Drive By Snark...
From the original Analog Industries archive. Some links and images from that era no longer resolve.
Musikmesse starts on Wednesday, so naturally all the pre-announcements are rolling out, like they do. I was strongly considering going to Messe this year, but then we decided to go to Hawaii instead, for reasons that should be patently obvious. So like most of you, I admire from a distance. Here’s what we know so far:
1. ProTools 11: The shit I don’t give is apparently only equalled by the shit that Avid doesn’t give. I have to say, though, this is the first time I’ve seen “multiple meter modes” as a leading bullet point. So they’re groundbreaking in that, at least.
2. Nord Lead 4: This synth never did anything for me, and it continues to not do so. If I was in a Cars cover band, I might think differently. But I’m not.
3. MFB Dominion 1: MFB, laughing in the face of the 2-osc onslaught from Korg, Moog, and Arturia, explores the mythical land of the THIRD OSCILLATOR! Behold! All kidding aside, they shoehorned every feature ever in to this little analog. 3 oscs, 3 envs, 3 LFOs, sequencer, two ribbon controllers, aftertouch, full CV I/O. I suppose it could sound shitty, but on specs alone, if you like that sort of thing it is the sort of thing you’ll like.
4. GRP A4: And very similar in specs to the MFB box is the GRP Synthesizer A4. I absolutely love this bit of copy: The Loop EG function enables the conditioned and unconditioned repetition of the envelope, in order to reach particular and temporal articulated sonorities. All my articulated sonorities have been atemporal to this point, so this is a nice development.
5. New Roland Stuff: I was really hoping for a V-Hurdy Gurdy. No such luck. The RC-505 is kind of nifty, I guess. It is the first time someone has made one of these loopers specifically for Reggie Watts. But Mr. Watts seems to be a dyed-in-the-wool EH 2880 user, so good luck getting him to switch, Roland! I guess we’ll just end up with a lot more shaved-head white guys that beatbox, then sing like White Bob Marley over the top. Always a growth market, that.
That’s it for now. Stay tuned all week for more Drive By Snark from your hard-working music tech reporting team at Analog Industries!
10 comments
Looks like there's also a Novation BassStation II joining the 2 osc armada.
I'll get to that tomorrow.
-CR
The pointlessness of the protools update seems to be only rivalled by the pointlessness of the launchpad update.
I don't get your "shaved-head white guys that beatbox, then sing like White Bob Marley over the top" reference. I consider myself lucky to not get that reference. The Less You Know!?
I might dig that Roland looper if it wasn't so fucking ugly. It's a nice change to see this kind of thing aimed at non-guitarists, but why must it always look like this thing?
MFB is doing a new drum box thingy too, 808 clone I think.. Goldbaby has me covered there... The BS2 had 4 voices, 3 voices really and one noise osc, but I dont think its multitimbral...no keytracking either...
Sean: allow me to educate you.
Dub Fx: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiInBOVHpO8
Kid Beyond: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSlc7M-NXTw
Vahtang: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmhunU64JRk
Shlomo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YskiXNpUVuw
Etc.
Etc.
Etc.
The "shaved-head white guys that beatbox, then sing like White Bob Marley over the top" phenomenon shows no signs of letting up any time soon.
-CR
I haven't cared, and have mostly been annoyed, by every PT upgrade since 7, and have mostly done them grudgingly even though I feed all the mouths around here with that software. PT 11 looks pretty great to me. I'm impressed so far even though it's going to make my life complicated in the short run.
Why did I watch one of those let alone all 4?
Almost all of them feel the need to explain they're using a looper like they're some kind of pioneer who's discovered this amazing machine. This whole genre or whatever it is, is a shit sandwich.
There's some supremely talented people that do this sort of thing. Beardyman and Reggie Watts, chiefly, and to a lesser extent Jamie Lidell. But that Kid Beyond style thing (which, to the best of my knowledge, he created) gets tired really fucking quick from one dude, let alone a whole mess of 'em.
-CR
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