Way Out Ware's TimewARP 2600 virtual emulation of the classic ARP 2600 analog synthesizer, already available in RTAS format for Windows and Mac, will soon be available in VST and AudioUnit formats. It can also be used standalone. TimewARP 2600 replicates every detail of this classic instrument popularized by music pioneers such as The Who's Pete Townsend, Weather Report's Joe Zawinul, Stevie Wonder and Edgar Winter, while adding features that make it even more user friendly. A classic ARP 2600 sound without the headache of maintenance.

ps Clouvel : TimewARP from Way Out Ware is expected to ship in July at an MSRP of $249.95. M-Audio is the exclusive worldwide distributor.

Apple announces its new "recording deal". If you buy Logic Pro 7 with a PowerBook, Power Mac, or Xserve between July 25, 2005, and October 25, 2005, you'll save $500, after mail-in rebate. This offer appears to be a good deal, but it's a strange deal indeed : Apple runs Logic Pro 7 on Xserve and not on new iBooks ?

Yamaha and Arturia announce they have signed an exclusive distribution and marketing agreement. Yamaha will now be the sole distributor Arturia products in the United States. Arturia,maker of virtual software synthesizers based in Grenoble, France is well known for creating realistic sounding virtual recreations of vintage analog synthesizers (minimoo, Moog Modular V and...CS-80).

Smartelectronix.com announces a preview version of LiveCut. LiveCut is a plugin dedicated to breakbeat Cutting inspired by Nick Collins library for SuperCollider called BBCut.

This preview version is available as download in the MacMusic software section.

The Lone Roger announces that MultiVST Shell is updated to version 3.2. This release supports ReWire - it can be used to host VSTi's and play them into Pro Tools, for example, and its built-in arpeggiator can be synced to an external sequencer. It also sports an improved VST fx matrix. VST shell is a shell for VST instruments, to enable you to use them outside of your usual VST host. Multi VST Shell is a multitimbral version, enabling 4 VSTi's to be played at once.