Synths out the ying yang. That’s what today’s podcast–Remix’s final podcast for Winter NAMM 2007–is all about. First up is a demo of Korg’s new R3 synthesizer/vocoder, which is like the little sibling to the Korg Radius. Then you have demos of Simple Minds keyboardisst Stephane Deriau-Reine playing Arturia’s new Jupiter-8V, a software recreation of Roland’s classic Jupiter 8 polyphonic analog synthesizer, and Arturia’s Origin, which is the company’s first hardware synthesizer. The Origin is a digital synth with models based on several classic analog machines, such as the Minimoog, Yamaha CS-80 and Arp 2600. Finally, you get an overview of Yamaha’s latest keyboards, the MM6 “Mini Mo” and the Motif XS workstation. Remix Podcast Day 3 Winter NAMM 2007

So here comes Erika’s daughter, Elizabeth, to offer some insights from the younger set. Lizza?

What can I say? Another awesome NAMM show. Every year this show just gets better and better. Hanging out at the Prism booth, resting my feet, watching all the people go by. I think the highlight was Bootsy Collins, but it’s tough to choose. The Martin booth was exceptional, and literally took my breath away. Interesting to walk around and see what’s new, while revisiting some of the old. Only makes me look forward to what’s in store for the coming years. As always, it’s a pleasure to stop by and see the wonderful staff of MIX, Remix, and the rest. Never a dull moment here at NAMM!

We’re here with Frank Serafine who’s roaming the floor looking for cool stuff…Frank what do you see?

Well I have been having a great time here with all my old friends. The future is here! East/West collections are incredible, such as Storm Drums 2, Gypsy, EZ Drummer, Fab Four and much more. Vienna Symphonic Library also has some new stuff that I can’t wait to hear on my studio system. Yesterday I went by the Yamaha booth with my good friend Suzanne Ciani and was blown away by the demo I was given by Yamaha bigwig Jim Presley, who demoed the new technology behind the Disklavier 3. And above all, I went by to see my friends Manfred and Alec Little at the Apple booth, which was the hit of the show. The Logic software is progressing like a dream. And finally, I brought my 34-foot 5th-wheel mobile studio down from Simi Valley. It’s outfitted with Optocore fiber optics, a JL Cooper virtual mix system, hi-def monitoring, and the Holophone 7.1 3-D surround microphone system, which we’ll be showcasing at S.I.R. in L.A. on February 3.

It’s the final day of the show for Mix Podcasts and in some ways it was the best day of all. I talked to Rupert Neve Designs about the imminent release of their console (:54). I also spoke with engineer/studio owner Alan Sides about his new high-end speakers and a new drum sample collection recorded on his vintage selection of mics and optimal signal path (3:14). Next I spoke with Jim Coper at MOTU about their new software release and soon-to-be-released drivers for the Vista OS (6:54). The new software running on a dual core Mac is capable of running 100o plug-ins! Lastly, I talked to Peter Gorges at Digidesign about their new sampler (13:31).Check out our Day 3 Podcast

Okay, you might already know about the Waldorf Collection, an update of three popular plug-ins once distributed by Steinberg. The latest news is that Waldorf has returned to the hardware arena. In addition to limited-edition models of the MicroQ, Q, and Q+, Waldorf is showing three new hardware instruments: the Blofeld, the Stromberg, and the Zarenbourg.

The Blofeld is probably best described as a MicroQ in a small tabletop device with only eight knobs, five buttons, and a backlit display. It should be available in the springtime with a street price around $500, including a Mac/Win editor/librarian.

The Stromberg is a full-tilt keyboard synth specializing in wavetable and virtual analog synthesis. It is a thing of beauty to behold and probably deserves to win many industrial design awards. It’s said to render Wave, Microwave, and Q sounds, but it was behind glass and I didn’t get to hear it. It’s supposed to be available in autumn for under $4,000.

The Zarenbourg was the only Waldorf instrument available for anyone to play. It’s a physical- modeled electric piano that physically resembles a Wurlitzer (right down to its size and weight, thanks in part to 76 real wood keys). It felt and sounded great, though no ship date or pricing information is available. Long live Waldorf!

I just got back from an absolutely stellar Grammy Sound Table, based on the topic of how people work today. Extremely relevant in today’s on-the-go world of production. Maureen Droney and her crew at the Producers and Engineers Wing of the Recording Academy put together a panel of four very talented, and very different, producers. And guess what, they all work very differently. After the intro and general-interst questions about vocal chains and favorite pieces of gear and working with artists, Moderator Michael Molenda of Guitar Player asked each one of them to play back a track and then tell how it came together. The selections and the methods were stimulating in both their variety and their care and attention.

Nick Raskulinecz, fresh off production on the upcoming Rush album and known for his work with Foo Fighters, Stone Sour, Queens of the Stone Age, selected a track from Stone Sour that was completed after the record was done and the flights had been booked home. Turns out Cory Taylor woke up that morning with the song in his head, brought it in and recorded everything, except the drums, right there in the control room. First he laid down a scratch vocal/guitar (the vocal mostly stayed intact throughout the day). Then he pulled out a Martin guitar from the basement, did the acoustic, then bass, then guitar, then drums in the big room, then sweetened and peppered with tambourine. Done, basically in a day, and it’s their hit. The vocal chain? Very common one for Nick: Soundelux 251 into a Martech pre and dbx 160XT.

Carmen Rizzo, the underground darling with high-end appeal, then selected Azam Ali’s “Endless Reverie,” a haunting sexy track with all types of world beat floating through. Her only mandate was that she didn’t want any ordinary sounds. Carmen started with high-hat and snare, programmed by hand in Kontakt 2. He also employed Reaktor and scads of NI gear. Then came guitars by Trey Gunn of King Crimson, then a guitar-viola. His sexcret? He does his processing in Reaktor, mainly for delays and effects. He also makes liberal use of Echo Farm. “I like glitchy sounds,” he said.

Next up was Harvey Mason Jr. from super-duo producers The Underdogs, fresh off the massive success of Dreamgirls. He played the track “Change M

Then came Butch Walker, an artist who also happens to produce the likes of Pink, Avril Lavigne and Hot Heat. He was the rebel onstage, and played a song he scratched down in Garage Band after waking up in an L.A. hotel room at 5 a.m.. Got out the guitar, then brought it to the band for the next record. He likes to record live in the room…the vocal did end up being a mic and acoustic guitar in a room, then overdubbed bass but had guitar live in a booth. He kept it sparse, then brought in…you guessed it. Strings! Beautifully done to fil out the track. Then on mixing, he said, “I asked him to put tape slap echo across the whole track at 150 ms. Ruined the sonics, but I loved it!” Much laughter in the audience, along with applause.

Our hats off to Maureen Droney and the Academy. And to Mike Molenda for moderating a great forum. These Sound Tables do feel like the living room they strive for. Now let’s bug the Academy to get these darn things up online so we can all hear!

Just got back from Hall E, breeding ground for innovative and unusual technology from all those cool little-known and start-up companies. The most rocking piece of gear down there HAD to be the Wag ring from Xpresense. Check this out-it’s a wireless effects controller built into a ring-so as you play, your hand motions control effects parameters via data transmitted to the base unit. It’s obviously a big hit with guitarists, but keyboardists and even vocalists can really get into the technology. Head down tot he basement to check out the demo…

A couple of interesting developments in the effects plug-in market, both of which concern established plugs being offered in formats in which they were previously unavailable. First, the Sony Oxford plugs, which are very highly regarded, are now being offered in AU versions. This will open them up to a whole new market of sequencer users, including those using Logic and Digital Performer.

Along those same lines, Sound Toys, makers of such cool effects plugs as FilterFreak and EchoBoy announced that their Native Effects bundle (which recently won an EM Editor’s Choice award) will soon see a version 3 release, which will add AU support. The bundle, which was previously only available to Pro Tools users, is now opened up to a wider market.

On the showfloor once again today….we’re here with Jim Cooper from MOTU….Jim, what’s going on?

Here at winter NAMM 2007, we’re announcing that all of our drivers for all MOTU audio and MIDI interfaces (PCI, FireWire and USB) are now shipping for Windows Vista. You can go to our web site right now (www.motu.com) to download the shipping drivers. Vista will be formally shipping worldwide at the end of this month. As you know, MOTU also has a full line of cross-platform (Mac/Windows) virtual instruments: MachFive, Symphonic Instrument and Ethno Instrument. We will be posting Vista-compatible public beta versions of all three instruments this coming week, just after NAMM. And we expect them to be formally shipping by the end of the month for the worldwide release of Vista.

In other news, we are demoing the current shipping version of Digital Performer, Version 5.11, running on a stock Quad Intel Xeon Processor Mac Pro tower. Our show floor booth audiences get to witness DP playing back one thousand (!) plug-ins on this machine, with smooth screen redraw and performance. In fact, we’ve adjusted the settings so that DP’s native hard disk recording engine is only using 60% of the quad-CPU. And we’re using DP’s premium plug-ins, too, such as eVerb and the 8-band parametric EQ. DP takes full advantage of the Mac’s Intel processors, and we are seeing simply astonishing performance gains on these latest machines.