Tool Much Fun 8
I present to you this week’s findings. It’s got quite a few sample packs but still plenty of other goodies to be aware of. All presented without tracking in the links unless specified.
To clarify, not everything is freshly compiled and released, but they are new to me. So if you are the vendors of one of these items and I’m only just hearing about it, ask yourself why.
Might try a table of contents this time. Squarespace makes this a bit of a PITA IMHO.
Music | Presets | Samples | iOS
Resources | Social Media | Writing | Web Page Makin’ | Development | Textiles
Music
RDessor
I had this in my notes and now I've lost the link. Google seems to think it is the one by Waves but I thought it was something else. So in place, check out the AirWindows DeBess If we can find out more, I will edit this post. Search engines think I’m searching for dressers.
Modeled from the Bettermaker Valve Stereo Passive Equalizer. Another EQ that probably sounds great but has an interface you need to get used to. I have one of their others and that’s what it’s like — enjoy the quirkiness of what the hardware was like. If you don’t already have an EQ like this, check it out.
Metal guitar virtual instrument. I have a guitar and can play it a little, so I don’t own any of these that didn’t come with something else such as Kontakt. They also do a couple of basses and a drum kit. For more stringy goodness, try
Also browse their large range of Chinese and western instruments.
“An open-source project that uses deep learning to create models of guitar amplifiers and pedals.”
Bass amp modeler which includes EQ, distortion, modulation, and envelope controls They also do a drum plugin and sample packs.
Free “creative’ chorus.
Not new but I hadn’t heard it mentioned ever before. Which is interesting because it’s on sale and that usually percolates through to me.
“AI Mastering done right” Although some people are against the use of AI in products, it’s here and we need to handle it like we have done for all new technology. AI is already available in izotope Ozone and Logic Pro, but these folks say theirs is better. You can choose from 3 human-trained flavours: Balanced, Modern, and Vintage, and also blend in the AI choices with your own decisions.
An “effect that cascades a series of all-pass filters.” I can’t imagine what that might sound like in my head so I will need to listen to demos.
Get some Air
Using their “Virtual Positioning Technology”, you can position your sounds anywhere in the legendary Lyndhurst Hall, which sounds like it’s famous for high-end audio folks. Sorry folks, your namedropping has no effect on me. I have heard of Albert Hall, and I know how many holes it takes to fill it. Not to be confused with AIR Music Tech.
TC electronic VSS3 Space Simulation Reverb
I found this one difficult to even find the price. Common to companies that sell hardware, you are directed to reseller sites, but when I searched a couple I couldn't find the item. However I did find that TC has been quietly making things like the BRICKWALL HD-DT - Mastering Brickwall Limiter and MASTER X HD-DT - Multiband Dynamics Processor and DYN 3000 -DT - Midas-Powered High-End Dynamics Channel (another Compressor) which are all quite pricey presumably because they support connecting to an optional hardware controller… I guess. Or maybe they just aren't interested in selling plugins like other companies seem to want to do. You can download demos here.
For handling chapters in podcasts. I stumbled across this merely looking for information about chapters in podcasts, so I guess SEO does work sometimes.
Live plugin host for perfomance or DAWless music making. Compare with Nembrini Nexus.
A vocal rider to challenge the throne long-held by Waves. Compare with WaveRiderTg.
Sorry to inform you… those are called dolphins
Free plucked string synth plugin. Only two knobs — oh the simplicity!
A transient shaper — if you’re new to all these terms, this will help you get crackier snap or click from things that you want to sound snappy or click such as percussive items. The Boom side here helps get impactful thuds in your bass and kick drums.
Free online/web based DAW. I’m not sure how I feel about these online DAWs yet. Compare with Soundation.
Guitar library for DecentSampler modelled on a Carvin SC90
A modelling of some unnamed Japanese synths from 1977. It supports two layers that can be blended and each key can have independent aftertouch values to make playing more expressive and natural sounding. A nice addition to their other year-named synths. Each one captures those few years well and doesn’t try to be an all-in-one synthstravaganza (just coined that). Or maybe because they’re from Sweden it’s a synthasbord? Smorgasynth. Yeah that one is better.
Vocal Tune, Vocal Chain, Tuned Reverb. Also available as a bundle.
This is a spinoff company from Safari Pedals. For some reason they thought these were not a good fit for their Safari branded range and made this separate. I guess that means you can try other GUIs and it doesn’t matter that they don’t match. That stuff doesn’t seem to bother book publishers who often change one book out of a series.
Real time drum extraction. They also make Demix Pro, Voxless and RePan.
Presets
Minimal Audio Fusion Keys for Current
55 presets for their high-end high-priced synth Current.
Samples
Sound effects which they suggest could be used for games or movies.
Deep House, Vocals, Kontakt instruments, Massive X presets & more
Drums and melodies for soul, jazz, library, 90's hip-hop and Lo-fi arrangements.
Drums and oneshots for hiphop and boombap
Trap, hip-hop, eerie and more.
Come for the samples, stay for the cover art
157 sample pack products with cool artwork for your next cool song.
Psychedelic hip hop, meditative textures, and hypnotizing drones
Drums, bass, melodic, chords.
Vintage and neo-soul loops.
Lo-fi sounds. Presets and Ableton racks coming soon? Not to be confused with this pack by Constructs of Time.
Guitar loops
Includes Soul jazz, Trap, Cinematic and Groove House
Techno, Melodic House, Vocals, Guitars and Serum presets.
iOS music
16 step midi sequencer for iPad only. Autocorrects to divisor!
Audio Collaboration
Audio specific review and feedback. Compare with Notetracks.
This one does not appear to have timecode based notes, but does have a companion iOS app.
Aimed at audio professionals. Includes timestamped notes and payment tracking.
Graphics
Subscription based assets including fonts and Canvas templates. Still a few too many unreadable scripty fonts for my liking. Seems aimed at the Cricut crowd.
Mockups, templates and some unusual fonts.
iOS app for making mandala images coming soon.
Textures, Grunge and Lo-fi, gradients, instagram reels and stories templates.
Fonts
Bouqtie foundry that has released 7 interesting fonts, mostly modern.
6 faces in very different styles one postmodern/futuristic, one freebie.
A bitmapped font. I grew up when fonts like this were still real fonts. You could see them on receipt printouts, so this would be handy if you need to recreate a receipt in a project set around, say, 198x-1999.
Lots of weights to keep you fit
First font is Innovator Grotesk, a clean modern headline font. Stop using Arial!
iOS Other
A free framework and scalable digital note-taking method for Apple Notes.
Save links, articles, videos, social media posts and more. Use a browser plugins to save items as you find them on your computer. Integration with Zapier. Compare with Raindrop.io, which seems to be more about links only.
Tasks, notes and calendar. iPhone, iPad, Web and Mac versions offered.
Blitz those tasks
Todo list and task manager than includes a timer function.
Modern and pretty tasks and lists app. Free tier, the Pro version is AU$15/month but that pays for up to 25GB of file sharing, some AI usage and integration with Slack, GitHub, Linear and Figma to add to the Google and Microsoft integrations in the free option. Notion, Zoom and Loom (sounds like some Air Force manoeuvre) integrations coming soon.
Notes and writing. I still don’t see an easy way to get links and images into Squarespace!
Handwrite your notes with your stylus on iOS, Android or Windows.
Personal Project manager- turn all these tasks and todos into a project with milestones etc.
For both good and bad tasks
Task manager. Includes Apple Watch app.
Multicam video recording.
track movies, shows, games, books and audiobooks you want to consume later.
An app for managing you time by allocating blocks, and then removing distractions by preventing certain apps from running in certain blocks. Currently in beta.
It is scriptable
Free app to Automate iOS using JavaScript.
Photo organizers
Mylio got to the top of this list on Shotkit.
Next one-time purchase on the list is Tonfotos which I also hadn’t heard of, but that’s why we’re here.
Planning
A project manager tool for product development. Track issues, milestones, and roadmaps collaboratively with a team.
3D
Part of a visual effects suite. This one is for fire simulation, LiquiGen and GeoGen are for liquid and terrain respectively.
A free web app for 3D design, electronics and coding. Probably aimed at the education market to get them hooked on AutoCAD software.
iPad app for 3D sculpting and painting
Web based educational platform. Exports in OBJ, STL, PLY, GLTF, USD, FBX, DAE, and X3D.
Ai
Claude AI client.
Mac
Everyone wants their battery to last, and this menu bar app purports to give you control over limiting the charging of yours to increase its lifespan. Pro version with more control available.
Write notes, tasks and organise it all. Supports Markdown.
Text-based clipboard history tool. Unlimited clipboard history. Minimum macOS 14 though— no good for your older Mac. If you’ve been moving bunches of things back or forth between multiple apps without a clipboard manager, you’ve been doing it the slow way. There are many in this category. I’m still looking for one that supports images in a good way but isn’t Yoink. I’d happily pay for it. If you know one, let me know in the comments or message me.
The Network Utility, Apple decided, was no longer needed by mere mortals so they discontinued it. Looks like DEVONtechnologies has made their own.
Resources
Design News/Inspiration
Training
Language Learning
Here's a language learning site recommended by YouTuber Language Jones, so I have included his affiliate link.
Music
Download acoustic impulse responses.
Sound Propagation Level Calculator
Find and play clips based on dialog. Compare with Yarn.
Promotion and Social Media
Plan, automate and manage your social media. Autocorrects to nulling.
Go solo or in groups for these pretty landing pages
Link-in-bio Share and cross promote your links, music, videos, and social media properties. Free tier with up to 25 links.
Not just managed promo links- this one includes an ISRC and UPC code finder and Meta Master - a browser extension for Edge which lets you work with site keywords and can show you a social media post preview.
Writing/authors
Promotion and marketing tools for authors. Features include sending private links to eBook samples with embargo dates to avoid your copy getting into the wrong hands before proper publishing.
Random poetry generator.
Online proofing tool for teams of any size to share, review and approve all their files: documents, images, websites, even Adobe Creative Cloud formats (not sure about video)
Web Page Makin’
Make a website without coding. Basic plan is for static sites, next tier up for a few more dollars includes blogging. They don't want to be seen as template-driven but there are definitely templates to get started.
A tool to compare what features are available in popular browsers. Who is driving all these features into browsers rather than apps? Probably Google, who wants to dominate the web and will never admit it.
Make a website, blog, or portfolio using nothing but Apple Notes.
“Turns your Apple Notes into a website.” You still have to host it somewhere though.
Development
AI powered code editor. Free 2 week trial then US$20/month which includes 10 Claude Opus uses per day.
Web-app friendly database, open source alternative to Firebase.
a video subformat that embeds camera metadata such as depth data directly into video frames. Test playback with MetavidoVFX.
Textiles
Not textfiles, textiles! In what other blog are you gonna find both web developer stuff and fabric patterns? But here we are.
This concludes the show. I am well into the subsequent post because life happens while I make other plans. See you in the next one and don’t be late (like I was).