… Plenty of ways to say “Thank you Mom” …

 
 
From May 11th to 21st, UVI offers 4 coupons, respectively valid on 4 fantastic instruments collections.

For you to create plenty of music!

 
$50 coupon • valid on PlugSound Pro ($149) • Coupon code* : FDM_50_0dK#r ► Click here
 
$60 coupon • valid on Grand Piano Collection ($249) • Coupon code* : FDM_60_a6H%a ► Click here
 
$70 coupon • valid on IRCAM Solo Instruments ($399) • Coupon code* : FDM_70_L6M=t ► Click here
 
$80 coupon • valid on Complete Toy Museum ($499) • Coupon code* : FDM_80_7+t1y ► Click here
 
 
* Download only. Each coupon is available once per account.
 
 

Plenty of instruments … Plenty of music … Plenty of love

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

UVI PlugSound Pro

 
This famous library delivers 8 Gb of the most useful sounds you can have. It includes ALL the sounds from the award-wining PlugSound Box (with some enhanced presets like the pianos), a new Classical section providing a wide range of acoustic instruments, and a complete selection of loops and phrases car.
 
• Keyboard: Acoustic, Electric, Harpsichords, Clavinet, Church Organs, Mallets…
• Fretted: Acoustic & Eletric Guitars, Bass, Harp, Ethnic instruments…
• Drums & Percs: Acoustic, Electronic, Urban, Latin Percussions…
• Synth & co: Pads, Synth Bass, Leads, Bells, Flutes, Voices, Compostie…
• General MIDI: A complete and efficient General MIDI set up of sounds
• Orchestral: Brass, Strings, Woodwinds, Solo & Ensemble, Voices.
 
► $50 coupon code : FDM_50_0dK#r ••• Click here
 

 
 

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

UVI Grand Piano Collection

 
Grand Piano Collection features surely some of the best sounding sampled pianos in the market. True to our beliefs, we don’t think it’s about figures (like velocity, memory, number of microphones) but about feeling. A good sounding piano is a rare alchemy between the instrument, the acoustic in the recording studio, the microphones and above all, the engineer’s taste. These pianos are not our first endeavour, in fact we did sample many more, so we had the chance to see the expertise turn up.
 
Grand Piano Collection highlights five wonderful instruments :
 
• Steinway D Concert Grand
• Fazioli F278 Concert
• Erard Baby Grand Piano
• Seiler Upright Grand
• Japanese Upright
 
► $60 coupon code : FDM_60_a6H%a ••• Click here
 

 
 

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

UVI IRCAM Solo Instruments

 
In collaboration with the famous IRCAM research department, this brand new collection presents the finest solo instruments played by the most talented contemporary musicians, captured in the very best conditions to ensure maximum fidelity.
 
Violin, Viola, Cello, Contrabass, Flute in C, Oboe, Clarinet, Basson, Alto saxophone, French Horn, Trumpet, Trombone, Bass tuba, Accordion, Guitar, Harp.
 
This PRESTIGE UVI Soundcard™ not only contains the usual sounds of these sixteen wonderful instruments, but also some very rare playing techniques that you will not find anywhere else: multiphonic, aeolian, hit-on-body, buzz, crushed… Carefully programmed with expressive key-switches, each preset can be loaded and played instantaneously whatever your system.
 
► $70 coupon code : FDM_70_L6M=t ••• Click here
 

 
 

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

UVI Complete Toy Museum

 
Complete Toy Collection features tons of marvelous “ready to play” presets from more than 300 musical toys. A massive 20 GB library containing more than 21 000 samples and loops carefully recorded in 24 bit / 96 khz with the best gear on earth.
 
Includes:
 
Acoustic Toy Library : Toy Pianos, Musical Boxes, Ancient Automates, Wood and Metal Xylophones, Mini Bells, Baby Drums, Toy Guitars, Ukulele, Melodicas, Small Accordions, Harmonicas, Children Percussions, Funny Horns, Musical Gadgets, Musical Cubes, Plastic Tubes and much more.
 
Electric Toy Library : Children, Developed, Drums & FX, Mini Sampler, Musical Toys, Organ Basic, Silly, Small, Speech & Style-o-phone.
 
► $80 coupon code : FDM_80_7+t1y ••• Click here
 

 
 
 

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Right at the beginning of the post, Rob said : “If anyone is thinking that my reviews on UVI products are coming thick and fast, you’d be right. No, they’re not paying me! But they do seem to be ramping up releases of late. Maybe it’s the result of a winter spent in hibernation, ensconced in a sound proof bunker, producing instrument after instrument.”
 

What should we say … Yes Rob, yes everyone, UVI is preparing its very imminent coming-out, with a great and stylish brand new UVI website, that groups together all these brands that everyone must have been used to during all the past years (UVISoundSource for download products, UltimateSoundBank for DVD ones, UVItouch for iOS apps). All these are converting into and soon will definitely become a one and unique brand : UVI

The showtime will come up with a series of UVI new-generation products, beautifully scripted, extremely well-designed for high-quality sounds & productions, as well as intuitive tools and simple use. Gypsy Jazzy, Emulation II, Acoustic Grand Piano, F Grand 278, Electro Suite and String Machines are part of them.

Summer is coming… So is UVI!

Let’s take a closer look now at Electro Suite – our so-called “huge instrument” of Electronic Music genre. Once again, a big thanks to Rob for this inspirational review & videos !

UVI ELECTRO SUITE REVIEW

By Rob Puricelli – posted on Failed Muso blog, May 7th 2012

 
Quick access to review videos (2 parts) ► here

If anyone is thinking that my reviews on UVI products are coming thick and fast, you’d be right. No, they’re not paying me! But they do seem to be ramping up releases of late. Maybe it’s the result of a winter spent in hibernation, ensconced in a sound proof bunker, producing instrument after instrument.

Well, whatever it is, it’s bearing sumptuous fruits. This particular offering, entitled Electro Suite, is a particularly large one, weighing in at over 4GB and retailing for a cool $199 USD | €179. It works with UVI’s own UVI Workstation (which allows you to run it as a standalone instrument as well as a VSTi/AU/RTAS plugin) and MOTU’s MachFive 3 sampler. The name implies a large collection, but of what? Let’s take a look and see what our investment yields.

 
Electro Suite is billed as “a unique compilation of powerful instruments and a huge sound library – featuring construction kits, loops and single elements – exclusively dedicated to Electronic Dance Music. Simple use, rich sounds and inspiring tools” And there is no fear of UVI being pulled up under the Trades Descriptions Act as this is no lie at all. It is a huge collection of stuff. But, in typical UVI tradition, it is packaged and sorted in an incredibly intuitive way, making it easy to get results fast, but also equally rewarding for the digger, wading their way through a myriad samples & loops.
 

So, let’s start from the top !

First on the list are Construction Kits. I always shudder at that term. It smacks of amateurish teenagers assembling loops in pre-determined keys and thinking they’re the next Daft Punk or David Guetta (like the world needs another David Guetta… funnily enough, the team behind Electro Suite are the same team behind Guetta’s iOS app,ElectroBeats). So, I opened up this folder with some trepidation. What you get presented with are five further folders. These contain Drum Construction Kits, Musical Construction Kits, Elements, Loops and Samples. Select a construction kit folder, be it Drum or Musical and you are then presented with a choice of folders with names that hint at the style of the contents, along with their root BPM and key. Open these up and you can then choose an instrument that contains a selection of loops, or you can choose the Elements or Loops folder to gain access to the individual WAV samples. And this is where the kits become very useful. Find a particular element you like? Then the UVI Workstation allows you to drag and drop it outside of the application and into anything you like. So, you could drop it directly into Ableton Live, ReCycle or an audio editor. Furthermore, selecting one of these elements or loops in the UVI Workstation (I do wish they’d chosen a shorter name for it!) and you can open up an audio editor to further tweak the sound. This is a side to the instrument I had not yet seen before and it certainly was a pleasant surprise.

The Musical Construction Kits are the same, but the instrument you load up, rather than having the individual drum hits mapped across the keyboard, has three sections mapped out. One for single drum hits, one for drum loops and one for instrument loops. It’s very quick and easy to start making simple music right here. There is also a selection of controls that allow you to tweak such parameters as loop volume, filter frequency and a button marked “Xtra Power” that gives the whole sound a nice, big, fat boost. Quite how you might use all these loops is anyone’s guess. Some might use them as inspiration, delving into the elements later to construct their own, unique loops. Some might use them as a basis for a complete track. I’m no fan of this type of musical creation, but I do see how UVI have given the user carte blanche to mess around with this stuff as they see fit, and that deserves some credit.

The elements, loops & samples are sorted very neatly, ensuring quick access and speedy navigation, the samples being given their own instrument patch, with controls over amp, filter, LFO, pitch envelopes, modulations and other parameters. The depth of control is pretty awesome.

Ok, so that’s the construction kits. Next up we have the five big, sample based instruments of the package, starting off with the UES CarminePoly Synth

This is, as its name suggests, a polyphonic synth that comes with its own front panel. It contains two oscillators, each with a choice of 23 waveforms and each can be pitched across three octaves as well as coming with their own volume, tuning, pan and coarse controls. Then there’s and amp & filter section, both with velocity > Attack controls and envelopes. Then there’s an LFO section with 7 waveforms and some other tools such as Glide, Phaser, Delay & Sparkle that are applied to the entire sound. It comes with 20 useful presets, all of which are very capable sounds. But, of course, you can play around to your heart’s content and come up with your own sounds.

The UES DirtyMono is, as its name implies, a monophonic synth. Like its polyphonic brother, it has 2 VCO’s but also a Sub & Noise level control as well as filter, LFO and envelope controls. VCO 1 has a choice of 13 waveforms. But more interestingly, it has its own FX and Phraser sections. The former gives you direct control over bit crushing, delay & sparkle as well as a phaser. The Phraser is a very neat addition. Essentially, it’s a 16 step pattern sequencer with a groove and gate function. Very quickly, you can create neat little phrasings that make this synth superb for bass lines as well as leads.

From synths, we move on to drums and the UES DrumShaper. This is one of my favourite devices in the whole suite. Quite simply, you get a kick, snare, clap and hi-hats. But there is so much more to it. Basically, you get to tweak each of those, and in some detail too. For example, the kick drum. You get to choose a sample for the attack and another separate sample for the body. Each of those samples can be tweaked individually to suit. Then you can mess with the tone and volume as well as its own amplitude envelope. There are nearly 100 kick samples to choose from too. Now the snare is a whole new kettle of fish. Again, you can choose three samples to combine, with individual tuning and filtering, plus global filtering and tuning and well over 150 snare samples to choose from. The clap function is a bit more simplistic, but it still allows you to combine two clap samples and mess with their filtering and tuning on an individual level as well as globally, and then throw on some delay and sparkle. Finally, the hi-hats give you similar degrees of control for closed and open hats. It’s enough to get lost in for hours. You could become your very own version of Tears For Fears and spend 6 months getting your snare drum “just right”  And then there’s the pattern sequencing for each of these four parts. 808 style interfaces abound for all the sounds and added groove and clap shift functions. Once again, visual simplicity belies amazing depth and power.

The fourth instrument is UES Mission Control. Not so much an instrument but more of a pattern and phrase sequencer. Basically, you have six areas. Kick & Snare, Hi-Hats, Percussion, Bass and two synths. Each of these has a strip in Mission Control, with their own individual volume, pan, low & high pass filter and tune/octave settings. You can also solo or mute each element. Finally, you can pick from any of the hundreds of loops to populate each of the elements, with the combinations running into their thousands. Hitting a key on the highlighted area of the keyboard gives you the full 12 semitones, which you can also select at the top of the instrument. What seems to be quite simplistic at first, becomes very deep once you start digging in to it. A seemingly familiar characteristic of UVI instruments. I envisage this being used either as an inspiration tool or possibly a live performance tool in the right environment.

Finally, we come to the last instrument, the UES SweepMachine. Noise sweeps are a staple of many dance floor anthems and this device allows you to create your own unique noise sweep or use one of its own. You can choose from white, pink, brown, blue, violet, band, sample & hold, Rossier & Lorenz noise, add a sub noise and also a metallic effect before determining the length of the sweep in bars, using an LFO to modulate it and then feeding it through a flanger, delay and sparkle FX devices. you can create up to four sweeps and flick between them all at the click of a button. Whilst it’s a very limited device musically, it does what it sets out to do very well indeed.
 

In conclusion …

Link to the review on Failed Muso blog ► here

Official trailer & audio demos ► here

UES Mission Control tutorial ► here

Buy DVD ► here

Download ► here

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Let’s start with UES Mission Control !

Click here to view the embedded video.

______________________________________________________________________________________

 
Electro Suite includes :
 
• 5 easy-to-use instruments and tools (DrumShaper, MissionControl, DirtyMONO, CarminePoly, SweepMachine)
• a huge sounds library recorded and mastered to perfection
• ready-to-go presets from construction kits
 
Compatible with all DAW and samplers, thanks to :
 
• UVI Workstation 2.0.4 (mandatory version)
• MachFive 3
 

Create modern dance, electro and club hits you’ve ever dreamed of !
 
✓ Simple use
✓ Smart tools
✓ Powerful instruments
✓ Quick match
✓ Premium sample material
✓ Customizable sounds
 

- CREATE YOUR OWN WAY. SIMPLY YOURS -

 
Watch the original trailer and listen to other demo > here

 
Simple use, rich sounds and inspiring tools – create your own electro hits at a glance!
 

- By the makers of David Guetta’s ElectroBeats –

 
• Electro Suite download : here
 
• Electro Suite DVD : here
 
 
 

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- By the makers of David Guetta’s ElectroBeats –

 
• Electro Suite download : here
 
• Electro Suite DVD : here
 

Check out the new Electro Suite video review made by Russ Hughes.

Click here to view the embedded video.

A huge thanks to Russ Hughes for this new review!

Link to the review : http://www.pro-tools-expert.com/home-page/2012/4/4/extended-video-review-of-uvi-electro-suite.html
 

______________________________________________________________________________________

 
Electro Suite includes :
 
• 5 easy-to-use instruments and tools (DrumShaper, MissionControl, DirtyMONO, CarminePoly, SweepMachine)
• a huge sounds library recorded and mastered to perfection
• ready-to-go presets from construction kits
 
Compatible with all DAW and samplers, thanks to :
 
• UVI Workstation 2.0.4 (mandatory version)
• MachFive 3
 

Create modern dance, electro and club hits you’ve ever dreamed of !
 
✓ Simple use
✓ Smart tools
✓ Powerful instruments
✓ Quick match
✓ Premium sample material
✓ Customizable sounds
 

- CREATE YOUR OWN WAY. SIMPLY YOURS -

 
Watch the original trailer and listen to other demo > here

 
 
 

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Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

 

Accessible, expressive, fully editable, rediscover all authentic sounds used in several cult records!

PRICE : $99 • • • • • • • • Buy DVD ► here | Download ► here

11 vintage analog beasts. Reborn.

Click here to view the embedded video.

______________________________________________________________________________________

New tracks are coming up soon

______________________________________________________________________________________

 
 
Back in the 70′s, leading keyboard designers around the world attempted to reproduce orchestral string sounds through analog synthesis. The results were far from their original intent but were in no way failures. Used on countless cult records and engrained in our collective memory to this day; these ‘String Machines’ bore an analog soul on their own.
 

At UVI, we are obsessed with this, having spent countless hours working on ways to capture this analog soul and present it as an accessible, expressive, fully editable digital tool. So was born String Machines; a hybrid instrument, forged with the analog imprint of the 11 most musical string synthesizers ever built.
 
We’ve painstaking recorded thousands of samples with the very best analog and digital gear available, putting in everything we’ve learned in order to bring you this comprehensive instrument at an unbelievable price.
 
UVI String Machines is your doorway to a grand collection of analog gems from some of the most esteemed synth pioneers of our time. 
 

______________________________________________________________________________________

Features

 

 
• Authentic sounds of character reproduce the analog grunge and warmth of yesteryear.
 
• Instant access to tons of presets and preset layers; find sounds you love and get inspired quickly!
 
• Dual layers. Select the machine and the associated sounds.
 
• No loading time when switching machines and sounds.
 
• Shape your sounds using authentic analog-modeled filters, envelopes, and LFOs.
 
• Experiment with the step modulator and take your sound out of this world!
 
• Samples recorded in 24/96 khz with Prism convertors, mastered to perfection and converted to 16/44.1 kHz.
 

______________________________________________________________________________________

Compatible with all sequencers

 
 
Thanks to the free UVI Workstation 2.0.5 (mandatory version), String Machines can work:

 
• as a stand-alone instrument, compatible with Mac & PC

• as a VST, AudioUnit, RTAS and MAS plug-in. iLok required.

Thanks to MachFive 3 – make the most of all the editing features offered!
 

______________________________________________________________________________________

11 machines wonderfully grungy and full of character

Korg Poly Ensemble PE2000

Heavy synthesizer widely used by the pioneers of 70′s electronic music
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

Eko Stradivarius

Also called “the italian analog string processor”
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

Siel Orchestra

Orchestral synthesizer with 4 tweakable presets: Brass, Strings, Organ and Piano
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

Excelsior Strings Synthesizer K4

Pretty rare string keyboard, introduced in 1975 by Elettronica Excelsior of Castelfidardo
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

Logan String Melody

Pure string synthesizer with great sound and three basic sounds: ‘Violin’, ‘Viola’ and ‘Cello’
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

Crumar Performer

Solid and fully polyphonic analog Strings and Brass machine 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

Elka Rhapsody

Violin, Cello and Strings with that classic and unique shimmering ensemble effect
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

Solina String Ensemble

No doubt, this is THE String Machine
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

Yamaha SS30

Dual-oscillator classic string synthesizer full of wood
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

ROLAND RS-505

Very famous machine combining strings, a basic polysynth and a bass section 
 
 
 

ROLAND VP-330

Known as a vocoder, it contains excellent sounding strings and choirs.
 
 
 
 

______________________________________________________________________________________
 
 

Available now

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A big thanks to Rob Puricelli for this great review!
 
 
Link to the full review > here
 
• Emulation II download > here
 
• Emulation II DVD > here
 

In January of this year, UVI released Emulation II and Drumulation.

 
Available for their UVI Workstation format, these two instruments strive to give us not only the sounds, but also a good degree of control over the library. It’s worth pointing out here that the UVI Workstation is a free application from UVI that functions as a standalone application for Mac & PC, or as a VST/AU/RTAS/MAS plugin. So any library released for it can be used as such. Unlike some sample library hosts, it affords the user a unique user interface as well as a set of tweaks and FX such as Delays, Reverbs, Modulations, Filters, EQ and a lot, lot more.
 
Load up your instrument, click on the FX section and select from a massive range of sound shaping tools, filling up your FX rack and giving you plenty of tweaking options. It’s a very powerful thing. It also allows you to layer patches and you can add FX to either the overall patch or just the individual layers, each of which can be assigned to any one of the 16 standard MIDI channels, as well as up to four MIDI controller devices. It’s perfectly conceivable to have four keyboard players playing the one instance of the UVI Workstation. And it’s not long before you start to get deep behind its simple interface. There’s also a very powerful arpeggiator included that has a myriad possibilities and levels of interaction and control.
 
 

 
But that’s enough about the shell. What about Emulation II itself? Well, first up, let’s look at the lovely UI. It’s clearly modelled on an Emulator II’s front panel with matching fonts, colours and even textures. But that’s where it ends. The only thing on Emulation’s panel that is on an Emulator II’s panel is the word “Filter”. Emulation gives us an Amplitude Envelope (ADSR) along with a couple of switches to switch off velocity sensitivity and enable a Velocity > Attack mode which shortens the attack of the Amp Envelope the harder you hit the key. The Filter section has it’s own ADSR sliders as well as it’s own Vel > Atk switch plus Cutoff, Q & Envelope Depth rotary controls. To the right of the UI, there is a Stereo section.
 
This is quite a nice little feature as it has a cross-fader that goes from Off to Unison, with Alternating in the middle. This allows you to play some nice stereo spacial tricks and the Colour, Spread and Tune rotaries allow you to affect the quality of the resulting output. The Modwheel section allows you to assign Vibrato, Tremolo and Filter settings to the Mod Wheel. You can have any combination of these switched on, each with their own rate or depth controls. Below this is the Effects section, not to be confused with the UVI Workstation’s own native FX. This section gives you a Phaser, Delay and Reverb, all with their own mix level rotaries. Again, like the Modwheel section, you can have any combination of these turned on or off. Finally, the Bit Crusher section does just that. Turn it on and the Bit rotary goes from very low bit to very high with additional controls for frequency and drive. Always useful for those looking for squeezing a dirty, gritty sound out of the instrument.
 
So, that then leaves us with the samples themselves. UVI Workstation libraries come in their own, proprietary monolithic format .ufs files. It is only from within the UVI Workstation that you can see what you have. And you have a lot. Navigating the patch browser shows you the main categories which feature everything from Bass, Drums, Synths and Strings to Fretted Instruments, Mallets, World and FX’s. Each of these sections contain a good deal of patches but be warned, if you’re looking for a library that is catalogued and laid out like an Emulator II, you’ll be disappointed. In fact, there aren’t too many EII patch names to be seen here. But fear not. Flicking through the library is like navigating through a deconstructed Pet Shop Boys album! So many familiar sounds and so many memories contained therein.
 

I think the first thing worth mentioning here is the quality of the overall sound.

 
Quite often, sample libraries that contain Fairlight or Emulator sounds lack the fullness, the depth or body of the real thing. Not so here.
 
These samples are very much full range and there is a lot of substance to them.
There is definite power in there. The one surprising thing is how well UVI have taken these sounds and crafted them into contemporary sounding patches, some 250+ of them. Sure, many of them are firmly rooted in the 80′s, but it doesn’t take much tweaking before you have something all of your own. Start layering these sounds and it’s not long before you have some hugely impressive and chest rattling noises coming from your monitors. What is also interesting is that there are sounds in here that clearly weren’t part of the EII library but were from the same era but now you have them in an environment with lots of manipulation abilities. There is a lot here to keep you occupied and plenty here to construct full blown pieces with just this instrument alone.
 

 

And as if that wasn’t enough, Emulation II now comes with Drumulation at no extra cost.

 
This is, as you’d expect, a nod to the E-MU Drumulator and works as a great complement to the Emulation II. Once loaded, you’re presented with another similarly effective UI that gives you two 16 step sequencers, each with their own Mute, Pan, Volume, Tune, High/Low Pass filters and a choice of two levels of accent. Each of these sequencers has a voice allocated to it and underneath them, there are 4 buttons that allow you to have four unique pairs of sequencers, giving you 8 individual sequences to play with. Once again, behind an apparently simple interface, a nice level of power and complexity is revealed. Each of the eight voice slots is also mapped to your keyboard along with a non-latching start/stop loop trigger at C3. If you want to latch the start stop, you just press the Run/Stop button at the top of the UI. It’s missing things like groove or swing functions, but clever use of the UVI Workstation’s arpeggiator can get around this. You have 21 preset kits to play with, or you can create your own from over 500 drum samples provided. This is a very neat addition, and incredibly welcome as it is free!
 

 

So, is this one of the best Emulator emulations out there? I’d have to say yes.

 
Why? Well, the content has been sampled and programmed incredibly well but coupling it with the great user interfaces makes it even more compelling. It is simple, unfussy, yet every button, slider or rotary does something noticeably useful. And it’s all so easy on the eye too. UVI have retained the simplicity of the interface from the machines they are aping here but at the same time, have delivered a contemporary instrument whose sounds and looks fit in to this very day. The purists might question the lack of an original EII library structure, but trust me, the second you start playing through some of these patches, you see straight past that and get lost in the heady air of nostalgia. Are there any downsides? Well, it’s not that cheap. Certainly, for the money, you can get bigger libraries, but not with the attractive and functional UI. I think the ease of use alone justifies some of that price tag. Speaking of the UI regarding the library, one thing I have been spoilt with in Reason is the preview function when it comes to selecting sounds. I appreciate that it takes time to open up each patch, but I prefer to be able to preview patches before finally loading them up. By no means a deal breaker though. Emulation II & Drumulation are iLok protected, so if you don’t have one of those, that’ll be another £35-£40 to factor in to the cost. And at a whopping 4.7GB, it’s not a lightweight and you’ll need a good, solid internet connection to download it all. Worth noting that it is also available on DVD.
 
One thing I am quite curious of, and I have posed this question directly to UVI, is the potential for the UVI Workstation, and therefore its libraries, to be adapted to fit the new Propellerhead Rack Extension plug in format. The size and layout of the UI seems perfectly proportioned to fit into Reason’s rack. Can you imagine an Emulator-esque instrument with CV patching capabilities? That’s a bit mouthwatering If I hear anything back, I’ll be sure to update you
 
I’m an Emulator fan. I’m an 80′s fan. I’m also a big lover of simple yet powerful interfaces that support the creative process, not hinder it. If you plonk me in front of an over elaborate, beautifully scripted interface, I’ll marvel at it’s beauty but will be stumped by the complexity. I’m here to make music with sounds. I want power and control but I don’t want to read a 6 inch think manual or require a degree to operate it. I want clear, attractive controls, simple intuitive navigation and above all else, superb sonics and patches that inspire. On all these counts, Emulation II, and it’s free drum based partner, is a hands down winner.
 
Now, for the first time, take a look at what I’ve been playing with as I present the first of hopefully many accompanying videos to the reviews and articles I post here. Hope you enjoy it
 

Click here to view the embedded video.

Check Rob Puricelli’s blog out > www.failedmuso.com
 
 
 
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UVI Instruments have just released an entirely free instrument for their UVI Workstation player. Based on the Roland EP-09, a simple four voiced keyboard with a basic arpeggiator, Analogic Piano 09 is a good looking, simple to use if somewhat limited instrument, given extra value by the additional free content in the UVI Workstation.
 

Each and any of the four voices – two different electric pianos and two harpsichords – can be used in conjunction with each other to get a unique timbre, but there’s not a great deal of science here; press buttons until you get a tone you like and you’re done.
 
The sounds lend themselves very well to lo-fi, almost chiptune styled (need an instrument for our recent assignment?) aesthetic – the expressiveness through playing is pretty much limited to volume, and they’re by no means go-to sounds for electric piano or harpsichord.
 
That said the harpsichord sounds are somewhat ‘truer’ and AP09 does make a fairly good stab at them, but the whole point of this instrument is to give some character to your productions rather than fidelity.
 

 
On top of the arpeggiator, voices, sustain and tuning options present on the actual EP-09, the AP09 integrates some of the functions of the UVI Workstation system and allows you to dial in chorus, delay, and reverb – all of which are basic single knob effects that go from fully dry to fully wet – as well as a ‘speaker’ switch for speaker or amp emulation and allow you to very quickly dial in some spice to your sound.
 

More interesting are the pages that are actually part of the workstation rather than the instrument itself. You can load in additional effects and use the very well featured arpeggiator that’s built into the UVI Workstation, and there’s real sonic potential in the free effects that are included as standard, not to mention the myriad options available in the arp, which also includes a step sequencer with adjustable volume on each step.
 
I did notice a little more crackling than I would expect from the sound engine in the UVI Workstation, even using it on multiple cards to test, but it tended to be when mashing as many keys as possible to see how far I could take it. It would be preferable to have an easy to find polyphony selector to make sure you stay in the realms of your capabilities, though.
 
[...]
 

Click here to view the embedded video.

 
 
 
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Due to popular demand, here again a 50%* off on Complete Toy Museum. During 10 days, from April 17^th to 27^th, enjoy this extravagant collection at $299 only. Save up to $300 this summer!

► on DVD : click here

► for download : click here
 

 

Complete Toy Museum features tons of marvellous “ready-to-play” presets from more than 300 musical toys. A massive 20 GB library containing 21 000+ samples and loops, carefully recorded in 24 bit / 96 kHz with the best sounding gear. It includes :

• Acoustic Toy Museum | $349

• Electric Toy Museum | $249

Click here to view the embedded video.

+ Acoustic Toy Museum | $349

Several passionate owners of musical toy collections gave us access to very rare and sometimes very old musical toys. Even a famous museum opened its doors to our insane sound design team.

The result is a flashy selection of inspiring instruments ready to play with: Toy Pianos, Musical Boxes, Ancient Automates, Wood and Metal Xylophones, Mini Bells, Baby Drums, Toy Guitars, Ukulele, Melodicas, Small Accordions, Harmonicas, Children Percussions, Funny Horns, Musical Gadgets, Musical Cubes, Plastic Tubes and much more.

Loops and phrases are also included for instruments like old music boxes; and let’s not forget the Baby Drums and Toy Guitar sections that were played by skilful musicians in top-grade studios.

+ Electric Toy Museum | $249

Every aspect of each of the 97 electric machine has been captured : multi-sampled instruments with release samples for every note, rhythms converted into sliced loops, GM drum kits created, FX and speech voices carefully organized … You will feel like having all these toys right under your fingertips.

These jewels’ character come from their acoustic assembling and the “cheap” speakers they use. To capture the essence of them, we did sample them in a superb sounding studio room. We took the time to find the right microphone for the right machine, then recorded every note and every sound possible (including release samples, key clicks, etc.), we also did record drum loops or instrument loops.

After editing this huge amount of sounds, we did finalize by trying to find the best way to organize the collection in 10 categories: Children, Developed, Drums & FX, Mini Sampler, Musical Toys, Organ Basic, Silly, Small, Speech & Style-o-phone.

*The price listed is based on the total of Acoustic Toy Museum ($349) and Electric Toy Museum ($249)

 
 
 
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- By the makers of David Guetta’s ElectroBeats –

 
• Electro Suite download : here
 
• Electro Suite DVD : here
 


 
Includes :
 
• 5 easy-to-use instruments and tools (DrumShaper, MissionControl, DirtyMONO, CarminePoly, SweepMachine)
• a huge sounds library recorded and mastered to perfection
• ready-to-go presets from construction kits
 
Compatible with all DAW and samplers, thanks to :
 
• UVI Workstation 2.0.4 (mandatory version)
• MachFive 3
 

Create modern dance, electro and club hits you’ve ever dreamed of !
 
✓ Simple use
✓ Smart tools
✓ Powerful instruments
✓ Quick match
✓ Premium sample material
✓ Customizable sounds
 

- CREATE YOUR OWN WAY. SIMPLY YOURS -

 
Watch the original trailer and listen to other demo > here