Arjen and Aram of Audio Ease went by Frank Zappa's studio, the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen, to meet with Dweezil Zappa and together record the acoustics of both the tracking room and the famous Zappa echo chamber. Microphones and speaker in the echo chamber were set up just the way Frank had left them.

The resulting impulse responses can be downloaded for free for use in Altiverb, Audio Ease's convolution reverb plug- in.

Ueberschall unveils Soundscapes, a universally useful sound library, which consist mainly of dreamy moods, with smooth harmonies and off axis accents. The moods are an excellent fit for the needs of scoring, game audio, temp tracks, trailers, songs, audio logos, advertising, websites and of course as background music.

Each of the 24 Construction Kits consists of an intro, outro and a main mix. Furthermore all parts used to create the main mix are available for individual selection and every single element within a part is further broken down. With the flexible Elastik engine, you can easily mix and modify several of the 809 single-stems at once to create on-the-fly complete new moods.

By the way, you can listen to each kit as demo mp3 on Ueberschall website.

These features give yo ...

Denon DJ is shipping the new DN-HP500 Professional Headphones. The DN-HP500's are stylish, new, entry-level DJ headphones that, like Denon DJ's HP1000 and HP700 models, produce "impeccably clean and vibrant audio while withstanding the high-volume demands of today's DJs".

The DN-HP500's offer 1300mW input power, 40mm driver, 40 Ohms impedance, 103dB output, 10Hz - 28kHz frequency response, and 90-degree swivel mechanism, with comfortable ear pad and headband for prolonged periods of use.

Key Features :

• Type: Air tight Closed Dynamic
• ±90 degree Swivel Mechanism
• Driver Unit: 40-mm Neodymium Magnet
• Impedance: 40 Ohms
• Frequency Response: 10 Hz - 28kHz
• Output (Sensitivity): 103dB
• Max Input Power 1,300mW
• Cord Length: 1.2m (max. 3m)

KJ Sawka, drummer extraordinaire, has given you something special—two free Live Packs, full of live drum recordings, loops and riffs. He also produced his own movie to promote the Live Packs and give you an idea of what to expect.

The first Live Pack is called 'Mad Beatz.' Here's a personal description from the artist:

"I'm KJ Sawka and I'm excited to introduce the 'Mad Beatz' drum n' bass, dub step and breakbeat collection exclusively for Ableton Live, as a special holiday gift. I'm proud to be part of the world changing Ableton team!

'Mad Beatz' is mainly drum and beat-oriented stemming from a live acoustic drumming session recorded at the Art Institute in Seattle, Wa USA. There are also plenty of electronic drum loops, percussion, basslines and keyboard riffs."

As if that wasn't enough, there's the second Live Pack. Here's what KJ Sawka has to say about that:

"I've also included a song off my latest recording, 'Undefined Connectivity,' called 'Void of Truth.' An interesting take on drumfunk drum n' bass with a twist of lime."

U-he has updated Uhbik to v1.1, which includes the addition of a new plug-in: Uhbik-G / GrainDad.

GrainDad is a Granular pitch shifter and vast audio mangling device. Tape stop effects, reversing effects, weird metallic drones from otherwise harmless material. Try on drum loops first.

Improvements :

• Uhbik-G / GrainDad (granular pitch-shifter) added.
• Support for RTAS Mac.
• Automatable Softbypass button for click free bypass operation (each Uhbik).
• Gain slider +/- 12dB (each Uhbik).
• Support for MIDI Bank Change (CC#0), to switch through folders in MIDI Programs.
• Support for Favourite & Junk preset tagging.
• Drag'n'drop preset organisation (does not work in Logic 9.0.2).
• Some minor fixes.