The news was around for 2 weeks but it's official now, after the Intel/Apple deal, another earthshaking event: Peter Gabriel has bought Solid State Logic in a joint venture with David Engelke (a broadcast industry entrepreneur). As other pro audio companies are either going down or bought up by founds who don't know a pot from a driver licence, it's great to see music professionals and a musician in particular preserve one of the best desk manufacturer out there.

The business will stay in Oxford and will continue issuing some "little" mixing stuff ;) Also, David told about going to a broader market... Will it mean something for the rest of us? I hope so!

Sonicfire Pro 3.2.2 is a soundtrack creation software. This updated version adds support for QuickTime 7, faster Maestro Performance, ability to import more types of WAVE file headers, ability to read Final Cut Pro Scoring Markers, enhanced shortcut key access to menu items, ability to export directly to Flash MX, and much more.

This update is available as a free download.

Ueberschall has released Liquid Saxophone, in close collaboration with Celemony. Liquid Saxophone is based on Celemony's Melodyne software and contains more than 1000 Sax samples (baritone, alto, tenor and soprano-saxophone). All parameters (single note pitches, formants, note lengths, scales, tempo, ..) can be edited easily. The Saxophone edition contains a range of styles played such as bar-jazz, swing, bebop, bossa novas, latin brazil styles, and many more...

Liquid Saxophone is available in plug-in (RTAS, VST, AudioUnits) and standalone versions .It costs 169 euros, and a demo version is available.

Arts Acoustic announces an updated version 1.0.1.4 for ArtsAcoustic Reverb. This release adds Mac OS 10.4.1 support, a new licence system, a new documentation. This version also fixes minor bugs. ArtsAcoustic Reverb is an algorithmic reverb for mac osx which works on every sample rate, featuring low quality mode for CPU saving and 7 different room characteristics.

Synful Orchestra is now available for MAC OSX 10.3.9 in AU and VST formats. A 21 day fully functional free trial can be downloaded on Synful web site. Online sound examples including The Rite of Spring and Beethoven String Quartet can be also heard . There you can download documentation, listen to many user demos and testimonials, and purchase Synful Orchestra.