PC and Music News

Lexicon announces the release of new Windows and Mac software drivers for the I·ONIX Series of Desktop Recording Interfaces.

With the new 64-bit Windows driver, these interfaces now operate seamlessly on computers running Windows 64-bit XP and Vista operating systems. The new Mac driver improves performance and now supports all Mac computers operating on OS X 10.4.9 or higher regardless of whether they are based on a PowerPC or Intel processor.

After releasing Cubase 5 and Cubase Studio 5 in the first half of this year, Steinberg now is also introducing the fifth version of Cubase Essential.

Offering a streamlined feature set that offers newcomers to Cubase a comprehensive set of composing, recording, editing, and mixing capabilities, the new version includes a range of functions from its sibling, Cubase 5.

Supporting Mac OS X 10.5, Windows Vista, and Windows XP, Cubase Essential 5 ($195.99/€149.75) will be shipping to European dealers and international Steinberg distributors, so availability may vary regionally. Cubase Essential 5 may also be purchased through the Steinberg online stores.

The Covert Operators announced a series of videos that are a complete guide to Ableton's MIDI Devices.

In 25 minutes time, you will learn what these devices do and in some cases you will see an example of how to put the features of a device into practice.

The Video Pack covers :

• The Chord Plugin (1:45)
• The Velocity Plugin (3:28)
• The Scale Plugin (4:10)
• The Note Length Plugin (7:00)
• The Random Plugin (4:29)
• The Key Zone Editor (2:39)
• Using a 3rd Party MIDI LFO in Live (1:43)

Pricing : 10€

Ueberschall has released Caribbean Flavors Vol.1, a versatile and very colorful production tool with a pristine sound which is focused on 32 live-recorded Construction Kits from the Caribbean. This upscale production offers many styles of the modern and traditional Latin music culture such as:

• Bachata,
• Buleria,
• Merengue,
• Salsa,
• Porro,
• Champeta,
• Cumbia,
• Montuno,
• Guaguanco,
• Guajira,
• Merengue.

All material provides the live-emphasized essence to aid in production realism, artistry and identity. Sessions were recorded with world-class musicians from Puerto Rico, Columbia, Cuba, Venezuela and Germany. Arrangment and ideas come from the famous musician, percussionist and Grammy Award winner Nené Vásquez; ...

Focusrite is now shipping the new Saffire PRO 24 DSP, a 16 Input / 8 Output FireWire audio interface that features VRM, a breakthrough monitoring technology, in addition to real-time DSP-powered tracking plug-ins, all tailor-made for the modern recording environment.

The Saffire PRO 24 DSP has an MSPR of $399.

AcousticsampleS and Lance Herring are announcing the upcoming release of the Kawai-EX sample library. It's a Kawai-EX concert grand piano that used to be in the Kennedy center in Washington DC. The product is already in an advanced state.

Here are some features of the final product :

- 5 "pedal up" layers, 5 "pedal down" layers, and 15 release samples per note (5 only for the light version).
- Thumps samples.
- Automatic Pedal noises samples.
- Multiple mic position and mixing from the interface (in PRO version).
- Ability to save polyphony by enabling / disabling each position.
- Sympathetic resonance (pedal down samples).
- Multiple releases. They have been carefully picked up for each note to really reproduce the real mechanical behaviour of a note.
- As always, a custom ...