Forty years ago, men from Earth began for the first time to leave our home planet and journey to the moon.

From 1968 to 1972, NASA’s Apollo astronauts tested out new spacecraft and journeyed to uncharted destinations.

It all started on May 25, 1961, when President John F. Kennedy announced the goal of sending astronauts to the moon before the end of the decade. Coming just three weeks after Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American in space, Kennedy’s bold challenge set the nation on a journey unlike any before in human history.

Eight years of hard work by thousands of Americans came to fruition on July 20, 1969, when Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong stepped out of the lunar module and took “one small step” in the Sea of Tranquility, calling it “a giant leap for mankind.”

Six of the missions — Apollos 11, 12, 14, 15, 16 and 17 — went on to land on the moon, studying soil mechanics, meteoroids, seismic, heat flow, lunar ranging, magnetic fields and solar wind. Apollos 7 and 9 tested spacecraft in Earth orbit; Apollo 10 orbited the moon as the dress rehearsal for the first landing. An oxygen tank explosion forced Apollo 13 to scrub its landing, but the “can-do” problem solving of the crew and mission control turned the mission into a “successful failure.”

- Extended Memory Addressing
KONTAKT 3.5 features full support for 64-bit memory addressing in both Windows and Mac OS X. This means you can load more than 4 GB samples into RAM in both stand-alone and plug-in mode. In Windows, 64-bit operating systems and sequencers with special stand-alone and VST versions are now supported. On Mac, the newly-created Memory Server feature bypasses the OS X’s 4 GB limit and can address as much RAM as you have installed – even in 32-bit hosts such as Logic or ProTools.

- Enhanced Sampling Engine
KONTAKT 3.5 features a completely re-designed sample playback engine. The Direct From Disk mode has been reworked to act dynamically, allowing the operating system to allocate memory in real time as you play and release voices. The result is a significantly smaller memory footprint which leaves more RAM for loading samples. This is especially useful with 32-bit systems where you can now load significantly more samples than was previously possible.

- Multi-processor support
KONTAKT 3.5 now provides true multi-processor / multi-core support. You can now switch multi-processor support on and off and set the number of processors / cores you want to use for KONTAKT. Up to 16 cores are now supported.

- Direct MIDI Learn
KONTAKT 3.5 now features MIDI Learn function for all sliders and knobs including Performance Views. Assigning MIDI controllers to KONTAKT sliders and knobs is quick and convenient with multiple assignments also possible.

- Enhanced Library Management
KONTAKT 3.5 integrates a visually enhanced library tab that now makes browsing and loading samples and libraries quicker and easier.

- Various Improvements
Further improvements in KONTAKT 3.5 include a bypass button for effect slots, localized info pane in six languages, improved automapping, Pro Tools compatibility under Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, aftertouch interpretation added to KSP, a Play cursor for Beat Machine mode in Wave Editor and enhanced REX file support.

Dragonfly is a brand-new patchset for LennarDigital Sylenth1 created by Sonic Elements and distributed by Nucleus SoundLab

Dragonfly takes advantage of Sylenth1’s two tiered VA structure to redefine what is possible with this analog inspired scream machine. It contains patches with naturally evolving synthetic timbres.

Inside Dragonfly there are a wide range of styles and genres contained in this bank. You’ll find subtle textures and timbres, hands-up style leads and bass, pulsating rhythmic bliss, ambient and gothic tones, and searing trance patches from beyond the cosmos. Details:

• 164 presets for Lennar Digital’s Sylenth1
• Compatible with Sylenth1 v2.2 PC/Mac
• Modwheel, Aftertouch, and Velocity mapped on every preset
• Emphasis on creating new and unheard of sounds with this VA monster
• Emphasis on creating sounds that build-up & decay naturally.

Listen to what Dragonfly offers by downloading the MP3 demos below. There is also a free demo bank available for download.

Full Song Demo by Jewbei
Preset Demo by Jay Yaskin

Demo Preset Bank

New Depeche Mode cancellations

Depeche Mode at Arvika.

Depeche Mode have cancelled shows again: the last two on the European tour in Porto and Sevilla today and tomorrow. This time it’s for a new reason; Dave Gahan has hurt his leg (calf muscle tear) and needs to keep it still, doctor’s orders.

Meet the Spawn of Ironhead! Going well beyond the original Ironhead, the Spawn plugs have been mutated and modified to provide a far wider range of percussive and melodic sounds, and they can be played like normal synths…tracking pitch across the entire keyboard. If you like tuned percussion, you’re going to love this.

Ironhead is drum kit…Ironhead:Spawn is a whole band.

Ugo Audio Ironhead:Spawn

Ironhead:Spawn features

• Fast, fun, and easy interface.
• 13 unique sounding percussion instruments .
• Morphing (controled by LFO, automation, MIDI).
• Random variance.
• Dual delays (BPM sync with dotted notes).
• Randomizers.
• Over 40 presets in each, totaling over 540 presets in the bundle.

HighC is a graphical music creation tool. It is a synthesizer, a sequencer and a mixer. Its goal is to make music composition as simple and direct as sketching.

An entertaining and educational tool…

No music experience needed: create stunning soundscapes and crazy ringtones in a matter of minutes. Learn acoustics, music theory and audio synthesis with a gentle, graphic approach.

that meets demanding professional needs

Master advanced synthesis techniques: FM, ring mod, additive, granular, and much more. No complex dashboards of knobs, dials and connectors with unpredictable effects. No programming. Just draw to unleash your creativity!

Since I am currently on vacation my posts will be shorter and more ad hoc, but be sure I will keep you posted on the coolest electro stuff on the web – just the same, have a great summer

Serge TKB talks to the Moogerfooger CP-251 and to the EML-200. Squawky as hell. Enjoy!

This is what you cn read about the new reverb effect

Reverb is a very critical effect when mixing. A bad sounding reverb can ruin the mix of your music! Today’s powerful computers makes it possible to run far more complex algorithms then in the past. But still… it is down to the algorithms if a reverb sounds great or terrible.

As a young synth player, Rob became obsessed with rooms and reverbs. Together with Jon Ayres, Rob Papen has dived into codes and searched for new directions.. new algorithms. After long testing and tweaking, the result is an unique sounding reverb plugin, the reverb you have been waiting for for year to have available in your setup.

The first respond of pro users like Arman van Buuren were comments like “Wow” or “Amazing!”….

The “main focus” of the RP-VERB plug is its sound. So the controls are “exactly” the ones you need!
Easy to use “space types” are included, each of them have their own character. Long tail reverbs… or unheard of rooms are possible. Just like the RP synthesizers….it is purely made for audio quality, performance and making music. Mix with RP-Verb and you will discover its amazing sound.

Good to see what can be done with a few pieces of old hardware in these days of millions of software plugs and infinit CPU power: