Mac and Music News

Apple Computer will host a special "music related products" event at 10:00am on Sept. 7th at San Francisco's Moscone Center. Several web sites and other sources reported that Apple would unveil new products : new iPod, or the long awaited iPhone. This cell phone would be the first Motorola's iTunes phone, and sources says that Motorola and Apple will introduce a complete line of music-oriented phones that go by the name ROKR, rather than a single handset.

We just have to wait now...

WormHole allows you to transmit audio over TCP/IP and between applications. This new version 2.0.2 for both Audio Units and VST formats features : more reliable latency compensation / insert loop mode, better Audio Units compatibility, and multiple minor glitch fixes.

Garritan Jazz and Big Band Collection will feature Trumpets, Trombones, a Comprehensive Saxophone Collection, Keyboards, Rhythm Section and more (over 50 individual instruments), all accessible via the included Native Instruments Kontakt Player in VST, AU, DX, RTAS and standalone formats on Mac OS X.

Garritan Jazz and Big Band Collection is now available for pre-order at introductory price of $259 and is expected to ship late September.

Alphakanal has updated its substrative synthesizer Automat to Audio Units version 0.3.2. This new release changes : better sounding EFX section, better randomize function, new modulation waveforms, new presets and new clicks generator (beta. part of an new upcoming feature).

Automat is a freeware available in our software section.

Easy beat by Ergonis is a music authoring program for composing, scoring, and playing songs on Mac OS X. This new release 2.2.1 adds Mac OS 10.4 Tiger compatibility and fixes a number of user-reported bugs. Easy Beat is an easy-to-use and full-fledged MIDI sequencer. This software was designed to be "used in the way that most musicians really work. It does not require following a structured process or read extensive user manuals". Easy Beat features : up to 16 song tracks plus a metronome track, multiple views of individual tracks, export to GarageBand, MIDI import and export, export to QuickTime movies and AIFF files, and more...

Make Music announces that the demo version of its music notation software Finale 2006 is available as a download for Macintosh OS X. Here are the differences between the demo and full version: No saving, and Prints only first page with a "demo" watermark.

Expert Sleepers has updated Augustus Loop Audio Units to version 1.5. This release is a major update which adds a simple but very important feature - the ability to change the delay time without 'tape delay' inertia effects. This gives you loop multiply/divide capabilities, lets you tap the loop tempo without clearing it first, makes the 'Fix Delay' feature useful (in which the delay time stays constant as the pitch is varied) etc.

Augustus Loop is an emulation of a tape-based delay effect, with some extra features to facilitate its use as a looping device

Malcolm Haylock has updated VSamp, its software sampler player, to version 3.6.1, for both VST and Audio Units formats. This release changes : improved SampleCell import, file type of samples now recognised directly by name extension (.aiff .sd2 .wav etc). VSamp is a software sample player. It comprises a program for creating and playing virtual instruments and a plugin for playing VSamp instruments from within a sequencer.

MindPrint announces that its new MindPrint Trio USB recording solution will be available worldwide in September. The new MindPrint TRIO USB offers the same channel strip with true analog EQ and Compressor, essential mixing, AUX & DAW inputs and monitoring features (talkback, MONO, DIM and MUTE functions, outputs for 3 pairs of speakers) as found on the original TRIO, but adds USB audio instead of the S/PDIF interface of the original TRIO.

The new MindPrint Trio USB comes is white, and will be available September 2005 for €449.

Audio Damage announces the release of DubStation for OSX VST/AU. The DubStation plug-in is modeled on the "bucket-brigade" style of vintage delay units, and has all the mojo that made those boxes great. it features 4ms to 2000ms delay time, Sync-to-host capable, Full MIDI learn mode, MIDI CC, Loop and reverse features, Low-cut filter controllable.

DubStation is now available for $39.00 as a direct download for OSX VST/AU.

This is a real sunday news item : the MidiGun is a handheld midi controller. It replaces the classical DJ mixer and the keyboard at the same time. The "midiGun" is a new kind of device that "can be intuitively used because of its handy shape and easy accessible knobs, buttons and sensors". The "midiGun" offers 16 different controllers which can be cascaded in 16 switchable sets. This allows for a total of 256 independent sound and effects controls at the reach of your fingertips.