By now many have forgotten that Adobe Audition was once the great free tool, CoolEdit. I fondly remember the days of CoolEdit and their ability to morph effects from one setting to another (something Soundforge is barely able to do now). It has been interesting to watch Adobe beef up the program and constantly improve it. I look forward to trying out some of these interesting new features.

From the Adobe Website:
Recording, mixing, editing, and mastering — Adobe® Audition® 3 software is the all-in-one toolset for professional audio production.

Use Adobe Audition 3 to:

• Create your own music
• Record and mix a project
• Produce a radio spot
• Clean up audio for a movie
• Compile and edit a soundtrack

Whatever you do with audio, Adobe Audition 3 software helps you sound your best.

Top features in Adobe Audition 3

VSTi virtual instrument support

Enjoy support for a wider range of virtual instruments. Simply add a MIDI host track to your mix, choose an instrument, and then record new audio in the Sequencer.

Improved multitrack editing

Save time and increase accuracy by editing grouped clips together. Auto-crossfade clips in multitrack view to quickly mix files together. Click-and-drag fade handles on multitrack clips and in the Edit View for faster editing.

Enhanced spectral editing

Make a free-form selection in frequency space with the Effects Paintbrush and apply effects in varying degrees to that selection. Smooth over a selected region to automatically repair clicks, pops, and other noises using the Spot Healing Brush.

Top/Tail Views

Need a quick and easy way to tweak the start and end of a loop or other audio file? The new Top/Tail Views allow you to zoom into the beginning and end of a file so you can quickly add precise fades while keeping the whole file in view.

New effects

Adobe Audition 3 includes new effects such as Convolution Reverb, Analog Delay, Mastering tool, Guitar Suite, and Tube-modeled Compressor.

Superior performance

Get superior performance and take advantage of the new multicore processors. The optimized mix engine allows for more tracks and effects on the same machine, offering more variety and faster processing.

Audition Product Page

After making the rounds on YouTube and various blogs the reacTable synth was spotted by Bjork and later incorporated into her live show which brought a large amount of attention to this unique hands-on synthesizer. The developers are now looking into a short production run of the innovative machine.  We look forward to seeing this in some upcoming shows!

From reacTable: 

The reactable is a collaborative electronic music instrument with a tabletop tangible multi-touch interface. Several simultaneous performers share complete control over the instrument by moving and rotating physical objects on a luminous round table surface. By moving and relating these objects, representing components of a classic modular synthesizer, users can create complex and dynamic sonic topologies, with generators, filters and modulators, in a kind of tangible modular synthesizer or graspable flow-controlled programming language.

The instrument was developed by a team of digital luthiers under the direction of Dr. Sergi Jordà. The “Interactive Sonic Systems” team is working in the Music Technology Group within the Audiovisual Institute at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona Spain. Its main activities concentrate on the design of new musical interfaces, such as tangible music instruments and musical applications for mobile devices.

The reactable intends to be:

• collaborative: several performers (locally or remotely)
• intuitive: zero manual, zero instructions
• sonically challenging and interesting
• learnable and masterable (even for children)
• suitable for novices (installations) and advanced electronic musicians (concerts)

The reactable hardware is based on a translucent, round multi-touch surface. A camera situated beneath the table, continuously analyzes the surface, tracking the player’s finger tips and the nature, position and orientation of physical objects that are distributed on its surface. These objects represent the components of a classic modular synthesizer, the players interact by moving these objects, changing their distance, orientation and the relation to each other. These actions directly control the topological structure and parameters of the sound synthesizer. A projector, also from underneath the table, draws dynamic animations on its surface, providing a visual feedback of the state, the activity and the main characteristics of the sounds produced by the audio synthesizer.

visit reacTable Home

de la Mancha’s free subhuman virtual sub bass synth now at v2.0. The two oscillator synth was designed for a singular purpose to create: “low down and dirty sub bass, jus’ like momma used to make.” The de la Mancha collective invites you to “take it down a few octaves for that deep subby hum you want so bad. Change the waveform of Osc 2 to add a little grit, make it wobble with the tempo-sync LFO and really dirty things up with some drive.”

Version 2.0 now includes MIDI learn, tempo sync LFO, LFO attack/release envelope, pulse width adjust for Osc2 and LFO, mono/poly options with envelope retrigger and portamento, ADSR in ms, sync osc2 to osc1, overdrive, new GUI. Both envelopes have long attack/release times so the volume and LFO can build slowly over sustained notes.

Features:
• 2 oscillators can be detuned or synced
• LP filter
• ADSR volume envelope
• LFO with tempo sync, attack/release envelope, waveform select
• Overdrive for more dirt
• Octave selector
• MIDI CC / MIDI learn on all controls
• Mono/poly options with retrigger and portamento

Get it: de la Mancha Subhuman 2.0

via: FutureMusic

After being blown away by Kid Beyond when he opened and performed along side Imogen Heap I had to find out more about this guy. Here is a great video showing how he does his beatbox thing using Abelton Live to do live sampling and looping to build a song using only his voice.

Native Instruments’ Traktor Tutorial DVD is a new multimedia workshop that enables DJs to get the most out of NI’s Traktor 3 DJ software. With a comprehensive video tutorial, artist interviews and special workshop content on the disc, the DVD allows Traktor users of all experience levels to get to the heart of the software and utilize its creative capabilities to the fullest extent.

The interactive workshop on the Traktor Tutorial DVD includes more than three hours of high-resolution video and is hosted by professional DJs and Traktor experts Chris Liebing and Kabuki. All aspects of Traktor techniques and general work flow are covered in eight major chapters, including cueing, looping and effects; performance controller setup; and much more. The comprehensive playlist and track-preparation features are also thoroughly explained. The Tutorial DVD even covers advanced DJing and remixing techniques using up to four decks at once.

All music tracks that are used in the tutorial examples are also included fully licensed on the DVD with complete cue-point information, allowing users to closely follow and replicate the lessons within Traktor 3 itself. Additionally, the Traktor Tutorial DVD contains the “Essential Guide to Playlists” in PDF format, providing an in-depth exploration of playlist creation and management aspects with detailed tips and tricks from expert Traktor users.

The TRAKTOR Tutorial DVD will be available in June 2007 for a suggested retail price of $44 from authorized dealers and in the NI Online Shop.

For more information about Native Instruments, visit www.native-instruments.com.

via: Remix

d16, thus far known for it’s accurate software recreations of the classic Roland TB-303 and TR-909 have completed the triad of Roland’s big three analog monsters which have been the backbone of huge percentage of dance music. The new 808 clone is set for a release in the very near future. Head over the their website and check out the samples and hear for yourself. Available as VST and AU plugins. Great work guys!!

d16 website: www.d16.pl