John Maar

CHANGES General A splash screen is shown at startup of the standalone (to earlier show that something is happening). In a DAW, the same image is shown in the plug-in window the first time it is opened in a session (while the normal interface is being prepared to be shown). Song Track In the tempo editor, it is now possible to multi-select nodes with cmd-click on Mac and ctrl-click on Windows as well as with shift-click. Mixer Tab Channels can now be moved and rearranged. It is now possible to mute or solo a range of channels without first selecting the channels: press the mouse on a mute or solo button and drag over the other channels. E-Drums Added EFNOTE presets. BUG FIXES General On Windows, the VST 3 can now correctly be scaled by hosts in HiDPI mode and dragging (for example to the song track) should now work without any offsets. On Windows, “Reset to Default Size and Scale” in the View menu did not always work as intended. On Windows, if the host window was minimized and unminimized, the external windows (detached tabs) could in some cases pop up again, be blank and refuse to be closed. If two notes with the same key overlap, the note off from the first note is no longer played, so that not both notes are stopped. Song Track Adding a new song track did not use the tempo and time signature of the current track. Edit Play Style Various fixes for editing percussion instruments with Future Hit capabilities. Song Creator Right-clicking a block on the song track and selecting “Use with Song Creator” would always search with the whole original block even if it had been resized or edited in other ways. Search for Instrument The preview sounds were not always correctly pitched. Previewing hi-hats from another library could cause a crash. Grid Editor Certain grid editor changes were not preserved when a project was saved and loaded if changes had been made in Edit Play Style earlier. Various fixes and improvements for editing percussion instruments with Future Hit capabilities. Drums Tab In the velocity curve editor, it was possible to add nodes to the right of the rightmost node, resulting in invalid velocity curves. Mixer Tab It should no longer crash if you select multiple mixer channels and disable or enable effects when some channel has no effect in the affected horizontal line of effect slots. It would sometimes crash when an effect was removed and the slot above was empty. Selecting both a mic and a bus channel strip in the mixer could potentially cause a crash. E-Drums User changes to any mapping that was green in an e-drum preset (i.e., specified in the factory preset) were not saved in projects. Fixes to cymbal choking in Pearl Mimic Pro, Alesis Strike and Alesis Strike Pro presets. Standalone On Windows, the “Adjust Scale” dialog (shown when the main window was dragged to a display with a different scale) had several graphical issues that have been fixed.

Not waiting at all. Major version updates too often. Analog Lab does 99% of what I need, so I've avoided the Waves WUP-like updating of the V collection.

If you spelled Placentia "Placenta" on purpose, that's funny right there. If not, oops, but still funny, especially if you got the clap during what resulted in a placenta later.

Nice looking sixer. I had a G&L ASAT Classic Tribute that I sold when I moved. I kept the Ascari GTS HB3 Tribute because it's a beautiful guitar, has a 3rd humbucker (GC/MF exclusive), it's Irish Ale Red (not easy to find), was really well made, and G&L stopped making the Ascari GTS in any form. The ASAT Tribute was a good guitar, but the fret ends were a mess, some very sharp ones. Here's my Ascari.

There's nothin' he can do that can't be done Nothin' he can sing that can't be sung Nothin' he can say, but you can learn how to play the game It's easy Nothin' he can make that can't be made No one he can save that can't be saved Nothin' he can do, but you can learn how to be you in time It's easy All you need is cash All you need is cash All you need is cash, cash Cash is all you need

@AndyB01 You might want to check out 41 Fingers channel on YouTube. He has a lot of videos that use Scaler. I've found them interesting and helpful. 41 Fingers YT Channel Here's one of his shorter videos that he made for the Scaler 2.5 update.

I didn't like the UI, so more like "it felt old". It just didn't spark anything creative. I admit being tough on UIs. One of my extra (as in "extra work; no extra money") responsibilities at Motorola was working with the UI committee, trying to ensure that Moto UIs were consistent across an international set of requirements (left-to-right, right-to-left, ASCII-based or graphic-based characters; color schemes, etc.). Another example. Reaper is a great DAW at a great price. I have a license for it through v7, having purchased a replacement after my v4/v5 license needed updating after v6 was released. I just can't stand the UI. I quite like Studio One's UI, so that's what I use. UIs are hard, hard work. Look at what Cakewalk went through evolving into SONAR with the Skylight UI. Updating their UI was necessary, but look at how much work was required and how many stability issues had to be overcome. I didn't get into SONAR until Platinum, so missed all of X1, X2 and X3, but I still remember the forum discussions around those versions.

I am not feeing any "schadenfreude" (pleasure derived by someone from another person's misfortune), but I am feeling that this is just another reason for me never to buy another lottery ticket. I've already used up all of my Lucky Charms.

I picked up the bundle a few years ago for a really good price. I'd bought a couple of individual plugin licenses for $29, and they wound up getting me a nice discount on the discounted bundle price during a sale. I just checked my Soundtoys email folder. I paid $65 for the upgrade to the bundle in 2018. I'm hoping v6 is close to reality and that it will include something new. These are great FX plugins. EDIT: I had six of the bundle to qualify for that upgrade price. I paid $29 each for three of them, and nothing for the other three. I think a couple came bundled with my PreSonus audio interface. Not sure where the Little Alter Boy freebie came from. So, I paid $152 total for the bundle. Not bad.

I should add that we do have spot sales from time to time. I just went to the French site for Thomann to check the availability of the Focal Shape 65 monitors I want for my studio when I get into my new apartment in September. Surprise! They were on a special this week. 666 € each instead of over 900 €! Bought two. They'll stay in their boxes until I move. So, sales on something I want are possible here. But this was just blind luck, not a holiday.

One thing I honestly don't miss since moving to France is all of the holiday sales. Mother's Day. Memorial Day. Father's Day. Don't Give a Rat's Patootie Day. Sheesh. Those sales prices are the vendors actual real prices. The MSRP prices are just there to make you think you're getting a deal during a sale. Valentine's Day. Easter. July 4th. Labor Day Veteran's Day. Thanksgiving. Christmas. New Year's. When there's a sale-a-month, that's not a sale. It's almost as bad as the jewelry store in the lobby of the Outrigger Reef Hotel in Waikiki. His 50% Off sale sign was SO old and worn-looking, it was ridiculous. He wasn't even pretending. I stayed in that hotel 14 times over a 2 year period while managing a development and install project Motorola did for the island's water and wastewater system. That exact same sign never moved. I was talking to a guy around the pool and tried not to laugh in his face when he told me how happy he was that he'd snagged a piece of jewelry for 50% off for his wife, who was there on business and he was just tagging along. Sucker. You paid full price. Props to the developer of Serum and Cthulhu for not getting caught up in all of that. Want Serum? Here's the price. It will always be this price. Is having a license to Serum worth this price to you? Yes? OK, cool. No? OK, cool, too. Oh, and Waves $29 sales? An f'ing joke. They'll either get you on the WUP or you'll be forever stuck with the version you have. Wanna update to Waves v10? Waves v11? Waves v12? Waves v13? And now, Waves v14? WUP, WUP, WUP, WUP. F'em. I never bothered to install my many Waves v9 and v10 licenses on my new laptop/DAW. At some point, you just have to look in the mirror, take responsibility and write off a poor investment. END OF RANT

This exactly. I bought it in early 2018. It was last updated in August, 2020. I never used it after trying it out following my original purchase. I didn't even install it on my new laptop/DAW. Save your money for a double Jack Damage and Coke.

For me, just the FX. None of the instruments had updates.

After all of the COVID deaths, we seem to be losing a quite a few of the good ones to normal causes now. Sheesh. It's been a long couple three years. I was forced into retirement at 54, back when the original Motorola went into the crapper and split up. I was about the first one to be given the boot. Great severance package, but I was really bummed out to begin with. In retrospect, I've gotten a lot more out of the last 17 years than I would have if I'd still been working. Turned out to be a good thing. My brother is one year younger. He and his wife are chiropractors with a thriving practice in Chicago. He had enough money to retire long ago, but just won't hang up his spurs. When I go toes up, at least I'll have enjoyed my gray years. 8 years in Scottsdale. 8 years in Flagstaff. And now a year in France. I made some excellent lemonade out of the lemons Motorola handed me. No regrets. When you look at Jim Seals total career, I don't think he had any regrets either. Heck of a talent. And his brother Dan has achieved great things, too. Talented family.

Jim Seals, of the '70s duo Seals and Crofts has passed away at the age of 80. No cause of death was announced. He had a great voice.

Bassist and founding member of Bon Jovi, Alec John Such, passed away at 70. No cause of death revealed. Bon Jovi credited Such for bringing the band together, noting that he was a childhood friend of drummer Tico Torres and brought guitarist and songwriter Richie Sambora to see the band perform. Such had played with Sambora in a band called Message. The Yonkers, New York-born Such was a veteran figure in the thriving New Jersey music scene that helped spawn Bon Jovi. As manager of the Hunka Bunka Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey, Such booked Jon Bon Jovi & The Wild Ones before joining the singer-songwriter’s band. He played with Bon Jovi through the group’s heyday in the 1980s.

Nothing for bass players. I pass.

I prefer Softube's Tape plugin. As a Studio One user, I can also take advantage of the Tape Multitrack MixFX plugin, which is included with Tape. FWIW, Tape has three different tape machine emulations. "Type A is based on a classic Swiss high end reel-to-reel machine, known and loved for its precision and linearity. Type B is much more colorful — it's a transformer based machine which adds extra weight and cream to the low end. Lastly, Type C is based on a British tape machine with a distinct vintage vibe." I have licenses for their Analog Rack and Bus Driver plugins, but installed neither on my new DAW. Those plugins are OLD, and I was concerned about functionality with the current and future versions of Windows.

Close. But it was v2.9.14. 🤪

A short live reminder of their brilliance.

We lost Alan White from YES, but we also lost Andy Fletcher, founding member, keyboardist and occasional bass player with Depeche Mode, from natural causes at age 60. What a loss. He was like the Rick Wright of D.M., not as famous as his band mates, but crucial to the sound and the progress of the band. Rest in peace, brother. Andy is front, right.

One thing the IKM installer does NOT do is create a shortcut for the standalone version. You have to go to the Modo Bass 2 folder, right-click on the .EXE and select Create Shortcut. Windows will place it on the desktop (where I want it anyway).

Yuppers! Downloading and installing now. Gonna have fun, fun, fun 'til her daddy takes the [NR] T-bird away.

I switched to Acoustic Premium mostly to get rid of SpectraLayers. It's turned out to be an excellent audio editor. In Studio One Pro, I currently have to use "drag the Acoustic plugin from the Effects tab on to the audio event while holding down the ALT key" to use the ARA2 functionality. I also have to click on the audio event after that to get the Acoustica editor to load in the editor window in SO. I really hope PreSonus add a menu item for it like they have for Melodyne (Audio | Edit with Melodyne).

Acon Digital has just released the v7.4 update of Acoustica, an outstanding audio editor. It now offers ARA2 support. Will work directly within Studio One, for example, like Melodyne with ARA2. The Premium version now supports Dolby Atmos up to 7.1.2 channels. Several new automatic editing tools are also included. The editor loads super fast, and the spectral editing in the Premium version is really good. I never even installed SpectraLayers in my new laptop DAW. Will never need it again. Acon Digital's Acoustic : Standard and Premium