electronica
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AI music app AiMi lets you set the tempo and mood of endless playlists
AI-powered music app AiMi is launching a major update with a new interface that features six endless eletronica mixes.
Imogen Heap’s musical gloves are finally available to everyone
Imogen Heap hums the opening bars to Breathe In before pinching her fingers, instructing a sequencer to begin playing it on a loop. She opens her palms wide and makes a fist, as if holding a drumstick, and begins thumping the song's beat. Piece by piece, Heap constructs the song until she is ready to begin singing, without ever touching an instrument.
Korg finally has a mixer to link up those tiny Volca synths
Korg has been producing a ton of little synths in its Volca series over the last several years. Announced back in 2013, the initial Volca Beat, Bass and Keys started a run that eventually included an OK Go sample box, an '80s-style FM synth and an oscillator-driven drum sequencer, the Volca Kick. Now the company wants you to be able to chain a few of these tiny devices together for live performance with a new four channel mixer, the Volca Mix, announced at NAMM this year. According to FactMag, the Mix will run $170 and will release later this month.
Savant Ascent mixes arcade shooting with music album, coming to PS4
The "Savant" in D-Pad Studios' Savant Ascent is drawn from a close friend of the indie developer, electronic musician Savant (Aleksander Vinter). The arcade-style, 2D action shooter's protagonist is even pulled from the cover of Savant's fifth album, Alchemist, designed by D-Pad Studios' art director Simon S. Andersen. Recently announced for PS4, Savant Ascent has players dispatching enemies in tune with Savant's music, which provides varying upgrades as tracks are unlocked. In the game, Savant is cast out of his tower by a "malicious orb," which turns his surroundings into enemies. Players must guide Savant back up the tower, which certainly explains the "Ascent" part of the game's title. Savant Ascent first launched on PC, Mac and Linux via Steam, GamersGate and the Humble Store as well as iOS and Android in December 2013. [Image: D-Pad Studio]
Goldfish pixel-art music video is swimming with gaming references
How many video-game references can South African electronica group Goldfish fit into roughly 4 minutes of painstakingly, beautifully animated pixel art? All of them, it turns out. All of the references. We stopped counting after a hojillion. [Thanks, Christopher!]
Rock the electronic with SynthTronica for iPad
SynthTronica is a new synthesizer app for iPad that provides some seriously cool audio modeling features. If you're a musician looking for some new sounds or even a live-performance instrument, this is worth a look. Even for the hobbyist, this US$4.99 app is a great way to explore some musical possibilities. SynthTronica provides a full set of tools, including multiple keyboard layouts, a unique multi-touch filter, built-in recording, sound editing and more. The presets are a great place to start (all 92 of them), but you can build an almost limitless library of your own sculpted sounds. With "Formant Distortion Synthesis" and the ability to apply any audio clip as "grooves," you can even take the same synth presets and make them into entirely different synth progressions. The multi-touch filter makes dynamic sweeps and live modulation a breeze, whether for recording or live performance. The keyboard remains visible while you work the filter, letting you play while doing multiple, simultaneous sweeps and band passes for some very cool effects. If you want to handcraft some highly original, custom sounds, have a look at SynthTronica on the App Store (US$4.99 introductory price). Also take a look at the videos on the SynthTronica home page for a demo, and check out a brief performance by Jordan Rudess on YouTube.
Listen to new tracks from the Earthrise soundtrack
Masthead Studios, the creators of post-apocalyptic MMO Earthrise, just reached out to Massively and gave us access to two tracks from the upcoming game's soundtrack. The tracks are titled Flooid and Shiv Out, composed by Pavel Benov who we've mentioned in the past for creating a blend of ambient and industrial music for the game. Both tracks are electronica, which seems fitting for this sci-fi MMO. When you're creating the music that sets the tone for a futuristic game where the old world is dead and gone, lost to nuclear and biological warfare, something orchestral as heard in a fantasy MMO might not really work. Earthrise is a game about a cloned society of technocratic elite reborn in the far future -- a time where advanced technology dominates and defines the lives of all of the world's remaining inhabitants -- so going electronic with the game's music was probably the right choice. Give the Flooid and Shiv Out tracks linked above a listen and let us know what you think. If you like these tracks, you might also want to check out Benov's Dystopia Sunrise and Lay Waste as well.
OTTO slices beats, has no effect on tin cans
Electronic musicians are always looking for new ways to do the same old things. Case in point: OTTO, developed by Luca De Rosso at the IUAV University of Venice for a master's thesis. Based on an Arduino and Cycling '74's Max / MSP software, you can drop an audio loop in it (via USB) and manipulate it in real time by moving your hands around the touch surface. Sure we've heard these kind of edits before, but never on a device that somewhat resembles the old Simon memory game. That has to count for something, right? Suffice it to say: we want one. Be sure to check it in action after the break.
The music of EVE Online now available on iTunes
Many pilots have spent hours in New Eden, mining, exploring, missioning, ratting, PvPing - and enjoying the soundtrack all the while. For fans of electronica, EVE Online's music ranges from calm downtempo to trance-like. At other times, it soars to the fore with a more techno or EBM feel, just in time to get your blood moving. So far as sci-fi MMO soundtracks go, EVE Online's soundtrack is a favorite of several folks here at Massively - which is saying something when one considers how tedious many MMO soundtracks get after hours of playing!For those of you who, like us, really love the music of EVE Online. CCP has some good news. They have patrnered together with RealX to release the soundtrack for New Eden to the iTunes store so everyone can get their hands on it. Individual tracks are the typical iTunes $ .99 each, with the entire 11-song first edition of the soundtrack for a non-discounted $10.89. Still, it warms our ratting hearts to see this soundtrack out there. We can't wait until the entire soundtrack is available too - maybe at a discount?
