Author: Christopher Laird Simmons

Christopher Laird Simmons

About Christopher Laird Simmons

https://christophersimmons.com

Christopher Laird Simmons has been a working journalist since his first magazine sale in 1984. He has since written for wide variety of print and online publications covering lifestyle, tech and entertainment. He is an award-winning author, designer, photographer, and musician. He is a member of ASCAP and PRSA. He is the founder and CEO of Neotrope®, based in Temecula, CA, USA.

Posts by Christopher Simmons:

Digidesign and M-Audio Announce Trio of New Products

Christopher Laird Simmons

Tweksbury, Mass. (MuseWire) – M-Audio® and Digidesign® are excited to announce three new products that break down barriers and empower you to make better music faster. The Digidesign Elevenâ„¢ Rack is a revolutionary new recording and standalone effects processing solution designed specifically for guitar players. The M-Audio Fast Track® audio interface includes Pro Tools® M-Poweredâ„¢ […]

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Native Instruments Introduces DISCOVERY SERIES: BALINESE GAMELAN

Christopher Laird Simmons

Berlin, Germany (MuseWire) – Native Instruments today introduced BALINESE GAMELAN, a new KONTAKT-Powered instrument that marks the second entry in the “Discovery Series”. Created in collaboration with the renowned sound-design house Soniccouture, BALINESE GAMELAN offers a versatile assortment of ethnic instruments that represent the rich sonic heritage of classic Indonesian music, for use in film […]

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Toontrack Music announces the Custom and Vintage SDX

Christopher Laird Simmons

Sweden (MuseWire) – Toontrack Music is proud to announce the return of a sample library classic. The Custom and Vintage SDXâ„¢ is a re-release of the award winning Toontrack Music sample packs Superior Custom and Vintage and Superior Vintage Add-on (both released for the original Superior Drummer software) and they have now been combined to […]

Virginia Bluegrass: 9th Annual Norton Wine and Bluegrass Festival

Christopher Laird Simmons

MIDDLEBURG, Va. (MuseWire) – Visit Chrysalis Vineyards (Middleburg, Virginia) in the midst of harvest and experience their hottest festival of the year. Enjoy bluegrass pickings throughout the weekend with Jackass Flats (former Virginia State Bluegrass Champs), Hickory Ridge, and Lisa Kay Howard; meet artisans, craft and food vendors; take a hay ride vineyard tour; and […]

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Blue Microphones Launches New Series of enCORE Live Microphones

Christopher Laird Simmons

Westlake Village, Calif. (MuseWire) – Blue Microphones, a leading innovator in microphone technology and design, has launched enCORE, a new series of microphones that bring their heritage of high-quality studio microphones to the stage. The enCORE 100, 200, and 300 models are designed and priced for any live application from the rehearsal space and coffee […]

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Native Instruments Releases Version 1.2 of TRAKTOR SCRATCH PRO and TRAKTOR PRO

Christopher Laird Simmons

Berlin, Germany (MuseWire) – Native Instruments recently released TRAKTOR PRO 1.2, a free software update for the latest generation of its digital DJ products including the DUO and LE versions. The update brings many improvements that make the latest TRAKTOR generation even more powerful and convenient, including extended performance effects, state-of-the-art keylock quality, advanced controller […]

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New ARC TDM tunes your Pro Tools room to perfection

Christopher Laird Simmons

SUNRISE, Fla. (MuseWire) – IK is proud to announce the availability of the new ARC System TDM for Pro Tools HD Accel. Together with ARC Native, it is the first and only acoustic correction system in a plug-in. Finally you can “take your room out of the mix,” removing the acoustical problems created by untreated […]

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NMPA’s David Israelite to Discuss Monies Owed to Music Publishers by Labels

Christopher Laird Simmons

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (MuseWire) – An important event for all ASCAP publishers! The Association Of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP) will present a discussion of settlement negotiations between the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) and record labels. The settlement, in the hundreds of millions, concerns monies owed to music publishers that currently reside in record labels’ […]

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Best Service releases two new dance products

Christopher Laird Simmons

Muenchen, Germany (MuseWire) – Best Service has released two new dance products: Black Pearl is a brand new sample collection for the Hip Hop, R´n´B or Media producer looking for that modern original sound of today's urban music. Here is everything you need to produce radio-ready Hip Hop and R&B hits! production tools vol. 2 […]

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Toontrack Music announces The Electronic EZX

Christopher Laird Simmons

Sweden (MuseWire) – Over time Toontrack Music has produced and made available industry leading drum and percussion sounds heard in movies, TV-shows, video games, at live venues and on countless hit albums. We’ve recorded numerous libraries with hundreds of the finest drums and cymbals totaling 200+ gigs of user content derived from 1,000,000 plus sound […]

Best Service Announces Virtual Accordion Library

Christopher Laird Simmons

Muenchen, Germany (MuseWire) – Best Service today announced the launch of Best Service managed to win over “Tari” Eduardo Tarilonte to produce this fantastic virtual accordion! Though we start to ship Accordion out into the world from Munich, right during Oktoberfest, this product has nothing to do with Lederhos'n and Bavarian umm-tah-tah. Tari has created […]

Crysonic announces release of SPECTRALIVE NXT V3 – Intelligent Spectral Audio Vitalizer

Christopher Laird Simmons

Adelaide SA (MuseWire) – Crysonic today announced the release of SPECTRALIVE NXT V3 and availability in Native Mac OSX AU,VST (PPC /Intel Mac) and PC VST formats. Spectralive NXT V3 is Crysonic’s third generation Professional Spectral Audio Vitality and Enhancement Processor. The SPECTRALIVE process is Crysonic’s proprietary approach for imparting Vitality and warmth to all […]

Cakewalk Updates Sonar DAW to 8.5

Christopher Laird Simmons

COLUMN: This week Cakewalk announced the latest update to their venerable DAW platform, SONAR. While it’s been updated annually with full incremental versions, sometimes to the criticism by users (e.g., “why not fix all issues with current version before launching a new one?”), Cakewalk’s team have chosen this year to do a .5 upgrade, since […]

Native Instruments Introduces THE FINGER by Tim Exile

Christopher Laird Simmons

Berlin, Germany (MuseWire) – Native Instruments today introduced THE FINGER, a unique keyboard-controlled performance effects processor developed together with forward-thinking electronic music artist Tim Exile of Warp Records. Based on advanced REAKTOR technology, THE FINGER provides musicians, producers and DJs with an inspirational and truly musical tool for intuitive sound mangling and live remixing in […]

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The ‘Reverb Store’ – the Ultimate E-Commerce Solution for Artists and Labels in the New Music Business

Christopher Laird Simmons

NEW YORK, N.Y. (MuseWire) – ReverbNation, the leading marketing platform for more than 450,000 artists, labels, managers and venues, has partnered with Audiolife, the leader in direct-to-fan eCommerce, to create the Reverb Store. The Reverb Store is a complete direct-to-fan eCommerce offering that is accessible to every ReverbNation artist at no charge. The Reverb Store […]

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UltimateSoundBank Introduces Grand Piano Collection

Christopher Laird Simmons

Paris, France (MuseWire) – UltimateSoundBank has announced theire new “Grand Piano Collection,” compatible with the free UVI player, and MOTU MachFive II. According to the company: “Grand Piano Collection features surely some of the best sounding sampled pianos in the market. True to our beliefs, we don’t think it’s about figures (like velocity, memory, number […]

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Review: Open Labs NeKo XXL Gen5 DAW Keyboard Workstation

Christopher Laird Simmons

REVIEW: I’m a big fan of Open Labs’ music workstation instruments, so I was pretty excited when they announced the rebirth of their XXL model this spring, which was not available last October 2008 when I bought the NeKo TSE (previously reviewed for this magazine). The XXL is not technically their flagship, if you ask […]

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TC-Helicon announce VoiceTone Synth now shipping

Christopher Laird Simmons

Victoria BC, Canada (MuseWire) – TC-Helicon is pleased to announce that its revolutionary VoiceTone Synth is now shipping and that review models are now available. VoiceTone Synth is a vocal effects pedal that specialises in recreating the kinds of effects heard on a lot of today’s chart topping tracks and it’s the first time that […]

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The Third Monster Unleashed – Monster MIDI Pack 3 – Fills

Christopher Laird Simmons

Sweden (MuseWire) – Toontrack Music proudly announce that Monster Drummer Peter Fredlander is back with the third package in the Monster MIDI series – Monster MIDI Pack 3 – Fills! Boasting more than 450 individually played fills with drum beats leading up to them, hierarchically organized by level of intensity and difficulty, this is a […]

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Try-Sound now has 35 Virtual Instruments online

Christopher Laird Simmons

Muenchen, DE (MuseWire) – Best Service announced today that Try-Sound (www.try-sound.com) has added 2 new virtual instruments into its portfolio, and now has 35 virtual instruments online. TrySound is the world’s first online Test Station for virtual instruments and Plug-Ins. For the first time ever Best Service and SoundsOnDemand are presenting the possibility of testing […]

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Sound Forge Pro 10 Software Provides Comprehensive New Tools for Professional Digital Audio

Christopher Laird Simmons

MADISON, Wisc. (MuseWire) – Sony Creative Software, a leading provider of professional video and audio production applications, today announced the availability of Sound Forgeâ„¢ Pro 10 digital audio production suite. Sound Forge Pro 10 new features include event-based editing, disc-at-once CD burning, iZotopeâ„¢ 64-bit SRCâ„¢ (sample rate conversion), MBIT+â„¢ dither (bit-depth conversion), musical instrument file […]

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During Sept. Get Line 6 POD Farm Plug-in for FREE

Christopher Laird Simmons

Calabasas, Calif. /Music Industry Newsire/ — Line 6 announced today that during Sept. 2009 they are giving away free licenses for their POD Farm plug-in for VST and RTAS. POD Farm, the premium tone plug-in, is a $99 value! Get the tones you need for pro-sounding recordings. For FREE! POD Farm delivers industry-standard POD® tone […]

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Native Instruments Announces KOMPLETE 6

Christopher Laird Simmons

Berlin, Germany (MuseWire) – Native Instruments today announced KOMPLETE 6, the latest version of its popular software bundle that has become a mainstay with professional musicians and producers. The new collection offers a veritable arsenal of acclaimed instruments and effects that cover all areas of modern music production, including powerful new versions of ABSYNTH, GUITAR […]

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Native Instruments Announces GUITAR RIG 4 PRO

Christopher Laird Simmons

Berlin, Germany (MuseWire) – Native Instruments today announced GUITAR RIG 4 PRO, the next generation of its acclaimed guitar studio. The fourth version raises the bar on sonic authenticity with advanced new speaker emulation technology, and further expands on nearly all aspects that sets GUITAR RIG apart as the most capable digital guitar solution. To […]

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Native Instruments Announces ABSYNTH 5

Christopher Laird Simmons

Berlin, Germany (MuseWire) – Native Instruments today announced ABSYNTH 5, a new generation of the acclaimed semi-modular software synthesizer that is renowned for its unique evolving sounds and textures. The new version enhances the profound sonic capabilities of ABSYNTH with powerful additional synthesis and effects features as well as overall improved audio quality, and offers […]

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Native Instruments Announces KONTAKT 4

Christopher Laird Simmons

Berlin, Germany (MuseWire) – Native Instruments today announced KONTAKT 4, a new version of the industry-leading software sampler. Taking the unrivalled performance and versatility of KONTAKT for music production, live performance and sound design even further, the fourth generation adds powerful “Authentic Expression Technology,” unique sample compression, an extended studio-grade sound library complete with a […]

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Roland Introduces GW-8 Version 2 Workstation

Christopher Laird Simmons

Los Angeles, Calif. (MuseWire — Roland today announced their “new gear new inspiration” lineup of new products for Sept. 2009. Roland's popular GW-8 workstation evolves with Version 2. Building on the foundation of intelligent backing-track functionality, contemporary sounds from around the world, and expressive interactive musical styles, the GW-8 Version 2 adds a new Style […]

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Roland Introduces eBand JS-8 Jam-along Companion for Guitarists

Christopher Laird Simmons

Los Angeles, Calif. (MuseWire — Roland today announced their “new gear new inspiration” lineup of new products for Sept. 2009. eBand JS-8: Audio Player with Guitar Effects. For “bedroom guitarists” who love jamming along with their favorite songs, the ultimate musical companion has arrived. eBand is a portable all-in-one audio player that's packed with big […]

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Roland Introduces TD-20KX V-Drum Pro Series

Christopher Laird Simmons

Los Angeles, Calif. (MuseWire — Roland today announced their “new gear new inspiration” lineup of new products for Sept. 2009. The new TD-20KX V-Pro series makes a full-impact impression onstage with its industrial brushed-metal* V-Pads, enlarged V-Kick, silver-colored V-Cymbals, and rock-solid chrome drum rack. The TD-20X drum module is loaded with hundreds of powerful and […]

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Hohner Launches Essential Series Acoustic Guitars

Christopher Laird Simmons

GLEN ALLEN, Va. (MuseWire) – ­Hohner, Inc. announces the launch of the new Essential Series of acoustic guitars. These guitars are built utilizing a revolutionary technique Hohner calls “frequency matching.” Hohner’s technicians utilize a form of tap tuning to determine the resonant frequencies of the wood and then match the solid spruce tops with similarly […]

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Symbolic Sound Releases Software for Chaining Together Two or More Paca(rana) Sound Computers Under Control of Kyma

Christopher Laird Simmons

CHAMPAIGN Ill. (MuseWire) – Symbolic Sound Corporation has expanded the real-time sound-computing power of its Paca(rana) sound engine by making it possible for Kyma sound designers to chain two or more multiprocessor Paca(rana)s together via the built-in A/B Expansion ports. To the Kyma software, a network of Paca(rana)s appears as a single sound computation engine […]

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BMI Tops Previous Year in Revenues with $905 Million in FY 2009

Christopher Laird Simmons

BMI has announced that it earned more than $905 million in revenues for its 2009 fiscal year, including its subsidiary Landmark Digital Services®, LLC. The company also announced that it increased royalty distributions to more than $788 million for the songwriters, composers and copyright owners it represents. With more than 400,000 songwriters, composers and music publisher affiliates, BMI is the world's largest music copyright organization.

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New tutorial DVD for Propellarheads ‘Record’ DAW

Christopher Laird Simmons

Ontario, Canada (MuseWire) – ASK Video Interactive Media, a leading creator of software tutorials on DVD, announces a comprehensive tutorial DVD for Propellarheads Record, a new audio recording software offering unlimited tracks, world-class effects, mixing tools, and a fresh approach to recording music. Electronic artist and ASK Video tutorial veteran Morgan “Morg” Pottruff returns with […]

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Valparaiso University Teams Up With Reggae Artist Taj Weekes’ Children’s Charity, They Often Cry Outreach

Christopher Laird Simmons

New York, NY (MuseWire) – Indiana's Valparaiso University men's soccer team has joined forces with St. Lucian reggae artist Taj Weekes and his children's charity, They Often Cry Outreach (TOCO), to launch the “Sneakers Not Wheelchairs” campaign – a public health initiative targeting the diabetes crisis in St. Lucia. Valparaiso will host the fundraiser during […]

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Native Instruments Introduces SCARBEE PRE-BASS

Christopher Laird Simmons

Berlin, Germany (MuseWire) – Native Instruments today introduced SCARBEE PRE-BASS, a new software instrument that provides a meticulous, highly musical rendition of the iconic Fender Precision bass. PRE-BASS is derived from the acclaimed Scarbee Blue Bass library, and the first release in the recently established development partnership between sampling expert Thomas Hansen Skarbye and Native […]

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Sonic Charge Synplant 1.0.1 Now Available

Christopher Laird Simmons

COLUMN: Sonic Charge announced this week the update to their nifty “organic” virtual synth, Synplant. Version 1.0.1 fixes some minor things, including Cakewalk Sonar support (a problem I experienced, and which held up my review, which will appear here around Labor Day weekend). According to the company, “The version number is 1.0.1 and it will […]

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Roland’s new ‘keytar’ – the AX-Synth now shipping

Christopher Laird Simmons

COLUMN: Roland’s new “keytar” (guitar-like keyboard) is now shipping. The AX-Synth is a remote shoulder keyboard with onboard sound generator, ribbon controller, D Beam, modulation bar, and more. With specs similar to the current “Juno” keyboards, the AX is a long-awaited successor to Roland’s older strap-on controllers. The new AX promises to provide a better […]

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Blue Microphones hires industry veteran John Maier to lead expansion

Christopher Laird Simmons

Westlake Village, Calif. (MuseWire) – Blue Microphones, a leading innovator in microphone technology and design, has hired industry veteran John Maier as Chief Executive Officer. Maier makes the move after nearly 7 years as CEO of TC Group Americas, working with such brands as Tannoy, TC Electronic, Lab.gruppen, TC-Helicon, Dynaudio Acoustics and Linn Electronics. Maier […]

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