News - March 2008

Now in its twelfth year, the Ernie Ball/Music Man Battle of the Bands competition is back and better than ever.

Courses will be offered in rock, blues, jazz, country, classical, music technology, songwriting, and guitar exploration.

The "Love Buzz" pedal is a distortion which simulates the sound of a tube amplifier.

Built on VRSonic's SoundScape3DTM technology, VibeStudio Designer 1 gives sound designers the ability to render real time audio environments in a way that is both more intuitive and more powerful than ever before.

Inspiration Sounds — Electro Grime features Dirty Electro House style drums, basslines and effects while Dobro serves up exclusive Country licks and slides from country legend Bob Dixon.

FRS Series amplifiers combine Mackie's legendary Fast Recovery™ circuitry with a modern switching power supply for exceptional sound and performance in portable applications.

Delivering more sound per pound than any other mixer in its class, the PPM series brings maximum volume -with no distortion- in a light-weight, built-like-a-tank box.

Based on the legendary early 70's Graphic amp often referred to as the "Pics Only", the OR50 will have a Plexi-Glass front panel, single channel and feature our unique Patent applied eight section output transformers

Designed for the needs of today's musicians, DJs and producers, Mackie U.Series provides flexible connections and an intuitive, centralized user interface to ease workflow and maximize creativity.

The O 810 and O 870 can be used in music, broadcast, and post production studios for tracking, mixing, and mastering.

Dean Guitars has introduced a new series of Trivium signature models for artists Matt Heafy and Corey Beaulieu.

A complete, ready-to-go collection that will sit perfectly in any mix demanding pure and ambient acoustic drums.

CME releases Windows Vista-compatible drivers for Matrix K and Xcorpio Audio Interface and UF400e Expansion card.

Powering the SD7 is DiGiCo's latest in high density digital processing, the all-new Stealth® mixing and routing engine exclusive to DiGiCo.

The RP500 packs professional effects into a box that is not only easy to use but gives the player extended control over their tones like expensive switching systems used by the pros.

Three very unique models of the Slash signature Les Paul guitar from Gibson Custom, Gibson USA and Epiphone will be released simultaneously around the world at 5 PM US EST at select dealers and will not be reproduced once they're sold out.

This rare and limited Pickup is Carlos Juan's heartfelt tribute to the world's oldest and most popular acoustic guitar brand — Martin Guitar

The Debutante line is designed to meet the needs of the budget conscious girl seeking the trademark lightweight, thin neck design for which Daisy Rock has earned so much acclaim.

LoopWorx makes it possible even for users new to computer and digital music production to create professional sounding songs within minutes.

The Sonart Audio Subscription is a 37.8 GB 24-bit Sample library in nine different formats.

The Swineshead Eclipse 8-string pickup has been designed to provide a clean, expressive and even tone, while the Apex 8-string provides a powerful tone that is perfect for rock and metal players.

When used in conjunction with digital workstations, digital Solution-D microphone technology makes life easier for users.

Shine, Joni Mitchell's seventeenth studio album, is her first album of all-new material since 1998's Taming the Tiger.

The Guitar Collector Showcase features hand-crafted, solid wood cabinetry, that safely and elegantly displays your priceless instruments while keeping them accessible.

Loaded with top quality effects from TC's renowned G-System, Nova System is the ideal all-in-one solution for any guitarist who wants setup simplicity without sacrificing tonal fidelity.

Both the Handcrafted and standard Tribute models feature neck through construction, alder bodies, ebony fretboards and a single Dimarzio® X2N pickup to reproduce the same tones that was easily identifiable as "Chuck's" tone.

Garage Breaks Construction Kits is packed with heavy pounding guitars, buzzcut basses, and the sharpest, most crunchy and funky drum breaks you've heard this millennium.

The Acxel II is based on the original Acxel legacy from the early 90's, and utilizes a revolutionary dynamic architecture parallel processor — patented by Idarca — the RPP.

Recorded in a concert hall with microphones from stage to balcony, Action Drums: Taiko Edition captures the energy resonating from every strike, boom and cinematic blow.

Gator offers several styles of panels from perforated, vented, security, flanged, flat, fan panels and more, all made with 16 gauge cold rolled steel.

These high-quality bags, designed for entry level players to professionals, are loaded with features for any musician's traveling needs.

The RH10MS's S-Logic™ 3-Dimensional Natural Surround delivers a new standard in digital surround that sends sounds around the listener's head, not just into it.

Yamaha announces its rollout of six upgraded MG Series analog mixers, adding to the four models introduced earlier this year.

The new 88-note weighted action P85 Digital Piano, combines a realistic acoustic piano experience with the convenience of today's music technology.

The Richmond Belmont and Dorchester models exemplify serious tone for players looking for a vintage vibe backed by meticulous craftsmanship, innovation and modern playability.

The panel, which includes prominent record industry executives, artists, journalists, and managers, will focus on one of the key components of the service-based music business model: digital music licensing.

The Boost's features separate Bass, Treble, volume controls and Flat/Low cut switch that reduces the bass response by about -6db when engaged.

The Pianoforte Sample Library features a piano built in 1848 by Johann Karl Traugott Berndt in Breslau, with a special and unique sound far away from any usual lifeless modern piano sound.

New Sound Sets from Samplebase.com; "Scat-style Vocals", "Microbeats", "India Percussion", and "Amazing Grace" are now ready for Download

Instead of each LED lamp being a single color, the new tri-color technology makes it possible for each lens to contain a combination of three 1-watt LEDs — red, green and blue.

Featuring a number of realistically modeled amps, cabinets and stomp boxes, GTR Solo offers the GTR family's studio-quality sounds in an intuitive, highly affordable software package.

A combination of the 5040A and five 6010As can create a dynamic and detailed soundstage like no other loudspeaker system of the same size category.

In addition to the cardioid directivity, the Phanthera V Microphone is also capable of recording in omni or bidirectional mode with a simple switch and thus adapting it to different recording situations

iDrum turns a Mac or PC into a powerful, simple-to-use virtual drum machine.

The BonzoPak Drum Sound Library is a meticulously recorded Ludwig Maple kit with head selection and tuning based on the habits of John Bonham.

Ideal for remote broadcast applications, these custom panel products can be rear illuminated for instant identification, proving to be the perfect solution for use in low-light broadcast truck interfaces.

Smooth Operators I & II Soundbanks include sounds suitable for Electronica-IDM, Lounge, Jazz, Rock-Pop, Mainstream, Downtempo, Film Scoring, Songwriting, Chill-out, Ambient, and World Music.

The EtherCon CAT6 series offers a rugged patch cable solution, which includes a metal housing for RJ45 cable connectors that protect them against mechanical load.

The Ultimate American Songbook featuring standards from award-winning artist Tony Bennett is arranged Piano/Vocal/Chords.

FL Studio 8 opens a new chapter in DAW flexibility with the addition of FL SynthMaker, a FL Studio native version of the popular plugin development application SynthMaker.

Blue Cat's Remote Control 2.0, is a set of VST and DirectX plugins for Windows which let you control and monitor in real time several MIDI controllable plug-ins or hardware devices from a single customizable user interface.

The drums were hand selected from 300 original Vintage USA Jasper shells recently found in an amazing discovery at the Gretsch factory in Ridgeland, South Carolina.

When you sign up for the two day class, you are purchasing and building, a custom hand-wired Marshall JCM800 (2203) "style"amplifier kit.

The Valcoder was designed to replicate the square wave tremolo sound that was available from the old Valco-designed amps of the 1960s.

The M80X5i-P is a two-way, high efficiency, ultra compact line array system designed for the most natural sounding reproduction of speech and music program material.

The Dobro Sample Pack features 515MB of Dobro licks and slides performed exclusively by internationally renowned country legend, Bob Dixon

The RPA (Ritchie's Pre Amp) emulates Ritchies AIWA reel-to-reel tape recorder preamp stage plus the high-pass treble booster function from Blackmore's hot-rodded Marshal Major amp.

The twin transmitter is expanding Sennheiser's most successful monitoring system, guaranteeing a much greater range for wireless monitoring, along with huge flexibility.

The CDR-882 is designed from the ground up for high-end performance in a range of professional music recording and digital media applications.

AWE customers can utilize this encoder to Dolby Digital encode a single or thousands of files off-line by simply dropping them into AWE's special "Hot Folder".

The EM 3732 offers automatic scanning functionality, choice of five frequency ranges, transmitter synchronization via infrared interface, flexible analogue and digital connection options.

These latest versions add a new Key Select Option for practicing fretboard positions of notes that belong in a particular key.

The SH90 is a single coil pickup in a humbucker housing which opens up a range of unique and previously unavailable tones.

An ultra-bright indoor chasing effect, the Mega Pixel LED is a long, thin color bar with 384 red, green and blue LEDs that produce eye-popping moving patterns and chases.

From now on, all SonicCell users can enjoy the same superb quality, sonic innovations and expressive playability of the sounds that so many Fantom-S, Fantom-X and Juno-G users love and appreciate.

Korg has recently created 512 additional Programs for the M3 Workstations which are now available as a free download from Korg's website.

This major upgrade gives SignalSuite new features similar to those found in the recently released SignalScope Pro.

Recording King introduces new metal body resonators guitars with a champagne matte finish option for a look reminiscent of American bronze antiques.

Built around a balanced, floating input and output via Triad Magnetics iron, the Komit is designed for ease of use because makeup gain is automatic via a Compression control.

Disc Makers kicks off its 2008 "Green" initiative with a special eco-friendly packaging offer to musicians of 1,000 CDs in eco-wallets for just $990.

With Ribbecke's characteristic sustain and energy storage in the top as well as enhanced dimensional acoustics this is the Steel String guitar for the discriminating player!

The new ZED-24 stereo mixer provides 23 independent sources to the mix, 10 independent outputs, 4 aux sends (2 pre and 2 post fade), a USB send and return (for PC or Mac recording, playback and effects), a unique dual stereo input capability, and advanced monitoring facilities.

AmpliTube 2 DUO, a special version of AmpliTube 2, the multi-award-winning guitar amp and effects software, will automatically install with all new copies of PROGRESSION guitar composition software.

The PEQ2 is a high performance digital equalization algorithm that simulates the sound and feel of the extremely rare program equalizers of the mid 1990s.

Sounds And Effects announces that digital downloads are now available for the following four Kontakt titles: Synths of the 1970s; The New World; The Wizard II; and Electrified Guitars.

This year the Rackpack is extended with six new modules, so that studio and live engineers can choose from a wide variety of processors to configure individual rackpacks.

ChordMate 1.2 for Mac OS X features diagrams for left-handed guitarists, capo, and alternate tunings.

Modular Dreams is a collection of 200 high-quality presets for your Arturia Moog Modular V.

This stunning solid-body electric features a Honduran Mahogany body with quilted Maple top and matching pickguard, flamed Maple neck and Lacewood headstock.

In order to commemorate this first 25th anniversary for Clavia, we have created a Anniversary Model Limited Edition, of the Nord Lead synthesizer. This collectible model will be made in a limited production run that will consist of only 299 units.

Precisionsound has sampled the "Ace Tone" ACE 3000, one of the last organs before "Ace Tone" became the "Roland Corporation", in full range with 4 samples per octave.

Neutrik's enhanced 32 Amp PowerCon is a locking 3-conductor AC connector system with contacts for line, neutral and pre-mating ground.

The KRM Rhythm Guitar Poster is a beautiful 24" x 36" glossy poster featuring artwork, chord charts and tablature examples to develop rhythm guitar techniques in a variety of styles.

Analog AutoRhythyms Vol 1 is a collection of 8 vintage analog drum machines.

JamLoop announced today the beta launch of its search engine for finding new and used musical instruments and equipment.

Register today to get hands-on experience guided by top mixers Ryan West And Bassy Bob Brockman using premium state of the art digital as well as vintage analog gear.

Drapester™ guitar covers provide stylish, easy-to-use protection from dust and direct sunlight for guitars on guitar stands.

The AXL AA-KB-120 Keyboard Amp has excellent input options, a hi-frequency tweeter and a vintage maroon tolex cabinet that gives the impression it comes from another decade.

Spider III amplifiers have been awarded "Amp Line of the Year" based on votes from over 8,500 dealers and retailers.

The Setneck HB will come standard with Seymour Duncan pickups in humbucker or P90 configurations, mahogany body with figured maple top, Tone Pros bridge, Kluson Keystone tuners, and there specially designed hollow cavity to improve on the resonance and sustain.

Premier Beats & HipHop Nstrumentals is a double DVD with over five thousand MPC style breaks, loops and vinylstyle samples in 4 formats; WAV, REX2, APPLE LOOPS & REFILL.

This sample set for Hauptwerk brings the sound of a large romatic cathedral organ to your studio or home, with more than sixty individual stops and combinations.

The Mercury Elite-AL Pro FireWire+USB 2.0 Combo storage drives feature the latest Oxford 934 performance chipset, two FireWire 400 1394A 6 Pin, and one USB 2.0 port.

The 6416m Mic Input Module delivers 16 state-of-the-art mic-level inputs to a Pro64 audio networ and can be remote controlled by adding the RCI Remote Control Interface and MCS Mic Control Surface.

A belt-driven turntable, the TT Record converts old 33 and 45 RPM records into digital MP3 files and records them directly onto an SD card or USB memory stick.

The small, dedicated group of professional engineers introduced in 1948 has grown to over 14,000 members and 169 sections in 48 countries worldwide.

www.motionsamples.com offers downloadable sample libraries in various urban and electronic genres and also features an online sampler/mixer to demo products.

The new BH100H "Hothead" from Blackheart Engineering takes the basic plug-and-play attitude of a world-class, 100-watt workhorse head, then shoves in enough jaw-dropping features to make it the most flexible amp in its class.

Resplendent in the classic SVT attire — including the silver face, black tolex, chrome corners and silver-blue grille cloth — the Ampeg SVT Micro Head & SVT-210AV loudspeaker enclosure are no mere playthings.

The JM-4 Looper Pedal combines a complete palette of vivid guitar sounds and explosive jam tracks performed by world-class studio musicians.

The new version is AudioUnit compatible on both the PPC and Intel Macs, doubles its internal voices, incorporates full MIDI control, supports all project sample rates and processes in true stereo.

New editing and wireless remote control capabilities have arrived for users of Apple Computer's GarageBand 4 software, thanks to two new plug-ins released by Frontier Design Group.

Version 4.10 for UAD includes 14-day fully functional demos of both the new VCA VU Compressor (a faithful emulation of the classic discrete dbx 160 VU compressor) and new Precision Enhancer kHz; a UA-developed multi-mode Enhancer using unique equalization and dynamic expansion technology.

Designed to help keyboard players and songwriters to bridge the gap between writing, recording and performing, each ProKeys Sono portable digital piano delivers premium on-board sounds, exceptional semi-weighted action and a built-in audio interface.

The Fast Track Ultra 8R interface features high-speed USB 2.0 connectivity, MX Core DSP mixer, and eight preamps with award-winning Octane™ technology.

The "RnB Keyz Chopz" library includes a wide array of professional keys, chords, and riffs for today's serious R&B music producer.

The English Harpsichord library presents an instrument built by Jacob Kirckman in 1766.

The UDP-89 delivers the ultimate in digital video quality via its HDCP-compliant HDMI output and superb analogue picture quality courtesy of six 14-bit 165MHz video DACs.

The new Hot Sticks patterns, which are available in Hot Sticks' 3S, 2B, 5B, 5A, 7A and ROCK models and a choice of wood or nylon tips, are Tigerdelic, Widowmaker and Union Jack.

The Steel String King is made from the choice of a Western Red Cedar Top, Spruce or Curly Maple with multi-laminate exotic wood neck through body with the center totally removed.

AV2000 HD/SDI is compatible with high definition as well as serial digital interface signals, and is deal for multimedia and audio/video projects such as mobile broadcasting, post production as well as a wide range of other integrated broadcast applications.

An updated version 1.1 of Voxengo VariSaturator — a saturation and loudness maximization plug-in — is available for download.

TRAKTOR SCRATCH 1.2 further enhances the acclaimed performance capabilities of TRAKTOR SCRATCH with optimized vinyl tracking, improved real-time looping and effect capabilities, extended iTunes integration and more.

The exclusive Kirk Hammett stack includes a 4 x 12" cabinet, 100W power-tube head and signature MTS modules to enable musicians everywhere to attain Kirk's legendary tones.

Emulator X3 features E-MU's Xstream™ streaming sound engine with up to 192kHz sampling and playback, an arsenal of automated sampling/beat analysis/editing tools and almost unlimited sound manipulation that builds on E-MU's 35 years of synthesis experience.

William 'Harley' Cataldo and Flavio 'Muscle' Romaniello, aka Harley and Muscle, are synonymous with quality late night grooves with a succession of sultry singles released on the most important and appreciated labels the world over.

Guitar Tattoos™ are made in the United States from an adhesive-free, high-quality cling vinyl, and are easy to apply, remove and reuse.

The Kelstone is a new, multi expressive and multi functional string based instrument that offers any player a wide variety of possible techniques sounds.

The Horizon 414-LCR-X-A offers consumers a very powerful, compact speaker perfectly suited for listening in small theater settings where audiophile-quality sound is still paramount.

Hosa is now stocking Lizard Spit Cymbal Polish as well as Slick Nutz, an advanced graphite lubricant designed for all string instruments.

BDM is a plugin instrument designed for the musicians who love chaos and usually find the unpredictable behaviour of an uncontrollable sound machine stimulating and inspiring.

Drum Werks XII features over 675 samples, including traditional 12/8 blues grooves, half-time shuffles, rock shuffles, up-tempo boogies and more.

The new Blue Book of Guitars on CD-ROM, 11th Edition, combines both acoustic and electric books into one convenient disc.

The new version of Elastique offers many audio quality enhancements, including better transient preservation, increased bass resolution and improved high tonal frequency processing.

Funked Up ACID Loops and Apple Loops editions have been completely re-formatted the series into ACIDized Wave files for ACID Pro and Apple Loops for Garageband, Logic, Final Cut Pro and Soundtrack.

The Black Hole SE is cardioid condenser microphone with one large, true electrostatic capsule inside the compact head made by new golden drops technology.

Abstraction 02 focuses on edgy electronic loop adders, glitched-out synthetic drum phrases, abstract rhythmic freak-outs, deep and techy percussion hits, fresh momentum builders, and peak-hour floor-filling groove elements.

These Middle Eastern string arrangements were performed by top Turkish session players and recorded in one of Istanbul's finest studios.

The VL 62 full range cabinet (150W RMS & 122 dB max SPL) features a neodymium 6.5" woofer and a 1" compression driver mounted to a CAD-optimized 90x40 rotateable horn.

M-Clock Plus supports clock rates from 44.1kHz to 192kHz and additionally incorporates dual sample rate converters, allowing material to be re-sampled and synchronized to the selected high-precision clock.

DK-Technologies' new MSD100C Loudness is a stand-alone unit that incorporates ITU Recommendations BS.1770 and BS.1771, which specify the algorithms that should be used to measure audio programme loudness.

The P20 recreates the signature sound of the Roland MKS-20 electric piano used in the '80s.

The album-matching folio to Seether's Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces is now available in authentic guitar TAB.

Groove Monkee Fusion contains over 900 royalty free beats for modern Fusion music formatted for Addictive Drums, BFD, BFD2, DFHS, EZdrummer, EZdrummer Nashville, GM, Reason and Session Drummer 1 and 2.

The 18 K Gold Metal Bodied Guitar is a celebration of noise, cars, and rock and roll.

This feature rich product is the next generation in a line of clocks from the company who have rapidly become the favourite brand among some of the worlds best mix and mastering engineers.

Now available in the original and original extended formats (the latter plugging into instruments with recessed jack plates), as well as a new stomp box version, the sound modifiers are made by hand in the U.S..

Ideally suited for professional commercial installations and music industry applications, this marks the first time that Furman's Merit Series will be available to customers in 220V-240V countries.

The new sound packs offer a wide selection of inspiring, production-ready sound material for various musical applications and styles, ranging from state-of-the-art synthesizer sounds to highly authentic horns and versatile acoustic drums.

Nine Bugera products are now available, including four 120-Watt heads, four 120-Watt combos and an amazing 4 x 12" cabinet.

KORE PLAYER is a free software instrument that adds full "ready-to-play" capabilities to the recently established line of KORE SOUNDPACK libraries.

Ernie Ball's coated titanium Slinky Acoustic sets are stronger and longer-lasting than traditional coated and uncoated strings .

For electric or acoustic, this video gives you all you need to survive in the world of guitar!

The MultiInspector version 2.2 spectrum analyzer features enhancements for detecting conflicting frequencies in a mix.

StudioLive seamlessly integrates a powerful and easy-to-use digital mixer with a complete multi-channel recording system.

The BSM RG "Rory Gallagher" tribute model is based on the BSM HS-C Custom model, modified to nail Rory Gallaghers signature tone.

Proto Rock Version 1.3 — "Radias Rock", now adds "thirty two" new programs designed for the M3 Radias expansion board.

The new, thoroughly tested VST/VSTi management device is an addition to the growing Wusik collection of peripherals designed to make VST effects and instruments more user friendly.

The Deux Firewire Audio Interface supports up to 24bit/96KHz sample rates and 2-in/4out full balanced audio I/O for professional usage.

Designed as a dedicated environment for VST-type audio processing plug-ins, the server facilitates seamless integration with the company's mc2 series third generation consoles while providing greater flexibility in the use and routing of processed signals.

the Emerald Sensor is designed specifically for that "Texas tone" and the Purple Sensor is designed to fill in gap between the Lace Sensor?? Blue and the Burgundy Sensor.

NuGen Audio has updated Monofilter, Stereoizer and Stereoplacer (also available collectively as the Stereo Pack bundle) and their freeware utility line-up.

The inclusion of Cubase software enhances the RP350's already superb capabilities; Via the RP350's USB connection, guitars can be recorded directly to PC or Mac, then captured and edited using Cubase LE4's 48-track DAW.

With eight hardware faders plus an integrated hard drive, DVD-RAM, and CompactFlash® memory card slot, the Deva 16 is a complete, one-package solution for audio recording, mixing, and effects.

The Interactive XMF File Format Specification (iXMF), will allow game developers to more easily create cross-platform titles and make it easier for audio professionals to develop interactive content.

Boasting the revolutionary Endless Jam&Trade; engine, Spider Jam features over 100 loops and drum grooves expertly recorded and impeccably performed by the A-list of Nashville and L.A. session aces.

The SH-201 patch downloads, entitled Bass Collection and Pads & Atmospheres, recreate some of the best-loved synthesizer sounds from the past 25 years.

The new functionality includes mix/edit/transport window view, write and latch automation as well as overall improved performance.

Targeted squarely at Outside Broadcast vehicles, production studios and Master Control Rooms, the DK PT0760 is effectively four HD/SD waveform monitors in one box.

One Cell in the Sea features the fan favorite "Almost Lover," while other tracks have been featured on such hit shows as "One Tree Hill," "Big Shots," and "The Hills."

The Vienna Symphonic Library announces the release of seven Extended Libraries complementing its already existing Vienna Special Edition download products.

Solstice Spider Edition represents the perfect balance of performance and price empowering musicians to easily pile on the tracks, virtual instruments and plug-ins.

This VST and DirectX plugin for Windows provides very flexible and customizable audio meters as well as advanced side chaining control capabilities thanks to its MIDI and automation output.

Alfred introduces a new album-matching folio from the famed alternative metal band Finger Eleven: Them vs. You vs. Me.

The Redpepper is a single ended class A amplifier that can use a variety of output tubes and is self biasing.

Advanced True High Definition Reverberation Impulses (Mac/PC) for producers composers and musicians designed specifically for individual musical instruments that can change the overall timbre of a track.