Tech reviews: New products (December 2023)
Kate Rounding
Friday, December 1, 2023
Kate Rounding reveals what's new this month in music technology.
Pro Tools Sketch (App for iPad)
Price: Free
Pro Tools Sketch is a free app for iPads designed to help you quickly capture musical ideas and arrangements. It comes with a large library of loops, samples, virtual instruments, and effects, and you can also import or record audio and MIDI. The Sketch work area appears as a grid of cells where you can place Audio or MIDI clips onto 16 vertical tracks. Each horizontal row can then be played together as ‘scenes’ – you can then put your scenes together to create an arrangement and choose how many times each part repeats. You can edit and mix in Sketch before exporting your audio as a WAV file, or alternatively export the whole arrangement into the free Pro Tools Intro app to finish your music.
Røde Wireless Pro
Price: £399
The Wireless PRO package provides everything needed for high-quality wireless audio recording. It includes a charging case, two Lavalier microphones (small clip-on mics also known as ‘lapel’ mics), windshields, and cables for connecting to your devices. The system consists of two transmitters and one receiver, working for up to seven hours when fully charged. Each transmitter captures audio through a built-in microphone or an external mic connected via the 3.5mm input. The audio is transmitted wirelessly to the receiver, which can connect to a camera, smartphone, computer, or other recording devices via a USB connection or the 3.5mm output. You can also record directly onto the transmitters. The ‘timecode’ function synchronises audio with video, great for podcasting and vlogging. This package works with Mac, Windows, iOS and Android, and settings can be adjusted and transmitters/receivers can be paired via the Rode Central app.
Yamaha Finger Drum Pads
FGDP-30: £190; FGDP-50: £335
Yamaha's new finger drum pads are standalone musical instruments played with your fingers. There are two models: the FGDP-30, available in white, and the FGDP-50, available in black. Each has 18 sensitive silicon pads that can be set for right- or left-handed playing, providing an accessible way to experiment with rhythms. The FGDP-30 has 39 pre-set drum kits and 1,212 instrument sounds. The FGDP-50 has 48 pre-set kits and 1,500 instrument sounds, with styles from Traditional to EDM, Hip-Hop, Metal, World and Orchestral. The pads also feature ‘after-touch’: pressing a little harder will trigger an effect. To navigate settings on the FGDP-30, you use the kit selection buttons, which involves some scrolling. The FGDP-50 is more user-friendly, as it has an LCD menu, eight programmable RGB Pad LEDs (lighted pads), and more functionality. Each has USB MIDI/Audio and AUX In.
Focusrite Scarlett 4th Generation
Solo £139.99; 2i2 £199.99; 4i4 £274.99
The Scarlett 4th Generation range includes improved versions of the Solo, 2i2, and 4i4 USB audio interfaces. The Solo is ideal for singer-songwriters, with one mic input (XLR) and one line/instrument input. The 2i2 has two XLR and two line/instrument inputs, enabling you to record in stereo. The 4i4 has more connectivity with two XLR inputs, two line/instrument inputs and MIDI in/out. New features include ‘RedNet’ audio converters, providing professional studio-quality sound. The 2i2 and 4i4 have improved pre-amps that work well with low output/dynamic mics. Clip Safe mode is also exclusive to the 2i2 and 4i4 models, which guarantees that your recording will not be distorted. Auto Gain mode is available on all versions, ensuring optimum input levels, and each has an independent headphone control. Hitmaker Expansion software and Ableton Lite Live are included.