New Gear Alert: Songmaker Kit by ROLI, Reason 10 Intro, Roland’s Virtual TR-909 & More

ROLI’s Songmaker Kit now available at retailers worldwide.

With the Seaboard Block, Lightpad Block M, and Loop Block, coupled with the Equator softsynth, ROLI offers a one-stop-shop for all your songwriting needs—and it can be used anywhere.

Songmaker Kit is a portable music studio that enables you to create music anywhere, and after a limited release on ROLI’s online store, it is now available from retailers everywhere.

Songmaker Kit combines the Seaboard Block, Lightpad Block M, and the Loop Block. The tactile, touch-responsive surfaces of these Blocks introduce a whole new way to shape sound and create songs.

The Songmaker Kit, priced at $649.95 (£549.95, €599.95), comes with a software bundle worth over $400. Each software tool integrates with the MIDI Polyphonic Expression (MPE) capabilities of ROLI BLOCKS controllers. Equator, ROLI’s premium software synthesizer, is part of the package along with two digital audio workstations—Tracktion Waveform and Ableton Live Lite—and Strobe2 Player. Customized integration of hardware, software, and sounds make Songmaker Kit far more than the sum of its parts.

Propellerhead releases Reason 10 Intro.

This introductory version to Reason 10 is a great way for new users to learn what this award winning DAW has to offer.

Reason Intro offers the Reason experience at a great price, while giving access to Reason’s famous workflow, an assortment of legendary instruments and effects, intuitive and essential recording tools, and studio-grade mixing tools.

Reason 10 Intro’s features include (but are not limited to): 16 tracks of audio and MIDI recording, 10 instruments (including Europa Shapeshifting Synthesizer, Thor Polysonic Synthesizer, Subtractor Synthesizer, NN-XT Advanced Sampler, Kong Drum Designer, and more), 11 effects (including RV7000 mkII Advanced Reverb, Scream 4 Distortion, Softube Guitar Amp, Softube Bass Amp, and more), fully-featured analog modeled mixing console with bus compressor, and much more.

Reason 10 Intro is available as a direct download here, or from authorized dealers, priced at $99/€79 (upgrade available for $299/€269).

Roland Virtual Sonics releases the TR-909 Software Rhythm Composer.

Harness the signature sound of Roland’s classic TR-909 without physically owning the unit, thanks to its new software counterpart.

Less than a month after releasing the landmark TR-808 Software Rhythm Composer, Roland Virtual Sonics is proud to announce the release of the TR-909 Software Rhythm Composer to the Roland Cloud service. For the first time in history, music creators will have access to the authentic TR-909 as a plugin for popular DAWs via the Roland Cloud service.

Using their next-generation Analog Circuit Behavior modeling technology, Roland has faithfully recreated a software adaptation of the original hardware circuitry that gave the TR-909 its distinctive sound, including its analog-digital hybrid nature. In addition to detailed behavior models of the analog circuits, Roland has integrated the TR-909’s original sample ROM.

The new TR-909 comes modeled with the primitive digital technology present in the vintage hardware, capturing the essence of the 909’s cymbals and recreating the sound that made them a perennial favorite of dance music producers the world over. The painstaking attention to detail present in the TR-909 signifies that musicians and producers can finally have the authentic sound and feel of the original 909 in their DAWs.

Roland Cloud memberships are available monthly for $19.95 and annually for $215.40.

Celestion launches the CDX14-3040 neodymium magnet compression driver.

Celestion’s new CDX14-3040 is exceptionally lightweight and offers unparalleled performance in the high frequency range.

With the CDX14-3040, Celestion utilizes a single-piece pure titanium diaphragm and surround, together with a compact lightweight magnet assembly, delivering a superior high frequency performance.

The CDX14-3040 is a 1.4″ exit, 3″ voice coil neodymium magnet compression driver. It features a stiff and light edgewound coil copper clad aluminium voice coil and delivers 75Wrms (AES standard) power handling, as well as a sensitivity of 106.5dB from 500Hz to 20kHz. Celestion recommends a minimum crossover frequency of 1kHz (at 12dB/octave).

Pricing for the CDX14-3040 is not yet disclosed.

G-Sonique releases Neurofunker XG6 virtual instrument.

With Neurofunker XG6 by G-Sonique, you can combine and layer nearly 150 instruments to create completely new, original sounds for your electronic music productions.

Neurofunker XG6 is multi-instrument created for drum and bass/neurofunk music producers that includes 146+ high quality, multi-octave, multi-layer instruments and sounds. You can modify them with various internal parameters or use external VST effects.

All instruments and sounds can be additionally modified via the onboard LFO, with additional controls for volume/expression, panning, pitch, envelope (attack, decay, sustain, release), and much more. You can choose between legato or polyphonic modes, load additional bonus instruments, and layer two or more instruments together to create completely new sounds.

Neurofunker XG6 is available for €26.90 (introductory price €17.90 for the first 100 cusomters); a free demo is available for download here.

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