Mac and Music News

The new AES Paris Website is live! You can now access the full AES Convention Calendar, registration area, and full program of technical sessions and exhibits which will take place for the first time in the Paris Expo which is the leading French exhibition center and the fourth biggest complex in Europe.

120 AES Convention will take place from May 20 to May 23 in Paris.

SoundToys announced that the SoundToys Native Effects bundle for Mac OS X is now shipping. This bundle contains six plug-ins together into a single package :

- EchoBoy : with 30 echo/delay emulations;
- FilterFreak : analog sounding single or dual resonant filter;
- PhaseMistress : emulations of classic and modern phase shifters;
- Tremolator : classic tremolo emulations, dynamic control and Rhythm ;
- Crystallizer : retro pitch-shifting, reverse granular echo;
- SPEED (AudioSuite only) : high quality tempo/time control and pitch-shifting.

This bundle for Pro Tools LE OS X ships at $495 (Audio Units version to follow).

IDrum is now available as version 1.5. Since version 1.1, iDrum works for both new MacIntel and PowerPC Macs. iDrum is now manufactured by Izotope. IDrum is a drum machine that turns any Macintosh computer into a slamming beatbox ready to lay down your grooves, your way. From ambient downtempo to bangin' hip hop to frenetic drum and bass, iDrum has got your back (beat).

iDrum is a shareware available in the MacMusic software section.

The third Circuit Bending Festival will be held in New York, USA from the 19th to the 23rd of April. This is a unique occasion to ear live performances, participate to workshops on how to bend both for adults and kids (some are to pre-register to attend), and envision installations.

Performances $5, $7, $10 or free…Worshops from free and up to $60 (cost of materials). Bent is held 15 Nassau Street 10005 New York.

M-Audio brings support for Apple's new Intel-based Mac computers to the company's complete line of FireWire- and USB-compatible peripherals. M-Audio has posted official drivers for Fast Track USB, Fast Track Pro, MobilePre USB, JamLab, Transit USB, Audiophile USB, FireWire Solo, FireWire Audiophile, FireWire 410, FireWire 1814, ProjectMix I/O, Ozonic, M-Audio Ozone, Oxygen 8, MIDISPORT 2x2, MIDISPORT 1x1, MIDISPORT 4x4, MIDISPORT 2x4 and MIDISPORT 8x8/s.

Alphakanal updates its Automat to version 0.4 in order to adds a new chorus code, phasor and allpass filter. Automat is a substrative synthesizer faturing subtractive synthesis, 3 antialiased oscilators, filters and amplifier, 2 ADSR's for filter and amplifier and 6 modulators with tempo sync.

Automat is a freeware available in the MacMusic software section.

Digidesign announces version 2.0 of the Massenburg DesignWorks Hi-Res Parametric EQ, developed by the creator of the parametric EQ, George Massenburg. This new version of the MDW Hi-Res Parametric EQ plug-in for Digidesign Pro Tools|HD systems delivers the same reference standard sound as the original while offering a new user interface, five- and three-band versions, improved DSP efficiency, and significant workflow enhancements.

Owners of MDW Hi-Res Parametric EQ version 1.x can upgrade to 2.0 for $125.

JackOSX is now available as version 0.73, the first Unversal Binary release for both Intel-based and PowerPC Macs. This version also features :r emoved NetJack component until bugs fixed, also removed legacy Port Audio driver, and updated to latest Jack server version. Jack (the Jack Audio Connection Kit) is a low-latency audio server, written originally for the GNU/Linux operating system, and now with Mac OS X support. It can connect any number of different applications to a single hardware audio device; it also allows applications to send and receive audio to and from each other.

Monome is a US collective. These girls and guys are busy producing the first batch of 200 units of the Monome 40h. This is a USB controller, with 8 rows of 8 illuminated silicone buttons powered with the mapd software (drum machines, loopers, 1bit video transformers, physics models, virtual sliders, math games, etc.) The controller receives and sends MIDI and OSC thru mapd. The video is more explicit in the uses that can be done than a long listing. The firmware is under GNU/GPL so anyone can add his little stone… And last, there's brewing a Monome 100h with a matrix of 16x16… Oh, and they bike in Philadelphia too.

Availability, as fast as they can finish and ship them… price $500