PC and Music News

DSK Music has just announced the release of a new free VSTi : DSK AkoustiK GuitarZ, a sampled-based acoustic guitar sound module.

Features :

- 4 acoustic guitar types.
- Amp. envelope and fine tuning.
- Stereo spread and portamento.
- 3 Fx (flanger, delay and chorus).
- Velocity response.

There's certainly truth to the long-standing adage, "What's old is new again." EastWest, exclusive US distributor of Best Service products, proves this true by making eight new sample collections by Best Service, which feature European historical instruments, available to today's users. The newest sound libraries, developed in cooperation with Realsamples, include Pianoforte, Early Pianoforte, Grand Piano, English Harpsichord, Dutch Harpsichord, Dulcitone Celesta, English Spinet and Italian Harpsichord.

Each collection features eight different samples of each note, four different release sounds of each note as well as 32 different velocity layers as opposed to the typical four to five found in most piano collections. No mastering is applied to the samples, giving users access to the raw recordings for additional control of the end result. For further realism, each instrument was recorded in 192 kHz/24 bits resolution and down sampled.

All samples offered in each collection are License-free, available in DVD or CD sets and are ready to be played in Kontakt 2, EXS24, GigaStudio, HAlion-Presets or .wav formats (excludes GigaStudio® versions). For more information, please visit their web site.

Mathijs Indesteege aka Mathew Lane has announced the release of DrMS, a spacial processor plug-in which presents a new way to approach the manipulation of stereo audio.

Based on MS (Mid-Side) processing, DrMS splits the stereo signal into four sections rather than the normal two, giving you new levels of control: zoom in, add depth, change width or any combination and more. Each of the four sections has a resonant high pass filter to clean up the lows and a tilt equalizer to soften the highs, plus a sample-based delay line to slightly shift the signal against the other sections. The level and combination of the different sections will result in various changes of the stereo field.

The flexible controls ensure a wide range of applications, both for mixing and mastering as well as for post production. Use DrMS for tasks going from simple MS encoding/decoding, over stereo field and depth enhancement, to fixing mono compatibility issues and more.

For easy A/B comparison between original and processed signal, an autogain circuit is build in to ensure a level matched output.

DrMS is available now as AU/VST2/RTAS plug-in on Mac OSX and as VST2/RTAS plug-in on Windows for a fee of 25€ (ex. VAT). A demo version is also available.

Yesterday LinPlug has announced that it has reduced the license fees for both the LinPlug Organ 3 and the LinPlug Octopus plug-in instruments. They are now available for €99 (previously €129) / $129 (previously $149) each.

The upgrade from daOrgan to Organ 3 is now also €10 / $10 cheaper than before: €49 / $69.

Imagine a control surface with real knobs, sliders, real switches for your favourite sequencer, plug-in, virtual synth or whatever. Let me introduce you to SenseSurface, a working demonstration prototype from Girton Labs.

Applications that would normally use a mouse, Qwerty keyboard or MIDI controller can be now controlled with traditional knobs. The scroll bar on the right hand side of your computer screen can be controlled with a real slider button. SenseSurface can be used with most laptops with a USB input. The sensing knobs have a custom designed movement sensor to determine position within a range of 180 degrees with a 10 bit digital output, linearity typically 1%.

The magnetic knobs can be removed and repositioned immediately by picking them up and moving to a different part of screen. A unique sensing x/y matrix is attached to the rear of the laptop screen to detect the control's position. The distance of the sensor from the screen can also be detected.

The system is multitouch and scaleable , the number of controls on the screen is limited by the size of the screen. The screen can be at any angle. The SenseSurface should cost less than $100 in production.

Girton Labs is looking for interested business partners and manufacturers. For more information, please visit the link below :

Tune It! is a piece of software that helps musicians to tune their instruments. It can also be used to monitor the pitch during live performance. It is based on an original and very accurate pitch detection algorithm. It can tune a wide range of instruments such as guitar, bass, piano, flute, violin, saxophone, etc.

Available for both Mac and PC, it can be ran as a standalone application or as a plugin within a VST or AU host. The good news : Tune It! is totally free !