De la Mancha has released two new free plug-ins : plastique and Imperfection.

plastique is a free 2-oscillator subtractive synth VSTi for Windows, using the 31 waveforms from the Casio HT-700 synth and some enhancements to the original's feature set. It does lo-fi 80s sounds but also so much more, with a configurable filter (up to 16 poles), a pitch envelope for percussion, an arp, tempo sync delay & LFO, chorus and some lo-fi instability.

Features :

- 31 Waveforms from the Casio HT-700.
- 2 Oscs with sync and octave / semitone detune.
- Configurable Resonant Low Pass filter (2-16 poles with cut-off spread).
- Volume and Pitch envelopes.
- Tempo sync LFO with 10 waveforms and note-on sync to modulate filter and pitch.
- Tempo sync Arp with 6 modes and adjustable octave ...

Alesis has launched a video competition called the "Alesis Show Your Rig Video Competition".

Just visit the following link and upload a video of a performance (solo or group) or demonstration of you using your Alesis gear to YouTube between now and January 11, 2008 to enter the contest. Videos must cover current (not legacy) Alesis products to win, preferably from the new products page.

The lucky winner will receive an Alesis DM5 Pro Kit with SURGE Cymbals for their entry!

I wish you, on behalf of the entire 440Network team, a very magic, very happy and very Merry Christmas !!

Hope Santa has brought you a lot of new sound toys :o)

A touch-sensitive gadget with the sensing panel on its back, instead of the screen, is being developed by US researchers. Using your fingers behind the device allows a firmer grip and more accurate performance without obscuring your view of the screen. When the user touches the interface on the back, an image of a finger appears behind the icons on the screen and moves around in sync with the user's finger, almost as if the device were transparent. A small active spot marked on the finger's end is used to interact with buttons onscreen. To complete the illusion, the fingertip turns white as if pressed against a sheet of glass when the user presses on the touchpad.

Check out the video on 440tv and imagine how such a device can be used in our audio world...

Waveform Series is the laser-cut shape of waveforms in sound editing applications by japanese jewelry designer Sakurako Shimizu. She used some human sound sources such as yawn, atchoum, giggle, wow, and the sound of a church bell.

To late for Christmas but definitely a gift to consider for Valentine's day...

Pendulum Audio unveils the OCL-500 Compressor, a new single-space 500 series rack format compressor.

Since its introduction in 1998, the Pendulum OCL-2 Compressor/Limiter has become a modern classic. The new OCL-500 has the same compression circuit as the OCl-2, but uses a transformerless class A solid-state gain makeup circuit in place of the tube stage. The result is clean, transparent compression that can be used to shape the dynamics of any source while preserving its tone. Like the OCL-2, the OCL-500 has a wide variety of time constants and dynamic control to optimize the compression characteristics, including a sidechain hi-pass filter.

The OCL-500 will be available in January 2009 with a price tag toward $1295.