Italy makes great coffee. Modena-based IK Multimedia has been drinking lots and lots of that great coffee, judging by their NAMM lineup.
Studiophonik – Virtual Band: Computer music has been the domain
of electronica lovers for a long time, but an entirely new product from
IK aims to give you a full band. This uber-plugin has sampled virtual
instruments for an entire band, including 7 GB of drums, guitar, bass,
piano, organs, and horns. It's paired with a full suite of modeled tube
compressors, limiters, analog EQ and other console features, and gives
you microphone placement control for drums to boot. Expected spring
2005 for $/EUR 399, Mac/Windows in every format.
Miroslav Orchestral Library: Further, IK has acquired the
complete orchestral and choir sample collections of Weather Report
co-founder and world-renowned musician Miroslav Vitous, available in a
workstation plugin called Miroslav Philharmonik this spring for US$/EUR
499. (Can Miroslav himself, or even a whole orchestra, be IK's next
acquisition? Stay tuned — the coffee's really, really strong.)
SampleTank, T-RackS Updates: IK has updated SampleTank to
version 2.1 with enhanced time/pitch stretching, more sounds, new range
controls and 16 stereo outputs (due summer). Pro Tools fans, the
T-RackS mastering suite is now available for TDM.