PC and Music News

HALion Sonic, the successor to Hypersonic 2, is Steinberg's premier VST Workstation, featuring the latest sampling and synthesis technologies, a world-class library and an intelligent user interface that excels in the studio as well as on stage.

Features :

• Easy-to-use yet powerful premier music and production workstation
• Next-generation audio and synth engine
• Outstanding library including over 1,200 instrument sounds
• Unique morphing filters; FlexPhraser module for driving beats, arpeggios and complex tonal phrases
• Wide range of audio effects, including REVerence convolution reverb
• Integrated MediaBay sound management system
• Made to be played live: tweaking sounds on stage has never been faster
• Full VST Expression support for smart articulation editing
• Cross platform: Windows (VST3, VST2.4) and Mac OS X (VST3, VST2.4, AU) plug-in support

Pricing : €249

The Acoustic Panels and Bass Traps specialist GIK Acoustics has just anoounced that they had such a great success with the free shipping in Europe (orders over Ł1000) that they have decided to make it standard.

Propellerhead Software has announced the release of Record 1.5 and Reason 5. These highly anticipated upgrades introduce new instruments, effects, sequencing, sounds, patches and more for composing, beatmaking, loop-mangling, vocal treatment, songwriting, remixing and music production.

Reason Record Duo feature highlights :

• Introducing Kong Drum Designer (Reason): Load, sculpt, build and tweak your sounds with your choice of drum synthesis, sampling, REX loops, physical modeling and custom-made effect modules for percussion on Kong's 16 pads.
• Dr. REX octuples into Dr. Octo Rex Loop Player (Reason): No matter how you use it—as a pattern sequencer for loops, or to completely mangle your REX'ed audio – it is "guaranteed to inspire".
• New Neptune Pitch Adjuster and ...

After the success of the first two packs in the Songwriters Drumpack series, Songwriters Drumpack and Songwriters Fillpack, Toontrack is back with another highly useful library of complete song-structure MIDI, organized as separate songs featuring several full intros, verses, pre-choruses, choruses, bridges and fills. With its undeniable ease of use and musical diversity, Songwriters Drumpack 2 is sure to lend a helping and creativity-boosting hand to your songwriting and production.

• Played by studio drummer and Toontrack veteran Peter Fredlander (who performed on Toontrack's Monster MIDI Pack series)
• More than 450 individually played files
• Categorized in different songs
• Ballad / midtempo / uptempo / shuffle songs
• Full 4-8 bar intro / verse / pre-chorus / chorus / bridge / fill sections & variations in each song
• Different meters in swing and/or straight feel

Works with EZdrummer®, Superior Drummer® (optimized for 1 kick, 1 snare, 2 toms, 1 floor-tom, 2 crash-cymbals, 1 ride-cymbal)

Pricing : €15

Brainworx releases their new bx_shredspread plug-in.

bx_shredspread is a stereo processor to be used on any stereo guitar subgroup or stereo guitar channels. bx_shredspread' s main purpose is to make sure your stereo ("doubled") guitar signals sound "wide and phatt" - as easy and fast as possible.

Stereo-guitars that have been created by recording several mono tracks (aka "doubled" guitars) will benefit best from the auto-correcting features and the "SHRED-filter", but bx_shredspread will work on conventional stereo guitar sounds and stereo samples as well, of course.

Although mainly created for guitars bx_shredspread may also be used on keyboard groups, organs, choirs, etc. bx_shredspread is a tool to control panning, stereo width and the "tone" of your stereo guitar tracks / groups. It automatically avoids typical phase problems that can occur when using M/S technology via some sophisticated algorithms for stereo width, EQ and pan.

Pricing :

• €119 - regular price after Sept 30.
• €89 - intro price until September 30th!
• €59 - your price if you own ANY bx_plugin

Vermona presents the Kick Lancet, an analogue kick drum generator.

The Kick Lancet is a handy analogue percussion synthesizer with priority to kick-drum sounds. The heart of the Kick Lancet's sound structure is an analogue oscillator that produces sine- and square waves, which can be blend seamless from one to the other. Two independent envelope generators with a decay/release phase can modulate the oscillator's frequency and the VCA. Additionally the VCO pitch can be modulated by the fast LFO (3Hz to 3kHz, triangle). Noise and a pulse signal can be added in the MIXER section. And we have a BALLS controller for making it really big.

The Kick Lancet can be triggered by MIDI but beside that there are three different trigger inputs:

• GATE: A gate impulse can trigger the Kick Lancet in normal way, with additional accent or completely dynamical depending on the incoming voltage.
• SWITCH: Simply short current trigger (i.e. momentary foot switch).
• AUDIO: Offers the possibility to trigger the Kick Lancet by an audio signal – static or dynamically. Also drum pads can be connected here.

For technical specifications and sound samples, please visit :