PC and Music News

Acousticsamples has announced the release of a free drum samples library called DrumTAsteFree.

The DrumTAsteFree is a Rick Marotta Signature Hipgig drum set with paiste cymbals with the following features :

• 80Mo of samples recorded at 16 bits, 44.1khz.
• Custom mapping, you can assign every element to any key from the interface.
• Mappings presets: GM, V-DRUMS, IMAP, NSKIT (NDK) or default one.
• CC# controlled Hihat that features automatic closing sound.
• 2 Cycle round robins.
• Sensitivity button to adjust the response.
• Detailed instruments: 6 velocity layers per round robin
• Kontakt 2 or superior.

Feel free to do you own mapping and sent it to Acousticsamples so they can add it to the downloads !

GForce has released OptiTron, an expansion pack for the M-Tron Pro synthesizer.

The OptiTron expansion pack offers a fresh interface design and a full set of sounds recorded from an old Optigan:

• 30 new tape banks
• 5 leads and 25 rhythms, all looped
• 4/4 rhythms at 110 BPM
• 3/4 rhythms at 80 BPM
• 35 notes per tape bank
• Over 150 new MTP patches
• OptiTron interface design

Registered users of M-Tron Pro may purchase the downloadable OptiTron expansion pack for €39.

Spectrasonics today announced the release of a free iPhone app, Omni Live that turns an Apple iPhone or iPod Touch into a wireless remote control of the "Live Mode" of Spectrasonics' software synthesizer Omnisphere. Omni Live uses the iPhone's touch screen allowing multi-touch, wireless remote sound selection of the Omnisphere plug-in on the user's computer. Users can download the free "Omni Live" App from Apple's App store directly from their iPhone or iPod Touch.

"Omni Live" iPhone App for Remote Control of Omnisphere:

• Remotely control Omnisphere's 'Live Mode' page using an iPhone or iPod Touch
• Change patches using the multi-touch screen to select one or more patches simultaneously
• Use Omni Live across the room at a MIDI'ed piano or other controller, away from the computer
• Great for live performance
• Simple setup with the Mac's wireless network
• Portrait or Landscape mode

"Omni Live" is available now as a free download from the Apple App store.

The new "Omni Live" iPhone remote control app currently works with Omnisphere 1.2 or newer on Mac OSX systems, V1.2 requires Apple OSX 10.5 or later. The Omnisphere version 1.2 update is a free download for all registered users.

Access Music released the highly anticipated version 4 of the Virus TI operating system. The new version adds stomp box distortions, comb and vowel filters as well as a speaker simulation and an extended arpeggiator.

Every registered Virus TI user can download the public beta version free of charge.

Contributing to the ongoing debate about M/S Mastering, SPL introduces a new, powerful analog tool that can manage M/S signal separation and integrate external processors seamlessly - The M/S Master. It's world premiere will be at the MusikMesse in Frankfurt.

The M/S Master allows a fully adjustable separation of stereo L/R signals (X/Y) into middle/side signals (M/S). M/S separation and positioning, as well as the stereo image, are defined by the Balance and Level knobs, while a switchable frequency filter for the Side signal controls the lower frequencies and the room ambience.

One of the main features of the M/S Master is that it can integrate external processors via switchable inserts. Thus, outboard gear can be easily integrated into the X/Y or M/S mix with a single button and without the need of any cabling. These processing possibilities make the M/S Master an essential tool in mastering environments.

The M/S Master will be displayed at the MusikMesse in Frankfurt from the 24th to the 27th of March, 2010. You can find the SPL stand (B82) in Hall 5.1.

Image Line has released Drumaxx, a percussion modeling instrument that gives you total control over 16 physically modeled drum pads that can be routed to independent outputs for external effects processing.

At the core of Drumaxx is a model where the vibrating membrane is represented as a mesh of interconnected points. Each point is given physical properties including mass, inertia, stiffness, damping, and all that good physics stuff. For the musician, this means Drumaxx gives you control over multiple parameters such as material, thickness, tension and shape. More importantly, the parameters can be modulated in real-time as a function of velocity or external controls. The drum body is also under user control too, including body material, size, vibration damping, and shape. All this giv ...