Friday, February 18, 2005
Reason 3 Release Date Announced
Propellerheads has announced that they will start shipping Reason 3 from Sweden on March 10th. It usually takes a few weeks for the product to make it across the ocean and through customs before it reaches North America.
Upgrade pricing and details should be available in the next few weeks.
Buy Reason 2.5 now before the price goes up for Reason 3! You won't get a free upgrade, but Props tells us that you will pay less by buying 2.5 and the upgrade than if you wait for 3.
- Kelly
Posted at 5:24 PM by Kelly's Music :: Archived :: TrackBack (0) ::
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Tascam Updates CD Trainer Series to MK-II
The very popular trainer products from Tascam (Guitar, Vocal and Bass) are being revised with the release of some new firmware. In the Tascam tradition, the new versions will be dubbed MK-II and feature new effects for even better reverb and amp simulation. A new metronome helps musicians practice even when a CD isn't playing. The new Guitar Canceller effect on the CD-GT1mkII allows players to mute the guitar part so that they can play along.
- Kelly
Posted at 1:12 PM by Kelly's Music :: Archived :: TrackBack (0) ::
Friday, February 11, 2005
Allegro 2005 - back from the dead!
Back from the dead, MakeMusic announced the upcoming release of Allegro 2005. Based on their ever popular Finale product, Allegro 2005 will appeal to anyone who wants to go beyond the basic feature set found in Print Music, but doesn't want to pay for the full blown Finale 2005.
In an effort to continue promoting their SmartMusic product, MakeMusic also released value priced bundles of Allegro and Finale with SmartMusic. The bundle includes both the vocal and instrument headset for SmartMusic, along with an on-line subscription to over 20,000 accompaniments. Instrumentalist and vocalists will want to take advantage of the opportunity to sing or play with an intelligent accompanist that follows your every tempo change. Educators will appreciate the ability to make their own accompaniments for students to play along with by using Finale or Allegro.
- Kelly
Posted at 2:37 AM by Kelly's Music :: Archived :: TrackBack (0) ::
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Sibelius users will be interested in three new plug-ins available to download from the Sibelius web site:
Boomwacker Note Colors
This plug-in colors noteheads in the color scheme of Boomwackers - great for elementary and general music teachers. This plug-in can be found in the Notes and Rests section of the Plug-ins menu.
Scales and Arpeggios
The Scales and Arpeggios plug-in found in the Other section of the Plug-ins menu is very useful for music teachers. It automatically creates scales or arpeggios sheets based on the teacher's preferences. The scales or arpeggios can be created in an existing score or worksheet, or they can be created in a new file.
Add Drum Pattern
Found in the Composing Tools section of the Plug-ins menu, this plug-in will auto-create a drum part in your score based on your preferences: you can choose from twenty different standard drum grooves including rock, rap, Latin, country and jazz.
- Kelly
Posted at 3:42 PM by Kelly's Music :: Archived :: TrackBack (0) ::
Friday, February 04, 2005
Virtual Bassist
Going up against the "Broomstick Bass", Steinberg's Virtual Bassist is purported to offer less styles, but more depth. We hope to have some MP3s soon so you can do a head to head test and see which bassist you want to hire for your virtual band.
- Kelly
Posted at 5:05 PM by Kelly's Music :: Archived :: TrackBack (0) ::
Halion Player & Steinberg Copy Protection Changes.
What were they waiting for? That's what you might be asking Steinberg now that they have released programs Halion Player.
For the low price of around $100 US, Halion Player will include all of the content included with the full scale Halion, without the editing features. You will still be able to load other Halion libraries (although notably, support for other formats is missing), and integration into Cubase or any other VST host is very straightforward.
Apparently Halion Player, like Halion, will require a USB Key (dongle.) Although we haven't confirmed it yet, it sounds like the USB key won't be included. Owners of Cubase can use their existing key, but new users will have to fork over some additional cash for the dongle. Steinberg has promised that all new and existing products requiring copy protection can use the same dongle, so you will only have to pay once for the USB key.
Of note to developers, Steinberg is also making the player available to bundle with sample libraries. Currently, Native Instrument's Kontakt Player holds the virtual monopoly, as most sample libraries are based on the Kontakt engine. Steinberg hopes that it's inclusion of a USB key (dongle) will appeal to developers keen to protect their hefty investment in developing their libraries.
- Kelly
Posted at 5:04 PM by Kelly's Music :: Archived :: TrackBack (0) ::
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
Reason 3
Reason 3 was on show at NAMM, and with the new Combinator, a new soundbank and some incredible support for control surfaces, the new version will be a must have for anyone wanting to explore the possibilities of using Reason in a live situation.
If you don't have Reason, don't wait for the new version to come out! Reason 2.5 is currently available at a discounted price, and when Reason 3 comes out, the price will go up.
- Kelly
Posted at 11:21 AM by Kelly's Music :: Archived :: TrackBack (0) ::