Όλα τα τελευταία νέα για τη Μουσική Τεχνολογία και την Ακουστική, κατευθείαν από τις επίσημες ιστοσελίδες των εταιρειών, συγκεντρωμένα σε ένα blog!

Free Sleighbells Samples

A free gift with any item bought in Soundiron's Xmas Sale


Soundiron has announced their Christmas Sale and sleighbells giveaway. Here's what they told us...

"It's time for the last sale of the year and we've got some huge deals on Requiem Light and a bunch of our other all-time favorites. From now until the stroke of midnight on New Years Eve (12/31/12), you can save hundreds on a wide selection of great Kontakt libraries and grab an exclusive bonus library while you're at it!

We're giving away a cool new holiday Sleighbells Micropak with the purchase of any item in our store during this sale! It covers 4 different sleigh-bell sizes (tiny to huge), captured right up close in wide stereo, with 8x round-robin and multiple dynamic layers. It's all conveniently programmed into a modular GUI, with full shaping, arpeggiation, EQ and convolution FX/room simulations controls. This library requires the full version of Kontakt 4 or later, but we've included unlocked samples to use in any wav compatible software you like. It features 290 samples and 260MB of fresh content! Just order anything in our store between now and December 31st and we'll send you the free download!"

Pricing and Availability:
See website

More information:
Soundiron

Automatic Guitar Power Chords For Kontakt

Pettinhouse releases Powerchords


Pettinhouse describes Powerchords as a new Guitar Power Chords sample library for Kontakt 3, 4, 5 and future versions - A revolutionary guitar library for creating and play automatic Power Chords without any chord recognitions.

A spokesperson had this to say, "You are free to play what you want. One note, two, random notes, doesn't matter what you press on your keyboard. it strums all the notes. Use the LIVE KNOBS to simulate in real time the PALM MUTE, PICK INTENSITY, DURATION OF THE NOTES, and more. It has pre made patterns for Rock, Blues, Metal, Pop which you can edit or create them from scratch. It has a built-in Amp simulator with Wah, Distortion, EQ, Reverb, Delay and Phaser. You can also play it DRY with your favorite amp simulator."

  • OS: Mac OSX, Windows XP
  • Sample Formats: NI Kontakt 3, 4, and 5

Pricing and Availability:
Powerchords is available now for download for $69 and it is included in DirectGuitar 3.0
Powerchords could be also included in one of the XMAS 2012 bundle SALES. $69 instead of $129 on all Pettinhouse products

More information:
www.pettinhouse.com

Equinox Sounds Releases Funky String MIDI Arrangements

Construction kits for seven different string arrangements


Equinox Sounds has released Funky String MIDI Arrangements, which they describe as a downloadable collection that features seven different string arrangements MIDI Construction Kits for creating the melodic foundations for a variety of modern music styles such as Funky, Disco, Jazz, Soul, RnB and Lounge by producer and keyboard player Dave Bradshaw.

A spokesperson had this to say, "Each Kit comes labelled with the original tempo when recorded. As these phrases are supplied in MIDI format, they will provide you with as much flexibility as possible. You can edit and transpose them, assign any sound you want and get your own and original melodic lines. The editing possibilities are endless as you can play the performances at any tempo or pitch without artefacts. You can use these MIDI files as a jumping-off point to start your own track or base your production entirely around them as they are 100% royalty-free!"

Pricing and Availability:
'Funky String MIDI Arrangements' is currently available for $19.95 as a download.

More information:
www.equinoxsounds.com

Scratch Loops And More

Producer Loops releases Supalife Glitch & Breaks sample pack


Producer Loops tells us that Supalife Glitch & Breaks is the new sample pack from producer Eddy Beneteau of Supalife Records. They say that it includes some of the most insane turntable wizardry around plus everything from vocal fragments to synth leads and white noise, all scratched beyond recognition into new rhythmic phrases.

A spokesperson told Sonic State, "These scratch loops alone would be enough to create a worthy sample pack, but 'Supalife Glitch & Breaks' also includes a selection of infectious beats, bass lines, melodies and chord progressions, as heard in the MP3 demo. And because every loop has been formatted as REX you can play them like instruments and easily re-arrange the scratch loops into new patterns using any compatible software such as Stylus RMX or Dr OctoRex in Reason 6.5."

About The Producer:

Eddy Beneteau from Supalife Records is well-known in the sampling industry for his incredible sound design skills and he's arguably made some of the best DnB, Breakbeat and Dubstep loops ever made. All of the files, mixes and Demos in 'Supalife Glitch & Breaks' were engineered, mixed and mastered by Eddy Beneteau, ensuring perfect quality and that inimitable sound you've come to love.

Product Specifications:

  • 5 Construction Kits
  • ACIDized WAV Files
  • Apple Loops/AIFF Files
  • REX2 Loops
  • MIDI Included
  • Reason ReFill
  • Loops sync to BPM
  • 44.1 kHz/24-Bit
  • PC/Mac Compatible
  • Royalty-Free (No Exceptions)

Pricing and Availability:
Supalife Glitch & Breaks is available for instant download for £22.46 / 27,57 EUR / $30.48 USD.

More information:
www.producerloops.com

Pulteq-Style EQ With Digital Recall And Automation

TransAudio Group introduces the Bettermaker EQ 232P


TransAudio Group is shipping the Bettermaker EQ 232P, a flexible two-channel analog equalizer that updates a classic design and adds the digital accuracy, repeatability and consistency of a plug-in. Every parameter setting of the EQ 232P, which is a Pultec-style stereo/dual mono analog equalizer featuring five filters on each channel, may be saved in up to 399 presets in the unit's internal memory, and may additionally be fully automated, and all settings saved with the DAW project, using the supplied software plug-in. Here's the full details in TransAudio Group's own words...

Both channels of the EQ 232P include a 12 dB/octave high-pass filter covering the range 18 Hz – 200 Hz. There are two active parametric filters on each channel: EQ1 extends from 45 Hz to 1 kHz and EQ2 from 650 Hz to 15 kHz. The PEQ section, an homage to the classic 1950s Pultec analog equalizer design, features high- and low-frequency shelving passive filters, each with separate boost and attenuation controls, just like the original. The HF section also includes a fully variable bandwidth control, also similarly to the Pultec.

All of the digital rotary encoders controlling the filter parameters are velocity sensitive, enabling coarse changes when spun quickly and very precise fine increments or decrements when turned slowly. The HPF, two filters and PEQ section may be individually hardware bypassed.

By applying digital control to analog hardware, the EQ 232P's hybrid design allows inclusion of a unique feature that is simply impossible on a fully analog unit: an A/B switch. This enables the user to instantly compare two different EQ settings, similarly to the operation of a DAW plug-in.

A Preset section saves and recalls the entire state of the unit (except for the EQ section engage and A/B comparison switches) into 399 memory positions. Position 400 serves as an undo function. Seven factory presets created by Marek Walaszek, mixing/mastering engineer and Bettermaker CEO and product designer, are included.

The Bettermaker EQ 232P may be connected to a DAW via USB and controlled using the supplied software plug-in, which supports AU, VST and RTAS, and 32- and 64-bit architecture. The unit appears as a MIDI device and may alternatively be operated using Sysex commands. The currently selected preset automatically saves with the DAW project. All setting changes are bi-directional between the plug-in, which does not pass audio, and the hardware, which must be connected via the computer interface or sound card.

The unit's analog and digital circuits are totally isolated from each other. Digital signals are transmitted through optical connectors to avoid any interference with the sensitive analog circuits. The analog and digital paths additionally utilize separate, shielded power supplies.

The Bettermaker EQ232P is equipped with two sets of identical outputs, providing additional flexibility. For example, the unit could be wired to provide parallel processing or to provide a secondary feed to a recording device, or inserted before the 2-bus to provide simultaneous finalized and non peak-limited versions. (Note: the outputs are not transformer isolated.)

The Bettermaker EQ 232P Remote version features a blank front panel with external computer control exclusively via the GUI.

Pricing and Availability:
MAP for the Bettermaker EQ 232P is $4,950.
MAP for the Bettermaker EQ 232P Remote is $4,250.

More information:
www.transaudiogroup.com

An Early Christmas Present For VoiceLive Users

TC-Helicon gives away 500 new vocal presets


TC-Helicon is offering users of its flagship units VoiceLive 2, VoiceLive Rack and VoiceLive Touch an early Christmas present: 500 new vocal presets for free download and use.

A spokesperson told Sonic State, "Following the release of last month's mega-pack of artist presets for the popular new unit VoiceLive Play, the chance has come for the rest of the TC-Helicon's VoiceLive series users to feel the love. From today singers using either the VoiceLive 2, VoiceLive Rack or VoiceLive Touch to control and shape their vocal performances will be able to download 500 new vocal presets, based on popular songs and artists from the last five decades. So whether it's Gangnam Style or Whiter Shade of Pale that floats your boat, it's there."

Pricing and Availability:
Free. Users need simply to connect their TC-Helicon units to a computer via the supplied USB cable and use the free VoiceSupport app (available from TC-Helicon's website) to drag and drop presets to the units.

More information:
www.tc-helicon.com/500-presets

Diginoiz Releases BigRoom Midi Riffs

MIDI files for house production


Diginoiz has released BigRoom Midi Riffs. A spokesperson told us,

"Inspired the best club producers on the planet! Made specially for you to create your own sound and push your creativity to the max! In MainRoom, Progressive, House genre! This time we give you a dangerous weapon that brings full control over the production of your music. Making music has never been so easy! All of this thanks to the newest product of Diginoiz, containing over 90 great, hit-oriented midi files ready to be imported into your software to show the world who is the MVP of music production. It's only your creativity and BigRoom Midi Riffs - time to go to work!"

Available Formats

'BigRoom Midi Riffs' contains 94 Midi files and 11 bonus Wave files, ready to use in your favorite sampler or sequencer, both hardware and software, including: Logic, GarageBand, Soundtrack, Digital Performer, Sony Acid, Ableton Live, Adobe Audition, Cakewalk Sonar, Pro Tools, Stylus Rmx, Emagic EXS24 and many more.

Download Details

Every purchase you make contains 1 ZIP file (24 MB).

Midi 
  • 94 files

Wav
  • 11 bonus loops (24-bit)

Pricing and Availability:
€22.00 EUR

More information:
www.diginoiz.com/?q=club-loops-line/bigroom-midi-riffs

Free Synth For Mac And Windows

u-he refurbish Podolski, originally released as magware in 2005


u-he tells us that Podolski is a simple, CPU-efficient virtual analogue synthesizer. Basically a cut down version of FilterscapeVA with just one oscillator, one filter, one envelope and two LFOs, it also features a Zebra-style arpeggiator/sequencer plus chorus and delay effects.

Podolski's specialities are the Click parameter (emphasizes the filter attack) and its ability to seamlessly morph between three waveforms (WaveWarp).

Version 1.0 was released as a free gift for visitors to the u-he booth during Musikmesse 2005. Right after Musikmesse it went on the cover mount CD of the German KEYBOARDS magazine (later Sound & Recording). Podolski was u-he's first 'magware' offering, and was distributed with every issue until about 2009.

Podolski has been refurbished with some new presets by Howard Scarr, has undergone a GUI makeover (two new skins) and supports a wider range of plug-in formats. A new English language manual is also included.

Pricing and Availability:
Free download

More information:
www.u-he.com/cms/podolski

Transistor Revolution Released

Wave Alchemy's recreation of the TR-808 and TR-909 is available now


We brought you news of this a couple of weeks ago and now Wave Alchemy have been in touch to tell us that Transistor Revolution, an accurate re-creation of the iconic TR-808 and TR-909 drum machines forKontakt 5 Player, is now available. Here's what a Wave Alchemy spokesperson had to say...

"Using a custom GUI, 22,000 samples and Kontakt 5's advanced sampling engine with over 100,000 lines of unique script, Transistor Revolution faithfully captures the tone, immediacy and groove of the classic TR-808 and TR-909 transistor rhythm machines. Why 22,000 samples you might ask? To give an example of the detail involved in the sampling of each instrument, the Revolution-909 Bass Drum alone uses 9318 unique sounds to faithfully recreate the 909 Bass Drum sound. Each of the 4 knobs on the Revolution 909 Bass Drum control panel scans smoothly through each and every sample in real-time."

Pricing and Availability:
£59.95

Mastering/Mixing Plug-In Bundle

DMAX audio puts four separate VST plug-ins together for Windows and Mac


DMAX audio has released its new mastering/mixing plug-in bundle. It consists of four separate plug-ins.

  • DEQ – mastering-quality liner phase equalizer.
  • DLIM – "classical" loudness maximizer.
  • DMAX – first peak limiter in the world that does not use superfast gain reduction, therefore it yields clearer sound that that of typical loudness maximizers.
  • DSE – stereo enhancer which is based on S-channel equalization and ULF adding.

All the plug-ins are in PC/MAC VST formats and DMAX says that they were developed using alternative approaches/algorithms and that the bundle has its own very distinctive sound.

Pricing and Availability:
DEQ Type A: $89.95
DLIM: $99.95
DMAX: $99.95
DSE: $49.95

Quantity discounts are available if you buy two or more plug-ins:

  • 5% if you buy 2 plug-ins
  • 10% if you buy 3 plug-ins
  • 15% if you buy 4 plug-ins

More information:
www.dmaxaudio.com