Mac and Music News

Our friend Scott Shepard at OSXFAQ has still more from the National Association of Broadcasters show. He's edited audio interviews with some major folks at the show, an essential listen if you're into DV! In show 1, Scott talks to Apple's Final Cut HD product manager, training authors for Final Cut and DVD Studio Pro, plus the desktop video folks at AJA and the CEO of Jeo's Plugin's For FCP. In show 2, CinePaint, Artbeats, Bauhaus Software, SmartSound Software, and Backbone Networks are on the hotseat.

Arbiter France has announced the coming availability of an RME interface based on Firewire 800 technology (with backwards-compatibility with Firewire 400). The interface supports up to a whopping 56 channels (including ADAT channels), with 192kHz, 25-bit resolution, four class A preamps, two ADAT ports, a MIDI port, wordclock and S/PDIF with the classic 8 analog I/O.

Ed: Incredible: a dream interface. There's a huge amount of I/O there for ADAT lovers. We'll keep you posted as more details emerge. -PK

Refuse Software is releasing an update of Refuse for OS 9. This software allow to connect Pro Tools and Reason using a rewire link. This new version fixes a bug with the sampling frequency and enhance the user's interface. This 1.1 update is free for all registered users.

Happy 1st Birthday to the iTunes Music Store today! To celebrate, Apple has launched iTunes 4.5, with playlist publishing, radio charts, movie trailers and music videos. There's also "Party Shuffle" mode which is a huge boon for those of us who like to take our whole library and hit shuffle: the new feature lets you designate either a library or specific playlist, make changes to the order on the fly, and even save random plays. Here are features I'm even more excited about, though: iTunes 4.5 automatically converts Microsoft WMA files to AAC, and adds Apple Lossless, with CD quality audio in half the size. This could be iTunes 5, as far as I'm concerned.

In other news, iTunes has sold 70 million songs in its first year, short of Apple's 100 million goal but impressive nonetheless (and some of us still haven't redeemed all our Pepsi caps yet!) So, celebrate the 1 year birthday by downloading a free Foo Fighters tune, courtesy Apple -- the first of a series in which one new free song is released each week.

Ed: Yep, we're a day late with this one. Blame latency. -PK

Have a look at the new Creamware WebSite. SFP4 is downloadable (with lot of bugs fixed) and attractive prices for their latest plug-ins.

Applied Acoustics Systems announces the release of Tassman V4 for Mac OSX (CoreAudio, VST, RTAS, AudioUnits), its synthesis and sound design modular studio based on physical modelling. Besides the compatibility with Panther, Tassman offers a reorganized "performance" mode along with a function allowing to use it in real time and comes with a new sample collection.

Registered users can get an update for 99 euros. This update is free for users of versions bought after January 1, 2004. The full version is available for 399 euros (download) or 499 euros (CD version).

The long-awaited Finale NotePad 2004, the free version of MakeMusic's flagship music notation software Finale, is here. NotePad is the best free tool available for making simple scores, with a number of basic features borrowed from its sibling Finale. It's also critical to compatibility, since users who don't own Finale can open any file made with a Finale-family program in NotePad. Delays to an OS X version had crippled the usefulness of the free version and made it impossible to open Finale files downloaded on the web natively. The new version also boasts enhancements to playback, entry, layers, and lyrics. A must-have download if you need Finale compatibility or want a free, simple tool for printing scores.

Cycling '74 has released MODE plugins, which "combine classic synthesis and effects technique with state-of-the-art performance control. MODE features user-friendly arpeggiators, integrated synth effects and simplified control of complex systems." The suite, built using Pluggo technology, includes five primary plugins: POLY (polyphonic synthesizer), MONO (synth with a dual 2-op FM engine), BANG (FM and analog percussion voices), SPIN (time-synchronized effects) and WASH (delay-based effects processor) as well as 18 plug-in "modules". It is available for $200 for Mac OS X (and a host that supports VST, AU or RTAS plug-ins).

Ed: Cycling `74 has a reputation for plugin value thanks to their DIY development environment, Max/MSP. And look at the new, beautiful interfaces. Can't wait to try these out! -PK