PC and Music News

N order to take the Elastik player to the next level, Ueberschall has teamed up with zplane.development ( zplane.de ). Together they have come up with Elastik 2, freshly designed to match all future needs for working with loops and samples.

Apart from its new graphic interface, Elastik 2 offers a whole new range of desirable features: The self-explanatory browser, designed for fast access to any loaded sound libraries. Browser features: The multiple filter search function allows quickly to find sounds. Prelisten the whole library content in-sync to host tempo and tag favorite samples.

TeamDNR Collaborative Designs announces the release of Ace.Animated, a new sound library for u-he Ace synthesizer which combines 225 cutting edge hybrid dance, trance, club and IDM sounds with solid workhorse patches to give producers, musicians and sound designers an ultra-wide range of sonic possibilities. Also included in the package is a group of template sounds which can help users create their own patches with minimal effort. These templates include a variety of popular lead, bass, pad and sequenced sounds.

Ace.Animated is available now for $19 until December 31, and $24 thereafter. A $5.00 discount is available for all Symmetry Pro owners, including those who won in any contests and giveaways. A bundle deal is also available including all contents of Symmetry Pro and Ace.Animated (345 instruments) for $24.

Platinum Samples releases Bobby Jarzombek Metal MIDI Groove Library.

Some features:

- Played by Bobby Jarzombek (Halford, Fates Warning, Riot)
- Over 1,670 MIDI files (over 3,430 bars of unquantized grooves)
- Formatted for BFD2®, EZdrummer®, Superior Drummer®, Addictive Drums®, Cakewalk® Session Drummer & General MIDI Standard MIDI Files (all included)
- Includes 24 complete Metal & Rock performances performed by Bobby Jarzombek
- Includes stadium endings
- Played in 4/4 with straight, triplet & swing feels in tempos ranging from 92 to 198 BPM

Little Endian today announced the release of SpectrumWorx version 2.1 for Mac OS X and Windows in the form of a VST-plugin. This is a first version that suports Mac OS X, bringing the latest advances in the frequency domain effects processing to this superior operating system. Windows version has also been updated.

Features:

- Over fifty modules (pitch shifter, classic vocoder, wah-wah, robotizer, wobbler, autotune, reverser, etc.).
- Sophisticated engine optimized for low CPU usage.
- Flexible Preset browser.
- Over 100 presets.
- Highly configurable LFOs.
- External audio support.
- Presets in XML format.
- Slick GUI.
- Detailed User's Guide.

This collection delivers a full download with 300 "silky synth hooks, delicious basslines, tantalizing percussion patterns, sweet musical melodies and mesmerising guitar licks." Added to that, you also get an additional 100 "smokin' hot one-shot drums for building your own beats from the ground up." Late-night tempos stretching from 50 to 95bpm so there's a mix here, from modern anthems to slow ballads.
Midnight R&B Gold also comes with full-length mixed and mastered beats included (great for vocalists/singers/MC's) which are then split down into 'construction kits' loops and samples that have been mastered to commercial standards and put through Prime Loops Triple-Check Audio Guarantee: checked by Prime Loops producers, staff and independents to make sure the content is up to he highest quality. All the sample are also royalty free, meaning you can use them in your commercial productions without having to worry about licensing fees or sample clearance.

In essence, Midnight Gold is a modern collection for music producers and vocalists alike looking for some solid inspiration for their productions. Formats include: WAV, Apple Loops, MPC, ACID, Reason Refill, Rex2 Loops and many more!

Sknote has released the HandSynth synthesizer for iPod/iPhone/iPad, described as a performance synthesizer with a simple interface and several complex oscillators and filters.
The developers tell us that a multitouch keyboard gives great control on the sound, not achievable with classic synths, while a "Theremin" mode adds realtime modulation possibilities.

Features

- Multiple oscillator algorithms (wavetables, discrete summation, FM, virtual analog)
- Multimode filters (lowpass and vowel filters) with "performance" modes
- Delay, chorus, overdrive
- "Theremin" mode (through accelerometers)
- "Keyboard" mode (through multitouch screen)
- 100 memories for presets
- Sound libraries

Pricing and Availability: 4,99 €