As we guessed 3 weeks ago, Apple today introduced Logic Pro 7 ($999 / £699) and Logic Express 7 ($299 / £199). Logic Pro 7 includes breakthrough new software instruments such as Sculpture, a component-modeling based synthesizer; UltraBeat, an innovative and powerful drum machine; and new plug-ins including Guitar Amp Pro, a full-featured guitar amplifier simulator. Along with over 100 workflow enhancements, new mastering plug-ins and support for Apple Loops, Logic Pro 7 debuts distributed audio processing, a revolutionary technology which allows audio pros to tap into a virtually unlimited number of Macs to expand available Digital Signal Processing (DSP) power.

Logic Pro 7 is available now through the Apple Store, Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. Registered users of Logic Pro 6 as well as Logic Platinum, Logic Gold 5 or Logic Gold 6 can upgrade to Logic Pro 7 for $299 (£199). Logic Express 7 will be available in October.

The virtual synth Albino by LinPlug comes with a cutting-edge selection of presets designed by sound designer Rob Papen. Albino is a VST and AU plug-in synthesizer for Mac and features a modular, extensible design with three oscillator modules, two filter modules, two envelope modules and eight effect modules. The synth is 32-note polyphonic (CPU-dependent) with up to four oscillators per voice. This new version 2.1 features a new Gator Effect, MIDI Bank Select, many new presets and bugfixes.

Info and download from the MM Softs section.

Developpers : Have you created a compliant audio unit or audio unit hosting application for Mac OS X? Tell the world by using the Audio Units logo. This update provides enhancements for more complete verification of compliance with the specification.

MacMusic is seven years old! The oldest members (Celmo, Sophia...) remember it as if it was just yesterday: on Sept 29th 1997, a discussion mailing list called MacMusic appeared on the internet! One year later, a web page was redirecting this list, and during 1999, MacMusic was making its first steps as a website. No bugs were seen in early 2000, but the mailing list disappeared, and classified ads together with the links directory were born.  2001 was a great year, as it witnessed the birth of the forum and, at the end of the same year, MacMusic became fully bilingual, looking quite the same as the site you know today.

Let's pay tribute to its founder, Soif, and to the various section staff: June Bug (Software), Miss Kiki (Articles), Babaille (Classifieds), LePetitMartien and the moder ...

Digidesign have posted an update 1.0.2. for its plugin Smack because Smack and Smack LE version 1.0 for Mac OS X were inadvertently set to expire on October 9th, 2004. Smack is a new professional compressor/limiter plug-in designed specifically for music applications. Smack features three compression modes, unique compression ratios, and harmonic distortion ideally suited for achieving a wide range of sonic variations and colorations. Additionally, the plug-in supports side-chain processing, multi-channel track types, and the full range of ProTools sample rates and plug-in formats.

Version 1.0.2 has no expiration date for the fully licensed version