PC and Music News

The Recording Arts & Technology program at Southwestern College in the San Diego California suburb of Chula Vista is one of the nation’s top audio programs.

Begun in May 2008, under the direction of Professor Jay Henry, a two-time Grammy® award nominee for his engineering and production skills, the Recording Arts & Technology program prepares students for careers in the entertainment industries of music, television and film, utilizing state-of-the-art music studios and labs for a hands-on learning experience that emphasizes fundamental recording technique and knowledge. Henry entered the music industry decades ago, and has experienced the huge changes in the music recording industry; he has kept his educational program flexible to adapt to the changes yet to come. That’s why he was excited to discover Focusrite's RedNet networked audio I/O technology. In recent weeks, Prof. Henry directed the purchase of two RedNet 5 HD interfaces for his Pro Tools|HD systems coupled with three RedNet 2 16-channel analog I/O interfaces for his main recording and satellite mixing rooms. Once these units are installed, the two studios at the core of the Recording Arts and Technology program will be able to be completely networked, allowing seamless access of audio between rooms and giving students and faculty a high degree of flexibility in how those facilities are used.

PreSonus is now shipping the eagerly anticipated Sceptre™-series CoActual™ studio reference monitors.

Featuring an advanced coaxial design that works integrally with a 32-bit, 48 kHz processor using Fulcrum Acoustic's TQ™ Temporal Equalization technology, Sceptre CoActual monitors deliver clarity and coherence that has previously only been available in ultra-high-end systems. Yet they are an affordable investment for project-studio owners-a first for DSP-enabled, TQ-based systems.

Muse Research™ and Development, Inc., and PreSonus® Audio Electronics, Inc., announced that the PreSonus AudioBox™ 1818VSL audio interface is now included, standard, with Muse Research's new Receptor™ TRIO and Receptor QU4TTRO hardware-based plug-in players, giving musicians up to 18 high-quality audio inputs and outputs.

In addition, Muse Research now offers the PreSonus AudioBox 1818VSL interface as an added-cost option for its award-winning Receptor VIP plug-in player, giving the VIP multi-channel input and output capabilities. The Receptor TRIO and QU4TTRO are now shipping, as is the software update that allows the Receptor VIP to utilize the AudioBox 1818VSL interface.

Spectrasonics has released an 'AAX Public Beta' version of the company's three popular virtual instruments Omnisphere, Trilian and Stylus RMX for Avid's new Pro Tools 11.

Registered users of the Spectrasonics instruments can log into their user accounts to download the Public Beta versions. The new versions are available at no charge to registered users to test with the new 64-bit version of Pro Tools. Omnisphere, Trilian and Stylus RMX are all native 64-bit software instruments designed to work with Pro Tools 11 on both OS X and Windows.

Impact Soundworks, LLC released today "Juggernaut: Cinematic Electronic Scoring Tools", a comprehensive collection of synthesized percussion, basses, and FX for Native Instruments Kontakt and Kontakt Player. With sounds from a team of top designers, including Mick Gordon, Erik Ekholm, and Jordan Fehr, this cinematic toolbox was custom-built for hybrid scoring, EDM, and musical sound design.


Juggernaut features over 500 24-bit sounds ranging from impacts, sweeps, risers, and textures, to drum kits, oneshots, and synth basses. The Drums/FX engine includes 6 different FX categories that supply users with powerful cinematic hits and transitions. The Drum library ranges from physically modeled percussion instruments such as bodhrans, taikos, and roto toms, to kicks, thips, snares, and crashes. Each highly-polished sound was crafted from scratch by the design team without the use of drum machines.

Applied Acoustics Systems releases the Microsound Textures sound bank for the Chromaphone creative percussion synthesizer and AAS Player plug-ins in collaboration with artist and sound designer Richard Devine. Microsound Textures joins Cardinals and KitNetix as the third title in Chromaphone's Sound Bank Series expansion line.

Microsound Textures is all about precision, details, subtlety, and complexity. Richard Devine's idea was to use grain particles and tiny pulses to create rich and dense textures. In addition, the collection includes a wide variety of surprising and mysterious instruments ranging from light and delicate to dark and atonal. The 128 sounds are divided into five categories: Percussion, Sound Effects, Keys and Synths, Pads and Strings, and Textures and Ambience.


PRICING AND AVAILABILITY
The Microsound Textures bank is available now for $39. The instant download delivery package includes both a Chromaphone preset file and the free AAS Player plug-in. The AAS Player plug-in runs on both Windows and Mac OS X and supports the VST, Audio Unit, and RTAS plug-in formats.