Maurice Gainen here. My studio, Maurice Gainen Productions (what else?) was profiled by Matt Gallagher in the Mix July ‘07 edition. NAMM is awesome….I’ve been here almost every year for about 20 years. I recommend coming on Thursday first thing as it is empty and you can get maximum face time with all the reps, tech people and any of the many stars haniging out that you may run into. Highlight for me was running into Stevie Wonder and getting a picture. Other cool things: Mix publication Electronic Musician has been re-designed and looks great. Cool gear and software: Waves, Fishman “Aura” acoustic guitar shound shaping boxes, Guitar Rig 3, ProTools 7.4 “Elastic time”, Melodyne and Serrato Pitch ‘n Time. Nice live performances all over the floor. Free champagne and DJ jam 5:00 everyday at Propellerhead (Reason). Saturday is cool for networking and seeing old friends………it’s packed and loud, a real party. Final word: The gear is GREAT!! It’s up to us to make great music. Therein lies the challenge…have a good one! www.mauricegainen.com
Following up the success of its Duende FireWire DSP unit, SSL has introduced Duende MINI, a hardware box about the size of an external hard drive, but including the same DSP processing power of the 1U rackmount Duende. While the Duende comes with 32-channel capability, the $799 Duende Mini starts out with 16 channels–upgradeable to 32 for $399. Out of the box, Duende Mini includes SSL’s EQ and Dynamic Channel plug-in and can host other SSL Duende-powered plug-ins, such as the X-EQ and X-Comp. If you upgrade the Duende Mini to 32 channels and add the Stereo Bus Compressor plug-in for $399, you’d essentially have the same capability of the original Duende at the same price. Duende Mini is schedule to ship in February.
The folks at iZotope announced that their RX audio restoration software will be released soon as a group of five plug-ins. Each plug-in will handle the duties of one of RX’s five modules. The modules include Spectral Repair, which lets you zero in on a specific part of the audio using a spectral display, and then attenuate and otherwise process it. The Declipper takes audio that is clipped and restores it. The other modules are the Hum Remover, Declicker, and Denoiser. Overall, it’s an excellent Audio Restoration package, and with the plug-ins will now be even more flexible.
The plugs will be included with the standalone version of RX, which lists for $349 (standard version) and $1199 (Advanced version with additional tweaking options).
METAlliance today announced a Pro Partner program, inviting professional audio manufacturers to join the founding Board of Directors in recognizing quality and high-resolution in the recording arts. The first group of manufacturers, Audio-Technica, Cakewalk, GML, JBL Pro, Lexicon, Manley Labs, Millennia Media, Royer Labs, Sanken and Universal Audio, have joined METAlliance founding members Ed Cherney, Frank Filipetti, George Massenburg, Phil Ramone, Elliot Scheiner and Al Schmitt to recognize the call for quality in the recording arts. “We’re living in an era where formats are reduced in resolution,”Frank Filipetti said. “There are high-res formats in video and film, but we’re going backwards in audio.”
Under this new alliance, METAlliance member manufacturers will have their products evaluated by the panel. Gear is put through exhaustive testing procedures, and for a product to be certified, it must be approved unanimously by the entire “Gang of Seven.”
“Some may argue that there is no need for higher quality because the average consumer doesn’t care,” said Jim Pace, METAlliance director of business affairs. “It’s not a question of bandwidth or delivery anymore. So who is the METAlliance speaking to? One group would be the people who buy these products here at NAMM-people who try to create and craft their art in any way they can. Because they work to get it right, these are the ‘consumers’ that realize it’s worth it to get the full sonic experience at home or wherever they play music. It doesn’t have to be ‘almost good enough,’ it can be a truly fulfilling experience.”
Sonnox has introduced its first plug-in since becoming an independent company in April 2007. With the new SuprEsser plug-in, it is attempting to fill the void of a professional quality de-esser in plug-in form. The highly featured SuprEsser includes a Simple mode for fast fixes, but also effectively doubles as a linear phase dynamic EQ when used in Advanced mode. Employing three listening modes and an intuitive visual waveform display, users can locate the problem frequencies quickly.
SuprEsser is scheduled to ship this March in RTAS, AU and VST formats for a price of $315. It will also be available for Sonnox’s customized bundles, in which customers can receive a discount of up to 40 percent, depending on the number of plug-ins they buy.
Well, we’re in the midst of day 3 here at Winter NAMM and just got back from the MSR booth — way down in Hall E among the majority of the musical instruments — and they’ve got some exciting innovations coming. In addition to their complete line of acoustical products for the brick-and-mortar studios, MSR also takes a tiered approach to working with studio owners — from mobile units to the project studio in your house — developing three separate lines of acoustical materials based on the studio owner’s space, project and needs. If you aren’t at the show, check them out online at www.msr-inc.com
Groove Tubes was showing off their new tube ribbon mic today. It has a great feature in that it comes with a spare engine that the user can easily swap out should the ribbon get damaged. Check out my podcast and listen at the end for a ribbon-esque recording tip from GT’s Steve Good.
At NAMM today the most exciting thing I saw and heard was a synthesizer called the Solaris. It’s a work-in-progress by veteran synth and sound designer John Bowen. What began as a soft-synth project outgrew the confines of John’s computer, so he brought it to life as a living, breathing (okay, not really) keyboard instrument with lots of knobs and big, bright displays. It uses a variety of synthesis algorithms, from sample playback to FM to wavetable and more, and it gives you eight envelopes, five LFOs, and more types of filters than you ever imagined you might need. And the sound! It’s a beautiful thing, and it will be April (or so) when John hopes to begin shipping the Solaris. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait! But don’t take my word for it; head on over to http://www.johnbowen.com/solaris.html and hear what I mean.
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