PC and Music News

Toontrack Music has released Funkmasters EZX. This is a unique and exclusive recording of two of the most important drummers in popular music. Clyde Stubblefield and John "Jab'o" Starks.

On their own or in tandem, Starks and Stubblefield were the principal drummers for the Godfather of Soul and Funk, Mr. James Brown. Fans and critics alike cite their collective era in Brown's band as the pinnacle of Funk. Their combined drumming on the classic double-album "Sex Machine" is some of the most innovative, inspired and funky playing ever recorded.

Samples and looped audio of their original beats and breaks would go on to become the foundation of Hip-Hop. Their breaks gave birth to countless genres reaching deep into the realms of underground, experimental and popular music. It is also crucial to note that the use of their breaks inspired innovation within the techniques of DJ-ing and sample based production, thus making Starks and Stubblefield the most sampled and influential drummers in modern day music.

Toontrack Music has sampled both their unique sound and grooves.

The Funkmasters EZX feature two kit interfaces, one for Clyde and one for "Jab'o". The EZX also features effects sliders in the EZmixer, a Vinyl effect created with the use of iZotopes Vinyl plug in and a large Plate reverb resampled at Toontrack Music Studios, UmeĀ, delivering all that you need to create those real sounding Funk tracks.

Funkmasters EZX is available now and is priced at $89/€59.

DDMF has released ColourEQ, a new 4th order IIR equalizer plug-in which follows a completely different approach to generate its frequency response. It is zero-delay and almost-zero-CPU. Due to it's higher order there are more degrees of freedom to play with, which is why it is the first "super-parametric" EQ : basically there are four knobs per band instead of three !

Furthermore the colour palette can be customized, and the plugin window can be freely resized. Internal processing is in 64 bit.

ColourEQ is available now for both Mac and PC on VST and AU formats. As usual with DDMF, the price is still "whatever-you-feel-appropriate".

SoundToys has just announced the release of version 3.1 for its entire range of plug-in. One of the most significative feature of this update is the addition of the long-awaited VST support for both Mac and Windows. This version also includes a very important compatibility update for Digital Performer 6 users as well as a new version of Speed for Logic Pro users that integrates into Logic's Time and Pitch Machine.

This update is free for all registered users.

Togu Audio Line has just released TAL-Bitcrusher, a common bitcrusher with some useful additions. There is a low- and highshelf EQ and a noise cross modulator included. Its maybe useful on drums, especially hats and for distorted leads.

Features :

- Adjustable bit-depth (0-32 bit).
- Adjustable sample rate divisor (up to / 512).
- Noise cross modulator.
- 24 dB low- and high-shelf filter.
- 10 presets for bass, leads and drums.
- Low CPU usage.

TAL-Bitcrusher is free and is available for Windows and Mac OS X in VST and AU plug-in formats.

AuraPlug releases Red Skull Distortion, a free VST plug-in for Windows which is an aggressive high-gain distortion pedal simulator with chunky metal tones for playing Nu Metal, Grind Core, Hard Core, Trash Metal or any genre that requires crushing sound. The tone section gives you complete control over Bass, Midrange, and Treble to get the ultimate chunk for your rig.

Features :

- Stomp-box design.
- Level control.
- Distortion control.
- 3 band tone control.
- Easy to use.
- Low CPU usage.

MHC Synthesizers and Effects introduce a holiday season discount, 50% on all products, valid until December 31. The offer covers all VST plugins for Windows and Audio Units (universal binaries) for Mac OS X and the sample loop libraries, including the latest library, Industrial Loops, which was released the 5th of December.

Note that the ordinary 30% discount on all but one item, if a customer buys more than one, still applies. So customers who buy more than one item can get more than 50% discount.

Order before December 31 and type in the coupon code 671 on the order page to obtain the discount.