UVI Announce ‘Digital Synsations’ Library
At least once a year, I apologise for a lack of activity and here’s the first such apology for 2013! Last year I took on a new day job and things have ramped up of late, the upshot of which has seen me flying here, there and everywhere. America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. So, time is a premium and sadly, this blog usually suffers as a consequence. For this, loyal reader, I apologise
So, now we’ve dealt with that, I’ve been spurred into action by yet another release by your friends and mine over the English Channel (or La Manche, to keep them happy over in Paris). UVI announced this afternoon the release of ‘Digital Synsations“. Having dealt with the vast majority of rare, expensive and sought after synths from the 80s, it seems they have now turned their attention to the following decade and this library covers four massive instruments from the era of the second summer of love, acid house and Brit pop! ‘Digital Synsations’ gives us a library based on the Korg M1, the Roland D50, the Yamaha SY77 and the Ensoniq VFX. Between them, these synths pretty much defined synthesis in the early 90s before the advent of physical modelling later in the decade. In particular, the M1 and D50 were so ubiquitous that they rivalled the DX7 and Fairlight in the over usage stakes! Ensoniq had forged a reputation for producing stand out instruments at superb price points and the SY77 saw Yamaha take FM synthesis a step further, beyond the DX, adding loads more algorithms and using their AWM brand of ‘sample + synthesis’ to increase the palette and breath new life into FM synthesis.
So, in a natural progression through the decades, UVI have assembled a library that exceeds 24GB and contains 501 presets made from 18,988 samples. As per usual, the UI’s follow UVI’s traditional and familiar layout whilst faithfully mimicking the instruments that this library emulates.
Now, another victim of my lack of time has been the review of their last instrument, the UVX-3P. This will be coming very soon, I hope. And I also hope to have a review of ‘Digital Synsations’ as soon as UVI grace me with a copy to review. Just as I’m sure you are, I am incredibly keen to dig into this library!
In the meantime, here is the promotional blurb as well as audio and video demos for you to enjoy. At the moment, it doesn’t seem like there is a demo version to download as there was for Vintage Legends and the UVX-3P.
Enjoy, and do check back soon for reviews of this and other instruments!
‘Digital Synsations’ retails for $199 and is available direct from UVI as a DVD or download.
A New Breed
In the late 80’s and early 90’s the synthesizer landscape began to change. A new breed of keyboards began appearing in shops, records and on stage; matte black behemoths eschewing the familiar knob arrays for uniform clusters of discrete buttons and glowing green LCD screens. They signaled more than a shift in interaction with our musical counterparts‚ they ushered in the era of the digital synth.
To those willing to forgo the immediacy and ease-of-editing of the analog synth world these keyboards offered amazing features for the time; massive polyphony, extensive on-board sequencers and pattern memory, removable storage and digital effects. In addition to the immediate benefits of digital processing some of these keyboards also dawned innovative hybrid synthesis techniques, combining sample playback with classic methods allowing synthesists and musicians the opportunity to explore new sonic territory.
4 Classics, Massive Patch Library
The possibilities with a few of these classics was more than we could bear and became the inspiration for our new project, Digital Synsations. We took 4 classic keyboards from the era and set our sound designers loose, tasking them to return with boundary-pushing sounds‚ and they did. Digital Synsations includes over 500 patches expertly programmed on a fully restored Yamaha SY77, Korg M1, Roland D50 and Ensoniq VFX‚ used by many of the greats including Depeche Mode, The Cure, Pet Shop Boys, Vangelis, Brian Eno, Toto, 808 State, Jean Michael Jarre and more.
Pristine Sound, Deeply Editable
We deeply multi-sampled these custom patches using top-shelf equipment and edited them to perfection before sending them off for professional mastering. These sonics became the foundation for our new hybrid instrument and combined with the UVI Engine give you the true character of these classic synths with all of the peculiarities and programming by products intact. Not only that but you get them in an extremely easy to use and fast to edit environment complete with all the features you expect from a modern virtual instrument.
If you’re looking for a new take on the 90’s sound or just some new classic synth inspiration then look no further.
Leave a Reply