Music Production

Game Music, Music Production, Software

Get Your Complete Video Game Sample Set with Super Audio Cart

June 8, 2016 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Get Your Complete Video Game Sample Set with Super Audio Cart Share this

Impact Soundworks has been busy recently in creating the perfect sample library for the retro game music enthusiast; Super Audio Cart! Eight years in the making, Super Audio Cart aims to be the go-to sample library for both retro game music composers and hobbists.

The most complete set of classic video game samples ever produced. Features seven legendary systems from the 70s to early 90s, unparalleled accuracy, and a powerful synth engine to transform them into a limitless variety of modern sounds.

The library features sample from the NES, SNES, GB, 2600, C64, SMS, GEN and over 1,000 presets to be used with Kontakt and recorded with actual console hardware.

“Super Audio Cart is without doubt the best plugin for all your chiptune needs, it’s got the lot and they’re all glorious!! Having all these authentic sounds in one place is the best idea since someone said, ‘Let’s put a rap in Donkey Kong’ … oh wait.” – Grant Kirkhope (Donkey Kong 64, GoldenEye, Banjo-Kazooie)

Super Audio Cart can be purchased for $149.00 with various tutorials already being released by Impact Soundworks to help introduce the basics of the new software to new and seasoned music creators alike.
Experimental, Music Production

Update: Wipeout Remix Album Delayed to July

May 16, 2016 | Shawn Sackenheim | Comments Off on Update: Wipeout Remix Album Delayed to July Share this

Previously in the saga of Tim Wright’s Wipeout remix album, the original release date had slipped from late March into late April thanks to an intercontinental relocation for the composer and his family. Now that it’s mid-May and we still haven’t seen a release he’s issued another update detailing the woes of creating a physical product largely on his own.

“Doing these physical projects is a bit like giving birth I think. The reason mothers even consider having more than one child, given that it’s painful beyond belief, is because the human brain doesn’t actually remember pain that well, or so I read somewhere. In effect, the fun of having children outweighs the trauma and 9 months of feeling like you swallowed a beach ball.”

Yikes. The labor pains for Ch’illout” have been brought on by complications with the fulfillment company that’s pressing the 2-disc album and its accompanying mini-poster. A staff change has caused further delays on top of a renegotiated quote, increasing the cost as Wright puts it, “close to profitless”. He’s not increasing the price for those who pre-ordered the album but the situation has forced him to change his plans.

On the bright side, he’s taking the extra time to create even more tracks on top of the original fourteen and the whole album will be released digitally on Bandcamp ahead of schedule. Anyone who pre-ordered the physical album will also get a code to grab the digital version and there’ll be a period of exclusivity before it’s released to the general public.

Wright is clearly holding back some disdain for the fulfillment company in his email update which I won’t quote in full here. Suffice to say, he’s talking to other companies to see if they may be able to press and ship the album ahead of its new ETA in July. As a parting consolation he’s shared another sample from the album bringing us all 30 seconds closer to the eventual release.
Chip Music, Game Music, Music Production, Reviews

Rytmik Ultimate: A Powerful Tool for Creating and Sharing Your Own Electronic Music (Review)

February 27, 2016 | Sebastian Urrea | Comments Off on Rytmik Ultimate: A Powerful Tool for Creating and Sharing Your Own Electronic Music (Review) Share this

Rytmik Ultimate is a new app from developer CINEMAX for creating and sharing your own music. Available now for Nintendo 3DS, iPad, and Windows (through Steam), it’s a music workstation that provides a library of sounds to work with and gives you a wide range of tools and settings to customize and tweak everything to your own liking. You can use it to write your own music, create covers and arrangements of your favorite tunes, or even to create music clips or tracks for use in your other works or performances. Read on to learn more!

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Game Music, Music Production, Reviews

Street Fighter II The Definitive Soundtrack (Review)

December 26, 2015 | Shawn Sackenheim | 6 Comments Share this

What is Brave Wave’s Street Fighter II The Definitive Soundtrack? It isn’t a remix album and it isn’t necessarily a new arrangement of the music, although you could easily be convinced otherwise. It’s the first in the label’s Generation Series that aims to painstakingly revitalize some of gaming’s unreleased, incomplete, or poorly preserved soundtracks. For Street Fighter II that meant making new source recordings directly from Capcom’s CPS-1 (Street Fighter II) and CPS-2 (Super Street Fighter II Turbo) arcade hardware.

A lot of work went into cleaning up the recording before it was finally mixed and mastered and ultimately signed off on by original composer, Yoko Shimomura. Did the months of delicate, elaborate work pay off? Play the side-by-side comparison within and know that you’ve never heard Street Fighter II’s music so clearly before, and not just because you aren’t in a raucous arcade.
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Music Production, Software

Impact Soundworks Kicks Off Holiday Sale With New Orchestral Colors Sample Library

December 20, 2015 | Michael Hoffmann | Comments Off on Impact Soundworks Kicks Off Holiday Sale With New Orchestral Colors Sample Library Share this

Hopefully you didn’t burn through your entire music tech budget for the year during Black Friday, because Impact Soundworks has launched one of their biggest music software sales. Every one of their sample libraries and virtual instruments, including the bundles, are on sale until December 30th.

The sale coincides with the release of their latest instrument, Rhapsody Orchestral Colors. The new library features samples of brass, woodwinds, strings, and choir ensembles.

There are some special deals related to the Rhapsody instrument series as well. If you already own Rhapsody Orchestral Percussion, you will receive a $50 coupon associated with your ISW account. If you spend $299 or more in one order, you will receive Rhapsody Orchestral Colors for free. So if you’re still looking for deals on music software before the end of this year, be sure to head over to the Impact Soundworks site.
Music Production, Software

Black Friday Deals (2015): Audio Software From Native Instruments, iZotope, and More

November 27, 2015 | Michael Hoffmann | Comments Off on Black Friday Deals (2015): Audio Software From Native Instruments, iZotope, and More Share this

Earlier this week we posted a few Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals on music software. These included sales from Heavyocity and Impact Soundworks. Since then a number of other music and audio companies have launched their own deals for the Black Friday weekend. For the sake of convenience we’ve compiled the other deals that we’ve found here, and we’ll attempt to update this list as we find more. (more…)
Music Production, Software

Black Friday Deal: Heavyocity Virtual Instruments On Sale

November 24, 2015 | Michael Hoffmann | Comments Off on Black Friday Deal: Heavyocity Virtual Instruments On Sale Share this

Virtual instrument company Heavyocity is having a Thanksgiving sale on its products starting now until December 6th. The collections and individual instrument packs are available for up to 50% off. These include Gravity, Aeon Collection, Ensemble Metals Collection, Evolve, and many more.

All of the instrument libraries run on Kontakt 5 and require at least the Kontakt 5 Player to be used. If you’re a composer or sound designer who’s been eyeing any of Heavyocity’s virtual instruments, now may be the time to grab them. You can check out more of the Heavocity Thanksgiving sale on their main website.