PC and Music News

Toontrack Music announces Drumtracker, a stand-alone, multi-track audio to midi converter for sound replacement.

Features :

• Host independent, Stand Alone software for converting drum audio to drum MIDI. Import Audio tracks, export MIDI mapped to your favourite drum sampler.
• Each trigging point graphically represented. Delete, add, move or change the velocity to your individual needs.
• Manual control over tracking and exporting, select which part or parts of a drum track that you want to export, down to each single hit.
• Set max/min velocity and threshold values for each instrument and articulation.
• Audition before and after filters.
• Save your own presets.
• Mac and PC

Drumtracker is expected for the end of the year at a price of $149 / €99.

Puremagnetik has released Digital Beatboxes for Ableton Live, Kontakt and Logic.

Digital Beatboxes is a collection of four old-school digital drum machines that helped define an era in hip-hop, rock and electronica. Included in this Micropak are models of the Korg DDD1, Alesis HR-16, Kawai R-50 and the rare Soviet "Sound" drum machine.

• Customized for Ableton Live

The "Live Ready" version of Digital Beatboxes comes with over 60 drum loops and 18 individually customized drum kits. Each loop comes in Live Clip format facilitating maximum flexibility for beat production. All kits include customized Macros for easy editing along with unprocessed "classic" versions of each machine.

• Customized for Kontakt & Logic

Digital Beatboxes for Kontakt and Logic comes with over 60 processed SIAL Apple Loops and a selection of customized kits. Drum programmers can also take advantage of the consolidated kit menus for individual sounds.

Pricing : Basic Monthly Subscription: $5.75/Month Basic Yearly Subscription: $60/Year All Access Pass - $198/Year

For more info including a video walkthrough and audio clips, please follow the link below :

Royer Labs is pleased to announce the release of the company's new microphone demonstration CD. Titled Inside the Mix, the new CD, which is available free(minus shipping charges) to prospective customers, offers detailed examples of both Royer's studio and Live Series microphones used in a wide variety of musical applications.

Inside the Mix is unique in that it enables one to hear the finished, fully mastered tracks of many of today's best-known recordings and then offers a more detailed perspective on ribbon microphones by isolating the individual tracks that were recorded on Royer microphones. In doing so, prospective customers can hear with unprecedented detail the soloed track with the individual instrument as it was originally recorded.

Royer's new demonstration CD contains a broad assortment of musical examples from an equally wide range of musical styles. Inside the Mix includes performances by jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, singer/songwriter/guitarist Brian Setzer, the rock band Matchbox Twenty, and Allen Toussaint, one of the most influential figures in New Orleans R&B. Additionally, numerous leading engineers/producers contributed tracks to Inside the Mix, including nineteen-time Grammy Award winning recording engineer and record producer Al Schmitt, five time Grammy winning engineer Bruce Swedien, well-known Los Angeles-based film scoring engineer/mixer Alan Meyerson, and multiple Grammy Award winning music producer Ross Hogarth.

For more information, please visit the link below :

PreSonus has just announced that they are now shipping their brand new Studio Channel, a channnel strip which combines a tube-based, Class A mic/instrument preamplifier, a VCA-based compressor and a three-band parametric equalizer.

Features :

- Class A vacuum tube microphone / instrument preamplifier
- Tube gain and tube drive
- Variable VCA compressor (threshold, ratio, attack, release, make up gain, auto, soft)
- Three-band parametric EQ
- Precision analog VU meter for gain reduction and output
- EQ Pre/Post compressor switch
- 80Hz high pass filter
- 20dB pad
- Phase invert
- Rugged metal chassis
- High headroom
- Ultra low noise design

The Studio Channel is available now and is priced at MSRP $359 (street price $299).

Today GMedia releases its new virtual instrument : the M-Tron Pro. Building on the legacy of the original M-Tron, the M-Tron Pro software delivers hundreds of additional sounds, providing instant access to the distinctive tones popularized by The Beatles, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, The Moody Blues, Radiohead and other luminaries.

Features :

- 200+ total tape banks (sample sets), including :

. 45 brand-new tape banks not found in the original M-Tron.
. 19 tape banks from M-Tron virtual instrument, re-mastered at London's legendary Abbey Road Studios.
. Over 40 looped tape banks.
. Over 3.5GB of samples total.

- 700+ patches including many created by world-class recording artists and programmers.
- Up to 35 notes, each individually sampled.
- Dual layer and split keyboard operation.
- Programmable MIDI CC response via MIDI Learn.
- Controllable via MIDI controllers such as the M-Audio Axiom and Oxygen models.
- 29 parameters per layer including synth parameters :

. Vintage-style ensemble and delay effects.
. Low-pass, band-pass and high-pass resonant filter section.
. Tape reverse.
. Tape half speed.

- Dynamic keyboard control, including filter aftertouch.
- Supports standalone, RTAS and VST on Windows XP/SP2, Vista 32, Vista 64.
- Supports standalone, RTAS, AU and VST on OSX 10.4.x, OSX 10.5.x.

The M-Tron Pro virtual instrument will be available today with an MSRP of $199.95 / €139 / £109 (excl. VAT). Upgrades will be available for existing M-Tron users for €59 (excl. VAT) via the GForce Website.

Expert Sleepers has just released Augustus Loop v2.0 which is a major update to the tape echo/looping plug-in.

Features :

- Augustus Loop's GUI is now fully skinnable and scriptable.
- MIDI behaviour is now scriptable.
- VST version now receives MIDI.
- Added Record Offset feature.
- Added waveform display.
- The 'Max Delay Time' parameter now has a smaller minimum value (1.0 seconds) and is not rounded to the nearest 10 seconds.
- Added Tape Read Mode parameter.
- The Freeze Loop function is much improved.
- A small crossfade is now applied when activating Clear Loop, and when Clear Loop ends.
- The Input Level parameter is now protected against sudden changes, which previously could result in audio artefacts. In particular this makes the Punch In/Out features more usable.
- A small crossfade is now applied when activating Tap Record.
- Added a new mode for the Freeze Loop function, "Freeze Current".
- Added OSC support.
- Added 'Sync Group' feature.
- Added new 'Tape Sim' section.
- Added factory presets.
- Fixed a bug that could cause Digital Mode to not engage correctly.

Augustus Loop v2.0 is available now for Mac (AU/VST) and PC (VST). It costs $49 and a registration allows you to install the plug-in on up to three computers at once. v2.0 is a $20 upgrade from v1.5 or higher; it is a $29 upgrade from previous versions.