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E-MU Media News
News from Germany Messe Musik Trade Show
Roy Goudie, Senior Vice President of International Sales sums it up best. "We had
the most successful Messe show that we've had for many years despite the fact that
we did not have a booth presence on the floor. E-MU dealers and distributors were
very enthusiastic about every new product as well as new products that we showed
them that are still in the prototype stage. On top of our existing product catalogue,
we will have a very strong product portfolio going into next year."
E-MU LONGboard makes debut on Electronic Musician TV!
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E-MU mentioned in June 2010 issue of Keyboard Magazine. Sampler Evolution (Page
74).
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In case you have not heard the news, E-MU is now on YouTube & Facebook!
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E-MU Support YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/EMUsupport
Over the coming months, we will be using YouTube to bring you E-MU product demos, tech tips and tutorials. We hope you find these useful. If you have any specific E-MU product suggestions for tech tips or short tutorials that you would like to see, drop us a note via tech support
www.emu.com/support.
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E-MU Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/EMUSystems
Have you signed up for the E-MU Facebook fan page?
This is the place were you will find the latest news on our products, and upcoming events. We will post notifications on product updates, as well as information on our latest hardware and software releases. E-MU welcomes its large customer user base to come together and join us online on, YouTube, and to join our Facebook fanpage, and show your support for our brand and product line.
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E-MU's 40th Birthday Approaches!
In 2011, E-MU will be 40-years old. Going 40-years strong for any business is quite an accomplishment even in the best of economic times. As one of the early premier music and audio technology leaders, E-MU has spent those 40-years making cool and innovative products for musicians and for professional audio use. As we approach our 40th Birthday milestone, we are considering developing a special new product or maybe even bringing back or updating an E-MU legacy product from the past. We would like you to help us decide on which product that may be. Go to our Facebook Fan Page, look for the 40th Birthday discussion and let us know your thoughts and desires
http://www.facebook.com/EMUSystems.
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www.emu.com
About to get a new facelift?
Tired of the old E-MU website look. Well, we are too. Since we need to make some major changes and updates to our backend website engine, we decided it would be a good time to revamp the overall look and layout of emu.com. We will soon be launching an updated website for E-MU that will include better integration of our product information, updated technical support, knowledge base articles, tutorials, videos and software downloads. More information to come!
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E-MU Business Partner Profile - Acoustica Inc.
E-MU came to know about Acoustica and Mixcraft while researching for PC DAW software that had the same kinds of features and ease of use as Apples' GarageBand to include with our E-MU 0202 USB product. Many E-MU users are already familiar with the LE version of Mixcraft that comes with the E-MU 0202 USB. The new full version of Acoustica's Mixcraft 5 has been getting a lot of buzz and good press over the past few months as being a quite powerful yet easy-to-use multi-track recording studio DAW program that enables you to record audio, arrange loops, remix tracks, compose with virtual instruments, score and edit video, and add effects to create stunningly professional compositions. Easy enough to learn and use for everyone including the novice and powerful enough for the professional.
Acoustica was founded in 1998 and is located in the foothills of the Yosemite Valley. In Jan 2002, they officially became Acoustica Inc. Acoustica's mission is to create high quality, intuitive and powerful software. We interviewed Dan Goldstein, Senior Vice President of Development at Acoustica to get more insight about Acoustica and their Mixcraft software.
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 Dan, how did Acoustica get started?
Acoustica was founded in 1998 by Joseph Clarke, a musician, composer, and software developer, who was frustrated by the complexity of the audio software he was using. He believed that software could be simple and elegant, and that programs could just "work" without digging through endless menus and dialogs. He set out to accomplish just that. To this day, Acoustica's motto remains, "Software Should Be Easy To Use". That philosophy is the foundation of everything that we do at Acoustica.
Mixcraft was an instant success. Our customers really responded to the clean interface and intuitive controls. Beginners found Mixcraft to be simple to learn, and pros appreciated the immediate, inspiring results. Over the years Mixcraft has matured, as we've added support for audio loops, multi-track recording, MIDI, virtual instruments, aux send tracks, notation, video, and so much more. Today Mixcraft is an award-winning DAW, with features traditionally found in products that cost many times what Mixcraft costs.
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What is the background of the Acoustica software developers? |
There's an international team of programmers, artists, musicians and engineers that work together to create Mixcraft and its virtual instruments, effects, and studio-quality audio loops.
I'm the project lead for Mixcraft 5, as well as Acoustica's other pro audio products. I started out as a developer for Sonic Foundry, working on their Vegas audio and video software. I contributed to early versions of Acid and Sound Forge (of course all of those products are now owned by Sony). I'm also a rabid collector and restorer of vintage and modern synthesizers, drum machines, Hammond organs, and electric pianos, and my collection is the largest in my home state of Nevada.
Several of our developers come from the video game industry, and were programmers and composers for Sierra On-Line. Pretty much everyone at Acoustica is involved in music, with hobbies ranging from playing the didgeridoo to scoring films.
Our loop musicians include (among others) Michael Bacich, keyboard player for 80's New Wave rock band Oingo Boingo; Adam A. Johnson (Architect of Sound), who has created music and sound for a variety of major clients including Pepsi, Lego, and the National Endowment for the Arts and Jason Donnelly (Dj Puzzle), who creates loops for Peace Love Productions, Sony, Loopmasters, and others.
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What is the single most important factor affecting your business at the moment? How do you plan to accommodate this? |
I think the struggling economy is affecting our industry just like it's affecting every other industry. Several years ago it was difficult for us to get the attention of magazines and audio professionals because there was this unspoken rule that quality music software had to be very expensive and everything else was a toy. As the economy soured, people began asking themselves if they really needed to spend $400, $500, or even $1000 just for a DAW. People began to look for alternatives. These days, "bang for the buck" is a major issue. Mixcraft 5 has won numerous magazine awards and has gotten extremely strong reviews. People are always surprised by how much Mixcraft can do, and how little it costs. So, to answer your question, we'll deal with the economic situation by keeping our prices very low while we make the product better and better.
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What excites you about the Music Industry these days? |
The state of the art of music technology is incredible -- what a talented musician can do on a laptop these days rivals what could be done in a million dollar studio with a pile of gear ten years ago. And it just keeps getting better. The virtual instruments are more powerful and more realistic than ever. The effects are deeper and more sophisticated. And those musicians who take the time to develop their playing and engineering skills can be greatly rewarded.
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Who has been most influential musical influence in your life? |
That's easy. My #1 musical hero is Dr. Robert Moog, inventor of the Moog synthesizer. Moog took the esoteric concept of the electronic synthesizer out of the laboratory and into the mainstream, and introduced the world to sounds that had never before been heard. Just imagine the thrill of hearing a synthesizer for the first time! Everyone who works with music technology today owes a certain debt to Bob Moog.
Right behind Dr. Moog, for me, is Laurens Hammond, inventor of the Hammond organ. His crazy box of wires, motors, vacuum tubes, and gears was invented in 1934 (!!) and to this day nothing sounds better. Hammond organs are heard throughout the universe of rock, blues, gospel, pop, reggae, dance, and probably every other type of music in the world.
Both of these men were inventors who made the world a much richer place for musicians. I hope in some small way we are continuing in that tradition, giving talented musicians' access to sounds and technology that were simply unimaginable a decade ago.
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Are there any new market trends that you have noticed for your industry? |
Yes, it's a fascinating time to be a musician. Musicians are leaving the studio and turning to their laptops to compose and produce music. Feature-rich USB MIDI controllers are becoming more and more common, as musicians leave their heavy, limited digital synthesizers behind and turn to portable controllers and virtual instruments. I always say, what you can do with a laptop, a MIDI controller, a microphone, and a copy of Mixcraft today is just jaw-dropping. And it's only going to get better.
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Ok, Let's talk a little about your Mixcraft 5 Software. With so many other DAW programs already in the market place, why create and develop Mixcraft? |
I joined Acoustica in 2003, and added my skills in pro audio software development, MIDI, and synthesizers to the mix. I was instantly impressed with the elegance and simplicity of Acoustica's MP3 Audio Mixer, which made mixing music almost effortless. I wanted to add powerful pro audio features to the program without cluttering up the interface or making the program more complicated to use. Joseph and I put our heads together and dreamed up the first version of Mixcraft, which combined serious pro audio technology with the incredible ease of use of Acoustica's products. We both agreed that existing DAW products were too confusing and too expensive.
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Do you have any specific plans that you can share with us on the future of Mixcraft? |
We've got a new retail version of Mixcraft 5 that will be out by the end of the year that will contain some truly excellent new instruments and effects.
We're deep in the design stages for Mixcraft 6, and we've got some fantastic ideas for making Mixcraft more powerful than ever. Mixcraft 6 will have more loops, more instruments, more effects, and some surprising new features. I can't share specifics, but users will continue to see features that push Mixcraft even deeper into pro territory.
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Where do you see your Mixcraft software in 5-years? |
We're going to change people's expectations regarding price versus performance. Respected music author Craig Anderton famously wrote about Mixcraft, "What you get for your money here is just unreal". But we've only just begun! Expect to continue to see serious power in an elegant package.
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Is it fair to say that Mixcraft on the PC is a lot like GarageBand for the Mac? |
People make that comparison quite often. We think GarageBand is a great piece of music software, and we're happy to be able to offer an alternative to GarageBand for Windows users. Mixcraft is even compatible with GarageBand's audio loops (as well as Acidized loops) so you can use your existing loop libraries to build tracks in Mixcraft. Both GarageBand and Mixcraft are a great entrance into the world of music recording, and are great tools for getting song ideas down quickly.
The difference is that Apple's GarageBand is meant to be a stepping stone to their full $500 Logic software, and as such it has all sorts of artificial limitations. Mixcraft, on the other hand, is a full-featured DAW with no limitations. You can have as many tracks, effects, virtual instruments, loops, MIDI, audio, and video clips as your computer can handle. You can mix your tracks in 32 bit, 192kHz audiophile format (GarageBand is limited to 44.1kHz, 16 or 24 bit). You can split and layer multiple virtual instruments together. You can record from as many simultaneous inputs as your computer offers. You can automate every parameter from all of your effects. Mixcraft is really quite serious, and quite powerful, with no artificial limitations anywhere.
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Mixcraft 5 has so many features and overall value for the price. How is it possible that you are able to offer your Mixcraft 5 at a price that is about 1/3 of the competition with the same features? |
I think it's just a question of perspective. I think most companies look at their product and ask themselves, "What's the most we can charge for this without offending our customers?" We take a different approach. We ask ourselves, "What's the least we can charge for our products, so musicians, students, schools, and churches can afford it?" As a company, we're committed to making software affordable and accessible. It drives everything that we do, and I think it's fair to say that our customers appreciate it.
MixcraftLive is a 100% free website that we set up so that everyone can share their tracks with other Mixcraft users. As a musician it's fantastic and inspiring to hear what others are doing with Mixcraft, and it's a great place to ask questions ("How did you get that pro vocal sound? How did you EQ those incredible drums?"). Anyone can create an account at www.MixcraftLive.com and start publishing their albums, songs, and podcasts.
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E-MU offers discount upgrade to Acoustica Mixcraft 5!
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Here is a chance for E-MU 0202 USB users as well as other E-MU users to obtain the full version of Mixcraft 5 at a discount. For the next 30-days on the link below, E-MU customers can click the Buy Now button and enter the Coupon code: MIXCRAFT5EMU to receive an instant 15% discount on the purchase of the full version of Mixcraft 5.
http://www.acoustica.com/mixcraft/buy.asp
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Business Partner Digital Sound Factory offers E-MU customers the complete soundest from the Legacy Ensoniq ASR, Ensoniq TS and Ensoniq EPS products as sound banks for specific use in E-MU's Proteus VX, Proteus X and Emulator X software.
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The Digital Sound Factory Ensoniq ASR/TS/EPS library collection is from three popular legacy Ensoniq products and was a result of many years of sound content gathered for these products assembled from original floppy disks. Digital Sound Factory has re-mastered this nostalgic library for specific use with E-MU's Proteus X and Emulator X Instrument Software. Each preset includes key switching on MIDI notes C0, C#0, D0, and D#0 to simulate the ASR's quick layer switching feature. Depressing the key will change the preset parameters to four different selections.
The Ensoniq ASR-10 (Advanced Sampling Recorder) was a sampling keyboard manufactured between 1992 and 1994. The ASR-10 was a true performance orientated sampling workstation.
The Ensoniq TS-10 was a 61-key synthesizer/music workstation keyboard that was introduced in 1993. It featured synthesis, user sample playback, sequencer, and effects. The TS-12 with 76 weighted keys had identical features except polyphonic aftertouch.
The EPS (Ensoniq Performance Sampler) was manufactured between 1988 and 1991 one was one of the first few affordable samplers on the market.
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The Digital Sound Factory Ensoniq ZR Sound Bank is a collection of multiple instruments that were included with the ZR76 keyboard. Ensoniq sound designers used the original content that had been collected for the samplers. E-MU later released this sound set as an expansion for the Proteus 2000 family of products. ** Special note - A Kawai 9ft Grand has been substituted for the Perfect Piano due to license restrictions.
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The Digital Sound Factory Ensoniq MR Sound Bank contains the Urban Dance and Real World sound sets that were popular in both the legacy Ensoniq MR keyboard and rack hardware MIDI sound module. The mixture of world ethnic and urban street sounds is very unique. E-MU released the MR sound bank as an expansion ROM for the Proteus 2000 family of products.
For the next 30-days, E-MU customers can purchase the entire Legacy Ensoniq ASR/TS/EPS Library Collection for the low price of $99! That is a savings of $118 from the everyday normal price. Don't delay as this offer is only good for 30-days.
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E-MU Tech Tips:
Beta Driver for Macintosh OS X Leopard / Snow Leopard Now Available!
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A Beta Leopard / Snow Leopard driver (OS X 10.5 and above) for the E-MU 0202 USB, 0404 USB and Tracker Pre USB is now available for customers on the web link provided below. We are in the process of officially qualifying this driver and when fully qualified, you will find it on our normal support page. Note that Beta drivers have no official support and we highly recommend users do a full backup of your system. We hope that you see our commitment to improving your product and welcome customer feedback on these drivers. Using our tech support email system, please provide detailed and specific information on any problems that you may find to http://www.emu.com/support/.
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Download the Beta Driver available from the Creative Preview Website.
http://connect.creativelabs.com/emu/
Beta Driver for E-MU PCI/PCIe Products also Available!
A Beta driver is also available for E-MU PCI/PCIe products 0404 PCI/PCIe, 1212M PCI/PCIe and 1616M PCI/PCIe on the preview site that has been getting very positive feedback from E-MU customers on its performance. We will soon be ending the Beta and move to official release so make sure you report all and any of your Windows 7 issues to us via Tech Support email http://connect.creativelabs.com/emu/.
Acoustica Mixcraft 5 Tech Tips:
Here are some video tech tips for Acoustica Mixcraft 5 most of which also apply to the Mixcraft LE E-MU version that comes with the E-MU 0202 USB http://www.acoustica.com/mixcraft/v5/help/mini-tips.htm.
Having problems with no sound in Windows Vista or Windows 7?
Microsoft changed how sample rates are dealt with and are configured in Windows Vista and Windows 7. They no longer allow some audio applications to take direct control of the WDM driver sample rate. You need to make sure that the sample rate of your E-MU product matches the sample rate configured in Windows Vista or Windows 7. We hope to fix this limitation and behavior in a future driver release.
To check what sample rate Widows Vista or Windows 7 is set at:
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Right Click the speaker icon on your desktop and select Playback Devices. |
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Click on the E-MU product to highlight it. |
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After you highlight the E-MU product, click on Properties in the lower right window. |
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On the Supported Formats Tab - select the specific sample rates that you will be using or select all of them. (Applies to E-MU USB products only) |
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On the Levels Tab - Move slider to 100 if not already at 100. |
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On the Advanced Tab - Use the pull down menu and select you desired sample rate. (Remember to select your desired sample rate using PatchMix or the USB Audio Control panel before changing the sample rate in Windows) |
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Click Apply and then Click Ok. |
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