Here is good news from AES and for a nice piece of software. Celemony announces the imminent arrival of Melodyne 3. This new version offers a new algorithm that allows any type of audio material to profit from Melodyne's unique editing functions and sound quality; in other words, Melodyne is no longer limited to the editing of melodies but can handle homophonic and polyphonic textures. Melodyne3 also offers fully automatic analysis of the audio material, powerful macros for the correction of intonation and timing errors, and numerous improvements in the user interface.

Melodyne 3 is scheduled for release in November 2005. Melodyne 3 studio (the full edition with the new polyphonic time stretching) will cost 699 euros; The upgrade to Melodyne3 will cost registered cre8 users 99 euros and users of the studio edition 149 euros. For purchases registered after the 1st September 2005, the upgrade will be free.

Another new product announced by native Instruments at AES New York is Bandstand, a highly versatile software instrument designed as the solution for musicians, performers and producers that work with the General MIDI format. This sound module and MIDI player comes with 2 Gigabyte of instrument and percussion sounds, 128 instruments and 9 drum kits. It can be used both as a stand-alone sound module and playback device, or as an instrument plug-in in all common host sequencers.

Bandstand will be available in November 2005 for $229.

Native Instruments unveils its new Guitar Rig 2, which will feature 8 amps, 15 guitar and 6 bass cabinets, 4 rotary speakers, 9 microphones with adjustable positioning and over 40 effects. At the heart of Guitar Rig 2 is the new Rig Kontrol 2, a multi-functional and fully stage-ready foot pedal featuring six foot switches, a multi-functional pedal, an integrated audio interface with inputs optimized for guitar and bass, MIDI and USB.

Guitar Rig 2 will be available in November 2005 for $579.

Native Instruments announces new versions of its Komplete products line that will be available immediately, including now :

- NI Komplete 3, which now contains Elektrik Piano, Guitar Rig and the upcoming new B4;
- NI Komplete Sound 2 contains full range of sound banks and sample libraries for Reaktor, Kontakt, Battery, FM7, Absynth and B4 in a single box;
- NI Komplete Care 2006 is the continuation of NI's update plan.

Komplete 3 is now available for $1499, Komplete Sound 2 for $339 and Komplete Care 2006 for $279 (introductory price valid until December 31st 2005).

Digidesign announces Pro Tools 7 software (shipping soon). The new software will be available for Pro Tools|HD, Pro Tools LE , and Pro Tools M-Powered systems. Pro Tools 7 software is also a cross-platform release, supporting Mac OS10.4 ("Tiger"). New Pro Tools features new music creation tools such as Instrument Tracks for simple and straightforward integration of virtual instruments, non-destructive real-time MIDI processing, and the ability to work with industry-standard REX and ACID files. It also includes new optimizations for our host processing engine that boosts RTAS plug-in counts by as much as 150% on multi-processor computers.

Anyone who purchased a new Pro Tools|HD, Pro Tools LE, or an upgrade to Pro Tools TDM 6.9.x or Pro Tools LE 6.9x software on or after September 1, 2005, is automatically eligible for a free upgrade to the corresponding version of Pro Tools 7 software.