Pixelhum

Hot on the heels of version 0.3 comes version 0.4! New things in this version include:

• New metadata based browse mode (Artist -> Album -> Track).

• Menu now highlights the page you are on.

• Add and Play buttons now recurse the file tree (Be careful with this one if you’ve got a large library!).

Get it from the NeoMPC page.

After nearly 2 years, version 0.3 of NeoMPC is out! For downloads and what’s new, see the NeoMPC page.

This should mark the start of more regular development as well, and I’ve got some more features planned.

This month on plugin of the week is Solid State Logic’s LMC-1 Listen Mic Compressor.

“The SSL Listen Mic Compressor was the secret weapon in many producers sonic arsenal of recording techniques. Originally designed to prevent overloading the return feed from a studio communications mic, its fixed attack and release curves were eminently suitable for use on ambient drums mics. Of course, we’d like to take all the credit for this great sound, but as usual, it was the creativity of SSL users that led to the idea.”

Awesome plugin for getting that really compressed 80’s drum sound. Or turn it right up to get huge crunched drums.

Next up on plugin of the week is RubyTube.

“RubyTube is a real time, digital tube amp simulator. RubyTube simulates the saturation effect that can be found in audio equipment with vacuum tubes. This effect is usually hardly noticable but it is responsible for the classic tube sound. Sometimes its just a sparkle on the voice and a slight compression of drums and bass that makes the difference between a neutral recording and a warm and full sounding song.”

RubyTube is a lovely subtle effect and is great for adding that analogue tube ‘grit’ to a track. I’ve found it especially effective on drum tracks, bass tracks and vocal tracks.

I’ve decided that since I seem to be spending rather a lot of time searching for good free VST’s, I’d share the fruits of my search with the world. All the plugins I’ll pick for this feature will be plugins that I actually use.

First up is Majken’s Chimera synth.

“Chimera is a noise driven synth focusing on pads and haunting leads. Three noisegenerators are connected through pitchcontrolled resonant bandpass filters. The result is an angelic and smooth synth.”

This synth is capable of some lovely organic, haunting sounds which are ideal for ambient atmospheric tracks. I’ve spent quite a bit of time just playing with sounds from my keyboard!