LEGENDARY PRODUCTION TEAM BOMB SQUAD PREPARES FOR UPCOMING PROJECT & WORLD TOUR - DEBUT AT WINTER MUSIC CONFERENCE SATURDAY MARCH 29
“In their dub mixes, the bomb squad invent sampladelic electronics at the heart of hiphop that turns up the volume of the world.” - Boomnoise, Dubstep Forum
“The Bomb Squad–the Hank Shocklee-led production team responsible for Public Enemy‘s dystopian sound (is) arguably one of dubstep‘s precursors, in vibe if not in exact ancestral lineage.” - Time Out New York
“I’m well excited to hear what bomb squad have got in store…bomb squad sounds is the most exciting prospect I’ve heard for a long time.” - Thomas E. Griffin, Dubstep Forum
For the first time in their legendary 20+ year career, production team the BOMB SQUAD (Hank Shocklee & Keith Shocklee) are preparing to perform live in concert in anticipation of their upcoming debut project & world tour.
The BOMB SQUAD and their trademark multi-layered, innovative sonic masterpieces have been at the forefront of electronic music production techniques and they have been heralded as one of the most influential production teams in contemporary music history.
The force behind Public Enemy and some of most significant albums of all time, including It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back and also Ice Cube‘s AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted, albums which regularly rank as two of the greatest and influential recordings of all time in various publications such as Rolling Stone and Spin, the BOMB SQUAD is also credited with creating seminal recordings for a variety of other highly regarded artists such as Madonna, Janet Jackson, Slick Rick, Bell Biv Devoe, LL Cool J, & Run DMC.
After many successful years in the studio, the BOMB SQUAD is now gearing up for their debut solo album this time with Hank Shocklee and Keith Shocklee serving as the front men for an album that will feature a combination of futuristic live electronics, visuals and vocals. Hank Shocklee describes this new venture by saying, “I want to be a hybrid of man and machine as opposed to being a performer that uses machines.”
BOMB SQUAD will be headlining the DESTRUCTION outdoor poolside concert event on Saturday March 29th from 12 noon - 6pm at the Miami Beach Resort & Spa, 4833 Collins Ave, Miami Beach, 33140. For more info: http://www.wintermusicconference.com
VirSyn updates Matrix Vocoder to v1.1 with native VST3 support for enhanced integration with Steinberg‘s VST3-ready host applications Cubase and Nuendo
Hamburg, Germany (February 11, 2008) - Leading German software synthesizer and virtual effect manufacturer VirSyn has announced the worldwide first update for VST3 compatibility for a commercially available third party plug-in. With the update to version 1.1, Matrix Vocoder is now available as a native VST3 version for Mac OS X 10.4 and Windows XP through the VirSyn website.
Harry Gohs, VirSyn‘s founder and lead developer commented on the release: “Developing the update for VST3 was problem-free, and it was a very easy transition. We‘re looking forward to releasing updates to other VirSyn products for VST3, as it offers us new features which will be very useful for our products like multi-channel processing for surround. Another aspect of VST3 is that it‘s ready for the future, meaning that it appears to be very extendable and easily updatable. That‘s very important to us,” Gohs continues.
Steinberg‘s Marketing Director Frank Simmerlein comments: “We‘re very pleased that VirSyn have started updating their excellent plug-ins to take advantage of the new capabilities of VST3. This marks the beginning of an exciting new era for the audio industry with VST-3 powered effects, instruments and host applications,” Simmerlein continues.
VirSyn‘s Matrix Vocoder 1.1 utilizes the new native sidechaining ability of VST3 to improve handling and routing when used with all of Steinberg‘s latest generation of VST3-ready Cubase and Nuendo production environments.
Released in January 2008, VST3 is a next-generation audio interface standard that offers third party plug-in and host application manufacturers new capabilities and tools for developing virtual instruments, effects and DAWs. VST3 introduces a new dynamic I/O and bussing system, enhanced CPU efficiency, sample-accurate automation and much more.
For more information about the advantages of VST3, please visit Steinberg‘s website.
For more information about Matrix, access to the Matrix demo version as well as audio examples, please visit the VirSyn website.
About Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH
Steinberg is known the world over for its professional media solutions. The company has been developing, manufacturing and selling software products for musicians and producers in the music, film, post production, and multimedia industries since 1984. Steinberg products are used by Grammy® and Oscar® award winning composers, engineers, and producers. For more information, please visit www.steinberg.net.
All trademarks are trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective owners.
A compact pure passive volume control to help get the best from any system!
Let’s get small - the iNano is a super compact desktop sized passive volume attenuator. Building on the success of the original SM Pro Audio Nano Patch, the iNano has been designed for use with a variety of consumer based systems. It enters the market as one of the smallest passive problem solvers on the market.
A great way to passively attenuate stereo signals from computers, soundcards, CD players, pre-amps, and mixers, the iNano allows precise level adjustment to analog audio source material. Featuring balanced combo XLR/TRS and 3.5mm input jacks and TRS and 3.5mm outputs, mute switch, and a good sized rotary volume encoder, the iNano is simply one of the most affordable improvements you could ever make to your desktop studio.
The iNano passive series does not have any active elements, thereby allowing audio signals to be attenuated and mixed together transparently and without coloration.
The iNano really comes into its own when connected between your computer audio interface/soundcard master outputs and a pair of active (powered) monitor speakers. One of the benefits of passive volume attenuation is that you no longer have to control volumes with your software‘s master volume fader. Reducing levels from your software only reduces the audio bit depth. It is much more appropriate to keep your software masters at unity and attenuate the audio to your active monitors with a passive controller like the iNano. This way you can maintain maximum audio resolution and attenuate your monitoring volume with the confidence that the sonic integrity of your audio is not compromised.
No active circuitry, buffers, transistors, batteries, or power supply of any kind can interfere with the main passive output of the iNano. It simply delivers attenuated signal. Pure, simple, transparent.
The iNano is set for release at a list price of USD $69.00
More information on the iNano including high resolution images, technical details, and operational manuals can be found at the SM Pro Audio website here: http://www.smproaudio.com
Yamaha Corporation of America introduces the Pocketrak 2G, a light and compact pocket recorder featuring 2GB of built-in memory, long battery life, easy USB file transfer, and Steinberg Cubase AI DAW software.
The Pocketrak 2G builds upon a successful lineage of recording technology from Yamaha and features 2 tracks of CD quality recording in PCM, MP3 and Windows Media (WMA) formats. It‘s perfect for podcasting, field and location recording, audio for video and more.
“The goal of any pocket recorder is to be ready to capture audio wherever and whenever it happens,” said Athan Billias, Director of Marketing - Technology Products for Yamaha. “The Pocketrak 2G‘s small size, long battery life, and large built-in memory provide Yamaha quality recording anywhere, anytime, and comes with Cubase AI for a complete music production solution.”
The Pocketrak 2G includes a rechargeable AAA nickel-hydrogen battery capable of providing 19 hours of MP3 recording to it‘s 2GB of internal memory. Plugging its sliding USB connector into a powered USB bus simultaneously recharges the battery and transfers files to a PC or Mac.
The Pocketrak 2G is the only portable recorder to house an on-board speaker in addition to a headphone jack, making it a handy portable music player that supports MP3 and WMA files with DRM10 support.
Included in the box is the Pocketrak 2G, a USB extension cable, stereo earphones, a leather carrying case and stand adapter, as well as Cubase AI, an “Advanced Integration” version of Steinberg‘s legendary digital audio workstation software specially built to seamlessly integrate with Yamaha hardware.
The Pocketrak 2G will be available in April, 2008 and will retail for $399.
New website for sharing free samples, sound effects and music loops
Athens, Greece (October 11, 2007) - Soundsnap is a new online platform for finding and sharing free samples, sound effects and music loops. Designed as a resource and community for musicians, sound designers, producers, film makers and web/video game developers, Soundsnap provides user driven content for use in virtually any kind of media production. Users can freely download and upload content to be legally shared and used in any media project.
“We like to think of Soundsnap as ‘YouTube for sounds” where users not only download sounds for their own use, but submit their sounds and help the library grow organically,” said Tasos Frantzolas, creator of Soundsnap.com. “Free, on-demand, and publicly available audio clips and samples encourage experimentation and creation and makes for better audio within any kind of project.”
Soundsnap launched with over 30,000 available free sounds ranging ‘from high quality music loops and music samples, sound effects such as animals, industrial, nature, sports, and human, to sound design, sound art, comic, unreal, and science fiction. Visitors can search for sounds by keyword searching or browsing by category, user/creator, or tags, which are user generated keywords used to place sounds into categories.
Soundsnap allows only original samples and sounds that have been recorded or created by contributors that have accepted Soundsnap‘s license agreement. This ensures that previously copyrighted material is not downloaded, distributed, and used illegally. Contributors to Soundsnap retain all ownership rights to submissions while granting SoundSnap a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable sublicense.
In many ways, Soundsnap is part of the ‘web 2.0′ generation of websites, which is characterized by user submitted content, social networking and clean, user friendly interface. Its creators have been inspired by YouTube, Flickr and Wikipedia in order to create the same sharing environment and apply it to music creation and sound design.
Remove noise, hum, clipping, clicks, and restore audio in critical applications
AES - NYC (October 11, 2007) - iZotope, Inc., a leading innovator in audio signal processing technology, announces iZotope RX™ audio restoration software, a new standalone application featuring the essential tools for cleaning and restoring audio.
Using powerful, newly developed technology created by iZotope‘s research team, RX removes hiss and buzz, eliminates clicks and crackles, and repairs overload distortion in audio. New intelligent spectral repair algorithms can even analyze and fill gaps in audio files to restore previously unusable recordings.
Ideal for any application that demands spotless audio, RX features a unique interface designed specifically for audio restoration work. Preset modules attain great results quickly for time sensitive applications like broadcasting and podcasting, video production, and studio recording. Advanced features allow a level of control needed in critical applications such as forensics, audio remastering and archiving.
“There are more sources of recorded audio today than ever before - cell phones, video cameras, computers, old vinyl records, tape - the list goes on,” says Jeremy Todd, CTO of iZotope, Inc. “With RX, we‘ve made our next-generation restoration technology accessible to anyone needing clean and clear audio.”
RX includes groundbreaking features designed to simplify the process of cleaning and repairing recordings. State of the art analysis tools such as an advanced spectrogram with the greatest time and frequency resolution available allow a finer degree of detail work. Isolate and fix damaged audio with selective processing and Spectral Repair. The Compare Settings feature auditions parameters quickly, and a non-destructive undo history makes reverting to previous states simple and flexible. Batch processing makes applying multiple processes to large files much less time consuming.
Key Features
• Denoiser - suppresses broadband and tonal noise independently without harsh artifacts
• Spectral Repair - removes intermittent noises and even fixes gaps and corrupted audio using advanced re-synthesis techniques
• Declipper - saves previously unusable recordings by removing both analog and digital clipping
• Hum Removal - cleans up hum caused by poor wiring and other electrical problems
• Declicker - brings ancient records and master tapes back to life by removing analog and digital impulse noises
• Spectrogram - the most advanced spectrogram display available lets you see what other programs miss
• Selective Processing - select by time and frequency to isolate and repair noise
• Compare Settings window - send multiple settings of a module to the queue, then audition them side by side
• Batch Processing - send audio through multiple processes in one simple step
• Undo History - keep track of the changes you‘ve made, and revert to earlier states
RX Advanced
In addition to the base version of RX, an extended application, iZotope RX Advanced, allows even more precise control over RX algorithms and includes iZotope‘s critically acclaimed 64-bit SRC™ sample rate conversion and MBIT+™ dither for professionals who want finer control over processing and delivery.
Plug-in Versions Announced
While RX is initially available as a standalone application, its real-time processing modules will also be released as plug-ins, scheduled for early 2008. Customers purchasing RX or RX Advanced will receive these plug-ins free of charge when they are released.
Compatibility
Standalone application
Windows Vista, XP
Apple OS X (Universal Binary)
Pricing and Availability
iZotope RX is now available for $349 MSRP.
iZotope RX Advanced is now available for $1199 MSRP.
Download a 15 day fully functional trial today from www.izotope.com/rx.
New portable professional USB Microphone for Mac and PC
AES - NYC (October 11, 2007) - Blue Microphones, a leading innovator in microphone technology and design, follow on the success of their popular Snowball Professional USB Microphone with a new portable design, aptly dubbed the Snowflake.
The Snowflake is the first professional quality portable USB mic and embodies everything Blue has become known for; stylish looks and exceptional sonic quality. Blue has combined a USB bus powered capsule with a class compliant design to make the Snowflake truly plug and play on both Mac and PC.
“We have always valued both form and function in our microphone designs. It‘s what makes us uniquely Blue,” said Skipper Wise, President and Co-Founder of Blue Microphones. “The Snowflake brings a new level of audio quality and functionality to anyone who owns a computer. It‘s one of our most inspired designs yet!”
The Snowflake‘s form factor is not only eye catching and modern, but functional as well. The mic folds into a single compact case which also houses a USB cable for easy transport in a laptop bag or even a pocket. Unfolded, the case serves as a desktop stand or a laptop clip, making the Snowflake a natural for everything from podcasting, calling over the web, narrating a home video, or sketching out a song idea on the go.
Snowflake Features:
• Professional recording quality on the go
• Unique design fits on your desktop or laptop
• Plug and play — no driver needed
• Perfect for podcasting, internet telophony, voice recognition software, movie narration, music
• Mac & PC compatible
• Blue‘s renowned circuitry
• Includes USB cable
Price and availability
The Snowflake will be available November 1, 2007 for $79 MSRP.
For more information, please visit http://www.bluemic.com.
