Distributed in 94 countries, Mix is the world's leading magazine for the professional recording and sound production technology industry. Mix covers a wide range of topics including: recording, live sound and production, broadcast production, audio for film and video, and music technology.
The final EM podcast of NAMM 2007 starts with a preview of Thor, a new synth that will be part of an upcoming release of Propellerhead Reason. Hear about its features and listen to a number of sound samples from the new instrument.
Next up is an interview with L.A. session veteran Lee Sklar, who has been one of the busiest bassists on the recording and touring scene for many years. Sklar talks about his recording rig and some of his recent session work.
The final segment features an interview with Bruce Botnick, a producer/engineer who started his career back in 1963, and who has worked with such mega acts as the Doors, the Beach Boys, and many more. Now an enthusiastic user of Digidesign‘s Pro Tools and its Icon console, Botnick has moved heavily into film music production, and has worked with Jerry Goldsmith, among other composers. In this interview, Botnick talks about the differences between his analog and digital recording experiences, what it was like to work with Jim Morrison in the studio, and more.
On today‘s podcast, we start with an look at a brand new soft synth, the Keytosound Nexsyn. Available in all plug-in formats, and for both Mac and PC, the Nexsyn features a mixture of synthesis and sample playback, comes with sounds from Big Fish Audio, and introduces a new concept for patch sharing called Netnotes.
Next is an interview with Nathaniel Kunkel, a very busy and successful producer/engineer, who talks about what he‘s seen at NAMM, how to avoid the pitfalls of recording on a digital audio sequencer, and his current project recording the new Lyle Lovett CD.
You‘ll also hear about the new Master Control from Alesis, which is a hybrid of a digital mixer, a control surface, a speaker switcher, and more. Finally, there‘s an interview with keyboard whiz and Dream Theater member Jordan Rudess, who‘s been performing at the Roland booth with drum virtuoso Rod Morgenstein. Rudess discusses his current projects, the limitations of MIDI, and much more.
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.
Today’s podcast starts with an interview with Doug Rogers of EastWest, whose company–it was announced today–will be partnering up with Digidesign to provide sounds for Structure, the new sampler for Pro Tools that Digi unvieled today. Rogers talks about that and about Fab Four, the new EastWest instrument that recreates the instrumental sounds of the Beatles.
Next up is an interview with David Gedge, leader of a very successful British indie band called the Wedding Present. Gedge gives his impressions of NAMM, and talks about how technology has affected him over his twenty-year career.
Topping off the podcast is an interview with drumming superstar Omar Hakim, who talks about his studio, the difference between playing acoustic and electric drums, and more.
Digidesign announced today that its Advanced Instrument Research Group (which recently developed Xpand, Hybrid, and Strike) is developing an RTAS-format sampler called Structure. The plug-in will read a number of sample formats including ESX24, Kontakt2, and SampleCell. It will also include sample content from EastWest, which has partnered up with Digi for this project. According to Digi, a public beta is in the offing. Check back at the Digi site for details.
At the end of the day Thursday, IK Multimedia announced Amplitube 2 Jimi Hendrix Edition. It’s a specialized version of IK’s guitar-amp modeling plug-in, designed to emulate the sound of Jimi Hendrix’s gear. It features models of 9 stompboxes (including wahs), 4 amps, 7 speaker cabinets, and 4 analog rack effects units–all based on the originals used by Hendrix used. It’s due out in April and will cost $249. You’ll also be able to get it bundled with IK’s Stealth Plug (guitar to USB cable) for $299.
The EM podcast from day 1 of NAMM features product coverage of the Frontier Design AlphaTrack (which will be shipping in a couple of weeks), the Roland VG Stratocaster (which was announced today), and an interview with progressive rock keyboardist Erik Norlander. Click here to listen.
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