Various sales end tomorrow

Native instruments
Maschine with packs, Traktor packs, Komplete 8 upgrade (not sure if this is for everyone or just the people that have registered their 7 or previous version)

Ableton
Live and bundles... seriously where is Ableton Live 9

Time+Space
Sample packs and instruments

Remix contest - Lords of Acid

Sweet track, make it your own

Lords of Acid - Drowning in Ecstacy

Sale on at Loopmasters

Sometimes creating your own sound can be difficult, esp when starting with powerful tools but limited knowledge on how to make those sounds that are really in now. Check out these presets from High Rankin... choice bruv

Loopmasters - High Rankin - NI Massive Presets

Komplete 8 is available for preorder

I knew after I bought 7 on sale 8 wouldn't be too far behind it. Komplete 8 comes in two flavours now a Komplete and a Komplete 8 Ultimate. Where Ultimate includes a lot of extra instruments and samples and like many other packages comes on its own hard drive. To be honest I was expecting Traktor to crossover into Komplete but oh well.

Check it out below.

Komplete 8 -NI Komplete 8

Komplete 8 Ultimate - NI Komplete 8 Ultimate

Sweet retro synth needs donations

Rockit 8 Bit Synth Kit looks like it could be a good underground synth to have in your hardware arsenal and pretty cheap too.

Link

No more Kore :(

Sad thing to see a technology get decommissioned... maybe it will be rebirthed in 15 years or so

From Native Instruments:

Dear KORE user,

In the music technology domain, progress is constant. Sometimes, new paradigms and changing user preferences require us to adjust our development priorities in order to further push modern music production forward.

Today we would like to inform you about our future plans for the KORE platform. Our roadmap comprises two further updates for KORE 2, including 64-bit plugin versions for Windows and Mac OS X. Afterwards, further development of the KORE 2 software will cease. Native Instruments has no plans to develop KORE beyond its current generation, and will focus its development resources on advancing other products within the NI range.

KORE 2 will remain operational with your current setup, and technical support will continue to be available for an unlimited amount of time. However, upcoming versions of the KOMPLETE bundle and of individual NI instruments might not include special preset versions for the KORE sound browser.

As an immediate effect, KORE 2 will no longer be available for purchase, and the range of KORE-powered soundpacks will only remain available in the NI Online Shop until July 31st, 2011.

Komplete 7 upgrade offer - 50% off for June

For the bargain price of under US$115 you can upgrade to Komplete 7. I bought it as soon as the sale went through, havent upgraded yet as I'm upgrading my computer to have RAID (freenas.org).

You have until 30-Jun so hurry up at that price its most definitely worth it.

Battery 3.2 free update is out

Here is a rundown of the updates

Main new and improved features:
New "Drum" mode in Saturator effect, which was designed for use with drum sounds. This new mode is especially useful on acoustic drums, but provides a generally louder and thicker sound on all kind of drums and samples
New "Default Kit" option enables you to load your preferred MIDI assignment, Cell names, Cell matrix size etc. automatically on start-up
New zero-latency convolution engine with optimized performance for low-latency settings, featuring a new latency-free setting for 100% sample accurate timing
Numerical parameter value input: The parameter values for almost all elements on the BATTERY 3 user interface can now be entered from your computer keyboard
New Import formats: Akai MPC 5000, Alesis Fusion, Drumagog, Korg Triton, Roland Fantom, Yamaha Motif
Mac OS X: 64-bit VST support
Mac OS X: 64-bit support for REX import
Bug fixes:
Fixes compatibility problems with Mac OS X 10.7 "Lion"
Fixed crash when learning MIDI assignments in Automation Page
Improved File Browser response
Mac OS X 64-bit: fixed crash when resolving samples in a host

Important note:
Since BATTERY 3.2 is now based on a new file format, kits and cells saved with BATTERY 3.2 cannot be loaded with previous BATTERY versions. Please be sure to backup your files and important projects before saving with BATTERY 3.2
Mac users: This version requires an Intel Mac and Mac OS X 10.5 (or later)!

Reaktor 5.6 update is out

The next update to the venerable Reaktor application is out and ready for download. Highlights of the update include:

64-bit support for Windows and Mac OSX
Improved navigation concept
Added ‘breadcrumb’ navigation to structure view
Added searchbox to add modules
New 800-page module reference manual
Scrolling of structures with Alt+Drag over structure
Added hide frame and transparency property to XY module
Added drag copy to other structure view
Recorder shows recorded time when recording
Add abort function to file not found dialog on project recall
Improved loading time for ensembles with many Send/Receive terminals
PNG file support for picture modules

The Future of Music Production

All I can say is WOW!!! I'm going to put it out there and say I'm sure this is the future of music production without a doubt. Native Instruments, Rob Papen,... any VST creator can offer cheaper versions of their apps online and dont have to worry about Piracy.

Burn-studios.audiotool.comp

Via Gizmodo

30% off Max for Live for April

Appears its only open to Ableton Suite customers but this may get me on board, but it will be interesting to see what happens when Ableton 9 come out.

http://www.ableton.com/nl877-maximized

April Fools Traktor 2? + Q-Bert on Traktor 2

Wonder if it means anything by them releasing Traktor 2 on April Fools.

Here is a video of Q-Bert going to town on Traktor 2



Native Instruments

Komplete Updates

Looks like the final versions of the updates mentioned previously are going to start coming through soon with Kontakt 3.2 just being emailed out to registered users. You can download it with the Service Center application.

Thank you Native Instruments, please include more training on the tools and "how to get that sound" or "do that trick" type of help to the community.

Like what this guy did...

Absynth 5.0.2

Another update in the pipeline

Update details
Absynth 5.0.2 brings compatibility with 64bit OS and hosts on
Mac OS X, as well as a lot of fixes and improvements.

In particular please note: Absynth 5.0.2 will create a new Libraries folder in your Documents/Native Instruments/Absynth 5 folder. This is where user templates will now be saved by default when you store a template. The "factory" templates will remain where they are. If you want the user Libraries folder somewhere else, you can change the folder in the Options window just as before. When loading a template you'll notice the user folders are now labeled "(User)".

UPDATED: Updates to Massive, Battery and Kontakt + FM8 + Change List

There are some big updates coming for other Native Instrument products as well with some public beta tests going out to members for the last month, expect them soon.

Massive 1.2
Battery 3.2
Kontakt 4.2

Just got word that FM8 1.1 is in public beta testing now aswell:D

I gotta say it is nice to get worth while updates rather than having to fork out heaps of extra money on a new edition.

Change list looks like it is mainly bug fixes... hopefully they throw in some extra sound packs and presets.

Massive 1.2
Version 1.2:

- MAC OS X 64-bit compatibility (AU, VST & Standalone)
- Digidesign CoreAudioDevice crash fixed
- ASIO vs. WASAPI driver selection issue fixed

Battery 3.2
Version 3.2

- New "Drum" mode in Saturator effect
- New "Default Kit" option
- New zero-latency convolution engine with optimized performance
for low-latency settings
- Numerical parameter value input
- New Import formats: Akai MPC 5000, Alesis Fusion, Drumagog,
Korg Triton, Roland Fantom, Yamaha Motif
- Mac OS X: 64 Bit VST support
- Mac OS X: 64 Bit support for Rex import

Kontakt 4.2
Version 4.2.

- New binary file format for increased saving/loading performance
- New zero-latency convolution engine with optimized performance
for low-latency settings
- Revised master output section with presets and advanced macro
functions
- Numerical parameter value input
- New Import formats: Akai MPC 5000, Alesis Fusion, Drumagog,
Korg Triton, Roland Fantom, Yamaha Motif
- Mac OS X: 64 Bit VST support
- Mac OS X: 64 Bit support for Rex import
- Fixed performance issues with Interpolation Mode 'HQI: perfect'
using mono Samples
- Plug-in: instantiation and recall times improved for all hosts

FM8
Version 1.1.0:

- MAC OS X 64-bit compatibility (VST, AU & Standalone)
- Digidesign CoreAudioDevice crash fixed

Traktor Scratch with Traktor 2

Well this is more than a little bombshell Traktor and Audio Kontrol have both been upgraded with heaps of extra features, effects and better visual cues for beats. It appears Traktor is taking over the Audio Kontrol name and they are branding equipment with T2 inside, i.e. Traktor 2.



Find more at the below links
http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/dj/traktor-scratch-pro/?content=11

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/10/t2-is-not-a-cyborg-is-the-new-more-colorful-traktor/

Indaba Music

Most of the Remix Comps that come up on Remix Comps are from the Indaba Music site. Many are from well known artists, like Metric, Ace of Base and others. Check out the below link to see if they have what you are looking for in terms of exposure and mulla. They do push plans for best results on selling and collaboration but its not mandatory. The site is helpful with tutorials and acts as a platform to launch talented people into the mainstream.

Definitely give it a look.


Indaba Music

Point Blank Online Courses

I've been interested in Point Blank courses for years now, they have award winning DJ and Producer courses  voted by students and industry professionals alike, the problem is most are available only in the UK and can get quite expensive.

The major change now is their online courses have increased in number, similar to Sonic Academy, in that they have specific courses discussing a particular genre in a particular DAW. ComputerMusic is doing some promotion on their MusicRadar site with links to snippets of the courses.

Synth Riff Programming tutorial
Slicing audio to MIDI Ableton Live tutorial
Ableton Live vocal effects tutorial
Kick and bass tutorial

Source: Computer Music