Mac and Music News

Ableton releases Live 2.1, a new update of their award-winning sequencing instrument. Live 2.1 brings full ReWire support to Mac OS 9 and now Mac OS X and features that allow integration for Pro Tools, Logic, Cubase, Nuendo, Digital Performer and Reason users. The software update is now available as a free download for registered Live 2 users.

If you think that the Apple Cube was (and is) a pretty good computer to make music (so compact, so silent and and with firewire connexions), you must discover Kemplar.com. They sells cutomized Cube: G4 at 1,2GHz, 120G HD, 1 Go Ram, GeForce3 Video card, Superdrive (in option)... Stock is limited!

The original Muon Tau Bassline has now been completely overhauled and re-released as an entirely new product: Tau Bassline mk2

Tau Bassline Mk2 features:

- 64-bit 2x oversampling waveform oscillators with rich analogue-like sawtooth and square waveforms
- improved 18db/octave lowpass filter
- Glide function
- Accent mode.
- Additionally, all controls can be automated with MIDI CC controllers. Users can define their own CC mappings with the integrated and easy-to-use MIDI learn feature. CC mappings are saved in patches and songs automatically too.

Mac OS9 and Mac OSX VSTi versions of Tau Mk2 are now available from the Muon online shop at the reduced price of $17.50. The price will rise to $20 after August 31st.

Demos for all platforms and audio demos are available.

Kenton will shortly be releasing several new products :

- LD2 - MIDI level display
Designed primarily as a MIDI volume level indicator for synth/keyboard players, particularly those using a foot pedal for volume control. However, this handy little device can be used in any situation where a clear, accurate level display is required.

- XC5 - 'Hands-free' control hub
This box has 2 inputs for switch pedals, 2 inputs for variable pedals and a breath controller input. Intended to add lots of control possibilities to your performance.

- Wireless MIDI system
The system consists of a transmitter, which is a small battery powered pack intended to be worn on the belt and has a MIDI In socket for connection to your keyboard or MIDI guitar, and a receiver unit, which has a MIDI Out socke ...

5 well know, high quality and praised OhmForce products for only 345 Euros (saved 120 Euros) up to July 29th. Featuring in this Audio Units bundle :
- Ohm Boyz : delay
- Predatohm : disto/booster
- Hematohm : freq-shifter
- Mobilohm : phaser
- Quad Frohmage : filter bank

This is a time limited offer, so hurry up!

The one drooling over the classic Ursa Major racks can spin in joy and sing all day long, one of the "reverberators" himself Mr Christopher Moore re-release the Ursa Major Space Station SST-206.

Based on 150MHz 24 bit Motorola DSP chips, and using the original algorhythm the original sound should still be there, along with AES-EBU I/O, and of 24 bits 44.1 or 48 khz audio. The unit itself is no more a 3U rack but what looks like a remote with knobbies.

With the power available from the Motorola chip, Moore says that he was unable to resist the temptation to pull out all the stops and render a stunning new reverb program he simply calls "room." The reverberator is controlled by twelve potentiometers that provide instant, intuitive access to all the important parameters.

Price $1195.00. Note, the SST-206 is not CE approved yet.

While we happily roast (at least in Europe ;) TFPRO (Ted Fletcher, the guy behing the ex Joemeek line) is still busy like ants and prepares a rack (still unnamed, go with an entry below and win a P3 if yours is chosen ;) dédicated to EQ in mastering.

So what's this beast? It's a developement of the Trident-MTA "A" line, based on a Barry Porter design. Specs as of today are:

The P9 features, 2 channels of...
- NO POTS! All switched settings (rotary and toggle)
- 4 bands
- 12 EQ gain stages
- boost/cut per band (24 gain positions in total)
- Mid Q shaping (2 bands)
- 11 input and output gain settings
- All inductor based EQ
- 3 way high pass filter
- 3 way low pass filter
- input clip meter
- post EQ 9 LED meter
- eq bypass switch

Price and availability TBA

Emagic softs and products can be now purchased on the Apple Store.

Granted Software released ReMIDI 1.0, a handy MIDI performance assistant featuring automatic chord generation and arpeggiation. ReMIDI is a tool that enhances keyboard performance to by automatically changing notes into chords and chords into arpeggios or strums.

The Chord Assistant includes 27 different chords.
There are two Performance Assistants: the Arpeggiator and the Strummer. The Arpeggiator plays the chords in a variety of ways and supports a variety of tempos, intervals and durations. The Strummer addresses a major keyboard performance problem - getting a realistic strum effect.

ReMIDI 1.0 is directly downloadable from the Granted Software website. Registration is only $14.95 (U.S.) per single-user license. ReMIDI requires Mac OS X 10.2 and higher.

It's ready to go: the second generation of ABSYNTH is now available worldwide. Sound designers, musicians and producers can look forward to working with this most advanced and multifaceted synthesizer, which breaks all boundaries with its sophisticated new features. There has never been a synthesizer with such a dynamic, flexible and impacting sonic spectrum. Sampling and granular sampling, revolutionary envelope functions, synchronization of rhythmic sounds to song tempo, Mac OS X support, new filters and oscillators, integrated libraries for fast sound creation and much more provide unparalleled creative freedom for sound designers.

Thanks to its rich and authentic sound the B4 organ has secured a place in studios and live performances the whole world over. Paul McCartney keyboarder Wix Wickens played the B4 organ on the most recent Paul McCartney Tour, wrapping up a string of international dates with a concert on Red Square in Moscow. NI had the chance to sit down for an interview with Wix and talk about his experiences with the B4. There's also news for Mac OS X and Pro Tools users: a brand-new update makes the B4 organ compatible with Mac OS X, as well as the Audio Units and RTAS plug-in interfaces. The paid update is available immediately as a direct download from the NI Online Shop. As a special offer you can also download the update together with the B4 Tonewheel Set Vintage Collection.

1000 Days Of Revolution is the third and final part in Mojo magazine's trilogy of Beatles special editions. Assembled and written by the world's leading Beatles experts it plots the story of the band's last years: from their adventures at the Maharishi's Indian retreat in 1968, the rise and fall of the Apple empire to their final recording sessions, complete with eyewitness reports and previously unseen photographs.

Essential reading for all Beatles lovers.
Price (inc p+p) : UK: £4.99 Europe, USA and ROW £5.99
(I read the edition translated in french and available in press shop in France Now ! It's great ! )