Week of April 16, 2006 Saturday, April 22 2006 | dmac Steinberg releases Nuendo v3.2.1.1153 Steinberg has updated Nuendo for both Windows and Mac OS X to v3.2.1.1153. This update offers some minor enhancements, a much-improved "Detect Silence" function and adds "User Defined Functions" for Yamaha 02R96 users. Changes: A new option "process all" in the Detect Silence dialog allows processing of all selected events in a project in one go with the detect silence functionality. On the Yamaha 02R96, the User Defined Functions (UDF) are now implemented: UDF1 - Project To Front UDF2 - Bank Left UDF3 - Bank Right UDF4 - User 4 UDF5 - User 5 UDF6 - User 6 UDF7 - User 7 UDF8 - User 8 UDF9 - Mixer Window UDF10 - Channel Left UDF11 - Channel Right UDF12 - Toggle Automation Button (read/write) UDF13 - Read All UDF14 - Write All UDF15 - User 15 / Undo UDF16 - User 16 / Save More @ steinberg.net Saturday, April 22 2006 | dmac Natural Grooves Announces 2GB Of Drum Pack Downloads Responding to a growing demand for downloadable music production tools, soundware developer Natural Grooves has announced the release of nearly 2 GB of downloadable rock drum loop packs in both Apple Loops and Acid WAV format. Each royalty-free drum loop pack contains up to 100 tempo matched loops inspired by a particular feel and tempo, from mid-tempo Led Zeppelin stomps to energetic Green Day bashers and nearly all styles in between. Inside each pack, users get a thorough collection of main grooves, groove variations, fills, and single shots. These complete groove sets make it easy to create great sounding drum tracks instantly. These all-acoustic drum loop sessions were created as complete songwriting solutions and are priced from $1.99 per download pack.   Said Tommy Flanagan, Natural Grooves co-founder, "We know that every musician and songwriter has a different idea of how drums should be played and what they should sound like. Our idea is to offer different sounds from different recording sessions, and you can choose which is right for you. Played by different drummers, and recorded by different engineers at a handful of studios, each session is unique. With these downloadable packs, there's no need to pick and mix from hundreds of individual loops, or pay and wait for an entire CD. Each pack contains grooves that were created to work together - and you can preview and download them in minutes. And, on top of that, we feature grooves from entire recording sessions so users can implement grooves in a wide array of musical settings and be assured of complete sonic compatibility and seamless integration with any of the loops from a particular drum session." New user specials are available for April 2006. New content is added on a monthly basis and will continue to expand the range of the current collection of downloadable groove sets. For more information, visit their web site at naturalgrooves.com. Saturday, April 22 2006 | dmac Cakewalk release Rapture demo version Cakewalk has released a demo version of Rapture. Demo limitations: Approximately every 12 seconds Rapture Demo volume fades to silence, remains silent for about a second, then fades back to its normal level. Rapture Demo cannot be authorized or registered. Rapture Demo cannot be upgraded. Rapture PDF User's Guide not included, but online Help is available from the plug-in. More @ cakewalk.com. Saturday, April 22 2006 | dmac Audio Ease Announces "Speakerphone" Speaker Simulator Plug-In A bad GSM connection on a busy sidewalk, a bullhorn with feedback and a helicopter overhead, or a 1952 rockabilly guitar amp in a recording studio live room: Speakerphone gives you authentic speakers of any size together with their natural environments. All the walkie-talkies, distant transistor radios, upstairs TV sets, bullhorns and cell phones you'll ever need. Speakerphone will add dial tones, operators and static, and you can select from a wealth of ambiences on either the caller or receiver's end. And with a click you can send anything from the sample-playback bay right to the cursor in your Pro Tools track. Operation is extremely quick: you just call up one of the hundreds of carefully crafted and archived presets. If you're a tweaker just click 'show controls' and the whole dashboard slides out, at your disposal, with the most minute detail. Speakerphone, powered by Altiverb, combines a wealth of effects including a convolution engine that uses actual samples of hundreds of original speakers, a radio receiver tuning dial, record player scratch and static generator, GSM cell phone data compression, distortion, tremolo, delay, a variety of EQ and dynamics, bit crushing, sample rate reduction, a full blown convolution reverb, and a library of samples to combine into entire environments. You want to have the artist rap through a cell phone? Rather than pull up an eq and distortion, why not make him rap through one of Speakerphone's actual GSM connections? Perhaps surrounded by the acoustics and sounds of an idling car at a gas station? And then there's the host of classic guitar amps, complete with tailor made distortion, spring reverbs, and everything else to build guitar tone like you've never heard from a plug-in. Mac OS X: VST-RTAS-AudioSuite-Audio Unit-MAS Windows XP: RTAS-VST For more information, visit their web site at audioease.com. Saturday, April 22 2006 | dmac Recording School Online Announces Music Producer Series Of Downloadable Videos A new series of downloadable videos is available from Recording School Online. The Music Producers series has been designed to help teach the art of music recording and mixing in a way that will help you understand some of the producer's tricks that make a recording sound processional. The Mixing Masterclass series released by RSO is now being used world-wide by Recording Studios as a powerful reference tool. These videos approach the art of audio recording from much more then merely a technical perspective. They help the viewer gain a more creative understanding of music production and musical aesthetics. The Producers Series offers some very interesting production tips and secrets and picks up where Mixing Masterclass left off. In these videos not only can you watch an expert audio engineer mix rather complex songs from start to finish, detail by detail, you can also learn how to use many of the outstanding producer's tricks that separates the professionals from the amateurs. These are explained and demonstrated in a way that makes understanding music production much easier to understand. Some of the key topics in the Producers Master-class include: Mixing Compression Equalization Editing Freeing up your CPU and hard-drive Designing complex effects Automation 3D Stereo field Working with multi-layered vocals Blending tonalities Editing And much more... The Recording School Online program is available to all students 24/7 for three-month intervals or by purchasing the videos for immediate download at the schools on-line store. For more information, visit their web site at recordingschoolonline.com. Saturday, April 22 2006 | dmac MOTU Ships Digital Performer 5 With Six Included Instrument Plug-Ins Digital Performer Version 5 is now shipping with many feature additions and productivity enhancements. DP5 includes six new CPU-efficient, easy-to-use instrument plug-ins: BassLine™ - analog-style monophonic bass synth: Monstrous low end and instant bass lines PolySynth™ - retro analog-style polyphonic pad synth: lush pads, rude squawks, twisting sweeps, classic analog NanoSampler™ - the easiest way to play samples. Load a sample and play it. Add filter, LFO and/or envelope. Modulo™ - highly programmable 2-osc subtractive synth: LFOs, multimode filters, envelopes and plenty of modulation Model 12™ - twelve part programmable drum module: Instant drums, hundreds of factory samples and dozens of preset kitsProton™ - imaginative and provocative two-op FM synth: Sparkling bells, searing leads, classic Rhodes, simple & effective FM Additional DP5 new feature highlights include: Track Folders - organize your track lists and show or hide track groups with a single click. You can even put folders within folders Meter Bridge™- monitor all inputs, outputs, busses, bundles, instruments and tracks at one glance with long-throw, scalable, responsive meters Trim, Slip, Slide & Roll tools - four new audio editing tools to speed up your edits Automatic audio voice allocation - audio engine resources are efficiently and dynamically allocated to audio tracks as needed to play and record New film scoring features - display and export streamers, flutters, punches and a visual click directly on a QuickTime movie. Trigger external hardware to display visual cues on an external video monitor Custom click - quickly program, save and use customized click patterns of any length Enhanced count off - specify in beats and measures, rather than just measures New input monitoring modes - monitor disk track inputs in line ("record safe") and choose among four different monitoring modes to suit your tracking style Registered users can upgrade directly from the MOTU web site here. Users of competing products can purchase the DP5 Competitive Upgrade at www.motu.com or authorized MOTU resellers. For more information, visit their web site at motu.com. Saturday, April 22 2006 | dmac Kong Audio Releases Guzheng And NanXiao Chinese Instrument Plug-Ins   Kong Audio has released two more plugins from the Chinee Series, along with Kong Audio Small Host (a very simple host for live performance purpose, freeware). The plug-ins are sample-based traditional Chinese instruments and are programmed with extraordinary delicacy. Guzheng, as one of the most representative Chinese instruments, first appeared around the Warring States period (475 - 221 BC), and then became extremely popular during the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907 AD) and spread to all neighboring areas. Guzheng was originally a rather simple instrument with only five strings. After all the years of evolution, today's Guzheng has 21 strings and is still widely used in all kinds of Chinese music. Guzheng has a unique, rippling sound character. The playing techniques developed for Guzheng are also unique and distinct, therefore set it apart from any other members in the world's zither family. ChineeNanXiao: The melancholic side of Chinese flutes Nanxiao (Southern Xiao) is a bamboo flute of the Xiao family. Unlike Dizi, Xiao has no membrane. Nanxiao is mostly popular in the Fujian area of southern China. Like the Japanese Shakuhachi, NanXiao is the offspring of ChiBa and DongXiao from the Tang Dynasty. Contrary to the upbeat, happy-trigger sound of Dizi, NanXiao has a more solid yet soothing tone that blends into modern music easily. The sound character of Xiao is of something more saddened, battered, and is filled with a melancholic mood. It represents a lesser-known spirit in Chinese music, and that is why we bring out ChineeNanxiao as a featured product. The role of NanXiao will no doubt be elevated in the music world once it is properly introduced to the composers in the world. For more information, visit their web site at chineekong.com.