New Gear Alert: Positive Grid’s Spark Amp & App, FX Collection by Arturia, TAIKO-1 from Roland & More

Positive Grid‘s Spark smart guitar amp & app is now shipping.

Positive Grid begins shipping the highly anticipated Spark smart guitar amp & app.

The Spark smart guitar amp & app (iOS/Android) is now shipping to its early bird supporters. Featuring intelligent technology that offers real-time Smart Jam accompaniment, Auto Chord detection, and intuitive practice features for professional players and beginners alike, Spark also functions as a full-range, 40-Watt combo amp. It features a variety of tone-shaping options, plus tone matched amps and effects built upon the company’s award-winning BIAS engine.

Players of all levels have been buzzing about the new Spark amp, which has already sold nearly 25,000 pre-order units and has enjoyed over a million video views. Check out an introductory video to Spark here.

Pre-order packages for Spark are still available; for pricing and additional information, click here.

Arturia launches the FX Collection.

Arturia distills their best performing and most essential plugins into the FX Collection.

Bringing together all 15 plugins from the “You’ll Actually Use” series, the Arturia FX Collection promises to offer professionals and beginners alike the highest sound quality and best features on the market.

Following in the footsteps of the critically-acclaimed V Collection, Arturia’s new FX Collection offers all producers, mix engineers, and music-makers the chance to enhance their tracks with time-honored studio and stage legends that shaped the sound of the music industry, enhanced with powerful modern features.

Not only that, but Arturia have also developed some unique, original effects which offer abilities that would be simply impossible to achieve in vintage hardware.

The FX Collection will be available for a special introductory price of $299 (reg. $399) from February 12th to March 4th, 2020. Customers who already own Arturia software or hardware are eligible for exclusive discounts and crossgrades, starting from $49.

Roland announces the TAIKO-1.

Roland offers a never-before-seen take on the classic Japanese percussion instrument, the taiko.

The TAIKO-1 Electronic Taiko Percussion is a portable electronic taiko drum with a versatile range of Japanese percussion sounds. Born and made in Japan, the TAIKO-1 infuses the classic taiko experience with the benefits of modern music technology, making playing Japanese percussion more fun and accessible than ever before. Completed to coincide with the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Roland is proud to introduce TAIKO-1 and share their passion for Japanese drums with the world.

TAIKO-1’s mesh heads offer acoustically quiet performance for practicing anytime and anywhere, something that’s impossible with a traditional taiko drum. You can plug in headphones and enjoy big, dynamic taiko tones with barely a whisper heard by family members and neighbors. Traditional ji-uchi backing patterns are available for timing practice and performance accompaniment, while built-in Bluetooth allows you to stream backing music and lesson content wirelessly from a smartphone.

The Roland TAIKO-1 is expected to be available in July 2020, priced at $1,500.

Novation gives Sound Collective members a free Serato plugin and attractive discounts.

Novation and Serato join forces on an exciting new offer for Sound Collective members.

Members of Novation’s Sound Collective community can now scratch that MPC-style sampling itch by downloading digital DJ software specialist Serato’s Sample LE for free, and take advantage of a 30% discount on the full Sample.

Powered by Serato’s Pitch ’n’ Time algorithm, Sample LE is a performance-orientated plugin that makes light work of slicing, rearranging and manipulating samples in real time. Adjust the key and tempo of your imported loop or full track, then manually or automatically set up to eight cue points within it for triggering via your MIDI or QWERTY keyboard, or map a single cue point up and down the keyboard for monophonic or polyphonic pitched play.

Set the length of each cue and switch between one-shot and gated playback; use the Attack and Release parameters to shape cue timing and dynamics; dial in up to two octaves of pitch shift and +300/-75% time stretch—all made easy within Sample LE.

Sample LE’s quick, easy workflow brings the spirit of old-school groovebox-style sampling to the modern DAW, and with Pitch ’n’ Time under the hood, its time stretching and pitch shifting quality is second to none.

Sound Collective members can download Serato Sample LE from their Novation account between February 6th and April 2nd, and claim a 30% discount on the full Sample, which adds 24 more cue pads, three additional Autoset modes, velocity toggling, filtering, cue reverse and volume control, multiple outputs and unrestricted BPM adjustment.

To join Sound Collective, simply register any Novation product, then look out for a new offer every couple of months.

Softube and Marshall launch two classic amps as plugins.

Softube and Marshall team up to deliver the sound of two classic rock amplifiers, brought straight to your DAW.

For many years, Softube have partnered with Marshall in all things software, and now two new native Marshall amplifier plugins are hitting the scene.

Now available for the first time is the Marshall Plexi Super Lead 1959. Modeled on Marshall’s own reference unit, a pristine 1967 amp from their museum, and combined with an era-appropriate 1960BHW 4×12” cabinet which was recorded by legendary AC/DC engineer Tony Platt, this is a must-have amp for classic and modern tones alike.

Softube have also worked in tandem with Kerry King to model an exact replica of his signature guitar amplifier, the Marshall 2203KK, a.k.a. “The Beast”. This emulation features not only the component-modeling of the insanely powerful amplifier itself (right down to its KT88 power tubes and hand-wired circuit) but also distills studio and road experience with Kerry, to capture cabinet responses and microphone combinations for both live and recording situations.

For pricing and further information, click here.

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