In the pantheon of vintage analog drum machines, there's an unsung classic that isn't from a big name manufacturer like Roland or Korg, but from a toy company. Released in 1981, the Mattel Synsonics was an affordable black box that housed a fully analog kit consisting of kick, two toms, snare, cymbal and hi-hat - all playable via velocity sensitive pads.

Of course, since it was a "toy", few artists took it very seriously - with one notable exception: Kraftwerk.

Unlike the more insectile sounds coming from the Roland and Korg boxes of the same era, the sound of the Synsonics was vaguely reminiscent of the Simmons SDS-V or Pollard Syndrum. The toms had an aggressive vibe that few products from that time could match - and the cymbals were glorious blasts of white noise.

This weeks rack was created by sampling the harmonics produced by each string at the 5th, 7th, and 12th fret. The instrument comes set up with a macro knob that allows you to switch between the different samples, each of which has its own unique character. This allows for some cool effects, such as holding the sustain pedal and changing the sample while you play, which creates an interesting morphing timbre.

There's a macro knob that reverses the samples, creating a swelling, somewhat glitchy sound, not unlike those from some of my favorite psychedelic Beatles tracks (or my 3rd Ableton Live Rack: Reversed Piano"). I've also been experimenting with the Grain Delay plug-in more and more these days, and there are some macro knobs to control that effect.

If you are not a Live user, you can still use the samples included in the download.

Spectral Machine provides a wide variety of ear-catching audio effects. For example, users can freeze a sound, apply separate delays to different frequencies, or create multi-band tremolo effects. Spectral Machine also provides a number of effects specifically for monophonic sources, including pitch quantization and sine/noise decomposition.

Spectral Machine is available in VST and Audio Unit formats for Macintosh OS X, and in VST format for Windows. The cost is US $75.

XMix - Logic Edition" is the first release in the xMix series of dedicated DAW Controllers for iOS devices.

The xMix application seamlessly connects via wifi to any MAC running Apple Logic and forms a unique and interactive DAW control environment.

The app gives total and absolute control over almost all aspects in the Logic Studio workflow.

As their name suggest, these templates are designed to let you import your own samples and access almost limitless sonic possibilities.
So forget about the static nature of your sample collections and give them a new life thanks to our TAE processing!

D.I.Y. Drum Template : optimized from all types of drum sounds, it includes analog modules such as Frequency Shifter, Filter Sweep, Reflector, and more. This template is guaranteed to bring a unique edge and character to your drums.
D.I.Y. FX Template : adapted to any kind of samples, this second template will allow you to process your signal through 16 unique effects such as : Stereo Expander, Robotizer, Frequency Modulator... so be ready for some wild experimentations!