XLN Audio has just announced the availability of a demo version of its "Complete Drum Production Studio" Addictive Drums.

The good news is that this demo version is a fully functional software which is not time limited ! You can load and save presets, get a taste of the Beats and Fills (Midi Library) and tweak away on the built in insert effects and reverbs etc. It includes some tasty presets that give you a good idea of what AD is capable off.

Limitations :

- Only 1 Kick, 1 snare, 1 Hihat and 1 Crash is provided.
- The real version ships with lots of different drums, cowbells and cymbals.
- A very limited "taste" of the rhythms in the AD Midi Library is provided.
- The real version has over 3000 Midi files.

QuikQuak has released Crowd Chamber, an audio plug-in that layers multiple variations of a signal to create a crowd simulation. Up to almost 2,000,000 layers can be produced enabling simple chorusing effects, small crowds and stadiums, on to impossible situations and effects.

When each voice is mixed, it is altered in varying time and spectral content, making unique versions of itself to create the illusion of different sources. This effect can be fed back onto itself to create many thousands of voices in real-time.

Once the concept had been created it became clear that Crowd Chamber could create far more than simple crowd scenes. Because of the feedback, wave cancellations, and, simply, the thousands of layers, it is the perfect tool for creating strange and twisted effects.
Crowd ...

Heavyocity Media has announced the release of Evolve, a new virtual instrument that "supercharges creativity and streamlines productivity for modern composers and sound designers".

Created by the TV and video game composers from Heavy Melody Music & Sound Design, Evolve is a virtual instrument powered by Native Instruments' Kontakt 2 Player. With an emphasis on the dramatic, it is geared toward film and game audio, as well as artist production and live performance. Sonically, Evolve doesn't just contain the typical sounds that form the foundation of most composers' setups. Instead, it accentuates them with a powerful combination of diverse percussion, massive stings/transitions and evocative tonalities in ways that have "never been heard before".

Evolve's signature collection feature ...

Softube has just announced that the Acoustic Feedback Deluxe plug-in for Pro Tools HD and VENUE is now shipping.

Acoustic Feedback is the first ever realistic simulation of guitar feedback. Softube has expanded on this concept in Acoustic Feedback Deluxe, which allows the user to choose which harmonics will dominate during feedback, providing greater control over the result. For even more sonic possibilities, an optional sub-harmonic function has been added, allowing the plug-in to feedback at half the fundamental frequency, providing a deeper, smoother effect.

Features :

- Added functionality: Choose harmonics with the Harmonic Selector
- Added functionality: Sub-harmonic modeling
- Realistic simulation (physical modeling) of guitar feedback.
- Fully responsive to vibratos, bends, slides, tremolos etc.
- Simple user interface: Control amount of feedback with the Feedback knob, and the sensitivity with a Tolerance knob.

Acoustic Feedback Deluxe is at the present only available as a TDM plug-in at a price of $199 excl. VAT.

Schwa has just released a new plug-in called Oligarc Filter which is described as a sophisticated emulation of a classic analog ladder filter complete with nonlinearity, instability, character, good looks, and danger.

Features :

- Resonant Filter: lowpass (bludgeon) / wide bandpass (cleaver) / narrow bandpass (scalpel).
- Brickwall Limiter: Engages a soft-clipping limiter to protect your delicate organic structures.
- Fully MIDI-controllable.

Oligarc Filter is available now for Mac OS X and Windows in VST and AU formats at a price of $20. Note that all proceeds for this plug-in will be donated to the alliance for climate protection.