ERA, EST, and Gat'R have all received additional features and bug fixes. New bundled pricing is also announced for those interested in purchasing the complete SONICBYTES line.
ERA - the Pattern sequencer VSTi/MFX
New in 1.2
The GUI and interface logic have been completely redone. ERA now shares all
the interface features of EST, which means that each of the rows in a pattern
has its own settings for swing, gatetime, transposition, humanization, etc.
Pattern editing is easier, and it now has the same 32-edit-deep "Undo"
capability that EST has. People using both products no longer have to learn
two ways of working. (Because of these changes, patterns saved using ver. 1.12
will not load into ver. 1.20, but it is possible to run the old version alongside
the new.)
The sync-engine has been completely rewritten for better host synchronization.
The Autosync option is gone--ERA is always ready to respond to both direct control
AND to your host's transport controls.
Every row in a pattern now has a complement of four LFOs (with seven waveforms).
That means 48 LFOs that can be routed out as CCs to target synths as part of
the pattern, or that can be routed internally to the pattern's own velocity,
gatetime, delay, or even to transpose steps. This opens up a whole world of
rhythmic modulation of the patterns, Gat'R-style!
Two new arpeggio playmodes have been added. ERA can be a sequencer or a live
performance arpeggiator.
A new Mono mode for pattern rows removes any MIDI overlaps for those synths
that require monophonic input.
ERA can now load patterns and banks created in EST, and vice versa. You can
specify the location of a shared pattern directory, in addition to a directory
for ERA-specific presets.
Bug fixes
Problem switching out of chained patterns.
Problem with pattern end marker in front of start marker.
Browser menus would include empty folder.
Gat'R - the pattern-based audio multi-effect
New in 1.1
Two new LFO waveforms have been added to the six LFOs. A pulse with 25% duty
cycle lets you isolate the first step in sequences of four, for rhythmic modulation.
A 33% duty cycle pulse does a similar thing for triplet tempi. In addition,
the plug-in's global dry/wet control has been added to the list of possible
LFO targets (for a total of 30).
7fan has created a new skin, "CelShading". In addition, a new "Flat"
style has been added (with two examples).
The built-in preset manager has a new capability. It is now possible to move
just the steps from one pattern to another (leaving all settings such as Open/Close
values, Filter Cutoff, etc. unchanged). This lets you build up libraries of
basic sequences and drop them into complicated patches.
Playmode has been made a global parameter. Switching from threshold-triggered
to host-synced now applies to the entire bank.
A tutorial is now provided, and the number of presets is more than 100.
Gat'R now comes with its own installer. (The gdiplus.dll is no longer needed--support
for transparent PNGs is now native.)
Bug fixes
Crash problem in Cubase SX.
"No. of Steps" for filter sequence not updated.
Problem when host-synced with some triplet tempi.
Problem specifying MIDI-in channel for pattern recall.
EST - the sampling-groovebox VSTi
New in 1.2
Sample loading has been completely revamped. Next/Previous buttons let you
swap samples on the fly; or you can access your entire library with a hierarchical
load menu that opens with a right mouse click.
Once loaded, samples can be automatically sized to loop to 4, 8, 16, or 32-step
patterns.
Just like individual samples, complete instruments (samples plus all their settings)
can be quickly auditioned in your instrument kit with a Load Next/Previous command.
Instrument kits can now be reset with a single command.
EST recognizes and loads patterns created in ERA.
EST gets the same new sync engine that ERA gets. With chaining, patterns can
be virtually any length.
Bug fixes
Problem switching out of chained patterns.
Browser menus would include empty folders.
These updates are free to all customers. Demos are available.
There are three new bundled packages:
All-Pack, Price is eu 129 (36% off)
- ERA
- EST
- four instrument kits for EST by 7fan (40MB of samples and patterns)
- Gat'R
Beat-Pack, Price is eu 99 (25% off)
- EST
- 7fan's four instrument kits
- Gat'R
Starter-Pack, Price is eu 79 (12% off)
- EST
- 7fan's four instrument kits
Individual prices for the plug-ins are ERA eu 69, EST eu 69, Gat'R eu 44. The
complete set of 7fan kits can be purchased for eu 19.98 at http://www.7fan.com.
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