Future Audio Workshop, a.k.a. FAW, today announces the availability of new tutorials for their semi-modular software synthesizer Circle.

Mo Volans, a regular contributor to EQ, Remix and Music Tech Magazine, has devised a series of step by step tutorials for designing sounds with Circle.

Tutorials 1 to 4 are available now, with more being added in the coming weeks.

For a limited time, simply purchase any Digidesign Pro Tools LE FireWire-based system plus an M-Audio Axiom Pro 49 or Axiom Pro 61 MIDI controller and receive a Digidesign Virtual Instruments Box Set for free.

The Digidesign Virtual Instruments Box Set features five RTAS instruments : Hybrid, Strike, Structure, Velvet, and Xpand!

This offer is available until 17th June.

Schwa has announced the release of CMX Stereo Microshifter, a new plug-in which thickens and enhances monophonic audio by doubling the signal and applying small amounts of pitch shift and/or time delay to each side.

This technique is often applied to vocals or lead lines. With a light hand, CMX can add just enough fullness to give a part extra presence in a mix. With a heavier hand, CMX can create a rich and polished "expensive production" sound. The added presence is especially effective in musical styles that make minimal use of reverb.

CMX uses a new, unique pitch identification and shifting algorithm from Schwa that is designed and optimized for small, precise pitch shifts, from one cent to a quarter-tone, with perfect phase coherence and maximum smoothness. You can use CMX on exposed, high-quality vocal tracks with complete confidence.

CMX is available for Windows, Windows x64 and Mac OS X in VST and AU plug-in formats. Two license options are available :

• All hosts, commercial use license: $50.00.
• Reaper-only, personal use license: $30.00.

Air by 9 Soundware is an instrument in EXS24 format. The concept behind the sound set was to use sounds generated by air to create a transparent-sounding percussive instrument. Functionally similar to a hi-hat, the instrument was designed to add rhythmic movement to arrangements, but in a subtler manner.

The samples are of quick blasts of air created with a gas duster, a flyswatter, and a clothesline. The wind sounds, which are delicate and difficult to control, were painstakingly recorded, edited, and programmed into an EXS24 instrument with a high level of sonic detail. While minimalist in approach, the sound set features a wide range of timbres, with many variations on simple bursts to complex sounds that capture the motion of the objects.

Air includes 84 sounds (sampled at 2-21 velocities for a total of 402 samples) that are mapped across a 7 octave range in an EXS24 instrument.

The 28 MB download includes 1 .EXS file and 402 WAV files (24-bit/44.1 kHz).

Air is available now for $29.99 at :

Akai Professional announces that the APC40 Ableton Performance Controller is now available for purchase worldwide. For the record, the APC40 is a control surface developed specifically for Ableton Live software.

The ACP40 has a retail price of $599 and an estimated street price of $399.