Design a Sound has launched EDM Factory 2, a soundest for the Sylenth1 software synthesizer by Lennar Digital.

139 presets suited mostly for EDM (Electronic Dance Music) genres: 32 pad sounds, 42 dance, big-room pluck sounds and … about 64 lead / synth sounds.

The soundset is available at a minimum donation of $15 USD. Requires LennarDigital Sylenth1.

A free demo pack with 20 presets can be downloaded from the product page.

More information: Design a Sound / EDM Factory 2

Toontrack has announced the release of Basic Rock Fills MIDI, a follow-up to the popular Basic Rock MIDI that was released earlier in the year.

The Basic Fills pack focuses entirely on the one thing you can never get enough of: fills. The little twists and turns that accentuate, ornate or make for smooth transitions in your songs – the bits and pieces that make your music elevate and transcend.

“I sometimes find that drummers over-complicate things and dramatize their fills too much. I am not a complicated drummer and never aspired to be. I don’t want to get in the way of the song, just make it lift off where it truly needs to and harness it in between”, says drummer Martin Kristoffersson.

Basic Rock Fills MIDI features

• Drum fills MIDI suitable for any type of modern rock.
• Categorized in different songs.
• Short fills with lead-ins, long fills with lead-ins & single fills.
• Halftime / midtempo / uptempo in 4/4 and 6/8 straight and/or swing feel.

The MIDI pack costs 25 EUR / $29 USD.

More information: Toontrack / Basic Rock Fills MIDI

RealDigital has announced the release of its Electric Dreams digital drum machine and Digital Acoustic Piano instrument plugins for Windows.

Both instruments are available to download as freeware for Windows, in VST and standalone formats.

More information: RealDigital

Ju-X Designs has released Gimmick Mini, a free synthesizer instrument plugin-in for Mac.

Gimmick’s oscillator draws waveform by setting how many times to twist it in a cycle and then divides it by scanning up and down direction, finally player can also determine ratios of each turning points.

Gimmick synth is under ongoing development, and this Mini version has been built with basic concept of Gimmick. It is absolutely free, so try it today and experiment the new way of synthesis!

The plug-in is a free download for Mac OSX 10.7 or later (AU).

More information: Ju-X / Gimmick

PreSonus has announced that Up and Running with Studio One, a two-hour course of video instruction on PreSonus Studio One DAW, featuring producer and remixer Josh Harris, is now available at lynda.com.

“Audio is a segment within our online library of tutorials that is quickly growing in popularity among music professionals,” said David Franz, lynda.com content manager for audio. “Up and Running with Studio One represents a significant addition to our library that gives learners a great introduction to the software.”

In his Studio One course, Harris quickly demonstrates how to work with the powerful, yet easy-to-learn DAW, beginning with the Start page and with setting up your artist profile and audio devices. He then shows how to set up and start recording a new song, including punching in and using track layers.

Next, Harris moves into editing audio and MIDI, explaining such important editing functions as comping, trimming, and time-stretching audio; quantizing MIDI; and editing MIDI velocities. He then covers the main mixing features, including using effects chains and presets and working with automation. He also discusses the unique mastering features of the Studio One Project page. Harris wraps up the course by demonstrating how to share music with the world, including publishing songs to SoundCloud®, promoting songs on Nimbit®, and using PreSonus Exchange.

To promote the new course, lynda.com is offering a 7-day trial membership to all registered Studio One users.

More information: Up and Running with Studio One

Wavesfactory has announced the release of W-Cajon, a sample library for Kontakt and EXS24.

The cajón is a box-shaped percussion instrument originally from Peru, played by slapping the front face (generally thin plywood) with the hands.

We have recorded 2 cajons with 3 mics: stereo pair in front of the instrument and a mono mic in the back to better get the bass tone. Both played with hand and brushes.

W-Cajon features

• 2 cajons with 10 round robin, 6 velocity layers.
• Left and right samples.
• 1200 samples, WAV files | 44.1 KHz, 24 bits.
• Played by hands and brushes.
• Stroke, bass and snap articulations.
• Real mix mode.
• Volume, pan and tune of each mic.
• Premium mics, preamps and converters.
• 490 MB installed.

The sound library is available to purchase for 9.95 EUR.

More information: Wavesfactory / W-Cajon