Mac and Music News

Do you remember those curious things called AudioCubes ? Well, today Propellerhead has launched a new contest for Reason version 4 owner with first prize consisting in one set of Percussa's Audio Cubes + one Reason 15" Laptop Bag.

You're a Reason 4 owner ? Wanna enter this contest ? Please visit the link below :

XLN Audio has just announced the availability of a demo version of its "Complete Drum Production Studio" Addictive Drums.

The good news is that this demo version is a fully functional software which is not time limited ! You can load and save presets, get a taste of the Beats and Fills (Midi Library) and tweak away on the built in insert effects and reverbs etc. It includes some tasty presets that give you a good idea of what AD is capable off.

Limitations :

- Only 1 Kick, 1 snare, 1 Hihat and 1 Crash is provided.
- The real version ships with lots of different drums, cowbells and cymbals.
- A very limited "taste" of the rhythms in the AD Midi Library is provided.
- The real version has over 3000 Midi files.

QuikQuak has released Crowd Chamber, an audio plug-in that layers multiple variations of a signal to create a crowd simulation. Up to almost 2,000,000 layers can be produced enabling simple chorusing effects, small crowds and stadiums, on to impossible situations and effects.

When each voice is mixed, it is altered in varying time and spectral content, making unique versions of itself to create the illusion of different sources. This effect can be fed back onto itself to create many thousands of voices in real-time.

Once the concept had been created it became clear that Crowd Chamber could create far more than simple crowd scenes. Because of the feedback, wave cancellations, and, simply, the thousands of layers, it is the perfect tool for creating strange and twisted effects.
Crowd ...

Heavyocity Media has announced the release of Evolve, a new virtual instrument that "supercharges creativity and streamlines productivity for modern composers and sound designers".

Created by the TV and video game composers from Heavy Melody Music & Sound Design, Evolve is a virtual instrument powered by Native Instruments' Kontakt 2 Player. With an emphasis on the dramatic, it is geared toward film and game audio, as well as artist production and live performance. Sonically, Evolve doesn't just contain the typical sounds that form the foundation of most composers' setups. Instead, it accentuates them with a powerful combination of diverse percussion, massive stings/transitions and evocative tonalities in ways that have "never been heard before".

Evolve's signature collection feature ...

Softube has just announced that the Acoustic Feedback Deluxe plug-in for Pro Tools HD and VENUE is now shipping.

Acoustic Feedback is the first ever realistic simulation of guitar feedback. Softube has expanded on this concept in Acoustic Feedback Deluxe, which allows the user to choose which harmonics will dominate during feedback, providing greater control over the result. For even more sonic possibilities, an optional sub-harmonic function has been added, allowing the plug-in to feedback at half the fundamental frequency, providing a deeper, smoother effect.

Features :

- Added functionality: Choose harmonics with the Harmonic Selector
- Added functionality: Sub-harmonic modeling
- Realistic simulation (physical modeling) of guitar feedback.
- Fully responsive to vibratos, bends, slides, tremolos etc.
- Simple user interface: Control amount of feedback with the Feedback knob, and the sensitivity with a Tolerance knob.

Acoustic Feedback Deluxe is at the present only available as a TDM plug-in at a price of $199 excl. VAT.

Schwa has just released a new plug-in called Oligarc Filter which is described as a sophisticated emulation of a classic analog ladder filter complete with nonlinearity, instability, character, good looks, and danger.

Features :

- Resonant Filter: lowpass (bludgeon) / wide bandpass (cleaver) / narrow bandpass (scalpel).
- Brickwall Limiter: Engages a soft-clipping limiter to protect your delicate organic structures.
- Fully MIDI-controllable.

Oligarc Filter is available now for Mac OS X and Windows in VST and AU formats at a price of $20. Note that all proceeds for this plug-in will be donated to the alliance for climate protection.

Expert Sleepers has released Clocker, a free utility VST and AU plug-in for Mac OS X that sends MIDI clock.

Why would you want a plug-in to do that, when your host app sends MIDI clock perfectly fine? Well, with Clocker you have a separate, adjustable source of MIDI clock. So you can send all kinds of crazy tempo to some of your outboard gear, while the rest of your stuff plays back in time as usual.

Toontrack has released updates for all existing EZdrummer EZXs with more MIDI files and the addition of copy protection on the DFH, Vintage Rock and Latin Percussion EZXs.

The updates also include new mixer presets by Richard Devine. Richard Devine is an Atlanta-based electronic musician. He is recognized for producing a layered and heavily processed sound, combining influences from old and modern electronic music praised for, among other things, a remix of Aphex Twins Come To Daddy. Apart from engineering and performing his own music worldwide Devine has also contributed sound design to a number of hardware and software manufacturers and scored commercials for Nike and Touchstone Pictures.

All the updates are of course free of charge.

Prosoniq has announced that it has released the OrangeVocoder 10th Anniversary Mac OS X AudioUnit Edition.

This new version offers 8 sound modes, 32 voices and over 60 presets. Prosoniq's newly developed proprietary MR filterbank algorithms combined with high-precision digital state-of-the-art modelling of analogue circuitry allow an even more impressive variety of vocoder effects without compromising intelligibility.

OrangeVocoder 10th Anniversary AudioUnit Edition can be purchased for €169. Crossgrades from previous RTAS and VST versions are available for €29. A demo version is available.

Today we are pleased to publisha new article about Speakerphone, the impulse-response based speaker emulator from AudioEase.

"If you are in post for film, video, broadcast, or even a musician looking for a creative tool to put your audio in specific situations, Speakerphone should be at the top of your list of purchases."

For a limited time only, Waves and Ableton are pleased to bring you a special bundle : Waves Gold Native and Ableton Live 7, together as a single low-priced package. Note that this software package includes the full version of Ableton Live 7, not Ableton Live LE, and upgrades to Ableton Suite are available.

The Waves Gold Native and Ableton Live 7 combination package will be available May 2008 with a U.S. MSRP of $1500. (Offer available in U.S., Austria, and Switzerland only).

IK Multimedia has announced that AmpliTube X-GEAR has been made available as a free download for all AmpliTube 2 Live users and StealthPlug users.

AmpliTube X-GEAR is an expandable guitar amp and effects modeling software system, available as a plug-in and standalone for Windows / Mac OS X. It allows you to mix and match all the gear models from all current and future "Powered by AmpliTube" products in a single host interface, providing seamless control over every parameter directly from StompIO, or any generic MIDI controller.

Eligible users are able to download X-GEAR for free from their IK user area. X-GEAR is also available to purchase as a download for €74.99/$99.99 (excluding taxes) in the IK Multimedia online store.

Brauner has announced that both the Phanthera and the Phantom Classic microphones are now available in a package that is much more budget friendly. Phanthera and Phantom Classic are now being offered in a basic edition that comes with elementary accessory equipment only, thus reducing the cost while still providing these two extraordinary FET microphones as the heart of each package. The basic-editions can be upgraded at any time to the full versions with an optional upgrade kit.

For more information, please visit Brauner's fully revised website.

Apple has just released Logic Pro 8.0.2. This update addresses specific customer and compatibility issues of Logic Pro 8.0 and WaveBurner 1.5 and is recommended for all Logic Studio users.

Note that if you are using Logic Node you will need to update your Logic Node application on connected computers as well. After running this updater you will find an updated Logic Node installer called Logic Node 8.0.2.dmg in your Utilities folder.