Here are the October audio news, carefully selected just for you !

It may still appear a little messy, I am thinking about another way to class the audio news instead of dropping them.

I thought about different categories like music composition, sound design, audio techniques, DAW, free stuff and so on... It seems to me a pretty much easier way to read it and a little more useful for fast look readers.
I don't know yet how I'm going to do this but I take every idea as a starting point, so mail me if you feel concerned...

Here is the program for this month :

- Music composition
- Music Production / Audio Post
- Sound Design
- Live stage application / Ipad / Iphone etc...
- Free stuff
- Nice videos of the month

Once again, a big thanks to all the nice readers for their feedback and encouragements.

Peace.

Sam.

Music Composition

Steve Ferrone Midi Groove Library @ Platinum Samples

Platinum Samples hired one of the best living drummer Steve Ferrone to record some very nice midi grooves to accomodate your tracks. Steve Ferrone played with The Bee Gees, Scritti Politti, Brian May, Anita Baker, George Benson, Jonathan Butler, Bryan Ferry, Climie Fisher, Eric Clapton, Christine McVie, Peter Frampton, Jeff Golub, Rick James, Whitney Houston, Chaka Khan, Freddie King, Pat Metheny, Marcus Miller, Morrissey-Mullen, Dick Morrissey, Jeffrey Osborne, Paul Simon, Bernie Worrell, Jaco Pastorius, Slash, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers among other...

For what I've heard, these midi grooves are classics, so they can easily be inserted in your midi sequencer to target your favorite drum sampler. the "feeling" is there, it seems very useful to spice your mixes.

Montclarion Hall Piano @ Tonehammer

I don't like virtual pianos ! I hate virtual pianos ! because it almost sounds crap compared to real ones but... for once, you guys at Tonehammer made it ! really. It sounds fantastic ! amazing... I can't find anything more to say... I love it. Price is fair compared to most of your collegues... 99 $ is very nice. Thank again. TH rules ! You should also listen the bowed grand piano and the plucked grand piano which are pretty nice too...

Ukulele @ Petting House

Petting House announced his next virtual instrument release for Kontakt a ukulele... a very nice sounding audio demo from his site as an appetizer... good work as ever.

Solina P275 @ Precision sound

Designed for vintage electronic organ lovers exclusively (from JM Jarre to Vangelis!) I loved the audio demos and what they say about this new release : "The Eminent Solina P275 Series 9 with a price tag of aprox $2500 from 1985 was made in Holland and uses the same stringsynth section as the legendary 310 model used by Jean Michel Jarre. The P275 is completely analog and has a unique sounding drum machine built in (Syncopator 355).

We think these instruments are so underrated when it comes to the sound. For modern DAW based musicians it would be difficult or impossible to incorporate them in their musicproduction due to space weight and the lack of MIDI or CV so we have the goal to make them available inside your MAC or PC.

Precisionsound teamed up with Skinny Hastrup and started a new line of SampleSets titled “The Skinny Organ Collection”. "Eminent 275" is the second but not the last. Enjoy!"

Liang's Pipa @ Soundemon

Pipa is a 4 strings chinese lute. Soundemon is very involved in high quality asian virtual instruments development. that's why it seems obvious to me I should speak about it. The library is huge around 2,5 GB recorded in multilayer velocity 24 bits /96 kHz compatible with Kontakt. It should satisfy those of you who like extremely precise exotic virtual instruments.

Hollywood Strings @ East West

The hugest strings library ever... it sounds like I don't know, like strings ! I love east West products as you know but this virtual instrument is a hit. I can't wait to buy it. I can't find my words. Just listen the demos and see for yourself. I bet you'll love it. It's perfectly fit for orchestral scores & cinematic works with hollywood strings ensemble inside. I want it !

HOLLYWOOD STRINGS offers unprecedented control over sound and performance, and is a must have compositional tool for serious composers...
HOLLYWOOD STRINGS has many groundbreaking features not found in any other collection. Finger position is, for the first time, controllable by the user, so you can play as far up the strings as you want, and get a fuller more romantic Hollywood sound. Vibrato intensity and extensive dynamics are controllable by the user. Extensive multi-dynamic true legato has been sampled for all sections in three different categories: slurred, portamento, and bow change. This results in unsurpassed legato performance that has never been available. HOLLYWOOD STRINGS has five user-controllable mic positions, including main pickup (Decca tree), mid pickup, close pickup, surround pickup, and an alternate vintage circa 1945 RCA ribbon room pickup.

Music Production / Audio post

Variohm @ Magneto Audio Labs

A amazing audio gear from Magneto Audio Labs for every decent studio ! A box that you insert between your microphone and your preamp to adjust impedance ! just like that. I think it's an excellent idea for all of us because it will drastically change sound (for the better). It was dramatically needed to face every recording session configuration. Very nice. Just one clue... no price ?

Drumaggog update

Drumaggog is the best drum trigger tool ever. Period. I tested it a few times in the past in different studios. Their recent update makes me think it's gonna lead the way for a little time around. The new cool features include auto align for sample accurate triggering and auto hi-hats tracking which seems pretty cool too. I can't wait to see this in action !

LM2 @ TC Electronics

TC Electronics is one of the pionneer in loudness measurement. This new stereo tool should fit a lot of needs. It is widely inspired from the LM5 (in the M6000) but in stereo mode. Interface is easy and indications are clear. 1500 $ or so would be nice for the box ? here what they say : "With LM2, you get a full-featured stereo loudness and true-peak level meter which is perfect not only for post, film and live production, but also for broadcast ingest, linking and transmission.

When you need to comply with broadcast standards, the numbers are paramount, and on LM2’s front panel, you can check the all-important digits instantly. For even more loudness details, simply connect LM2 to a PC or Mac via USB and you get full, realtime Radar screen picture using the included Icon application.".

VisLM Loudness Meter @ Nugen Audio

A direct concurrent of the LM2. It is a plugin that measures the loudness. From mono to 5.1 for broadcast to mastering application, it seems to be very complete and precise. You can download a demo wich I did. It works pretty well. Price is quite small for that type of plugin...449$. it worth to try.

Pro Tools HD Native @ Avid

A new interface, a HD native one ? what's that thing ? Protools HD native ? OK in fact it's the PTHD software used with a native (ie RTAS plugins) card and no TDM support... well... here is what Avid says about it : "Create complex, high-quality audio productions using the full capabilities of Pro Tools HD software in a lower-cost native solution. For music and post-production professionals who want the absolute best performance possible on the host, Pro Tools|HD Native is a new generation of PCIe-based Pro Tools core system that harnesses the power of your computer to deliver the lowest latency and highest stability of any native system.

Easily compose, record, edit, and mix music or sound for picture with great speed and reliability. And with guaranteed high track counts, plus groundbreaking low latency, you can tackle bigger productions more confidently than ever before with a native workstation."

Sound Design

Sonic Laboratory @ Precision sound

Specially designed for sound designers and ambient music composers, Sonic Laboratory has been released this month by Sonic Couture. As usual, the sounds are very good and precise. I love the audio demos. Here what they say about it "Sonic Laboratory is an imaginative toolkit of 500 sound effects, from brutal hits to evolving soundscapes, atonal clusters to retro electronica.
Audio designer Iain Morland took some of the strangest plucks, scrapes, thumps and noises from Precisionsound’s huge library of sampled acoustic instruments, then subjected them to bizarre processing to create evocative textures and effects that you won’t hear anywhere else."

Q @ Vir2 instruments

A nice ambiantic, cinematic library for sound design... seems pretty tasty. Just watch the video demos.

Live stage & Ipad applications

Interactive Leotard for dancers @ Eowave

From Eowave website : "This leotard (justaucorps) has been designed for dancers who use sensors systems. It enables to plug at least 16 sensors at specific part of the body (chest, shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, spine, knees, ankles. A net of gutters enables to insert the sensors tiny cables and avoid any tension that would pull on the cables. The dancer won't feel the cables running on the leotard and will appreciate the sensation of freedom. The Eobody2HF emitter if placed in a pocket on the back of the dancer at his waist level. The result is a very versatile leotard that leaves freedom to the dancer. The first prototype of this leotard has been designed for the seminar on the integration of sensors into choregraphy and composition at the Abbaye de Royaumont, in August 2010 (Myriam Gourfink Cycle Transforme, se prolonger) and tested by professionnal dancers."

Filtraton @ Moog

The most famous analog effects builder now on Iphone ! Moog just released an all new Iphone app named Filtraton. "The Filtatron is much more than your average sound app. It’s a phenomenal real-time audio effects suite and powerful studio tool for your iPhone or iPod Touch. The heart of the the filtatron is the Moog Ladder Filter; digitally modeled to approximate the warmth and character of our famous analog hardware. Warp samples, live audio or the built in oscillator, then sweeten with overdrive and delay. Record your creations anywhere, save your presets, and share them with your entourage.
Life’s a rough mix...Filter it."

StepPolyArp by Laurent Colson

Can be useful for live music creation in complement of Ableton Live for instance, nicely done... From the author site "StepPolyArp is a midi step polyphonic arpeggiator. The arpeggiator does not play any sound itself, it transmits midi notes to a Mac or a PC to be used in combination with any sequencer, virtual instrument (VSTi, Audio Unit) or midi synthesizer.
The arpeggiator can transform chords into sequences of notes played one after the other in several ways. A matrix polyphonic step modulate arpeggiated notes in time and pitch. The main controllers (velocity, modulation, panning, volume, aftertouch, and pitch bend) are also programmable through a step editor. The integrated keyboard automatically adapts to the selected musical scale."

Kyma Control for iPad @ Symbolic sound

From the author's site : " The Swiss Army Knife of Kyma Controllers
Symbolic Sound's Kyma Control for the iPad gives sound designers, musicians, and researchers a wireless multi-touch controller for the Kyma/Paca(rana) sound design workstation."

Free stuff of the month

Free samples @ see you in sleep

Discovered via Dave who post me a link, "see you in sleep" made some very weird and nice free samples available for download on Brian Green's site. I particularly like the free "Processed modular samples" & the "Accordion drone samples" which are completely sounding and certainly very useful for sound design scenes.

Steve Reich remix contest @ Indaba Music

Indaba Music recently announced a great remix contest, hurry up ! submissions are accepted until november 10th and you can remix Steve Reich third movement of the Grammy Award and Pulitzer Award winning composer's piece "2x5" ! Pretty nice don't you think ? see the details.

Free samples @ Producer loops

Just discovered yesterday producerloops.com and their huge free loops collection.

Here.

Minispillage @ Audio Damage

A nice free electronic drumkit updated this month..."MiniSpillage is a free professional quality drum synthesizer plugin featuring a high resolution 64-bit DSP audio engine and a custom set of drum synthesis algorithms. MiniSpillage offers a compact subset of the many features available in the DrumSpillage drum synth plugin."

Sick @ Tonehammer

For Halloween, Tonehammer released a free cinematic virtual instrument ! Yes, they did... It's nice and useful ! Thank you guys !

Download here !

Free Kontakt libraries @ Sound dust

via Sonicstate

I discovered today the Sound dust website and his free soundbanks. Not yet extensively tested but it works pretty well. (I liked the fireworks bank). You can download for free fireworks and mouse/mice organ.

Trash DI @ Sample oddity

A free powerchord & single notes (with articulations) guitar library for Kontakt. Released by Sample oddity, you will need an extra amp simulator too (really) explore the beast capabilities because it just does not come with it. That said audio demos are good & this is what the developper says about this virtual instrument : "Thrash DI (Direct Input) puts the sound of an un-amped guitar at your fingertips. Metal purists will ask: “What good is a guitar with no amplification? Is it some kind of grandpa’s guitar?” They are, of course, right to ask this. Through whatever means you are comfortable with, amplify this instrument. Distort it, give it some gain, scoop the signal, and blast the sound. You will need an amp sim to get the most out of Thrash DI. If you don’t have one, check out Thrash, the pre-amped version of this guitar for Kontakt."

Free dirty South loops @ Diginoiz

Suscribe to the site and download 100 free loops and construction kits in West Coast, Dirty South style.

Here

Max Magic Microtuner & Vogue MK2 @ 16tone

Max Magic Microtuner is a musical scale and tuning editor/librarian for Mac OS X: it allows you to edit and play microtonal scales and it is compatible with synthesizers supporting the MIDI Tuning Standard and other formats, including Max/MSP.

Vogue MK2 is a free standalone microtonal synthesizer fully compatible with Max Magic Microtuner.

You will need Jack or Max/MSP to use it in your DAW.

Z-Room @ DUY

From the author site :"DUY's Z-Room reverb plug-in, has become a FREE product. You are welcome to download it and use it at leisure. Enjoy!"

Download Z-Room FREE now

Free beats from MachineKits @ Pure Magnetics

MachineKits brings together six classic drum machines, over 2000 high quality samples, and a huge selection of clips. MachineKits is a perfect add-on to Ableton's drum machines, programmed by the same sound designers. Please enjoy this freely available selection of audio loops from MachineKits
MachineKits will be available in Fall 2010

Free electro house beats @ Loopbased

15 Free Electro House Beats, available as full drum loop and as no-kick loop. Can be used royalty-free in non- and commercial productions. More loops & sounds at http://www.loopbased.com