PC and Music News

Owners of the Moog Voyager and Little Phatty synths can now significantly upgrade their capabilities via free downloads from the Moog Music website.

The new Voyager 3.4 Operating System features extensive local control options, new touch surface features and enhanced pot resolution. All the great sonic capability of the Little Phatty Stage Edition is enhanced with the addition of an arpeggiator in the Stage II. And for controlling LFO and Arpeggiator rate, the Stage II has a new Tap Tempo and MIDI sync capability. Topping it all is the addition of a new bank of presets.

There are two types of upgrades available for the Voyager and Little Phatty operating systems:

Voyager : A free software upgrade (for owners with version 3.0 or above) is available for download at moogmusic.com/voyager (under the "software" tab). A hardware upgrade is available for customers who have an older model of the Voyager (OS revision 2.5 or lower, built before August, 2005) increasing their current single bank of 128 presets to seven banks of 128 for a total of 896.

This upgrade is available as a field upgrade for $265 or as a factory upgrade for $365. Customers who choose to upgrade will then be able to take advantage of all the latest software features in Version 3.4.

Little Phatty : Software upgrades for the Little Phatty Stage Edition are available for free download at moogmusic.com/littlephatty (under the "software" tab). If Stage Edition customers want to add the MIDI over USB capability of the Stage II, a hardware-based upgrade is available as a field upgrade for $100 or factory upgrade for $150.

Audio-Technica introduces the AT4021 cardioid and AT4022 omnidirectional pencil condenser microphones. These mics, both featuring a sleek new capsule design/construction, are the latest additions to Audio-Technica's 40 Series of condenser microphones.

Both the AT4021 Cardioid Condenser Microphone and the AT4022 Omnidirectional Condenser Microphone feature high SPL handling and wide dynamic range, as well as flat, extended frequency response and exceptional reproduction of low-frequency sounds. The AT4021's cardioid polar pattern reduces pickup of sounds from the sides and rear, improving isolation of the desired sound source. The AT4022's omnidirectional polar pattern provides maximum ambient pickup. Both microphones offer a low-mass element for superb transient response.

An integral 80 Hz high-pass filter provides easy switching from a flat frequency response to a low-end roll-off. The roll-off position reduces the microphones' sensitivity to popping in close vocal use. It also reduces the pickup of low-frequency ambient noise, room reverberation and mechanically-coupled vibrations. Output from both microphones' XLRM connectors is low impedance (Lo-Z) balanced.

The AT4021 Cardioid Condenser Microphone and the AT4022 Omnidirectional Condenser Microphone will be available September 2008 with pricing as follows :

AT4021 $495.00 U.S. MSRP AT4022 $495.00 U.S. MSRP

For more information, please visit their website.

Let me introduce you to Aurora, a USB powered dual MCU data acquisition device in a typical DJ form factor.

This open source device features two linear channel faders, a single a/b crossfader and eight backlit buttons. Twenty four backlit knobs allow you to control effects. As it is an an open source project, you will find everything you need to build your own unit from scratch on the aurora website. But if you are interested in purchasing an assembled mixer this should be possible soon so be patient !

More info and videos are available at the following address :

Nine Volt Audio has released Big Bad Guitars, a collection of tough and heavy-duty modern rock guitar loops. With aggressive and intense tones, all parts were recorded on two guitars through different amps, allowing for a huge stereo spread of six-string sound.

Amp sounds were dialed in and recorded by producer, mixer and engineer Michael Wagener, known for his work with many top hard rock and heavy metal bands like Motley Crue, Ozzy Osbourne and Metallica.

Specifications :

- 925 files for each format: REX2, Stylus RMX, Apple Loops and ACIDized Wav. Each part is presented as a mono, single guitar part, and an accompanying stereo loop with each part panned hard left and right.
- Big Bad Guitars is organized into "mini-song" suites. Each suite contains clearly labeled song parts, riffs, string "scrapes" and sustained chords for endings and breaks.
- The collection features 130+ "remix" style guitar loops that feature filtered, "stuttered" and effected sounds.
- Any of the REX-based loops (used in Stylus RMX and Reason) can be used at tempos as slow as 70 BPM.
-"Toolbox" section of straight-ahead 8th and 16th note palm-muted power chord loops.
- All loops are in 24-bit/44.1kHz resolution.

Big Bad Guitars is available on DVD or via Download at a price of $99.99. Note that a video demo of Big Bad Guitars is available at the Nine Volt Audio website.

In celebration of Finale's 20th Anniversary, MakeMusic has announced the imminent release of the next major version of the music notation software for Windows and Mac OS X.

Finale 2009 includes major workflow improvements among its many new features plus full VST and AU plug-in support. The Garritan Aria Player is also included free and is fully integrated into Finale 2009.

Shipping is expected to begin July 21st. Pre-order is available for $600. Note that upgrade and academic pricing are also available. For more information, please visit the link below :

Audio Impressions will be previewing the release version of DVZ Strings, Ai's virtual instruments and high-resolution 70 piece orchestral string library at the audioMIDI.com's Film and TV Composition Clinic.

Ai's DVZ Strings includes samples of priceless Stradivari and Guarneri instruments and it features groundbreaking and never-before-available technologies developed to produce real-time, real-world orchestral balance for accurate score transcription.

Included is Audio Impressions' SPACE, Decca Tree and microphone cross-bleed simulation software with continuously variable room size and acoustic adjustments to once-and-for-all eliminate the overdubbed s ...