Bitcarel Software has annonouced the availability of iRecordMusic 1.2. This utility was previously named RAW. It enables you to surf and record Internet audio streams to MP4-AAC and now AIFF. You can record multiple radio streams, Hollywood movie trailer soundtracks and news webcasts at the same time. Recorded files are iPod compatible and iRecordMusic now integrates with iCal.

iRecordMusic 1.2 costs US $20.00.

The following has been published on Waldorf site regarding the company's insolvency. it brings some hope at least.

Ergonis software has announced that it has released version 2.0 of its MIDI sequencer software Easy Beat. With this release, Easy Beat runs on (and requires) Mac OS X and features up to 16 song tracks plus a metronome track, 100+ instruments and drum kits with the software synthesizer, score printing, import and export of standard MIDI files and export of QuickTime movies and AIFF files.

Easy Beat 2.0 costs US$89 and a demo version is available.

Lawrence Fritts, Director of the Electronic Music Studios of the the University of Iowa has created a Musical Instrument Samples library. All instruments were recorded in the Anechoic Chamber in the Wendell Johnson Center and are posted on AIFF files. Sounds are available for free download with no restrictions on their use: only the friendly reminder that "the Iowa University music studio appreciates hearing about any research publications or works that utilize the database."

Ed: Ah, music samples with the spirit of free academic sharing -- great, right? This isn't really news, as the library has been around for a while, but worth a reminder if you haven't checked it out yet. -PK

Our colleagues at the excellent French site MacPlus have put their hands on a recently registered a patent for a "synthesizer face" registered by Apple in Europe. The Emagic look is obvious. Who knows if this patent will some day become a reality, but this highlights Apple's intentions to link with the music world, and not only the music playback / MP3 market.

English Ed: Always some interesting fodder in the patent registries. It's clearly an analog-inspired synth based on the front panel: look at the selectors for sin, square, triangle waveforms on the front! Other than that, a bit hard to tell exactly what it does, and this could be a component of something else. But nice to dream, whether or not this becomes a finished product. -PK