Sensomusic has released Usine Hollyhock II, their modular live music and real-time installation software for Mac & Windows.
According to the company, Usine is more powerful and stable than ever. The update includes more than 500 improvements, including:
- Smpte, Midi Timecode (MTC), Linear Timecode (MTC) support
- Engine optimization
- OSC learn on every controls
- New powerful library
- 64 channels support on every audio module
- 128 audio in/out
- New Internet site
- New open source SDK
Here’s a video demo of Hollyhock II’s Grid:
Features:
- Video support
- DMX/Art-net support for light management
- New powerful timeline Grid
- New automations recording
- New interface design
- More than 50 new modules covering a large range of applications including:
- New Grain-Sampler module
- New Midi Sampler module
- 3D support
- Leap V2 support
Usine Hollyhock II is available for a limited time for 69€, (usually 119€).
This kind of software is impressive and promising. I already took the plunge with Reaktor, and it does what I need. But I’m glad there are some nice options like this.
@ stub: Usine is more like modular Ableton Live than a Reaktor me-too. It’s practically impossible to make DAW out of Reaktor while Usine is a sort of a DAW/Live Session mode but so much more.
Not sure about the daw part (in mind a daw goes hand by hand with strong audio editing tools)
However the way it treats multichannel/surround work should be a lesson to all major daw’s which basically are adding that as an afterthought, a hack…
Sensomusic with Usine Hollyhock II are really upping the ante, I wish other modular audio environments like AudioMulch and Plogue Bidule would take such risks, the new school trackers like SunVox too.
Not just because it’s modular and have connecting lines it behaves like Reaktor. This is a complete DAW while reactor is a modular sound engine. Not the same, not even close.
super interesting. i wonder how this is different from say Ableton Live which also has a ton of flexibility in studio and live situations…
Reminds me of 5twelve Numerology Pro, but with a cleaner interface. Anything can be modulated in Numerology — even the lengths of individual sequences in a pattern, allowing for complex, automated pattern changes over time. If Hollyhock can do similar things in a more accessible way, then it could really begin to make some waves. I’ve been watching Hollyhock from the sidelines for a while. I don’t usually go for products developed by a songle person (continuity fears) but the developer has made such an effort with this update that I won’t jold back any longer — I’ll take the plunge.
at some point I really need to get into this – mainly for the multitouch controls- I have a dell venue 8 and I know that you can build both daw and sound/loop modules in it with multitiouch which would be really fun as a side instrument/controller for live play.. esp if they can get that windows bluetooth midi standard on it’s feet
I downloaded and played around with the first Hollyhock release after I got a 360 touchscreen laptop. Didn’t have time to totally dedicate. But this release has reminded me, and I’m motivated to dive in.
For the price, and what it does, and especially with all of the new windows tablets out there, I think there is a lot of potential for this program.
I think the only thing holding it back it the relatively small user base. Plenty of Ableton Live, Max, Fruity Loops, etc tutorials. Usine is a little more rare.
Not sure what exactly to call it (DAW? Modular Environment?), but a multitouch enabled musical program with a dedicated performance mode that can host VSTs sounds great to me, especially at this price.