Music Industry Newswire COLUMN: In blending soul, R&B, gospel, and rock, Solomon Burke had the ability to reach from the stage and shake listeners to their very core. The might and majesty of Burke is honored in this updated version of a review of his [...]

AUSTIN, Texas /Music Industry Newswire/ — Music Computing, the maker of advanced computer-based musical instruments announced today its new ControlBLADE Gen2 line of all-in-one music keyboard production stations; powered by either Windows or Mac OS systems. Priced from $1,899, the line represents a new standard [...]

SANTA MONICA, Calif. /Music Industry Newswire/ — Singer-songwriter, Gregory Alan Isakov, will share his lyrical hit, “3am,” featured on the hit series “Brothers and Sisters,” at a special fundraiser and awards event, for the environmental education nonprofit Grades of Green. The annual awards and green [...]

Meylan, France /Music Industry Newswire/ — Based on physical modeling, the new Arturia Wurlitzer V reproduces the acoustic properties of reeds, mechanics and amplification, thus bringing high sonic realism and maximum flexibility over your tone. To get a true classic vibe, it also comes with [...]

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. /Music Industry Newswire/ — iZotope, Inc., a leading innovator in digital audio signal processing, has released iZotope Iris, a new concept in sound design and sample manipulation in the form of a “visual instrument.” Powered by iZotope’s award-winning visual feedback technology, Iris lets [...]

SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif. /Music Industry Newswire/ — Universal Audio (UA), this week announced release of the 1176 Classic Limiter Collection for the UAD-2 Powered Plug-Ins platform and new Apollo High-Resolution Audio Interface. Picking up where UA’s original 1176LN Limiting Amplifier plug-in left off, this new [...]

Pfinztal, Germany /Music Industry Newswire/ — VirSyn Software Synthesizer has announced the release of Addictive Synth Version 2. Available now in the Apple App Store, v2 features the new spectral noise generator adding a new dimension to the already huge sound universe of Addictive Synth. [...]

BERLIN, Germany /Music Industry Newswire/ — Native Instruments has announced a free update to GUITAR RIG 5 PRO which provides various new features, fixes and improvements (as you might expect from an update!); now known as version 5.1. This update provides the following new features, [...]

LOS ANGELES, Calif. /Music Industry Newswire/ — With its unprecedented fusion of synthesis and acoustic instruments, the new-generation Roland JUPITER has changed the way we play, react to, and feel a keyboard. By combining the supreme expression of the JUPITER-80 with the travel friendliness of [...]

FRANKFURT, Germany /Music Industry Newswire/ — The BG250 1×15-inch ultra-light bass combo is the first amp in history with the power to choose and replace on-board effects time and time again. The revolutionary TonePrint concept offers signature tones created by an ever-expanding list of the [...]

FRANKFURT, Germany /Music Industry Newswire/ — Spark Booster features 26 dB of boost, making it the perfect tool for enhancing existing sounds and highlighting solo or rhythm parts. For guitarists who are looking for tonal options, an active EQ consisting of a Bass and Treble [...]

Frankfurt, Germany /Music Industry Newswire/ — Dynaudio Professional introduces DBM50 – the perfect active desktop monitor featuring a 7.1 inch woofer and a 1.1 inch soft dome tweeter. All aspects of its design point towards desktop use – from the perfectly angled front over the [...]

Berkshire, UK /Music Industry Newswire/ — GForce Software has announced a new sound pack for existing users of M-Tron Pro, “The Streetly Tapes.” According to GForce, The Streetly Tapes – Vol 1 Expansion Pack for M-Tron Pro contains 24 tape banks curated from the original [...]

Music Industry Newswire COLUMN: A lot of musicians and bands are playing on any given night, at any given club in any given city. So taking a smart approach to music advertising and gig advertising when it comes to social media promotion of the performance [...]

AUSTIN, Texas /Music Industry Newswire/ — Hollywood often writes checks the real world just can’t cash, but not this time. You’ve seen them in movies like Avatar and Iron Man…those wonderful semi-transparent touchscreens, and have wondered if they are ever going to be available for [...]

BERLIN, Germany /Music Industry Newswire/ — Native Instruments today announced TRAKTOR KONTROL F1, a pad-based, USB-powered hardware controller built to control the advanced Remix Decks in the included TRAKTOR PRO 2.5 software. TRAKTOR KONTROL F1 provides 16 multi-colored, touch-sensitive LED pads, an advanced global control [...]

Pfinztal, Germany /Music Industry Newswire/ — VirSyn has announced version 2 of iVoxel for Mac; with both OSX and iPad versions of the app avaialble in the App Store. iVoxel is not only an amazingly sounding vocoder – the unique concept of iVoxel turns this [...]

Music Industry Newswire Column: Playing in rock bands, creating soundtracks for motion pictures and television, and writing modern classical music would be an impossible combination for most people but composer/performer Jocelyn Pook is succeeding in all of these arenas. Jocelyn Pook does not hear sound [...]

AUSTIN, Texas /Music Industry Newswire/ — Tired of reaching up to your computer screen to move things around with your hand and then realizing it’s not your smart phone? Well, you can finally give your computer the finger. MotionCOMMAND (Gen2) is the latest update to [...]

Music Industry Newswire REVIEW: Edward Kennedy ‘Duke’ Ellington’s music is not often discussed alongside the work of Igor Stravinsky, Bela Bartok, and Arnold Schoenberg, but Reed College professor David Schiff convincingly makes a case for comparing and contrasting the creativity of each of these composers. [...]

Berlin, Germany /Music Industry Newswire/ — Native Instruments today released DARK PRESSURE, a new MASCHINE Expansion, created in association with the acclaimed DJ and producer Steve Lawler and sound design house Loopmasters. The pack brings the sound of tough underground dance music to MASCHINE and [...]

Meylan, France /Music Industry Newswire/ — At the Winter NAMM 2012 show in Anaheim, Calif., Arturia will announce their first analog keyboard, the MINIBRUTE. Arturia announces the upcoming release of MINIBRUTE. The pure analog, multi-wave oscillator combined with a huge sounding classic multi-mode filter, and [...]

LOS ANGELES, Calif. /Music Industry Newswire/ — Roland is pleased to announce the new PK-6 Dynamic Pedalboard, an impressive MIDI controller that puts the excitement and versatility of live bass performance with full MIDI control within reach of any musician. The new PK-6 MIDI Pedal [...]

LOS ANGELES, Calif. /Music Industry Newswire/ — Roland is pleased to announce the TD-30KV and TD-30K V-Pro Series V-Drums, the new flagship kits in its industry-leading lineup of V-Drums electronic percussion. Featuring SuperNATURAL sounds with Behavior Modeling technology, improved V-Hi-Hat® and V-Pads™, and many more [...]

LOS ANGELES, Calif. /Music Industry Newswire/ — Industry giants Roland and Fender are proud to introduce the VG Stratocaster G-5, an amazingly versatile electronic guitar that fuses traditional design with the latest in digital music technology. Combining Roland’s revolutionary COSM modeling with Fender’s classic Stratocaster [...]

LOS ANGELES, Calif. /Music Industry Newswire/ — Roland, the premier manufacturer of quality organs for home, church, and stage, is pleased to announce the most recent addition to their MUSIC ATELIER family. The AT-900 ‘Platinum Edition’ boasts a newly-designed cabinet, expanded voice palette and features [...]

Music Industry Newswire COLUMN: The sound of threatening and dangerous music almost changed forever with the genre-bending tracks from White Zombie. They blazed briefly, but the economics of their situation caused an implosion and music is the loser.

Music Industry Newswire NEWS: Akai this week revealed their second of three new MPC-flavored products, as a follow on to the groovy new MPC Renaissance “Music Production Controller.” The small, and shiny, MPC Studio is a slimline (one inch thick) controller that has traditional MPC style control buttons to right side of the familiar 4×4 MPC drum pads, then instead of knobs or sliders on left, are larger DJ-friendly dial-knobs.

Paris, France /Music Industry Newswire/ — Emulation II features a set of unique instruments to reproduce that typical music from the 80s: from warm digital sounds to the most analog-ish textures. Sounds were recorded and carefully selected from the authentic restored instrument, with the very best analog and digital gear.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. /Music Industry Newswire/ — Moog Music has announced the release of Minitaur, the newest addition to Moog’s Taurus Bass Synthesizer family. Minitaur is a compact and powerful analog bass synthesizer that features a classic one knob per function layout.

Music Industry Newswire NEWS: Just in time for the 2012 January NAMM show, Akai Professional has announced a new line of MPC-branded music gear, starting with the gorgeous ‘MPC Renaissance’ which looks like the Borg step-child of a MPD MIDI controller and the MPC-5000, but better. The Music Production Controller claims to fuse ‘legendary MPC production with the power of your computer’ with a Vintage Mode changing the sound character to MPC3000, MPC60 (8 to 16-bit sound), with 16 backlit MPC pads, 16 Q-Link controls, and adjustable backlit LCD screen.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. /Music Industry Newswire/ — Based out of mostly sunny San Diego, Calif., Mr. Mike Shirk, an artist and former ad exec, is living with an illness called inclusion body myositis. To deal with his health issues he launched a blog called lifedisabled.com [...]

Music Industry Newswire COLUMN: Some of today’s rock music has excitement, power, and a terrific touch of sinful intent. But in addition to those things, Punk music had danger. By looking back, can we look forward to a rock resurgence?

NEW GEAR: Inventor and iOS app developer Alex Smith of Alkex Instruments is back with his latest foray into MIDI controllers, with his ‘Ball Beats’ MIDI step sequencer product. Unlike his somewhat failed stab at creating a wood and knobs controller for virtual instruments earlier this year, this new product looks polished, and has a boutique coolness…

GRENOBLE, France /Music Industry Newswire/ — Arturia, in partnership with the late Bob Moog, made a faithful reproduction of one of the most famous series of synthesizers: the Moog Modular. Version 2.6 expands the already amazing feature set with: MIDI Control Assignment Improvement; Support for 64-bit VST and Audio Unit; Support for Pro Tools 9 and 10; Support for Mac OSX 10.7 (Lion).

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. /Music Industry Newswire/ — iZotope, Inc., a leading innovator in digital audio signal processing, announces the release of Ozone 5 and Ozone 5 Advanced. Ozone 5 is an update to iZotope’s critically acclaimed software mastering suite. Ozone 5 Advanced is a professional mastering [...]

AUSTIN, Texas /Music Industry Newswire/ — Open Labs, LLC, the industry leader and pioneer for nearly a decade in all-in-one music production workstations, is proud to expand its product line by introducing, Music OS 3.0. Music OS 3.0 or MOS (moss) is the world’s first [...]

Music Industry Newswire COLUMN: Smoothly written and dynamic, Sean Wilentz’ book is full of insight, commentary, and historical perspective about songwriting’s greatest poet. Like his subject, the work is reflection and refraction of fact, fancy, and fable.

Music Industry Newswire COLUMN: Storytellers are to be cherished and Clark Terry should be on a pedestal for his thoroughly entertaining autobiography. Brimming with life, love, music, and great characters, this book is as much a history of the twentieth century as it is a history of his ninety years (and counting!) .

AUSTIN, Texas /Music Industry Newswire/ — Music Computing, the makers of all-in-one keyboard production stations and multi-touch touchscreens announced today its new line of Mac OS X compatible keyboard and music production stations. ControlBLADEs are all-in-one music production stations complete with piano keys, drum trigger [...]

Music Industry Newswire REVIEW: With so many XLR to USB adapters now available on the market, it’s tough to decide upon which interface will be the best bang for the buck. The Shure x2u XLR to USB Adapter has shot out in front of the [...]

BERGEN, Norway /Music Industry Newswire/ — The third volume in the Octagon series: “Battle Without Dishonour” is an instrumental hip hop album and contains some of Age Rissnes’ all-time favourite tracks in the dance genre – Harlequins Enigma refuses to leave the dance scene as [...]

Risskov, Denmark /Music Industry Newswire/ — From classic power metal over ultra-tight thrash riffs to a complete riot of unleashed power, this pedal is the ultimate one-stop station for all things heavy! TC Electronic’s Rottweiler Distortion goes the extra mile and delivers an unparalleled sound [...]

GRENOBLE, France /Music Industry Newswire/ — ARTURIA has announced its fourth and most sophisticated keyboard in the Analog Experience series: Analog Experience THE LABORATORY 61 keys, is now shipping. Analog Experience THE LABORATORY 61 is a 61-note MIDI keyboard with velocity and aftertouch-sensitive keys that [...]

NEWS /Music Industry Newswire/ — KV331 Audio announces the release of version 2.5 of their semi-modular synthesizer and effect plug-in SynthMaster – finally out of BETA. With version 2.5, SynthMaster becomes a cross-platform plug-in running on Windows (32/64 bits) and Mac OSX (32 bits) operating [...]

Music Industry Newswire REVIEW: Mysterious goth band The Catholic Comb created a disturbing smoky concoction in 2005 and then apparently remained underground. Yeah, I hadn’t heard of them, either, but now that I know, I’m a convert. Sometimes a good album goes unnoticed. For a [...]

Music Industry Newswire COLUMN: Larry John McNally uses emotion like a paintbrush when creating songs. You may not know his name, but you’ve heard his work performed by Eagles, Bonnie Raitt, Don Henley, Aaron Neville, Joe Cocker, Rod Stewart, Jennifer Warnes, Atlantic Starr, Average White [...]

DENVER, Colo. /Music Industry Newswire/ — Singer/author Dee Dee Phelps is now performing in Doo Wop Shows nationally. “Dick and Dee Dee” will appear at the Denver Paramount Theatre as part of the Ultimate Doo Wop Show on October 29, 2011 at 8 p.m. Also [...]

Berlin, Germany /Music Industry Newswire/ — Native Instruments today announced DAMAGE, a new instrument that provides hard-hitting cinematic percussion for professional movie scoring and high-impact music production. Created by premier sound design house Heavyocity and powered by the latest KONTAKT 5 engine, this unique sonic [...]

HAMBURG, Germany /Music Industry Newswire/ — Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH today released its new CMC controllers. Dedicated to Steinberg’s Cubase advanced music production system, the six USB-powered CMC units offer an integrated control solution that provides a desirable degree of flexibility and configurability. The CMC [...]

ASHEVILLE, N.C. /Music Industry Newswire/ — A raffle to benefit the Bob Moog Foundation begins today. Two lucky winners will each receive the new impOSCar2 Controller from Touch Digital Controllers and an entire suite of five virtual instruments from GForce software—a prize package valued at [...]

Music Industry Newswire COLUMN: Until a few days ago, Nektar was nothing more than a puzzling footnote to me. According to everything I had read, this band was a standout progressive rock outfit in Europe during the nineteen seventies. Not making it big in the [...]

Music Industry Newswire COLUMN: Buddy Holly. Songwriter. Rock and pop star. Not a one-hit or two-hit wonder, but a 27-hit wonder, all in about 18 months of worldwide fame. Born September 7, 1936, died February 3, 1959, but his songs will live until there is no more music.

Berlin, Germany /Music Industry Newswire/ — Native Instruments today announced MASCHINE MIKRO, a highly affordable new entry into the world of its popular groove production system. By combining the full-featured MASCHINE software with a streamlined and compact controller, MASCHINE MIKRO makes the acclaimed tactile and [...]

Scotts Valley, Calif. /Music Industry Newswire/ — Universal Audio (UA), a leading manufacturer of high-quality audio recording hardware and software, is proud to announce that the Ampex ATR-102 Mastering Tape Recorder – considered by many engineers to be the best-sounding tape machine for final mixdown [...]

HAIFA, Israel /Music Industry Newswire/ — V-Plugs introduces Mr. Soundman, a challenging free ear training game for music producers and sound engineers. Mr. Soundman is a powerful tool for assessing and improving frequency detection, a critical skill for mixing, recording and producing music. It also [...]

Berlin, Germany /Music Industry Newswire/ — Native Instruments today announced TRAKTOR KONTROL S2, a versatile integrated DJ performance system that was designed to set a new professional standard in the two-deck category. Based on a compact version of the market-leading KONTROL S4 hardware, the KONTROL [...]

REVIEW: If his name sounds familiar, you are probably already a fan of rockabilly. But even if that genre’s blend of rock and country ain’t your thing, these songs are so much fun that you might become a Burnette-ette by the time you get halfway [...]

REVIEW: Before seeing the singer perform live, this album sat around the studio for a few months. After playing it a couple of times at various volume levels, the urge to write about it became too palpable to pass up. While several tracks leave me [...]

HOUSTON, Texas /Music Industry Newswire/ — Houston-based teen rapper Baby Jay has been invited for a second time to perform at Fort Hood for their “Teen Back to School Bash & Carnival,” Roland Entertainment announced this week. Baby Jay has been creating a new movement [...]

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. /Music Industry Newswire/ — DJ Jimmy Stewart Jr. just finished his “I have a Dream” record and Sesene Entertainment is promoting it via a free download online. Stewart is a Club 997 resident DJ, a radio station in San Francisco (997 NOW) [...]

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. /Music Industry Newswire/ — It all started in front of a coffee shop in Daytona Beach, Florida, USA. Pavlina Osta, a 10-year old musician, was playing the steel drums and piqued the interest of a local radio show; this quickly led to [...]

BOSTON, Mass. /Music Industry Newswire/ — Award-winning music software company SONiVOX recently announced the release of the newest instrument from their NEMESYNTH Audio Research Group, “TWIST – Spectral Morphing Synthesizer.” An entirely new product: TWIST is a new tool that combines a brand new type [...]

NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. /Music Industry Newswire/ — EVENT — What if you could live forever? Transcendent Man: A Conversation about the Future with Ray Kurzweil, LIVE from Lincoln Center in New York City on Wednesday, August 3, 2011 at 8:00 p.m. ET/ 7:00 p.m. [...]

Burlington, Mass. /Music Industry Newswire/ — Avid(R) (NASDAQ:AVID) today announced the release of Sibelius 7, the newest version of the company’s flagship musical notation software. Combining a deep, sophisticated feature set with an all new task-oriented user interface — putting all of the software’s features [...]

Grenoble, France /Music Industry Newswire/ — XILS-lab, makers of some notable virtual synth recreations such as the PolyKB II, have announced The Synthix, which appears to be inspired by the Elka Synthex, but not a pixel by pixel or identical cloning as the typical Arturia [...]

Pfinztal, Germany /Music Industry Newswire/ — VirSyn Software Synthesizer announces the Addictive Synth for iPad. According to the company: “It was never so easy to create beautiful sounds and driving loops. The unique dynamic wavetable synthesis allows you to explore an unprecedented wide range of [...]

Okehampton, U.K. /Music Industry Newswire/ — This latest release from Zero-G is from the same producer as last year’s cinematic success – Deep Impact – and features a vast collection of construction kits, atmospheres, drones, evolutive moods, beat loops, whooshes, hits, impacts, explosions, and lots [...]

BOSTON, Mass. /Music Industry Newswire/ — Cakewalk, the world’s leading developer of powerful and easy to use products for music creation and recording, today announces Z3TA+ 2 the Second Generation Waveshaping synthesizer featuring improved sound design, real-time expression, and sound quality. Z3TA+ is highly revered [...]

Worcestershire, UK /Music Industry Newswire/ — Camel Audio today announced a new add-on for Alchemy and the free Alchemy Player: Guitar Mutations features a studio full of classic guitars warped into strange new forms. Explore guitars with four necks whose resonating bodies morph into keyboards, [...]

LOS ANGELES, Calif. /Music Industry Newswire/ — Los Angeles based Alkex Instruments has started shipping their new MIDI controller designed to interact with Arturia’s Prophet V virtual instrument (and other plug-ins using set-up application). The unit has been designed to look familiar to any Sequential [...]

Stockholm, Sweden /Music Industry Newswire/ — Propellerhead Software today unveiled Balance, its first audio interface and foray into hardware. Integrated with Reason Essentials Software, Balance is at the heart of Propellerhead’s complete music making solution.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. /Music Industry Newswire/ — While “mantra-rock” may not yet be a recognized music genre, it springs to life with the delightful onslaught of sound on a new album from Larisa Stow & Shakti Tribe. On “Rock on Sat Nam!” – on the Prema Shakti Music label, the vocals are impassioned and the music soothes one minute and urges you into “aural ecstasy” the next. According to the artist, at the heart of her songs is a spirituality that is part of the very core of her being.

BERLIN, Germany /Music Industry Newswire/ — Native Instruments today launched a time-limited special offer for its acclaimed TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 DJ system. Throughout the month of July 2011, all owners of a newly registered KONTROL S4 unit are eligible for a free “Scratch Upgrade Kit”, [...]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. /Music Industry Newswire/ — Nashville based singer-songwriter Kenny Foster, a Joplin, Missouri native, has become a hometown hero by writing a song based on the May 22 tornado that ravaged his hometown one month ago, destroyed his childhood home and trapped his family in the crawl space of their home before they were rescued. Called “Hometown,” Foster’s powerful song details the emotional aftermath of the disaster, as affected families try to sort through the emotional wreckage and find a way to move on.

BERLIN, Germany /Music Industry Newswire/ — Native Instruments has just introduced DISCOVERY SERIES: WEST AFRICA, a new instrument that centers on the infectious polyrhythmic grooves of traditional African music. For use in KONTAKT 4 and in the free KONTAKT PLAYER, the instrument provides the full [...]

AUSTIN, Texas /Music Industry Newswire/ — Music Computing, the makers of the StudioBLADE line of all-in-one music keyboard production stations announced today the Gen2 versions, which represents a huge leap in performance and value. StudioBLADEs (Gen2) are all-in-one music production stations complete with piano keys, [...]

AUSTIN, Texas /Music Industry Newswire/ — With security being brought into the forefront daily, protection for personal data has never been more important. Devices like software dongles, USB flash drives, and sensitive information can easily be damaged, lost or stolen. The term “be safe or [...]

MIAMI, Fla. /Music Industry Newswire/ — Miami-based Top 10 national AC radio charting artist, SJ, will pre-release his freshman commercial LP, “Coffee,” on May 31, 2011, following exclusive fan events at SoHo House (May 11, New York) and Van Dyke Cafe (May 24, Miami). “Coffee” [...]

AUSTIN, Texas /Music Industry Newswire/ — Music Computing is previewing a new product for musicians to easily add multi-touch capabilities for music creation to any existing monitor. To be formally announced the first week of May, this new product is called MotionCOMMAND Frame. According to [...]

Music Industry Newswire REVIEW: “Dhana” is a European born blonde diva and lead singer of dance rock group “TaxiDoll.” In this, her first solo release, “Confessions of a Lily Rouge” (Fly Me To The Moon Music), Dhana delivers a potent concoction of electronic pop and [...]

LOS ANGELES, Calif. /Music Industry Newswire/ — With the title track from her new album, “Days Like These,” gathering radio spins, country singer Sandra Piller is happily watching it climb several charts while touching the hearts of listeners at country and Christian country radio. “And [...]

LOS ANGELES, Calif. /Music Industry Newswire/ — Sandra Piller’s third album, “Days Like These” (Shady Hill Records), was released today, and Sandra met with press, industry and fans in a special performance at The Mint in Hollywood. Making the week even more eventful, Sandra was [...]

LOS ANGELES, Calif. /Music Industry Newswire/ — Many songs touch your emotions, but songwriter/singer Paula Franceschi (www.paulafranceschi.com) wants her songs to seduce you by creating pictures in your head. On her new EP, “Songs for Singles,” Franceschi is generating aural landscapes. “Each track let’s you [...]

HOUSTON, Texas /Music Industry Newswire/ — Houston, Texas has always been a hotbed of left-field musical talent, says Pitch Control TV (www.pitchcontroltv.com). They have always done things their own way down south, and for that they should be applauded. But what was once the home [...]

LOS ANGELES, Calif. /Music Industry Newswire/ — Tweens, teens and adults alike have been anxiously awaiting the sophomore season of the wacky politically-incorrect comedy with a heart, also known as Poor Paul, produced by Eye Scream Films. These same fans are also excited for the [...]

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Golosio Music Publishing (www.golosio.com) is just a few months old but it has discovered a new way to expand its catalog of songs. The rhythm tracks for a new groove song were created in the Los Angeles studio of John Scott [...]

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Communications expert John Scott G (recording artist The G-Man) leads a collective of artists, musicians and videographers known as FookMovie (www.fookmovie.com) in the creation of wildly colorful music videos. Since opening in April, the company has completed 30 productions. “FookMovie was [...]