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Notion Music Releases Progression 2.0 Guitar Software

Latest version features cross platform compatibility between desktop and iPad versions


NOTION Music has announced the release of its latest composition software for guitar, bass and drums,Progression 2.0. They tell us that the original Progression redefined the capabilities of guitar tab software, and now Progression 2.0 leads the industry with an even more intuitive interface, compatibility between desktop and iPad, and great playback featuring real guitar samples performed by guitarist Neil Zaza, bass samples by Victor Wooten, and drum samples by Roy "Futureman" Wooten.

Progression 2.0 allows users to work on multiple platforms, with compatibility between Progression for iPad and desktop computers. Musicians can begin a composition on their desktop, make on-the-go edits via iPad, and then bring the project back to the desktop for final editing. With Progression 2.0, musicians have the freedom to work where and when they want.

Jim Boitnott, Notion Music President/CEO, told us, "We are very proud to be able to create and release a product as terrific as Progression at this very affordable price point, it's a great solution for songwriters and guitarists. A powerful tool that fits into their workflow while allowing compatibility with the Progression for iPad app."

Notion Music says that Progression 2.0 makes it easy to create your own guitar tab, lead sheets, and standard sheet music complete with an audio track of your own, and enables you to hear these compositions come to life with astonishingly real sounding samples of guitar, bass, drums and more. Essential professional features such as native 64-bit support, interactive entry tools, sequencer overlay, MIDI record/input and step-time entry allow for multiple quick and convenient ways to compose music in Progression 2.0.

Progression 2.0 Features and Enhancements:
*Write Tab and Notation
*Automatic Updating Between Tab and Notation Staff
*Record or Enter Music from a MIDI Guitar or Keyboard
*Supports Custom Tab and Alternate Tunings
*Supports 7-String Guitar and 5-String Bass
*Interactive Fretboard, Keyboard and Drum Pad
*Native 64-Bit Support (Mac and PC)
*ReWire 64-bit (Host and Slave)
*VST Compatibility
*Sequencer Staff and Sequencer Overlay
*Built-in Amp Simulator
*Integrated Audio Mixer
*Import MIDI, MusicXML, Guitar Pro Files (3-5)
*Export Audio, MIDI, MusicXML
*Save Directly to SoundCloud
*Compatibility with Notion 4.0
*Compatibility with both Notion and Progression iPad Products

Pricing and Availability:
Progression 2.0 is available for the introductory street price of $49 USD.

More information:
Notion Music

New Kronos Sounds

Kid Nepro releases Dark Energy For MS-20 and Polysix Synth Engines


Kid Nepro's first collection of sounds for the Kronos MS-20 and Polysix Synth Engines is now available. Korg Kronos Volume #5 - Dark Energy is described as an assortment of fully KARMA-fied Programs and Combis with a hard edge, in your face, aggressive analog synth sounds. New analog basses, leads, pads, super synths and cool rhythms using the Polysix arpeggiator and Kronos step sequencer.

Kid Nepro told Sonic State, "Pump Up Your Kronos with Dark Energy!! The new sound library includes a wide assortment of classic analog synth sounds. A new mix on all the sounds that these two vintage synths are capable of, along with a cool assortment of modern 21st century patches that will spice up your Kronos and give you some new ideas for your next track".

Pricing and Availability:
$39 USD

More information:
http://www.kidnepro.com/KN/Korg/Kronos/korg-kronos-v5.html

Elektron Post More Analog Four Sounds, Video

Lets have a listen then...


So far the release of the Elektron Analog Four - their new analog four voice synthesizer, has been rather enigmatic.

Clearly someone in the company has a love of film-making and science fiction references with the Hector video posted last week.

Now we're getting a little more meat and substance. Firstly, we have a more detailed look at the unit with this video.

More Information
Elektron.se

Boss Loop Station World Championship 3

Super Tall Paul Newman Grabs the Title at the 2012 U.S. Finals


BOSS Corporation U.S. recently held the U.S. National Finals for the Loop Station World Championship 3, its annual international competition for looping musicians. Seven talented artists competed at Musicians Institute in Hollywood, CA, on October 20, 2012, with Super Tall Paul Newman coming out on top as the U.S. Champion. The victory earned him $3,000 in BOSS gear, plus the honor to represent the United States at the world finals during the 2013 Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA.

The U.S. looping finalists performed before a live audience and a panel of celebrity judges, including Billy Idol guitarist and Camp Freddy founder Billy Morrison; TAXI founder Michael Laskow; noted keyboardist and Chair of the Keyboard Program at MI Lisa Harriton; and BOSS/Roland guitar product manager Gary Lenaire. The event was also streamed live on the web on GuitarTV.com, with viewers offering real-time comments via Twitter.

Now in its third year, the BOSS Loop Station World Championship provides an opportunity for BOSS loop artists to showcase their musical talents on a global stage. Competitions are held in many different countries around the world, with the national winners going on to compete with each other at the international finals.

The seven U.S. finalists were chosen from hundreds of video submissions received by BOSS during the summer of 2012. Each performed an original composition by singing, playing various instruments, and creating live loops with a BOSS RC-series Loop Station product.

With an eclectic, spirited performance that featured beatboxing, ukulele, sax, flute, nose whistle, singing, and dancing, the Hollywood-based Newman won over the judges to grab the top spot. Second Place honors and $2,000 is BOSS gear went to Belgin Urgusu (aka DJ Berlin) of Baltimore, MD, while Third Place and $1,000 in BOSS gear went to Steven Cantor (aka HeaveN Beatbox) from Alpharetta, GA.

The other finalists included Vox Machina ("Mister Tim" Jones and Matt Murphy) of Longmont, CO; Robert Williamson of Dublin, GA; and Danny Watson of Cincinnati, OH.

In addition to seeing some unique and impressive looping performances, the in-house live audience had the opportunity to participate in a random drawing, with many members winning valuable BOSS and Roland gear throughout the evening.

Gary Lenaire, BOSS/Roland Guitar Product Manager, told Sonic State, "All seven contestants were amazing. Now Super Tall Paul Newman is off to the international finals in January 2013."

More information:
www.BOSSUS.com/LoopStation

Genelec Introduces New Smart Active Monitor Concept

SAM Speaker systems adapt automatically and flexibly to their acoustical environments


SAM the Adaptable Chameleon

Genelec has introduced its new Smart Active Monitor (SAM) concept. As part of a new streamlined marketing effort, Genelec has folded its line of DSP monitors under the SAM classification, which now includes all Genelec monitors with a 82xx product name (for instance, the award-winning 8260A Tri-Amplified DSP Monitor System). Models in the SAM range are capable of automatically adapting to acoustical environments to offer an indispensable tool for sound professionals in broadcasting, post production, music studios and more. A SAM system can be controlled with digital networking, enabling users to build highly flexible computer-controlled systems of monitors.

Dr. Aki V. Mäkivirta, Genelec Research and Development Manager,told Sonic State, "Smart Active Monitoring is a concept that bundles all the benefits of Genelec's advanced monitoring systems to a single, easily understandable and descriptive term. SAM is also a concept that describes perfectly the current technology leap pioneered by Genelec in the evolution of the active monitoring loudspeaker – the transition from the analog to the digital world, where digital technologies, along with software features, increase quality and bring unique user experiences to the customers, and enable seamless integration of monitoring speakers and subwoofers to a well-calibrated and correctly aligned reproduction system. At Genelec, we believe that progress towards Smart Active Monitors will open a new era in the development of the audio monitoring industry."

The acoustical features of SAMs can be optimized with automatic calibration for different working styles or client demands. Such adaptations include aligning levels at the listening position, adjusting delays from the signal input to the listening location, and compensating for the acoustical room influences in the frequency responses (equalization). One of these proprietary tools is AutoCal™, Genelec´s acoustic calibration solution that is supplied alongside the Genelec Loudspeaker Management software package, GLM. SAM effectively reflects the most advanced monitoring system features available in the audio industry. The capabilities of SAMs are also future-proof and can be increased later with software upgrades both in the monitoring speakers themselves and in the system management software.

Will Eggleston, Genelec USA Marketing Director, told us, "The SAM launch marks the beginning of a new era in audio monitoring for Genelec, thanks to the rise of digital technology and evolving market expectations about the possibilities of audio monitors. Also, designers of systems have shown that digital monitors have some notable capabilities beyond the analog realm. SAM embodies the shift from the analog to the digital world, looking at increasing sound quality and the listening experience of the user while allowing the integration of monitors and subs into a correctly aligned reproduction system."

Using GLM software and AutoCal™, a monitor can be turned into the reference it needs to be in today's demanding environment for engineers. This improves performance and not only helps the user to achieve a flat frequency response at listening position but also handles phase alignment in between monitors and subwoofer and not least time-of-flight compensation, the latter of high importance when retro-fitting systems in existing rooms where equal distance between all monitors and listening position may not be possible to respect.

In addition to the traditional building blocks of an active monitoring speaker, SAMs contain the following building blocks:
Digital signal processing of the audio signal instead of traditional analog filtering, making SAMs very flexible and precise.
Control networking, enabling SAMs to form a seamless reproductions system, fully controllable at the main listening position.
Acoustical measurement system, enabling multipoint measurements of acoustical environment at the listening area.
Sophisticated automatic system calibration algorithm, enabling SAMs to adapt to their acoustic environments and to be integrated as a full reproduction system.
Graphical User Interface, enabling users to interact with all components of the monitoring system and to customize the system to best fit to the environments and applications.

Pricing and Availability:
See retailer.

More information:
Genelec

Review: Kemper Profiling Amp

Sampling the soul of your favourite amps


I first saw a prototype version of the Kemper Profiling Amp last year, I must admit that at that time I could barely believe my eyes and ears. At that point it wasn’t available as a product, and Kemper were trying to show off their toy and build up buzz about it.

My immediate thought at this time was that there was something I was missing, the technology seemed incredibly accurate, nothing else on the market was even close to it.

But when I learned more about how the technology worked, it made perfect sense, and it became pretty clear that there would be one of these things in almost every recording studio in the world within a few years.

When I finally managed to get my hands on the Kemper Profiling Amp, I wanted to put it through its paces and find out exactly what it can do. The problem is, it can so much stuff that I could only cover the bare essentials in this video.

The profiling aspect of the amp is what everybody wants to know about. Pedals and amps are the main things you might want to profile, the idea is that if you’ve got a big pedal rig or a decent amp collection, you can store all the sounds in the Kemper rather than having to lug everything around.

Due to the way the Kemper profiles an amp, once it has measured the characteristics, the profiled version of the amp should react in the same way to parameter changes as the original. For example, the treble knob on the Kemper should affect the tone of the sampled sound in much the same way as on the original amplifier.

I found this to be pretty accurate with my Egnater Rebel 20 and Gibson BR9. In fact, my Gibson BR9 is an old lap steel amp, so it doesn’t even have a gain stage or any EQ knobs. Using the Kemper I can profile the clean sound of the amp, and then use the extra parameters at my disposal to do a bit more with that sound.

Obviously the digital sounds of the Kemper don’t come close to my old little Gibbo, but it’s incredibly useful.

On the Egnater it does a remarkable job, I was genuinely impressed at just how close it managed to match the amp. Good effort there, particularly impressive was that lack of mid range fuzz in the high gain distortion sounds, which is eternally a problem with digital stuff.

Sampling An Amplifier

So if you’re wondering how the Kemper actually goes about profiling an amplifier, it’s not too difficult a concept to grasp.

Imagine you have a Vox AC30, you set it up next to them Kemper, and you will also need a jack cable, XLR lead and a microphone (preferable an SM57 or similar). From the send socket of your Kemper, you plug the jack lead into the input of your AC30, then you set the mic up in front of the speaker cone on the AC30 and plug the microphone into the ‘XLR in’ slot of the Kemper.

Then your Kemper sends a range of odd sounds down the send cable and into your AC30, the AC30 then plays these sounds out of its speaker, and the microphone listens to them, sending the signal back to the Kemper.

By measuring the signature of the return sound against the signature of the original sound, the Kemper can emulate the frequency response of your AC30, and then create a patch for it on the amp.

Obviously I’ve made it sound FAR more simple than it actually is, but that’s the gist of it. Once you’ve profiled your amplifier (or effects pedal) with the Kemper you can then choose to refine the sound. This means you can play some chords through your original amplifier and the Kemper Profiling Amp will have another listen and make any adjustments necessary, what’s more, using the tube shape parameter on the Kemper, you can adjust this setting to make the profile sound more like the tube response of your original amp.

In the words of the guys at Kemper:

“Power amp tubes generate a different type of overtone structure than preamp tubes. They distort with a harsher sound, because the negative feedback in the power amp circuit linearizes the tube amplification.

“This makes the distortion curve edgier. If you notice in the A/B comparison that the reference amp produces more high frequency distortion when light distortion is applied, you should set the “Tube Shape” parameter to about 9.0, to get the same behavior from the profile.”

The folks at Kemper have really engineered something brilliant here, I think that in a decade’s time we’ll look back and wonder how studios ever coped without it, that’s how important I think it will become.

Imagine you are running a studio and you are recording a different band every week, each with different gear. You can sample the gear of each and every band you work with, and then offer those sounds to the next band that comes in.

Also, using the KPA, when a band is recording you record both an amplifier and a clean signal, then send the clean signal back through the KPA to re-amp it and mess about with it until you have it perfect, it’s essentially an entire computer dedicated as a production suite for guitars.

I’m not convinced about the gigging capabilities, I like to have a stack on stage for a number of reasons, none of which are based on science, but it gets to a point where soul becomes more important to me than science and I love the bond I have with my amp on stage and I love feeling its raw power behind me.

That said, there is technically no reason why this won’t be great on stage, as long as if you’re putting it through a cab you don’t have the cab emulation on, and if you’re putting it through the mixer then you’re placing a lot of trust in the sound guy.

It must be reiterated (if you don’t already know this from my various reviews) that I’m a bit of stick in the mud when it comes to digital gear. I love valve amps and I love analogue pedals, so that fact that I’d be willing to marry off the Kemper staff to my first born daughter is testament to just how much I love what they’ve done.

Seriously, get your hands on one, try one out, and make the decision for yourself. For the price, I really do think it’s a solid investment.

Price
£1299 / €1550/ $2025 List

Available now
http://kemper-amps.com/

Black Cat OD Boost Pedal Is A Stroke of Genius

Simplicity is still King in the world of pedals


A teaser photo of the prototype of the forthcoming Black Cat OD-Boost pedal

Genius effects pedals usually come in two forms: the complex algorithm-laden digital pedals such as the Eventide series stomps; or the small analog pedals born of one great utilitarian idea and a beautiful sonic footprint.

We can't really say much about the sonic footprint of the Black Cat OD-Boost pedal yet, as it hasn't been released, but we can say a lot about the concept of the pedal, which is genius.

Black Cat Pedals recently posted a teaser picture of the prototype online, which reveals a lot about the pedal.

The idea of the Black Cat OD-Boost has actually been around for some time, but it has never been available to the open market. It was actually a custom pedal made for one gentlemen named Brad Scott, who is the source of this simple genius.

You see, the Black Cat OD-Boost pedal has two stomp switches. The first is an overdrive stage, controlled by the drive knob on the left-hand side, and the second is a boost stage, controlled by the boost knob on the right-hand side.

The idea of blending boost and distortion on one pedal is nothing particularly new, in fact, we did it with our custom Sonic Amped NoiseKick FX pedal, but there is one small addition which makes this pedal all the more useful.

This addition comes in the form of a toggle switch on the Black Cat OD-Boost, which toggles the order of the circuit. You can either choose to have the boost before the overdrive stage, or after the overdrive stage.

Sounds simple, but switching the order of the boost and the overdrive does more than just to offer a range of tonal options. By placing the boost after the overdrive, and pushing the boost knob past 3 o'clock, you can overdrive the tone further and add volume in one press of a switch.

By placing it before the distortion, you can boost the signal without distorting it further. Giving a clean signal boost for stepping up volumes in solos.

But here's the fun part, by lowering the level of the boost (so that it actually acts as a volume cut), and placing it before the distortion, it actually cuts the level of distortion (provided the unity value of the pot is set to around 12 o'clock, which we would hope would be the case).

This means you can activate a clean sound by hitting the boost stomp (which would actually be a cut, not a boost) and keeping the distortion stage running constantly.

Switching the boost off would then activate your distortion, this means the boost stage is only ever really being used for volume changes and for reducing the level of distortion, and not for adding to and colouring the distortion sound, as it would be when placed after the overdrive stage.

This is very handy if you have a single channel amplifier with a beautiful clean sound.

Alternatively you could set the boost after the distortion and lower the boost value so that it acts as a volume cut for the distortion sound.

This means you can have your amp setting on clean for rhythm and chords. Then kick in the boost (cut) stage and distortion stage together to activate a distortion sound for rhythms, and then switch the boost (cut) off to kick into a solo.

Doing things the way we have described them above keeps your cuts and boosts clean without colouring the sound, which is really important for some people.

So this pedal gives you the option of using the boost after the overdrive stage to colour your sound by increasing overdrive (as well as increasing volume), or just using it before the overdrive stage to play with volume and overdrive levels without colouring the sound.

Simple, but genius. Well done Black Cat and Brad Scott.

Win a Kurt Cobain and Johnny Marr Signature Jaguar

It's the year of the Jaguar, so grab yourself Jag

Fender Kurt Cobain Jaguar


Fender Johnny Marr Jaguar


Fender 50th Anniversary Jaguar


It's the 50th anniversary of the Fender Jaguar, the guitar that originally set the world of surf rock on fire, before making a comeback in the 1990s grunge era due to the sheer number of the guitars cheaply available in pawn shops.

To celebrate the Jaguar guitar's 50th anniversary this year, Fender are giving away a trio of new Jaguar models to three lucky winners.

One winner will receive a 50th Anniversary Jaguar, one winner will receive a Kurt Cobain Jaguar and one winner will receive a Johnny Marr Jaguar.

This competition is open to a number of countries throughout the world, go to the Fender competition page to enter.

Introducing Soundslice: Invaluable New Collaborative Learning Tool For Guitarists

Youtube and tab, combined, and open sourced


There are two decent, and free, resources for tuition online. You can either go to Youtube and watch a tuition video (or even just listen to the song and work it out for yourself), or you can find the tab of the song and work it out from that.

Of course with Skype, Google hangouts, and various tuition websites, there are further options, but Youtube and Tab are certainly the most accessible options.

A new website called Soundslice combines both of these methods, Youtube videos can be uploaded onto the site, and users can then upload tab to run alongside the video in realtime, which can also be played in halftime.

The tab system currently works in a similar way to a resource such as Ultimate Guitar, where a user uploads the tab for the specific song. But unlike Ultimate Guitar, Soundslice will only ever have one tab per song.

Two options are currently being considered: the first is a Wikipedia type model where tabs can be added to and edited by anybody, and a moderater will decide whether to keep the new changes or revert to the old ones; the second is a model where everybody will own their own data, but will receive pull requests for shares.

At the moment, an unpaid membership will get you access to Youtube videos with tabs running alongside in real time, but there are plans for a paid membership structure which would allow you to upload your own tracks (rather than doing it through Youtube embeds), and an improved 'slow-down' function.

The method for adding tabs is actually a revelation in its own right, seriously user-friendly for guitarists who might not be trained musicians. Drag the note onto the relevant string, and then simply choose the fret number. This puts Soundslice somewhere in between Guitar Pro and Ultimate Guitar on a scale of the complexity of the tab.

Go to the Soundslice website for a demo of how the software works, and watch this space, as we'll have a full review of the website coming soon.