Roland Virtual Sonics and Sony Pictures Post Production Services (a subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment), is developing advanced new tools and content for RainLink, a high-definition music, sound and video performance and control technology.
Beginning in early 2018, Roland Virtual Sonics will release a series of RainLink-enabled software products through Roland Cloud, featuring audio recordings made at Sony Pictures Post Production Services sound facilities in Culver City, California. These products will be designed to assist those working in mixed media industries, and will include a continuously growing library of virtual instruments for the most popular DAWs for use in film, television, video games and virtual reality applications. These will be available to all through Roland Cloud.
‘In a collaboration designed to modernise the sounds heard behind today’s music and greatly add to the bright future of RainLink, Roland is collaborating with Sony Pictures Post Production Services to leverage the studio’s world-renowned sound facilities, including one of the industry’s most beloved scoring stages, where multiple Oscar-winning scores have been recorded,’ says Roland Virtual Sonics Executive Director, Jeremy Soule.
RainLink technology from Roland features more than 130,000 times the resolution of the current Midi standard. Other RainLink innovations address a future of cloud computing in content creation, deep support for gaming and virtual/augmented reality applications, and much more. RainLink brings new expressive and creative
‘As motion pictures have increasingly migrated to digital formats and cloud-centric workflows, Roland Virtual Sonics and Sony Pictures Post Production Services have identified an opportunity to bring the next generation of virtual musical instruments, sounds, and related tools to modern productions,’ Soule says. ‘Early into discussions of collaboration, we jointly recognized that the audio capabilities of Sony Pictures Post Production Services and its world-class sound stages could greatly enhance and accelerate efforts to establish RainLink as a next-generation technology alongside Midi. Roland intends to support both formats for years to come.’
Introduced in 1983 by a consortium of manufacturers that included Roland ,Midi is a technical protocol that describes both the method and means of communication between musical instruments, computers, and related audiovisual devices. Unlike simple audio connections, Midi carries data representing music performance and control, such as the movement of keys on a keyboard, the strike of a drum, the strum of a guitar, the spin of a DJ controller, and more. Midi allows one compatible musical instrument to play or ‘trigger’ another, and can be recorded, edited, and played back with relative ease. And while nearly every album, film and television score, or video game soundtrack still incorporates Midi at some stage in production, most applications use the original ‘8-bit word’ specification. While Roland continues to respect and support Midi as a world standard, RainLink is based on 24-bit words, and simply put, more bits means new capabilities.
‘I’ve spent 23 years of my career as a composer working within the confines of Midi, BAFTA-winner and Roland Virtual Sonics chief Soule observes. ‘At times, I have asked myself if I wanted to spend the rest of my career working with low-resolution while the rest of the world advanced. Today I’m grateful to be working with Roland as we develop RainLink and bring the world of music performance and production into the high-res 21st century.’
More: www.rolandcloud.com
