PC and Music News

The electro mechanical piano has been sampled over and over, so why do it again? One reason is because each one has its own specific sound, and this one, the Mark 2, has been overlooked by many other companies, while it has a distinctive sound that especially comes to life in soulful ballads, but also holds its own in more upbeat music styles.

Another reason is that, for all the work that's has been put into recreating this kind of instrument, playing the real thing always tickles us in a way that the sampled counterpart just doesn't. So what is the big differentiator? We think much lies in the imperfection of a real instrument…and that's what we tried to capture in this sampled EMP.

The idea of blending amps together has been a studio trick used on countless recordings over the years. Being able to blend the stregths of certain amplifiers and have other amps fill in the weaknesses produces a richer, better balanced sound.

The multidrive allows you to blend Overdrive, Distortion and Fuzz together, creating a full and rich array of tones that would not be available otherwise. Let the sustain of fuzz, the bite of distortion and the clarity and note definition of overdrive all work together! Do what would normally take 3 amps in a 4x3" box.

Ear Machine today unveiled myMicSound, a free web application that simplifies the difficult task of using your ears to decide which microphone to purchase.

The application learns the user's preference by analyzing ratings of example microphones. myMicSound then returns a list that ranks microphones by the probability that the user will like their sounds. Users can either submit their own recording, or use one from myMicSound's collection. myMicSound removes the sound of the microphone used to make that recording, and then simulates the sound of new microphones. myMicSound carefully considers factors influencing the sound of the microphone, such as the proximity to the sound source, the polar pattern, and whether filters are active.

Helix is a Wave-Table-Shaping, Phase modulation, Virtual Analog, Physical Modelling Hybrid Synthesizer. Unusually high sound quality, massive modulation, creative audio-routing and many built-in effects all make Helix a synth easy to like.

Bug-fix:
- Some filters could freak out with very high cutoff-frequency
- 100+ new cycles included (for wave-type oscillator)
- New and improved re-sampling algorithm for the rompler
- Slightly quicker startup time
- LFO free-phase, to feel more analog
- More Global LFOs
- Global LFO can retrigger each time a new key is pressed
- Step-sequencer can start at a new step with each key-press
- Chorus stereo-flip
- New modulation destination (shaper-postgain)
- Bugfix when saving patches on mac: properly ask before overwriting
- Reverb dry-level
- Support tuning in sfz-files
- A bunch of new presets
- Support for "zen" preset manager

The Duende Native Plug-in suite is a collection of audio processing tools which bring professional audio quality, sophistication and benchmark performance within reach of all DAW users.

Duende plug-ins provide the superior precision, advanced feature set and legendary tonal characteristics of SSL console products in affordable VST/AU/RTAS* plug-in form. They are quite simply the easiest way to get your hands on professional tools that will help you achieve professional mixes that sound like a record.

Toontrack has teamed up with Nashville native, session drummer, songwriter and producer Miles McPherson for a red hot rock preset combo that will take your tracks and mixes to new heights in a matter of a few mouse-clicks.

These presets will work perfectly for anything from rock, grunge and mellow pop to punk and hard rock. Get the Custom & Vintage Presets - Miles McPherson pack and find out what Miles mixed, tweaked and gained!