Mac and Music News

DrumThing is a compact and simple application designed be a software version of a drum machine for creating drum patterns, loops and grooves. DrumThing 1.0 needs Mac OS X with Quicktime installed.

This shareware is dowloadable from the MM softwares section.

Synapse Audio have released the OS X version of the Poly-850, a VSTi synthesizer plug-in for Mac OS X, which started out as an emulation of a vintage synth. The Poly-850 features 2 oscillators, one filter for all voices, 3 envelopes, a modulation generator and a chorus effect.

Poly 850 costs $79 but he OS X demo version does not yet appear to be available.

Mireth Technology Corp. announces the launch of Music Man, digital music software that rips from CD, converts between formats, burns to CD or to USB Flash Drive Memory and plays music files, CDs and directly from USB Flash. Music Man runs on Mac OS X.

Music Man for Mac OS X is available for immediate download or on CD-ROM, starting at $19.95. Educational pricing and volume discounts are available.

Filterizer is a new a new VST effect for OS X made by Analog Industries. Filterizer is a simple state-variable filter that allows the filter cut-off frequency to be controlled by MIDI note number.

Filterizer is now available as a free download from the Analog Industries website.

NI has just posted an update (large bugfix version) to version 4.1.3 of Reaktor for both Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X. This update features : improved graphics performance, audio unit version now supports MIDI-capable effects, copy/paste of (info) texts now works, and fixes :batch conversion destroyed internal connections, naming of files in the recorder was buggy, possible crash with Create Control, crash with high number of voices when changing them, and more, more...

This update is free and the full version of Reaktor costs 449 euros

Recordare LLC has released a Macintosh OS X version of its Dolet for Finale plug-in. Dolet for Finale 2.0 lets Finale for Macintosh users exchange files with any other programs that support the MusicXML format. Dolet plug-ins works as an universal translators between music notation programs. Finale users on OS X can now read all files produced by programs including Sibelius, PhotoScore Professional, and Virtual Composer.

More info on the Recordare web site.

It seems that Emagic major audio & Midi software, Logic, will update to version 7 in October '04. This new version will feature a new GUI (..good work with Apple ?) and will add some features already showed at Summer NAMM : UltraBeat (drum machine), Sculture (string synth) and GuitarAmp (guitar preamplifier). This new Logic will also support Apple Loops.

And now..just wait...

Hercules released Hercules 16/12 FW, a firewire audio interface for Macintosh, working on 24 bits - 96 KHz. This interface features 16 inputs/12 outputs, balanced and unbalanced mode on each analogical input/output, 2 preamp mic/instrument inputs (Neutrik XLR/TRS), Word Clock support and 2 Midi in/out.

Hercules 16/12 FW costs 700 euros.

It's not a news..it's just..art ! We spent a part ot the morning in the Apple Expo to shoot photos. And superb ones, especially on music booths. You'll find in the gallery all major music booths : Motu, Steinberg, Korg, Hercules and others...

Don't waiste time..jump to the gallery.

Native Instruments has realised Electronic Instruments v2 for use with Reaktor 4 and Reaktor Session. The eight instruments included in this collection 2 are: Photonec (Hybrid Master Synthesizer), Limelite (Advanced Beat Composer), Metaphysical function (Dynamic Soundscape Synthesizer), Krypt (Granular Drum Machine), Akkord (Sequenced Chord Generator), FastFX (6 Advanced Performance Effects) , Resochord (Programmable Polyphonic Resonator), and Cyan (Extended Vintage Chorus).

This Electronic Instruments 2 pack will be available on September 17th and will cost $119.

As we announced yesterday ;-), Steinberg just released Cubase SX3, the new version of their well known sequencer. New features include:

Audio Warp: Realtime Time Stretching and Pitch Shifting offer extensive new audio editing and processing capabilities, including ACIDŽ File support: loops automatically adopt a project's tempo; audio files can follow tempo changes in realtime.

Intuitive Play Order Track for pattern-based arranging: Divide your song into sections, and then re-arrange it on the fly. Compare alternative versions of your song and then convert them back into a linear form for mixdown and mastering.

New Inplace Editor supports ultra-fast direct MIDI event editing from within the project page. Edit MIDI events in context with audio or ...

Digidesign has announced Smack, a new professional compressor/limiter plug-in designed specifically for music applications. Smack features three compression modes, unique compression ratios, and harmonic distortion ideally suited for achieving a wide range of sonic variations and colorations. Additionally, the plug-in supports side-chain processing, multi-channel track types, and the full range of ProTools sample rates and plug-in formats.

Smack for Pro Tools HD & HD accel costs $595, and Smack LE (for Pro Tools LE) costs $395.

Synthtopia has published a set of Garageband Tips from author Jeff Tolbert. Many of these suggestions are taken from his book, Take Control of Making Music with GarageBand .