PC and Music News

Yamaha has announced two new synths designed specifically for players : the S90 XS and S70 XS Music Synthesizer. Here is an excerpt from the official website :

"Designed specifically for players, particularly those who want the highest quality piano sounds and expression, the S90 XS/S70 XS is a performer's dream. Yet, casual players and hobby musicians will appreciate the exquisite sounds, advanced features and superb playability just as much as top professional artists.

Main features :

• Sounds That Satisfy
• Streamline Your Performance
• Ideal for Live Performers
• Recording Direct to USB / Internal Memory
• 76 & 88 Keyboard
• Software Integration"

Pricing & Availability TBA.

Toontrack Music updates EZplayer pro to version 1.0.4.

New Features in 1.0.4 :

• New wrappers for Steven Slate Drums and generic IMAP formats
• SDX kit pieces available for Superior content
• contextual filtering for kit piece selection
• internal logging of missing wrappers for QA purposes

Fixed in 1.0.4 :

• channel is no longer offset by 1 in the Browser
• graphical issues on PPC affecting clips in Arranger
• uninstalling/re-installing should resolve MIDI path issue arising from relocating EZdrummer
• clicking in the timeline while looping and playing should no longer crash EZplayer
• empty MIDI files (or files emptied by wrapper action) no longer crash the program
• further sync to host improvements in Apple Logic
• missing input wrapper for RDK is now included
• Drumcore wrappers are no longer placeholders but do more than looking nice
• minor other fixes in various wrappers

Novation announces the upcoming release of its Automap software for iPhone and iPod Touch, providing an instant and intelligent, wireless, palm-sized MIDI controller.

The Automap for iPhone / iPod touch app will be available to buy from the Apple app store mid July. Combined with Novation's free Automap 3 Standard software, or Automap 3 Pro, it provides two horizontal faders and eight buttons per page, displayed on a single iPhone / iPod touch screen. However, the number of pages – and thus the number of controls – is unlimited.

Automap lets you see at a glance how every control on your iPhone / iPod touch is assigned, both on the iPhone / iPod touch itself, and across your computer screen. Combining all this visual feedback with intelligent software browsing also helps you get to the right software fast. Control maps are automatically placed into categories depending on type (instrument, effects, mixer and so on) for quick and easy browsing and selection.

Although Automap automatically and intelligently maps to all major music making software, you will inevitably

Soundprovocation "Sweeps & Whooshes" is a collection of creatively recorded, generated, played and carefully selected sound effects. These pure sounds were ment to assist audio professionals : musicians, sound designers, radio and TV producers, DJs. Effects are dedicated to blow-up expressivity and power into your music and production.

Collection contains four categories of 179 royalty-free effects total :

• Noise sweeps (23)
• Short sweeps (77)
• Tone sweeps (29)
• Crunchy sweeps (25)
• Whooshes (25)

Format : Aiff, 24 bit, 44100 Hz / Package size : 280 MB.

Sweeps & Whooshes is available now as a downloadable product at an introductory price of €9.99 instead of €19.99 until the end of this month.

Applied Acoustics Systems has just updated its virtual electric piano Lounge Lizard EP-3 to version 3.1.2. This is a maintenance update containing the following changes :

• Fixed Recorder crash on Windows;
• Fixed automation from plug-in window in Logic 8;
• Fixed audio cuts when the plug-in window was displayed;
• Fixed MIDI Link crash on "Default" channel;
• Fixed Cubase 5 crash on Windows;
• Now works with Cubase 5 64-bit VST Bridge;
• Now works with Sonar 64-bit BitBridge;
• New solution for volume build-up on repeated notes with sustain pedal;
• Fixed "Fatal Error 417" during authorization on Mac OS X;
• Fixed Edit MIDI Link dialog values glitch;
• No more clicks when changing Pickup Type;
• Fixed MIDI Link on Pickup Type.

This update is available now, free of charge for all Lounge Lizard EP-3 registered users.

Waves introduces the Grand Masters Collection, an all-inclusive set of mastering tools. Featuring the complete original Masters bundle (L2 Ultramaximizer, Linear Phase Equalizer, Linear Phase Multiband Compressor), the Grand Masters Collection adds ten new plug-ins :

• MaxxVolume
• PuigTec EQP-1A
• PuigTec MEQ-5
• Waves Dorrough Meters
• Stereo Edition
• Waves Center
• L3-16 Multimaximizer
• L3 Ultramaximizer
• L3 Multimaximizer
• L3-LL Ultramaximizer
• L3-LL Multimaximizer

Waves Grand Masters Collection is available for both Mac OS X and Windows in Native (VST/AU/RTAS) ($2,200) and TDM ($4,200) formats, it requires iLok authorization. Upgrades are available. All purchases and upgrades include one full year of Waves Update Plan coverage.