi-core processors and tomorrow’s operating systems, Max 5 features a new UI intended to aid in the expression of complex ideas in a fluid manner. Max’s concept of interactive graphical programming has enhanced greatly with their new presentation mode, which de-couples programming logic from user interface construction, allowing clearer patches as well as richer user interfaces. The idea behind Max 5 is to create a new paradigm so the users both advance and new can take advantage of their unique working environment.

Max version 5 will be available first quarter 2008 and, if used with its digital audio and video extensions, will require updated versions of MSP and Jitter. An upgrade price for Max 5 has not been announced.

Offical Website: Cycling74.com

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]]> http://www.dancemusicblog.com/56-max-msp-50-available-early-2008/feed 2 http://www.dancemusicblog.com/46-free-sub-bass-vst-instrument-synth http://www.dancemusicblog.com/46-free-sub-bass-vst-instrument-synth#comments Mon, 11 Jun 2007 20:06:28 +0000 djnth http://dancemusicblog.com/2007/06/11/free-sub-bass-vst-instrument-synth/ de la Mancha’s free subhuman virtual sub bass synth now at v2.0. The two oscillator synth was designed for a singular purpose to create: “low down and dirty sub bass, jus’ like momma used to make.” The de la Mancha collective invites you to “take it down a few octaves for that deep subby hum you want so bad. Change the waveform of Osc 2 to add a little grit, make it wobble with the tempo-sync LFO and really dirty things up with some drive.”

Version 2.0 now includes MIDI learn, tempo sync LFO, LFO attack/release envelope, pulse width adjust for Osc2 and LFO, mono/poly options with envelope retrigger and portamento, ADSR in ms, sync osc2 to osc1, overdrive, new GUI. Both envelopes have long attack/release times so the volume and LFO can build slowly over sustained notes.

Features:
• 2 oscillators can be detuned or synced
• LP filter
• ADSR volume envelope
• LFO with tempo sync, attack/release envelope, waveform select
• Overdrive for more dirt
• Octave selector
• MIDI CC / MIDI learn on all controls
• Mono/poly options with retrigger and portamento

Get it: de la Mancha Subhuman 2.0

via: FutureMusic

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]]> http://www.dancemusicblog.com/46-free-sub-bass-vst-instrument-synth/feed 4 http://www.dancemusicblog.com/26-d16-completes-classic-roland-triad-with-tr-909-tb-303-tr-808-software-clone http://www.dancemusicblog.com/26-d16-completes-classic-roland-triad-with-tr-909-tb-303-tr-808-software-clone#comments Fri, 23 Feb 2007 02:11:38 +0000 djnth http://dancemusicblog.com/2007/02/22/d16-completes-classic-roland-triad-with-tr-909-tb-303-tr-808-software-clone/

d16, thus far known for it’s accurate software recreations of the classic Roland TB-303 and TR-909 have completed the triad of Roland’s big three analog monsters which have been the backbone of huge percentage of dance music. The new 808 clone is set for a release in the very near future. Head over the their website and check out the samples and hear for yourself. Available as VST and AU plugins. Great work guys!!

d16 website: www.d16.pl

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]]> http://www.dancemusicblog.com/26-d16-completes-classic-roland-triad-with-tr-909-tb-303-tr-808-software-clone/feed 3 http://www.dancemusicblog.com/22-image-line-deckadance-dj-software http://www.dancemusicblog.com/22-image-line-deckadance-dj-software#comments Mon, 19 Feb 2007 22:40:14 +0000 djnth http://dancemusicblog.com/2007/02/19/image-line-deckadance-dj-software/
Image Line has recently announced their entry into the digital DJing market with Deckadance. A free demo is included with the latest download of FL Studio 7 available at www.tucows.com

Features:
• Works as standalone or VSTi plugin inside hosts like FL Studio, Ableton Live, etc.
• Hosts VSTi softsynths & FX
• 8-slot sampler with loop, recording, beat sync, WAV, Ogg and pitchbend support and can sample from the decks
• 8-slot VSTi host with MIDI database: load up to 8 MIDI plug-ins
• 8 Slot VSTi General MIDI file Player
• 8-bit self-output-record / midi controllable microsampler
• Full timecoded Vynil & CD support for all brands
• 64-bit DSP, high quality processing
• 6 inputs (3 x Stereo deck a input tracking, deck b input tracking, mic
• 12 outputs (6 x Stereo): master mix, monitor, deck a, deck b, sampler, vsti
• Inputs and outputs pins fully ASIO configurable in the standalone version
• MP3, WAV and OGG audio tracks supported
• Seamless Loop / Cueing
• Unique Loop and Leap feature
• Unique Reverse and Leap feature
• Full low-latency vinyl tracking system supported for each deck
• Vst host midi-in thru. (ie: control hosted vst’s from external keyboard/controller)
• Flexible monitoring options: pre-fader listener level, phone split (L/R). Monitor rout switch/ vumeters for all elements
• Flexible crossfader options (linear or curved mode w/curve adjustment, reverse switch)
• vSeamless “beat jump” functions
• -36dB to +12dB low/mid/high eq range control. Band kill of -48dB
• Auto-Sync buttons
• Auto-Slave to main tempo/host tempo button
• Auto Beat-Sync playback start
• Precisse pitch control
• Crossfader auto-transition control
• Crossfader with deck punch-in control
• 3 Band EQ with 3 Band killer buttons
• Deck accurate pitchbend slow/fast control
• Deck downbeat shift control
• Tempo tracking switches (for tracks with variable tempo)

Effects:
• lowpass, highpass, bandpass, bandreject filters
• 8 Tap 3d Phaser
• Variable 3d Echo/Flanger effect
• XY control pads
• VST Plugin Support

Other Features:
• Fully editable “relooper” (reslice / rearrange loop in realtime)
• Vumeters and master crossfader with embedded vumeters
• On-the-fly disk recorder
• Internal torque simulation with realistic mouse scratch/hold
• Pitch control and tempo variation feedback calculated from vinyl tracking relative speed, making bpm matching a breeze with turntable (for those who likes the real thing instead the slave mode)

Supported timecoded Vinyl & CDs
• Final Scratch
• Serato Scratch Live
• MixVibes
• MS PINKY
• all other supported through vinyl control record speed “learning” mode

MIDI Support:
• Generic MIDI control support.
• MIDI Learn with easy to configure function <-> midi control assignment.
• Native remote DJ Controller support for: Behringer BCD2000 – Hercules DJ Console – Hercules DJ Console Mk2 – Eks XP10 Controller (native HID / USB communication for full device resolution)
• Keyboard support: Full monitor routing swithes for decks, samplers and vsti host. Playlist with virtually unlimited number of entries.

No pricing or availability has been announced for Image Line’s Deckadance.

Deckadance product page: www.Deckadance.com

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]]> http://www.dancemusicblog.com/22-image-line-deckadance-dj-software/feed 2 http://www.dancemusicblog.com/8-arturia-jupiter-8v-plugin-vst-au-rtas http://www.dancemusicblog.com/8-arturia-jupiter-8v-plugin-vst-au-rtas#comments Fri, 19 Jan 2007 08:50:24 +0000 djnth http://dancemusicblog.com/2007/01/19/arturia-jupiter-8v-plugin-vst-au-rtas/ The Jupiter 8V is the newest addition to the family Arturia’s analog synthesizer recreations. Offering the unique sound palette of the Roland Jupiter 8, this virtual version is a sound designer’s dream.  Based on the latest version of TAE®, the Jupiter-8V also offers a host of modern features: an advanced step sequencer, a new line of dynamic effects, a module combining LFO’s (called Galaxy), and lots more…

FEATURES:

• More than 400 high quality and innovative sounding presets
• Up to 32 voices of polyphony, and a Unison mode
• A unique audio structure featuring 2 oscillators per voice (16 oscillators in total), 2 LFO’s, 2 filters and 2 envelopes.
• Keyboard split and layer
• A set of Analog Sounding Effects: Dual Delay, Phaser, Flanger, all three being largely modulable by any audio source in the synth.
• 2 digital effects, X and Y.
• Additional Live-oriented Step-sequencer, additional Galaxy module for advanced modulations
  Set to Control with your external MIDI keyboard in just a few clicks.
• Full compatibility with major formats and hosts on Mac OS X and Windows XP (VST, AU, RTAS)

Arturia Jupiter 8V Plugin Product Page

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