“Talar du svenska?”

If you understand that then we have some great news. The Pro Tools Expert Team has been joined by two new Swedish Editors or will be running our Swedish language site.

Adam Vasse and Björn Karlsson are from Stockholm in Sweden and will be offering a Swedish Pro Tools Expert site.

You can read more here, if of course you read Swedish. There is also a Swedish Facebook fan page here.

Welcome guys!

The much-loved UK music retailer DV247 has overnight closed all but one of its music stores in the UK after being purchased by Music Store Cologne.  DV247 previously operated stores in Barnet, Romford, Clapham, Acton, Bristol, Southampton, Birmingham and Cambridge, and until recently the brand was owned by White Rabbit Records Limited who started trading in 1974.  The company is now trading as DV247, a company incorporated at the end of last month.

As far as we understand, the only store that remains is the DV247 Romford Branch; their website seems to confirm this by the lack of any other stores being listed. It is also understood that the buying and distribution of much of their inventory moving forward will be moved to their new owner in Germany.

These closings seems to have come as a shock to both staff and customers alike. DV247 has been part of the music retail landscape in the UK for many years. Although there is no reason to expect a reduction in the quality of their service, it is a sad day for the music retail industry to see so many local stores shuttered. Furthermore, as this site proves time and again, buying stuff mail order may be cheaper up front, but when you need service and support, especially for complex software and hardware, then you should really have a dealer you can visit.

UPDATE from our friends at Pro Sound News, whilst the site proclaims ‘bigger and better’, the reality behind this change is contained at this link: read the story here.

A few weeks ago we ran a Pro Tools 11 buying survey, this survey showed around 55% who would be buying Pro Tools 11.

However in a second and more recent survey conducted by Pro Tools Expert of over 2,400 potential buyers, around 70% of those surveyed said they would be buying Pro Tools 11. Of the remainder most said they were undecided with only 74 (3%) saying they were not planning to buy it.

Bearing in mind that most people are yet to have first hand experience of Pro Tools 11, no reviews have been published, the fact that users have to adopt the new AAX format and the poor public image Avid have had over the last couple of years, this is impressive by any standard. Discuss.

Groove 3 have launched a new rewards program called ‘Groove Cash’ that rewards you with 10% rewards on all your purchases. However it has a pleasant twist, in that Groove 3 are giving members 5% rewards on all their previous orders… now that is very cool. Details are…

Groove Cash is Here!

We also have an exciting new web feature to announce… Groove Cash! This is the ultimate rewards program and an industry first. No other video tutorial provider rewards you like Groove 3. Groove Cash is a customer reward that allows you to earn cash back for every single purchase at Groove3.com. Every time you complete a purchase, you’ll earn a cash back bonus allowing you to purchase training downloads from Groove 3. You can use the cash at any time to save money.

Click to read more ...

News from WaveMachine Labs on AAX porting. I reached out to our friends and they responded with the following;

Things are good here; we’re cranking on Drumagog updates as I speak, including an AAX Native version which we hope to have ready around the time of the PT11 release (we’re also doing 64-bit updates for VST/AU at the same time); these updates will be free to Drumagog 5 owners.

Great news and a great attitude.

More on Drumagog here

Country legend George Jones has died, aged 81.

Described by USA Today as “perhaps the most imitated singer in country music,” Jones won two Grammys and was entered into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He was married 4 times, once to Tammy Wynette.

His career spanned over 50 years, and included No. 1 singles White Lightning, She Thinks I Still Care and He Stopped Loving Her Today. 

His country music peers considered him to be the greatest.

Rest in peace George.

Russ has a chat with old friend Nik from Softube to talk about their new Console 1.

Rupert Never will today be announcing the 5060 CENTERPIECE: 24x2 Desktop Mixer; in their words.

From the father of the recording console comes the 5060 CENTERPIECE: the Class-A analog heart of your 21st-century studio.

click to zoom into this sexy shot

Sized for your desktop but with the sound and features of Rupert’s flagship 5088 console at your fingertips, the 5060 cements your gear together with serious transformers & faders, flexible monitoring, talkback & DAW transport controls, and the legendary raw power of a Rupert Neve 24x2 mix-buss.

$7,995 USD MSRP
Shipping in May.

http://bit.ly/5060centerpiece
http://bit.ly/5060video

Novation has announced the launch of Bass Station II – a powerful analogue synth that’s made for bass but equally well adapted to leads. Based on the classic Novation BassStation from 20 years ago, Bass Station II has been completely re-worked for the 21st Century, with two filters, two oscillators plus a sub-oscillator, patch save and a fully-analogue effects section. Plus there’s a step- sequencer, arpeggiator, a two octave (25-note) velocity-sensitive keyboard with full-sized keys and a powerful modulation section. There’s even MIDI I/O and USB connectivity.

Key Features  

• Analogue synth: brand new version of the classic BassStation. Bass Station II has a pure analogue audio signal path, reviving the spirit of the original BassStation with an all-new design optimised for bass
• Two distinct analogue filters: In addition to the original ‘Classic’ BassStation filter, there’s a brand new ‘Acid’ diode ladder filter for squelchy 303-esque bass sounds
• Load and save patches: 64 factory patches on-board with room for 64 more of your own. Save more to your computer via USB
• Pattern-based Step Sequencer and Arpeggiator: Bass Station II has an arpeggiator with a programmable step sequencer that enables you to store and call up patterns as well as quickly sketch out ideas
• Instant hands-on control: Instant hands-on control of the sound engine via a traditional analogue synth control panel
• Two Oscillators plus an additional Sub Oscillator: Bass Station II has two sync-able, tune-able oscillators with four selectable waveforms, plus a third sub-oscillator for generating enormous bass sounds
• Analogue effects section: Bass Station II includes fully analogue distortion and filter-modulation effects and a separate filter overdrive to add aggression and crunch
• Powerful modulation section featuring two Envelopes and two LFOs: Two ADSR envelopes for amp, filter, pitch and pulse width modulation alongside two LFOs with waveforms including triangle, sawtooth, square and sample & hold

Bass Station II

Click to read more ...

Tonight Neil and I would like to give over the podcast to the community to give their feedback on Pro Tools 11. Some consider themselves winners, others consider themselves losers with Pro Tools 11.

Give us your feedback and we’ll share the good the bad and the ugly. Try and be as clear as possible with your responses so we can get any feedback out in the open, responses such as ‘Avid staff stink and their mothers smell of elderberries’ are less likely to get read than ‘I’m troubled as I invested in X and now I’ll have to invest X”.

Use this form here and give us as much stuff so we can have a really great feedback session on the show!

Russ and Mike have produced a show as either a YouTube video with slides or audio podcast ‘Everything You Need to Know About Pro Tools 11’.

The 45 minute show is an in depth explanation of the new features found in Pro Tools 11, plus our thoughts on the latest version of our favourite DAW. 

• Watch the video here
• Listen to the podcast on iTunes here
• Download the MP3 here

If you cannot see the audio controls, listen/download the audio file here

Avid have as expected announced the latest version of Pro Tools, Pro Tools 11; in their words;

Avid today announced Avid Pro Tools^® 11, a major upgrade of its industry-leading digital audio workstation that redefines music and audio production for today’s workflows. This latest version enables audio professionals to take on the most demanding productions with new, high-powered audio and video engines, 64-bit architecture, expanded metering, and direct HD video workflows. 

“Pro Tools 11 represents a quantum leap in creative power,” said Chris Gahagan, senior vice president of Products and Services at Avid. “The newly designed architecture turbo-charges production with more plug-in processing, the ability to run more virtual instruments—and a host of new features—letting users create ambitiously, without holding anything back.”

Pro Tools 11 delivers the features, performance, and workflows professionals need to take on today’s increasingly complex sessions and tighter timelines. Key benefits and features include:

• Fully redesigned audio engine and 64-bit architecture
• Expanded metering
• Direct HD video workflows with built-in Avid Video Engine — Enables audio post professionals to play and edit a wide range of HD video formats including Avid DNxHD^®, directly in the Pro Tools timeline without transcoding, using the same core engine as in Media Composer^®.

“In the world of professional mixing, I constantly need more processing power, and the extra power in Pro Tools 11 is exactly what I need,” said Tim Palmer, mixer and engineer for U2, Robert Plant, Ozzy Osbourne, The Cure, and INXS. “I love the new metering and the new sends view is excellent.  It is really impressive. Pro Tools 11 is a big leap forward.”

Availability & Pricing

Pro Tools 11 and Pro Tools HD 11 will be available in the online Avid Store and at Avid resellers worldwide later in Q2 2013. For more information, click here. Pricing will be as follows:

• Pro Tools 11 software (full version): $699 USD
• Pro Tools 10 to 11 upgrade: $299 USD
• Pro Tools  9 to 11 upgrade: $399 USD
• Pro Tools Express to Pro Tools 11 cross grade: $499 USD
• Pro Tools HD 10 to 11 upgrade: $599 USD
• Pro Tools HD 9 to 11 upgrade: $999 USD

Apple style invitations have started to go out to what is described as a ‘Special Avid Audio event – you’re invited’.

The full text of the invite reads;

Attention audio professionals—we’ve got some exciting news to share and want to personally invite you to attend our very special Avid® online event. Be among the first to see what’s unveiled—register now to see our special event and participate in the live Q&A.

Avid Pro Audio Online Event and Live Q&A Monday,
April 8, 2013 6:00 pm PT/9:00 pm ET

In an aim that will leave some bemused and others plain confused, news is coming in that Pro Tools 11 will now be called Professor Tools, in an aim to appeal to the college and university sectors.

Furthermore in an effort to ensure that only those who are qualified to use the application, those wishing to buy it must meet the following criteria. 

• Pass an entrance exam to obtain a copy
• Take an interview with an admissions professional
• Pay the annual fee to use the software 

It is also understood that those who can’t afford the new annual fees to own the software will be able to apply for the new Avid StudioNT Loan, there will also be a Professional Tools Scholarship scheme.

Avid would not comment officially, but one source told Pro Tools Expert ‘we think it’s a brave move now we’ve dropped the consumer sector. Pro Tools is a top audio application, we want the best people to use it and the way to ensure that is to follow the education sectors model. Think of Pro Tools as the Harvard of music making, not everyone will get a chance to go, but those that do will get the best jobs.’

Let us know what you think.

UPDATE: HAPPY APRIL FOOLS!

Neyrinck have provided an update outlining their plans for updating their product range to AAX. This is what they say….

At Neyrinck we have been busy working on AAX and planning for the future. We want to let you know about our near-term AAX plans so you can also plan your future. 

Neyrinck has already updated V-Mon for AAX and has introducedSoundCode LtRt Tools which is AAX only. 

Later this year Neyrinck will be updating SoundCode For Dolby Digital,SoundCode For Dolby E, and SoundCode Exchange MXF to AAX. 

SoundCode For DTS will not be updated because DVD-authoring is disappearing.  Existing users of SoundCode For DTS should plan on using Pro Tools 9 or 10.  For Blu-ray, DTS makes encoding tools that take full advantage of Blu-ray’s capabilities. 

SoundCode Stereo LtRt will not be updated for AAX but users can upgrade to SoundCode LtRt Tools which adds a Dolby Pro Logic IIx decoder. 

Mix 51 has been discontinued and will not be updated.  SoundCode DTS-HD StreamPlayer has been discontinued and will not be updated.

Thank you Paul for your openness. 

Avid Technology, the owners of Pro Tools, have announced the receipt of a delisting letter from NASDAQ.

We’re not financial specialists, so here is what Yahoo answers say it means for mere mortals…

“To get a stock listed on a major exchange like the NYSE or Nasdaq, a company must meet the minimum standards required by the exchange. On the Nasdaq, for example, a company must pay certain fees, meet minimum standards such as minimum stockholder’s equity, a minimum share price, and a minimum number of shareholders, etc.

The rules for delisting depend on the exchange. On the Nasdaq, the delisting process may be triggered if a company trades for 30 consecutive business days below the minimum bid price or market cap. A deficiency notice is then sent to the company.

Click to read more ...

No it’s not April Fools, but a study commission from the European Commission (if you live outside of the UK, then for that read gaga land) claims that music piracy doesn’t damage the music industry but actually helps it.

“It seems that the majority of the music that is consumed illegally by the individuals in our sample would not have been purchased if illegal downloading websites were not available to them,” claim the researchers in their report, Digital Music Consumption on the Internet: Evidence from Clickstream Data

Obviously the music industry have reacted with some skepticism.

“IFPI believes the JRC study is flawed and misleading. The findings seem disconnected from commercial reality, are based on a limited view of the market and are contradicted by a large  volume of alternative third party research that confirms the negative impact of piracy on the legitimate music business.” Read their full response here

Discuss…

Our friends at Groove 3 have launched their new blog. I am also thrilled to have been invited by them as guest Editor for the next few months. Not being content with having 4 hours sleep a night I agreed, I just love them so I’ll sleep when I’m dead.

Even better, some of your favourite Groove 3 authors will be sharing tips and tricks about all your favourite DAWs and other gear.

Check it out here

You might want to check out this tease for the upcoming Avid Abbey Road Webinar.

It features copious amounts of gear porn.

You can sign up here

Dynamic Range Day is a not-for-profit organisation created in response to the issue of loudness wars and over-compressing dynamic range on master recordings.

As part of their awareness exercise they have Dynamic Range Day, which this year takes place on March 22nd 2013. Part of the day includes a challenge Commit to keeping at least 8dB dynamic range in your next recording, mix and master.

Find out more here.