Digidesign announces Strike, a new RTAS instrument plug-in that makes it easy to create, control, and produce professional drum performances in Pro Tools TDM, LE and M-Powered version 7, with uncanny realism. One part intelligent virtual drummer, one part professional drum module, Strike features a wide range of high-definition drum kits and style choices, and allows for unprecedented control over the virtual drummer's performance.

Strike is expected to ship around August 2, 2006. Price TBA.

Gleetchplug design released GLEETCHLAB 2 Beta for apple PPC G4 and G5 computers, a complete suite for sound design and glitch music authoring. Gleetchlab 2 has been used for the Bit-Scapes installation by HFR-LAB and TObor Experiment, featured at Lovebytes Festival 2006 and Onedotzero 2006 (Terrain Program), at the Institute of Contemporary arts in London.

A user manual has not yet been released. A universal binary version is not scheduled at this time.

Numerology is a modular sequencing and audio plugin environment for Mac OS X. It takes sequencing and modulation metaphors established by the analog sequencers of the 70's, and implements them in a structured and highly interactive software environment designed for experimentation, improvisation and live performance. By using Numerology in conjunction with your choice of Audio Unit plugins and hardware synths, you can create an open compositional environment that is truly your own. In the 1.4.3 version support for running under Rosetta on Intel Mac. The Version 2 include: Sequencing and MIDI processing modules, an all-new routing page, mixer scenes, a much-revised user interface, improved AU integration, and much more.

Steinberg presented a new version of its renowned Groove Agent virtual drummer plug-in at Summer NAMM 2006. Groove Agent 3 combines an expanded drum library with new virtual drumming technologies to offer a complete virtual drumming solution in one virtual instrument.Among the new features in Groove Agent 3 are two new agent player modules, namely Special Agent and Percussion Agent. The new Special Agent offers modelling of a real studio drummer based on customized audio recordings, while Percussion Agent plays a range of new percussive instruments in a large range of styles. With the new Dual Mode, any two of the three modules can be combined in a virtual jam session, offering more dynamics and variability.

Guitar Pro is a complete fingering charts editor for guitar, banjo and bass. It is a workshop for guitarists of every level to improve, compose or even simply to have some accompaniment. Guitar Pro is available for $59.