PC and Music News

Sweetwater, the third-largest music instrument and pro audio retailer in the world, has been awarded LEED Platinum certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum is the USGBC's highest rating for designing and constructing the world's greenest, most energy-efficient, and healthiest buildings.

The award was presented to Sweetwater Founder and President Chuck Surack by Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry, and Liz Ellis, representative of the Indiana Chapter of the USGBC at a special ceremony preceding the company's 30th anniversary celebration.

Sweetwater's $35 million, 150,000 square foot corporate headquarters was completed in January of 2008. It was designed by Fort Wayne architectural firm MSKTD to achieve LEED certif ...

Dave Smith Instruments announces the release of Tetra, its next-generation analog polyphonic synthesizer. Tetra's four voices feature a 100% analog signal path and four-part multitimbral operation with individual outputs per voice.

Tetra is fully programmable via the front panel or with a free downloadable editor for Mac OS and Windows. Tetra is basically four Mophos in a very compact (7.9"L x 5"W) enclosure, a sort of mini Prophet with a couple of extra tricks up its sleeve: specifically, a sub-octave generator for each oscillator and feedback. With a street price of approximately $799, that's like four Mophos for the price of two. And it's expandable. Tetra can be poly-chained with additional Tetras or a Prophet '08 for up to sixteen-voice polyphony.

Other features include Combo Mode, used to combine four programs into unison or poly "super patches." Combos can also play four 16 x 4 step sequences — one per voice/program-simultaneously. In Multi Mode, each of Tetra's voices responds to a different MIDI channel, making it ideal for complex arrangements and sequencing analog drum sounds. Tetra is the first DSI product to feature USB. "USB is one of the most requested features across our entire product line," said DSI's Tracy Wadley, "so it's great to be able to offer it."

Tetra is available now with an MSRP of $879.00.

In August, Toontrack has decided to offer great value savings on EZX expansion packs. We have two great offers. One for North America and one for Europe.

North American customers : Guitar Center 45th anniversary EZX saving !

To help celebrate their 45th anniversary, Guitar Center has partnered with Toontrack to bring you the biggest savings spectacular in drum software history ! For a limited time, go to any Guitar Center location and buy any EZX expansion pack for $45.00 !

Nomad Factory announces the release of the Blue Tubes Plug-Ins Suite, a suite of eighteen plug-ins processors that were until now only available as bundled version, the bundled plug-ins are now also available as individual processor for Mac and PC.

01 - BT BrickWall BW2S
02 - BT Compressor CP2S
03 - BT DeEsser DS2S
04 - BT Compressor FA770
05 - BT ExpanderGate GX622
06 - BT Limiter LM2S
07 - BT Analog Chorus CH2S
08 - BT Analog Phaser APH2S
09 - BT Oilcan Echo TLE2S
10 - BT Tempo Delay DL3D
11 - BT Stereo Imager ST2S
12 - BT ValveDriver ADR2S
13 - BT Equalizer BQ2S
14 - BT Equalizer BX2S
15 - BT Equalizer GEQ12
16 - BT Equalizer PEQ2B
17 - BT Equalizer PEQ5B
18 - BT Equalizer PEQ322

Blue Tubes Individual Plug-Ins lists for $89 each while Blue Tubes bundled versions are still available for purchase. More information can be found from the Nomad Factory web site :

Eloquence by Sugar Bytes is described as an extremely powerful and intuitive MIDI stepsequencer plug-in, giving you control over just about all aspects of your favorite MIDI devices. You can use Eloquence to create varied and organic bass lines, screaming leads, pulsating chords, and organic pad sounds in the studio or on stage.

For live musicians, Eloquence provides a versatile palette of performance options which can be triggered right from your MIDI keyboard: you can transpose, manipulate, twist up, mutate, and mangle your patterns without even getting near your computer.

Eloquence is a plugin which can be used with any major Windows or Mac VST or AU host.

Release Date: August 15, 2009. System Requirements: VST or AU compatible host software Win XP/Vista, MAC OS 10.5 and higher, 128 mb Ram, 1ghz CPU

Price: €99 / $129. Crossgrade Price for registered SonicBytes ERA users: €69 / $89.

Phazeform by Puremagnetik is a new Micropak for Ableton Live, Kontakt and Logic. It comes loaded with a captivating library of instruments and phrases based on Casio's classic Phase Distortion technology. Phazeform also contains a comprehensive sound set from the VL-Tone pocket synth/calculator guaranteed to pack your DAW with the sound of Casio synthesis.

Additionally, Phazeform includes a collection of looped phrases from the SK-1 and VL-Tone drum machines, giving Live, Logic and Kontakt users instant access to this unique collection of sounds.

Features :

• Complete palette of famous Casio Phase Distortion sounds
• Multi-sampled CZ library with advanced DAW integration
• A collection of expertly programmed clips
• Sound set of percussion menus
• 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.