Monday, December 18, 2006
Cakewalk Expansion Packs for Dimension Pro and Rapture
Cakewalk has broadened the sound programs available in their popular Rapture and Dimension Pro software with the recent release of a free expansion pack for both programs. Each expansion pack includes 350 new programs and are available from the Cakewalk website.
- Kelly
Posted at 4:04 PM by Kelly's Music :: Archived :: TrackBack (0) ::
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Pro Tools M-Powered 7.3
Available sometime in the new year as a free update, M-Audio has announced the details of Pro Tools M-Powered 7.3
A new loop trim tool allows you to easily turn audio or MIDI regions into loops and a handy "Create Click Track" command has been added. There is now real-time drawing of automation, and up to 99 Window Configurations (aka "screen sets") can be created to instantly recall custom view arrangements.
If you purchase Pro Tools M-Powered before the end of December, you will receive a free upgrade to the latest version from M-Audio.
- Kelly.
Posted at 2:39 PM by Kelly's Music :: Archived :: TrackBack (0) ::
Monday, December 04, 2006
Band in a Box 2007
Right on schedule, the new features for Band in a Box 2007 have been announced by PG Music. There are a number of great new features, but "the must have" reason to upgrade to Band in a Box 2007 is the addition of "RealDrums". RealDrums replace the MIDI drum track with actual recordings to provide realistic playback - as it a real drummer recorded the tracks for you. They sound like a real drummer because instead of simply replacing the MIDI tracks with samples of drums, these are actual recordings ranging from 1-8 bars.
The biggest complaint we hear from Band in a Box users is about the quality of the playback. Of course, the quality of the playback is entirely dependent on your computer - and most computers use the default "Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth" which sounds horrible! We always recommend adding BandStand or Garritan Jazz & Big Band to Band in a Box to get realistic playback. In fact, PG Music even has tutorials on how to use both programs with Band in a Box (see the BandStand Tutorial or Jazz & Big Band Tutorial on PG's website.)
However, if you only care about realistic drums, then Band in a Box 2007 solves the problem with the addition of RealDrums. If the RealDrums feature sounds as exciting to you as it does to us, you might consider upgrading to the Band in a Box MegaPak, since it includes RealDrums Sets 1-3 instead of just the single set that comes with the basic version of Band in a Box.
In addition to the RealDrums feature for improved playback, there are some other nifty features that make the upgrade well worth the price. For example, there is now an "Audio Chord Wizard" that automatically figures out the chords from any MP3, Wav or WMA file and displays them into Band in a Box. This is a huge time saver if you want to create your own play along tracks from a recording, or if you want to figure out the changes for a particular song you've been trying to learn. The Audio Wizard can also figure out the tempo, bar lines and key of your audio file. Another useful tool is the "Reharmonist" which can figure out a chord progression for any melody. This is ideal for songwriters as you can now enter your melody into Band in a Box and have it suggest a chord progression and create the accompaniment accordingly. Of course, as with previous versions, you can always export your Band in a Box files to MIDI to import into a notation program for further editing, or save as an MP3 or audio file for burning to CD.
Need a quick Soundtrack for a video? The Soundtrack feature can generate royalty free music of any length required.
There are lots of other great new features, but I'll mention one more that is exciting for anyone who uses Band in a Box for performance. You can now use the Frontier Wireless Tranzport with Band in a Box! Not only can use you use it to select songs and play/stop/pause/loop, but you can also select/mute/solo tracks and adjust the volume and tempo. What is bound to be everyone's favorite feature, however, is that when the song is playing, the chords of the song are displayed in time on the backlit LCD screen. You can even display the chords in a non-concert key (e.g., E b Alto) while the computer shows concert pitch! Rather have the lyrics displayed - you can! The Tranzport can scroll the lyrics of the song in case you need a reminder!
- Kelly
Posted at 3:45 PM by Kelly's Music :: Archived :: TrackBack (0) ::