Last week Toontrack released a free update for Superior Drummer which saw the leading drum sampler reach new heights of realism with features such as Multiple Hits Emulation which ensures that the attack of the stick is appropriately blended in when repeatedly hitting a cymbal, and Cymbal Choke/Aftertouch giving users the means to produce cymbal mutes on-the-fly, in MIDI (aftertouch or note off).

These new capabilities are showcased with the release of two new SDX expansion packs which, between them, contain a massive 64GB of raw, unprocessed sounds – making them likely to be among the world's most comprehensive drum sample libraries ever recorded.

Roots: Sticks and Roots: Brushes, Rods and Mallets are the result of Toontrack's recording sessions at Nashville's Blackbird Studio which saw the Swedish drum sampling kings' intention to create the ultimate jazz library turn into something an awful lot bigger!

Gibson Guitar has announced that at the 131st AES Convention the company will be showcasing its latest and most innovative product to date—the Firebird X

Along with the Firebird X from Gibson, this year's AES attendees will find a wealth of stimulating, challenging, entertaining and informative Workshops, Tutorials, Papers, Master Classes, Technical Tours and Special Events designed to hone their skills and recharge their batteries.
An evolution of the 1960s classic Gibson Firebird model, the Firebird X is loaded with ground-breaking technologies like fourth-generation Robot tuners for automatic tuning, onboard effects based on computer plug-in technology, and wireless Bluetooth pedals for unsurpassed usability on stage and in the studio.

Soundprovocation announces super-sale for it's sound libraries:

- "Vocalotheque" - a vocal ensemble. 6.5 GB library, 76 patches.
- "Ethnic Horns" - a full set of ancient wooden horns.
- "Ethnic Panpipes" - an extended set of Baltic panpipes.
- "Ethnic Bagpipe" - Baltic bagpipe in two tonalities - C and D.
- "Sweeps & Whooshes V2" - an upgraded collection of sound effects.

Discounts are up to 50%. The offer ends on October 31.

Zplane.development announce the availability of the newest version V1.2 of their Elastique Pitch Plugin. This version adds 64 Bit support to VST and AU and includes several updates and fixes.

What's new in V1.2:
- Supported formats: VST32/64, RTAS32, AU32/64 for Windows XP/Vista/7 and MacOS X 10.5-10.7, respectively
- Update to new pitch engine zplane élastique Pro 2.2.3 Fixes:
- Keyboard input issues
- Multi-instance instabilities o Preset handling
- Other Changes o Pitch display defaults to semi-tones instead of percent o adjust pitch & timbre in steps by holding shift when using the sliders.

When they heard of Steve Jobs's death, on October the 5th, the french rock band Bravery in Battle decided at once to write some music to pay him homage. 
They have been using the Mac to make music for almost 15 years now and it's completely part of their creative process. 
They also have been using the iPad on stage since the very first days of its  launching to trigger samples and play instruments too cumbersome to carry. 
"Without Apple and its products", they say, "we wouldn't the artists we are today.
But we didn't want to write a song, we wanted to use Steve's very words and hear his own voice. That's why we used his memorable 2005 Stanford Commencement Address. We have chosen the words which seemed the most meaningful for us and for the occasion."

As an additionnal homage, they played all the music on an iPad, with GarageBand : a Steve Jobs Tribute using only his devices and softwares. 

To make a video; they used the same Stanford Address (made on a Mac too, with Final Cut Pro X).
The resulting music video is very touching and full of energy at the same time.