For the first time since the start of the company Toontrack Music have agreed to allow a 3rd party producer to independently produce and sell an audio expansion for a Toontrack software platform.

Platinum Samples are one of the worlds leading producers of sampled drums, and quoting Toontrack Music CEO Andreas Sundgren, "Their products are cutting edge recordings. We are excited about and are looking forward to a long term collaboration with Platinum Samples"

Platinum Samples owner, Shivaun OʼBrien says "The symbiotic relationship of our samples with Toontracksʼ drum software is very exciting and weʼre honored.

This collaboration is a natural extension of both Toontrack Music and Platinum Samplesʼ product lines, and we look forward to a long and rewarding relationship."

The first joint release, planned for Q4 2009, is the well-known title "Joe Barresi Evil Drums" as an SDX expansion pack for Superior Drummer 2.0.

After four years of intensive development and extensive real-world gig beta testing, Devine Machine is proud to announce his revolutionary looper: Cycler.

Cycler is a totally new approach to looping on computers, designed to simplify creating music, with or without your screen!

Cycler is a radical departure from hardware emulation software and contains powerful and truly unique functions, such as multiple loop length capabilities, a comprehensive battery of effects and infinite undos for each of the 16 loopers, among many other truly unique features.

It aims to ease and simplify the relationship between musician and computer.

Release date is set for early 2010, price is not yet fixed. Versions for all platforms will be included with purchase. An extensive feature list will be communicated by October 2009.

A commented video demonstrating Cycler in a live gig can be found here :

Swayzak, UK artisans of compelling electronica, have made an exclusive, free Live Set for you to download. In their own words:

"We take a fairly unstructured path to making a Live Set. Clips are grouped by type (beats, bass, percussion etc) but we don't usually split a track into stems in order to replay it. We assign key commands to mute each track plus key commands which turn the global effects on and off (on the master channel). We have two sends (reverb and delay); this provides some space and, of course, "dubbiness." It's important to really know all the sounds—we usually go through and listen to each one on solo during preparation for a gig (we also delete or transform them if they are boring).

Then it's a process of improvisation, as we build up songs using the clips. The aim ...

Vengeance Sound announces the launch of its new plug-in series dedicated to dance music with the release of the Vengeance Producer Suite - Multiband Sidechain plug-in.

Features :

• High quality 2-band EQ with smooth FFT in the background.
• Total control over 2 independent sidechain channels (Low and Hi).
• Unique GUI (exact display of the audible sidechain effect).
• Freely configurable main display with 8 predefined scenes.
• Free choice: you can trigger the sidechain with Audio signals, MIDI notes or host sync.
• 32 "powerful and pumpin'" dance presets by Manuel Schleis.
• Also includes the "VPS Transmitter" plug-in.

Vengeance Producer Suite - Multiband Sidechain is available for Windows and Mac OS X in VST and AU effect plug-in formats. It costs €99. Not that a Syncrosoft Dongle / Steinberg Key is required but of course not supplied.

FXpansion has just announced the release of DCAM: Synth Squad, their brand new suite of advanced synthesizer instruments. The advanced DCAM analogue modelling technology carefully reconstructs the sound of vintage hardware on your computer at a fraction of the cost.


At the heart of DCAM: Synth Squad are three modeled synthesizers - Strobe, Amber and Cypher - bulging with the weight and power of old-skool analogue, according to FXpansion. These are no mere emulations stunted by the limitations of the past. Instead, they combine the best features from legendary machines with new and exciting ideas to drag them kicking and screaming into the modern world. Also included is Fusor, a semi-modular layering and performance environment for the DCAM synths with a high-quality FX suite, advanced step-sequencer/arpeggiator and flexible modulation.