PC and Music News

On Valentine's Day, TC-Helicon launched a competition for singers using TC-Helicon products.The TC-Helicon Love Song Competition gives vocalists a chance to win TC-Helicon prize packages for recording love songs that feature any TC-Helicon product from VoiceLive 2 to the new VoiceTone Singles range.

Winners of the competition can win a Grand Prize of either a VoiceLive Touch or VoiceLive 2 and a MP-75 Modern Performance Vocal Microphone with Mic Control. Four runners-up will have their choice of any VoiceTone Singles stompbox for singers.

The competition runs from February 14 to March 31, 2011. Winners will be voted on by TC-Helicon staff based on quality, creativity, arrangement, talent and use of their TC-Helicon product.
All a musician has to do is record a video of a love song using a TC-Helicon product, post the video on YouTube and submit their entry at tc-helicon.com/love-songs

Orchestral Disorder is a collection of presets for Apple Logic Pro inspired by orchestras. The concept behind the sound set was not to closely emulate acoustic instruments, but rather to explore the possibilities of orchestral timbres without human limitations or purist biases. Featuring three main components, the multi-format product includes files for the Sculpture and ES2 synthesizers, as well as Channel Strips.

The 2 MB download includes 150 .pst files and 25 .cst files.
Orchestral Disorder is available now for $39.99
The partial downloads for the Sculpture and ES2 components are available for $24.99 and $14.99 respectively.

The update sees a whole host of new features including a new interactive interface called 'The Orb' which offers stunning real-time synthesis manipulation capabilities. Spectrasonics describe 'Orb' as a 'Circular Controller' which allows the user the move the Orb cursor around to morph between automatically generated parameter scenes in 'a highly intelligent and musical manner'.

The update also includes deeply expanded additions to the synthesis engine and user interface plus many important user-requested features such as the new 5-Column Browser view and support for polyphonic aftertouch. The new version also includes a significant update to the factory patch library - 780 brand new patches which take advantage of all the new sound design capabilities and brings the total number of included sounds to over 8,000.
v1.5 is available free to registered users from the Spectrasonics website.

The ES-3 is a Eurorack format module which converts eight channels of ADAT Lightpipe input to DC coupled outputs on 3.5mm jacks, for the ultimate convenience in connection of a DAW directly to analogue synthesizers.

The outputs can be used as control voltages (CVs), for example with software such as Expert Sleepers Silent Way, and can also be used as audio outputs at high, modular synth-compatible levels.

With the ES-3, a single optical cable is all that is need to bring direct CV control from your DAW right into the heart of a modular system.

Producer Jeff Rhodes is back with the second installment in the Dance Glitch series. Using some of the same production techniques employed in our acclaimed Ambient Glitch series, 'Dance Glitch Vol 2' presents you with hundreds of small but useable building blocks suitable for a wide range of electronic music.

As with Dance Glitch Vol 1 the range of sounds encompasses conventional electronic sounds as well as more experimental and niché textures. Arpeggios, basslines, tribal percussion and warped effects provide you with more than enough material to let your imagination run wild.
This product includes loops that will work within the following genres: Dance, Glitch, Electro, Tech House, Trip Hop, Dubstep, Drum and Bass, Grime, Industrial, Techno and more.

This brand new sample pack has a wide panel of loops and samples as the reversed kicks, distorted kicks, Hardcore drum samples, basslines, kick and Bass Loops, hardstyle drum loops, sound FX, synth sounds and many more.

Hardstyle Loops and Hardcore Samples Contents:
- Kick Loops
- No Kick Loops
- Percussion Loops
- Bass Loops
- Sound Effects
- Pads / Layers / Atmospheres
- Drum Hits / One-Shots
- Synth Sounds