Pro Tools M-Powered Software for Select M-Audio Hardware Peripherals Now Shipping

M-Audio and Digidesign are proud to announce that Pro Tools M-Powered(tm) software is now shipping. Pro Tools M-Powered is an exciting new version of Digidesign’s award-winning Pro Tools(r) software designed to work with select M-Audio(r) hardware peripherals. An ideal way to professionally record, edit, and mix your music, Pro Tools M-Powered software includes many of the same features that top studios rely on to produce Grammy(r)-winning albums and Academy Award(r)-winning film sound.

Pro Tools M-Powered software opens a new door for M-Audio customers to take advantage of the recording industry’s most popular audio/MIDI production software using a variety of M-Audio interfaces. Plus, they now have access to additional Digidesign(r) and Digidesign Development Partner(tm) products designed specifically for Pro Tools - including the Command|8(tm) control surface.

This new software/hardware synergy also means M-Audio peripherals can bring more choices to Pro Tools users, allowing them to work on sessions in new and exciting ways. Products such as M-Audio’s Ozonic FireWire audio interface keyboard provide a complete mobile workstation environment well suited to the Pro Tools user on the road.

Pro Tools M-Powered software is surprisingly easy to use, and is completely cross-platform, supporting both Windows XP- and Mac OS X-based computers. What’s more, sessions created with Pro Tools M-Powered software will open on both Digidesign Pro Tools TDM and LE systems, giving customers instant compatibility with countless Pro Tools-equipped project and professional studios around the world.
Pro Tools M-Powered software gives M-Audio hardware enthusiasts a new way to tap into the powerful recording, editing, and mixing features of Pro Tools. With up to 32 simultaneous tracks of 16- or 24-bit digital audio and 256 MIDI tracks and support for up to 96kHz sample rates, customers now have the tools and options needed to record themselves or an entire band.

Similar to Digidesign Pro Tools LE systems, Pro Tools M-Powered includes more than thirty DigiRack(tm) and Bomb Factory(tm) plug-ins, including EQ, dynamics, delay, reverb, and many more. Pro Tools M-Powered software also supports ReWire, allowing you to stream the output of your favorite ReWire-compatible application directly into Pro Tools for further mixing and processing.

Pro Tools M-Powered software works with a variety of M-Audio peripherals, from the best-selling Audiophile(tm) 2496, with its streamlined connectivity, up to the comprehensive 18-in/14-out FireWire 1814 interface, and Ozonic(tm), the integrated 37-key audio/MIDI FireWire interface and controller. Plus, M-Audio FireWire peripherals are powered from the computer’s FireWire bus (6-pin FireWire port required), providing a new variety of completely portable, go-anywhere FireWire-based Pro Tools workstations.

The MSRP of Pro Tools M-Powered software is $349 US. There will also be two stand-alone plug-in bundles available for M-Powered users, Producer Factory and Producer Factory Pro, which will be sold separately.
Pro Tools M-Powered software requires a supported M-Audio hardware peripheral to function. Please visit www.digidesign.com or www.m-audio.com for a current list of compatible M-Audio hardware peripherals, current system requirements, compatibility information, and online support.

www.m-audio.com

Yamaha’s New Affordable Entry Level Keyboards Provide the Tools Needed to Learn for Beginners

With 61 piano-sized keys, the YPT-200 and YPT-300 Offer Comprehensive Learning Exercises, General MIDI Capability, Internet Connectivity.

Yamaha’s Consumer Products Division adds to its successful line of affordable keyboards with the introduction of the YPT-200 (Street Price $99.95) and YPT-300 (Street Price $149.95). Available in July, these new entry-level keyboards feature 61 piano-sized keys, 32 notes of polyphony and an ultra-realistic Yamaha Stereo Grand Piano voice. Both models also include the built-in, upgraded Yamaha Education Suite version 5 (Y.E.S. 5) with exercises, interactive “Listen and Learn” lessons and a chord dictionary.

Designed for the beginner or music hobbyist, the new portables represent the first models in their price points to include complete General MIDI compatibility (YPT-200) and sequencing (YPT-300) functions that up until recently could only be found on higher-priced units and professional workstations.

The YPT-200 includes 134 voices, 100 styles and 102 preset songs. With General MIDI compatibility, the YPT-200 is computer-friendly with most software and Internet applications.
The YPT-300 features 482 voices (including Yamaha’s XGlite voice set), 106 styles and 102 preset songs. One breakthrough is a five-track sequencer that allows the user to record his or her own original music. Other refinements include Full and Split keyboard functions, DSP effects, the Sound Effects Kit with a dedicated panel button, and Flash ROM perfect for connecting to a computer and transferring MIDI content from the Internet.

Rocco de Villiers in piano concert

Rocco is famous for his flamboyant style of piano playing. This is entertainment at it’s best. A modern pianist - in touch, in fashion, well dressed and well rehearsed.

De Villiers became a legend in his parents’ lounge when he was growing up, mixing drinks for their guests and then playing the piano. Later he became established as not only a performer, but also a producer, composer, conductor and director.

Link (SouthAfricanWine.co.za)

Korg PA-50 Review

Features: 9
Expressiveness/Sounds: 9
Overall Rating: 9

Overall Rating: If it was stolen, well, i guess I’d be fked now wouldnt i. Compared with the PSR 1500, 2100, and I liked the Yamaha PSR3000 but it was $1800. the PA-50 was $720, so you do the math, and tell me my choice wasnt the right one. Sure the Yamaha has 128 polyphony, and backing harmonizer for vocal, and Mega Voices (for live , real sounding instruments) but hey; i just saved $1100 didnt I? I think i made the right choice, since im having a blast on it. I just cleaned up a pink floyd comfortably numb sequence, and with me playing guitar live, it was better than the live musicians i played with before. If your looking into one of these PA-50 arrangers, you wont be sorry. For the money, they are worth every dollar, and the sounds are great. Seems you will need to get used to the manual, and dicking with the controls etc.

Link (HarmonyCentral.com)

MartinLogan Montage loudspeaker Review

This lapsed fan of electrostatic speakers finds it curious that, while MartinLogan is the predominant representative of this technology in the US, I had never auditioned an ML design in my home. I’ve enjoyed many Janszen tweeters, a KLH 9, an AcousTech X, Stax ELS-F81s, and I’ve dallied with Quad ESL-63s. But as dumb luck would have it, the first MartinLogan speaker to reach me, the new Montage, is a hybrid model.

Instead of a electrostatic driver, the Montage mates a pair of aluminum-cone electrodynamic drivers with a magnetically driven planar tweeter. The latter, which MartinLogan calls an ATF Transducer, measures 1.5″ by 2.25″ and consists of a lightweight film of polyethylene naphthalate film with an etched aluminum voice-coil, which is sandwiched between sets of neodymium-iron-boron magnets in a rigid steel housing. This fully push-pull arrangement is operationally comparable to ML’s push-pull electrostatic drivers in its dipolar radiation pattern and in being driven over its entire surface. No external power source is required, but the tweeter’s size means that it’s crossed over to the midrange-woofers at 2.5kHz rather than operating over close to full range, as in ML’s larger electrostatic drivers. On the other hand, the Montage’s size, configuration, and finish will make more than a pair of them domestically acceptable in a wider range of homes, as required by multichannel systems.

Link (Stereophile.com)

Library to showcase pianist

She’s only 17 years old, but pianist Rachel Naomi Kudo has already given recitals and concerto performances around the world. As part of Chopin Festival 2005, Kudo will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Broward County Main Library, 100 S. Andrews Ave., Fort Lauderdale.

At age 16, Kudo performed Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No. 1 with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and played Falla’s Nights in the Gardens of Spain with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She is a three-time scholarship recipient of the Miami-based Chopin Foundation of the United States.

The suburban Chicago teenager was most recently named second-prize winner at the Seventh National Chopin Competition of the United States, and she was also the youngest prizewinner. She was named a 2004 Davidson Fellow Laureate, a prestigious $50,000 scholarship award endowed by the Davidson Institute of Talent Development in Reno, Nev. She also won the 2003 Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Joseph and Bessie Feinberg Youth Auditions.

Link (SunSentinel.com)

George Winston to play Hiroshima’s A-bombed piano

Renowned pianist George Winston will play the grand piano that was repaired after having been damaged in the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima at a concert to be held in the city.

Winston has had a strong interest in peace activities and the atomic bombing in Hiroshima. On his 1995 album, “Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes,” he took inspiration from the true story of Sadako Sasaki, an atomic-bomb victim who died of leukemia at the age of 12, in 1955.

The girl hoped for recovery right up until her death. She believed she would be cured by folding 1,000 paper cranes.

The piano, which was made in the early Taisho era (1912-1926), is extremely valuable. The piano was in a primary school about two kilometers from ground zero on Aug. 6, 1945. After the bombing, it was repaired and played a great role in nurturing musicians in the early days of the city’s Elizabeth University of Music.

Link (Daily Yomiuri Online)

Sony ACID Pro 5.0 Review

Key enhancements make ACID Pro 5.0 a worthwhile upgrade.

Many music makers, both amateurs and pros, use Sony’s loop-based audio editor for creating backing audio for videos and even songwriting. ACID is popular because it’s both relatively easy to use and powerful, with an intuitive interface that makes it simple to drag audio onscreen.

The best new feature in version 5.0 is a Media Manager that lets you catalogue all your samples and assign metadata, a godsend for those with huge sample collections. Unfortunately, all tags have to be added manually. The application relies on Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Edition (MSDE) to store the data, which ends up being quite resource-hungry — a memory footprint of 165MB was measured during operation.

Link (APC Mag)

Performer X profile

limb_clock writes a personal profile of Performer X. He writes:

Performer X knew that he was not a normal performer. He never wanted to be known what he looked like by his fans and enemies alike, for he wanted to still be able to walk the streets and do what he pelased, without a horde of paparazzis behind his ack watching every move he made. In the early performances he held, he was known to wear a traffic cone on his head, with hotles for mouth and eyes and diving glasses covering the hole made for the eyes. Later on, the traffic cone became too heavy and hot to use in public performances, and it was replaced with a Buff scarf, black baseball cap and unglasses. His performances were ladded with mystery, weird sounds, as well as haunting backdrop images, that were self designed.

Link

Dr. Herb Silverstein improvisational performance

May 22, 2005, renowned surgeon and pianist, Dr. Herb Silverstein will bring music to your ears with his quintessential brand of original jazz compositions and improvisational delights guaranteed to leave your senses in a heightened state.

Dr. Silverstein, a classical pianist in his youth, decided to forego studying music to become a physician. It would be 30 years before he touched the keyboard again. He relearned piano at the age of 48 with help of friend and mentor, Richard Drexler (who has recorded over 300 CDs including such artists as Mike Stern, Gary Burton, Danny Gottlieb, and Dave Liebman).

Silverstein’s latest CD is the result of many hours of love and dedication that has delivered a masterfully inspired release called “Beach Walker,” consisting of 12 original Silverstein compositions. The CD features Dr. Herb Silverstein (Piano), Richard Drexler (Acoustic Bass), Joel Spencer & Steve Moretti (Drums), Jack Wilkins (Flute), with special guests The Lobster String Quartet. Strolling along a soft, sandy shore has provided inspiration for countless people through the ages; today, those same feelings abound and are demonstrated in this eclectic assortment of original songs masterminded by Dr. Herb Silverstein.

Link (ejazznews)

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