808 303 Studio
Price: Free!
There can't be many more famous drum machines than the Roland 808, and nearly as famous is its synthesiser cousin, the 303. Roland has now made online emulations of both available on the website. The two soft synths are faithful recreations of the original units, with sounds that will be instantly familiar to anyone of a certain age.
In addition to the sound sources, Roland has included a basic sequencer with both instruments, so you can create a beat and a pounding synth line and then export them to listen to at a later date. These were created in partnership with The Design Museum for an exhibition, so I don't know how long they will be available, but, as a free resource, they are great for however long they're here!
Waves V12
Price: Various
Plugin behemoth Waves has recently announced the latest update to its range of plugins. The plugins have now all reached V12, and although an update to an entire range of hundreds of plugins might not seem newsworthy (Waves is found in so many studios across the world), it is.
The latest versions have added new features requested en masse by users. This includes the ability to resize a plugin window to a maximum of 200%, faster preset searching, and the ability to audition sounds while your track plays. V12 is available now, and by purchasing V12 you know that your purchase is future-proof and compatible with new DAWs and operating systems. Waves constantly has incredible offers on plugins to suit a range of budgets, so do check out what's on offer.
Abbey Road One: Orchestral Foundations
Price: £399 retail (education prices available)
Spitfire Audio's latest product is the result of a collaboration with the world-famous Abbey Road Studios, and has been announced as the first of many products to come from the partnership. As the name might imply, it's an orchestral sound library captured in Abbey Road's Studio One (the biggest of the spaces).
The library consists of over 90 orchestral instruments including the usual strings, woodwind, and brass, but also a wide range of percussion instruments; all captured with a variety of microphones.
Spitfire claims that this library is appropriate for professionals and beginners alike, so it should be easy to use. If you are looking for some better–quality sounds for student composition handin, this could be perfect.
Neoverb
Price: From £199 (retail)
iZotope is best known for its suite of mastering and audio restoration plugins. As a by-product of the way these plugins work, iZotope is beginning to become well-regarded for its use of AI in plugin operation. The latest product to use this is called Neoverb and, as you might imagine, it is a reverb.
The plugin asks the user to decide on what type of reverb they might like from keywords such as ‘dramatic’, and then to pick a room size. Once the basic selections have been chosen, Neoverb blends three complex algorithms together and applies an appropriate EQ curve and level to help the reverb sit nicely within the mix. I can't wait to start to have a play around with this one!
