Making Music: 2009-11-29

2009-12-07

Instrument: XT Software - XT ReWire VST

XT Software unveils XT ReWire VST, a virtual instrument for VST compatible hosts. Works with both Windows and Mac.

Specs and Features:

Playback and record instruments and devices from Propellerheads Reason or Ableton Live directly in energyXT.
Add/record multi-track audio functionality to your Reason projects and render to wav/aif/mp3
Add ReWire master-functionality to host applications lacking this feature.
Windows/Mac OS X compatible
1 stereo and 6 mono audio channels
Up to 128 MIDI mappings from energyXT to Reason
Option to sync playback on/off

Price: €19

"allows you to record audio from other host applications directly into energyXT" XT Software

Plugin: Cochleor - Harmony Improvisator

Related: effect, mac, Music and Audio, pc, plugin

Cochleor launches Harmony Improvisator, an advanced harmonic composition tool for both Windows and Mac.

Features:
Perfect harmonic improvisation
Composing with the rules of classical harmonic theory - no professional knowledge required
Complex cadences suitable for all styles of music
Unique concept of harmonic pattern sequencing
Automatic calculation of exciting harmonic suggestions
Critical time advantage for creating harmonic frames of songs, soundtracks, and arrangements.

Price: 99 Euro

Find other effects here.

"It opens up the manyfold worlds of harmonic theory by making centuries-old knowledge uniquely transparent" Cochleor

2009-12-06

Weekly Software Wrapup 11/29 - 12/06 (8)

Here you have this weeks music software posts:

2009-12-03

Related: instrument, pc, synthesizer

Homegrown Sounds unveils HG Electric Sitar, a a multisampled Sitar Instrument for Windows.

Features:
Dual Sitar Layers - There are 7 different sample sets, each has a unique sample per note
Filter - Cascadable up to 8 times and includes Low Passes, Hi Passes, Band Passes, Comb, Low Shelf, Hi Shelf and Peak.
2 ADSR Envelopes - Simple Envelopes. Envelope 2 can either be used to control Sitar 2 volume or used to shape the Filter Cutoff Frequency.
Drive - Auto Volume Distortion
Arpeggiator - With many modes include classic Arp modes.
Microtuner - Microtuner uses most standard Scala files of any size for custom tunings
SoundScaper - Comb / Delay / Reverb Reverb for creating interesting soundscapes.
Flanger/Filter - Switchable between Flanger and Filter effect, LFO has over 300 predefined shapes with smooth control as well as standard shapes.
Stereo BPM based Delay - Synced delay.
FX Routing - 3 different Paths available.
Drift - Adds a random pitch detune with each note played.
Stereo Spread - Allows setting a random value to the Pan of each voice.
Recorder - Allows recording directly to disk at 16/24/32 bits. Wavs are auto-named by date and location is set via a config file.
Limiter - Output is limited to prevent clipping.
Default - Sets Sitar to default settings
Randomize - Randomizes all settings. There are also local randomizers in each section.

Price: £18.00

Find more instruments here.

"There are 7 different sample sets, each containing at least 4 octaves of samples, one for each note" Homegrown Sounds

Synthesizer: KV331 Audio - SynthMaster 2.0

Related: Electronic, instrument, music, Oscillation, pc, synth, synthesizer

KV331 Audio unveils SynthMaster 2.0, a semi-modular software synth for Windows.

Some new changes and features:
Layers: In SynthMaster 2.0, every voice consists of 2 layers.
"Analog" filters: SynthMaster now sounds warmer with the addition of "analog" LP/HP/BP/BS filters.
"Wavetable/Wavescanning" oscillators.
Flexible Modulation Options.
Rich Wavetable Content.
Rich Preset Content.
Preset Browser: With the addition of a preset browser users can now easily find the sound they're looking for by filtering through preset category, music style or preset author.
Skin Editor.

Price: introductory price of $59.

Find more synths here.

"We hope SynthMaster 2.0 really becomes a useful tool for every musician on the planet" KV331 Audio

2009-12-02

Audio Editor: Audacity v1.3.10 Beta / Pc / Mac / Linux / Free

Audacity version 1.3.10 Beta is now available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.

Changes:
Imports/Exports bug fixes:
Freeze importing audio files in Pitch (EAC) view
Corrupted WAV or AIFF imports and WMA exports
Metadata Editor appeared before the Export window
Effects bug fixes:
Crash/hang using Equalization; errors in Reverse and Truncate Silence
Nyquist: Excessive memory consumption; errors in European locales; inaccurate text box values
VST effects remained in menu when no longer available
Other bug fixes:
Spurious "not writable/disk full" errors when saving projects
Desynchronized playback/data loss when using multiple tracks
Crash opening Preferences when no valid devices present
(Windows) Audacity sometimes did not come up on top at launch
(Linux) Crash when undoing or redoing label edits
Improvements:
Improved copying/pasting of label-with-audio and system clipboard text
Contrast Tool now modeless, intuitive handling of multiple project windows, various other improvements

Find more info about Audacity here.

"Audacity is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds" Audacity

2009-12-01

Synthesizer: Loomer - String

Related: instruments, mac, pc, synth, synthesizer

Loomer unveils String, a virtual instrument for both PC and Mac, that emulates the sound of a polyphonic string synth. Looks awesome!

Features:

Divide-Down oscillators

Dual Layer

Five Voicing Modes

Five Filter Types

Flexible Routing

Effects

Full MIDI Learn

Find more synths here.

"String's authentic tone comes from its accurate emulation of the divide-down oscillator technology behind the lush ensemble synths of the 70s" Loomer

Instrument: The Lower Rhythm - BD2 / Pc / Free

The Lower Rhythm launches BD2, a FREE kick designer plugin for Windows, based on their D15/2 virtual analog drum machine's BD channel. It features two kick voices, a bit crusher and two output channels.

Find other instruments here.

The Lower Rhythm