[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

New Synthesizer V AI voice I'm considering:







Some of the phonemes are a bit off (or too quiet), but I'm pretty sure I can fix that in the program. S's need a bit of deessing too, but that's a standard mixing technique (though it can also be done easily inside the program...).

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Considering this while it's on sale for $9.48 (no resale since it's through a third-party vendor), but leaning towards no (especially since it's not MPE and doesn't have any presets designed for the Seaboard or similar controllers):

'LoFreq Wired includes samples from 11 intriguing synthesizers produced from 2009 to 2018. Most of the semi-modular contemporary machines are represented: from the MFB Kraftzwerk to the Pittsburgh Modular SV-1 and Dreadbox Erebus V3. Not only do the RetroMod LoFreq plug-ins render the feel of the original instruments thanks to meticulous sampling, they also add a contemporary twist deriving from the secondary multimode resonant filter, while the second oscillator helps beef up the sound and the XY Pad is designed to add your choice of subtle or aggressive color to the original sound. Go big with 16 voices of unison and rapidly generate patterns with the integrated arpeggiator'




Think I might get 'Prehistoric Drum Kit' instead. It comes with (playable) thunder and volcanoes....

[Malankazooie]

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

'Swords to Ploughshares is an experimental virtual instrument [...] The sounds in this library were recorded during the invasion of Ukraine[...] by Ukrainian sound designer and video producer Histibe.

It includes field recordings made in and around his home in Kyiv and during a temporary evacuation in the Carpathian mountains during the heaviest period of shelling near his home. The subject matter includes the everyday sounds of his life and his city, quickly adapting to wartime and often punctuated by blasts and the wail of air raid sirens. It explores the gentle sounds of nature in the mountains made all the more surreal by eerily distorted late-night shortwave radio broadcasts filling the airwaves.

This is not a Hollywood-style war sfx collection[...]

[...] The sound-designed content follows the artist's mental journey from that subjective experience as they mentally process and re-articulate it from raw kinetic energy into more musically constructive forms.'

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Ultrasonic Death Whistle free for the next 13 and a half days:






'performed by [...] Composer & Multi-instrumentalist Brian D'Oliveira, UDW offers a window into their collection of rare pre-Columbian death whistles that were found during their research and development. Some of them were even handcrafted in their studio to expand creative sound possibilities, and many of these death whistles were featured in the production of multiple Award Winning AAA Video Game soundtracks.

UDW's video-game audio inspired interactive scene, allows for non-linear multidimensional control and patch creation for intuitive yet seamless musical expression.

Each Death Whistle is named to represent their characters. Having been sculpted by hand, their sounds are recognizably unique, each sample map representing a different Death Whistle.'

Ultrasonic Death Whistle by Mntra Instruments - Audio Plugin Deals

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 21 October 2022 - 03:18 PM

[Malankazooie]

Anyone going to block off some time and listen to Taylor Swift's new album, start to finish? Let us know how it is.

Full disclosure, not a "swiftie" by any stretch of the imagination. I think she's overrated as a song writer, even believe she has help that isn't as transparently recognized as it should be. BUT I can get down with some of her more folksy works (that bubble gum, cheesy pop stuff can go right into the bin imo). I've heard her latest stuff veers more in style aligning with her maturation as an artist and so is in the folksy lane.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Malankazooie, on 22 October 2022 - 01:26 AM, said:

Anyone going to block off some time and listen to Taylor Swift's new album, start to finish? Let us know how it is.

Full disclosure, not a "swiftie" by any stretch of the imagination. I think she's overrated as a song writer, even believe she has help that isn't as transparently recognized as it should be. BUT I can get down with some of her more folksy works (that bubble gum, cheesy pop stuff can go right into the bin imo). I've heard her latest stuff veers more in style aligning with her maturation as an artist and so is in the folksy lane.

Tried it, not very good IMO. Stopped after a few songs.

Maybe I'd like it more if it were playing constantly in the background everywhere I went all the time?...

It seems to have generally gotten bad reviews too.

I do like the title though.

[Malankazooie]

Sounds like it falls more in line with my expectations. I know the album is getting tons of hype, which comes with the territory when new T-Swift music drops. Not sure why that is the case, as I've just never been as impressed by the collective work she has produced, except for a few tracks. Was hoping there were a few of those.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Malankazooie, on 22 October 2022 - 07:22 PM, said:

Sounds like it falls more in line with my expectations. I know the album is getting tons of hype, which comes with the territory when new T-Swift music drops. Not sure why that is the case, as I've just never been as impressed by the collective work she has produced, except for a few tracks. Was hoping there were a few of those.

Maybe this explains it:

'Weirdly, Taylor Swift Is Extremely Close to Creating a True Metaverse

[...] Over the past several weeks, Swift has presided over a meticulous online rollout: Ahead of the album's drop, she launched "Midnights Mayhem With Me," a TikTok video series wherein she released the 13 track names one by one via bingo. This week, she went as far as to release a full launch schedule for fans via Instagram that detailed exactly what would happen at which times and where online—including a "special very chaotic surprise" at 3 a.m. ET last night.

To call what Swift is doing with this album release "online savvy" or "audience engagement" or "marketing" is to undersell it. She has, in a way, created a virtual universe in which fans can experience the launch.[...] Swift has left puzzles and secret messages for fans for more than 15 years, embedding them in her album liner notes, music videos, and social-media posts, and even (if the theories are right) in the clothing she wears. The result is a near-year-round ecosystem that's pretty much constantly bubbling away online. Fans gather in the tens of millions to obsessively dissect every move she makes. Last night, they seem to have crashed Spotify.

[...] A mass of people are gathering to participate in a large virtual world with direct ties to the real one. Talk about it enough, and it kind of starts to sound like another much-discussed concept: a metaverse. [...]

Nyce: So a couple of days ago, she posted on Instagram a video of a virtual desk. It looks like it could be something out of The Sims or something.

[...] She outlines the entire schedule for this week—where she wants people to be, what platform she wants people to be on. She's created this entire participatory schedule for her fans.

[...] She did it in some kind of a 3-D engine. [...]

[...] the fact that she's created this kind of virtual office for herself, that's—let's call it metaverse-ish, especially if she ends up using it somehow in the future. [Say] her fans come in, or she actually has her Taylor Swift avatar come in and hang out in the office.

[...] They're all flying around and dancing together because it's in the 3-D space, so you feel that sense of being there and hanging out with other people who are also fans. So that's the magic of a metaverse platform. You don't just sit back and "like" things and share things on social media. You're actually experiencing it in real time.

What she has now is a huge virtual community across basically all the social-media platforms, probably mostly Instagram and TikTok. And their universe, so to speak, or their world is based around Taylor Swift. It's not based on any one platform. They'll go wherever she goes. [,..] I would think there would be a hunger for people who follow Taylor on TikTok or whatever to do it in more of an immersive, 3-D experience.'

Taylor Swift Fandom Is Almost a True Metaverse

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 22 October 2022 - 07:32 PM

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Liquid Death Snare free for a limited time:




'An answer to the question: How big can it get?

Liquid Death worked [...] to manifest pure aggression into a snare… then (foolishly) sent one to producer Sam Pura. Known for already having some of the most colossal snare sounds, Sam then recorded over 500 samples and brought into existence the heaviest snare plugin ever released. Never again will producers wonder how they can make their drums hit harder; in fact, we put volume faders on each microphone just in case you get intimidated by the samples. Download at your own risk.'

Purafied Liquid Death™ Snare – Purafied Audio

lol...

Also free for a limited time---1903 Chickering grand piano through vintage processing (for free Kontakt Player):




The Real Piano | SASamples (straightaheadsamples.com)

[Serenity]

One of my favourite releases so far this year, so smooooth.

QiNARI - The War Before The Last Train

[QuickTidal]

Okay, Taylor Swift's whole MIDNIGHTS album is already fire start to finish....but ANTI-HERO....is probably the most personally resonant song about anxiety and mental health that I've ever heard. The lyrics speak directly to me. Fucking hell, I feel so exposed.

[Malankazooie]

Easy solution to that - shake it off

[Gorefest]

Went to see 'De Staat' again in Manchester the other week. Hands down the best live band this side of the Atlantic, no competition. I cannot believe how criminally underrated they are, it is just shocking. Best live band, best music videos, nicest guys in the world (they take time for every single fan after each concert for selfies, a chat, authographs etc), just insane how amazing they are. I cannot stop recommending them to everyone I meet.

For musical reference: they started off back in 2006 as an indie stoner/southern rock cross somewhere between Queens of the Stone Age and Muse, to then incorporate ever more elements of trance, hardcore, pop, electronics, and R&B culminating into the transcendent beast that is their current incarnation. As a self-proclaimed metalhead and indie rock fan, these guys have singlehandedly shattered every bit of music reservations I used to have about certain genres to the point where I even adore their more bizarre outputs such as Pikachu.

Damn they are so good. I honestly don't need any other music anymore, just have their whole discography on repeat continuously.

[worry]

That's funny, whenever I hear "De Staat" I can't wait for "De End".

[worry]

Just kidding, I've never heard them before.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

QuickTidal, on 28 October 2022 - 12:41 PM, said:

Okay, Taylor Swift's whole MIDNIGHTS album is already fire start to finish....but ANTI-HERO....is probably the most personally resonant song about anxiety and mental health that I've ever heard. The lyrics speak directly to me. Fucking hell, I feel so exposed.

No reference to her Wall Street Journal editorial though (no explicit reference, anyway)....

Of course, referring to herself as THE problem, instead of parts of her actions (etc.) as part of the problems, is itself a sort of in-folding of malignant narcissism....

Removing the scene where she looks at the scale and it reads 'FAT' seems to have been financially savvy---the controversy seems to have generated a lot of publicity at least.

That 'sexy baby' line is one of the best of the album---cringe, but brilliantly cringe---probably an allusion to ( / lifted from):



As Tsetse wrote, 'Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal. shanty shanty shanty'

'[Dylan] has been known for drawing freely, often brazenly, from the work of his predecessors (and occasionally his contemporaries), employing the "folk process"—through which each singer makes additions or alterations to a shared body of material—to produce work idiosyncratically his own.

[...] His whole body of work is largely concerned with the question, "Who really made this?"

The nature, the mechanics, and the meaning of creativity, especially as it pertains to music, matter a lot to him, as he makes abundantly clear with his new book, The Philosophy of Modern Song. [...]

The book is all about authorship—how singers remake songs through their performances, how listeners re-create them in their minds to suit their needs, and how Dylan can make songs of every type his own by the way he thinks and writes about them. It's a work of authorship, obviously, and at the same time a critique of, and a bit of a prank on, the idea of authorship too.

[...] For the chapter on Webb Pierce's cover of "There Stands the Glass," [...]



Dylan goes far in making the song his own, spinning a weird fictive backstory about a combat vet haunted by images of the atrocities he committed in the name of duty: "He sees a little boy two years old and he murders him, he sees his buddies slit a little girl open with a knife, strip off her clothes and rape her, then he shoots her with an automatic, his horny buddy." Told with unshakable specificity, the story doesn't have a thing to do with the song'

What Makes a Song Great, According to Bob Dylan

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 28 October 2022 - 02:24 PM

[Gorefest]

worry, on 28 October 2022 - 02:16 PM, said:

That's funny, whenever I hear "De Staat" I can't wait for "De End".

you ask, they deliver

This post has been edited by Gorefest: 28 October 2022 - 02:22 PM

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

For Samhain... free aleatory Gaelic Voices (for free Spitfire LABS player):

https://www.youtube....eature=emb_logo

'Six traditional Gaelic singers recorded inside the ruins of a 1960s seminary. Originally a training campus for catholic priests, St Peter's Seminary shut down in 1980 and fell into disrepair. In the concrete skeleton of the former chapel, the LABS team captured a small group of singers performing a captivating range of aleatoric techniques, inspired by Celtic vocal traditions.'

LABS — Gaelic Voices (spitfireaudio.com)

Also free for Halloween (for a few more days), a nice low-cpu preamp emulation/virtual saturator:




(music starts 12 seconds in)

Halloween | Acustica Audio (acustica-audio.com)

(technically they make you 'play a game' for Fire the Pump but it's ridiculously easy)

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 31 October 2022 - 05:16 PM

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Free (for a limited time) 808 drum machine virtual instrument:

'All sounds multi-sampled through a Class-A signal chain
[...]
140+ handcrafted preset kits, 1100+ built-in MIDI patterns'




With code FREEP8 at

UVI Prime 8+ - Return of a Legendary '80s Drum Machine

Also free for a limited time (and very popular among professional producers for use on drums): Soundtoys' Little Radiator saturator:




With code HOLIDAYHEAT at:

Little Radiator - Soundtoys

(limit one / customer, which implies that resale is probably permitted)

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 02 November 2022 - 03:40 PM