PC and Music News

Ableton has announced the release of three new Partner Instruments.

- Novachord by Soniccouture, a collection of presets that is based on the faithfully sampled sounds of the Novachord – a gargantuan, tube-based, 72-note polyphonic synthesizer from 1938.
- MachineKits by Puremagnetik, the Ableton partner behind Drum Machines introduces a high quality library of drum machines programmed specifically for Ableton Live.
- Tubular Bells by SonArte, a collection of tubular bell presets meticulously sampled from a vintage instrument and transformed into ambient, rhythmic and synthetic sounds.

The new Ableton Partner Instruments are available to purchase at a $10 USD / 10 EUR discount through December 19, 2010. Puremagnetik MachineKits is now $29 USD, SonArte Tubular Bells is $49 USD, and Soniccouture Novachord $69 USD.

For the entire month of December all FXpansion download-only expansion packs are 50% off for registered owners of BFD2 (version 2.2 is available), BFD Eco, DCAM: Synth Squad, GURU & Geist!

December Half Price Sale expansions:
- BFD2 & BFD Eco:
- Jazz Maple, Heavy, Cocktail, JEX, Decatom, Oak Custom, Maple Custom Absolute, 8 Bit Kit, Japanese Taiko Percussion & Grooves (BFD2 only), Signature Snares Vol.1 & Vol.2, Sleishman Drums & Sleishman Snares
- DCAM: Synth Squad:
- Himalaya: Antiquity, Myagi: Ferocity (New!)
- GURU & Geist:
- City of Drums & Beats

TASCAM's Portastudio brings 30 years of easy-to-use home recording to your iPad. Based on the PORTA ONE recorder that revolutionized recording in 1984, the Portastudio app records up to four tracks with a vintage vibe.

Record one track at a time using the built-in mic or a headset microphone connection, monitoring on authentic VU meters. A cassette transport with position counter tracks your position while you mix with level, pan and EQ controls. When you're ready to mix, the built-in mixdown function saves your song as a CD-quality WAV file. Your mix appears in iTunes when you're finished, ready to share with friends and bandmates.

Future Loops presents"Total Producer" a limited edition deluxe pack that was specially created for this holiday season : an unbeatable collection that gives you the chance to own the entire Future Loops collection for an extremely reduced price ( save 1.000€ ! ) .

Featuring a massive 85GB and over 65.000 samples (nearly 100.000 audio files!) 100% royalty free, "Total Producer" includes over 40 best-selling sample libraries that cover different genres from Dance , Dub , Hip Hop , Jazz or Funk to Drum & Bass , Dubstep , Trance or Breaks , making it the perfect choice if you need to recharge your studio with some serious sample power !

Hybrid drum kits. Chimera R is a set of patches for the Redrum drum sampler within Propellerhead Reason. The theme of the sound set is hybridism. Its origins are in five previously released 9 Soundware titles.

The drum kits are based on samples from the Heartbeat and Concussion EXS24 sound sets, as well as patches from the Fire Juggler, Vortex, and Ax releases for the Thor, Malström, and Subtractor synthesizers, respectively. Price: 49,99$

In creating this soundset, UK based artist Ben Crosland has used his intricate knowledge of the Virus to provide you with a new, go-to library of dazzling variety - the generous serving of phat basses, classic chip-tune blips, lush digital soundscapes, synapse-tickling leads and grinding arpeggiator grooves, is sure to push your musical creativity into overdrive!

Throughout the set, extensive use is made of the all features that came with TI OS4, so be sure to install the latest OS update to experience this soundset as intended.
For the 3rd Advent weekend, Access gives you
128 fresh patches from a professional sound designer.