Omnisphere

Music Production, Software

Now You’re Playing With Power: Omnisphere Power Synth v1.5 (Review)

July 16, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on Now You’re Playing With Power: Omnisphere Power Synth v1.5 (Review) Share this

Kunal mentioned in his review of LA Scoring Strings a few weeks back that strings are particularly challenging to recreate in a synthesized environment. Well, if you’re like me and prefer to use synthesized sounds, you’ve probably heard of Omnisphere, Spectrasonics’ flagship soft synth (or ‘Power Synth,’ as they refer to it).

While Dale reviewed the original release of Omnisphere a couple years ago, Spectrastonics recently launched version 1.5, offering more sounds and capabilities, so I thought I’d take a stab at this beast, and have even written two tracks using the software for your listening pleasure.

Hit the jump for our full review of Omnisphere v1.5! (more…)
Gear

Win the One-of-a-Kind OMG-1 Synthesizer From Spectrasonics

March 26, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on Win the One-of-a-Kind OMG-1 Synthesizer From Spectrasonics Share this

Remember our coverage of NAMM 2011? It’s okay if you don’t. One of the highlights of the event was the unveiling of the one-of-a-kind instrument from Spectrasonics, the OMG-1 (Omnimoog 1), a unique and incredibly beautiful instrument utilizing an Apple computer at its core, two iPads and 2 iPod touches, and a mini Moog with an extra octave as a controller. Well, Spectrasonics has finally announced how one lucky person can win this beast.

The contest is rather simple. Download the Bob Moog Tribute Library and create a song. Submit it to Spectrasonics by July 15, 2011. Enter as many times as you’d like, and the best track will be selected as the winner. Simple enough, right? The competition for this thing is going to be fierce, so if you’re interested, you better get started now! Hit the official Spectrasonics OMG-1 contest page for more details.

If if you’re not a musician, you have to admire the beauty of this instrument. Will you be attempting an entry?
Gear, Music Production

NAMM 2011: Weird and Amazing Things from the World of Musical Instruments

January 20, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 20 Comments Share this

Yes, while most of our team was away in Alexandria having a blast covering MAGFest 9, I was stuck in bright and sunny California, and decided to waste away at the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Show 2011. Held in Anaheim, CA for as long as anyone can remember, the show brings together manufacturers of everything from pipe organs to MIDI cable connectors. It’s all here, and I explored miles upon miles of floor space to see if there was anything new and exciting on the horizon. And there was.

Touchpad guitars? Neon guitar strings? A miniature piano? It was all there, and you can see these and more after the jump! (more…)
Game Music

The Future Of Sound: Interview With The Conduit Composer Diego Stocco

June 11, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this

We’ve been following The Conduit for quite some time, posting all the way back in September that composer Diego Stocco would be responsible for the score. While we didn’t dig too deeply into Stocco’s resume at the time, we were sure to do so when preparing for this interview, and we discovered some interesting tidbits about his career. It turns out that Stocco works for Spectraonics and is the man responsible for the burning piano that we were raving about when Omnisphere was released last year.

While the topic at hand is The Conduit and Stocco’s approach to the score, we do take some time to geek out and discuss some techy issues like his work at Spectrasonics, the use of presets, and the ever expanding universe of sound. Deep stuff, I know, but it makes for an interesting read.

Read our interview with Diego Stocco after the jump. (more…)
Music Production, Reviews, Software

Review: Spectrasonics Omnisphere

November 28, 2008 | Dale North | 2 Comments Share this Review: Spectrasonics Omnisphere

[click]
“Oooh!”

[click]
“Woah…”

[click]
“Wow, that’s weird!”

[click]
“Oh, I’m so going to use this later.”

[click]
…

Take this type of scene of auditioning patches, and then stretch it out over several days, and you’ll have some idea of what our review time with Spectrasonics’ Omnisphere was like. Of course, this began after I managed to cram all 42+ GB of sample data onto the test workstation. We won’t talk about how long that took.

This new virtual instrument is technically the follow-up and replacement to Atmosphere, Spectrasonics’ previous mega-sound bank, but as far as features and size goes, there is no comparison. Sure, their new flagship synth is massive, but it’s also packing crazy power for synthesis and effects processing.

(more…)
Software

It’s Time to Play With Fire: Omnisphere Released Today

September 15, 2008 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on It’s Time to Play With Fire: Omnisphere Released Today Share this

We’ve been raving about Omnisphere’s burning pianos, awesome arpeggiators, and incredible customization, but today marks the official release of Omnisphere, so get out there and try this soft synth for yourself. As one of the biggest fans of Spectrasonics Atmosphere in the past, I can’t tell you how excited I am about all the improvements Omnisphere has promised.

Watch in the coming weeks for a full review, but in the meantime, head on over to the official Omnisphere website for demonstrations and exclusive videos.

Hit the jump for the full press release. (more…)
Software

Indecisive Spectrasonics Names 11 Omnisphere Contest Winners

July 12, 2008 | Jayson Napolitano | 1 Comment Share this

When it comes to software, there’s nothing I’m more excited about than the upcoming release of Omnisphere. I mentioned a few weeks back that, along with including burning piano samples in the sound library, Spectrasonics was hosting a contest enabling musicians around the world to submit their own unique compositions using custom-made clips and loops created in Omnisphere. Well, Spectrasonics has generously selected eleven winners, one of which features its own music video, to receive a free copy of the beast when it’s released on September 15, 2008.

Although it’s a bit strange, one of the songs was designated, “Best Video Game Score.” I have no idea what they mean by that (maybe that means it doesn’t have vocals?), but it is actually one of my favorites. Head on over to the contest website to listen to and download the winning tracks.

Is anyone else convinced that Omnisphere will rule us all?

[Photo courtesy of The Piano Burning]