PC and Music News

In this 3rd installment of the Guitar Rack series, Puremagnetik has cranked it up a notch! This Micropak includes a collection of highly expressive guitar instruments as recorded from a classic 1963 Guild Starfire hollow body. Slides, hammer-ons, staccato and jazz articulations are all available at your fingertips with Guitar Rack 3.

Guitar Rack Volume 3 includes 5 expertly programmed multisample instruments complete with easy edit controls. Menus like "WalkingChord" and "OctaveLead" put the classic sound of the hollow body directly in your hands. Over 70 looped clips for are ready for immediate playing in your session. Each Live Clip comes with a preloaded amp effect while the Logic version contains a library of Apple Loops ready for rocking!

Additionally, the Ableton Live version includes an add-on amplifier effect pack for Live 8. Making use of the latest features in Live 8, PM's resident guitar gurus have programmed a healthy dosage of raw rock effects!

Guitar Rack Volume 3 Includes :

• Over 700 24-bit multisamples
• 5 sophisticated hollow body instruments
• Over 70 Live Clips and Apple Loops
• Add-on Amp Effect Pack for Live 8
• Custom Kontakt KSP GUI and native Kontakt effects

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

The originators of multi sampled drums and Drumkit From Hell, Toontrack Music presents an all-new SDX expansion pack for Superior Drummer 2.0 - The Metal Foundry SDX.

The Metal Foundry SDX is an all-new recording with Meshuggah drummer Tomas Haake, featuring seven massive drum kits, spanning 300,000 sound files of raw, single hit drum recordings in the vein of Drumkit From Hell and dfh Superior, covering Hard Rock to Metal, from the early Blues tinged sound of the late 60s to the fragmentation of todays music, from Power through Thrash, Death and Progressive Metal.

The Metal Foundry SDX celebrates the Toontrack Music Hard Rock and Heavy Metal legacy of the first Drumkit From Hell, on which the company has built its following. This in turn has spawned such groundbreaking products as d ...

Imagine, if you will, being able to sit in on a major recording session with Alan Parsons. What do producers do ? And, specifically, what does producer Alan Parsons do ? In a phrase, he makes sounds and parts sound like a record.

Alan Parsons' Art & Science Of Sound Recording is a top-to-toe, soup-to-nuts examination of the sound recording process. The program covers everything from dealing with room acoustics to creating timed delays. From demo loop to iTunes.

This set of 3 DVDs will be available next month with an MSRP TBA.

Heartbeat by 9 Soundware is an instrument in EXS24 format. The sound set was constructed from samples of human heartbeat recordings, which were enhanced for drum-like punch. The percussive instrument features sounds of pulses resembling kick drums, as well as other internal organ activity.

The instrument is based on 224 samples. They were captured using an electronic stethoscope, which is more sensitive and capable of capturing quieter sounds compared to acoustic stethoscopes. In addition to heartbeats, which can augment or be used as an alternative to kick drums, also included are samples of the abdomen and a wide variety of sounds created by manipulating the stethoscope.

Heartbeat includes 224 samples, which are arranged by velocity (1 to 19 levels), and mapped across an 8 octave range in an EXS24 instrument.

The 24 MB download includes 1 .EXS file and 402 WAV files (24-bit/44.1 kHz).

Heartbeat is available now for $29.99 at :

GotharMusic has announced the release the Gotharman's deMOON, an affordable 4 note polyphonic filterbank synthesizer with build-in granulator and distortion effects, step-sequencer and note randomizer.

Features :

• 4 voices with each 1 oscillator or 1 voice with 4 oscillators in unison mode.
• Oscillators has continuously variable and modulatable waveforms.
• 4 resonant multimode filters (lpf/bpf/hpf) that are separately programmable and each can be parallel or serial connected to each other.
• Distortion effect with 5 different types.
• Granulator effect build in.
• 4 LFOs with continuously variable and modulatable waveforms.
• 2 envelopes.
• Note randomizer.
• 32-step step sequencer.
• Most parameters can be controlled by a midi-controller.
• Small and compact.
• Memory: 128 sounds and sequences.
• Output: 16-bit delta-sigma with 256x oversampling.

The Gotharman's deMOON is available for a fee of €250. For more information, please follow the link below :

It's been 70 years since the original Shure model 55SH Series II Unidyne Microphone debuted in 1939. Now, the model once advertised as 'The Microphone That Needs No Name' is getting an upgrade. Shure has taken the iconic 55SH body that has been in production since 1951, dropped in a new supercardioid motor, and added some vibrant blue color. The resulting hot rod has the same retro-cool look as the original when parked on a mic stand but with a contemporary upgrade in performance. Its name is the Super 55 Deluxe Vocal Microphone.

Features :

• Modern Sound : Tailored frequency response for natural vocals and speech
• High Output : Neodymium magnet and output transformer for increased sensitivity
• Vintage Design : Iconic chrome-plated design with vibrant blue color additions
• Supercardioid Polar Pattern : High gain-before feedback and excellent off-axis rejection
• Internal Shock Mount : Minimizes handling/stage noise and ensures quiet operation
• Rugged Die-Cast Chrome Casing : Reliable under rigorous conditions

The Super 55 Deluxe Vocal Microphone is now shipping for $249 and carries a two-year limited warranty. Note that the current 55SH Series II model will continue to be available at a price of $179.