John Maar

79 € gone. It'll be a long 5-6 weeks. Not sure what's going on, but TPM won't load my products at the moment. Maybe they're too busy selling EZKeys 2. ☺️

So sad. I've been a big fan of YMO (Yellow Magic Orchestra) since their first album. I own all of them. Cancer sucks. And he was only 71, same as me. RIP, brother!

That shows you how much (little) attention I pay to plugin download managers.

I just figured that out and installed v2. I guess that I expected Native Access to inform me of new versions like all of the other app managers. Not so for this major upgrade. Live and learn. And...never mind. 😄

No idea how to get that popup. When I click on the NI logo top right in Native Access, it says the version is 1.14.1 (R156). I can't find any other way to get an "About" dialog.

Mac only. v1.14.1 on Windows.

Which means you've downloaded, installed and tested each one?

I bailed on Waves two years ago when I bought a new DAW. I have a LOT of Waves licenses. Some v9. Some v10. Some v11. A couple v12. Didn't WUP any of them. That's where they make their money. My current system is free of Waves shells. Now that they're going subscription only? Wow. Excellent decision in retrospect. Not enough suckers reupping their WUPs. The only waves I deal with now are the ones in the Arcachon tidal basin three blocks from my apartment. Ha.

Run Guitar Pro 8 and check Help | Check for Updates... Changelog Release Notes 8.1 New features SVG export (“File” > “Export” > “SVG…”) Numbered musical notation (Jianpu/simplified notation) “Free scores” mySongBook category mySongBook scores can now be sorted by last added Swedish translation Playback Fix the timbre of some notes Fix the audio fine tuning offset on a slide Fix the unwanted vertical scroll on a repetition in horizontal display mode Update the audio when adding a slur between two bars When the playback stops by itself, the cursor correctly returns to its starting position Chronos are now independent of the relative speed and fixed tempo Fix the pitch of legato slides in MIDI Switch the metronome to MIDI when all tracks are in MIDI In MIDI with a soloed track, the other tracks are no longer heard on the first beat Editing Fix a missing slur between two bars after undoing a string shift Fix the cursor behavior after using shortcuts to delete notes Fix the string shift from the banjo’s short drone Natural harmonics are no longer modified when shifting strings “Redo” is no longer enabled by default when opening a file Engraving Fix the bend/whammy indications disappearing on playback Fix the misproportioned thickness of ledger lines outside of the staff Fix the glyph for jazzy accidentals Fix the jazzy repetition bars indication Fix a collision between piano fingerings Fix the fret and string number after a rest on slash notation Fix the crescendo indication in multivoice Fix the muted notes symbol when importing from XML Fix the double dots on quarters and shorter rhythm values Fix the grace notes position when using the “Bar Arranger” tool Fix the duplicate HoPo after changing the number of strings Interface Fix the value displayed on the progressive speed during a countdown between bars Fix the “Go To Previous/Next Bar” cursor command behavior Reinstate the “Move/Copy/Swap Voices” tool shortcut (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + M) The Virtual Drum Kit is no longer empty for the bongo and the reverse cymbal Keep the selection when changing tracks Fix the drag beyond the screen of the rotary knobs Updating the time signature correctly updates the audio track slice of the Global View Save the solo/mute states between sessions in the drum mix popup Tools Fix initialising the scale diagrams dialog from a selection Editing the audio track padding from the first sync point correctly updates the audio An empty diagram is no longer displayed when using the “chord” command of the command palette Improve the audio preview for drumkits in the Track Wizard The güiro now has two articulations and is no longer on the same string as the surdo on the Africa Kit Fretlight guitar frets are correctly displayed on repeated bars Audio Fine Tuning is available for grace notes Opening / Importing / Exporting files Fix the XML export for directions when the first bar is empty Fix the XML import for fingerings on tablature staves Fix the XML import for voices when there are several Fix the XML import for free texts Fix the MIDI import for slurs Fix the import of audio files containing special characters on Windows All backup files of the previous session are now correctly restored after a crash Fixed crashes On importing a .ptb with a Coda On opening a .M4A audio file On opening a .opus audio file On updating the layout in multitrack On closing a file with a forced stylesheet On deleting chords On previewing an empty file On adding HoPo in tablature On MIDI import On disconnecting a Bluetooth headphone On copy-pasting sustain pedals On selecting empty bars with the keyboard

Excellent news! XLN tech support got back to me already, with a ZIP file containing the MIDI files for all of the MIDIpaks that I own! Bravo, XLN!

There used to be a hidden page populated with the standard MIDI files for each XLN MIDI pack that you owned. That page disappeared at some point. I haven't purchased any new MIDI packs since it vanished, but I managed to download all of the ones I was entitled to. Unfortunately, I replaced my desktop with a laptop when I moved, and those files never made it to my new DAW. Does anyone know if that hidden page still exists somewhere on the XLN website? I just contacted their tech support and asked.

FWIW, many moons ago, I was wondering about the bit depth of XLN's samples. That info wasn't listed anywhere, so I contacted their tech support. Toontrack's EZD1 libraries are 16-bit. Everything after that is 24- bit. XLN told me that they use a proprietary variable bit depth algorithm,, removing bits (down to a min of 16) when they don't add any perceived audible value and adding bits (up to a max 24), when they do. They did that to minimize the size of the libraries.

Gotta agree with you. I bought Strum for completeness many years ago. Chromaphone is excellent. Lounge Lizard has many good uses. String Studio and Ultra Analog have some totally usable sounds, but I have never once in 5+ years found a use for Strum.

RiP Gary Rossington, guitarist and sole surviving founding member of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Play Free Bird!

Another related plugin y'all might want to consider is Connector by Blue Cat Audio. This is one sophisticated plugin for connecting audio and MIDI in app, between apps and between computers on the same network. Check out this short video narrated by Eli Krantzberg. A whole lot of functionality for $49/49 €. Blue Cat Audio's Connector

Neil Young and his wife, Darryl Hannah, make an unannounced appearance at the United for Old Growth rally. This is his first public performance since the start of the COVID pandemic.

I really feel for the BlueARP dev. Here's his blog post on BlueARP DM. I hope he is able to continue development and build a successful sales channel. BlueARP DM blog post, copied below for your convenience ================================ Updates on BlueARP DM sales (July 2022) By admin July 27, 2022 Sorry for long silence on BlueARP DM project. Due to political and economical turbulence I was waiting for the situation to settle down a bit, and honestly I was (and still am) quite low-spirited and de-motivated because all of this happening. But at least I can see that for the last 3 months the logistics/economical restrictions stay more or less the same and I can plan some actions. Shipping / Logistics: I can ship to most of the countries, except those few who suspended postal connections with Russia from their side: Finland, Australia, Denmark, Sweden. Also there are some countries where Russian Post doesn’t send officially due to missing logistics (like Yemen, Botswana, etc.), but I never got orders from these counties and unlikely ever will. The main issue is with 4 countries stated before – I can’t ship there right now and I don’t have a partner in a proxy country nearby yet, but there is a chance it will be sorted out in a few months. Payments: PayPal is not an option since March 2022 and this is unlikely to change anytime soon, so the only working option right now is direct wire transfer / SWIFT. There is a chance I will have a partner with PayPal account who will collect PayPal payments for me in a few months, but for now I can offer only SWIFT payment. It should work with any bank, the difference is that it is not instant (may take 1-2 days) and there is some transaction fee like 20-30$. Parts procurement: Most of the parts are from China and this logistics channel still works. I order about half of the parts from Chinese retailers directly and other half from the local retailers. Only the enclosures are the problem (blue and white ones) cause I was ordering them from USA. It is still possible for me to order from USA, but it is much trickier now, so likely I will switch to local alternatives. Still I have a few enclosures in stock. Chip shortage is still there and the price is a bit higher, but they are still available. So parts wise it is not bad overall (comparing to other areas). USD/RUB Exchange Rate: This is a real PITA, cause before Feb 2022 it was around 80 RUB per 1 USD, now it is about 60 RUB, due to heavy currency regulations imposed by Russian government. With this exchange rate, selling them in USD at current price (730$ for the blue and 790$ for the white) leaves me with no margin at all , since the parts price didn’t drop that much and this eats up all my margin. There is a hope the exchange rate will grow back a bit after Sept 2022, when some regulations should be weakened, but I can’t rely on that. So at least for those who are in the waiting list already, I will sell at the same USD price, later I may consider revising the prices. Production rates / Scaling up: Before Feb 2022 I was planning to outsource the production, cause I got more orders that I could fulfill with my limited production capacity. Now I expect 50%-90% of the customers will be put off by the obstacles like missing PayPal, delays and other stuff. So scaling up plans are suspended for now and I will build the units myself. Further actions: First I’m going to send mails to all the people from my current waiting list and ask if they are still in the game. So the few units I have now will be re-arranged cause I think that at least half of the people will cancel or already forgot about it. Next, I will plan further production.

Their tour in '77 of Even In The Quietest Moments (recorded at Caribou Ranch in Nederland, CO, home of the Frozen Dead Guy festival (fun times!)) was spectacular. Loved the video they played behind the closing song, Crime of the Century. I was on the floor, about 30 rows back, right in front of the FOH riser. Missed, or more likely, forgot about the triangle. Those were some smokey days. 😉

I know you asked about MIDI grooves, and this is a Kontakt VI by InSession Audio, but I thought you might find it interesting and informative. There are links to a couple of videos that showcase what makes this VI different, and a lot more like the real thing. I have SD3 and AD2, but use this exclusively for shakers. Shimmer Shake Strike 2

The UltraPak also comes with the Real Tracks. Tons of them. The difference is MP3 vs WAV files. The Audiophile Edition provides both.

If you're not going to publish the track composed via BiaB (just using it flesh out ideas), then save your money and go with the UltraPak. Besides, the audiophile edition takes up WAY more drive space. I have BiaB installed on an external 2TB Thunderbird 3 drive, along with all of my other sample libraries (like for Kontakt). Take the money you save by buying the UltrPak, and buy a 2TB external SSD. I have 2 Samsung T7 2TB USB3.2 drives in addition to the Samsung X5 2TB TB3 drive. The T7s are excellent and very fast, if you have a USB3.2 port to plug them into. They're still plenty fast on a USB3 port.

OK. I just added these two preset packs. I then went to the Audio/MIDI Settings to check my config in the standalone version of AL5. This is the first time that I noticed that the Settings dialog DOES NOT SCALE, even though I have AL5 set to scale to 160% on my 4K display. Sheesh.

Oops. Didn't see that. My first name's John, so this is appropriate.

Modalics (two musicians and professional coders) has released a new app, the EON Arp. It is currently free, but will be $29 after the intro period. This is their second app. The first, Beat Scholar, is very cool. Currently $79, down from $99. Modalics Audio

Same here. Still waiting for EZKeys v2 with a scalable GUI.