Computer Music

Chicken Systems Instrument Manager does to your sample files what you wish it would do for your laundry: sort and organize everything in a super personalized way that only you would understand.  

The Internet makes a lot of things that used to be done by traveling be possible from the comfort of your home. TimeWarp Technologies Internet MIDI makes it possible for you to ask Lang Lang or Vitalij Kuprij to perform on your own MIDI piano without you or them having to do travel (if you can afford to pay them to perform for you, that is).  

It is disconcerting to think about copies of your meticulously mixed and mastered magnum opus falling short of your expectations. Hepling you sleep easier at night, Sonic Studio PreMaster CD 1.3.2 will be exhibited at the 127th AES Convention to demonstrate the importance of proper premastering.  

This new announcement could be that big break songwriters are looking for. The Cakewalk And Ourstage.Com "Your Music Anytime, Anyplace" Songwriting Contest gives the opportunity for both artists and fans to to go for more than 1,999.99 USD worth of prizes including some brand new laptops and audio interfaces.  

Keyboard Wizard is such a site that's fun to play with, mess around, and be shocked at what Jordan Rudess can do. Time for you to do your fair share of wizardry via the Keyboard Wizard Contest if you want to get an Asus Notebook and other goodies for free.  

Generative composition applications are interesting tools for composers looking for new sounds. Following the tradition of Csound, Flexatone h.f.p. AthenaCL presents a cost-free alternative tool for today's "serious" composer.  

Some people just love audio recordings that any means of preserving them, including digital rendering, have been explored. Analog to digital conversion, however, comes with some problems such as click and crackle from old vinyl records. You can eliminate those noises with Brian Davies ClickRepair and enjoy your vintage recordings in digital format.  

Audio loop and sample libraries sometimes are not enough and does not provide an adequate opportunity to put your signature sound into it. MIDI loops are the best way to go for fast production that incorporates your tonal personality. Equinox Sounds MIDI Keys Gold will get that going well for you.  

Making music for video games presents unique challenges to composers and producers, challenges that Rain Recording has addressed with the new Rain Solstice Dragon Edition Audio + Gaming Workstation computer. This beast can handle demanding 3d gaming graphics while simultaneously providing a stable digital audio production platform. It's a wonder they didn't call it the Double Dragon Edition.  

Just when dirty hums and clicks thought they were in the clear, BIAS SoundSoap is back, and this time, it's personal! This software wants to scrub your audio so clean that you'll be able to see your reflection in it when paired with LSD abuse.  

Even though TASCAM stopped production on GigaStudio, you still have all those orchestral libraries and no smart way to play them. Sound familiar? SoundLib G-Player might be the answer you've been waiting for.  

Aegis Sonix was cutting edge back in 1984, and it's even kind of neat now. But does it have Reversi?  

John Hodgman has one less thing to hold over Justin Long now that SM Pro Audio VFX is in Beta. It lets Mac users take advantage of VST plugins.  

If you've got discoDSP Discovery Pro, you should check out Caffeine by Status. This preset library brings you a wide load of multilayered presets, arpeggiators and melody lines as well as a buzz that'll keep you from getting to sleep at a reasonable hour.  

How much power is too much power? Until now, this was just a rhetorical question, the grist of academics and philosophers, but with the advent of the Rain Recording Quad-Core LiveBook, this question takes on a new and immediate consideration. God save us all.  

Why pay all that money for a Korg M3 or OASYS when you could settle for a Korg M50 and make it nearly as good for less money with Karma-Lab KARMA M50 software? Obviously because you've got too much money, that's why.  

Until now, you had to make serious money -- like top dollar internet gear news writing money -- to own a Maserati Collection. Now Waves offers the Tony Maserati Collection, which won't get you from point A to point B (where A is equal to my mansion and B is equal to the hottest club on the strip), unless we're talking audio engineering.  

With the recent release of Pro Tools 8 and Pro Tools 8 LE, users and potential users of the latter might be interested to learn that Digidesign brings out two new Pro Tools bundles. The 003 Rack Factory Complete and 003 Factory Complete make the LE status almost an insult.  

Steve Buscemi proved that jazz and mutants are two great tastes that go great together in Ghost World and JazzMutant backs him up with more cool ways to control your performance. They'll be showing Lemur V2 Software at Winter NAMM 2009  

It comes once a year. Winter NAMM. Much like your birthday, the weeks fly by and then suddenly it is upon you. The difference at NAMM, of course, is that you cannot purchase the presents yet. Also, the last time I had a birthday, I did not have to check in at the press booth and risk getting run over by a guy in an Elmo suit.  

According to Immersive Media Research, according to Amazon.com, the Zoom H2 was the best selling handheld recorder of the 2008 holiday season. If you're one of the lucky gifted with an H2, IMR wants you to know that they've developed a program that lets you share the surround sound more easily.  

Loomer releases three plugins. Aspect is a 32-note polyphonic synth. Manifold is a sound enhancer. Resound is a tape delay plugin. Aspect is three times as old as Manifold, and Resound is half as old as the difference in age between the two of them. Given this information, what time will the three arrive in Cleveland by locomotive?  

Bill Holland might not review everything that came into Gearwire.com this year, but there are a few things that did leave a lasting impression. 2008 was a crazy year, and there's no way in hell he could have digested it all in one sitting.  

And you thought this wasn't that type of website! But wait -- we really ARE just talking about a Harmonically Enhanced Digital Device -- or "HEDD" -- and now I am going to stop writing anything at all. Time to stop.  

If you've been following Gearwire's visit to Boiler Room Mastering, you know that Collin Jordan doesn't have any lousy gear anywhere near his mastering suite. Here, he shows us his jewel from Crane Song, the Avocet Class A Studio Controller.  

You'll see a lot of great Weiss gear at Boiler Room Mastering, and it's all for a good reason. Collin Jordan even uses Weiss for sample rate conversion, because of how important SRC is to mastering studios. Don't settle for anything less than the best.  

Five12 continues their onslaught of numerical voodoo with Numerology 2. This step sequencer goes above and beyond the limitations of other sequencers that won't dazzle you with as much math.  

The University of Cambridge has been conducting the reViSiT experiment, tracking flow, skill and creativity (possible some hustle, too) in music software using nashNET's reViSiT VSTi. Well, guess what: reViSiT is going pro, and analysts say that it could be the top pick in next year's draft.  

Image Line Edison has seen some improvements, and the rest of the Image Line Juice Pack gang must've gotten jealous. Edison has been kicked out of the Juice Pack.  

The Indamixx is not only a portable sequencing tool. You can also program beats in Hydrogen, an independent drum machine, build a modular synth or rock the party. That is assuming, of course, that you leave your house long enough to network, promote, or get booked for a party. Oh, the life of a bedroom DJ.

*As a side note, Trinity Audio Group, Inc. has given us information that you can now use control vinyl with mixx. No Serato or Traktor interface required!