PC and Music News

Nektar Technology, Inc. announce the deep integration with the new, exciting Bitwig Studio DAW and the Nektar Panorama range of controllers featuring the unique and musician friendly direct DAW integration Nektar P series Keyboards are famous for.

From day one, Bitwig Studio will benefit from the extensive and transparent Panorama workflow integration that allows for controlling the Bitwig Studio mixer, instruments, effects, transport plus clip and scene launching right from Panorama P1, P4 or P6.

Building on Panorama's workflow concept developed first for Reason and Cubase, additional functionality has been added to take full advantage of the Bitwig Studio controller API. This includes the ability to browse the instrument and effects device libraries of patches by category or creator, right from Panorama.

A step sequencer has also been included using the 8 LED buttons to program any of the up to 32 steps in a sequence. Panorama creates the events directly in Bitwig Studio so they are instantly part of a song and ready for further manipulation.
Taking advantage of the pads on the Panorama P4 and P6, it's possible to trigger, create and record clips and scenes in absolute real-time. The Panorama display provides constant updates to show which clips are currently active, including the name of the clips available on the current track.

All things considered and also taking into account the compatibility of BitWig Studio with VST plug-ins, full navigation of all devices and their parameters, complete mixer control including motorized fader - the Panorama/Bitwig Studio combination may well be the most advanced hardware/software combination to date.

PreSonus' new Music Creation Suite is a complete, integrated music-creation solution that's ideal for educators, students, and home studio enthusiasts. PreSonus will offer lesson plans and instructional videos to help music educators get the most from the new hardware/software recording and composition kit.

This all-PreSonus package includes:

- AudioBox USB audio/MIDI interface
- Studio One™ Artist recording and production software (DAW)
- Notion notation software
- PS-49 USB 2.0 MIDI keyboard

Four ports-connect AudioBox USB, PS-49, and two more devices
U.S. map/street price is expected to be $399.95. Custom site licenses for multiple units can be generated when the products are registered.

Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH announced WaveLab 8.5, a purchasable point update for the award-winning audio editing and mastering software. Available from June, WaveLab 8.5 includes new and easy file conversion and batch processing, A/B comparison between encoding formats, AAC encoder implementation and convenient multi-format rendering.

“This update marks an important step forward for the eighth iteration of WaveLab, focusing this round on encoding and processing audio files in a most efficient way,” said Timo Wildenhain, product marketing manager at Steinberg.

The new automated Watch Folder rendering feature applies processing to all audio files drag-and-dropped into designated folders. Users can now assign tasks, such as dithering, normalization, plug-in rendering and audio file format conversion, to any number of Watch Folders without having WaveLab open. Putting a big emphasis on working with codecs, WaveLab 8.5 sports the new Encoder Checker plug-in for real-time comparison of codecs and settings, with an FFT graph allowing for a precise analysis of the compressed sound quality. WaveLab now also supports encoding to the AAC file format to ensure compatibility with iTunes and related Apple hardware. Introducing new multi-format rendering capabilities facilitates exporting files to various formats simultaneously, and with much more ease than in previous versions.

Availability and pricing

The WaveLab 8.5 full retail version will be available from June 2014 as boxed version from authorized Steinberg resellers and through the Steinberg Online Shop. The suggested retail price is 549 euros, including German VAT.

60 channels of audio, high-end microphone preamps, reference class converters, a complete effects section and operation at up to 192 kHz are the base for many more features:

Ultra-low latency operation with USB or FireWire, combined with the legendary RME driver stability and maintenance. Active jitter suppression, individually switchable reference levels for all inputs and outputs, full stand-alone functionality, RME’s unique DIGICheck metering and analysis toolbox, and identical operation on Windows PC and Mac.

Karma-Lab has released KARMA Motif Software Version 3.1, a major update that adds support for several more Yamaha instruments and Mac OS X Mavericks 10.9. A free update for any current owners, version 3.1 adds the following new features and improvements:

- supports 5 Yamaha instruments: Motif XF, Motif XS, MOXF, MOX and Rack XS
- supports Mac OSX 10.4.11 through 10.9.x Mavericks, Universal
- supports Windows XP through Windows 8.1, 32 and 64-bit
- supports the Steinberg CMC-PD and CMC-QC external controllers, among others
- adds additional control ports for use with more external devices at the same time
- new Previous Scene, Next Scene and Startup Scene functions
- new Phase Activity Display shows the relationship of each Module's Phase Pattern
- support for scrolling via MouseWheel/Trackpad where applicable
- revised and updated Help File including .pdf version; new and updated Tutorials
- other new features, enhancements, and improvements.

KARMA Motif brings developer Stephen Kay's award-winning and patented KARMA algorithmic music technology to a number of Yamaha Motif-based models, giving them extensive new interactive groove generation, arpeggiation and arranger-like capabilities. The software uses the Song/Mixing/Multi Mode of the Motif-based instruments to provide 16 part multi-timbral templates with the kind of fully interactive real-time controlled grooves that only KARMA can produce.

The software includes the ability to use the keyboard's Remote Mode to control all of KARMA's functions directly from the keyboard, while KARMA sends parameter information and values directly to the keyboard's display. This allows you to control KARMA from the keyboard without looking at the computer, and makes it feel like the KARMA software is built-in to the keyboard.

KARMA Motif uses the keyboard's Song/Multi/Mixing mode, where each of the included KARMA Performances is a complete, 16 part multi-track six-module KARMA algorithmic music groove, with a left hand and right hand zone for controlling KARMA and soloing on top of it, and eight fully voiced and completely different scenes. The keyboard's arps are also additionally integrated in each Performance as additional elements that can be added via KARMA's Intelligent Chord Trigger Transposition features. And since you are already in Song Mode, you're just one step away from recording your KARMA-fied musical performances into the internal sequencer - or you can route the output to any DAW for external sequencing. Furthermore, a KARMA Performance can call up any Voice, Performance, Song, Pattern, or Master slot when loading, so that KARMA can be used in any of the supported model's modes.

KARMA Motif is available directly from Karma-Lab for US $199. A 13 minute Video Introduction on the Motif XF is available demonstrating many of KARMA's interactive performance capabilities.