In cooperation with Elixir Strings, Elixir Cables and SonicBids.com, Taylor Guitars has announced the five finalists of the Acoustic Test Drive 2010 contest. Selected by popular vote and a panel of judges, the five acts include soulful singer-songwriter Anamieke Quinn, contemporary folk-rocker Andy Brown, energetic songwriter-guitarist Jerry Stamp, plus a pair of bands: polished pop-rockers Goodnight Sunrise, along with Senator and the New Republic, whose melodic sound blends mellow moods and haunting vocals. Strumming their 300 or 400 Series Taylors equipped with Elixir Strings and Cables, the artists are vying for the Grand Prize: a selection of free gear from Taylor and Elixir, as well as session time at New York City's Tainted Blue Studios to record with their world-class guitars, strings and cables.

 

Now through September 15, fans can vote for their favorite artist by visiting the Test Drive page at

http://testdriveacoustic.taylorguitars.com/ While there, be sure to watch the videos created especially for the competition by each of the artists.

We are pleased to announce the availability of USB Drivers, WAV Converters and Rhythm Editors for the BOSS BR-800 Digital Recorder.

Augustus Loop v2.3.1 is released. Only the Windows VST version is updated.

* Fixed an issue with the Prefs button.
* Fixed an issue where knobs would not work correctly if the mouse was dragged off the top of the plug-in window.

Download now from the downloads page.

Driven by popular demand, three coveted audio processors developed by MOTU are now available for RTAS, Audio Units, and VST3 host software on Mac OS X. Inspired by British analogue console EQs, the MasterWorks EQ delivers the look, feel, and sound of the most sought-after classic equalizers. The MasterWorks Leveler is a uniquely accurate model of the legendary Teletronix LA-2A optical leveling amplifier. ProVerb is a CPU-efficient convolution reverb plug-in that delivers the sound of stunningly realistic acoustic spaces to any track or mix.

Toontrack Music has teamed up with Steven Slate to bring you premium producer presets designed by Steven Slate himself for the sample engine and core sound library of Superior Drummer 2.0

The presets carry Stevens highly prolific signature sound into Superior Drummer and will give Superior Drummer yet another edge.

· Comes with seven (7) different presets (Basic Rock, Cranky Funky Rock, Fat Metal, Fat Rock, Lively Rock, Punchy Rock, Radio Rock), engineered and designed by Steven Slate
· Works with the core Sound Library in Superior Drummer 2.0

Click here to check out the Steven Slate Presets

While your thinking about presets - dont forget to check out the Allen Morgan presets for Superior Drummer 2.0 as well.
Allans work as a producer & remix artist for top acts all around the globe have led him to develop a set of presets to take the guess work out of achieving that major label sound.

Classic analog gear, known for organic tone shaping, add to the foundation for the new blockbuster Leonardo DiCaprio film INCEPTION. The Electro-Harmonix Stereo Polychorus sweeps its evolving and dense textures joining up with classic rack modules to define the dreamframe moment.

Link to movie website
http://inceptionmovie.warnerbros.com/
Creating the sounds of dreams featuring supervising sound editor and sound designer Richard King, Re-recording Mixer Lora Hirschberg, and Re-recording mixer Gary Rizzo.

Movie Studio:
Warner Bros. Pictures

Directed by:
Christopher Nolan

Original Music by:
Hans Zimmer
Johnny Mars

Movie Synopsis:
Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a skilled thief, the best in the dangerous art of extraction: stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the dream state when the mind is at its most vulnerable. Cobb’s rare ability has made him a coveted player in this treacherous new world of corporate espionage, but it has also made him an international fugitive and cost him everything he has ever loved. Now Cobb is being offered a chance at redemption. One last job could give him his life back but only if he can accomplish the impossible—inception. Instead of the perfect heist, Cobb and his team of specialists have to pull off the reverse; their task is not to steal an idea but to plant one. If they succeed, it could be the perfect crime.

Classic analog gear, known for organic tone shaping, adds to the foundation for the new blockbuster Leonardo DiCaprio film INCEPTION. The Electro-Harmonix Stereo Polychorus sweeps its evolving and dense textures joining up with classic rack modules to define the dreamframe moment.

Link to movie website
http://inceptionmovie.warnerbros.com/
Creating the sounds of dreams featuring supervising sound editor and sound designer Richard King, Re-recording Mixer Lora Hirschberg, and Re-recording mixer Gary Rizzo.

Movie Studio:
Warner Bros. Pictures

Directed by:
Christopher Nolan

Original Music by:
Hans Zimmer
Johnny Mars

Movie Synopsis:
Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a skilled thief, the best in the dangerous art of extraction: stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the dream state when the mind is at its most vulnerable. Cobb’s rare ability has made him a coveted player in this treacherous new world of corporate espionage, but it has also made him an international fugitive and cost him everything he has ever loved. Now Cobb is being offered a chance at redemption. One last job could give him his life back but only if he can accomplish the impossible—inception. Instead of the perfect heist, Cobb and his team of specialists have to pull off the reverse; their task is not to steal an idea but to plant one. If they succeed, it could be the perfect crime.

Voxengo Polysquasher version 2.3 update is now available for download.  Polysquasher is a mastering compressor plugin for professional audio and sound production applications, available in AudioUnit and VST plug-in formats, for Mac OS X and Windows computers.

Version 2.3 update implements the following changes:

• The "Show All Channel Meters" routing switch added.
• Input level meter added.
• Additional visual look variation settings added.

Polysquasher was designed with a main goal: to be transparent.  Transparent compression action is a cornerstone for any mastering compressor.  Transparency of audio signal processing is necessary to preserve all existing elements in the mix, while compression itself is necessary to make the mix sound uniform to other mixes (tracks) and to make it sound more solid and “glued”.

Polysquasher features:

• Transparent compression sound
• Real-time gain reduction graph
• 8 built-in compressor modes
• Compressor mode editor
• Multi-channel processing
• Internal channel routing
• Channel grouping
• Mid/side processing
• Up to 8x linear-phase oversampling
• 64-bit floating point processing
• Preset manager
• Undo/redo history
• A/B comparisons
• Contextual hint messages
• 22-millisecond processing latency

Polysquasher is available for purchase on-line for USD 69.95.  Demo version of Voxengo Polysquasher and other pro audio plug-ins can be downloaded at the Voxengo web site: http://www.voxengo.com/

When it comes to the art of mastering, few can claim to have garnered as much experience as Denis Blackham. Now embarking upon his 5th decade at the controls, Denis has distilled the perfect home mastering set up, making Skye Mastering one of the most sought-after facilities for mastering. And not just with UK clients - broadband and a decent postal system have seen clients from around the world call upon his broad base of expertise.

What can I say but... w00t.

http://twitter.com/Deadmau5/status/21028658403