TRANSCRIPT:Hi everybody, this is Markkus for the Audio Tech News Flash, brought to you by Accusonus. Propellerhead has released Reason 10.1, a free update for registered users. With this update, Reason’s marquee wavetable synthesizer, Europa, can now import audio samples to use as one of Europa’s oscillator waveforms or as the filter’s spectral mul…

Scottish boutique brand MacBeth revealed the MacBeth Elements EL2 analog synthesizer, a self-contained 3-oscillator synthesizer with a capacitive touch keyboard built-in. The Elements EL2 reuses vintage parts sourced from RCA semiconductors from the 1970s. Price and release date are to be announced. Dave Smith Instruments launched the Sequential Pr…

A new concept in software workstations came out this week as Berlin-based company ZenAud.io introduced ALK2, a hybrid program combining elements of DAW software with a live performance looper. ALK2 lets songwriters create complex arrangements first, which they can then perform and playback live as loops. Other advantages over hardware loopers inclu…

The synthesizer that originated from a Google artificial intelligence program can now be yours as an open-source, build-it-yourself project. The NSynth Super uses a machine-learning algorithm developed at the Google research project called Magenta, and it creates entirely new sounds from the acoustic qualities of original input sounds. The NSynth S…

This week I’m highlighting some of the interesting new products from the 2018 Musikmesse trade show in Frankfurt, Germany.A new British company called Exodus Digital announced Valkyrie, a high-powered virtual analog synthesizer. Valkyrie offers big numbers: 128 voices with up to 10 oscillators per voice and 72 effects. Its wavetable oscillators hav…

Cakewalk software is back, and it’s free. After the social music platform Bandlab purchased Cakewalk assets from Gibson last month, it has now relaunched the DAW software as Cakewalk by Bandlab. Available as a free download for Windows computers, Cakewalk by Bandlab includes the same interface as the old Cakewalk Sonar Platinum DAW, as well as the …

The new Roli Songwriter Kit includes two of the company’s controllers with MIDI Polyphonic Expression — the Seaboard Block 2-octave soft keyboard and the illuminated Lightpad M playing surface, which both provide 5 types of playback expression. It also includes the Loop Block transport controller, a protective snapcase for traveling, and a software…

Zoom has put out its latest portable audio recorder, the H1n Handy Recorder, with a built-in stereo microphone in a 90-degree, X/Y configuration. The H1n updates the older H1 recorder with a sharper display, an onboard limiter, a low-cut filter with selectable cutoff point, playback speed control, unlimited overdubbing and an updated control interf…

French company Arturia has released 3 Filters You’ll Actually Use. And that is actually the name of this 3-plug-in bundle that models the filters from 3 iconic vintage analog synthesizers: the Moog Minimoog, the Oberheim SEM, and the Oberheim Matrix-12. Besides emulating the behavior and response of the hardware filters, these plug-ins add contempo…

This week Roland followed up its TR-8 drum machine with the new TR-8S Rhythm Performer. It has component-level models of sounds from the classic TR-808, 909, 606, 707, and 727 drum machines, as well as 150 other internal samples. It also imports external samples from an SD memory card. All of those sounds are subject to the TR-8S’s sound design, ef…

Bitwig has released the Bitwig Studio 2.3 digital audio workstation update. Additions include time-signature markers on the timeline, improved time-stretching for audio, new sounds and device presets for the content library, and more. However, the biggest news for Bitwig Studio 2.3 is the new Phase-4 four-oscillator synthesizer. Phase-4 uses phase …

This week we’re looking at some upcoming hardware. First up, Behringer has revealed more detailed specs for it Neutron semi-modular analog synthesizer, which should be available this April for $299 USD. Unlike Behringer’s current Model D synth, the Neutron is not a clone of a popular old synthesizer, but rather an entirely new design. Neutron is a …

A new free sample-based virtual instrument host called SampleScience Player comes with 200 playable instruments, from acoustic piano to drums and synthesizers. SampleScience Player will be able to load and play additional sample libraries formatted for it, similar to the better-known UVI Workstation and Native Instruments Kontakt Player plug-ins. Y…

A long wait ended this week for many electronic music producers as Ableton released its Live 10 digital audio workstation. Live 10 adds four new devices, including Pedal for adding the character of analog stomp box effects; Drum Buss for dialing in the tone of drum tracks; and the new Wavetable synthesizer. Wavetable has two oscillators with oscill…

I’m wrapping up some of the biggest hits from the 2018 NAMM Show in Anaheim, California, where Avid unveiled the newly named Pro Tools 2018. This major update adds some highly-requested features, such as track presets, retrospective MIDI record, where you can capture performances you played without the Record function on; MIDI editing shortcuts, an…